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Having lived in Tamworth for some five years or so that stretches my imagination.

I think I saw them supporting Ministry once. They were good, but of course their first album was the best and they never regained their initial fury. Shame.

I would happily go for a Fender, in fact that would be my preferred choice, but I’d like USA / MIJ quality if at all possible. (No judgement on Mex / Squier etc, just my preference).

I had a body built and specced black walnut. It turns out that black walnut and walnut are not the same thing. The bass is lovely, but it was an expensive lesson.

Same

Two very different gigs this weekend! Friday was the Dysfunctionals 3 piece at the Spread Eagle in Polesworth (Imagine if Tamworth had a frumpy, less glamorous sister). It was one of the smallest places I've ever played - we were wedged inbetween the pool table and the door to the toilets... ROCK 'N' ROLL! It was so small, we couldn't bring all our stuff in (We have too much stuff, especially for gigs of this size, but I digress) so we had to unload the cables and stuff we needed outside and bring them in by the armful. Yay! Little Nige on drums again, always a pleasure but sadly not a long term replacement for the previos custodian of the sticks. Setup was a nightmare as the stage bit between the pool table and the door to the toilets was about the size of an Altoids tin (Altoids Smalls, not the proper ones) so every time you turned round or stood up you'd clout into something. All set up (we had to grease Henry (BL) up to get him out from behind the keyboard) waited around for a bit, went on to about six utterly indifferent punters... the best we got was a very vauge smattering of applause between songs. At half time, a bloke collared me and said how nice it was to see a Bass player smiling... I can't imagine why anyone would think all Bass players are miserable sods (unless they've been on Basschat for more than seven picoseconds). I didn't have the heart to tell him it was more of a rictus grin. Second set was slightly better, a few people came in from the room next door, danced for a verse and a chorus then buggered off again, by the end the 'dancefloor' (the bit in front of the bit between the pool table and the door to the toilets) was packed (it only needed about nine people to be packed) and they enjoyed the last three or four songs, so... that was fun. I joined the dancefloor (TBIFOTBBTPTATDTTT) for the encore, which went down a treat. Pack up and load out was even less fun than load in and set up as the stage bit between the pool table and the door to the toilets had somehow shrunk *and* there were drunken arseholes valued audience members in the way... I would have thought that after the fifteenth "'scuse us... sorry... can we just squeeze through there...?" from chaps with enormous flightcases they would have got the message and gone and stood somewhere else, but alas, no. Mrs StingRayBoy came, she very much enjoyed it. Played the Jazz for a change (inspired by a thread on here about Jazz Basses) -> there wasn't enough room for my little board so I didn't bother -> secret weapons board (wedged onto a shelf) -> MB 802 -> PA. Wore the peach pink sparkle converse. Satuday was depping with the Manchester Ska Foundation at a wedding (Debbie and Andrew) in a marquee outside a pub somewhere near Macclesfield. Arrive at 430, setup was slightly (but not much) more fun than Friday as we had to drag everything through the audience who were sheltering from the rain... there's eight of us and they're all used to it, so it's usually a pretty easy setup. Soundcheck went down well (!), first set at 6 o'clock, we went down a storm. Marquee was packed (It was raining out), everyone loving it, dancing and singing along... fab! The happy couple had their first dance to 'It must be love', which was lovely, the bride's married name is Brown, so 'Sally Brown' (Bad Manners) became 'Debbie Brown' - cue much hilarity and everyone joining in. They fed us (Meat & Potato pie and chips) at half time which was most welcome. Second set was great, a packed marquee (still raining out), all loving it. One of the wedding guests (A very drunken young lady who looked like an AI-designed sex worker (denim thomg, boob tube, knee-high leather boots, cowboy hat)) spent the entire second set haranguing the trombone player, wanting a go on her trombone... so obvioulsy there were lots of blowing/shiny horn/get your lips on that type jokes... hilarious. (The trumpet player let her have a go on his trumpet at the end, but her lips were too big to get a sound out of it.) Played the P -> secret weapons board -> MB 802 -> PA. Wore the cow print converse. Two sets of relentless uptempo ska on the LaBella DTFs took it out of my fingers which I've never really noticed before... I must be getting old. Finished for just after 8, packed up by 9, back in Brum by 10:37 for a cider and a conversation about Lindy Hop with my Stepmum.

For me, I always think to myself "what's the worst that can actually happen?", I mean even if play every note wrong, and accidentally fall off the stage and pants myself in the process, so what? Some mild embarrassment and a funny story, nothing life alteringly bad! Chances are, you'll just have a great time!

Mains transformer would be doable to replace. I think you have one nice Selmer set. It may have only some historical value, but that head could interest people - think about an ampeg Portaflex. Those cabs have old Goodmans elements. If they aren't working, they may be replaceable. Our Amps & Cabs specialists will help you with them.

i will Double check the measurements - nice one!

@Blondy just watch the others for clues

I lose my place when playing a tune and sometimes keeping time escapes me. Cover finishing early** by throwing in an extra note and finishing late by making your next bar a bit shorter so the bar after that starts at the right time **you can gauge both by watching more experienced musicians as said above, as long as it hangs together even vaguely no one will notice

The 200h is a bit limited in terms of EQ control compared to the 500h. Having just looked at the (non-Foundry) 210 200w combo I see what you mean, there’s even less control on that one. Other than using your own EQ pedal I doubt there are any solutions. My 200h is ok for rehearsals but on stage I’d only use my 500h for that very reason - better control of the mids.

Absolutely this. 100%. Also, this being a tribute to your brother, mistakes etc are unimportant - remember him, have fun for him and don't worry about any bum notes.

