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Last night (just), played with Nine Lives at the Pittendrum Bar in Sandhaven - a wee villiage near Fraserburgh. Unfortunately, it wasn't very busy, maybe 15 folk in at the peak. The apologetic barmaid told us later on that since they had booked us, a bunch of stuff got organised in the "big smoke" of Fraserburgh which may have contributed to the lack of bodies. It was probably for the best, because I was far from my best. Having had only 4 hours sleep and basically waking up to go to the gig (work's Christmas do the night before - don't ask), I was so tired that as well as making a few pretty horrible flubs, I forgot to hook up my extension cab - did the whole gig with just the 250W combo and single speaker. Didn't even notice until packing up time when I couldn't figure out where my speakon>speakon cable had gone. Bloody hell. This dopey so-and-so played the Neep One followed by the DeArmond Jetstar (the wonky boi) into a single Markbass CMD combo sitting on top of a completely ornamental New York 121 cab. FFS.

Not always. I'm thinking of Lemmy-era Hawkwind where he often carried the melody.

The Sex Pistils* *botanically correct band.

My Ding-a-ling — Dave Bartholomew

We have gone with 42mm for the SR5 necks by popular request

I have been thinking about the difference between baroque and modern rhythm music. I think (this may be a very narrow viewpoint) that the old music was more about melodic patterns, whereas we should aim to the rhythmic content and decorate it with suitable notes and sounds (I find the latter also of importance). This does not exclude melody, but still the main point is to carry the base with the drs/perc and leave the melody to the solo instruments like brass and keys. Therefore simplifying the melody may drive the song better than very ornamental playing. Overplaying, who? Me? But where are the places where I should do like in the old proverb: when in doubt, leave it out? What's the note that is not important for rhythm or melody? How to simplify my line of eights? Should I listen to the singer, or other players, or all of them? Help!

Hell's Bells - Bruford

Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be - AC⚡DC

Blue Pile Sadness Supercramp Bream Theatre Moody Glues

I've got one of these, and yes they are amazingly good for £400. I wish there were basses as good as these for the equivalent money when I was starting out. They really do sound like a vintage Stingray. Mine weighs 9 pounds three ounces, which would be pretty light for a vintage Stingray. If you want to shave some weight off there are some lightweight tuners (Gotoh?) that are a direct retrofit. I thought about getting some myself but can't really be arsed. For £400 I'm not too fussy.

I picked one up this week and pleasantly surprised! Firstly, the finish! WOW! The sparkle is gorgeous! No idea why other manufacturers don't offer that many sparkle finishes? (Cost?) The sound? Fabulous. Not quite as good as my sterling 34 but pretty close. The price is phenomenal based on the build quality alone! Only draw back is the weight. Surprisingly heavy! Anyway, What's your thoughts?

I get that it’s modelled on his original P bass before modifications. But surely if it’s meant to be his signature bass, then it’s exactly those modifications which make it different from a bog standard P bass? Seems a bit “couldn’t be arsed” on Fender’s behalf. At least the Dave Murray black Strat reflects his World Slavery Tour-era HSH modded Strat.

All The Good Girls Go To Hell - Billie Eilish

I picked one up this week and pleasantly surprised! Firstly, the finish! WOW! The sparkle is gorgeous! No idea why other manufacturers don't offer that many sparkle finishes? (Cost?) The sound? Fabulous. Not quite as good as my sterling 34 but pretty close. The price is phenomenal based on the build quality alone! Only draw back is the weight. Surprisingly heavy! Anyway, What's your thoughts?

Moving the bridge will alter the tone. Fitting a new nut will change the scale which will also play havoc with intonation surely? Learning to swap around is really the best way. The note you get when your thumb hits the neck heel is a good cross check but electric bassists manage without it; good intonation depends on accurate position changes which is something well worth practising (over and over!). I borrowed a 3/4 D(ISH) neck bass while my 4/4 Eb (ISH) neck bass was being mended. It was no Biggie. But I realised that using the neck heel as a reference was a bit of a crutch.

Yip...it was a mixed crowd but he was playing mainly for the younger ones.....that said he played some stuff from TTF which was out in 1993!! But folk started leaving when he went on after us. There was still enough to finish the night with although we had to drop a few songs to take it up to finishing time at the pub!

Fair enough! 🙂 I'm not very handy with electronics so swapping the preamp is a bit (a lot) beyond my capabilities anyhow. I only make subtle use of the EQ in any of active my basses, and if by "dimed" you mean everything on full, that's just not me. One question though. Why get a HAZ clone? Why not get a HAZ? Will they not sell them? Talking of attack, wasn't the problem with the TonePump that it had a bit too much enthusiasm in that respect?

And they think they're more important than the band. Full of themselves too. Dave

Sounding great Stevie. Dave

I have spent the weekend building a larger waist height spray booth from my version 1 as it was a little too small to be comfortable. The dimensions now are 150cm wide x 100cm high x 80cm deep with a 6” extraction fan. Made from 18mm MDF. The front bottom panel is on hinges so I can open it up to be horizontal when spraying to aid airflow and a barrier for floor dust. It is also a handy place to mix paint and thinners. There is also a front top panel so that the front opening is restricted slightly. Extraction is on the bottom left of the back panel with a baffle to hopefully encourage downwards cross flow across pieces. The jig is a Billy Boy. i also upgraded to a used Devilbiss GTI PRO LITE 1.4 CLEAR with T110 air cap which is my dedicated clear coat gun now. It is a massive improvement over my budget guns and the finish results are so much smoother. One of the old guns will be my base coat and the other set up for primer. Air is from a SIP QT 100 litre compressor with 16 CFM displacement and 13 CFM FAD. The compressor is only about 63dB so much quieter and more efficient than my previous one. Finish-wise, I am using nitro paint and clear, 1k polyurethane clear and am going to try some 1k acrylic clear on a future build. It’s too dangerous to use the 2k stuff without a proper air fed respirator and certainly not in a garage attached to the house!