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I run my own Jazz gig in Felixstowe so get to play with Gods.

Just a updated family photo

Received this from Tom at COG this morning, and it was too good not to share.

Had a BBQ this afternoon, and had Original Musiquarium playing and I will always be amazed by the musicality of him and the musicians on this particular record, The horn section, the rhythm guitars , the backing vocals, his piano playing. The bass playing...Its up there with Willie Week's bass playing on Donny's live album, very different record of course. This spectacular playing from Nate is way up there as is Stevies harmonica playing and vocals. Don't be fooled by the shorter version. The full album version is the best. My ears are saying Andrew , you are at 100% musical enjoyment.

As someone else who also appreciates a good cup of the Earl, next time you cross la manche, I would recommend tracking down a bottle of Marble Brewery's Earl Grey IPA. It has saved several evenings when I've been caught in the dilemma of whether to have another beer, or a cup of tea!

The weekend before last, my CTM100 chalked up a (very unofficial) victory in the (very unofficial) volume war between our guitarist and me - at an open-air gig I actually had to turn down for a change! Admittedly I was driving two 12" speakers to his one, with 100W to his 15W, but we all know the lengths to which we have to go to keep up with most guitarists. At any rate, the tone was to die for.

A lot of these copies are made in factories where the people making them have probably never seen a real one, they can't help but build them to a better standard which gives the game away! 😁

Mine has to be a favourite place I used to play as I don't gig anymore..... Rock City Nottingham... Iconic Rock venue, just about every famous Band you can mention has played there at some point. The Stereophonics tribute band I was in has played the main stage there 5 times. It was an all day charity event ( I'm far from famous 😉) but the crowd loved us. it was always a sell out (2450 capacity) raising thousands of pounds for the relevant charity but the best bit was the on stage sound. There was a front of house soundman AND at the side of the stage, a sound man that just gave you a monitor mix ...he was BRILLIANT ….anything you wanted in your monitor at sound check was delivered in seconds. I know the combination of Tribute band and Charity gig is an anathema to many on here but they were the gigs of my life and I would do them again, at the drop of a hat , If only I was well enough.

Francis Hylton played bass on this record. He told me via FaceBook and he is my new best friend. 😂

Curious indeed. I thought there was only one owner, unless things have changed in the past few years. Very odd marketing indeed.

Fixed.

I got the bass back from Laurence Dixon (The Bass Place, Herne Hill) today. He installed a Realist pickup (at my request, and in addition to the existing one), replaced the bridge with an adjustable (again at my request), shaved & profiled the fingerboard to match the new bridge, sorted out the twin soundposts so that they are correctly positioned and work properly, and did some corrective work on the end-pin structure. His work was every bit as good as Clarky told me it would be, and the bass is instantly far more playable and more comfortable to play. It also sounds noticeably better. I wanted the Realist since the existing pickup arrangement did a great job of picking up the sounds of the strings and of the slapping, but disguised (almost completely) the sound of the oil-drum. The Realist picks up far more of its sound from the resonating body and that means that you can actually hear the aluminium. All I need now is to run the two outputs through a blender and I will be able to control how much oil-drum the audience hears. The adjustable bridge allows me to switch between a rockabilly setup and a blues/jazz setup at will. The rest of the work was, frankly, remedial. As I mentioned before, Dave Gartland is not a professional DB luthier and he doesn't claim to be one. The bass as delivered had a few flaws which were easily fixed (well, "easily" by someone like Laurence), plus one which it is stuck with. As far as I'm concerned, it is now fully giggable and I'm looking forward to doing exactly that. I'm also expecting a fair bit of trepidation from any sound engineers who have to deal with it ...

My offer was accepted. Personalised orange bass on its way for mr orange.......

