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Ok so my GK MB112II combo is loud. Weirdly loud for such a small unit. But when I’ve taken it out the house it’s too small to be able to hear it properly as it’s firing along the floor. So I bought an amp stand. Which didn’t work as it was designed for a guitar amp which is shallower. There might be better ones which work better for my amp but I didn’t have time to find one as I needed one for last night. So I bought a £9 bit of wood, 22mm x 144mm by 1800mm and made one. I cut a 90 degree angle in 2 identical length at the same time so each side was identical, then braced it together with various bits of wood until I got bored. I just tried to get the biggest tilt on the amp with the 144mm wood width - no audio science here. The width is determined by the space inbetween the (rather large) amp feet. Glued and screwed together and sanded all over and it was done. So the amp fires at me direct when it’s maybe 2m away approximately, it’s super solid and quite light and easy to pack away with my other gear. I might varnish it, I might not! Anyway, I’ve not seen anyone else with something like this or even seen one for sale (I didn’t really look to be honest I just needed a solution fast!) but it works perfectly and costs so little!! if you need something like this have a go at making it yourself, it’s not hard and doesn’t need any special tools.

Second two of 4 gigs this week for me. Thursday was at my local pub with the acoustic duo. Got there at 7pm to find it full, mainly diners. Plenty of requests, including ‘Man who sold the world’ and ‘Starman’ - they still like Bowie round here! Free drinks for us, so as I walked to the gig I availed myself of a couple of pints, unusual for me. Home before midnight, and another gig arranged there later in the year. Last night I was at Redditch Palace Theatre with The ELO Experience. A small Grade 2 listed theatre with a modern facade but original(ish) auditorium, first opened in 1913. Capacity of 420 so a sell out gig. Great appreciative crowd as always here, most people up on their feet for the second set. Since I sold my GK 1001RB amp last week, I used my GK800RB head and it sounded fine into my GKNeo410. Small very raked stage meant not much room but we managed ok. On to Shrewsbury today for a gig at The Severn Theatre tonight.

Played at The Pit at McCann's Rock and Ale bar in Newport last night. Really good fun. Good setup with cabs and drum kit provided, so you just need to rock up with heads and breakables. We hit everything a bit too fast, which we haven't done previously. Need to work out a signal to slow it down a bit. I dropped my pick twice as well, which doesn't usually happen, so that was annoying. Still, good fun and people seemed to enjoy it! We played with a death metal band called Cremulation and a another doom band, Damek, who we're hoping we can arrange for them to come to Bristol at some point. This was the setup. We're Hora, and the gear I used was my Dingwall into my GX-100 and then my ABM-600.

That's just the sort of economic argument I fall for.... I can buy these and say I've saved £8k.

