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Excellent afternoon gig at the local beer festival near Bristol. Went very well, great fun

The heart of my pedal board. Top row bass and delay bottom row guitar,

Re the comments about the Acinonyx pre-sets, I get arguably more versatility from my Andy Rogers custom-builds without the use of push-push buttons that are prone to mechanical failure in my experience. Mine have 3 pick-ups and 8-way switching that allows instant pick-up selection - singly or in any combination of two or all 3. Now I'm used to this, I wouldn't be without it and it beats me that the only adoption of this configuration I've come across from the usual suspects was Fender's limited-run s-s Rascal. Its quirky body shape and bridge position made it feel more like a standard-scale and IMHO stopped more players from buying this otherwise superb bass. It's got the best s-s neck I've ever played.

My preferred solution would be to avoid gigs like that! 😂

This topic often comes up on here so I thought I’d share an anecdote from one of this weekends gigs. Marquee gig, black tie event-so everyone thought they were better than everyone else, but the lining for the floor was not very level. Consequently the dance floor wasn’t either, which got wet with lots of spilt drinks and our PA columns, a HK elements in line set up, are a bit wobbly. We’ve had people swing from them like a strip club before so we looked at how to minimise the risk. Putting boards underneath them made them more wobbly if you stepped on them, and right out at the edges of the tent the ground was even more uneven. In a lose lose situation we decided to make them as obvious as possible by putting our lighting stands by them (on tripods), the same set up either side and hope for the best. We were on late and doing three sets, so by the time we got to our third set the crowd were plastered, trying to get onstage with us, drink was all over the dance floor and they were requesting any song they could think of, to be played at maximum volume whilst we grabbed a drink. My wife and I were just minding the stage when one gentlemen managed to lose his balance. The sequence of events was roughly- he falls into the edge of the stage of his own volition, keyboard with laptop goes over plus microphone, he puts his arm out and rolls off the stage into the PA column, toppling it and the lighting stand. Five minutes before the lighting stand would’ve sliced somebodies head open- it’s on of those bars with 4 LED digital par cans on. Somehow no one was hurt and nothing was broken but we would’ve had a very challenging situation on our hands if an accident had have happened. We will be be upping our cover, fastidiously updating our player list and checking renewal dates in the future- that was a seriously close call.

Latest update guys. I finally received the money today 3 weeks after sending him a "letter before action" giving him 2 weeks to pay. Then on the last day of the 2 weeks, he emailed me saying how disappointed he was that I went this route. I know, pathetic huh? He still saying that the online banking dongle hasn't arrived. Then he asked me to give him another week and if the dongle still not arrived by the end of the week, which is today, he would go to the bank. Hmm...shouldn't he do this many weeks ago? Again, thank you all for the advice. 😁

I honesty thought the hoarding behind that stage said "dadband" 😀

Bought this beaut from Geoffio a few months ago, Euro 4LT violet fade, it’s no.1 bass now!

Last night was a small club venue, stage cluttered - even had a bagged up double bass in one corner and a piano in the other. Started with a small but enthusiastic criwd, who then grew to a full house for the second hot sweaty set. My predecessor with the band was thete and was very kind praising my sound and dancing with his wife. Today was Caerleon Arts Festival. Lots of angst as last year pa was poor. No worries as it turned out to be excellent. We went down a storm. Soundman told me I sounded like Jack Bruce which has made my year 😎

I play with a really low action and occasionally I’ve had to add a shim , many say that if it was built properly you wouldn’t have to do it 🙄, but depending on your set up preference I don’t see anything wrong, stewmac sell them

Soooo.....has he won then? Is that this thread finished? 🤣

The Number of The Beef ～ Ïron Maiden

Muscle memory works well but fluorescent dots work better! Had my fretless jazz fitted with fluorescent side and fingerboard dots, and now I love a dark stage not least because dots floating in the dark look rather cool.

Do I dare to post after this spectacular pedalboard ? made myself. Not perfect but really happy 🙂

You should go and buy something off him now and tell him as your dongle isn’t working either you’ll pay him in 3 weeks…

It just means some of these jokers on here will have to start getting serious 🤣

For Those About a Lock ～ AC/DC

Penultimate gig with the trio on Friday night, nice easy biker club rally over 2 days with camping etc (not that any of us stayed over). We did the Friday then another band headlined Saturday. The monitoring is still ropey (they provide all PA) but FOH sounded fine apparently. It was sweltering on dance floor in front of stage yet some folks were still up and grooving away both sets which was nice. Having gigged so little i was concerned I'd get cramp in fretting hand (it's happened before after a lay off) but sailed through it no problem, got some good feedback from punters. I think the other two will probably carry on with another bass player but gigs have been very sporadic and the other 2 have now gone on to other side projects so that's not going to change.

