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This is guaranteed to boil my fosters. I'm not the world's most reliable man, but my reckoning is that if I can turn up on time, then anyone can. Persistent lateness is just pure selfish bullcrap.

Well actually a very old Sei, but absolutely beautiful none the less. Aquired recently in a trade on here, and just back today following a service, a refret and the installation of a new preamp. i would love to find out more of it's history, I really want to know exactly how old it is, I do know that it’s one of the first ones, judging by the exquisite binding around the fretboard, so it's at least 20 years old. i love the headless design. The ergonomics are fantastic. It balances superbly, and is an absolute joy to play. The different colour LEDs are a touch of pure genius.

Wind back five years and you’ll hopefully understand why this bass is as special to me as it is.... In Feb 2013 I was diagnosed with a massive tumour on my right kidney. It was at Stage 3 due to the size (an unbelievable 9.5kgs!) and I was told by the surgeon that it they didn’t operate soon it would kill me one way or another. On Thursday last week, I was given the good news that I had no signs of recurrence and that they were leaving it to me whether I wanted to continue under observation; in short they were happy for me to be discharged. To get to the 5 year milestone was something I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to, so to say I’m relieved is an understatement! After a few tears (something in my eye) my wife told me to treat myself and knew I’d been hankering after one of these: who was I to refuse! After an early morning start I picked this up from Bass Direct on Saturday. The guys kindly restrung it with TI Flats and it really is the best Fretless I have owned. It is more special to me than words can adequately convey. Here it is:

I wouldn't worry about the Fender v Squier decal - you need to get the shorts sorted.

Hi Basschatters! Just to let you know that the full line-up and timings for the Main and Masterclass stages are now on the website. We're sorry to see that a few of you are frustrated by the way in which we reveal artists and timings. There are several reasons for this - we're sure you can understand that it is part of our marketing campaign to announce artists one by one rather than in one bunch at the start, but also artists often want to change time slots, artists drop out and are replaced - and we wouldn't want anyone to plan their whole trip around a specific performance only to be told that it's been changed or cancelled closer to the time for reasons that are out of our control. Anyway we hope you're as excited as we are about the show this year - be sure to make use of your 20% off tickets code, we can't wait to see you all there! Best wishes The London Bass Guitar Show team

Two important things to remember. 1. Probably the most important factor in getting Mani's bass tone is being Mani. 2. The reason why his tone is so good is not the tone in itself (if you heard it on its own in one of those isolated bass tracks you'd most likely wonder what all the fuss was about), but the way it fits into the overall soundscape of the other instruments. So unless you are playing in a Stone Roses tribute band where the other band members had completely nailed the sounds of the people they are copying, you'll find that you are going to have to alter the sound to fit with what the other members of your band are doing to make the bass sound right.

I bought a super compact. Loved it so much I bought a second. Like dating Salma Hayek and finding out she has a twin sister.

Done!

@Osiris - The G55 comes in at under 3ms latency. I seem to recall that the specs are <2.9ms. So certainly up there with pro level wireless analogue to analogue. (ULXD for example, is 2.9ms) - so you have nothing to worry about on that front. Funnily enough, even on small stages I tend to use wireless just so that I have no cables under my feet. Use it - there's certainly no reason in your setup why you shouldn't. If you were telling me you were running a Smooth Hound, I certainly would be urging your edge on the side of caution as you would be within the realms of trouble with that (in fact, it annoys me that people keep banding around that it has no audible latency and is much better than the line 6 equivalents - when in reality, when using it in an IEM setup, it is useless.) Ha - my setup - yeah, overkill for most - but for me it's the result of somebody who probably cares about IEM monitoring for all gigs a little too much. I've used this setup in front of a few thousand... and a few tens down the local I think as soon as you have experienced a great monitor mix - which no doubt you will with your planned setup - you are reluctant to give it up. For me, the more I have pushed the dual desks and external plugins, the less I want to give it up. It all comes down to the final point - I just want the best monitor mix I can have within reason. My setup is actually pretty quick to set up - it's all racked and ready to go... so no real difference to plugging in just one desk! But yeah, people are probably going to be satisfied with far less! @jrixn1 is right - the 215s will enable you to do a job - but I would urge both of you to try and get into the world of quad drivers. It's the difference between running a single 10 behind you and a four ten. Just far more headroom, control, authority... and bass! I had a brief exchange with @thommydonutsabout driver count. He's just bought some high driver count IEMs - I think he concludes with me, there's a big jump from a single to a quad... and then as you go up in driver count, the returns do diminish... however, some of these 6, 8, 12+ driver count earpieces really are nirvana. Defo worth checking out if you can stomach the cost - but as I say to people, you need to stop seeing your IEMs as headphones but as a replacement for speaker cabs. If you have the FoH doing all your amplification FoH, then see your IEM as Bergantinos (or whatever) for your ears - afterall, they are doing the same job - your personal monitor on stage. Then, the cost makes more sense. Put it like this, I'm yet to see anybody who has invested in the higher end IEMs regret doing so. I think @dood and @tonyf would agree wholeheartedly with me. And both of them have been through some serious rigs. Ask them which rig has been their fave - their 64 V8s... or their cabs. I don't know if you are about to come to LBGS or Bingley Hall at the weekend but hunt me down and I'll get some top end stuff in your ears if you want to hear the difference.

