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It's interesting to me that nobody suggested the Taranis option. I bought one second-hand a few years ago and liked it. It was the made-in-China version and seriously roadworn, but it was well-made and fun to play. I had zero problems with it and only sold it because I have too many basses and wanted another one. It was good to have around and I have a slight twinge of regret occasionally.

He hasn't been visiting since 2020.

Hi Richard Regarding the mystery writing inside the cavity, my brother lived in China close to the Korean border for over a decade teaching English. He is married to a local. They speak several Chinese dialects and understand some Korean. I could forward the writing on to them if you like. They might be able to translate it or at least identify which country the writing originates from ? Cheers, Steve

I hate when that happens. I really think some of these folks that are involved in booking should be required to pass a state exam. What Do You Know About Bands And Booking? Daryl

We canceled a pub we use to play on a regular basis for something similar. We'll never play there again. Daryl

Thanks Ian. I'd thought about Ampeg (along with other brands too). Never tried one. On line there seem to be so many divided opinions especially on the volume verses sound quality front and that's held me back. As a I don't gig, or even play in a band, for me sound quality is king. I just want to be able to achieve a smooth, clean sound without the muffled, muddy or distortion. Many years ago my old HH bass head driving a custom mad 1x15 reflex gave me just that but those days are long gone and it's mainstream modelling stuff now, mass produced in the PRC, and loaded with gimmicky knobs, buttons, sliders and flashing lights that IMO add to user appeal but do very little else. In short, sound is such a personal and emotive subject. We all hear things differently. We all strive for that perfect balance.

I still have my repaired BA-210v2, I use it for pubs and small events and I seldom need to add a cab l. It's got a new circuit board on it, effectively the amplifier. * the DI is linked to the main volume, so a PITA when hooked up to FOH, you have to set the volume and not change it unless you want to mess with the FOH balance * the headphone works, but does but mute the 2x10 OK so far, but have a Trace Elliot stack and a TC BAM200 amp in reserve in case it lets me down a second time.

New ABM in the house. Original box and manual. Mint condition with no signs of use. Has that new smell. Not my settings, I just turned it on to make sure lights came on, everything worked and it made bass sounds. More of a slight pop when turned on and click and common speaker 'puff' when turned off. The 500 is silent on and off. Doesn't seem to be a problem, just unexpected. The detent on the output have me in between, one being nothing and the next one being too much for tube grind at home. Got it managed, but only fooled with it enough to make sure it worked. I definitely have more room to adjust the input and overall volume. The single fan is silent compared to the two fans on the 500 which was noticeable. This one is barely on and nice and quite. I imagine it's variable and speeds us as needed. I'll bring the 500 home tomorrow to compare. The 300 may be a tad brighter.

Hollow Man - R.E.M.

No probs Rob, hope its a holiday so have a great time. If its work related you have my sympathy 😂 Dave

Friday was a local trio gig outdoors, which was an opportunity to stretch the legs of the Status Stealth 2 for a change. It's a little bit darker sounding than my main S2-Classic ['the wife'], but definitely has the required punch and snarl. Lovely crowd of mainly friends, but we did a lot of off the cuff audience requests, including a lot of songs we'd never played before. It all adds more material to the 35 year old evolving set, I guess. Saturday, just home from the Lark Hill Retirement Village (very posh place) in Clifton, near East Midlands Airport with the Everlys and Friends Live Tribute Show, so back to the staple Jazz Basses. Nice job, with the dance floor full all evening, so good result. Just home and heading for bed now. After two nice local jobs this weekend, next weekend is going to be full on globe trotting mode again. Starting in Birmingham on Friday, Gt.Yarmouth on Saturday, Yeadon in Leeds on Sunday afternoon, and Peterborough on Sunday evening. Phew! 🤪

AliExpress asked me to send the unit back (to China!?) before they'd refund me. Got a QR code, took it to my local Royal Mail sorting office in town, they printed the label and I noticed it was some place in Hounslow. Got the refund immediately though. To replace it, I found a used "the t.bone IEM 75" on Reverb and offered £60 + postage, accepted. They are £139 new on Thomann (£10 less today though!). It's got a lot more hiss than I'm used to and isn't bassy. Will see how this goes, but my WP-12 days are over.

Don't shoot yourselves in foot on the basis of "apparently". Misunderstandings, quoting out of context etc do occur. Make sure you're sure. If you are and you cancel the gig, much respect! 👍🏻

Feeling a bit out of sorts tonight. Tail end of Covid and stuff. But the gig went ok, not packed but reasonable, the audience liked it. The band were new to the place but I've done several gigs there before. I put my cab upside-down* on the bench rather than on the flags to reduce boom, and I still had to brighten the eq. Got caught out by a couple of arrangements that don't follow the originals, not that anyone else noticed. Tuned to drop d for the wrong song, so had to go back up to E for the next, then down to D and back up again... all by ear as without my tuner, which had fallen on the floor. Also managed to pull my lead out of my head while spinning round looking for the tuner. Was to boomy to use the Squier Jazz with mutes on it, but it does look pretty. Amazing tort scratchplate for an ebay cheapy! *updide down ment the ports weren't blocked and it sat on the flat top, not wobbling on three legs.