Jamie, when I read your OP the first thought in my head was 'Oh No, not another bass solo post'. So having scanned your playing I am glad I did. Your playing is fine but you fall into the trap of projecting the bass (guitar) as a solo instrument. The bass is so much more important than that. As everyone here knows, the bass links up with the drummer to create the foundation for the singer and other musicians (guitarist?) to perform. A solid foundation or groove is what gets people off their seats and onto the dance floor - it makes them want to dance. In a band situation, each musician has a role to play. It might be hard for a bassist or a guitarist to accept but their function is to support and make the singer look good. Of the two mentioned, the bass is the more critical for the reasons listed above. Queen (the band) are a typical example. The band supported Freddie - even the guitar and bass solos and playing were only used to put further emphasis on the front man Freddie. The band were and are fine musicians in their own right but they knew that they could help make the sum of their efforts to be greater than their individual playing. Take a young child's jigsaw puzzle for example. Four parts to assemble the picture, but the picture is only fully revealed when each piece is in the correct position. Take away one piece and the picture collapses. Likewise take one piece and emphasize the colours using a painting set, and the picture has lost its wholeness, its balance as one quarter is now brighter and more vivid than the other three pieces. Just because a musician learns a technique, does not mean that he has to use it unless the song requires it. And searching for a song to use this technique results in the other band members learning the song to accommodate the other musician. Which is not conducive to a good or great overall performance by the band. We have all heard examples of this - the guitarist learns a song because it has his new solo in it.......... Please don't read this post in a negative fashion. I am not criticizing your playing. Rather the idea that the bass is or could become a lead instrument. If the song requires three root notes plus octave, nobody will sack you for playing those notes. It might be boring as hell but TBH a lot of playing is repetition. Repetition can become boring but the boredom is reduced if the dance floor is full of people swaying and dancing to the music. People hear the singer and the overall band sound and react accordingly. They may not pick up on the subtleties of bass playing but they will feel the groove. And they will want to dance. What more is there to ask for?

Just to be clear... The legal threats only concerned fake Rics, new or second-hand, but it was made clear that pursuit would follow even if the posted ad was of a supposedly genuine Ric that turned out to be bogus, a fake Ric that we (the site...) wouldn't be able to distinguish. 'Good faith' was not, apparently, a protection, so the decision was taken to not take the risk, and forbid any and all Rics. That way, there's no question of its authenticity being questioned, and zero risk of breaking the law. New or second-hand made no difference; any ad for a fake Ric would lead to a legal action.

The tolex will probably fall off fairly soon anyway

Yeah I think @Reggaebass is right Halfords do sell a cellulose primer https://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repair/car-spray-paints/halfords-primer-white-500ml

Those little Hotone heads are amazing!

The booze was actually a bit of a problem as time went on, that venue and many others expected the band members to have a full glass of something upscale in plain sight (on their nickel of course), and to be conversant in the whole culture. We would often see bikers loading multiple cases of wine into their saddle bags or trailers, and a pretty crazy amount of consumption on site. My wife watched them ring $14K in under an hour on just one cash register at one show. But in any case, having regular block bookings like that is especially hard to come by for old school jazz groups in a non-urban market out here. And as so often happens, it was all about who I knew, not how great the band was or wasn't. Although holding a gig like that is a lot different from getting it in the first place.

Hopefully citrus rod is ok...

You could also talk to Steve at Guitar Lodge in Felixstowe. I didn't realise it, but he advertises refinishes. I've used him for setups and a mandolin neck repair, he's a really capable guy and very pleasant to deal with. https://www.guitarlodge.co.uk

Nothing a service and good clean won't put right...it'll be money well spent

I thought you said "camp" for a moment there...

Looks like an American diner theme now!

What a great bass player, as they always are with NMA.

