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Latest from Alan, final checks and set-up shipping next week...!!

It was for sale, and I just bought it! It only turned up today, so I haven't had a chance to get pictures yet, so here is one of its sale ones:

Oh look at this, Time for me to (re)join the group!

Fantastic gig on Saturday night at our favourite venue, Coda in Colchester. This bar is owned by two youngish blokes who run it purely as a live music venue and they’re doing well with it. They have jam and open mic nights every week and acoustic sets weekend afternoons. Well worth a look in if you’re ever in Colchester. we had a busy night but finally getting back into our stride after the lockdown took its toll. a compilation from Saturday

Saturday afternoon private party in a social club. Weird time to play, caused allsorts of issues with my wife having to have the kids all day with me hardly around having other commitments in the morning too. Getting more confident with the set list though, so much so that there's now joking about between us all on the stage.

Just snagged an excellent condition 1993 vintage no fan AH250SMX. Replaced the original insanely microphonic TE branded ECC83 with a new JJ and all is working perfectly.

Plenty of juicy tube goodness in this set up with power and punch to spare A passive MM cutlass with Ti flats and it’s sublime.

Juliet, as in all the best forums things start to teeter on the out of control. When I was in my early days all talk of preamps and notch filters would scare the hell out of me. So here’s some simple advice. Use your existing amp and plug your mic in. That will probably be ok for starters but if you can get a bridge wing pickup that will probably work better. Then see how you get on with that. In time you will feel that there’s something lacking in your sound, and so there will be. But you will have a reference on which to build. The advantage in playing outdoors is that you won’t get the room acoustics that can spoil the amplified bass sound. As NickA posted, you will be most unlikely to suffer with feedback outdoors. But at least make sure that everything works before you leave home.

To be honest - he says grabbing his coat and making for the door - the misaligned headstock decal, poor spray job, and wonky fretboard markers, surely make it a genuine Fender? 😆

After a good deal of EQ faffage, I settled on John East's EQ offerings a long time ago, and now they're in almost all my basses (as much for consistency as whether the basses were drastically in need of it) I have (including my Dingwall, my bitsa Shukerbird, and my main Shukers) and have improved everything they've gone in. Mostly U-Retros, of various vintages... They're a very 'musical' control, but the mid-sweep is the key for me...

Think am going to be in a minority of 1 here but as far as selling goes I've never managed to sell anything on Basschat. Love this forum and spend way too much time lurking in the background. I have bought a lot of basses, amps, strings, pickups and pedals here and everyone has been a pleasure to deal with. Unfortunately I've not managed to sell 1 of about 12 basses I've moved on over the years. The best I've managed was a trade swap deal that went very smoothly. Everything I've sold has been through Facebook marketplace or one of the many bass for sale groups. I've dealt with some really great people who have been a pleasure to deal with. Also had a few potential scammers and low ball offers but I just consider it all part of the process. I always reply in a timely and friendly manner to all offers and inquiries, even if its just to say "sorry, afraid I can't go that low Unfortunately" or "sorry I can only ship within the UK but thanks for your interest". I don't mind the low ball offers and chances, just say no and wait for the right offer. Recently had 3 Yamaha BB bases for sale on here. Got plenty of likes and some nice comments. Even after offering postage or a meet up and eventually a price Drop or trade options I never got one solid offer here. They all sold through Facebook Basses for sale Groups and the people who bought them where a pleasure to deal with. One guy got a coach from London to Liverpool to buy my BB424X. We met up in the city center, bought him a coffee and a sandwich. Did the deal and he then jumped back on the coach to London. Not trying to put the Basschat Marketplace down at all but just pointing out that there are plenty of great people who buy and sell there basses on other platforms

Your confusing marketing with common sense. Do I I purchase a bass because MrX uses it no. Do I buy a can of coke over Brand X because Michael Jackson dances around with it no. But those brands are seared into my subconscious by decades of association and subliminal messages from every form of media. It works. Every endorser keeps that brand at the forefront of each generations association with what rock or pop stars play. Every concert footage, photo op, tv appearance they are waving the brand about to millions of viewers. So yes Flea and Adam Clayton and Nate Mendel help shift Fenders. They play to huge audiences and get the Fender name on every form of media channel out there from the David Letterman show to YouTube to the BBC to Rolling Stone magazine etc etc Edit: I doubt if Fender even particularly care how many Flea basses they sell. As long as Flea is holding a bass that has Fender written on it on David Letterman or glossy mag photo shoot or the BBC during Coachella or whatever that is advertising worth a huge amount of money. More than the sale of a specific run of basses. They will already be working on the contract for the next Flea (whoever that may be) endorsement deal as I type to continue the market saturation.

