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Thanks all. It went pretty well I think. No obvious mistakes and I got on really well with the band. I also knew everything on their set list, above the 5 songs they'd chosen for me to do, and let them pick some at random so they could see I knew it. All gear functioned flawlessly and I showed I'm really comfortable using in ears. They had over 70 applications so I won't be holding my breath but at least I didn't let myself down in any way. Aaaaaand breathe 🙂

I dont have much time for Cliff's music, he was a late 50s/60s artist to me, but to suggest someone should stop doing something they love seems strange. If what he was doing was important to well being in any way (Yes I know ) then yes, give it up, but its just music and if he and the audience enjoy it then why not? Its his job after all. My old man loved his work as a carpenter and did his job till he was 76, not cos he was desperate for the money but because he loved it.

Outstayingwelcomeitis?

Fabulous gig at Cafe Choux Choux, a gorgeous cafe/bar on Keighley station. Tonight is the first gig of this kind at the venue. The local promoter was let down on the original one, so these guys stepped in. Very hospitable, as are the promoters. Really well looked after, and all three bands putting in great performances. Could get used to this 😀 Here's Eliana Cargnelutti and her band closing the show.

Spent yesterday sorting through some old photos for my Mum and found a very old photo album I'd never seen before. Turns out that this is my great grandfather Not sure what being a Banjoist said bout you back then, but on seeing the pic and finding out who he was, I felt a really strong emotional link to my past (kinda wished it had been an upright, but c'est la vie). Anyone else got any old pics of distant musical relatives?

erm.... actually they are Aluminium... The kind that's pronounced Alu-MIN-ium.

They were a steal...

My band Goodfoot did a live session the other week. Hope you guys like it!

I got some good string/woodwind/brass collections from Plugin Boutique for 91% off or something stupid, £4 each. Also bought some Nike running shoes today for 50% off, direct from Nike. Doing well lol. Not spotted anything of interest bass wise, but I’m pretty much sorted! Si

If you play music then you're a musician. With regard to people doing other things too that aren't playing, but are still within music, we were encouraged at uni to adopt a portfolio approach to a career; so playing, teaching, composing etc.

I have this in a week or so's time but as I keep telling myself, joining a band is a two way thing and you are auditioning them too! To make a band that works needs so many different stars to align that if you don't get the gig it's to be expected in many way - getting the gig is a bit of a miracle! Good luck!

Maybe someone in say Canberra would also like to collect in person. Just sayin'.

Just got myself a new BB734a in the matt black finish. First impressions are it definitely lighter than my BB1024X. The Fit and finish is absolutely top draw. In passive mode it doesn't seem quite as loud as the 1024X but in active mode its absoloutley thunderous, whith lots of usable tones. The neck profile is a bit slimmer than the 1024x front to back but both of them feel really comfortable. Not had a chance to try it at volume yet but should get a opportunity this week. Got great service from Wunjos who had it sent up to Liverpool in a flash. Just a pity that Dawsons in Liverpool would not price match them and lost out on my business. So top marks to Yamaha and Wunjos

@Marcoelwray Just for you.. seeing as I had the bass ready for tomorrow, I thought I’d take a pic just like the famous Uberhorn Fretless one for your album

I've got the earlier MIJ Mustang, which i think has a tighter radius neck and smaller frets than the JMJ. Mustangs are lovely basses (def go for the La Bella mustang strings too - they sounds great).

G'wAAAN! Take it steady on the caffeine.. less is more! 🙂

You are not Cliff Richard. Remember this and do not try and imitate him.

I have this model in black. I took off the stinky poo tuners and fitted Wilkinson black WJBL200 tuners. I love the feel and build of the instrument and the active circuit is very versatile and quiet. Quality in a low-priced instrument. I plan on turning the bass 'stealth black', replacing all the hardware with black hardware.

Reminds me of the little girl hearing a Toad near a pond : "Hey, I'm a musician, I've been cursed by a witch, just kiss me, I'll become normal again and marry you …". Then the girl just puts him in her Pocket, and goes away, saying "I'll earn way more money with a speaking Toad".

A minor point: the sale finishes late morning next Friday. Everyone knows that a bass bidders GAS and possibly alcohol fuelled fingers work better mid to late evening! 😉

Thanks for the contribution lol Si

Most disappointed. I used to be able to confidently and happily say I’d never seen a Spector I actually liked.. .. or a Warwick for that matter 😜 Lovely bass!

All went good! :

Not bass related but.....I applied for holiday leave at work for a fortnight in 2019. Already planned what we were going to do - Eurocamp. Price was £1239 for a fortnight in a caravan in Italy (flights & car hire on top of this). My boss approved the holidays yesterday so last night I sat down to book. Black Friday deal with Eurocamp reduced the cost to £560 thus saving a whopping £679. Unexpected and a genuine saving for something I was purchasing anyway. Impressed!