I’ve played in a lot of 3 piece bands over the last 35 years. Expanding on my Jack Bruce comment… there is loads that can be done in the spirit of the original arrangement. Still follow the chord charges as before but do different things with it. So if the original just has pounding root notes you could keep the root on Beats 1 and 3 but play octaves for 2 and 4. Or Back it off and only play on 1 and 3 to leave space and give more room to build. Then in bar 3 go back to playing all the notes. Depending on the song, behind a solo that builds up as it goes I’m a big fan of simplifying the original bass line for the first 2 or 4 bars, then getting back to where it was, then adding octaves, and then going to a walking bass part with octave shifts, like Jack Bruce did with Cream. It’s important to approach it still as a bass line where the rhythm is the vital element. So jumping up the neck is not a solo, it’s just a higher bass line. If the guitar solo is high don’t be scared of playing the normal bass part up an octave for some of it. The kick drums are still pounding the low end so let the bass move up as the guitar does. Repeating a bar in a higher octave works really well too. So if you are pounding the crotchets with AAGGF#F#EE in bar one, then in bar 2 play it identically but an octave up in bar 2, then down again in 3, and then up an octave BUT also change something in bar 4. If it fits playing it in reverse keeps the structure for the rhythm but also makes it more interesting to the listener. JS Bach wrote the best bass parts in history. Like mini tunes under the melody that elevated the main tune to greatness. I swear Jack Bruce must have listened to his stuff! Tone. Something I’ve discovered over the years is that a mid heavy tone, like a P bass instead of a J tends to work better. Theres a fatness that helps fill the tone out automatically. I’ve got a massive collection of 3 piece live albums and the P bass or PJ seems to rule above all. Theres a lot of flatwound use too, if the player is a pick user. John Deacon’s tone is amazing for it. Have a quick listen to the live version of One Vision live at Wembley. Theres a YT version that only shows JD’s cameras. It’s so fat! P with flats and a pick is the basic bit, but pay attention when the rest of the band have backed off a lot… the tone is actually a bit unpleasant. It’s very mid heavy and has farty drive going on. None of that ice pick Darkglass tone, it’s a wide frequency fartiness that sounds horrible on its own and fantastic in the mix. It’s quite similar to the old Cream live album in that respect. I use a Catalinbread SFT pedal to get that farty drive. I never use it in the house when playing alone as it sounds horrible! 😂 But even just with drums and nothing else, something magical happens and I can’t hear fart, I can only hear fatness and harmonic richness. A different approach is the dUg / Entwhistle / Sheehan split tone, mixing clean and dirt. It can sound great, but it’s also really easy to make it sound like ar$e. The issue is getting the clean portion of the tone to decay at the same rate as the driven part, and that means dialling in compression on the clean to match the natural compression of the drive. Overall though, build the band tone from the bottom. Drums first, then bass, then guitar. Then it will still sound full when the guitar is soloing. If the entire tone is built on the guitar and everything else has fit round it, then the band tone loses all weight during solos. But despite all this… enjoy the space of a 3 piece! A wall of noise gets tiring for an audience. So many bands these days seem to ignore dynamics. Have quiet bits, loud bits, thick bits, thin bits etc etc. The average punter will notice that sort of variation far quicker than anything else and it will keep them interested. Otis Day and the Knights had it right….” A little bit softer now, a little bit softer now…… a little bit louder now….” Anyway, I hope that helps a bit!

People are quick to moan, but I also like to be quick to praise where it is due. All sorts of grief with the DHL (Damage Handling Loons) over the delivery of my new Fender Precision after a phone dall from DHL to tell me theyd damaged it. George at Andertons was cool, told me not to worry, they'd sort out any damage. Just get it delivered then make an assessment and let him know immediately and he'd sort it. Fortunately the hard case and bass within were fine, it was just the packaging that DHL had mullered. I phoned George back to advise the bass had arrived undamaged, and thanked him for his reassurance. I mentioned that G had been cut a little short and as I tried to tune it beyond F it just slipped round the capstan. Well, not 20 hours a later a full set of spanking new Fender 45's drop through my letter box, fortunately delivered by a different company who didn't manage to drive a forklift over it. I'd have been happy with the one string, but a new set was a very pleasant surprise. Even better as I actually quite like Fender rounds. So top marks to Andertons. Reassuring on the phone, poised and ready to help refund/replace if the bass or case had arrived damaged, and super generous with the strings when I only needed the one. Well done. If anyone from Anderton's is reading this, thank you. You'll be top of the list next time I get a tax rebate that the missus doesn't know about and I go bass shopping.

