Delberthot

I really want to go and see Fishbone in the Garage in Glasgow but don't know anyone who likes them. Is anyone here going?

If it comes to it I'll go myself but I prefer to go with other mental fans.

Cheers


:-D

I spent the best part of 3 years buying, trying and selling bases to find what I wanted.

I decided to take the best parts of all of the basses I had liked and have them made into something of my own.

I began with a wenge neck like my Thumb bass had. Ebony fretboard like my Bass Collection 5 string. Mahogany body like my 30th Anniversary Stingray. routed for a SCBP pickup and tele headstock like my '51 reissue P bass. I did in fact own over 30 basses but these had the best features.

To make it really different I had the body finished in gold flake, all gold hardware, the gold frets that they offer and Optima gold strings.

Looks really mental/out there man/ gay(according to my drummer) but I stand by it and it does look fantastic, especially under lights.

I only have one problem with it. they make the necks so stable that there is no adjustment to give more relief due to the steel rods that they use. I could actually take the truss rod out and the neck wouldn't move.

I plan on taking it to Jimmy Moon in glasgow to put a bit more relief into it and also fix the small mistake I made when putting it together. I wanted a Warwick just-a-nut but the neck was only precut to fit a standard nut so I went in and created a bigger groove and fired the new nut in. Unfortunately I put it in the wrong place so the notes on the first few frets are a mile out.

Apart from that, its fantastic. Absolutely rock solid - not neck heavy like some people have said in the past. Highly recommended for anyone who wants something to suit them that they cannot find in a music store. Just make sure that you know exactly what you want cos you'll get hee haw for it when you sell it because most people unfamiliar with their work believe them to be just a parts company rather than a company making what I would call high quality guitar parts easily better than any american fender i have played.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Its one of a handful of radio stations that I listen to.

Being in central Scotland we also have Rock Radio which is one of my other favourites.

I listen to Planet Rock every day, it can't go - right, where's my lottery ticket?

They're all made in Japan. I don't think they have done a MIM one. There have been Masterbuilt ones made in America but that's about it.

One of the finest basses I ever owned in terms of quality of sound, playability and build quality.

I had one of the 2 tone versions as I have to agree that the lungbutter yellow one is a bit horrid to look at although I have seen some that are more pleasing on the eye.

It was the last bass I bought during my quest for the ideal bass before I had my Warmoth built with a '54 body with SCPB quarterpounder and original P bass headstock.

Absolutely hated having to sell it but the lack of contour got to me after a while, even though i would wear a sweatband on my right wrist. Same reason that I have never got on with the bound bodied Rickenbackers.

I've managed to get it down to:

trip 1 from the car: 4u Rack with amp and tuner inside in one hand and Schroeder 212L in the other.

trip 2: Small rucksack with cables on my back, Bass in one hand, 2 stands in the other.

That's it

I think there's someing that SKB put in the cases to make them smell. There are different smells but my previous Ricks and my current Stingray smell of maple syrup.

In fact, I'm not using the case for my stingray. I've had it in a gig bag for the last month and the bass still smells like this.

I've used the Maxima gold strings before but wasn't sold on them.

I forgot to mention that the body is rear routed so it won't have a scratchplate or control plate and I have chosen the Gotoh 201 bridge

I find myself using my thumb more and more for tunes with one of my bands and want to learn how to play like sting does but can't find anything to show me how it is done.

Lets face it - it looks cool and is completely different to normal. I have only ever seen one other bass player play like this.

I am fully versed in "regular" 2 fingered playing and just want to add something different to my repertoire.

Any sources of info are fully appreciated.

I thought I'd let out the details to my next bass. So far only my wife knows the details (she doesn't really care though) Based on the delivery schedule the guys at Warmoth have given me - it is due around Christmas.

I love my '51 reissue precision but hate the fact that it is so jaggy - as in the lack of contouring so I have gone with a '54 style mahogany body which will be finished in Gold Flake.

I loved the neck on my Warwick Thumb NT5 so I have gone with a Wenge neck and Ebony fretboard with no dots on the fretboard.

All of the hardware is gold and I have also ordered the neck with the copper alloy fretwire which looks like gold.

I have gone with the standard Fender single coil pickup as I think that this is the best one for me. the pots are CTS 500k and I have a .047 Sprague cap for the tone.

the only 2 things I need to get are the nut and strings. I had ordered an ABM JAN bridge from Bass Parts Resource but they don't have any so I may get it from Warwick or may go for a JAN III.

I am toying over the idea of getting TI flats for it or staying with my regular EB Hybrid Slinkies or going for something completely different.

As soon as I have the parts, I will be posting lots of pictures

The other thing I want to do is get a decal for the headstock. I don't want one that says it is a Fender because it will obviously not be one. I have seen one that says "Fender Telebastard" and would like something along the same vain but can't tink of anything witty like that

i reherse at a place in Bonnybridge, near me, called The Bunker. I usually play through an Ashdown 15" combo with Peavey 4x10" underneath it and am really impressed with it.

I have been taking my own gear to practices for years so it is really good to be able to just fire my bass, a strap and a cable into the boot.

£8 an hour so its not bad. No more mucking around with gear and cables - enough of that at the gigs

I've never actually owned an American fender as i have never felt them to be worth the extra dough.

I have had one Mexican Precision; a Geddy Jazz (CIJ); SQ Squier Precision (MIJ); JV Squier Precision (MIJ); 2 '51 reissue Precisons (CIJ)

the first time I bought one of the '51s I thought that it had such an amazing sound but at the time I couldn't live without a low B as I had been playing 5ers for the best part of 10 years. Many basses later I bought another one after making the transition back to 4 strings and I absolutely love it.

