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I do enjoy this YouTube series. Here's ep.36 on Roundabout.

The thing with anything like this is that some only give it the amount of time for then to feel uncomfortable....then turn it off. The trick is, even if you don’t like it, to immerse yourself in it for longer, to give yourself the chance of ‘getting it’, lots of this kind of music is largely drones and meditative in nature, so requires a bit of context.....not 57 seconds against he context of the ‘normal’ you were doing before. Not saying that everyone will like it, obviously not, but go for much longer than you feel comfortable! A few people have said, ‘oh that made me feel uncomfortable’ etc, but that just means it did it’s job of illiciting an emotional response....so clearly it’s doing something ‘right’ Si

My wife would have complemented me on that

Apart from the fact that - if anything - the Pistols purportedly embraced nihilism and anarchy (while MacLaren raked in the cash), the main objections would seem to me to be (i) the probability that no promoter would book you for fear of a riot kicking off (ii) you'd probably have to change your home address on a weekly basis (iii) thousands of people would pile into your social media platform and try to get you sacked from your day job (iv) some hard-core EDL lads might turn up to any gig you might somehow mount and they're actually fairly f**king scary so when you tell them you're mainly doing it for the controversy value they might express their displeasure at the perceived levity with which you might seem to be approaching their cause by administering at best a severe talking-to and at worst a savage physical beating. Shortly after which the Antifa might stroll by and give what's left of your band a serious kicking. So, yes, great idea.

Apart from the bloke with the Mic getting lost at 5:30 and maybe a tad bit more Reverb, it's nothing a bit of added Cowbell wouldn't sort out. 👍

I shall be moving onto the other notes when I feel I have fully mastered the A and not a moment sooner

Found this today. "Marie and I had a second fun-filled day at Summerfest yesterday which was also the last day of Summerfest 2018. Bands we saw included Paper Holland, Soccer Mommy, Aleem, and Bad Boy. The day ended with Cheap Trick thunderously rocking the house filled with adoring fans. Surprisingly, they were not, in my opinion, the best band we saw yesterday. That was reserved for the local Maple Road Blues Band. https://www.facebook.com/Maple-Road-Blues-Band-181086306205/ We had never heard of them before, but went to see them because we had noticed that they hail from the same suburban/rural county north of Milwaukee where we live. They played to a much smaller venue than Cheap Trick with hundreds instead of thousands in the crowd. Yet their excellent musicianship and passion for their craft captivated the audience with both original music and standards. I think Stevie Ray Vaughn was smiling down. Sometimes the best is indeed right in your backyard." Nice, I don't see very many of those. I'll take it. Blue

Thanks guys -- Now spoken to Scott.

Here's a couple of mine, The TT was an impulse buy purely on the aesthetics, I just love the red and black combination and I think the ebony fingerboard just adds to the looks. It's all passive with Hausell (can't find the umlaut key) pickups and it sounds utterly immense. The neck pup has a more P like mid range punch that you usually get with a J style single coil. The VM is a swamp ash body with 'Berg own brand pups and a Glockenklang pre-amp. The poor thing is currently looking for a new home

dood, It’s possible to cut a top hat into the base of the cab but that would entail getting into the innards to make sure the damping material wasn’t unduly disturbed. As with a previous Wizzy10 I knocked up a shelf for the cab to sit on. It’s located by its weight (21 lbs) and corner notches. Here’s a pic of the underside. You can find the bracket online.

Subtle? The white and orange combination is already less startling but to seek a subtle relicing is like hoping for a nice relaxing road traffic accident.

I felt we had a great gig last night. It was a 50th birthday party, venue was a beautiful walled communal garden area from and old manor house. The hawaiian theme suited the beautiful summers evening perfectly! The audience took a long time to warm up to us, I think some of that was to do with set list but mostly the fact that people didn't come to watch music, it was a social evening with BBQ food and booze on tap that had most occupied - we were largely in the background. That being said as the sun set and the drink flowed more and more people got up and started dancing. Being called for 3 encores is never a bad sign!! We are a hobby band and don't gig much, it was the first time I'd played live for a year - nerves were high on my side but we sounded tight and I'd played as well as I ever have done. A couple of wrong notes and one time (during encore) I messed up a little but on the whole a fun evening!

Started veneering the top today using @Andyjr1515 very helpful instructions, the headstock is done and the body is drying But now for the last big decision Maple or Ebony fretboard Looking at it I'm thinking everyone is right definitely Ebony! Also I've been trying a gloss poly finish on a offcut of the veneer here's a comparison of gloss and raw I think that when is done it will look nice and lustrous 😀

Couple of last minute jobs for tonight - nothing major.. made up the bridge grounding wire and trial fitted the electrics harness.. And whilst I was at it, trialled the knobs.. Yeah, they don't look too bad...

