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I'll probably do the whole first album. Just have to double-check Phase Dance. 3/4 of April Joy ready. San Lorenzo and Lone Jack next. No bass in April Wind.

Been seeing a lot of stuff on social media about this, and the release is on the 20th, but I got an early access email today. I don't think I'll get one, I use a Noble, but could be ideal for a smaller board. LUCE – light in Italian – is a studio-quality, transformer-based tube DI (Direct Injection) box; a unity-gain (1:1) tube preamplifier and active summing unit. The main purpose of a DI box is to convert an unbalanced, high-impedance instrument signal into a balanced, low-impedance signal — allowing long cable runs without interference and enabling direct connection to a mixing console or studio interface. Beyond that, LUCE also provides an additional unbalanced output that benefits from the tube circuit, plus an active summing stage that allows two instruments to be connected at once. All in a compact, pedalboard-friendly format. Inside the LUCE you’ll find one high-quality, low-noise ECC88/6922 tube and one OEP/Carnhill audio transformer, just like those found in legendary British consoles. SPECIFICATIONS

A USA-made Peavey bass is going to be a quality instrument. I've played the Palladium Bass they made for Jeff Berlin back in the early '90's and that was excellent. I wish I had bought one. They've become a bit of a cult classic on the used market and get snapped up very quickly. The same shop had a Rudy Sarzo signature model too, and that was also a very nice pro-level bass. Peavy basses have got a decent pedigree. I remember seeing Roger Glover playing a Peavey DynaBass four string with Deep Purple back in the '80's. John Taylor used Peavey Cirrus basses for a long time, and he's a good judge of a bass. Also, I don't know if anyone remembers a top London-based session player called Kevin Powell, used to play with Chris Rea, Midge Ure ect. Superb player. He used a Peavey TL 5 from the early '90's onwards as his main bass. Last time I saw him on some TV show or other about ten or fifteen years ago he was still using one.

Agree, but a plus for my Dyna is that it is a fso.

I love those first two PMG albums. Great memories. Thanks for this one, Chris.

Aye, but who's going to be mad enough to issue that?

Our resident keys player/tech wizard has a cool solution. He's customised one of these stage boxes for each of us. I take a balanced jack to XLR from stomp to stage box on my pedalboard. Also plug my mic XLR in there. A single cat 6 cable then runs to the desk. One of the stage box ports has been reworked to act as a return signal, which then goes to my wired IEM adapter (a little Behringer power play). My pedalboard looks like this (the MXR pre/DI isn't used, it's purely a backup). TBH, I've stripped my use of mid song octave/chorus back now, so I could probably ditch the TC tuner and use the onboard stomp one.

I got a Future Compact case a while back in glorious Blue, and it's cracking. Let me keep my FI on the smaller board! @GisserD makes good stuff. IIRC I did a little work on the screw holes so the screws would fit nicely and everything bolted together wonderfully.

So some minor levelling, dressing and polishing up of @Kiwi fantastic neck aided by the Frtlyzer system. @Kiwi the neck really is a joy to work on. If you haven’t invested in a Frtlyzer yet, its well worth it as it makes polishing and spot levelling so much easier! Getting the neck ready to mount on @HeadlessBassist custom walnut body.

@BigRedX how are you liking yourself so far?

Just added the MXR Chorus to the analog board. Helix Floor as an alternative/backup.

@colleya - interested to know your ampless setup on the HX stomp - did you use an XLR adaptor, or do you have a DI box you use?