NBD - Squier Deluxe Active Jazz IV *Revisited* I had been very smug and pleased with myself for getting down to just the one bass, a Bitsa Jazz that I assembled from parts and finished myself. Hipshot, Gotoh, KiOgon… all proper premium components, no tat! Very happy with it and its powerful Entwistle JBXNs, which sounds really killer through my 1997 Trace GP7 715 150W combo. BUT… dangerously, I allowed my mind to wander in an idle moment. What was the bass I most missed and most regretted moving on? Being absolutely honest with myself, it turned out to be (weirdly) a Squier Deluxe Active Jazz IV - which I bought and reviewed on this very board some four years ago and then sold, for a reason I can’t now remember. GAS, probably. So, as they’re not the world’s most expensive bass and as I was curious, I ordered one - an end-of-line display/demo model from Andertons. Notable features include a three-band active EQ circuit and an Ebonol fingerboard. As I understand it, Ebonol is a phenolic polymer that mimics the qualities of ebony in that it is hard and dense…but is synthetic and thus completely impermeable. I like it a lot. It’s a slab board basically and renders the underlying maple neck very stable indeed. The neck plays well with practically no relief in it and allows a lower (and more buzz-free) action than I would otherwise entertain with a more conventional wooden board. The neck is arrow-straight and the fretwork is superb. And I mean £1000+ superb. Completely level frets and not even a hint of an edge anywhere. To find this quality on a bass that cost less than £300 is truly remarkable. This board is smooth and fast and this neck alone is worth the price of admission. The controls comprise volume, pickup blend, stacked treble/bass and mid. There is also the so-called 'slap switch', essentially a mid-cut which boosts the lows and top end, ostensibly for slapping… I won’t be doing any of that, but it’s useful to have at your fingertips and in conjunction with the EQ allows for more tone-shaping options. The board radius is 12”, a little flat for me but I don't mind so much as the nut width and shallow neck are (unsurprisingly) very Jazz-like, so a flatter board suits me here. The bass feels good in the hand, isn't overly heavy (around 9lb) on the shoulder and balances well on the strap. It's effortless to play and after a few minutes the controls become completely intuitive and very easy to use. This bass punches WAY above its weight. There are always negatives of course - the bridge and tuners are not premium quality - especially when juxtaposed with the Hipshot Ultralights and Gotoh 201B fitted to my Bitsa. The bridge is a generic Gotoh-alike high-mass top-load affair with saddle-screw runners - and does its job perfectly well. The ubiquitous budget ‘vintage’ clover-leaf tuners work smoothly enough and adequately hold the bass in tune, which is all you can reasonably expect, so no complaints yet. The treble/bass stacked pot is quite a bit taller than the other controls and I can imagine it taking a knock or two. The pots could be smoother and more positive in their action and the midway detentes could be more obvious. But I’m guessing Squier had to cut costs somewhere. These are minor niggles. Would I use this as my main bass? With absolutely no hesitation, despite the fact I don’t much care for sunburst and especially not pickguard-free sunburst. But irrelevant cosmetic issues aside, it plays quite differently to my Bitsa Jazz and has WAY more tone options on tap. You can of course produce the generic vintage single-coil Jazz sound if you want it, but you can also quickly dial in more ‘modern’ sounds - and anything else you can think of - from fat, fingerstyle dub tones through clanky, gritty rock via hefty plectrum twang to full-on growl, burpy funk and mid-free hi-fi slap. It’s all in there. And you'd be very hard-pressed to tell the difference between this Indonesian Squier and a MIM Fender (or dare I say it, a MIA Fender) in a blind listening test. The Squier feels right, plays very nicely indeed and sounds fantastic. It’s essentially a wannabe boutique Super Jazz, but aimed at the budget-conscious entry-level buyer. Or those in my position - the seasoned (yet impecunious) overweight senior cheapskate-cynic. But is it as good as I remember? Very much so, and in some ways it’s better. Four years have passed since I owned one and my priorities have changed, my playing has changed and I see things a little differently now, as I’m sure we all do. But I’m very happy to have this back in the fold. I did have a little fantasy about refinishing it in vintage white (and I may yet do so), tinting the headstock, applying an F-decal and fitting a guard. But I don’t want to drill new guard holes in the body, the decal thing is really only of interest to bass players and other idiots and frankly I’m getting a bit bored with the ‘identity’ thing. Name-band pro players regularly rock up sporting the S-decal and if it’s good enough for them, etc. So for the moment at least it’s going to do its thing completely stock and original as nature (and Squier) intended - apart from the new DR Nickel Lo-Riders I fitted. Hardly a modification, but a very positive improvement on the iffy strings that came with the bass. I can easily see it becoming a bit of a workhorse and it’s already a go-to instrument. It’s one of those basses you just can’t walk past without picking it up and playing it. You won’t be surprised then if I recommend you add this particular arrow to your quiver - it can currently be got at a silly price, especially if you haggle - even if you’re not a Jazz person (and I'm not), you can’t fail to be impressed by the dead-straight and supremely playable neck, the smooth, hard and fast Ebonol board, the extremely versatile and intuitive EQ and the huge range of tones on offer. In short, it’s a bargain. But if you ARE up for it, get one ASAP - Squier seem to have discontinued this model and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