So, yesterday, this arrived. Before we get to the photo, if anyone doesn't like pointy things, leave. There is nothing here for you but pain. I ordered this in 2021. How has it taken so long you ask? There was a thing called covid if I recall. Also, there were also hilarious parts problems on backorder for ages. Enough of that nonsense. What is it and where is it made then? Grainger basses and guitars are up near Peterborough, and around the time of one of the lockdowns they posted a bass in this shape that had a mad blue acrylic top. The cogs started turning. So, my idea was to have this wired like an Alembic Series 1 bass and it is. After chatting to Nuno at Lusithand about it I bought some filters off him (his stuff is great by the way - check out his site) with the caveat that it might not work. Undeterred, I sought the advice of the basschat massive and many thanks to @Hellzero who provided the Jack wiring diagram. Basically, the bass can be used stereo or mono with different jacks (like a Rickenbacker), but it's active with a filter and volume for each pickup also a pickup selector. So there's 2 jack outputs. I also got Darren and Gavin to make the bass modelling the neck on my own Alembics. They've done that amazingly precisely. Top and back is flame maple, body is walnut with headstock facings and neck strings. There is a touch of neck dive, but I've not used a wide strap yet. The bass is quite light as the upper wing is chambered. Naturally, I've got a hipshot on it for drop D and there's a brass Warwick Just a Nut too. Bridge is Babicz mono rails to accommodate the narrower spacing. Inlays are mother of pearl. Pickups are Nordstrand Zen Blades wired in parallel to keep as much top end as possible. The reason being is that Lusithand Filters go to 4kHz give or take, whereas Alembics go to 6.6kHz. So, does it sound like an Alembic? In a word, yes. If you want that John Entwistle 1982 Who bass sound, you'll get it. Or if you want a great clean sound it'll do that too. Darren, Gavin and Nuno were fantastic throughout this especially when there were wiring issues we had to resolve. If you're looking for a custom bass made by a British company (or anyone actually), then Grainger do really exceptional work. Also, Nuno at Lusithand makes really good preamps and pedals which are well worth checking out.

Nice bass but that price is eye-watering! Someone could've got these two and still have nearly £8,000 left over :-

Have now sanded, primed, filled, primed, felled again, sanded again and readied the pickguard. about to paint it in satin black. Wish me luck <gulp>

When you start a thread with "not feeling it" with IEM's then all those people who don't like them will jump in, and that's what happened. A lot of the comments here I would attribute to poorly fitting IEM's or ones where the sound in their ears hasn't been sorted properly. @Al Krow asked if there is a 'halfway house' the answer is no, if your in ears fit properly they should cut the outside sound to almost inaudible. The whole point is to cut out all the distorted unbalanced sound mess you get on stage and only hear a studio quality mix in you ears. If you can't get isolation or a good mix you aren't doing it properly and you won't like it. People can and do use in-ears half in and half out so they can hear the on-stage sound but that just increases the sound level and the in-ear sound from the buds is nasty and tinny because they aren't sealed. We've even had people who only put them in one ear. Honestly can you remember seeing a major touring band who don't use in-ears. Do you think every single band are just going through the motions or are 'just not feeling it' when they are closing the main stage at Glastonbury (other large events are available) All the excitement coming from the crowd is still there, all the excitement of playing your music and seeing the response still happens, you are still doing the thing that makes all those people have a great time. I'm not pretending there are no down sides to in ears, it takes time to get used to them. Longer for some than others. It takes as much effort to set up properly as any new skill, you have to put in the miles. If you go wired then you are tethered. It starts feeling very different and 'wrong' but ends up being a new normal. On the plus side you won't lose your hearing, your band will sound better, you will play better, your audiences will have a better time. I don't want to invalidate anyone's personal experience, we all like loud sounds, plugging our first bass amp in and turning it up to maximum is a great experience and it is exciting and adrenaline pumping but going out night after night without hearing protection is going to damage your hearing, limit your experience of music and in the end give you a sense of isolation from friends and family and ultimately life as you hearing fades and the tinnitus rises. Choose wisely.

The only problem with Andertons is they keep a list of all the things you've bought over the years... I'm terrified the wife may find it one day...

“This 1-owner bass came to us via the cousin of its original owner… He played the bass locally in bands until the early 80s when he sadly passed away. Since then the bass has remained in its case with his cousin.“ Blimey, how big’s the case?! Or how big’s the cousin?!

Afternoon its been a. While since I did a NBD thread! Been waiting for this for a while as they don’t come up for sale too often Fender AVRI 75 jazz 5 1/2 hr round trip this morning to collect this, well worth it Owned from new by previous owner and looks like it just came out of the factory, all covers included as is the original bridge serial number dates it to 2005 Currently sat in my lounge whilst the trusts settles down Tony

Alternatively, seeing as my 61P was sold, you could just buy the Pino and have more than £18k left over. You've just saved another £10k! I should add that my advice isn't underwritten by the FSA.

