Leaderboard

My Shuker JJ Burnel Signature 'The Raven' Precision arrived on Thursday. It has now been gigged twice (Friday and Saturday) and I can report that it was definitely worth the wait. It's just an incredible piece of work. It is exactly as promised, nice and light at 8.24lbs and the neck is probably one of the nicest I've had in my hands. It has a lovely satin finish with a nice low action and the whole bass balances superbly. There was a slight change in the spec in that I was going to have Armstrong pick-up's fitted. In fact, John did fit them and then gave me the option of the new in-house pick-up's hand wound by Oz. These are the pick-up's that are in JJ's newest 'The Zenith' signature bass which he took delivery of recently. Those of you that have seen The Stranglers recently will have heard that bass. I opted for the Oz pick-up's and they're great. I still can make up my mind about the screws, knobs and plate screws. Jon supplied a full set of black and chrome so I can make my mind up at leisure. They may change, they may not 🤷‍♂️. Here are some photo's.

Made myself a new board - Got a nasty lung infection but I will populate it once I am up to it.

About 9 years ago I guess my moves on stage at a particular gig didn't come off as planned. I saw a video clip and what I thought was cool actually looked like I was humping an invisible bear.😀 Blue

I've been playing my 4 string passive JP all evening and it's just wonderful. Plays like I've had it for years. One feature I love and wish I had on all my basses is this

Cool ? I guess you don't know about the invisible bear. Blue

Yeah. Nursery. 1987. I bought her a valentines card when I was 6.

Its voting time again and the inspirational image was chosen by last months winner, @skankdelvar who is on a roll, and is approaching the hallowed ground of a treble! I'm no stato , but that's a rare thing round these parts , however we have some serious challengers for you to consider . some notes provided by the man himself... Before radar was perfected, aircraft were detected using acoustic locators which enhanced and amplified the sound of an aircraft's engine. The smallest version was a pair of acoustic mirrors which the user strapped either side of his head. Please Choose your favourite 3 entries from the following. 1 @Dad3353 I was lucky, as I remembered this case from some decades ago, having read an article in the Boy's Own Paper of the time. The first successful human biological re-engineering, which enabled this man, born into a human body but with his real nature that of a fennic, to at last reconcile his psyche with his physical appearance. Early days for these medical miracles, but the operations and treatments finally enabled the fellow to become the creature that his mind had always known himself to be. 2 @Doctor J This has come together influenced by a few recent things of note, like the "Three on E" thread, a trip to Berlin and a bout of Covid. Four is one more than three and more is more, says Yngwie, so four it is. The bass riff came a bit too easily so I hope I haven't subconsciously pilfered it from somewhere. I can't place it, though. 3 @Leonard Smalls I thought - that geezer's got some serious phones: feel the weight, feel the sound, heavy pressure's going down! 4 @fingers211 A simple ditty really. The poor chap hears all the twaddle the world and it's media have to offer. 5 @NickD Started with the idea of how in modern times a whisper can be heard around the world, then got into the idea that a dumb meme travels much faster than anything involving hard reality... and just developed from there. 6 @upside downer Our hero is doing his bit for the war effort but he keeps on picking up sounds from the wild and wonderful world of pop music. Nonetheless, he'll do his very best until he can have a well earned drinks break. 7 Lurksalot it's a bit on the simple side and I got lost a few times even doing this. Mercifully no singing this time just some speakage! 8 @Nail Soup The picture made me think of eavesdropping... did a bit of research and found stuff like a quote from Thornton Wilder (me neither!) : "There's nothing like eavesdropping to show you that the world outside your head is different from the world inside your head". Built up the lyrics with such ideas. God knows where the music came from 🙂! 9 @skankdelvar Basically the song's about something but I'm not sure exactly what. Probably something grim some brilliant, humourous and well observed compositions again this month , fair play So it's your favourite 3 then Voting will end at midnight Saturday 30th April Good Luck All

My humble jazz, a cheap B-stock Squier Affinity in Charcoal Frost Metallic. Haven’t got the blingy chrome covers for it yet but I will. Nobody will ever accuse me of having good taste 😂

