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In my experience the recorded music scene in the 80's was full of fantastic bands playing great songs. The local gig scene (London and the SE) was vibrant and there were more gigs than a band could fit in the diary. The audiences were lively, interested and enthusiastic. Most of the gigs we played were full. IME the 80's was a great time for music.

First time the drummer came in at the right moment?

My fault entirely.... Way back in the 60s, at a pub in Nottm, we were using their PA, with what passed as a sound desk on the stage next to my drums. Being a drummer, I had no idea how these worked, but the vocalist asked me to turn the whole thing up. Right next to the desk, mounted on the wall, were the burglar alarm controls. The PA volume didn’t increase, but about ten minutes later, the boys in blue arrived........ We never played at that venue again, for some reason

the older I get the more I think that is true, one of the reasons I don't go to many gigs anymore is the idiots I have to put up with when in a big crowd, and why anybody would want to go to Glastonbury is totally beyond me edit, don't mind a big crowd when I'm playing a gig though

Seems like Atelier Z basses are a bit rare occurence on this forum so I thought about writing a bit about my recent purchase Having owned quite a few Japaneese basses over the years, mainly ones from the Fujigen factory like Yamaha TRB, Ibanez Prestiges, FGN basses, Fenders but others like a Sadowsky Metro as well, I have long been an admirer of the quality of the craftmanship that is put into these instruments over there. There is a bunch of smaller 'boutique' workshops like Atelier, Sugi, Devise that produce basses of the highst quality and standards - with prices to match. I've been long eyeing Atelier basses as I like their take on the classic Fender jazz design and they seem to carry everything that I like in these modern 'superjazz' basses. There are so many brands to choose from if one is heading into this direction and the options are almost endless, but I wanted to have something which is a bit unique here in Europe and wanted to know the next level of CIJ basses. So after months of checking out Ikebe's website (one of Japans biggest instrument store) this bass came up, I had the funds, the stars aligned and I made the purchase and imported this home. This was my second time dealing with Ikebe and I have to say they are top notch in customer service. It was a seamless transaction. Anyway, on to the most important thing. The bass is a Atelier Z M265 custom model. The M265 is basically their '70 5 string jazz bass. Ash body, one piece maple neck/board with block inlays and binding. they use in-house Atelier pickups and a selection of 2 band preamps. Hadware is a high mass Atelier bridge and Gotoh tuners. This custom M265 is a bit different, most notably in that it has a 3 band EQ (Bartonlini) and abalone inlays plus a brown red burst finish (which is more like amber in real life, the pics show this a bit more red that actually is) It is quite light and is a joy to play, the neck is really comfortable. It balances really well, that was one of my concerns as I was not able to try and see. I especially like the clean pickguard, it lets the grain shine through. The sound is a bit of a tipical '70 ash/maple, quite clean, sweet deeps with great highs and the slap is like Miller, only I don't have the chops.... It can get gritty if I dig in and it reacts very well to the different dinamics. The mid cut/boost is a nice addition, can't remember every having a jazz with a mid control but certainly helps at certain situations with the slightly scooped ash/maple sound. I bougth this bass untried and without ever trying an Atelier bass but it delivered on its promise big time. These above are my initial observations and for the time being I am very happy and a bit relieved as this distance purchase turned out great. Of course just like with other basses only time will tell how we are going to be in the long run. And now the pics (taken by Ikebe)

My Alpher got assembled yesterday. One piece swamp ash body Crotch English Walnut top with matching headstock Roasted maple neck with a bit of flame Rocklite fingerboard Nordstrand Blades Passive with 4 way selector for the Blademan Neutrik locking jack Hipshot hardware Looks better than I had imagined!

The ones made in Yorkshire are branded Ibagum.

And the song goes on for FAR too long anyway ... just suggest they chop out the whole Slash-solo nonsense that makes up the second half of it.

You dont necessarily have to play the fluffy bits. Would a tute help ?

It's amazing how wrong this sentence becomes just by adding the word 'on' into it

That would be nice. Although the last few deliveries from Andertons have been several weeks late - for brand new products anyway. It's almost my birthday and I've actually managed to get the family to fund this! First bass related prezzie from them for decades!

Easy. Musima, made behind the Iron Curtain in the old DDR: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-and-Rare-1980s-MUSIMA-Action-Bass-P-bass-DDR-Japan-/253386997413 NEXT!

Half Man Half Biscuit: All I Want For Christmas Echo & The Bunnymen: Killing Moon

You really need a spectral analyzer to decide if something works for you? Wouldn't it be faster to just listen? The pedal is voiced to dUg's specs and he doesn't like the extra high end he hears through the big systems he plays through. The interview demo he does with Pete Thorn he is using the XLR out and there is no shortage of high end. The unit does have a treble control and if you look at his actual settings in the manual he has the highs set around 10 o'clock. The pedal has no shortage of high end. Again, it's a dUg Pinnick signature pedal so that should give you an idea of the type of tones it has. It's a pretty cool little pedal. If it's a sound you think you can use, give it a go. If it doesn't work for you, send it back.

Aibanizu

Well, this looks quite promising.

Mickey was in for his cheekbones, if I recall correctly. And most excellent cheekbones they were; man looked like a Mills and Boon cover walking down the street

The 90s did it already...

