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Is there any reason for going for a combo rather than separates?

Back at it after a weekend off, with Nine Lives at The Railway Club in Keith. A weird one - I wasn't feeling 100%, had been fighting a lurgy for the past few days but had got myself to the "you'd be well enough to go to work" type state so I decided to go for it. Unfortunately, it wasn't very busy - probably an effect of the Greece vs. Scotland game being live on the Beeb. Things got a bit better in the second half, we had people sporadically come through from the bar area to see us for a few songs then bog off back to the bar. Yet we were still treated to some chair dancing and acrobatics/tumbling. How odd! It was more interesting from the gear point of view, as this was the first time I had taken my Jack Casady out to a gig since I finally got a replacement coil and fitted it. Happy to report that it is back to its normal self - capable of generating feedback, but in a controlled way (instead of reacting simply to being in the same room as a not very loud amp, as was when the dodgy coil was in there). There was a sustained note for 4 bars during one song during which the JC did a lovely slow feedback buildup - became noticeable around bar 2 and built up gracefully (and quite musically) but never to annoying levels. Chopped it dead at the next bar. Loved it. My JC is back doing its JC thing. Gear was the Epiphone gang (Jack Casady then Thunderbird) into the cubist wasps.

100% agree. I think that whole 2012–2016 run of American Standard basses with the Custom Shop pickups is some of the best output Fender has ever made. I’ve got three other lovely vintage basses, but I’ve had my oly white 2013 Jazz for three months now and haven’t wanted to touch anything else, and I really don’t think that’s going to change. It’s fantastic in every way.

We played the Wheatsheaf in Calne last night with the drummer from our first band, 35yrs back. We’ve reunited a handful of times in recent years and it’s both nice to have a real drum beat & good to have 60% of my Sixth Form band back together. We’re just so comfortable in each other’s skin. I thought we played well. I was on my mandocello for 90% of the show and there were flashes of us all being really on it at times. The two bands who were on after us both came up after and said “how are we supposed to follow that?”, which was typical of the ego free and friendly nature of this multi band gig, raising money for Bristol Children’s Hospital. For the record, music has never been about competition and both bands did their thing well. I was particularly impressed with some of the earlier bands who were so young. I was talking to some 17yr old bassist who really impressed me and it’s so good to see that generation getting out there and doing it. A great day.

Just pulled the trigger on one of these. Thought it sounded interesting, worth a punt for the price. Anyone else have any experience of this? I'm expecting it to be very guitar oriented, but I'm sure there'll be usable stuff in there. https://uk.donnermusic.com/products/donner-pocket-go-portable-preset-pedal-multi-effects-processor-for-guitar

So, the answer seems to be "get something with more power, and more bass-presence, and turn it down at home" That makes sense - certainly, it is was what I did. My Laney 30 watt amp upgraded to a 100 watt SWR Workingman 12. I gave away the Laney when I realised that the SWR functioned as a band amp and a home amp too.

7/8 madness with Tim Lefebvre on bass. Donny McCaslin - Faceplant Described on the interwebs as jazz virtuosity with raw, aggressive, punk-like visceral energy, flat-out aggressive, pushing its intensity "far into the red".

Good, smooth transaction with @Stuart Clayton for my EBS Octabass. Fast payment and good friendly comms. Recommended and thanks for the sale, Cos

Let It Happen - Tame Impala

... when I had an email conversation with them about it regarding the Blackpanel '64, their design philosophy was to recreate a specific sounding amp/cab combo, not a general preamp type thing.

My Dad had one of these in his gig bag.

You could but Id recommend sticking in a Dingwall triple humbucker. You'll have to modify the body a touch obviously but I could lend you a hammer and chisel

Mine arrived on Friday. To say I'm delighted is an understatement. At 9.2lb it's no lightweight but definitely manageable for me - so happy there. This was a B Stock Bass so I immediately scrutinised it. All I could find was the tiniest imperfection in the paint on the front, invisible from a metre away. So for £289, an absolute bargain. The Rosegold finish is lovely, almost, but not quite, pearlescent. The neck is a bit deeper front to back than I'm used to and the finish is a gorgeous satin that feels really nice. It's got a slight tint that looks really classy. All the fit and finish is flawless. The action was a bit high with the slightest of back bow in the neck, but 20 mins with a tuner and a couple of Allen Keys soon sorted that. Got a nice low action on it now and it plays like a dream. I went for a Z3 as opposed to a Z7 for the simplicity of the preamp. I've got a bass with the Z7 pre - and it sounds great and is very versatile, there's just a bit too much there for me to manipulate quickly while playing live. What I've found though, is that each band of EQ on the Z3 is so powerful, I'm using it in conjunction with the volume control which again gives me a lot of choice and makes it quite the distraction! Having said all that, it sounds bloody brilliant. Just like a Stingray. I love the sound, but I'm not sure it's a sound I could use my current band. Although it sounds ace, the EQ can't really change the fundamental tone of this bass. It sounds like a 'Ray. Tweak the controls and it sounds like . . . . a 'Ray with the tone controls tweaked. And that ain't a bad sound to have! I'd been wanting to scratch a Stingray itch for a while now and had considered investing in the real deal, but I'm glad I didn't - I can't honestly think I'd easily find one as good as this - and for under £300! It would've been nice if they'd kept the 3/1 headstock that appeared on the prototypes, but this headstock looks good now they've reshaped it a bit and the gold Moniker looks tasty!

Additional - I've just bought a third set - we've got a gig coming up which is a right PITA to PA - wide open space, speakers nowhere near the desk, punters entrance/exit to the main door and the bogs is on the cable paths - spend most of the time sticking cables down with gaffer tape - F that! So we're going to use these doodads to connect the speakers to the desk, leaving a set spare for me to continue to do walkabouts and terrorise/amaze the punters. I've bought these from eBay and Amazon before, but this time I went straight to Lekato - https://lekatodeal.com/en-uk/products/lekato-ws-70-wireless-guitar-audio-system-transmitter-receiver-70-channels-40m and right now they're having some Black Friday nonsense - got 25% off so an already very reasonable £41 became an even more agreeable £30.75. Free shipping. Coming from abroad though, so perhaps the taxman will wipe the grin off my face and take that discount right back off of me, but you never know!

Actually. the proper answer is the bible. However terrible you are, you'll be forgiven. 🙂

I stopped taking my bass to our local jam night as it was just too much hassle - either lugging guitar+amp or double bass. Instead I've been taking my violin and improvising harmonies