🤔 @Wotcher Take It To The Limit ～ The Eagles

I keep seeing the title of this thread and thinking to myself that Chancers And Beggars would be a good name for a band. Or a disco. ( Do they have discos anymore? Probably not. I don't get out much nowadays). I have always found prospective buyers on Basschat to be very fair and quite knowledgeable. However,back in the days before the internet when I used to advertise items in Bassist magazine I remember some right "characters" getting in touch by phone, quite often at very odd hours. "I really want to buy the bass but I can't afford that price because my wife has just had a baby." If your wife has just had a baby and you have more urgent financial priorities why are you phoning a complete stranger at half past ten at night to talk about a bass you can't justify buying? Just to let me know how you are fixed at the moment in case I was wondering perhaps? It can be hard to be polite sometimes.

I'm afraid mine is rather simple but I think it's now right how I want it Harley Benton power supply Boss TU3 tuner Origin Effects Cali76 compressor Darkglass vintage microtubes overdrive Two Notes LeBass preamp. The Le Bass has a beautiful creamy clean channel and the dirty channel just adds a nice, light valve overdrive. The vintage microtubes is set to give a really nice dirty tone when combined with the Le Bass clean channel. The compressor is just always on. It's all a bit monochrome looking but gives the sounds I want. I am very tempted to replace the Le Bass with a Origin Effects bassrig super vintage.

I turned 21 in 2005. I had a mortgage, was living with the mother of my first child… when I turned 21, my mum and dad - who I’ve battled with, but have been incredibly supportive of my musical endeavours asked me what I wanted. ”Musicman Bongo” And they gave me £800. So I put the rest to it and I got one of the early bongos. They didn’t come with a case originally. i took a case…but was later informed it was a £120 optional extra 😕 Returned it. Anyhow, 4 years later - my partner wrote her car off and quit her job on the same day when we had a brand new baby…so a massive bass sale began. @LukeFRCand @Etienne got some basses… the Bongo went, at a huge loss… they weren’t popular at all at the time. now I’m 37, the “brand new baby” is a 13 year old bass playing emo. Its time found the same age, spec, colour… It’s in Northern Ireland. i debate a flight. And then I remember my good mate @briansbrewis in Derry. and here’s where a person shows their worth. A message last night to Bri. “Yeah it’s near me, I know him - let me work on it” and nothing…for a bit. this afternoon “I’ve gone out for a drive…here it is…got £150 knocked off and I’ll get it ready to ship…” it’s in his lounge. He’s bought the bloody bass! What an absolute hero - Bri is no middleman…he is the man. I never in a million years expected him to do this - I thought he was going to talk the guy into shipping the bass (listing was collection only) I cannot express my thanks enough (I’ve paid him back - financially at least.) A depressing thing is that I don’t have any pictures of me with my original bongo. Anyhow - Publicly, thank you Brian.

I've a special place in my head for the disco/soul sounds of the 80s, e.g. The Whispers, Shalamar etc. Here's a trio of massive faves I used to have on 12" before the great flood of my south London basement flat in 1997 mullered my entire vinyl collection. It was more than just these 12" though! Anyway here are the 7" versions..

Love me some 90s hip hop/rap and IMO Definition of Sound definitely the best the UK scene had to offer then. Their sound was pretty varied and usually featured live instruments in addition to samples.

That's impressive. I've got a Sunbeam Alpine and have on occasion taken it to rehearsals with a 2 x 10 cab, 2U amp rack and bass (albeit with the roof down). I'm in awe of anyone who could fit a drum kit into it, even though the boot is bigger than you'd expect. My first thought when seeing the title of this thread was that the best car for carrying "gear" would be something fast with plenty of cubby holes that could be easily overlooked in the event of being searched by the police, but having read some of the replies I think it's possible I got the wrong end of the stick.

Take your tablets, like that nice doctor fellow said. Chill. Breath. Earl Grey, or camomile tea may help. Take a walk (not, not on the Wild Side..! D'oh..!). For the purposes of the interogations you're torturing yourself with, there is no difference, none whatsoever, between what comes from one amp channel or two bridged amp channels. Whatever difference there may be is only of interest (and even then, not much...) to a lab technicien studying high-falluting stuff of purely academic use. Now, take those pills, go for a nice long walk and get back to practicing bass playing, there's a good chap. ...

