3below

i don't have a Shuker but do have a G&L L1505 that suffered a terminal truss rod and fingerboard failure. Jon replaced the rod and fingerboard with the added bonus of stainless frets. The quality of his work and materials is outstanding, it is significantly better than the original bass. The cost of the repair was incredibly good value. Top chap and bass builder.

The 'depressing' part of this is what we used to charge (and get more bookings than we could do) in a popular Ceilidh / folk band circa 1975 to 82 (West Midlands, successful local folk dance circuit etc but not a major or even minor festival etc, band). Will just say that the gigs I play have not kept up with what I got then, not by a long country mile. Interweb calculators suggest about £210 each per gig in today's money.

About the money for what we do in Mid Wales / Shropshire. Take out expenses (fuel, car, insurances etc etc), factor in time travelling, setting up, packing down etc. and it is a little bit more than the living wage. Beats teaching though but less reliable as an income.

You might be worrying unnecessarily Quick back of 'fag packet' estimations. Treating the screws as 3mm steel (pretty small?), each one can take about 2000 N in shear (2 Tonnes). So for two screws say 4000 N. A heavy gauge E string is about 188N tension, say 200N. Four E strings (unlikely) would be 800N. First failure mode: Screw shear. We have a shear reserve of about 3200N so no danger of shear failure in the screws. Second failure mode: screws pull out of wood. In the worst case this would be on the same longitudinal axis as the screw. A 3mm screw with 16mm of thread in the wood has a characteristic pull strength of 370N, two giving 740N. The string pull over the bridge can be estimated (worst case) at 45 degrees, so we have the normal loading (pulling the screws out) at Load Force = 800sin(45) = 622N. This is well below the 740N (and it is unlikely that a bass is strung with 4 x E strings). Third failure mode: direct shear of the metal pressing / string anchor. Assume the worst case, the string anchor is made from 1mm thick steel plate and the 3mm screws have a contact area of only 1mm2 . Mild steel shear strength is about 345 N / mm2, thus we have about 700N shear force as a possible maximum at 90 degrees (worst case). At 45 degrees, as calculated previously we have a potential maximum shear force of 622N, this is below the 700N maximum. All calculations are worst case scenarios, the real situation gives much greater reserves. The security of the screw / wood interface remains unknown without direct investigation (i.e. the holes are not damaged). If these are in good condition, I think we are safe, however a tidy non visible upgrade would be insert nuts for the tailpiece screws/bolts. All in all no need to worry. My G&L L1505 5 stringer (as does everyone's unless they have made the upgrade) had the bridge held on with two puny wood screws. It worked, it terrified me and I thought / think it was a very poor build feature lol. Guess what I did until recently If there are mistakes in this analysis I can only apologise and state that the 2015 St Emillion was rather good.

One is left wondering how a chap can know this. Whilst fully appreciating your wide and varied education, travels and adventures there are perhaps some chapters that require further exposition. Your readers await... I can only wonder what I consumed at the restaurant MonoBallon, Rue de Teste, Bouzille, during my recent European tour. As an aside, to un homme, Johnny foreigner had an interesting take on Brexit, not at all up for it.

This has to be worth repairing, or in the worst possible case scenario, a new neck has to be constructed (made easier with bolt on construction).

We have an ongoing 'race to the bottom' in my band. What is the cheapest kit you can get away with. £40 ~ 50 basses and guitars seem just fine these days. Using quality amps etc helps. Free as in given to you is not allowed in this competition.

You are probably aware of this, Schaller do a black bridge. Had one on a bass, it looked smart.

You could get the bridge 'black' chromed The motorcycle specialists provide a good service.

I just took the bits (effects boxes etc) to a local firm, £5 later I had a really well finished set of boxes. If you can wait until they run a colour you want it will be cheaper.

Whilst I personally would not cast doubt on the late Raoul's status (since I value my long term well-being), the TGV roof riding incident raises many unanswered questions and few answers about his standing. Clearly Raoul could afford the TGV fare, in fact if the Marseille commérage is only half true, he could have purchased a TGV. So why did Raoul feel the need to wear handcuffs on each hand attached to the pantograph? What was the significance of the ample amounts of foie gras on the soles of his shoes? Why was he unshaven at that time of day? One might suspect foul play by other parties.

Not wishing to worry you, but In the interests of personal safety, you may wish to redact your last sentence. Publicly identifying (or even appertaining to) such personas has given some strange and seemingly inexplicable occurrences. One can only wonder how Raoul came to swallow two golfing 9 irons and a boule de Pétanque whilst roof riding a TGV. Why a gentleman would require two 9 irons is beyond reason.

+ 1 Or even buy an Ibanez as used by Mr Lynott during that era for even less money (and they are very nice basses from personal experience of that time).

No idea, nearest M&S is about 30 miles from where I live, needs a reply from those who live less remotely

Only if you look bloody young but are just backdated with high heels. because simple things you see are all complicated.

Yes very much yes apart from the cost of the Phil basses...

I'm going to buy 5. Phil was a great bass player and this will be a fitting tribute. In other news this week I finally retired after trying 5 years ago, I was also served my divorce papers today, one day before going on holiday

So, one fender custom shop bass or how many original period Fender, Rickenbacker, Yamaha, Ibanez and Roland basses that Phil used can I buy? I think I could probably get one of everything and have change. Great bass player, a lifetime influence on my playing. Must be a typo?

Heads up for Jon Shuker on this as well.

Mine is the 2x15 Eminence 3015LF model (as per above sale). Not aware of boominess, Usually I use an SG bass, Sansamp Leeds and QSC power amp. It works equally well with Peavey Tour 700 I have.

Good quality s/h planer thickeners are out there, I purchased a Sheppach for £300. A good solid German machine, Totally repairable, mine has been faultless other than my stupidity, blades do not like meeting hidden nails. Kitty like this ? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kitty-Planner-Thicknesser-woodwork-machinery/183868405363?hash=item2acf693673:g:xWYAAOSw8EhdG1NZ I have used the same model, seemed a nice machine.