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Would be great if you shared what they say as I'm curious 👍

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Good idea, the thought had occurred to me before I blunder into a table full of strangers!

Fixed now, cleaned up, and setup. Flattened the neck and socket. While the neck is off it got a wash in antibaterial hand soap and a fret polish using a kit that came with some D'addario strings. It's a very simple solution. Here's the before: Now a quick rub - behave. Nice. So now it is back together. It fitted together in a slightly different place. A few more tweaks of truss rod and saddles brought it into shape a little better than before. That's about as good as it gets, and it's not bad. Ready to go from my bedroom woodwork workshop and polishing area, to my bedroom electronics department for new pots.

When I started playing, early 60s, there were no such thing as wire wound / round wound strings, only tape wound strings, now called flats and I hated them. No brightness at all but then bass was not supposed to sound bright, only bassy. Then wire wound strings appeared and suddenly there was tone and I used them straight away but still wasn't totally happy, the bottom E always seemed to have too many overtones and was always floppy in that the note would be slightly sharp and then settle down to the right note. This was with the most heavy string available, 45-105. I suspected that the second problem was me 'digging in' but if you're getting into it and performing it's impossible not to play hard, for me anyway and still is. A few years ago I discovered heavier gauge strings, 50-110 and gave them a try and suddenly I had a proper note and no floppiness on the E string and here I've stayed. Newtone strings are now my string of choice, 50-110, and I'm a happy chappie and it's far to late to try to change my style and how can you possibly do a windmill lightly. I still hate tape wound strings / flats with a vengeance and just can't understand why anyone would choose them but that's just me. Sorry for the ramble but that's my string story.

Second dep gig with 'The Gowertones' last night - a birthday bash for the pub landlord at the Plough and Harrow in Murton, Swansea. The weather made the potential for sweaty, melting horror a distinct possibility and when I turned up, I saw we were outside which added the risk of sunburn. But on closer inspection, we were under a pair of gazebos and sheltered by a wall. By some miracle, the only breeze in the area was funneled through a gap between wall and gazebos down onto the drummer and me. I had a small USB powered fan which directed some of that breeze onto my back overall it was a very pleasant environment. We were due to play 2hrs between 5pm and 8pm and the crowd, a respectable 50-60 or so, stayed all evening. Inevitably, we played on and the second hour slot lasted well over 90 minutes, fueled by chips and coke (from a bottle, not a mirror) gratis. A great set which included 'Paranoid' (I've never played it before but what a great 'live' song) and 'YMCA' (please don't judge). My second outing for the Sterling 34HH/Ampeg SCRDI/Peavey Minimax/twin TE1x10" line up and it's really giving me a sound that I'm pleased with. For years I've heard that sound in my head but never really managed to get it and while going DI into the sound desk with my main band is good (for that line up, it makes sense), having the bass banging out behind me is great. As mentioned, the kit list was my Sterling 34HH (mainly the bridge pick-up but for a couple of numbers both pick-ups selected) through an MS60B (for tuner/mute, noise gate and compressor) and the Ampeg SCRDI (with a shallow mix of distortion for the punk/rock numbers) and both bass and treble boosts selected. This went into the FX loop return of the Minimax and through two TE 1x10" speakers. The Minimax retains volume control when using the FX return so I used this to control the volume rather than the control on the SCRDI. There was plenty of volume without pushing either stage. Footwear was the now inevitable Skechers which proved both comfortable and cool (in the temperature sense) for the night. Although they only have one setting, I find that Skechers have nailed that setting and they work for me for all styles of music. Photos and video are slow to appear this morning but I will edit to add any that appear. This is one I took of the ground level kit.

HaHa What are all these switches for then? Does it go up to 11? What if I turn all these knobs up to full?

It was my ideal gig, living the dream! Shame we weren’t playing for a bit longer. We’re back playing a full set indoors at Venue 16 in January

I can’t help you with that. As a long time OnSong user I gave it the boot recently. No one particular reason but the constant nag to pay the subscription to get extras I don’t need was annoying, especially as I bought the damn thing outright years ago. My co conspirator in the duo moved over to Stage Traxx 3 recently, mainly because he takes care of making and playing the backing tracks we use, and StageTraxx handles that better. I’ve switched to the cheaper and very similar SongbookPro which has the same functionality with less bells and whistles. And I have emailed a setlist complete with songs from the app.

They've probably just got it back from being repaired after the last time you used it...! 🙂

A winters tale - David Essex

Thanks for that info. Where I’m confused is that Sandburg’s site states the new ones have push/pull. Or are these an upgrade of the Electra 2.? Anyway I’ve emailed Sandberg so hopefully all will soon become clear🤞. Thanks for all the replies 👍

Was it easy to bend to shape?

@Mykesbass Yes I agree. I have no intention of bashing the instruments or playing hard, apart from the odd bit. I've been conscious of longevity while practicing. I've played in bands doing two 1.5 hour sets with a guitar. That's physically easy, but with the 12kg HB-70 with big strings, I last four songs standing before back cramp sets in. It's partly why I got the Spector, to see if I can stand an play it without back cramp, and I can. @Reggaebass Thank you for that. Assuming your username reflects a style you aim at, you would likely have considered, and tested how much bass you get from any sort of string, so I'm putting that advice directly into my scrap book. @HeadlessBassist Funkmeister sounds familiar. The've got packed away for now, so can't check. What I find is the lighter strings with their increased dynamics or articulation, need a bit more even playing to stay even sounding, where the bigger ones are a bit easier to keep even. I've already started to prefer a particular bass for particular songs I'm practicing. In the end, I want a bass guitar that does it all. Which one shall I get for that, and which strings?

A very hot sweaty gig playing at the new Rodeos Birmingham. Bizarre stage with the back end of a pickup truck slap bang in the middle, a solitary monitor, no sound man, a drummist we’d never met before, several drunk hen parties… had the makings of a nightmare alongside the heat. On the whole though, it was great fun. We threw in a few covers alongside Katy’s originals, had a delightful interaction with someone in the break asking us to play all the artists we’d covered in the first set 🙄, and made a few new friends along the way I think. The dep drummist was fantastic, so he can come again 🤓 Bass as ever my sexy ACG RetroB, through Handbox WB100 and Barefaced Two10. Shoes were my Soul Cals again. No decent photos of us playing (yet) so have a photo of my side of the stage 😆

Looking forward to seeing you in a few hours at the Union Square Brewdog. A thought occurred that not everyone knows each other, so some kind of identifier/marker for the table might be an idea. Therefore, this extremely quickly cobbled together homemade thing will be on our table - look for the clef! See you soon!

#1 - Paul @NancyJohnson #2 - Paul #2 @prowla #3 - Martin @Merton #4 - Matt @Wombat #5 - Andy @Wolverinebass #6 - Stevie @stevie #7 - Lozz @Lozz196 #8 - Matt @neepheid #9 - @bassace97 #10 - Robert @bass_dinger #11 - Christopher @chyc #12 - jaco @Geek99 ** #13 - Alan @WalMan #14 - Trevor @TrevorR #15 - John @jonno1981

Played my usual Everlys & Friends Live Tribute Show last night at Warners' Alvaston Hall near Crewe. First show for the full lineup in two months and was a belter, despite the ridiculous 30 deg heat. Luckily the powers that be at Warners actually had the air conditioning switched on, so playing was bearable! Two hour set straight through with no interval is always a challenge, but was very rewarding. Full six-piece setup, including fake Grand Piano housing for Pete's Digital Piano!