I did a thing

For testing purpose raising the strings will give you the same test without routing the body. Be a pig to play but hopefully tell you if you do need to rout lower…

The drummer, in my new band, is a big Richie Kotzen fan, so he's suggested some of his songs for the set. The only problem is that he plays both guitar and bass on the recordings and he does insist on doubling the lead guitar with the bass. The basslines he plays are difficult enough to play on guitar and are almost impossible for me to play on bass (if the guitar bends a note the bass does as well). I've told the drummer he's banned from suggesting songs, in future, unless they're Status Quo.

🤦

Thanks guys, yes it's been kept unused for the past few years so has had an easy life. I could barely touch the case without the valve making all sorts of terrible screeches. Possibly why it was retired. The lovely thing about the non fan versions is that the internals are dustless and preserved in the state they left the factory 30 years earlier.

my little home set up. predominantly a bass player but i've been dabbling on the dark side.

Android is terrible for music apps as the OS doesn't give MIDI/audio data the priority it requires and there may well be noticeable latency. If you decide to use the Windows laptop, don't use it with a DAW unless you also require the audio and/or MIDI playback facilities. Instead have a look at Cantabile along with whichever virtual instruments you decide to use. You may however also need to invest in an audio interface rather than rely on the laptops built-in sound card.

What is missing from the sound when you bypass the EQ? That is basically what you're trying to get the EQ to compensate for. If the pickup isn't even getting you close, then I'd start with the pickup before going anywhere near the preamp, personally. My own rule-of-thumb is that if I can't get a tone I like with the EQ flat, including on the amp, it gets moved on quickly. It's too easy to spend money chasing a tone you like without ever getting there.

Particularly like this Bjork one... Proper Big Groove!

Too much available voltage is the problem. With inexperienced users it's like giving a toddler the leash on a rottweiler. Sure the dog is well trained and only does what it's told, but it just isn't a good idea. The environment in which you are 'needing' a metric buttload of power isn't conducive to hearing the cries of dying speakers if you overdo it. Getting all available headroom into play is highly overrated. The last 3dB of volume achievable is only going to be realised with twice as much power as before. 3dB isn't much extra loudness. If it isnt loud enough you need more speakers, or a quieter guitarist. I was reading specs on BB2 this morning. Max output 137dB iirc. With half the max power it's still 134 freaking dB.

I went to see Kiss at Finsbury Park years ago and Skunk Anansie were playing. I nodded off before any music started as It was sunny and I was woken up by someone kicking my foot. Opened my eyes and it was Skin. She said "Wake up, we are going on soon" I replied "I know but you are s**t". She burst out laughing and said "fair enough " I didn't bother watching them, but disappointed now as my tastes have mellowed and I don't mind them at all.

Your very welcome Andy, it makes it all worth while when you do a favour that has a happy ending...😉

I agree, tone monster..that would be something if thats your original bass, come home to roost

The strangest example of this was when I moved from a rental property to a new house. A lot of the stuff in the rental wouldn’t fit in the new house and I had been gifted some items from downsizing relatives. There was enough stuff to pretty much furnish a small flat. Since I had been gifted some pretty nice stuff and had a lot of stuff to shift I advertised it all on Freecyle for nothing. Just turn up and collect. The number of time wasters was unbelievable including one where I left work early to meet someone and help them load it into a van. They didn’t bother to turn up but that evening I got a text from his wife saying he was busy and would I mind delivering it all to them. The mind boggles. Eventually the 3rd on the list (of people that actually arranged to collect) did turn up. A lovely polish lady who couldn’t have been nicer. Bought me a bottle of wine and tried to insist on paying for the items.

On one of Twisted Sister's albums, in the blurb where the band list their equipment it said 'Dee Snider uses Vidal Sassoon protein hair remoisturiser, are you listening Vidal?'. On the following album it said 'Dee Snider no longer uses Vidal Sassoon protein hair remoisturiser, looks like you blew it Vidal!'.

That is totally amazing. Is/was it yours? Mid 90s I had one of these when I first started my garden design/landscaping business - a Citroen Acadiane van (not my pic, got one somewhere in the loft), like a (barely) mobile Nissan hut. 602ccs of raw power Top speed was entirely gradient related - for those that know the long stretch on M25 near J8 on the uphill side I would have lorries whizzing past me as I slowed down to around 40mph, going the other way I could actually reach the legal limit. The suspension was interesting, a passenger one asked if it cornered on the door handles. It was left hand drive, gear shift was a strange twist and push/pull out of the dashboard. Used to break down about once a week. Yet I loved it to bits.