I've never been able to get a good sound from the split P pickup but the straight single coil is 'my sound'. It is the absolute best bass I have ever played.

I've had some corkers of basses over the years - around 10-12 Stingrays including 3 5ers a 20th and a 30th anniversary 4 string; 3 Ricks; Warwick thumb NT5; Yamaha TRB 6 fretless; Thunderbird; Modulus Flea.

this is the kind of comparison that I am making - to me this bass is much much better than any of these. Some basses have got close but never delivered as much as my current one.

Its dead simple to get a great sound from it. the 2 saddle bridge is limiting to get the intonation right but I love it.

Can you tell that i like this bass?

I've been using one of the Fender rack ones for the last year and am very impressed. Tunes very quickly and have used it with 4, 5, 6 & 8 string basses with no problems. Its also cool as the leds do a Knight Rider sweep from left to right when you are not playing and a big blue Fender 'F' lights up when you are in tune.

A box for a 46" TV is perfect

Playing tonight but then again its a wedding and I am in Scotland so it won't affect me

When I was learning I found "Sweet Home Alabama" from the Blue Brothers really helped me a lot to work this out.

When you think about it, it is just a minor scale - the main notes, if you were in E are:

E Ab B C# E C# B Ab

and

E Ab B C# D C# B Ab

Once you learn this shape you can't go wrong

I have always used my index more than my middle finger but I am more comfortable this way.

I used to get lessons when I was 15 from James Finnegan (Hue & Cry and Stiltskin) and he used to get me to play alternate fingers.

Whenever I am playing a gig I half expect him to come up to me and tell me to play it properly.

One kind of unfunny thing happened to me last week - I was playing a long gig. I have a skin thingy that means that my skin sometimes gets thin in areas (no you can't catch it). I went to adjust my tie under my bass and made contact with my right middle finger and left pinky.

this resulted in me cutting open my right middle finger. Luckily it was half an hour before the end of the gig and I was able to play with thumb and index finger until the singer decided to do "Let Me Entertain You" by Robbie Williams. Carp as Robbie is, this song is very fast so i had no choice but to play it with both fingers. Pain city but I was able to play it spot on.

Back on topic - if you want to practice alternating fingers try "hit Me with your Rhythm stick" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. I believe its the ultimate tune for practicing this

Timing.

If I don't have a beat to follow I still get lost.

I've been playing for 20 years and still struggle with this.

I can play a million notes an hour but can't keep a steady tempo unless someone is marking it for me.

I'm about to begin drumming lessons so hopefully this will remedy this.

When I was 14, I was learning to play the double bass and reading at the same time. I was really terrible at reading.

3 years later I was given the chance to join a big band playing big band tunes of the 20s, 30s, 40s etc. When asked "can you read music?" I of course said "yes".

When I went to my first audition, there were another 2 people going for the position and the person leaving was my old double bass tutor!

I must have bluffed it enough because I got the part.

I used to get old DB players coming up to me saying how much they enjoyed my playing but being absolutely honest I was making 75% of it up (I was playing the first note and making the rest up)

Even today when I get asked to fill in with jazz bands and stuff I still bluff it completely. I can read the notes but have no idea how to read the individual notes properly with semi quavers and rests etc. I still regularly get lost half way through tunes.

I've played in a weding/function/dinner dance band for the past 11 years so have developed a knack for making stuff up as we regularly have to play songs that we don't normally do.

there is a big secret and I may divulge it someday but there are only a few patterns that you can actually play when covering other peoples tunes (except Frank Sinatra & Nat King Cole) which means that i can very rarely make a mistake when playing an unfamiliar tune.

I'm not being a show off, I just discovered the pattern.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

The first tune I played on a five string was "Righteous and the Wicked" by the Chilis.

Although you'll very rarely see Flea with anything more than 4 strings he used a 5 string for this song as well as "Funky Monks" but then again he was out of his tits on drugs for most of the recording of BSSM

I slap on my '51 reissue precision every gig at some point. I love the sound I get with it.

Being absolutely honest - material and pickups are going to have a big influence over the sound. If you don't know what you want then I would suggest that you try different basses.

I have been compiling an ultimate composite of bass properties over the last couple of years to find my perfect bass which comprises of Mahogany body for growl, Wenge neck for quickness, Ebony fretboard for solidity and brightness and Single coil Precision pickup for my perfect tone. I am having this bass made just now.

There are many different woods you can use for bodies, necks and fretboards from Afzelia to Zebrano as well as ebonol and carbon-fibre that affect the tone

If you pick the wrong components and you don't like the sound at the end of it then you will get tuppence and a button if you sell the bass again.

I'm playing in a rock covers band and there's a couple of Paul Rodgers songs that we do - one requires a low D and the other a low B - both using fretless so i put together a parts bass for this.

Its a cheap jazz knockoff with a mighty-mite neck with ebonol fretboard - I have it tuned B E A D and used a set of DR Marcus Miller Badmofo strings.

i had to adjust the action (string height, intonation, truss rod) but other than that it was a walk in the park. really straightforward if you are used to setting up basses - if not then get someone else to do it or at least show you how to do it

£32 from strings direct - £16 from Thomann

I haven't been able to find any other tranny amp anywhere near as good as the GK stuff.

I used an 800RB for years and then went off on an amp expedition only to come back to the 700RB II. the dogs danglies

I had an EVO II 500 RC discombobulator as part of a stack that I bought, complete with 2 ABM 115s.

I absolutely hated the sound. very indistinct, no definition, managed to blow a speaker in one of the cabs.

I'm back with GK which are IMO the king of tranny amps (transistor - not the other type of tranny) and a Schroeder 1212L cab. Couldn't be happier. Well I could be if I won the lottery, was chosen by the Chilis as their replacement for Flea, I could go on but you get the idea.