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Last night was the second of five dep gigs that I'm doing with a Rolling Stones Covers band this month. The first one had gone well - just a couple of little stumbles where they play things a bit differently to how I'm used to, but on the whole very good. Last night was really brilliant. Great venue in Brum. Very small stage, but plenty of room for the punters to dance. All ages, really nice atmosphere. Very helpful sound guy. But near disaster struck as I was loading in. Managed to trap my finger in the door of my boot! First finger right hand - my main plucking finger so to speak!!! 😮 So quickly got a glass of ice from behind the bar and stuck finger in that for a long time. Skin broken just under the nail, but luckily pad of finger OK although very tender. So I soldiered on and didn't even notice the pain during the first half (despite Paint it Black and Sympathy for the Devil!) but afterwards it was really throbbing. So spent the break with my finger in a glass of ice again and it was OK for the second half. It went so well - people smiling, dancing cheering. Some bloke wanted his picture taken with me during the break. He kept going on about what a great guitarist I was, and I suspect that he thought the guitar solos were coming from me, haha! I didn't disabuse him of the fact 😄Also, most of the members of the other two band I was in had come along as well and they all really enjoyed it. And I'm getting paid - which all helps to eke out the pension. Feel like a proper musician at last. Very happy bunny this morning, despite throbbing finger 😎☝️

Only four years ago so not so interesting a story - my still most loved GMR 5, in easy arm's reach right now. I went into Promenade Music in Morecambe knowing only that I wanted to play bass and wanted a 5. Gary spent two hours helping me choose, and wouldn't let me buy until he was sure I would be happy with it - which I am more than. Still grateful to him! My grandson - just turned 5 - is obsessed with guitars, and most loves my Aerodyne. I kind of hope he'll think of it as his first bass (he was not quite 4 when this pic was taken). Anyone else would have to prise it out of my dead hands, but if he does grow into a bass player it will be his 🙂

A few recent additions to my board has inspired me to give a bit more thought on better ordering my chain and I've reset my board as follows: 2 inputs (AB-Y) [allows easy switch e.g. between electric bass and EUB] -> Compressor [Cali 76CB] -> Octaver [Valeton OC-10] -> Synths [Matryoshka & MB SS] -> Gated Fuzz & Drive [Mastotron & SA Aftershock] -> Filter [SA Manta] -> Modulation, EQ & HPF [Zoom MS-60B] -> output / amp Somehow managed to get them all onto my Metro 24, which was a relief!

Last update for a while, here's the twins upright on stands just to get a better look at how they look. They are now hanging in an old wardrobe until they have hardened enough to be safe to handle without risk of marking the lacquer, somewhere between a week and eight weeks, I really don't know until they get there.

The MTV Unplugged version of this song/intro is amazing on the album, (which is available) as is the bass playing.But its not available on YT. This is very cool though.

STICK! My Mk 1 Custom Series Wal is going nowhere!

If I have any trouble remembering my first bass I only need to pop upstairs and get it out of its case! 1981 Aria SB700. Lovely bass!

I'm not that experienced or knowledgeable so perhaps shouldn't be sticking my head over the parapet. But strikes me you must be playing Wembley if you need those size cabs and amp power. I play a Markbass 500w head into a 1x12 cab 8 ohm (so giving me only 350w) and playing quite large pub gigs I've never had the gain over midday on the dial. Also, how young are you and your back? You'll find it a lot easier to carry a couple of light but quality small cabs than a 410/12 or 1x15 dinosaur.

My 63 P-bass. Originally belonged to a great friend and bandmate who tragically lost his life in road accident. I acquired the bass from his widow, who had unfortunately stored it in her loft, causing all the paint to peel off the body, and the frets turn green. I had it restored by Paulman in Huddersfield some 30 years ago, and it remains my Number One to this day.

And in the meantime, the first length of kerfing strip goes on. This is the strip that the top and back will glue onto. It is set a mm or so higher than the sides because the top and back will be dished - the kerfing will be sanded down in the radius dish so that is ends as a close fit to the dished top and back before gluing - I'll explain that better when I have some photos to illustrate it!