Pet hate of mine. I am ALWAYS on time. The only way I have ever been late for something is if my extra contingency travelling time is used up by extreme traffic conditions, and I generally allow enough time for that not to be a problem. The way I see it, if someone is always late they can just as easily always be on time. It believe it to be arrogant and disrespectful to make others wait 'just because' they are always late.

Rancid's 'Time Bomb' is now in the ska band set. I'm a happy camper :-D

It was the first Vigier I tried as well but, it was a long(ish) time before it became mine. I ended up with a Mike Lull PJ5 and then sold that for 2 US Fender Precision 5 but every time I saw the Vigier I wondered why I hadn't bought it. One morning, seriously, I woke up and thought "that's it, I've got to have it" so, I sold both the Precision's and bought the Vigier. I haven't thought of buying another bass since, no GAS at all. I really have found my home hence the purchase of another Excess 5. It's taken me a long time, taken me on a cool journey of discovery and cost me a lot of money but to be here, has been worth it

I forgot “dancing Queen “with ABBA @4000 thinking on same lines I see

As if by magic... this appeared a few hours ago... I'm sure they didn't film it for me! (But it could be a buying omen...)

Dropping the action lower is also more likely to reveal other setup issues with a bass, such as uneven frets, sub-optimal amount of relief, etc. And how much clank you get will also depend on the tension in the strings (and obviously you playing style). Also - dropping the action by around a full 1mm in one go, if you've been playing with >3mm action before, is quite a lot - so not surprising that it would feel weird. Anyways - you asked for numbers, and insofar as I can tell, only @discreet mentioned any ... so here are a few more (all measured at the 24th fret / whatever is the last fret on a particular bass) I recall that Warwick's setup video specified their "standard" (= as delivered from the factory) action as 2mm on the hi-G, and 2.5mm on the low-E. I find that a useful "reference point for medium action". When the guys at Freedom CGR were doing no one of my basses, and asked what action I liked, I said "pretty low"... it came back with a bit under 1.25mm on the high-G, and around 1.75mm on low-B. Played beautifully with minimal buzz (which couldn't be heard amplified). So that would be my reference point for "rather low". Over a few weeks, I couldn't get my touch quite light enough for that action to feel natural on the high strings, so raised it a bit to 1.5mm/bit-above-1.75 on hiG/lowB - i'd still consider that "low action". Conversely, anything above 2.5mm on the high-G i'd consider "high-ish", and >3mm as "high". No idea whether these numbers for low/med/high would be shared by everyone, but it seems to match up well with what i've seen at my local bass shops (in Tokyo).

Here's some proper photos of the show and that... https://www.sundayforsammy.org/2018-photo-gallery

Thanks for all the kind comment chaps. You’re a lovely bunch xx

Mentioned on here before - Rick Wakeman famously ate a full Indian meal. "It was 1973 and we had released Tales from Topographic Oceans, which I didn't particularly like. The third piece in the show was a particularly long percussive piece and I didn't have much to do. Now, I used to have this roadie that worked for me, he would lie underneath my keyboard ostensibly to fix things, but mostly he would just mix me drinks and pass them up. So on this occasion he asks me if there's anything I need, but I heard it as him asking what I felt like doing after the show. I just replied 'oh, I'll probably go for a curry' and then he asked me what I would have so I started naming various menu items, 'onion bhaji', you know...and then, 20 minutes later there is this smell. Of course you know that curry is a smell that wafts, you detect it. And he's standing there under the keyboard rig with these bags of takeaway curry." The story, a classic pull-the-other-one, is "absolutely true". And Wakeman says he proceeded to "lay out the meal across my keyboards to have some." If you are thinking Spinal Tap right now, remember this is 10 years before that film. And Wakeman chuckles as he adds the coda, "I've probably been offered curry at gigs a couple of dozen times since, I don't have it on stage, but I'll arrive backstage to find that someone's sent a takeaway curry to me, or it's been ordered, or there's a takeout menu there. It's nice. It's funny.

Of course mate, especially in the jazz venues ;-)

Ouch! Seriously though, I've always included my location since 2010, but like most members, it disappeared when the site was upgraded and I keep telling myself I will have to re-add it, sadly being an old git, my memory is not what it used to be, but I will actually do it now before I forget. Now what was it I was going to do?

Yeah we’d like to have a better more baked in system but the software is pretty much an off the shelf item. We wrote our own marketplace software by adapting what the software provides so tying in something like this whilst possible would take quite a lot of work to make sure it is stable and to ensure nothing ended up getting lost due to general software updates. It it is however in our list of things to develop in our test environment along with other plans such as a location field for sellers and a better format for the reviews section. For now, best thing to do it to make yourself feedback thread and ask people to leave comments there. Cheers ped

Grinding to a halt now till i can fit edge trim, so made a badge.

