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Electronic backing track in a Spanish holiday 'Volare' sense...I didn't paint a clear enough depiction. You can imagine Sweet Caroline in that context. Song book chords, root note bass, perfunctory drums. Grim

Latest iteration of the Heartwood Satellite: I can’t help but tinker. It’s now got a DiMarzio DP145 Will Power humbucker in it with a coil tap switch. I think it looks the part and sounds huge.

Mark G just confirmed on FB that there's going to be a gig bag coming. So that's cool.

Well folks, thanks to all the advice, I have done it and I am inordinately pleased with my work. I actually cut the main shape out with a power jig saw that has a scroll setting so that you can change the direction of the blade. I marked the shape out on the reverse of the blank using the original scratch guard and pre-drilled the screw holes so I could attach the blank to a sheet of 10mm ply before cutting. Cutting out the aperture for the pickup was a little tricky but I eventually used a bi-metallic blade on an oscillating multi-tool to get the straight lines. Once I had the basic shape I used an assortment of files and sandpaper to get it more uniform and put the 45 degree camfer on the edges. The end result:

Yep our baseline volume is our drummer ! Everything is balanced to him and he isn’t light handed !

We've played quite a few places that have what looks like a vocal-only PA and it's always been fine. We're just a bit quieter than we would be normally. Also even it's a vocal only PA there's still at least one foldback wedge, and the one time there was no foldback we simply angled one of the main PA speakers towards us It probably helps that we don't have a drummer as this (and any additional synth parts) are supplied by the computer

Ahh Melody Maker!

Which FI model do you have? Up to and including v3 can be problematic with cheap interfaces. V4 has worked with every cheap interface I’ve used. The data packet sizes were made deliberately smaller to ensure this.

Gregor in the Bass the World video said that the Satellite bass would look really good with a big humbucker in place of the precision pickup set. I guess he thought more in keeping with the 60s bass vibe. Anyway, that has been eating away at the back of my mind and I happened to have a DiMarzio DP145 Will Power in my last remaining long scale bass (a three pickup bitsa I put together). Long story short, I decided to try Gregor’s idea. It meant making a new scratchplate to accommodate the different pickup up shape, which was a challenge but it’s done now. Result in the pictures below. I think it looks the business and it sounds immense without being too muddy. I wired it up with a DPDT switch to give a coil tap option. Tapped it sounds a bit like a Jazz front pickup but not quite as woody. I’m pleased with the result. I may leave it this way.

To be honest, they usually are.

Well if anyone is wondering about the significance of this ancient shop sign (more of a palimpset, really): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Wright_(composer)

I recently bought a brand new Chord 2u rackbag (cost about £55 IIRC), but I don't need it now and could do with getting out of the house. I'm not going to post it, but if anybody wants to pick it up from north Bradford, they can have it for free.

Don't say that in public..

She Kinks

Negligible differences to me.

I spent most of the three years I was a student in or around Denmark Street in the mid 80s. I went back a few years ago and was disappointed by how it is now.

I like the idea of taking a classic crowd pleaser and doing something different with it, which is what I thought you were going to say when I read '... electronic backing track ...' . My mate's band does a version of 'Love Story', the Taylor Swift song. All they've done is take out all the subtlety, rocked it up and made it loud. Personally, I think it's their best song, and it still gets a decent crowd reaction.

I agree to a certain extent. My point (not well made) was that the crowds I'm talking about would react equally crazily to us playing Sweet Caroline, or the juke box playing it, but they wouldn't complain if we didn't play it. I agree there are some songs you have to play (in this neck of the woods, Dakota is required on every set list and is often called for by the crowd at the end of a gig) but as you say there are plenty of songs that will get a good reaction and the aim should be a strong set list that doesn't rely on one or two songs. My experience has been filling the dance floor and keeping punters in the pub makes the venue owner smile a lot, too. My current band gets all of its gigs through word of mouth and its because we are able to tailor the set list to suit the occasion. In the context of the OP, if bands are playing similar sets then punters will soon get tired of the lack of variety. And if the options open to a venue owner are limited it becomes pot luck whether you land the gig or the next band that plays the same sort of set does. A band I recently depped for are known for playing Bohemian Rhapsody (sadly, not when I played with them). That will get them noticed in a way that 'they play Dakota' won't. They also play Dakota (sadly, when I played for them 🙂) because it works.

Seeing Cloudbusting with orchestra at Basingstoke Anvil in a few weeks time...!

Just be careful you don't miss out the "L" when discussing them...

Off to see “Cloudbusting” Kate Bush tribute at the Tramshed in Cardiff on Thursday. Looking forward to it. Then the Rock Orkestra the following week also in Cardiff.

I had a 4 string built a few years ago, before I managed to track down an affordable 4003. Still have it. The woodwork was spot on, the electrics were a bit meh. I keep meaning to upgrade them, but just never get around to it. Maybe one day.