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Will be there on the Saturday. Be good to catch up with people over some mildly over-priced coffee.

Hello BassChat! Charlie here from The Gallery... Since BassChat is where you're all hanging out these days we thought we'd join in on the fun and start our own thread! We'll be keeping you up to date with new stock, shop news and all that jazz. This is also another way for you to reach us with any enquiries! If you've never heard of us, this is who we are and what we're about: We're a bass specialist shop situated in Camden, London. The Gallery opened in 1993 and since then has been London's largest bass-only store. We have a huge selection of basses, amps, effects and accessories (new, pre-owned and vintage!). The basement (bassment?) of the shop is home to Sei Bass, which comprises of top luthiers Martin Petersen & John Chapman. They build wonderful custom bass guitars and offer a long list of workshop services. Below are a few pictures of our shop plus a couple of photos of Sei Basses so you can get an idea of what we do... That's it from me for now but I'm sure you'll be seeing more of me on BC from now on! Love, Charlie & The Bass Gallery crew.

Just a quick heads up on this one folks and sorry if it has already been posted.. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ernie-Ball-MusicMan-Sting-Ray-Bass-Guitar-in-MusicMan-Hard-Case-UK-SELLER/352279781214?hash=item520582df5e:g:phcAAOSwFnxaWe0Z I mailed the seller regarding the photos of the bass as it looks as though the frets had been removed.....seller replied "this is a fretless bass" that was it! They're not telling lies but they haven't been exactly forthcoming. Just beggars belief as some poor sod may buy this without realising the frets had been ripped out!! Rant over...

An easy way of distinguishing this is to play a piano recording through your speaker. You'll hear immediately what the cab is doing to the signal. It may sound odd, but IMO playing bass through your bass cab is not necessarily the best test.

So what's the score if the singer wants to sing a number slowly, and it turns the song into a pig's ear..? Go with the singer's choice..? Surely not..?

To expand briefly on my much-maligned laconic comment, I would just explain that the cost of producing a 3-way loudspeaker system with a high quality midrange driver and HF unit is much higher than the configuration of a single or twin driver with an optional small tweeter favoured by Barefaced and many others. Although it's fairly obvious that the drive units in a 3-way system cost more, many people don't appreciate that the crossover in a system like some of the early Barefaced models and the current Fearful range is a very high-cost item - not to mention quite difficult to design properly.

True

Tears of a Clown and What's Going On.

Things may be a bit different here in France as we always get fed before the gig, even if it's just a small bar that doesn't do food themselves. They'll buy in a pizza for the band. So no need to eat during the gig, but I wouldn't anyway as it's just plain rude. As for drink, we always get a free tab but as we all have to drive, we're on water. Being the main vocalist, I see nothing wrong in having a bottle of water on hand. And the same for the rest of the band, as it can get pretty warm here in summer...! As to TV, can't say we've ever been in a position to watch it during a gig. But we did have a regular gig at a bar that had a 50" TV right above the stage. They insisted on playing YouTube concerts (minus the sound) while we played our set and it annoyed the hell out of me. But they paid us well...! So one night, our lead guitarist finished a rather splendid solo and the crowd suddenly went ape... Looking at the stage, cheering, clapping and stamping their feet. I thought, well if they enjoyed it that much, I'll give him another solo after the next chorus...! It was then I noticed the bar owner sprinting across the room, diving over the drummer and between our amps, then flapping wildly at the TV trying to turn it off. I glanced up at the screen and found that some wag had got hold of the remote control and switched to a full on porn channel. But my man still got his solo in....

Except, as all gigging musicians will know, it never is just a "few hours work". If you add up the practice and rehearsal time, the travelling time and expenses and staff costs (all bands got ripped off by their "management" back then), then the true cost of being in a band and gigging emerges. Then you see how little the bands actually got to put in their pockets.

