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I'm guessing he lost all his high frequency hearing by then. The more terrifying thought is that was the tone he wanted back in 1964! The Alembic was strident and cut through everything like a piano. The Status, plus all the rack gear, just seemed to sound slushy and compressed and goes missing in the mix. Probably turned up to infinity to compensate for the lack of presence.

Well, had my fretless debut on an all-nighter BBC session las week that's broadcast tonight!

Or Jam Evening. Too early for me I'm afraid but would have been good to pop along.

Thanks mate! Yep, the finish definitely shows up any oily finger marks and is imagine it'll gloss up in key wear areas. As per the review, the finish wasn't the best on an otherwise largely great bass!

Just realised I've fully slacked off on our tour updates Matt! Managed to squeeze in a few bits this year. Spent a month in the US across January/February back in multitasking TM/tech/iPad monitors mode..... Squeezed in some TV action while we were out there..... And then since we got home, I've been doing various bits of dep cover for other bands, some TM, some FOH. Everything I've mixed this year has been some flavour of Allen & Heath, from SQ5 to the big S7000 (apart from a rogue M32 on Saturday) The best update to this thread though, is that @VTypeV4 and I might finally do a show together this week! I'm I'm Scarborough on Saturday mixing monitors for Hooky and Spear Of Destiny are on the bill, so I'm guessing that means you're there too Matt?

They do because the bass riff was edges, and Adam had walked out of recording as he didn’t like the song. I think it shows still in the nonchalant way he plays the guitar part

SATURDAY NIGHT! (I know that's not last night) Depping with Manchester Ska Foundation at The Empire in Rochdale. I play with them about once or twice a year, but hadn't for a while so I was looking forward to it. I love playing with these guys as the gigs are always good and they're all cracking musicicans - I really have to raise my game! Early get there (6:45), I had to drive down actual cobbled streets to get to the venue which my crappy Hyundai i10 wasn't happy about! Bit of waiting around as the sound engineers were covering for the usual guy, so there was some confusement about channels, stage boxes, phantom power and such and such... All setup evetually, soundcheck all normal then lots more waiting round as we weren't on until 9:30. (I popped over the road to see the Town Hall, which is "widely recognised as being one of the finest municipal buildings in the country" apparently. It is rather grand.) The place was pretty full when we went on for the first set - a decent mix of people who'd come to see us and random Rochdalians (Rochdalers?) who were in there anyway. We cracked through the first set and sounded great. Highlights were 'My Girl Lollipop' which I absolutely LOVE playing and 'Ghost Town' (one of my favourite songs EVER), especially the trombone solo... Goodness Gracious, that girl can play! Oh, and 'Nite Klub' (Bass Solo!) which I did well on - I got a 👌 from the Sax player after my solo, which I was happy about! 'Hands Off, She's Mine' (The Beat) was a new one for me but I did pretty well (It's pretty straightforward to be fair) I'd done my homework so I was happy with my playing, right up until I completely (and I mean COMPLETELY) buggered up the 'coming back into the slow bit' bit in 'Special Brew'... I wanted the stage to open and swallow me up. I apologised profusely to the band at half time, they laughed and said "You did it better than Al (the usual Bass player) normally does" and blamed the drummer, so no harm done. Quick Lime & Soda and (Strawberry Jam Firerose) vape break and back on for the second set. The place had filled up nicely and the crowd were loving it. Second set highlights were 'House of Fun' (RELENTLESS Bassline! Lots of fun!), 'Too Much Too Young' which is a blast to play, 'Message to Rudy' (there's about four notes in it, so I just went on autopilot and enjoyed myself), 'Our House/Wings of a Dove' Mashup which is pretty complicated (all modesty aside... I'd put a lot of work into that, so I smashed it) and 'One Step Beyond' which always goes down a treat (except I forgot about the 'Swan Lake' keyboard solo in the middle and had to busk it (badly)... cue more laughter from the rest of the band and an amused 'Gotcha!' look from the keys player). We end with 'Night Boat to Cairo' and everyone gets a solo... my solo was... perfunctory at best... (It's over F and Eb minor... can't get my head round it!) but it went down well enough. The band were grateful for me stepping in and I feel lucky to play with them, so everyone was happy. Decent payer, quick packup as we didn't have to take down the PA, twenty minutes back to my dear old Ma's place for a bottle of Henry Weston's Signature Vintage (6.8% ABV). Played the StingRay (I'd taken the P as well, but... couldn't resist the 'Ray) -> Small board (I only used the chorus for the 'Nite Klub' solo) -> 'secret weapons' board (Thumpinator -> VTDI) -> MarkBass 802 -> PA. Shoes were the Black and white leopard print Converse (Peach Pink sparkle don't really go with the whole 'Two Tone' vibe...). An absolutely fantastic night all round. Apart from 'Special Brew'.

Did we have 'OMG!' in the change one letter section? Anyway, it fits here!

Everything but the young person Turkish Barber 100

He had such a great tone with his Alembics but that Status through a flanger and distortion? Ugh! What a mess.

I recognise this feeling so much. I've played a lot of jam nights in the last 2-3 years, and they can be just like that. One particularly rough pub in Reading yielded occasional moments of inspired stuff, truly eclectic song choices and some hair on the back of the neck moments. Random people telling you they love the bass and normally it doesn't get a chance to shine - when I hear that, I just know someone really heard what I was doing. That's when the house band fee feels like it's worth the candle. I hope you get that feeling as often as possible - it's the feeling of having actually entertained someone. 🙂