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... is absolutely not required to replace me as the bass player in long-standing covers band The Junkyard Dogs. Based in Harrow, we've been going a long time (since 2010 in this incarnation) and the line-up has changed occasionally. As part of a serious refresh, I want to move sideways onto keys which of course means bringing in a new bassist. My God-like ability on bass is totally non-existent so any competent player would be perfectly capable of stepping in. We play essentially the hits of 1965-85 so there is no requirement to slap, tap or sweep, and very little call for relentless disco octaves everywhere. Getting all chordal on our asses or playing jazzy bass solos is pretty much contra-indicated. If you can sing then that's a bonus, but not a requirement. If you can play another instrument then that's also a bonus, but not a requirement. We currently play around 20 gigs a year but we're looking to gradually ease back up to our natural home, which is c.30 gigs a year. We go out for £250-£300 a gig, very occasionally £360, so this time next year we won't be millionaires. We try to rehearse every week (usually a Thursday but we can be flexible), not so much because we feel we need to but because we're a friendly bunch who enjoy each other's company. We're all in our 60s but - yet again - that's not a requirement. We have our own excellent rehearsal facility in Sudbury Hill, close to the Piccadilly Line, but for gigging purposes any incoming band member must have their own gear & reliable transport. If you're not up for this yourself but you think you might know someone who'd be a good fit, please feel free to pass on the details. https://www.lemonrock.com/junkyarddogs https://www.facebook.com/junkyarddogslondon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTdLOzCAQkvIfkFdnhTLP4Q

Nicely put, my problem - and to be honest it was a problem - was that as a kid I had zero money as was largely the case with my family. Even my early 80's Satellite Bass was a stretch for my family, so I 'd look through gear mags and daydream about owning one of two basses, a MM Stingray or a Hagstrom Swede (I SO wanted a Hagstrom Swede....._ ..and that 'life will be better if.....' thing takes hold in the same way as s many other habits of thought or action take hold. And then in my 40's when for the first time in my life my incomings exceeded my outgoings, that thing came back and tugged at my consciousness. Took me close to 15 years to get on top of it. A great if expensive journey, but one from which I'm glad to have got to my destination 👍

My rule about this is that if you just don't care, sell it. If you have even the slightest hesitation, hold on to it until you don't anymore because any money you earn will eventually get spent and then you will have nothing anyway. And once the instrument is gone, it's gone.

You Talk Too Much - Sultans of Ping

what they just said.

Ditto

I did a gig on Saturday and one of the other players had a v7. There are definitely a few about in the wild but I suspect that those who bought them do not frequent bass gear forums. I didn't get to use it. I used the house supplied TC Electronic BQ500. It was perfectly fine given that I was running a Sansamp through the preamp anyway. Personally, I think that the Venture designs look nice but the product line is about 7-8 years too late to make a significant splash in the market.

The Passenger - Iggy Pop

Based on all the stuff I’m reading on this forum, can I assume to say that, at 57, I am about the average age here? If so I have a question: Can anyone recommend strategies for finding people our own age to play music with? Specifically, either originals or less common stuff like garage rock, shoegaze, trip hop, or Cavern Club/Hamburg-style beat. The only options I have found locally are either weekly blues jams – I’ve never had any interest in that – or ads for pub bands who want to want to play covers to get people dancing – also not my thing. I moved to west London 5 years ago and it’s become apparent to me that all the interesting stuff is in east London, but the people there are in their 20s and 30s so that’s no good either. Do I have to face the facts that maybe it’s time to hang up my bass strap and pass the torch to the young’uns?

If this was me, I'd either leave it as it is, or sand the headstock back to the wood and do it again properly.

I had a similar experience when I went from the KZ’s to the Sennheiser IE100’s. The sound is just ‘better’ all round to my tired old ears, and as they as less bulky they are easier to wear.

There's no harm in looking and while there are plenty of things I might like to own I don't actually need any of them. Having said that, it has taken just over 50 years of buying and selling along with several advancements in technology that have rendered many of the instruments I wanted when I was younger irrelevant, to get to this point.

One band I was in had this scenario. I took the amp home and measured 60volts to earth. It's not static. It's caused by the 0v of the transformer output not being at Earth potential as it's not grounded via the mains plug. The potential problem is a fault inside the amp causes a fire or the case to become live. An RCD detects an imbalance between the neutral and live. Which you won't get as the 240v side of the transformer is working as expected.

The BC Vetting Committee might want to take a look at your suitability for continued membership 🤔

What, the Walker Bro's?... 🤣

I actually interviewed Rod for a local newspaper while he was on site. It was hard getting him to open up about the work, when quizzed he said he didn't want to talk about it. Then he said he was only joking and proceeded to explain the house building process. Foundations to begin with and apparently the first cut is the deepest. He said they were making good progress due to the dry weather, I asked if he'd ever seen the rain, to which he replied he'd had to start wearing shorts as his legs were always hot, some guys have all the luck I thought. He asked if I thought his hi-vis vest made him look sexy, ooh la la. I told him he wears it well. I had to leave it there as Rod had to wake up a co worker called Maggie to catch a train downtown to get supplies.

That's pretty much where I'm coming from with it. Nice bit of kit, but not right for me. If I spent more time recording on my computer and tweaking sounds for recording purposes, and wanting to do it on a physical unit rather than using plugins, I'd probably get a lot more out of it. It's interesting though, I was reading the FB Darkglass Anagram group, looking for answers about my expression pedal issue, and a lot of people have been complaining that there's been something wrong with this current batch that have just been sent out to dealers. Darkglass are denying it, but there does seem to be issues - the noise thing is one, the DI output being inconsistent and noisy is another, and lots of complaints about the performance of the compressors and various other things. Wouldn't be surprised if the current batch end up being recalled.

Still enjoying the fact that Scott Walker has been reduced to “this Walker Brother” in this thread! 🤣

These don't really come up often for sale. Last one I saw was from a dealer who was looking at close to £2,000. I would have thought for a private sale it would clear somewhere in the £1,600-1,800 allowing for some inflation. It really depends however on how much you want it, it's definitely a bass that you want to snap up when you come across it if it feels right. I have been keeping an eye out myself for a faded sonic blue one and they just don't seem to get sold!

Yes Magellan amps are quiet and neutral sounding if you want it Build quality is awesome too

The V4B is very nice too 😉

I have a rule though. I have to spend more time practising and playing than I do looking at gear online!

I think I paid the same back in 1993 for my beaten-up trans red maple 4h 2EQ! I got it in a store in Cardiff, if I remember right, along with a Peavy 160w combo. Honestly though, I am very much starting to feel that I want to move it on. At last.