Thanks for your interest. I will let you know when I make a decision but I’m not in a hurry. It’s a good question, why don’t I play 4 strings any more? I just feel like an extended range suits me. I like being able to play a D below E without having to bend my brain around drop tuning. I like being able to play in F without pivoting so much. When I play a 4 string it’s like getting into a car that has 4 gears or watching a film on an old 4:3 screen. It’s very personal but it just feels more me.

Stop it!

We've all been there 👍

@Bassassin knows!

Bought a cable from John. Quick service, high quality product. What's not to like? Buy with confidence 👍

The true test of a basschatter is how they deal with unforseen technical issues which are out of their control. Jono scores top marks in this regard in how he dealt with an issue relating to an amp I bought from him. He is a true gent and I will not hesitate to do business again. Buy with confidence 👍

In the nicest way, it is worth remembering that audiences don't really care (unless they are aficionados that paid a lot to see your technical skill). Everyone with be supportive.

Just be confident. You know the songs. You know your parts. You know what you’re doing. Go and smash it 💪

1. Rich - Trace Elliot TE-1200 amp, Barefaced Super 12T cab, earplugs , Shuker custom 5, Tanglewood TRB-CE acoustic bass gtr. 2. Woody - Rickenbacker 4004-L5, maybe Sei Flamboyant, Same old basschat 12" with some amp, other stuff TBC 3. Pinball (tbc) - some interesting basses 4. Stubsy - Joyo BadASS, GRBASS AT212 slim - only 50W but that should give 120dB at one metre 😇. (or I bring my TE 1110 combo). Some fun pedals. Perhaps the AVII 1960 precision, the Sire P10 and maybe the Fender Performer and something unexpected... 5. Sean - Mesa 400+, Laney Nexus Tube 400 [oh jeez], MJW Taranis 200 (Filthbox Matamp clone with extra channel and EQ), GK MBF500, GK Fusion 550, 2 x LFSys Monaco, 2 x Japanese Market Spector Euros with LHZ-03 preamps, Valenti #005 Super P, Yamaha BB1300, my small but well-appointed pedal-board (Origin Cali 76, Origin DCX, Aguilar Chorusaurus, etc) plus a mini walk-in bass surgery if interested. Plus whatever I might be selling at the time. 6. Rosie - likely I'll bring my upright, set up for bluegrass/folk/jazz if anyone's not played upright before and fancies a go 7. Phil - BassChat cabs, maybe some sort of shootout? 8. MikeD - Laney Digbeth, Zilla 212, Dingwall Combusion, Revelation PJ, pedals, try to finish home made bass🤞🤞🤞🤞 9. neepheid - G&L CLF L-1000, Yamaha BB1200, Sire D5, Sire Z7, Greco LGB-700, Reverend Triad, Epiphone Les Paul (not so) Standard, Epiphone Thunderbird '64, Squier Jaguar H (with Ibanez CAP double humbucker from ATK200/800 etc), Gear4Music rat bass (with Lace Aluma-P), £150 giggable bass challenge, 1 or 2 amps depending upon space... 10. Jabba_the_gut - Note sure what stuff yet........10. Jabba_the_gut - Status 3000, Status 4000, Stingray 4, USA Sub 5, Markbass Tube, some pedally bits inc Valeton GP5 cheaply thing 11. Wolverinebass - Grainger Hades, HX Stomp, GK Fusion 1200s. 12. Japanaxe - Precision(s) & Dingwall(s), DIY 100W Bassman head if finished by then(!) as people seemed to like my B15 clone, At least 1 other amp (see sig) 13. JohnDaBass - Fender Imp combo, Fender Mike Kerr Jaguar, Fender Stu Hamm Urge 1, HB ThunderStang, Squier Paranormal Rascal, Mark Bass Bronco ( very yellow), Ashdown Capri ( very Pink) 14. Geek99 (tentative) - sire v7 5 string (rapidly becoming my favourite bass ever), vintage est96a (punches above its weight as judged by basschat midlands massive and Stub Mandrel), Tc electronic bh250 and A cab that was dragged out of the sea (Possibly) but only cost £10 15. chienmortbb - Fender Aerodyne AJB65, G4M pretend aerodyne, Sire Narcus M2 (possibly for sale. Ashdown Restoglide 800 and Bugera Veyron 1001M, LFSys Monza cab. Possibley a number of accessories for sale. I might have to rrim the list as I am due an op shortly and am not allowed to lift anything for 6 weeks. You will notice me as the bloke with no trousers. 16. Richard R. - Brawley 4 and 5 string basses, Ashdown ABM C300-100+15"extension, Roland V-Bass COSM system pedalboard plus HB Musicman fitted with hex pickup, headphone amp, raffle prizes. Hopefully my son and his Ibanez. Definitely trousers. V-bass system and bass possibly for sale. 17. Scrumpymike - Gillett Contour ST; Harley Benton MV-4MSB Gotoh BM; Rascal Mervyn-Lyte (Fender Rascal re-bodied a-la P Lyte by Andy Jr); Sandberg California ll SL TM 4 SHORT with recent Aguilar upgrade; Vox Starstream A2S; Ampeg SVT-7 PRO; Fender Rumble 100 combo; BF Super Compact Gen 3; LFSys Monaco. 18. rwillett - Depending on what space @neepheid leaves me in the car, Fender Jazz, 3d printed headless, 3d printed jazz & 3d printed six string (if I finish them both), Jazz Bitsa, Matching Westone 1A Guitar and Bass, Mustang Bass, Gnome Pro V2, some sort of large speaker that was donated. Possibly a Strat and.or Tele to provoke sharp intake of breath, Tonex and Mod Dwarf. If he brings too much, either he's sitting on the roof bars or I am