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Unbelievable. Played a decent gig on Friday… After a very drunk guitarist made some very silly comments on Saturday…(aimed at me) This band is dead. life support; drummer and Singer completely sided with me about said silly comments and we’ve recruited from the Basschat ranks for replacement of guitarist/some bass/some keys. New Name…but we’ll retain all socials etc as I ran them.

I have my own take on this. If, through a song, I can feel a connection to the original composer/performer, surely that's exactly what the music was for. I am not American (or Canadian) but I can appreciate the sentiments expressed in 'Ohio' and feel no guilt playing it. Should I feel uncomfortable singing "(Something Inside) So Strong" by Labi Siffre? I appreciate the sentiment just as much and I have no more connection to Stephen Stills and Neil Young other than my skin colour. I think most 'cultural appropriation' is righteous indignation. The real problems are misusing culturally significant things out of context (e.g. using holy symbols as trendy decorations) or pretending to be what you are not. I recall someone being slated for wearing a Japanese wedding dress. When Japanese people were asked their views, they thought it was wonderful a westerner appreciated their traditional clothing.

Correct, this is my work. Good question and I agree (in general) somewhat, but we now have 3 different hybrid models, and all 3 are very different from each other in tone, texture and feel. The WD-800 is modeled after the Walkabout, with the updates that many players asked for, this amp is modeled after the Bass 400+ with significant player driven updates as well. I spend most of my time over at TalkBass, there were over 300 players over there that provided input on what they would like to see if we were to do an amp like this, and a LOT of the suggestions made it into the final version. Here's a link to the thread, there are informative comments and a couple of our test players have contributed to the thread, including some gig videos. For a (refreshing to me) change, we deemphesized the obligatory bass slap w**ker videos because that's not representative of real life, and instead are focusing on gig and studio demos. I would expect there to be more of these in the next week or two, once players receive their amps. I also begged for better EU access to these amps (we all share your frustration), and it looks like making a fool of myself groveling may have produced results! Thomann says they will have them available within the week on their website. Here's a link to the thread: (sorry, link won't embed) Here's a link to the owner's manual: https://www.gibson.com/cdn/shop/files/MESA_Boogie_Bass-800D_Product_Manual.pdf?v=14438764719515208578

I used to take a bass and a 50W combo on the bus to rehearsals... before I passed my test.

Or a cloth

Done. Incidentally as my problems are chiefly arthritic, they improve with playing. I didn't mention an issue I used to suffer... numbness in my right hand a hangover ftom mostly resolved carpal tunnel syndrome caused by my right wrist rubbing on the edge of my desk when using a mouse. A supportive mouse pad now prevents issues. They can return with extended bass playing, but a wristband prevents this.

Done

I've been looking around for a compact yet more substantial case for my Anagram and came across THIS case on Fleabay in the UK. I have no connection with the seller but thought some of you might be interested in it. I also wanted it to hold my MVave midi pedal and the Anagram power supply. It seems well built with the only drawback being the inner foam which is a bit flimsy. I'll be changing that out at some point. Here some pics of my process to fit the Anagram etc in it.

Nitrocellulosic finish will wear almost as fast as no coating at all, prefer some polyester or polyurethane finish, I had this done on a few fretless fingerboard and it was really fine.

Done.

Neutron Dance - Pointer Sisters

I’m not 100% sure that nitro coating, even several layers, will be tough enough.. I consider fretless fingerboards consumables so I’m not worried about maintenance or eventual replacement (though it might take a long time to get there) - maybe it’s worth a try. Any experiences? We might look into some resins or poly instead but I’m not sure what’s readily available and easiest to work with.

The Klown will get beheaded. Rumour has it that a maggot infested head will drop out of the mask...

I am delighted to hear this news. I just hope the re-launched product is going to be as good as the U.K. case. I think I can remember Hiscox saying that they weren’t going to have cases built outwith the U.K. as they wouldn’t compromise on quality. I’m assuming they are happy with the new product as being on a par with the original cases.

I've been using rounds on my fretless since 1987. OK I don't play it very often, but it still hasn't got significant wear.

I have Ernie Ball cobalt flatwounds on both of my fretlesses (4 and 5 string Stingrays) - I can’t afford the luthier costs of the repairs to the fretboard damage inflicted by roundwounds - however they do sound very good - but definitely not that much better than decent flatwounds……

Bomb-proof.

Great news to hear Bruce intends to perform live again during early to mid 2026 after previous anouncements about "stepping back" from performances in late 2024. He's looking good when he mentions the tour in a brief Facebook reel: facebook.com/reel/1281577059782350 Detail on the band seems v sparse at time of post so if anyone can share some info it would be appreciated - especially about the other musicians in the All-Star line-up. Thanks

Radio-Aktivität - Kraftwerk

The wiring is finished! Last night I wired up the master volume, and I've just now finished doing all the heater filaments. I had put the tag strip with the heater balancing resistors next to the pilot light but that turned out to be stupidly inaccessible for all the connections I had to make. I moved the tag strip to a better location and got to it. I'm a little way from plugging in though. Next session I will compare the built amp to both the layout and the schematic, and buzz out all the connections with my test meter. Then I'll think about applying power...