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Hi these look really great. The demo on YouTube sounds good too. Dare I ask is it a heavy thing?

When the fun stops stop

Only 2 tracks up at the moment. But it’s been fun with some fab friends playing on them. https://huemanfactorstheroster.bandcamp.com/track/just-a-prayer https://huemanfactorstheroster.bandcamp.com/track/go-dig-that-well

Don't forget that nice Fender Amp they offered. It sounds great!!

Good news! My car passed the MoT retest. This means I can still consider using my car to car pool with if it is more suitable than my travelling companion's. @pantherairsoft - if everything goes to plan and we share a ride, we could pick one amp, cab or combo from what we've got and cut down on luggage. As before, let's finalise arrangements nearer the time. I have a Laney RB3 combo (LF driver only, unlike recent versions that have an HF driver as well). I also have an Ashdown Toneman 300 combo. I'll leave the 18inch Trace cab behind unless someone specifically asks me to bring it.

Did anybody proceed with a 2x8 version? Not even finished my 12” and already getting the measuring tape out for another build!

Here's a basschatter who won't be entering the 2026 Gear Abstinence Challenge!

DM'ed you.

Just sold my Zoom B2 Four to Jonathan , excellent guy, fast payment , one of the good guys

I think that a digital home piano for me and the kids to play at home is a different enough thing to a stage piano for band stuff that it is worth getting both: Home Piano: 88 weighted keys, good piano sounds, simple interface, built-in speakers, music stand, metronome, size/weight and portability isn't really an issue (in fact, being quite heavy/sturdy might be an advantage). Nothing too fancy needed as I don't want to be paranoid about it getting bashed about by kids. Kawai ES-60 looks a good option and I'll keep my eye out for similar second-hand things. Stage Piano: 73 keys semi-weighted (as I'll play organ and piano), decent piano and organ sounds - ideally with organ drawbars, relatively tough/light/transportable/fits in my small car and on small stages (hence 73 keys, but wanting a bit more than the 61 keys I currently have with a CK-61), roadworthy - so needs a certain level of toughness and the right connections. ...although saying that, a decent stage piano with some small monitor speakers set-up would I'm sure do fine as a home piano so I'll put-off getting a separate home piano for a while. I think I've narrowed the stage piano list down to: Viscount Legend One (£1,555). I really like the sound of this, the features, and the look - something very cool about it. Nord Electro 6D 73 (£1,919) ...although if I was to go for a Nord then I'll wait a while as version 3 = 2009, 4 = 2012, 5 = 2015, 6 = 2018. So an update is well overdue which would either make the older ones cheaper or the improvements in v7 might be worth waitng for. Handily as they are the two seemingly ticking the most of my stage piano boxes there is this comparison at 1hr4mins. This reviewer prefers the Viscount is better (and it's cheaper). My only reservation (beyond where will I get the ££ and what will my wife say!) is that the Nord is a bit more mainstream for holding value and ease of selling second-hand. And this quick review seems to prefer it to the Nord Electro: I do also like the look of: Roland Fantom 07 (possibly a bit big and over-complex and workstation-like for a live stage piano). Studiologic Numa X (no organ drawbars, but at only £850 it certainly saves me a few ££).

Sayre's law "In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake."

My tale of woe. . . . last year one band leader died of a stroke, the guy who took over from her is soon to be off the road with knee surgery, one BL spent 2 months in ICU with pneumonia, 2 BL's between them cancelled a dozen gigs to have hip replacements and another BL is recovering from prostate cancer!! I need to get into a band with 30 year olds! Don't have me in your band. You'll get ill!!

Ive had the B2-Four 3 times now. It's really nice, and the only reason I dont have one now is it started very quickly to be a distraction, always tweaking things etc. Also I got turned on to IR's and these work better for me than the Zoom stuff at home. Ive still got a MB-60 and B1-Four, but never use them. I did have the B3n years ago. Ive also had the MB-60+ twice, but got rid of them for the same reasons above. One thing I can say about the newer versions are they do sound better. A bit cleaner and more open than the old ones. The different DI Outs on the B2-Four actually make a difference, and I found I was justing just that feature for a bit. Ultimately I find all these boxes seem to have a bit of sparkle missing when I use headphones, but not so much when using an amp. Im an iOS user but have never bothered with the app, other than a customary look when I got the first B2-Four. Im more a hands on guy, and I feel I need to know what's what incase im at a gig or can't use the app to make adjustments. I found the B2-Four really simple to use one I figured out what does what and where to find things. I like the extra foot switches on the B2-Four, I think they make for a more versatile pedal, especially live once you get the hang of them.

It's far too easy to do, but worth working on. The other day I caught myself being brusquely pejorative about another local band's output as lazy shorthand for the truth; "I've tried multiple times but I just don't get it. I'm going out to get some chips while it happens.", so I corrected myself there and then. I find that stopping and openly saying "nah, wait, that's balls - I don't actually mean that" isn't all that hard, and if the guys in the band subsequently had it reported to them verbatim that I'd said I didn't get their music and I'd chosen their set to nip out for food, I don't think it'd stop us from having a beer and watching the headliner together later. Loads of other people are either very into what they do, or don't like chips as much as I do.

And we made a more "traditional" music video too...

Memories are not reliable when it comes to sound, but I reckon this new one is in the ballpark - it has that knack of being twangy but thick at the same time. What I can tell you is that this Epiphone feels way better screwed together than my old 1978 Gibson G-3. It just feels less fragile - the pickguard doesn't move/warp ever so slightly when you use the selector switch and the bridge is way sturdier. The neck heel area is much more sculpted and rounded off - the OG G-3 neck heel is basically sharp edged sawn off. Now some of this feeling of sturdiness on the Epi may be unfair as my Gibson G-3 was an alder bodied one instead of maple, so it was definitely lighter. But the old bridge was a slightly better BBOT (in that it had side walls to limit side to side movement) but it used slotted grub screws - by the time I got around to owning it two of them had broken and could only be turned by using pliers. The Badass II is a welcome upgrade, and not unsympathetic - pretty sure a bunch of people fitted Badass bridges to their Grabbers and G-3s back in the day. My only regret so far is that I wish they had gone with clear pickup covers instead of black like the pre '79 G-3 (and my old one) because they look way cool. That's a damn good price for a Gibson G-3 these days. No regrets though - I'd have this Epiphone rather than an OG Gibson any day of the week for the reasons I have outlined above.

I saw Morrissey supporting David Bowie at the Albert Hall. I didn't think much of it, but you can't be "rubbish" to get a gig like that. If someone expresses a dislike by calling something "rubbish" I just mentally tick the "lacking vocabulary" box.