Gave it a good few hours to dry out - and I’ve now done a wet and dry pass (1200 grit) with water. Body and neck are both silky smooth, and so I will leave it overnight and give it another pass over tomorrow. It’s looking pretty much how I wanted it to now:

Do you get to wear Black Shirts? And little silver double lightning bolts? Cos that's really, like, cool. All the birds go for that look. And high black leather boots. All shiny and stuff. But you need loads and loads of, like, deodorant and stuff, cos people don't half niff a bit when you keep sticking your right hand up in the air all the time. But just as long as there's something brainless to shout all the time, right? 'Ere, I 'ad that Max Mosley in the back of my cab once ...

Ah, Tommy Robinson. Took a quick Google to work out what you were on about. This story like, so many, is a passing thing, so it's only going to be briefly relevant. The question is whether you genuinely support the right wing politics he espouses, what with having founded the England Defense League, and whatnot. If you do, then you are well within your rights to express your allegience through your music, as many bands have before. If you don't agree with his viewpoint, but are hoping that using a controversial topic for the theme of a band will 'get you there', rather than look like a savvy business move it smacks more of desperation and clutching at straws, not to mention a pretty cynical sellout. Moreover, rather than net you the kind of success the Pistols achieved (and I'd suggest they were presenting something more nihilistic and anarchistic than right-wing anyway) it would likely guarantee you the kind of marginalisation that many other NS, racist, and bigotted bands have been served. While every viewpoint is valid, you already know you are flirting with a very unpopular one. There may be avid support in some circles, but the majority of folks will find it tasteless, and very likely not give it the time of day, just like all the other right-wing bands out there. IMO, of course.

Just wanted to report back and say im over the moon with this guitar. I dont know why but its so much easier to play than my sons HB Strat. Niggles would be i wish it has a gloss neck, but that's a minor thing and i have had basses with the same finish and they were fine No fret buzz that i can hear, frets feel like they are all seated and not sticking out etc. Neck seem straight and very comfortable. I will (maybe) change the bridge later on, or block it. I have no need for the tremolo arm, so would prefer rock steady tuning over that. Its slipping a bit here and there, but nothing major. Very pleased with the outcome. I just need to learn how to play it now.

If your 5 string has no punch and is difficult to amplify then you need a better 5 string bass and a better amplifier.

I like him and the Violent Femmes. Used to a cover of 'Colour me once' in a folk duo.

Forget about a bass, just by a classic guitar like this one, sorry it’s one year out,a ‘47 L5 for a little under £6grand on Reverb

Phil Minton is an interesting bloke. Very good trumpeter, and baritone singer - you can hear him in more conventional mode with the Mike Westbrook band, for example on his settings of Blake:

We decided not to play a venue in Leicester again because the sound guy insisted that the PA must be run at 110% volume on all occasions, last time we played there we were forced to sit well away from the stage because it was painful to sit any closer....strangely the venue lost it's music licence a couple of months back following....yep, you guessed it....noise complaints from local residents!!

I'm a bit late to the party after having played 34" scales for the past 30 years or so. I've got a dodgy nerve in my left wrist that makes playing 34's in the lower register uncomfortable after a while so I've picked up a couple of shorties and find them so much more comfortable to play. The top one is an Ibanez Talman. They're cheap and cheerful but are a massive amount of bass for the money. I bought this one from @Thunderbird who had swapped out the pups for Kent Armstrong Vintage Hots, put some decent pots in it, replaced the jack and shielded it and with these extra tweaks it is a seriously giggable bass. I replaced the bridge myself as the stock one was a bent bit of tin foil jobbie - seriously it was really flimsy. It's been wired with a pickup blend pot instead of the stock vol/vol/tone arrangement as I much prefer the convenience of a blend. The inlays are stickers off eBay, not that you can tell from any distance, and just help to make it look more classy than it really is The Mustang P/J is my new toy. Classic Fender styling and tone in a short scale package. I found the 3 way pickup selector switch to be too tonally limiting so I've had it re-wired to include a volume and pickup blend by the jack socket and a tone pot where the pickup switch was on the bottom horn, I only ever leave the tone wide open so I was quite happy to have it out of the way! I've stuck a cream coloured pot on it to help camouflage it as it looked a bit odd at first, but I'm really starting to dig the look now. There is a touch of lateral moment on the E string bridge saddle, entirely down to my ham-fisted playing style, so the bridge may be upgraded to something like a Fender Hi-mass or Gotoh 201 at some point, but I can live with it for now.

