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Your thumbs of doom have produced a true dilemma - would you "love" to, or would you merely "like" to?

Another good one gone. One of those artists who we all took for granted, but now he's no longer with us I can't think of any equivalent singer-songwriter to replace him. I remember hearing an interview with Chris Rea once where he spoke about wanting to be like Joni Mitchell, where each album was a progression of his style regardless of commercial appeal or fashion trends. Well, I think he achieved that, so rest peacefully Chris.

Good god! Makes spaceflight look simple. That was awesome... I hate musicals but I'd love to see that!

Yes sorry i meant 0.12" not mm, There's not much to adjusting the truss rod just don't force anything if its too tight. a slight adjustment can make a world of difference. Theres a good video here , its worth a try .

I would be open to the possibility.

Hi there, so let me start off with quick introduction as this is my first post - so I am an amateur musician who after 15 years spent with electric guitar decided to learn how to properly write a bassliness, and now after 2 years spent as a bassist I’ve started to feel a GAS for getting myself an amp. As my experience with bass gear is still limited, I wanted to reach out to You for an advice. So my background is I’ve been playing in the rock/metal band which is based around 90’s/00’s music and for the last year I’ve been using the HX stomp that I had in my guitar setup (used as FX unit only, no amp sims in the rehearsal setup involved) paired with Darkglass Alpha Omega Ultra (used as single setting always on pedal) - (size/weight wise) it’s simple pedalboard that I am plugging in front of anything that’s available in rooms We are rehearsing. Generally, I am pretty happy with the results, issue is though - there is one room where Ampeg SVT3 Pro is available and anytime We manage to book a slot there, I feel like the sound I am getting is just on another league comparing to the results on the other rooms with different backline, and the difference to my ears is so huge that I started to thinking about getting myself the amp to have similar joy wherever We play (unfortunately our Drummer is a sound engineer with work schedule all over the place so simple solution to book a weekly slot in that room is not possible…). As I am so much happy with the sound I am getting out of that SVT and as used SVTs are not that expensive I am generally leaning to getting myself one, however, since I am already after the phase of lugging tons of gear around I wanted to check if there aren’t any lighter/more portable alternatives out there I should check out prior pulling a trigger? One thing I’d like to highlight is that I don’t want to compromise the sound much - if I were to feel anything is missing comparing to the results I am getting with SVT I think I’ll just accept the additional 13 kg in the rig. I guess since I am using Alpha Omega constantly, obvious answer would be to look at the Darkglass head, however, issue with that is I am feeling that Ampeg is placing crucial role in the signal chain. I’ve played few different heads (mainly some ashdowns, so I think it may be a lower range comparing to SVT), haven’t been able to get such results, and whenever I play anything else it’s a constant tweaking, where when I plug to this SVT it’s just everything at noon, tube gain to 3/4 and I am delighted. A bit similar thing happens when I record stuff - Alpha Omega with IR is good at it’s own, but placing it in front of the SVT is way better (with preference to SVT comparing to other models / Profiles), which also puts me a bit off of the Darkglass heads as I think their design is pretty much pairing their pedals with clean solid state power amp? Last thing to state is this is pretty much limited to the rehearsal setup - I haven’t gigged as a bassist yet, but going through the feedback of my friends who work as a sound guys locally I think I’ll just use HX with Alpha Omega as a direct setup with in ears monitoring (having no space in flat for a bass cab / being happy with direct tone being another factor here). Thanks for help in advance and sorry for a text wall! cheers.

I think you made the right call going with the Vintera, I had a Vintera P bass a while ago and I moved it on as I only really play short scales but it was a fantastic bass, way better than any Squier I have they played, you do get what you pay for.

I think a complete excemption should be made for any instrument purchases for dependant children who are learning to play. Though I'm tempted to exclude descant recorders and half-size violins. Also @neepheid - do yoy fancy running the 2026 challenge? Give you something to do as a displacement activity from buying and selling basses? 😉

Here you go ian goes through how it works as well as his rig.

Really cool, looking forward to hearing what you think about it!

I've not done pit work, but I have done stage management and lighting design, so I think I can answer some of this. The phone handset isn't for talking to the band. It'll be hooked up to a talk-back circuit - essentially a closed-circuit intercom system - that allows the stage manager, conductor, lighting and sound operators to talk to each other. If the show uses follow-spots, their operators will be on the talk-back too. Music rehearsals will include lengthening parts of songs, cues to play riffs at odd places and repeat some parts. Those will be agreed between the music director and the show director, and be rehearsed seperately. It's not unknown for the actors not to encounter the band until the first technical rehearsal. They'll have been working with backing tracks up to then. When a show does go off-piste - and you're right, pantos do do that - the people who keep it on track are the stage manager, the conductor and the lighting and sound people. The band will have rehearsed what might go off-script and be able to respond accordingly.

I thought it was slightly more useful than all three of us being bassists in the same house…. Besides, good drummers are as rare as chicken lips, and the guitar lad is already well on his way to fronting bands, so good luck to them.

I've cut the grill to size and used Gorilla tape on the outside of the frame just to keep it clean tidy. I've printed some riser blocks for the outside of the grill that fit in the corners of the cabinet. The ones in the picture are far too large, but they're to check things out and I'll print some better ones shortly. These will be glued to the front of the baffle (NoNails) and will have a M3 nut embedded in them. The hole for the nut is aligned to the holes in the grille. On top of the riser block will be some adhesive rubber, 1mm thick), to stop vibrations. More riser blocks may be needed, but the principle is set now. I have the "advantage" of not gigging at the moment, as there's only me and the drummer, so little chance or marauding fans rushing the stage sadly. It's very, very likely that I'll design some M3 handbolts to screw into the riser block. These will probably have the felt washers that are on the guitar strap buttons to further reduce vibration (or may not). I designed a lot of hand bolts for astrophotography, you can check them out here (https://starclamps.com/), these are all parameterised so I have lots of options. I also have some nice brass ones somewhere which might look nice. The red corner pieces have been redesigned so that they don't protrude as far into the baffle area as before, to give the grill some some space. The hand bolts should allow the grille to be taken off easily, Once I've painted the baffle board matt black, most of the riser elements will simply disappear, well that's the idea. Lets see how it works. but I'm off from tomorrow to London so nothing will be progressing. Have a good Xmas all Rob

I sometimes gig with the guys in the pit at Bristol. They’re absolutely incredible players and lovely people.

In the arms of Mrs. Mark of Cain. Pixies

Here you go…

Having volunteered for the pit orchestra for a show in May in the local theatre I will find out some of this, though it won't be a panto. More of this sort of thing.

In The Arms Of Sleep - Smashing Pumpkins

Complete fluke, the complete bass part to 'Fato Consumado' from the 1976 Djavan album, 'A Voz, O Violão, A Música De Djavan'. The bass player is Arthur Maia's uncle, Luizão Maia. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/fato-consumado-djavan/

Love the 734. It does a real good p and a real nice stingray/jazz bite if needed too. Nice and easy to play.

Here's the new video to mark 50 years of Greg Lake's "I Believe In Father Christmas"

The latest update from Gary at Upton Bass. I’m liking what I’m hearing from the additional sound holes 🤔 Here

+1 for micropore tape..

Initial cutting and routing done on this beauty, just need to shape in the front and back.