Agreed that a clean blend option would have been a useful addition on some of the models although I don't know how many of the models that they are emulating have clean blends? Having said that, Zoom have added clean blends to some of their drive sounds where the original pedals they are emulating didn't have them, so it can be done. Metering is useful too, I guess, although I always prefer to use my ears and dial in my compression sounds in the context of the band mix. I also find the M-Comp (my personal fave on the MS-60B) quick and easy to dial in for the punchy sound that I like Yes, the TCE SpectraComp is a thing of joy, it is paradoxically the simplest and most complex pedal compressor pedal available . I gig mine regularly love it. On those gigs where it's standing room only and I have no space for my pedal board, I use the MS-60B on top of my amp as a tuner and compressor. I just use the one, always on sound, so the limited form factor for chopping and changing patches all night isn't an issue for me. And although the SpectraComp performs 'better' IMO (possibly down to having a small amount of clean signal blended it along with a slight push in the higher frequencies?) (and depending on how you want to actually quantify 'better') the Zoom still holds its own in a live situation with a quality bass and rig.

some musicians should be committed

I used pound the strings like a ruddy jack hammer, Steve Harris style. I was always a heavy player with heavy strings, and it was a bit of a workout doing gigs, especially being the singer too. Then I watched Gary Willis play. Effortless technique and beautiful tone. He looked like he might doze off mid song it was that easy. Now I'm with the Billy Gibbons school of thought. Make it easy for yourself. Lighter strings, lighter touch.... just turn your amp up!

On behalf of myself, Michael G and our Product Engineer Simon Austen, just putting a marker down that your friendly neighbourhood Basschat sponsor Gillett Guitars will be there on stand A0. We'll have our Contour Bass range, a couple of Ashdown amps (UK manufacturers only on our stand ), our bass buddy Freddie Draper, and an itinerant keyboard player to make it all feel like the cocktail lounge on the QE2. Very much looking forward to meeting fellow members of the Basschat gang over the weekend! Scrumpymike, aka Gillett Guitars Sales & Marketing Manager

Another reason I like P basses... as said above, they are very simple but instantly give you 'that' sound in a mix. So you can forget all about the 'tonequest', forget about GAS and get on with the business of actually playing the bloody thing. Which is why I don't much care for on-board preamps, active basses* and over-complicated amps - too much of a distraction. *Spectors excepted, obvs.

Even worse when the perp is the drummer! At least singers can be jollied along a bit by the rest of the band, whereas it's usually just down to the bassist to try and sort the tempos out if the drummer is at fault. I speak from bitter experience....

I have a Jazz neck on one of my Precisions. Some might argue that it changes the tone, but I’d say it has more of an impact on the way I play... which then changes the tone.

Burlesque by Family. And that tone - Wetton nailed it beyond the call of duty For younger members who dont know the band / track

Reef’s ‘Naked’, appropriate title for such a sparse bassline. It works perfectly for the song, but I hated playing this when my band had it in the set, bored me silly,

Just got a freeby Fender Cab from Ed -- He took the time and trouble to pack it in a Bombproof package and arrange courier for it too! Top guy and very highly recommended by me! Will

Money shots - oi , stop dribbling at the back Some side action Some rear action , matron. Yes i stuck another badge on the rear. Had some perspex i didnt know what to do with Some front action And a close up ( sounding like a porn movie ? ) of the flash SS cups under the grill screws. Oh yes. Come to daddy

I’m about to list two Markbass 4x8” NY804 cabs. Smaller and easier to manage and with an 8x8” you’d have more cone area than your 6x10”. Their quoted frequency range matches your SWR and I’ve found them plenty deep enough.

Glad to hear it, Dood. My killer CD is by Madonna. Not only does her music have a lot of different bass sounds - which you can hear clearly on a good system - but her voice sounds awful if the system balance is wrong. Some people say that her voice is awful anyway, but that's not the point......

Ed bought my TC Mojo Mojo pedal. Great friendly buyer & paid instantly. Deal with confidence!

Who'd want to carry a bass around with them across London unless they absolutely had to? Not for me ta!

I like his attitude and can relate to it. Being ancient, I've paid the bills and have enough to live on, so am more interested in playing decent music with like minded souls.

I would think 'budget conscious' rules out Barefaced and many other options. The OP wants us to be imaginative on his behalf, not tell him what he can't afford.

Gawd, havn't heard this for ever. Mmm....one and three, simplicity itself.

Just did a trade with Bas, what a top guy! nice easy transaction, everything exactly as it should be.