False beard, a decent wig and a girdle. Done.

Another solution that nobody seems to have mentioned is to embrace the situation. Cocktail gigs, to be precise. I spent a period where I would turn up to a wedding lunch, conference dinner or some such with a guitar and an amp, set up in a quiet corner where I wouldn't get disturbed or jostled, and spend an hour or two playing pretty much whatever I fancied for as long as I fancied playing it; as long as I played something that punters would recognise once in a while that was enough. Nobody's really listening to what you're doing as they have much more important things to do and talk about; but as long as they know it's there everybody's happy. Not exciting for either player or audience, but if you're any good at it you can make fairly decent money (at one point I was asking - and getting - £150+ an hour), and you don't have to share the gig fee with anyone. You do have to approach it in a professional manner though, both as regards material and technique - just rocking up and bashing out any old shite won't get you many return gigs. Oh, and most places will have a dress code of some sort as well. I now await the flak from the 'if I had to do that I'd have given up years ago' brigade. Before you do chirp though, remember this: there are many ways to earn a living in the music business; screaming to be heard over a room full of noisily inebriated and disinterested ne'er-do-wells is only one of them. If bass is the only instrument you play (covered in a forum topic recently) it may be more of an issue of course...

You are right, Trash Metal like Heavy Metal was awful in the 80's : certainly the worst recordings ever, absolutely crap sounding, totally lacking inspiration and, even worst, dressed like sissies. And I was more on the metal side in the early eighties than on the jazz scene.

Seller is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot...

But is he even in the top 100 maracca players in pop. He can't hold a candle to Davey Jones of the Monkees.

Love that there's now more than just the Elwood. The Frog is a great looking bass. I'm tempted by this a lot!

The prices don’t help with this though, price put most ordinary people and what are you left with? I love the stones but would I pay £100 for a ticket? No way, I can see five up and coming bands for the same money and probably 5-10 interesting support acts as well.

The Cult: She Sells Sanctuary Sisters of Mercy: Alice Fields of the Nephilim: Moonchild

Bit of a departure for me this one. Turned on the DAW, recorded and improvised with no plan or arrangement. It is what it is but I wouldn't change anything. If you're not keen on ambient bass maybe this isn't for you. Otherwise sit back and let the music take somewhere for 20 minutes.

The video above is very accurate if that is any help

There might be a super lightweight build thread starting elsewhere on the forum soon

I nearly posted that winery dogs video earlier but for a slightly different reason. There is no doubting that Mr Sheehan can rip it up and is a phenomenal bass player and seems like a top all round guy, actually I met him once and he was a lovely chap, forgot that... Anyway I am in the minority it seems, but I think part of being a great musician is recognising when to manipulate your sound to create something that sits well with the song. The Winery Dogs video, for me in my humble and insignificant opinion, is an example of how his signature sound, shouldn't just be dumped into every musical situation and ruins an amazing song and performance. in this case its all of the harmonics and fret noise, its not even about the level of distortion.

That's un oeuf of that... sorry

And this is where the turning wheels led me: So I'm thinking basically a Fender/Wal crossover. Multi-coil pickups and filter preamp, but with P-Bass looks. So now I'm Gassing for a Bass which doesn't exist, Great!

It would look fine...

VHS: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00004CK5G

Thanks guys, always nice to hear actual specs from the companies themselves, and Tech21 are always good with this.

I get the feeling your Glastonbury is a totally different type of festival And if I remember correctly it's very expensive. Blue

So you've heard it all, have you?

Not only that, but your todger falls off with a resounding clang and your scrotum ends up down by your ankles. This is why old men keep falling over.

I’ve never played one, but The Gallery have one at the moment https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass/products/wilkes-bass-custom-fretless

I looked into it a few months ago. There used to be a company that sold the plate, it may will have been Wilkes, but I couldn't find anyone currently selling a similar item. It might be worth PMing a couple of the clever chaps on the Build Diaries thread for ideas on where or how to get something like this made. There's a few guys with more than decent engineering/machining skills hanging about there.

The only time I seriously thought I was in trouble was playing in quite a rough punk band in an even rougher pub in Glasgow. I had a Line6 something-or-other floor effects thing at the time (what was I thinking?). One big guy was spectacularly drunk and was jumping about all over the place narrowly missing my pedal board. Of course, eventually he did some massive jump in my direction and my instinctive reaction was to give him a big shove to save myself and my gear. The dude goes flying landing on his face in the middle of the room. To say he didn't see the funny side would be an understatement. He came back up swinging, threatening me with death and worse!! There's no escape route from the corner we are playing in. The only thing I can think is that I'm going to have to get my bass off, hit him with it and hope for the best. Anyway, it was not to be. Our crazy drummer saw all this. Launched himself right over the front of the kit. Straight past me and laid the guy out with one thump. I needed a bit of a sit down! I really don't approve of violence

Continue the two tone thing? Why not make a "mini-me" version of the pickguard but fit it to the cream headstock as a kind of tribute to the late Verne Troyer. If you are fitting a string tree, use it to help fasten the plate down so you have fewer screw heads showing. Think of it as an extension to the truss rod adjustment cover.