There are various ways of thicknessing an acoustic top. In the end, I used a similar method to one or two classical guitar builders I've seen in various places. Sounds surprising, but it uses a block plane! First cross grain, then diagonal and then with the grain: I did sharpen the blade before I started, and these are SUPER thin shavings, but this is the best surface I've ever managed with a block plane! This is straight off the plane: When I was about 3.6mm, I moved onto the scrapers. This is now down to 3.3mm and I will move to a large sanding block to drop it down to about 2.9mm. I say about, because I am using the tap tone approach (great video on one of Robert O'Brian's 'Luthier Tips du Jour' videos, although he uses a thicknesser sander) rather than aiming for a specific thickness. I will not, however, drop below 2.7mm tap tone or not!

Utter pish - I play what I want because I enjoy it and don't feel sad in the slightest. I've enjoyed playing a lot of good music over the past 31 years - other people's music. So to reiterate; utter pish

Have you got an Arno Carbur2 (?) burnishing tool? They are in a class of their own for sharpening cabinet scrapers

Patronising nonsense. I guess you're not a fan of Oscar Wilde, then, who rightly said: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness". +1^^ Very well put. Couldn't agree more!

Well my main gigging bass is a 2015 US Precision, and I`ve found that that series are the best ones for me, so I have four of them, as such it`s unlikely I would trade in for anything different as simple-tastes me has already found the ideal.

So would I. But that's mainly because I don't like jazz basses.

To give it a more “classic” look I have decided to create a Fortress Flashback type pickguard in 3 ply black. I’ve always liked the Flashback pickguard look. See pic for an example. Also need to install new side dots (nothing special, but some of the old one have sunk a little), so another small task to add. The benefit of going fuller size pickguard is also that I can go with more exact pickup placement and can place control knobs wherever I choose if it improves esthetics. I will be creating a pickguard template in cardboard, then transferring onto 12mm MDF and I will use the MDF template as the template for the pickguard AND as the pickup route template, it just makes sense. So next installment, template time...

We did both at that age. At the time being in a band was the only way I could get sh@##ed. Blue

My first bass was a Westone 1A Thunder ⚡ , bought from a friend in Newcastle in December 1993. It became "The Tiger Bass" shortly after. This was my main gigging & recording bass 'til I stopped gigging in the mid-2000's. It also featured on the band's album cover. I love this bass, I have never played a bass that is so comfortable (I did learn to play on it tho). Westones are not boutique or desirable, but this bass is the reason I still play.

This is going in the same direction as "what direction should I place my bass knobs" thread. There is a reason why you have never thought about it before. Because it is totally irrelevant.

I saw these guys 10 years ago in a small venue in Birmingham. They were amazing. I love the late 60's early 70's vibe. Great bass sound as well. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Howlin Rain.

I'm a Markbass fan and would recommend you find a LM2 or a pre 2012 LM3 or SA450. These are class AB power amps which have a certain fullness to their tone that the later class D don't.

Absolutely - great faded cherry, love it.

That EB-2 is WOW!

Stunning!

Wow, stunning!

Well, the contents of this thread were nothing like what I expected with that title

The pickup looks to be in the right place, from the images I've seen... so it will probably have a Stingray-type kind of sound. It's a different pickup though so that accounts for some of the sound too. The preamp is not that important. A 100% passive Stingray has an unmistakeable Stingray sound. The preamp only allows to to 'access' other Stingray sounds. If you really want a good Stingray equivalent without the price tag... look for a USA made MusicMan SUB, the ones made between 2003-2006. The range of finishes is limited among other things, but they are true Stingrays in anything but name. Around £400 for an excellent condition used one, and they're not hard to find. I have a white one as well as a 'proper' Stingray, and it's not going anywhere.

Ive been a massive fan of this album for a long time (actually had it on yesterday morning) some fantastic bass playing from start to finish 😁

I was at a Peter Hook And The Light gig yesterday. He had a NEW Yamaha bass... a BB1200s type of new bass! Cherry red, single pick up, active electronics etc.

Got a tort scratchpad made by the bass doc for my black Lakland 5502....looks great, I think it depends on the quality of the tort!!

Spot on, super quick and an absolute pleasure!

