Dom in Dorset

I had something similar, sadly no roadie with spare bass in the wings! See "Black nylon" thread for details.

I was playing a gig on one of the small stages at Glastonbury, during the second number I noticed that something felt wrong.. I was playing my acoustic fretless with black nylon strings (Picato), the nylon covering had come loose on my A string and was moving up and down the string under my finger, the tone of that string also went fuzzy and week. At the end of that number I took a look and made an attempt to remove the covering...silly idea, there must be about 100 yards of black tape wrapped around that thing. I then made a second mistake of trying to break the tape... it cut my LH index finger!!! Nothing serious but rather anoying. I think that the problem was caused by the fact that those were the strings that I used when I set the bass up, I had make a saddle ivory and nut, it was also my first fretless set up and I must have had those strings on and off about 50 times. The repeated up to tension, down again must have done some harm, also I suspect that high temperature also played a part. In the end I pulled the tape tight and tucked the loose end under the bridge and played on. I had a spare set and replaced the string for my next gig. I'm keeping the old set for future set ups, I'll then put on a new set once I'm happy with it.

I was there and thought that it sounded great, the bbc (IMO) often struggle to capture the true sound of Glastonbury gigs. I own one Muse album, I like them but I'm not devoted to them, I though they were excellent. The bass player's style is quite solid No nonsense stuff but it works. He seemed to be playing through effects and it seemed to me that he was responsible for more of the band's sound than I had previously thought. Certain bits I thought were guitar or keys were actually (or so it seemed ) processed bass sounds. I have no problem with the use of extra musicians (the keys player was featured quite well on the screens on the sides of the stage) .If the bass player wants to change bass every song ...so what? No exactly Rolf, but Muse were good.

Didn't someone find a Tutmarc bass in a garage sale a few years ago?

At some point in the 80s K made some P bass coppies that were .....good! My first bass was one , they had a Dimarzio Pick up (if memory serves) ,they were set up nicely , fit and finish was good.They weighed a tun! Obviosly made in a different factory and just badged K.I can't remember what happened to mine , but I've met others who've owned them and they have agreed , yes , they were good!

The K Tablecaster, cut from an old table top, some still have Formica on them.

I'm surprised that you had to go to so much trouble to get shielding foil. try this: [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS_Electrics-switches-pots_W0QQ_fsubZ7581993QQ_sidZ55431421QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322"]http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS_Electr...634Q2ec0Q2em322[/url]

I'm with Green Angels , Avalon Cafe sat 11.30-12.15 and with Back Before Breakfast 15.30 -1615 Both bands are playing other stages at other times , I'll worry about it when I get there.

I'm building a twin neck with two CH necks. They look good, not had time to finish the job yet so I can't say what they play like. CH are easy to deal with and reliable, most of their stuff seem to fit the bill.

I used to have a budget short scale acoustic that was louder than my Ibanez. the downside was unneven tone and response when plugged in. It had a clanky acoustic sound that could cut through anything. The best good tone/good volume acoustic bass that I've tried is an Eko: www.nevadamusic.co.uk/.../sc1111.aspx a natural finish version of the one on this page.

despite the lack of truss rod it looks far too stylish to be a Tonika! Check out some of the delights here: [url="http://www.junkguitars.com/pictures.html"]http://www.junkguitars.com/pictures.html[/url]

I drool over Godin solid body basses too. I haven't actually left any drool on that one thogh.

I drool over Godin acoustics. This one is over your budget but there may be others : [url="http://www.dv247.com/guitars/godin-a4-sa-fretless-synth-access-bass-guitar-natural--49726"]http://www.dv247.com/guitars/godin-a4-sa-f...-natural--49726[/url] I made myself a shallow body acoustic fretless inspired by Godin and it's my most used bass. Also are you so sure about wanting to play fretless that you'd get you nice familiar jazz de-fretted? I'd think about getting a cheap fretless to see how I got on.

these guys have washburn necks : [url="http://www.brandoniguitars.co.uk/necks.asp"]http://www.brandoniguitars.co.uk/necks.asp[/url] Note: I have never dealt with them , know nothing about them.

62 P bass, autographed by leo fender, owned by Dave Pegg, looks nice too. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300429183131&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_723wt_948"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...IT#ht_723wt_948[/url]

It sounds like the only part you can save is the body! Have a look at this : [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS_Necks_W0QQ_fsubZ11QQ_sidZ55431421QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322"]http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CH-GUITARS_Necks_...634Q2ec0Q2em322[/url] i've bough loads of stuff from them, their service is great. i suspect that their pick ups aren't much better than the ones on your no name , but the necks are good, bodies look good. I've also had bridges, machines etc, all good.

what are the white dots next to the pots for? Beautiful bass, love the T birdesque headstock.

The Ibanez isn't that loud unplugged. I had a cheap nasty no name with a smaller body that was a bit louder but very clunky. I've tried an Eko that was fairly loud. Many years ago (10?) I tried some in a shop in Brighton. They had about 5 acoustics, two Fenders (not the Kingma) stood out from the rest (acoustics were still a bit of a rarity then) one was natural finish , the other black. The black one was significantly louder. The heavy finish must have had an influence.

I must admit I'd go for the Fender if I had the cash , i've not tried one but on paper it looks good. The ibanez looks and sounds great but it does require a bit more work to play.

5 strings, 6 pick ups, the man is a genious. I always play Big Bottom and Tonight I'm Gonna Rock you (Tonight) at sound checks. I'm mostly in the folk world ,it always gets a laugh from the sound man.

I've got an Ibanez AEB 8E? it's the cheapset one they do it's about £199 these days , it's great. They do loads of other models ,my experience with their cheapie leads me to think that their top end models must be pretty good. [url="http://www.ibanez.com/AcousticGuitars/Series-aeb"]http://www.ibanez.com/AcousticGuitars/Series-aeb[/url]

She'll need someone in the band who can remind her to breath every now and then.

In my experience quality kit takes less fiddling to get a good sound in the studio.

I think this rule applies to many things , not just bass : every degree of improvement requires a larger amount of money than the previous one. ie - you spend increasing amounts of money chasing ever smaller improvements, but if you've just got to have that perfect "whatever" you'll find a way of paying for it. My most used rig: 300W Laney Combo (£200 second hand) , Home made acoustic fretless (£150 ish)

acoustics are great to leave around the place to pick up now and then to get a bit of extra practice, just pick it up and play.