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End of the day shot...

I played at the Charing Cross Road version 3 times, once supporting Carter the Unstoppables, and twice as headline...

Thought some of you guys might like this.

Gene Simmons: 'Wowza! That's me, there in the mirror. Rawkanroll! Hey, Gibson guy, you have a look'. Gibson Guy: (Looks) 'Sorry, Gene. The only person I can see is myself.' Gene Simmons: 'No, no. It's me. Look harder'.

That’s not uncommon for OEM valves, some manufacturers purchase them unlabeled or labeled with a code only. This is especially true if they have an arrangement to test/screen all parts and return those that don’t part their test criteria.

My solution using the IKEA laptop stand. I it modified a bit 🙂 Removed some of the larger plastic lip and trimmed it round the cab corners. Works a treat. The larger lip curves back on itself a little and is perfect for hooking over the front of the cab but I didn't like it covering the grill and speaker, hence the "mod".

We’ve just introduced this version of the New Order song into our set and it’s going down a storm at the gigs so far….

I can think of many words to describe Gene Simmons but 'Sleek' isn't one of them.

I assume it's music you'd want to run away from (or leg it).

For a punk band I think I'd favour the 424 over a 1024. I have both and was going to compare the two and sell the 'loser', but at the mo I still have both. The 424 tone is slightly more abnoxious than the politeness of the 1024. The 424 is a snotty teenager, all shouty and needing to be heard, compared to a grown up suave gent that is the 1024, who'd rather let his smooth charm speak for itself.

Would have been my answer too, Joey

Oh my, that's a hard one...

CBGB.

I didn't know that either. Even outwith Mesa forum you are a wealth of knowledge to us all @agedhorse. Always appreciated. Dave

My solution using the IKEA laptop stand. I modified it a bit 🙂 Removed some of the larger plastic lip and trimmed it round the cab corners. Works a treat. The larger lip curves back on itself a little and is perfect for hooking over the front of the cab but I didn't like it covering the grill and speaker, hence the "mod".

Don't think so looks further from the bridge than a std precision pick up position.

What is.... 'Legit music'?

Most function bands pump out the same old shite every week. Rather than the difference being defined by ability I would suggest it is defined by approach. Most function players are more focused on it being an income provider and for that reason they look harder at efficient earning and squeezing as much income as possible from their musical ability. It doesn't make them better just different in their approach. There are tons of great musicians on the pub scene who have the chops but not the desire for function work and that's all that separates. There are however loads of pub players who would struggle with all the guff that goes with function playing (lots of travelling, early arrivals, hanging around for hours on end, awkward clients, being comfortable and competent to play songs that haven't been rehearsed live, very late nights, bridezilla, endless rigging up and tearing down, venues with appalling acoustics, ridiculous noise limiters and on and on and on). If you're a great player but want some social fun and far less of the crap then pub playing is a great way to tick those boxes.

Dug a few more out. These first lot are from the early 90's when I lived in Hong Kong and was involved in quite a few bands. Great fun and memories. Apologies for the mullet content! The last 2 are from the mid 90's when I came back to the UK.

New cab on its way!!! Custom Zilla 1x12 in the colours of my beloved Watford Football Club! Cannot wait to try it out! I must say the service from Zilla has been second to none from the first conversation throughout the process. Paul is extremely knowledgeable and very easy to deal with. COYH

Just saw this on GG's website: "The Gibson Gene Simmons G2 Thunderbird Ebony Mirror is a stunning bass that reflects the legendary Gene Simmons perfectly. It sports a sleek, modern design, and has a number of great appointments such as a bound ebony fingerboard embedded with Pearloid reverse split diamond inlays, Hipshot Mini Clover tuners, a Hipshot Bass Bridge and is powered by a set of T-Bird pickups." Not sure the new features (mirror plex pickguard with Gene's custom logo, new truss rod cover, bound ebony fingerboard with split diamond inlays, and the hipshot hardware) are worth the hefty markup over a regular Tbird (£2,499 instead of £1,999). Probably only of interest to die-hard KISS fans. What do you think?

Just want to get my mitts on it. As interesting as all this theory and different ideas are, there's only one thing matters to me. Playing the bass. I have no doubts about the quality, I've played enough HBs to know there's nothing to worry about there. The only thing can spoil it for me is if it doesn't feel right. Only one way to find out. Playing the bass.