What a load of cobblers that was.

Peaches, The stranglers. Nothing comes close.

yes ..I...did!

With a name like Bubby you just know he’s got chops

Mine arrived today. A quick test confirms what’s reflected here. They’re ok for home use and home practice, but wouldn’t want to gig with it solo. However, after playing with cabling options, I’ve got it so that my BH550 powers the 2x8 solely as a cab and then on to the 2x12. It’s brilliant, full range, lightweight and and plenty of volume. Give it time and I’ll probably end up taking the amp unit off of the 2x8 a a it’s not in use. After getting it and trying out the cabling options, I got creative with the aux inputs and 3.5mm splitters. In the pictures you’ll see how it’s currently set up and it all works as a giant surround sound for the tv (the 2x12 is hidden on the other side of the room). After playing with all that and a trip to the shop, I get home to find my LED kit has been delivered so installed one, just need to order another for the 2x12.

And finally, with KING RALPH, the guy who originally got me into playing DB:

With the JUNKYARD DOGS:

Aha...I rather like the neck. I chose a 1.75” width one though. Not too chunky at all for me. I measured my Ibanez and worked out that the Warmoth one was about the same size.

well, if I'd said "phwoarr nice ti..." I could understand the fuss and as the father of two stunningly pretty little girls, agree, but I didn't. if you type @ and wait a moment you get a list of users to suit and you can drill down. Make sure you click on their avatar and the link goes orange. They then get a nudge to look. Bit like facebook

............ and Rickenbacker. Ok, I made that up.

I'd be amazed if this was true ^

As much as I like the idea of new instruments that sport all the correct features of the model they are based on, as an owner of a Firebird with banjo machine heads, this is one original feature I could live without. The minimalist look to the front of the headstock is great, but the machine heads themselves are horrible to use and the case for the Firebird is twice as big as a standard guitar case simply to accommodate the extra depth of the machine heads. As for that Les Paul SL, it really does shown that aesthetics are completely subjective. Personally I think it looks horrible. It has all the grace of the worst kind of 70s Woolies special guitar - although considering that in real terms it probably costs less, I shouldn't really be surprised.

Ha... ur not kidding its just the way he plucks the strings, it all seems kinda awkward.

Wow, that's beautiful

Here's something I pondered upon one day whilst thinking about impedance problems when driving certain sorts of fuzzes. How about putting something with a less-than-ideal output impedance in front of the fuzz ? Something like an EHX LPB-1 ? The output impedance EHX quote is 10k...in the same ball park as a pickup. So off I went and tried it - I added an LPB-1 circuit to a Woolly Mammoth clone I'd built and, well....gone was the thinness (also an extra gain stage....cool !). I've done the same trick with a Fuzz-Face a friend gave me....stick an LPB-1 in front at unity gain, it fattens it up nicely.

Congratulations, Lovely Story and a Super cool Bass. Did you play 'Wherever I lay may hat' first?

Given the amount of GAS evident on this forum alone, I'd say A LOT.

This fella is 1st go to, somewhere between 200/300 gigs. It's seen SEI's, Sadowskys, Alembics, Ricks, Status, Am Deluxes all come & go. But obviously, as many tell us, it's a crap Mex

This thread needs videos ...

I think you’ll find that quavers in the real world are a processed food snack flavoured with cheese.

Well there's more nonsense in the thread now

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1490791617' post='3268003'] I've been to 3 tutors and I guess I've been unfortunate. With the exception of picking up a few practice techniques and learning the bass line in a small selection of numbers I didn't gain a lot. My reason for finding a tutor has always been, at times when I've felt I was hitting a wall. I was hoping to find a new sense of direction. It never happened. In fairness, I'm not in a band and have little chance if being in a position to have time available to commit to a band. One "tutor" even told me that unless you can hold a position of 1 finger per fret in the first position, with all fingers firm on the fingerboard, thumb in the centre of the back, in relative comfort, you may as well give up. That was the message at the first lesson. I was 53 FFS. My fingers weren't equipped for that stretch without working at it. I gave him up and kept the bass. Other tutors have always started each lesson with the immortal question, "well, what do you want to learn?" Answer: "I don't know. If I did I wouldn't be here." So, I stick at it and sight read. I know, I'm odd. [/quote] Oh my. I feel for you! Your first tutor isn't a tutor. My eldest student is 73 and I have taught students who, for example, fell off a motorbike one to many times and that affected their playing position. Hasn't stopped them from progressing well and enjoying playing the instrument! My youngest students are around the age of 9 and in some cases the guitar is huge. Doesn't stop us from being able to play some songs together though. Theory is easy when a teacher knows how to make learning fun too. The other tutors you mention, for whatever reason, have asked the wrong questions. I don't know why that may be. Having a 'curriculum', or being able to pull on progressive teaching material is very important, but knowing how to teach it is paramount. Knowing how to ask the student what their aspirations are will be very helpful, especially if you know how to guide them. i.e. If they are unsure what they 'want to learn'.