I feel for you, that's cramped! And people eating at table not usually going to want loud music. Am surprised they took an extra £2.5k, that's massive.

Absolutely horrid experience for the first half of ours tonight. Was set up in a tiny corner of a pub, using our own PA and having to lug it around tables of people sat eating dinner. Tiny stage where I could either bump my right elbow on the crash cymbal or the headstock of my bass into the singers back. Venue was completely unequipped to have bands on, even down to them not having a single plug socket anywhere near the "stage" area. Still we plowed through - even with people still sat eating half way through our first set and not a single member of the "audience" (who I suspect were there for their dinner and had no idea a band was on tonight) seeming like they cared. One blast of In Bloom later and suddenly the 60+ year olds weren't so keen on eating their meat and mash. I don't even know if people loved it or hated it - I think general ambivalence was the mood. The bar manager was happy though - he reckoned they'd put about £2500 more behind the bar than the average Saturday, so that's something. It was very much a case of having to be professional and make the best of the situation. I'm not in any rush to play at that venue again though truth be told. I think when they said they wanted bands on, they really meant they wanted an acoustic actually to play background music while people tucked into their carvery or whatever.

The tall one on the left is the TC RH750 in a 2x10 enclosure. That usually sits on top of the small 12" TC cab in the middle. (The cab has a spare BH250 head unit plugged into it at the moment.) I have another 12" TC cab in the garage, so I can use the RH750 with the 2x10 enclosure and both 12's if I really need to move some serious air. On the right is a BG250 2x10 combo (with the tool box on top.) Unless you play with the very loudest pub bands, I'd recommend the BG250 2x10 combo. It's got a lot of poke for it's relatively small output. I was actually thinking of selling the BG250 combo, as it's not being used since I got the MarkBass combo. So I also have a MarkBass 2x10 500w tilting combo which is very good, although the sound is very processed and not as sweet as the TC amps (more gritty sounding?) and much lighter to carry (17kg as opposed to 28kg for the big TC, which luckily has a built in wheeled trolley.) All in all, my favorite sound is the big TC RH750 2x10 with one extra 12" cab. It's compact enough and has more than enough power for most situations. It's bloody heavy to haul in and out of the house/car. The Jazz basses sound at their sweetest through either of the TC 2x10s. I actually have three distinct sound presets on the RH750 - 1. Status/Stingray, 2. Jazz Basses, 3. Precision Basses with a couple of notches of the on board compressor added, although I don't have a Precision on the fleet at the moment.

Last night was a gig with a difference, I knew almost everyone in the audience, it being one of the local walking football clubs I used to play at. The event was their annual summer dinner dance, but there's usually double the number of folks and tables. Because of the personal connection, I especially wanted the band to do a good job and for me to play well. Whether it was because of the extra banter and focus on me by the band and crowd, I was distracted and definitely didn't play as well as usual. Had a good laugh though! The venue is good, acoustics not bad and looking out into its golf course. Bit of a walk to get our gear round to the back door. The band wanted more folks there too obviously but the atmosphere was friendly and fun. All the gents had a lady with them. Small gear error. Left home in a rush and forgot the fly lead for my bass so, the wireless dongle went direct in the jack socket. We got to the venue at 7, played for nearly 3 sets with short breaks over 3 hours and away by half past midnight.

To fit the specs given, I'd build my own using: Swamp ash PJ body from guitarbuild.co.uk - order one with nice looking grain and get the control cavity extended. Wipe on some Danish oil for a natural finish. Fender Precision to Jazz bass conversion neck - I was knocked sideways with how one of these necks has transformed a previously ignored bass into one of my favourites Schaller 3D bridge EMG GZR PJ Pickups £10 aliexpress pickguard Hipshot HB7 lollipop tuners gotoh bass string tree & strap buttons callaghan heavy knurl knobs Fender F neckplate Fender pickguard screws Ernie Ball 2815 cobalt flatwound strings self-adhesive copper anti-slug tape The parts should come to under £1000. If you don't want to assemble it yourself, take the bits to a luthier (or possibly an experienced basschatter) to put together.

Just home from a paid rehearsal, a quite well paid rehearsal, as it happens. Played to our wives and the bar staff, essentially. However, we have a few regular folk who come and see us every time we play, and they were absent tonight. When I asked the guitarist where they were - apparently last time we played this pub, the landlady made a comment about one of the chaps ethnicity. This floored me, and since we have a rebooking in December (already arranged) we’re in a quandary I think we’ll cancel the gig, and if we have to explain why then I’ll happily tell the landlady to her face.

I look at the pics every month in the hope of inspiration, but... My creative process (if you can call it that) is incredibly unspontaneous, slow & laborious, ideas can take months to develop & just as long to record satisfactorily. It's very rare that any composition is 5 minutes or less, and although I dislike them, can't play them & obviously have never used them - unfortunately I can't guarantee no bagpipes. So maybe next month...

Mine's more a corner with a Cajon to sit on and a laptop perched on a cab!

More pricey but better finish https://thebassgallery.com/products/yamaha-bb2024-1