I bought the 424 because I couldn’t find a 1024 where I live (Portugal). And I read where the difference's some of you wrote about this two basses and pull the trigger. For the band I want to use it (punk/hardcore) I really really like it. Before the show I put a new set of Elixir SS strings and made a quick set up. The sound cut true the mix very well, even with a really loud drummer and guitarist. They also said they liked the sound of the bass. I think the 1025 put’s more “body” to the sound. Don’t now if I can explain this in words. I use the 1025 in a very different style of band and in a different tuning. In resume the BB1025 put a StingRay5 at home and the BB424 a 1977 Ibanez lawsuit jazz bass.

I think it's a really nice looking instrument, spoilt somewhat by the logo on the pickguard, although I imagine that pickguard could be swapped out fairly easily

I done one too... I thought - that geezer's got some serious phones: feel the weight, feel the sound, heavy pressure's going down! We're talking EZ drummer with fills programmed by me. And a Wal, and a strat. And Addictive Keys mark one electric piano, plus some Vienna Sax vst layered with heavily edited 'net-found loops. Plus a bit of singin'!

Another first class transaction with Loz. I bought his LPB Precision bass, and what a bass! Absolutely lovely and a credit to its creator @walshy. So a quick drive over to Ashton to collect the bass in person, made to feel very welcome with the opportunity to try the bass and a coffee as well. Perfect! Cheers Loz and all the best.

"It sports a sleek, modern design" Perhaps, if it's 1968.

It’s totally not the rule. Rule is n+1 and not (n+1)-1. How do you define n in your rule?

I did have the circuit diagram, sketched out by a local luthier. I'll try to find it later

LeftyJ: rockin' the hose! 😀

So that photo was yesterday... A mere 4 hours into today and the garden is a very different place! 6 workers, generators, underground moles, chop saws, six 5ft holes, etc.

Sometimes ya need both... Foam to hold the pup inside the cover... Springs for a firmer feel and adjust...

I remember a number of years ago I was asked to join a hastily put together band to do a one-off improv jazz gig with the guidance of a local trumpeter... We got there, set up for the gig and she handed round a sort of colour wheel - she explained that she'd point to an area of colour, she'd start and we'd all join in as appropriate. There were some good bits, some awful bits and a whole lot of crazy noise! In contrast, another improv jazz band I played with always started with a groove from the drummer and I (we'd been playing in a punkfunk band together for years), keys and guitar would join in and the horn section (who used to play with Lol Coxhill) would do mad stuff; sometimes the keys player would signal an actual chord change, but more often we'd all go chromatically in many different directions. We weren't beholden to any bourgeois notions of key, and our creativity wasn't stiffled by notated edicts from the Capitalist Overlords! 😎😁

Bands who deliberately choose not to have a bass player - sometimes it works OK (so OK then) sometimes it just sounds like there is something missing (not OK). Having bass on a backing track..... no thanks, I wouldn't attend a gig like that. The whole sub-sonic bass mush thing? Not sure why this has become a thing in recent years, but no thanks. It seems to be a modern incarnation of the old 'bass should be felt and not heard' attitude.

Yes, but a lot of bass player tonal expectations have changed as well as a need for more low frequency extension without sacrificing articulation. Of course HPF's have been used on bass channels in the studio and in live sound for decades, so IMO it's not a fad but an evolution in response to evolution.

But I am an amateur, pumping out the same old shite every week! Is there more? Should I be doing more?

There's a balance to be struck when playing covers. The harmonic structure, melody and key phrases/licks must be there. Outside of that, there is room to be "creative", but beware of going OTT. It's a judgment call. The important thing is to know the original, so you aren't changing things because you cannot play it as written.

I’d recommend a £200 Squier VM Jazz fretless or a Sire fretless. You can play it and enjoy learning safe in the knowledge that if it doesn’t work out you’d get every penny of your money back.

Gone for this sunburst 4, p j. Now to find some money to replenish my poor bank account.

What I think is hilarious is that for ten years no-one has said "these humbuckers sound like single coils". Makes you wonder how much pickup snobbery is just bullshittery....

Finally got down to order one of these yesterday from Thomann. I am a bit surprised there haven't actually been more talk about this pedal. I at least look very much forward to trying it out. This demo of it on bass sounds very promising (even if I wish he would have demonstrated a bit more cleanish/lightly overdriven mids heavy settings, since that Is what I count on be using it for) : What are people who actually got this pedal already's experience with and verdict over it? Does anyone use it as a cleanish/lightly overdriven preamp? I've gathered from people on the internet that the Voice knob allegedly is supposed to work a little differently from how it works on the other pedals in this series, is there anything to that, and in what way exactly?