u/jasonuhlaw

These Commando leather vests from Straight to Hell are pretty great, but they cry out for adornments. After using acrylic leather paint to accent the edges and front panel, I used an awl to punch out holes for all the pins (which are all secured with pin keepers). I sustained one puncture wound in the process, lol.

Just the essentials for me in my 90s cover band:
Fender P-Bass >
Boss TU-3w Tuner >
Boss BC-1X Bass Compressor >
Darkglass Microtubes B3K Overdrive >
Darkglass Duality Fuzz Engine >
Dunlop Bass Wah Mini >
Ampeg SVT

I just finished converting this Gretsch G5260T into a pretty great Bass VI. There were a few things I had to do to make it work well:

1. The stock pickups were way too quiet and didn’t handle the low E string as well as I’d like. It turns out that Rickenbacker Hi Gain guitar pickups are a perfect drop in replacement. The screws lined up exactly, and the pickups fit into the existing route without any modification. And they sound great!
2. Getting the low E and A strings to mount on that Bigsby is an exercise in frustration. The fix for me was a Vibramate Bigsby spoiler.
3. The big strings were getting seized up on the stock bridge, so I replaced that with a Tune O Matic style roller bridge. Another drop in replacement.
4. My band does a lot of Drop-D tuning, so I put on a Hipshot Xtender GT-1. Dropped in without any modification. Downside: the tuning key button doesn’t match.
5. Finding 24-95 gauge strings for this is proving to be a pain still. The Stringjoy set has D and G strings that are too short (not enough winding length). The Ernie Ball short scale Bass VI pack has an A string that is just slightly too short as well. The Fender Bass VI pack is good, except that it has a .100 gauge low E string, which is pretty big with strings spaced so close together. I may have to do some mixing and matching, even if that is blasphemous, haha.

I’m still new to the Bass VI thing. But this guy is inspiring me to dive in and play.

Megadeth, Inferi, Show N’ Tell, Exhumed, Lamp of Murmuur, Blood Incantation, Left to Die, Hellripper, Black Label Society, Hoaxed, Stormkeep, Transilvania, Worm, Darkthrone, Spirit Adrift, and Khemmis.

Just waiting patiently for Gibson to re-release their Flying V basses so I can scratch all my itches. Please!

Just got a 2005 Gibson Les Paul bass in Honey Burst. This thing sounds so darn good. Strong, bright tone with tons of sustain (maybe because it weighs a zillion pounds, lol). The neck is quite thick; probably more so than a P bass. The Hipshot GB7 X-tender tuning key is a drop in replacement. I’ll set the record straight on something that is often misreported on these basses: there is no noticeable neck dive.