Its simplicity is a blessing and a curse.... I bought a used but mint wine coloured one back in 78. I was a rank beginner and in my useless hands it didn't seem to have any clarity or punch at all..just dull dull dull. A year later I bought a Ray and I sounded ...well, better or so I thought. I had 25 yrs with that boat anchor Ray and was never really happy. Its only recently that I've finally figured out how to play a P bass which for me personally is Chromes which oddly never seem to go dull, and a light but positive touch..to say I've found nirvana is pushing it a bit but I'm finding it very, very hard to put down.

"so I have a jack/XLR converter which is MONO" - this is your issue. If you use a TRS (e.g. a stereo) to XLR jack from your headphone amp, you'll end up with a stereo feed (of two identical mono signals), that will be unbalanced. Behringer have gone the unbalanced XLR route to avoid having two unwieldily XLR/TRS inputs on the belt pack. As you say, you could also get a mono adapter for the headphone side too.

That was pretty much it for me too - I bought a Precision, played it at home and was pretty underwhelmed with it considering how many of my fave bassists played them. Then took it to band practice and it all made sense. I`ve found that basses I like the sound of played on their own, such as Jazzes & Stingrays just don`t work for me in a band setting, but the Precision that has a fairly ordinary sound on its own is the master in the mix.

I did a 'Strictly Come Dancing' type of event at Christmas, and knowing how particular the dancers can be regarding tempos, the drummer brought along a digital metronome which proved to be invaluable. No complaints at all. Reminds me of a great keyboard player I worked with who used to ask the dancers - " Right, your next dance is a tango. How do you want it - too fast or too slow?"

I think speed is a factor a lot of bands struggle with when playing live. When I watch videos back of us playing live I am shocked how quicker some of the songs are. Must be an adrenaline thing. I always struggled with the bass solo in my generation till I realised we were playing it a lot quicker than the original.

Ahhhh, that’s cool. Have fun and please pass on my regards to Ben. I genuine agree, the Vigier bunch are great. Enjoy the show. Wish I could have made it this year.

I've had both and prefer unlined mostly but I do get a bit lost above the 9th fret I like this idea

Our ears can get ‘fatigued’ when tweaking tone controls so when we go back to a ‘flat’ setting it’s nearky a relief and can sound great after a prolonged period of time tweaking. Solid advice is to start at noon and make small changes but remember if you’re playing with your band in a particular room twist the tone controls until it sounds good and balanced with the band not to where the knobs look correct. Sounding cohesive as a unit is the goal.

Sweetest Feeling - Jackie Wilson.

The vocalist in my bands usually have a drink of some description on stage. Totally necessary to keep the vocal cords lubricated.

Gibson: how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. Here's the new 'Modern V' - apparently a new take on the 1967 V OK, not all bad, you think. You look closer and see a list price of $4499. Ouch! But - still - there's something about it that intrigues you. Then you discover it's got a richlite (compressed paper and resin) fingerboard. Alright, Martin use richlite on their cheaper (but still nice) acoustics. And you know that at least one reasonably well-known luthier's refretted a richlite board and pronounced it acceptable. But Richlite on a four-and-a-half grand guitar? Even so, the look still tugs at you. It's one of the less butt-ugly models Gibson have put out recently. Unique, almost. Then - being of a certain age - you dimly remember the Jackson Roswell Rhoads which first came out in the 1990's. Wow, must be worth a fortune, right. Secondhand Roswell went for just under £700 on Reverb just before Xmas. Another one went on the bay for £1500. So, $4499 for a slightly less-than-unique V mash-up with a richlite board. Thanks, Gibson. Thank you so very f**king much.

Do what @mcnach did and order a custom Precision with 2 J pickups instead of the P

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My 76' lawsuit Oackland & Co by Matsumoku : great JB !

Just done a deal with Steve. Absolute gent, decisive, did what he said he'd do, when he said he'd do it. Gear bang on as described. Really nice friendly bloke to deal with, fully recommended by the House of Munster. Enjoy tonight's gig Steve and thanks for making it so easy.

I recently bought an EBS amp from Steve, great comms, amp was well packaged, arrived on time and works perfectly. Deal with in complete confidence folks.