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Blabber 'n Smoke — Captain Beefheart

Ahh, I knew it was too good to be true. There's a niggling fault and it looks a lot like it's the pickup There's an intermittent low level buzz coming from the bass which goes away if you wiggle or press down on the pickup. Also goes away if you go into the cavity and pull on the pickup wires. It doesn't stop the pickup making sound, but it's audible and seems to change the tone of the pickup a little when the mild humming/buzzing is happening. That's a PITA because the pickup is epoxy potted by the looks of things. Damn! What I think I'll do is get a Warman MM sized pickup as a stopgap (they're only £25 after all) then see what I can do about the stock pickup issue - if anything. What's low level annoying me is that I had a spare ATK CAP quad coil pickup, but I put it in a Squier Jag H and I was too lazy to take the pickup out when I sold the bass. Should have used my crystal ball!

voting is up, sorry for the delay , late one last night

Its Showcase time ... or at least copy someone else time, as December is traditionally the challenge of presenting a cover, a new one specifically recorded, or any that had been recorded this year. A faithful attempt at the original, a minimalist approach or a radical re-imagining but based on another song or tune. here are the entries showing their... ...Factor Have a listen and vote for your favourite 3 1 @Al Nico A pop/disco track transformed into a future rave disco remix, 2 @SH73 This month a short one, Napalm Death cover You Suffer. All instruments and vocals played, recorded, mixed etc by me. It's the shortest song ever, Napalm Death is famous for. 3 @Leonard Smalls I've had a go at DAF's AntiFascist anthem, Der Mussolini.... Featuring my very best German vocal! 4 @Jean-Luc Pickguard Here's my cover of Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On" written by Sonny Bono before he formed U2. 5 @upside downer I've done a cover of 1-2-5 by the Canadian garage rock band The Haunted, which was a number 23 smash in the Canadian charts back in 1966 6 @lurksalot Happy Chrimbo guys this is fairly short , but maybe, for some, not short enough 7 @MoonBassAlpha Listen to Girls Talk Dave Edmunds Cover 8 @skankdelvar A Happy Christmas to you all. A great bit of fun this year , some brilliant ideas well done all let's have 3 votes each, voting will end at midnight on 31st december Happy Christmas

It always seemed counterintuitive to cut the bass, because that’s our job. I’ve had some success, however, rolling off the bass on my instrument’s EQ and boosting lower mids 200-450/500 Hz by a gnat’s crotchet for punch. If you can boost the gain on your mids and sweep the frequency at a rehearsal or soundcheck, you might find it’s like a focus ring on your camera, so to speak. Your mileage may vary, of course…

That’s interesting. For me the string spacing made the difference between a keeper and a “for sale” sign

Though I now have to wonder... what's she gonna look like with an Ampeg on her?

That boost LPF on the clean blend is something something is obviously a good idea for bassists I don't know why this is the first time I've seen it actually implemented

Cigarettes & Alcohol - Oasis

Oof 😍 that looks beautiful. The circular grain on the back is stunning.

Did you write a letter to Santa?

I play upright in an acoustic trio covering country, americana, and some popular tunes but done in a bluegrass style. I’ve learned that the best sound comes from running the acoustic guitars through even a cheap DI box before the desk. Running them straight into the desk (one a Martin, and the other one a Collings) makes them sound ‘harsh’ which I suspect is something to do with impedance matching. I use these Behringer Ultra DI either battery powered or preferably on phantom and for sub £30 they do everything I need.

I was waiting for someone to buy this for me. Alas none did.

Music related? F**k yeah!

Possible bass Christmas present. Had a surprise "Merry Christmas" message from a guitar player friend, first one in forever 😀 Mentioned a close friend, who we lost back in 99, and that he'd got his hands on our mate's bass 😎 Said he thinks it's only right that Hammy's bass should go to me 🙂 Arrangements for hand over to be made in the New Year.