I literally had a first dip gig with Full Flavour last night and they have these. I was wondering where they were from! BTW - if anyone gigs in the Camberley / Blackwater area, Mr Bumble is a nice venue to play - audience skews slightly older, so the classics go down well - and for a 5-piece we got £75 each, so for a pub gig, that's pretty good. Appreciative audience, good beer, and they have 3 pool tables out back, where apparently if the band stops everybody asks why the music stopped, so there's that! Here's the setlist (ignore the key sigs, we sorted that out later :-D) - indication of what works. The Weekend track (blinding lights) was amazing (no rehearsal, first go!) - the keyboard player I know from the Alanis covers band, and he'd spent some time on the synth sounds for it. I'd found a great Moog patch for the C4 synth pedal which swelled beautifully and brought in the texture with harder playing, and it all sounded amazing. Lovely when that happens. Has anyone dug out the tools and adjusted their bass action halfway through a gig? First set (I didn't get the chance to warm up properly) I realised the action was a little high, and after a quick quarter-turn down on the bottom 3 strings, things were a lot less difficult (I keep the neck really flat on my basses). Always take tools 🙂 Set 1 Let me entertain you 125 E 💯 You should be dancing 125 Gm 💯 Don’t stop me now 151 A 💯 I’m still standing 89 Bb 💯 Video killed the radio star 131 C#/Db 💯 Cosmic Girl 120 B 💯 Angels 150 E 💯 I feel good 142 D 💯 Dancing in the dark 149 C#/Db - write out the structure Superstition 100 E 💯 Baby when you’re gone 125 C 💯 Hard to Handle 104 E 💯 Simply the best 120 F 💯 Blinding lights 171 D#/Bb - write out a structure (not a complex song) Uptown Funk 115 C 💯 Summer of 69 139 D 💯 Set 2 Final Countdown 118 F#/Gb 💯 All right now 120 D 💯 Mama Mia 138 D 💯 Pinball Wizard 123 C - write out the structure and watch for the modulated last verse Don’t stop Believing (Journey) 119 E 💯 Sweet Home Alabama 98 G 💯 Remember us this way 130 C - write out the structure, not too complex Rebel yell 166 E 💯 Man I feel Like a Woman 125 Bb 💯 Don’t stop (FMac) 119 A 💯 Proud Mary 171 D 💯 It’s my life 120 C - write out the structure Highway to Hell 116 F#/Gb 💯 We will rock you 81 D 💯 I love rock and roll 94 E 💯 Bat out of Hell (Introduce band??) 172 F - DEFINITELY write out the structure - LONG SONG Sweet Child of mine 125 F#/Gb 💯 Sweet Caroline (Last tune) 63 B 💯 Extras:-, 500 miles 132 E 💯

First gig for 6 months, first gig as a 5 piece and only our 3rd in total for TTFC - a 30th birthday party at The Lescar in Sheffield. Cool place, great acoustics and staff. Went ampless with my Fender jazz 5 into a HX stomp - easy peasy. The birthday girl was the bass player in a previous band with our keys, sax and singer. So the crowd was made up of lots of their mates, a proper home fixture. We played well, I was happy with my end, my improved discipline in practising and staying focused onstage is starting to pay off. Recorded the whole thing, I'll post some stuff once it's all edited down. Birthday girl got up on bass for a couple of times, so I got the chance to listen to my own band and take a few pics. A great room for photography too. We've already got more gigs coming in, very gratifying after an extended period spinning the project up and getting the set sorted.

I see them like Yamaha basses. But particularly fashionable or desirable but rock solid build quality, great sound and quite quirky looking.

I bet you could be persuaded with something purple, sparkly and with three pickups!

Okay, the situation is that about sixteen years ago I bought a Korg Pandora for silent practise at home. Looking back, it was the best £90 I ever spent iny life. The amp models ect sounded shockingly good and we're excellent for home recording. The unit was easy to use and I had year after year of sterling service from it. Unfortunately, even though it still works (just) it's absolutely knackered. I need a suitable replacement. Recommendations and suggestions gratefully received. I should mentionI bought a Boss Katana Go, but it's not as convenient as I thought it might be despite Bluetooth connectivity because if you plug it into a bass with an input jack at the bottom it's both inaccessible and awkward. Also, the quality of the amp models is nowhere near as good as my old Korg Pandora. I asked the question of AI and it came up with the Line 6 Pod Express Bass, and that does seem to fit the bill, unless someone can tell me why not.

I think so, and have used a fair number of boutique and production basses.Decent if old-school preamp, lovely thin neck, lightweight, and those amazing super ferrite pickups.

I'm too old and decrepit to gig anymore but always fancied getting my hands on an Indonesian 5 string Cirrus (Yep, still looking - anyone got one they don't want anymore ?). The Dyna bass has always intrigued me. Are they a bit under rated ?