Tom Bowlus and I created this mammoth Trace Elliot (Elf) review for Basss Gear Magazine for this who'd like to know a bit more about the lil Elves! https://www.bassgearmag.com/elvish-appetizer-trace-elliot-elf-bass-head-elf-1x10-combo-elf-2x8-cab-elf-1x10-cab-and-transit-b-bass-preamp/ I'm allowed to be honest about my review kit, so I can happily report that I loved the Elf head - and when I have some cash I'll probably buy one for myself!

Harriet Harry - Sham 69

In circumstances where the Public could come a cropper, I would suggest having a barrier around the stage area would be advisable. These should be provided/set up by the organisers...

More rugged Locking Proper cable clamping Handles higher power Can carry 2 signals (if 4 pole) Plugs are protected from short circuit, unlike jacks Takes thicker cables (some jacks do too) Solderless

Played to a very busy local beer festival yesterday.

NBD CIJ PB70 99 reissue - a beaut and super light. Love CIJ basses such quality builds, had a PB62 reissue and loved it but sold to fund custom build. I been after a natural PB70 but hardly see them, I just love a natural bass. I had the MIM FSR PB70 from think 2018 and the neck was superb but didn’t like the pups - should’ve changed them as regretted selling it. This might give my custom build a run for its money, got gig next week might take it out. Free set from Bass Bros too - recommend them

Rechargeable Power Supplies & Battery Life: A Buyer’s Guide Rechargeable power supplies can offer superior noise performance and great convenience. A key concern for anyone considering this type of power supply is battery life… and on this issue, unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation and marketing nonsense out there. I’ve recently been down a rabbit hole trying to understand the complexities of rechargeable battery capacity so I thought I’d share some learnings. I don’t claim to be an expert, just an interested consumer. Very happy for anyone reading this to correct me if necessary! Capacity ratings… often not what they seem Most brands state battery capacity in mAh, leading consumers to think (quite understandably) that they can divide the stated capacity by their current needs to get expected battery life, i.e. 20,000 mAh = 20 hours play time at 1A. This is not the case. The stated mAh capacity is usually in reference to the internal cell voltage, which is a lot lower than the 9v output voltage you will be using. So it’s a bit of a marketing trick to make capacity look bigger. Confounding the issue, the internal cell voltage varies by manufacturer. This is normally 3.7 or 7.4V; a minority of brands appear to state mAh capacity at 9v output, to be helpful to musicians… kudos. Additionally, you will never see the full capacity discharged due to inefficiencies (heat etc.) Good quality lithium batteries appear to have efficiency of about 85% overall. TLDR: below are estimates for the battery life you can expect for various products. The figures stated are the number of hours run time for a current draw of 1A @9v. To get estimated battery life for your setup, divide the 1A estimate by the total current draw of your pedals in Amps (i.e. using a Volto 3 to power 450ma worth of pedals, I would expect to get 2.2 / 0.450 = 4.8 hrs) NB not all of these supplies can actually supply a full 1A. If anyone is actually interested in the details behind these estimates, let me know and I can fill you in on the research and calcs I have applied. If you need isolated outputs, here are some options 1. Use a mission 529i or 529 and whatever USB battery pack you want. Great solution, not cheap though. 2. Use any standard USB battery pack, plus as many Joyo ZGP-W adapters as you need. Potentially a good, cost effective way of doing things. The Joyo ZGP-Ws are nifty devices that boost 5V USB voltage to 9V, as well as providing isolation and filtering. However, you need to bear in mind the current ratings. Each Joyo can supply a max of 400mA at 9V. The Joyo’s themselves are pretty inefficient (c.59%) and of course you need to draw more current at 5V than is supplied at 9V – the current load at the USB port will be roughly triple what your pedals draw at 9v. So, a standard 2.4A USB port can support 2 Joyo ZGP-Ws at full load. 3. Use any of the single output products on the list above (e.g. Volto 3, Rockboard, Palmer) and add isolation adapters as necessary. GigRig Isolators work well in this context. Each Isolator provides 4 isolated outs with 135mA capacity each. Joyo ZGP-W (400mA capacity) or ZGP (800mA capacity, operates only at 9V) will also work. However, bear in mind that the circuitry needed to provide isolation will also drain some current, and therefore reduce battery life: GigRig Isolators draw about 100mA by themselves Joyo ZGP-W has c.59% efficiency, so using one fully loaded at 400mA will cost you almost 300mA (at 9V). Joyo ZGP uses between c.50ma and c.200ma depending on the overall load (very small draw from pedals will cost you an additional 50mA, close to 800mA draw will cost you 200ma) 4. Wait for the Harley Benton Powerbank+ and use it to power a multi-output Harley Benton or Strymon power supply. The Powerbank+ appears to be an interesting forthcoming product. Massive battery capacity, and selectable output voltage at 9, 12, 18 or 24V. So, you can use it as a regular 9v power bank, or you can use it at 12V to power a Harley Benton ISO-1, ISO-2, or ISO-5. This would give you whole lot of isolated, mutli-voltage options. You could also use the Powerbank+ to power one of the Strymon power supplies at 24V. Hope this is all useful info to somebody!