Bongos. They look like an overdone, gaudy, tasteless, ostentatious 80s sports car designed by an LSD-fuelled lunatic in the grip of a psychotic episode, available only in a range of hideous, eye-scorching colours that scream of 'Dante meets Bosch in a crack lounge'. Horrendous looking things. I'd absolutely love one.

I'm trying to find if Snugs will make something moulded that will work with Sennheiser IE100's, still waiting for them to get back to me but I'll let you know if they will.

If I ever get a boat I'm naming it "Unsinkable II".

P.S. A guitarist friend of mine played in a band where the bassist had a Ric. 18 months or so ago, I said to the guitarist friend “Rickenbackers look weird and sound rubbish.” Somehow I now own one (well not that much of mystery - I walked into Guitar Guitar with a credit card and bought it). I think it looks great and sounds great. Maybe this thread is about 18 months too late for me to fully participate.😀

What can I say? I like ‘em thicc

If ya happy with 1/4" Jack Out, SH Zoom B1 Four (or B1on) @ £50ish Tuner, 50 Patches of upto 5 Effects, Amp/Cab Sims, 30 Sec Looper, Drum Machine... and ToneLib to Edit the patches. If you just want the bassics!.. get a SH Behringer BDI21. SansAmp-a-like with DI XLR out... £25ish

Alternatively, just get a Zoom MS-60B (not a Plus) and set it up to cycle between patches. Use the Tonelib Zoom editor to set up the patches.

https://yoshblog.com/en/review/b2-four/ From looking over the various reviews of the B2 Four, buyers seem to be very happy with it. There's a very detailed 4* review at Amazon.com that's worth looking at - https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B0BW6BSPLV/ref=cm_cr_unknown?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=four_star&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar

Haven't played with a 5-piece since 2010 except for one dep gig with them in 2016, just consulted photos and I was second row on the drummer's right, one side or the other of the rhythm guitarist. Although now my smart-alec answer would be "I don't, I sit down".

Had a similar DHL fiasco about two years ago. I bought a P Bass via Andertons, ordered on a Satuday morning, delivery Monday, everything to do with Andertons went smoothly, eg order and delivery confirmation etc. Monday comes....Nothing! Phoned Andertons, they confimed it had left via DHL, phoned DHL, "oh sorry we tried to deliver, but there was nobody in", "Lies said I, I've been waiting in, no one has been here." "Oh", she said, "Let me check the system, ah it's in our delivery centre in Exeter, it will definitely be with you on Wednesday." Wednesday comes... Nowt! Rang them again, to be told that they'd sent it back to Andertons. Phoned them, told them not to resend via DHL as they were useless IIRC, it ended up delivered by DPD.

You cant be serious. Love Sexy,, Diamonds and Pearls, The Gold Experience were great albums. and his live music was just.... He can be hit and miss but so are our ears as listeners. The guy didnt have to have chart toppers to be probably the best musician of all time. Putting lyrics like "We can stroll the mezzanine, buy some dirty magazines" then talk about eating ice cream. I just think thats so clever. A guy that played 27 instruments should have every musician in the worlds respect. Im never usually a fanboy of anyone but when it comes to Prince. Well its Prince.

I have advised Andertons that in the event of my death they must not let my wife sell my basses for what I told her id paid for them.

I ordered a deeply obscure pickup from them. They told me upfront that it would take yonks. It took yonks, but they kept me informed. You cannot ask more than that.

This is an interesting one. Most of my pedal purchases have been tone or dynamics related rather than crazy noise related. I'm sure the phase will pass, however it's fun. Latest arrival is this Turns a dull sound into a huge thumping rattling racket. Don't know if it's supposed to not how it will sound live. I'll find out tonight.

I've always had a good experience buying stuff from Andertons. I'm a fan.

This.Looks as if the body has been stretched.It just looks well...wrong.Dont hate it,just dont like it.

leave it then mate

More drive and more considered note choices. IME it's as much what you play as how you sound.