Hi. I really enjoyed the discussions over my bass cabs. Using the handles as vents sprang from practical experience. I I made two bass cabs for my bands PA using 2 10” drivers I had purchased to replace 4 blown in an EBS cab. In the end EBS were so supportive and exported replacement drivers from Sweden at very reasonable cost so I was left with 4 10s. I run the sound for my band and we needed some oomph but with low funds I had to keep costs down. The handles were initially a cost down but their performance on stage and the ease of pick up and carry led me to use the same principle for a 1x12 Bass guitar cab. Again the result was good and I was amazed that I could hear my bass over the “noise” of a 8 piece Funk band.. The first cab used the low cost driver you mention but it took a hammering and continued to perform amazingly for years so I tried to pass on the low cost option to other players. I’ve had good feedback and to date no failures so low cost but not “cheap”. I have made a range now including 1x15, 2x6.5, 2x10 and 1x12. The switchable piezo tweeter I use follows many tests with larger bullets and dynamic horns etc but they were very brittle. I use bass drivers that have some natural top end (go above 3kHz) so the tweeter acts to support the top end not take the lot. Using the treble control on your guitar or amp and the switch provides full control over the top end. I now have a new range soon to be available through the Great British Bass lounge ( only deliverd this week). Apart from the 6.5s they are all Neodymium and they sound amazing. Sadly the cheap but cheerful will go after I’ve sold those few on e bay but they really didn’t deserve to die. FYI the new 12s are Faital Pro’s (first time of using) and I’m very impressed with these drivers. As a footnote: following years of agony over my sound and poring over technical details I have found something good using instinct and testing and practical use. I’ll take anything back you don’t like. Test if you can but give the eBay 12s a try if funds are short. In all enjoy your bass playing. These cabs help add to the fun. DHC ( David Clarke - “Final Funk’s” Bass player)

...and he's not on Mr Hall's Xmas card list, either... 😃

Nice! A new squeeze.

Propagandhi, they're more or less all I've listened to this week after one of ther tracks came up on a Spotify playlist. They're a name I knew, but I'd never listened to them before, but the bass playing and tone is awesome, so I've been listening to a lot of their records and really enjoying them - politically charged, metallic-punk with fantastic performances. Though lyrically they're quite political, it's not as in your face as someone like Antiflag for example, the lyrics read at times like a polemical essay and at others like an achingly honest diary entry.

Just one change to my board over the past 4 months, set up today, but a crazy / mad / fun change I suspect! The old... And the new... Really looking forward to getting my head around the myriad sonic permutations on offer!

I've got an underutilised RB3 combo. It's the version with the 12 inch driver and no tweeter. I used it for practice and once took it to an audition in a community centre hall where it performed well (I got offered bassist). I didn't take up the offer. Shortly after I got a beefier Ashdown combo that I use for practice. I haven't had that out and about yet. The Ashdown has a 15 inch cone and is a bit of overkill for practice but with the 18 inch extension cab it becomes ultrakill. It's not a problem because our workshop is at the far end of the house. The poor old Laney sits in another room in case I want to practice in there. It's handy if my housemate wants to use the workshop, I can plug into the Laney in the old dining room. It's a bit plasticky with its nasty chrome-on-plastic knobs but I still like it.

A fresh dish sponge worked for me

Not this again? Geddy's on record as having used his Jazz as well as his Ric to record with (on plenty of songs considered to be iconic to the Ric sound), and he's dropped the Ric completely...pushing forty years ago. Similar situation with Foxton and his Precision. I should have written 'didn't use them exclusively' with the studio recordings in my post above, so apologies for that, but the fact remains, however inconvenient. I've never played a '72, they may well have something the ones I have played (and owned) didn't have...and I've moved on basses by Alembic, Warwick, Status, Sei, and all the more usual suspects like Fender, Gibson and MM, and settled with what I like and won't sell. It's a nice place to be, and I'm glad your Rics are that for you. That brand new one I bought was still nowhere near good enough build and finish-wise for a £1600 bass. For the record, I was gutted.

Well I used my Vintage Tony Butler Sig V4 this eve with the band for the first time and to say I`m pleased would be an understatement. I`d expected it to be ok, but it by far surpasses that. So much so that not only will I keep it as a backup as originally intended I`m going to use it on gigs where we fly, to save flying with a US Precision. Now I wouldn`t do that/gig with a bass I wasn`t comfortable with, I`d prefer to fly with the more expensive one and take the risk, but this eve has shown me that the V4 is more than suitable for my needs. Playability is great, and the sound is spot-on what I want.

Tape off the top and the bottom of the neck. 1200 grit wet and dry.

Theres one of them 400w all valve Laney Nexus heads for sale local to me for under £600, must say im tempted

For those more used to a bass fretboard, remember that larger members of the mandolin family are available... I play a flatback octave mandola, which is 21.5" scale length, tuned GDAE an octave down from a regular mandolin. It's great for chords and pretty good for playing tunes on. You can also stick a capo on 5 to turn it into a tenor mandola (tuned CGDA).