Ready for the painter to put the clear coats …. I’ve finished my task now … up to Valérian Werner to finish it well 😎

we knew the score for us. They wanted us on at 8:30, play until about 10 to 10 when they did the walkthrough or whatever it is, and then if it finished before 11 go back on until quarter past. so we played until 10 to 10 finished with Saturday nights alright for fighting, went down well, the sat around until one of the guys fell over, then came back in with I get knocked down. All seemed to go well. but I had a terrible tone which I couldn’t correct in my first half, I just took one bass, unusually, and It had no definition or treble. The only thing I can think is I changed the strings a few weeks ago for longevo and lowered the action, maybe that? asside from that and the short times, it was good, and pay was fine!

Playing around with the laser yesterday… 1 pass gives you about .5mm dept. Also (because I could) tried cutting out an inlay in maple ….this was just for fun. I will either leave au naturel OR fill with epoxy/ebony dust. Also did a little print on back of neck.

Well the drive there wasn't too bad, and parking was great. But it was freezing bloody cold. Unsurprisingly there were only about three people in the audience other than other bands. I take my hat off to them because I wouldn't have come out of a nice cosy bar to see a band in an arctic beer garden, no matter how good. Funnily enough, I think I played quite well Guitarist was a bit off though because by the time we played, his fingers had frozen stiff! Then I got lost on the way home and found myself driving right through the centre of Birmingham, which is the main thing I wanted to avoid. And then guitarist wanted me to stop at a garage so he could get some tobacco. I felt like saying 'No, no, let me go home' . But of course I didn't. Ah well, it's all over now until 15 May, so I can chill out for a bit.

We played a 2 hour acoustic set at Sahale Ale Works. It was an outside gig, 6:00-8:00. 80° degrees. My kind of gig. Blue

After a couple of hours working on the allotment this morning, I reckon I hate gigging as well. Bloody hard work, and I had to carry the spade and fork there and back. Hang on - it's digging I hate, not gigging - my mistake.

I forgot to post! Amazing sound last night! Once I had a chance to dial in the EQ it had a surprising amount of bottom end and loads of volume as the amp was on maybe 3/10. I haven't had a new cab for years so it took a bit of time to adjust but once the gig got going it was just a joy to play through! Apart from checking the cab at bedroom volume it was the first time I've had it at proper volume so the speaker will obviously take a bit of time to burn in. Cannot recommend Zilla more, the whole process has been excellent!

Second gig with my new Nordstrand Acinonyx shorty at The George in Croscombe, a nice pub on the main Shepton to Wells road. Very little parking, have had to resort to pavements in the past but managed to find a space in the 5 car car park! Not a lot of room inside either so glad I brought my small 60 watt MB 101 combo. This I was to regret as the Bass sounded very different to how it had sounded on Easter Monday through the MB CMD121 which is 300 watts! Anyway was tucked in the corner, my combo on a bench and next to our Banjo player( gulp) so the small size of the Bass was helpful too. We went through our 2 sets of Americana-ish stuff finishing on Copperhead Road, for which our singer broke out the mandolin. Only surprise was she opted to do Hillbilly Highway again for the encore which we played already, rather than another song from the repertoire. Lots of supporters in the audience from the times before CV19 when we used to do Jam nights at the local pub ( which has now closed down, to be revamped as a DFL venue) DFL- down from London! Next Sunday we have a slot at Frome Sunday Market which on a nice day is always heaving and just bring your instrument, as one can plug straight into the PA. Looks like the Nordy will get another outing, so much for 2022 being the year of my Telecaster Bass on its 50th Birthday!

are you ready to rumble ...... well, lets get ready to rumble ... and......... RUMBLE

Fair Exchange - Be-Bop Deluxe

It's been a struggle this month. Two abandoned attempts that wasted a whole week. On the other hand (i) Douglas has been spared an AC DC rip-off (ii) the world will never hear my take on Barry White. Basically the song's about something but I'm not sure exactly what. Probably something grim Lyrics ↓

I had the T shirt... but one of the sleeves was moved to the neck opening... nightmare to put on!

my band Scandal from 1990. Me at the front, my brother at the back on the left. 6 years we lasted, 639 gigs

This might be of interest to some here. This is very decent. Kim and Matt from Soundgarden, Krist from Nirvana, Bubba from Void and a couple a really good singers. The riffs are pure Soundgarden, never a bad thing, and it has received quite a few listens from me. Very good indeed. It's nice to see Novoselic playing again, I have to say.