The Co ck is a great place. Friendly, helpful staff and a great atmosphere. The Gemini is nice too. Put up an awning for us for a bit of shade, not too busy, but we were the first band but a nice crowd anyway. Arnie's, not a place I'd want to play again. Nice land lady and staff but they have a 4am licence on Saturdays so it seems to attract all the wrong people. They have security (which we saw in action) who efficiently keep control but I'm now too old to put up with places like that. Yup, they don't pay much at the festival but feel I had a result. I took a shine to the guitarist's spare Strat and the next morning he offered me the guitar instead of my wages. Pulled his arm off😆

The Laney's seem pretty good for the money. They are a bit old school, class A/B amp with a transformer power supply but still under 17Kg. The handles are excellent, with the top handle for carrying in and the side handle for lifting onto a pole. Despite being a weedy 70year old I can lift them with ease. The angles are good for floor monitors too. No DSP so what you put in is what comes out. I have yet to put them to use in the band situation. Hoping to do that on Friday.

The struggle is real.

New one on me - had a bit of a dig and it's on page 56 of this 1988 Greco catalogue: https://vintagejapanguitars.com/greco-1989-catalogue/ Should be good quality, at this point Greco was still exclusively MIJ & Fujigen was the factory. Not going to be a particularly common bass so I'd leave it stock, or at least don't do anything irreversible.

Played in a church at Romsey Beggars Fair. Holy smoke!

When I was doing concert work, either at the console or doing the lights, it was de rigueur to have the desk area bounded off by barriers of the sort above, to keep the area clear of unwanted interference. It worked very well, especially when the bands provoked much animation from their public, and/or the drinks flowed freely. Similar protection for the stage area, if there was any chance of the Public getting out of hand. It's been a very long time since I've seen a lighting rig or PA tower come down. Just sayin'.

Harriet Jacobs Ladder - Rush

If not already stated…….PLi is a good cover but the person(s) contracting you/us should also have it in place methinks. A bit like a recent gig when our band was asked to have Pat test certificates on our gear, my response was ‘as long as the client has everything Pat tested too’.

I'm a big advocate of PLI.- always had it, always will, but you also have to fight your corner when people of their own choice get plastered out of control and injure themselves by their own stupid actions. In most cases it's nothing to do with the band/act, and how they have set up, but complete idiocy from members of the public. In which case it's fair enough to argue that point and only use PLI where argued against or necessary.

Yup, both @Merton and I have been on Mark's back about this for a long while now. It's not something they're keen to do sadly. I know there was an ABM NEO a while back but that wasn't much smaller and had one of the older, not so good class D power stages, things have come a long way since then. I really think a downsized ABM with a compact but old school solid state power stage would sell so so well...

Easy Meat - Frank Zappa

Cleaving (on a jet plane) John denver

Another Bandeoke. This one outside at the Jolly Sailor. A lovely pub with the beer garden backing onto the River Avon at Saltford Lock. Beautiful and sunny, happy punters, Put my Elf through two cabs as we were outside. It coped effortlessly.

Mussel memory? Sounds fishy to me…did you play scales? 😁 🐟

So @ceterahas his own unofficial signature model 👍🏻