I do love that sofa....very understated 😂 Si

Can of worms with both comments. 😂 All I can say is we’re acoustic (apart from me). 3 part harmony, guitars, mandolin, clarinet, occasional trumpet/violin/melodica. Pretty eclectic. Influences from ABBA to Zeppelin, not about to make it any time soon. Let’s leave it at that. 😉

He's not less of a musician tho. He earns enough to make a living from both being a musician or producer which for me makes him a Pro musician and pro producer Not everyone has that luxury. Everyone that plays music or contributes to playing or making music is still a musician. For me its down to whether they are making a full time living from their music that determines whether or not they are classed as Pro, Semi-Pro or Amatuer. A Semi Pro can be just as accomplished or proficient at playing their instrument as a Pro and in some cases probably better. The only real difference that i can see is the income issue but if someone else can explain it better i'm open to listening and taking on board.

As per previous post, you seem to be of the opinion that earning money somehow has something to do with being a musician. It doesn’t. I also paint, I studied fine art and illustration at degree level, but I don’t paint for anyone but myself, and I don’t sell my work. At all. But I’m still a painter, because I paint. As for how important making money from your art is relative to your status as an artist, you may wish to speak to Vincent Van Gogh. 😉 If you mean being a professional musician (a different distinction) then bear in mind that being a full-time musician doesn’t mean you’re necessarily better. It may mean you’ve been lucky, it may mean you’re easy to get along with (ask Guy Pratt), it may just mean that you’re more willing to compromise. It may even mean that you don’t really care about creating art and just like to play.

Did he write that? Well I'll be blowed.

So, a quick update. All going well. A couple of quietish nights - Bristol Tunnels a bit of a disaster with audience numbers, but it was a foul night, and the venue had a big local blues act on the next day. Birmingham went well - was the home gig for one of the other acts, so it was mainly her audience, but we won a fair few over. Selling CDs at every gig which is positive, and we're playing well - all that rehearsing of the set has paid off. My Fender Pro 800 is sounding great, especially when the Italian band's bass player puts his 68 P through it!! Keighley tonight. Small cafe/bar/venue, with good reputation, and good pre sale. Right on the station concourse if anyone fancies popping over.

That's OK, he probably doesn't listen to much of your either! 😁😁😁

I got 50% off a set of pans in John lewis this morning

My band auditioned 3 drummers yesterday. One of them was clearly bricking it, but as I said to him, the worst that can happen is that he gets the 'Dear John' phone call the next day. To quote Brian Eno: In music, you can crash and burn and walk away.

rock it baby seriously, good luck fingers crossed

My late wife was a Cliff fan and I took her to see him some 20ish years ago. Like him or not, it was a superb performance, fautless. He has made a very good career for himself in show-business. As a teenager in the late 50's/60's he was the British Elvis and along with The Shadows helped kick off our music in black and white on the new TV pop music shows once a week. Who'd have thought then that he'd still be around now making music to a very loyal mostly geriatric fan-base.

Sadly that is really hard, and obviously it is very subjective, one persons good sound is anothers awful. Objectively it was good, It was very well balanced between strings, and didn't have bad overtones, the sound was fairly pure. All I could describe it as was a very polite, almost synthetic sound - if you wanted to blend into a background mix in a big band it would be perfect I guess, but I was in a 'power trio'. It didn't growl or project at all. I guess the real damning thing from my point of view, the sound it made is the same as the sound my Roland DS makes in 'bass guitar' preset.

She's still going strong @ChrisF😎

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You won’t regret it. I can’t stop playing mine! 😊

I would use two items. A Y splitter like a Morley one and a digitech trio plus. Those two items will do and are within specification. The trio plus will be the expensive part. You could cheap out and buy a Mooer looper for 40 quid and the splitter for 20-30.

Except the Spector NS-1 (which this shape duplicates more or less) was created 3 years earlier than the Streamer wasn't it? So the Streamer is the 'copy' if anything? Or do I have my dates wrong?

Well, I've got a few days of grandparent duties coming up but I'm pleased to say - other than a tweak still to do on the volute - the basic neck carve, I reckon, is there or thereabouts and we are now entering the 'sanding, finishing and assembling' stage: The back cover and body will be the same shade as the headstock once the finish has been put on and the body will darken a touch. The neck will probably remain this sort of colour. And I say 'the basic neck carve, I reckon, is there' because I've actually never ever played a 6 string bass - and I'm building this for a guy who has...and lots. So what we ACTUALLY have is, 'I've never played a 6 string bass but, if I did, I think this is what I'd like one to feel like' What could possibly go wrong

Thank you sir... I didn't say much about the stock pickups - I have little information. I'm not sure the pickups themselves are active - just the 3-band EQ. However, they're more than up to the job. They don't seem to cancel each other out with the blend control in the centre position and there's very little extraneous noise. They're powerful enough and have that big, open single-coil punch and warmth. I won't be changing them. I like the plain covers too, they obviate any possible OCD relating to having the strings exactly in line with the pole pieces...

I use the Boss TU3 one, seems good enough and it's free.

Taking the picture, I expect.