Hello guys, I have an amazing Yamaha TRB5P but don't like a bit the electronics. Changed the preamp and fitted a Sadowsky 4 Knob, sound killer! Some time a go, I bought a set o MAMA pickups (they make them specifically for this bass). The P pickup sounds good, a bit too compressed for my taste but sounds good. The problem was always the bridge pickup. Hums like hell, thin sound and low output. Not really happy here... So, since I have a Nordstrand NJ5S sitting at home, I decided to solve the problem by building a pickup cover using the 3D printer and Tinkercad to design it. It's the first time that I use this kind of software and it's possible that everything isn't perfect but so far, is looking good. Honestly, I never post anything about my workl but I decided to post this project because I really hope that this 3D model solve someone's problem as it did for me. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5365871 As soon as I get this thing printed, I'll update the post with some pictures

WOW just WOW

Burma Shave - Tom Waits

I think it may be time to identify as someone who was born on a different day

😊

Back on the neck for more work. Here I'm doing the face and side dots.

My Wife ～ The Who

Also did some contouring.

decent set up that. i see you have at least one octave, synth, 2 drives (VTDi and B7K on the zoom) and the envelope filter all on. What kind of sound does that give? Is the drive on your amp also on? All of that combined could give a very rich harmonic sound.

Depping with a half decent band at Worthing last night, hadn't met them before, nice guys. So, the band play their first set, take a break, and we're about to go back on for the second set when a giant screen is lowered, completely blocking the stage. Seemed like everyone was there just to watch the Tyson fight, and by the time this had finished there wasn't time to play again. Got paid in full, but, err, communication, eh ? 😳

Yeah. Worth every second of waiting. My absolute world this lady.

A punter said tonight "It's so nice to hear some different music: not Mr Brightside, etc." Our work here is done 👌

You are a sick man!

Cyclops - The Libertines

OK, here goes! The picture made me think of eavesdropping... did a bit of research and found stuff like a quote from Thornton Wilder (me neither!) : "There's nothing like eavesdropping to show you that the world outside your head is different from the world inside your head". Built up the lyrics with such ideas. God knows where the music came from 🙂! Technical stuff: Studio One DAW, Piano-roll drums with Red-Zep hits, Vantage Bass, Squire Tele gtr, Gibson acoustic gtr, Studio one strings, Behringer condenser mic. Lyrics in spoiler:

Signal chain: Boss OC5 --> Pigtronix Octava --> Boss SY-200 --> Zoom B1-4 --> 3 Leaf Proton --> Thumpinator HPF (under the board)--> Tech 21 VTDI. All powered by a HB Iso5 Pro. This update got a big thumbs up from our band’s guitarist! 😊 I've replaced my Future Impact mono-synth pedal, with its cool bass synth sounds, with a polyphonic Boss SY-200 synth pedal. Whilst not quite so lush as the FI the SY-200, being poly, tracks more tightly and with less latency; a more winning combination IMO for a band-mix particularly on faster / busier bass lines.

Very happy with my board right now.

Torquemada 1981 probably my first proper gig with a decent rock / prog covers band. Using an Aria SB1000 Gypsies Kiss circa 1986 doing original rock with a few covers of ZZ Top, AC/DC and Free. Using my Fender 80's Jazz Georges Kitchen circa 1988 doing originals with a few covers. Quite a varied style including this image of us doing Pink Floyd Time. I remember that cause i triggered the smoke machine for the beginning. Drummer had a Simmonds electronic kit altho you cant see it in this pic and guitarist had the Roland guitar synth. Great fun band. I'm using my Yamaha BX-1 bass. Another George's Kitchen circa 88 just to show the drummer existed LOL Stormbringer 2012 a tribute to Deep Purple & friends doing DP songs plus any band that had a link to DP like Rainbow, Sabbath (i know but Dio sang with Rainbow who had a link to DP.......😂)