Played an outdoor pig roast party yesterday. The humidity, which had been 90% all week finally moderated. A beautiful Maine summer day. For smaller restaurant/bar gigs I run through my Mesa subway, but for larger clubs and outdoors I use my new Mesa D-800 head through a 1-15, 2-10 cabs. Plenty of power. We played two sets broken up and there were other musicians there so it was like a jam night where different musicians got up to back each other up, some having played together before, some not. Very high quality musicianship going on. I finally got a chance to hear my rig out front as I let the other two bass players in attendance run through my rig. The PA was very high power and clear as a bell. The Mesa held it's own and the bass was punchy and articulate. The instruments/vocals were balanced nicely out front. I played mostly bass, but played some guitar and got to play drums also. Someone would get up to play and musicians would come forward to fill the empty slots. I got paid, so altogether a fun satisfying gig/jam/party. The only disappointment was the food. In the summer heat and with flys in abundance landing on the uncovered food, I passed up partaking. Most were less squemish than I, because even hours lator, folks were still eating.

interesting but mainly similar stories. My early bands, same singer. We left our first band together as we got a much better offer from 2 other blokes, plus the guitarist was having an affair with a groupie and I couldn't really cope with it. His wife was lovely and I wanted no part. 2nd band, the singer started an affair. again I didn't want to be anywhere near it, so left. Brings me to my current band. I rejoined this band because the band leader and bass player had terminal cancer and his singer had left. Music had kept him going throughout his treatment. I went back happily. He lasted another 4 months but importantly gigged right up until he passed (3 gigs in 3 days was his swansong) Fast forward 3 years and it's like herding cats. We recruited the original singer (band has been going 31 years now) and it was a laugh. We work well together, a real frontman/ sideman thing. But he now has terrible memory problems. He literally can't remember what he did 10 minutes ago and it makes calling the set out a challenge. He knows he has problems and he's had all sorts of tests. It really is hard work but we still have great gigs. Added to this, the guitarist does PA hire and I never know if he's gigging or not and he tries to call the set out but has no idea how to make it flow. I am, chief cook and bottle washer. I get no help. I'm hoping it will fold as I don't want to let them down by leaving. I just don't know what to do

That's what I get for my smart mouth! Hahahahahahaha!

A cursory examination of the lyrics and of such background as is available indicates that the song Oliver's Army is a meditation upon the enlistment of young, unemployed men into the British Army. The 'Only takes one itchy trigger, one more widow, one less white n*****' line refers to such collateral damage as was sustained by Irish Catholics during the Troubles. The title plays upon the dark reputation of Oliver Cromwell and his frankly savage acts against the Irish people during his conquest of Ireland. The song was - apparently - written upon Mr Costello's return from a trip in 1978 to NI when it became apparent to him that the British soldiers serving in Ulster were both very young and from a background of poverty. It works on a lot of levels.

Also the Hofner Club bass (presumably violin type as well) will get that sound with some eq-ing. The ignition, which is the cheapest is fully hollow with vintage sounding pick ups, the contemporary is about twice as much but has a centre block and modern sounding pick ups, the proper ones are silly money. The ignition is the one you want for that sound unless you want to spend out for a real one. My Longhorn seems too aggressive to get this sound. Obviously more bass and a fuller sound but the tone is there.

I`ve had the LMT and the LMIII - the tube in the LMT doesn`t seem to do anything until you turn it off, at which point you get a much flatter, less lively dynamic sound. Grit/drive it isn`t, it`s more like a shimmer around the sound. I must admit though, if I were looking at Markbass amps now I`d be checking the Little Marcus which imo has much better frequencies for bass than their other amps.

Going to listen to this today. I also found out yesterday that there was a bonus track on the Cog CD In Search of Better Days called Liberation Groove, it’s a killer track but for some reason doesn’t appear on my physical CD! Whilst talking about new music I listened to the album Le Chic Remix by Dimitri From Paris this week, there’s some really clever work on old tracks but they have boosted most of ‘Nards lines in the mix and you can hear them so much better. It’s awesome.

Had a great experience with Bas. Although we were let down by Royal Mail and I returned the monies. He was a real gent about the whole experience. Top Man !

Finding time to practice with 4 kids So you're in a 5 piece ?

I enjoy playing Maiden songs on my sparkly blue bass more

😂😂😂 I do!!!!! I think this was that moment. I also love that he sought out the kettle double-quick time. My kinda guy!!

New guitar arrived just before i went on holiday. Seems fine. Ive just changed the tuners to a set of black Hipshot locking tuners. Made a big difference as far as keeping it all in tune goes. Not a cheap upgrade, and the first time ive every done this mod, but well worth it.

Are ye mad?? that Purple flake is 'kin gorgeous!!! 😍

Oi! I'll have you for copyright!