Couple of things here - Quality of IEMs and the mix in them. Some people freak out at the clarity - you thought your playing was better than it really is. Different ball game when you can hear every fk up in crystal clear clarity - and you blame the tech when it unravels the reality. Movement of air - if you can feel that amount of air, your backline is too loud to give a decent mix in most situations anyway... but most of the time, it's a myth. Stand next to an amp and put your fingers in your ears... and you feel through your jeans.... nothing. (And that cos you aren't playing any strings because your fingers are in your ears) If you want then energy, go get a KT board or something. But again, each to their own. Some people like old school. Some people like the tech. Some people like their hearing intact too. I actually like playing without IEM too... but theres always somebody in the band looking to ruin the party. Guitarists and drummers I'm looking at you. I've got to the point where I say try IEMs. Some people love it. Some people dont. Lifes too short to try and get people to come around to your preference.

Headstocks are truly awful things. Make a bass unbalanced, add a load of unnecessary weight, make it less convenient to tune, all for the sake of putting an advertising hoarding at the end of the neck. I feel that headstock addicts are to be pitied rather than raged at, poor creatures, clinging on desperately to those awful relics of the past. It isn't as if they can even agree on what is a good shape for a headstock, they argue about them endlessly, which shape will satisfy their terrible craving, which shape repels them utterly. And then trying to repair the damage done to the instrument's balance by paying hundreds of pounds for super-light tuners.

For Record Store Day today me and my son Joe went to Casbah Records in Greenwich, it was opening at 9am, we got there at 8:50 and there was quite a queue (see pics), got into the shop at about 10:30 and luckily got what I wanted, a copy of Ian Hunter's new album "DEFIANCE PART 2 - FICTION". It was a tad chilly in London this morning and I was glad to get back home !! 🥶😂 Anyone else buy anything for this years RSD ? 😃 John

I will weigh mine, hang on. EDIT - 1350g. It’s not as big as that Gator one though.

Drummer's hihat/snare side as a few others have said.

Probably in a tiny minority here judging by some of the stuff I've read, but I've played a couple of gigs with IEMs and absolutely hated it. Just feels like you're in some sort of cocoon where you're shielded from everything apart from the band. No connection with anything else and also I found them uncomfortable and irritating. Give me an amp and a cabinet any day.

I stand on the left or right. My preference is to be next to the high-hat, but I play with a couple of left handed drummers so that can change. When depping they might have other ideas, so I'll go where they put me.

The only part of that I liked was the Read Less option.

completed the other bass have made a thread on here about that one tho!! so now onto the main event and the pickups are in pre amp later tonight! im liking the no pickguard look aswell

A used bass is a lot like a beautiful woman...

Be sure the desk has phantom power off. Trace never isolated their DI afaik. 18v up it and no more DI. Then they tell you your DI doesn't work!

How far are you from Ashdown HQ? They are excellent about servicing their stuff, by nearly all accounts. To my mind the amp was fine when you picked it up. Ergo the failure is on your watch so to speak. Playing around with buttons and features is something to be done on the test drive. As a seller of a fully functional amp I would be highly suspicious that you gave it an illegal load or dropped it or something. Don't know you from Adam. On a different tack. Make sure you didn't leave the subharmonic 'muddifier' button engaged.

My 3 P Basses needed to get involved!

Although it was nearly 50 years ago now, I still remember a junior school music lesson when Miss brought in her vinyl copy of Prokofiev's Peter and the wolf. The characters being represented by the different instruments quickly had me hooked like Pavlov's dog. This directly influenced me in 1965, coming up with the upright bass part in 'These Boots Are Made For Walking', which directly influenced Nancy Sinatra taking me to her hotel after the session and having full sex with me... our heaving rampant torsos twisting together until there was no space between us... ... that in turn influenced me to try to get on the 1960s Motown sessions backing the Supremes, but unfortunately Jamerson or Babbit always got those gigs... The above is completely untrue obviously, except the first part. 😬