Just had the opportunity to meet up with Dan at a motorway services. Dan had bought my Fender Precision and this was the agreed location for the handover. He was running a little early so phoned to suggest we meet at the next services along the motorway. This would have saved me a good 20 miles. As it turned out, I was already at the agreed spot so we met up early. Really thoughtful suggestion though and greatly appreciated. The deal couldn't have gone any smoother. Great guy to deal with and a pleasure to meet. Had a little chat about basses, as you do. I wouldn't hesitate to deal with Dan again anytime. Thanks mate and I hope you enjoy your new bass.

Chris Squire’s Rickenbacker sound was a major influence on me, unfortunately by the time I was first involved in bands that influence had been obscured by punk and dub a little later I realised Chris Squire’s position had been usurped by JJ Burnel.

It’s had a good dry last night and so I cracked on with the final stage. Raided Mrs B’s furniture restoring drawer and stole some of her posh finishing wax. Two coats applied - sparing but not too mean. Work it in, let it dry (15 mins) - then buff with a clean lint free cloth. It’s taken on a lovely lustrous deep satin shine and it has made the grain pop a bit more. Really pleased. It’s onto the build up next.

There’s been a few occasions with this type of adjuster where I’ve been weirded out by there not being a “proper size” tool and sort of hesitating and thinking “but it doesn’t feel right!” I now have a screwdriver with the right diameter shaft for this job and it’s a right pain in the proverbial when I can’t find it

Going to look good

It's about screwdrivers now bud, pay attention!

That's wild.

He was playing a five string (possibly Ibanez or something similar) with Tull in the 90s.

Yep, big influence on me when I started playing. (Still is!) He lives in your neck of the woods these days. He's on their latest album, Evil Spirits.

Welcome to he English language. Vocalist has a Latin/old French origin, whereas Singer is Germanic. Both correct. Vocalist has some traction as a singing descriptor in French music, including plainsong. But as voca is voice rather than speech it’s often used in French and Latin for sung word rather than spoken word. You say potato and I say no ta.

Try this for setting your pickup(s) height, as I wrote in an EMG topic : Put some new foam under the pickups and you can raise passive pickups as close as 2,5 mm under the strings, but do this when fretting the string at the last fret on E and G strings for both pickups checking each side after moving the other end. For EMG pickups, just do the same and you can even get (close) to 1 mm using the same procedure. Use an Allen wrench to take measures. 

Well we can see where this one is going.

Stick to your guns.. most of the other notes are overrated anyway.

It's not just you.

These cabinets are great sounding I have to agree. My attention is turned to your stand though! Is it a custom made top to hold the cabinet or did you buy it like that, if so do you have a link? Thank you in advance. p.s. I really want to try the 4x10 version of the cabinet for electric bass at some point.

Talking of Laura Kuensberg...

I think the technical term, given the smoky venues these basses will have been played in, is 'Fagnolia'... 😀

Compared to the hollowbody beauty above, my short scale is somewhat simple, yet a nice piece of candy... Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI, I got it in a trade two days ago. Nice piece! Makes a fine contrastb to my other "real" basses...

Grace and Danger from John Martyn. John Giblin plays so tasteful and so beautiful on that album.

Just ordered a set of custom quads from Robert at LUGS - should have them in a couple of weeks. Will keep everyone who’s interested updated. He has been very helpful so far in answering my questions and seems very amenable. Proof is in the listening of course, but so far, so good Order was for clear shells, red(right) faceplate, blue(left) faceplate, thermosoft tips and std 2 pin recessed connector. Went for a 2x low, 1x mid and 1x high arrangement.

I acquire this incredible instrument recently in a trade. Quite simply on of the finest instruments I have owned and I have owned many! Build quality, tone and versatility are second to none. Controls are master vol w/push-pull act/pass, blend, passive tone, stacked bass/treble w/push-pull EQ bypass(so you can have active pups but no EQ - more useful than you may think), mid. Specs: Model Antía. 5 strings. Scale Length 32" Space between strings 0,669"/17mm Nut 45mm Finish Gloss varnish Olive Top Mahogany hollow body design Maple-Padauk-Wengé Neck Ebony AAA Fingerboard ETS Bridge with Piezo Fingerboard Radius: 9.5" Approximate weight 3.75kg Markers Side dots Aguilar DCB Pickup Richter electronics Security Straplocks Hipshot HB6Y Ultralite Tuners

Juan Pablo Jorge & Gringo, Los Beatlos

My third black bass: Dingwall Super J5: the perfect match to my black/maple Super J4...