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From this: To this... And 5 coats of Danish Oil later... Going to want a few more, but we're getting somewhere.

As far a getting fired goes, I was fired as guitarist from the first “proper” band I was in, back in the 90s. The other guitarist / songwriter said what I was playing was boring and derivative. I had a think about it, decided maybe he was right and I should shake things up a bit and went and traded my geetar and amp for a Hohner “The Jack” headless bass and a Peavey TNT. I bumped into the guy who’d sacked me in town a month or two later, asked how it was going. Turns out they sacked the bass player as well and were struggling to find a new one. I rejoined on bass and it worked a treat, he liked my (pretty simple but hopefully effective) bass lines, we all liked his songs. Had a fun couple of years gigging round Leeds. I guess the short version is the only time I got fired the guy was doing me a big favour and I never looked back.

Mine for good measure

As it turns out I'm just a massive idiot, I wired the tone pot up backwards!! Thanks everyone for the advice.

We rehearse at our guitarists House. He has some workshop style outbuilding. It usually heated by a small electric heater in the winter. In the summer the windows and doors are closed to keep the sound down for the neighbours. The room tends to be also used as temporary storage for his family's junk. We are noticing a big difference in the sound in our rehearsal space seemingly depending on the weather and/or how much junk has been stored. Last night the guitarist told me to turn down, but all I could then hear was guitar. I messed around for quite a few songs trying to get my volume right. We moved some junk around. None of my tone controls had been or ever are adjusted. All my EQ controls are always centred at zero. We discussed how inconsistent the sound was, and I suggested it was all the junk that was changing the acoustics of the space. He seemed to think it was the weather. Eventually he looked at his amp and adjusted his bass knob saying he'd turned it up while practicing on his own at the weekend. Everything went back to normal and I could hear everything and it sounded much better. At the end of the rehearsal he commented on how the sound had strangely improved since the beginning of the evening. Thought I'd share.

Was at Brudenell social club in Leeds last night for St Paul and the Broken Bones, it was exceptional managed to snap a shot of Jesse Phillips Serek mid westerns at the end Great sound Tony

I picked up a bargainous bb414 on Facebook marketplace a few months back. Fitted a gotoh bridge (after pic was taken) I had knocking around, new strings, setup and it’s surprising excellent. Light, well balanced and very high output. Nice variation and even the bridge pickup sounds good soloed. I had some friends over who thought it was a mid level bass, it only cost £120 + strings! Very pleased and ridiculous value for money.

I gigged my Midwestern at the weekend (mine is with the B90 though) and it's just a wonderful feeling and sounding bass. It always get's compliments for the sound! You can hear it on this track should you be interested: Oh and here's mine: Si

I wish I had bought a white Status Series 2 back in the late 1980's. I remember seeing one on TOTP circa 1987 and thinking how it seemed to capture the style of the time so perfectly ☹️ But then again why stop there? I wish it was the late 1980s, full stop. Nowadays it's only a cocktail of ibuprofen and medicated shampoo that's keeping me going. I'm genuinely upset that Status are winding down production. At least they are very much going out on top and doing it out of choice. Regardless of the trend towards vintage gear, there is still plenty of worldwide demand for Status basses.

You won’t be disappointed!! Si

I think for the purpose of waving a dB meter in front of a guitard to get him to stop with the godforsaken racket, an A weighted meter is useful.

If it ain't baroque, don't fix it

What? You do not know Timmy C? Man, you really need to Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

Heavily weighted with lead perhaps?

Friends don't let friends use cheap knockoff speakons. The real ones aren't expensive and positively cheaper than buggering up your amp.

So my 'a' weighted device is ideal for proving to pub landlords thst we aren't too loud 😁

Tyne After Tyne Cyndi Lauper

Severn Nation Army ～ White Tripe

I remember the album cover with the bass player being pushed up against a woman's nose, Smell The Glover I believe it was. I may be thinking of Spinal Tap, of course.

He gets an undue amount people taking shots at him. He should call himself Joe Dartboard. FWIW, he's almost flavour of the decade, at this stage. I became aware of them through a thread here in 2014, been a fan ever since, and they had been going quite a while by then. They've worked hard at what they do and worked hard to get to where they are. Fair play to them. They have made an impact in an industry where new artists are no longer supported. They've been clever and inventive to make things happen for them. If you don't like their music, fine, but everything they have achieved, they have done the hard way - including taking the financial risk on the signature basses which seem to irk so many. Perhaps Tony could do that too and he could have one?

Joe Dart is a great player, but he's also kinda a "flavour of the month" player. He's to the 2020s what Stuart Zender was to the 90s, without the multi-platinum worldwide fame. His sig bass should really have been a Sterling By Musicman instrument. There are very few MM players who have the profile to do a proper MM signature bass justice. Obviously John Myung has one, Tim Commerford has one, and they should really do one for Tony Levin. Joe Dart isn't a patch on those guys in terms of visibility.

Ah yes, some of their songs were 'My Woman From Toronto', 'Smoke On The Watercloset' and 'Child In TIM'.

But how are you gonna vacuum clean a VST for mite, eh? Eh? BTW, I "played" the viola da gamba for two or three years during my youth, and lurved the instrument. Great thread, zbd!

I always wanted an excuse to use something like this...

As you mentioned before, it's rare, but it can happen. I depped for a popular rock covers band around these parts just last month. There were two gigs back to back and a dep guitarist had been drafted in for both. We get to gig #1 and the alarm bells went off as soon as words started coming out of his mouth. I was hearing all the wrong signals about parts in various songs he hadn't played before. The gig wasn't a disaster, but we had to drop a few tunes and he blagged a couple of the others. A post gig conversation ensued regarding gig #2. Early afternoon on the Saturday I get a call saying a different guitarist has been roped in for gig #2. He doesn't know half the set, but he's supposed to quite good. I get to gig #2 and this guy turns up. About half my age (git) and is the polar opposite of the guy from the night before. It's clear he is not familiar with a lot of the set, but he says he'll be right next to me and will be watching for keys/cues etc. He played an absolute blinder and I very much doubt anyone sober or otherwise would have known he hadn't been in the band for years. His name is Robbie Blake from The Karma Effect. Their album is jolly good too.

Well, yes, blues is winging it at the best of times. I guess it depends on your definition. If have known very good guitarists who know the song to get it right the first time, so truly, wing it. But the thing is, it takes a lot of practice to be able to do something without practice!

This has appeared before but reposted - my preEB beaten to hell stingray which I've owned since 2006. I nearly lost it on the way to a gig, after leaving it behind on the street in Shepherds Bush. Thankfully a friendly and astute neighbour rescued it from being salvaged by a couple of meth heads. One thing I will never have to worry about though is dinging it. I have a ray because it's got a uniquely muscular sound and a coarse, rasping treble.

Hi guys! I finally solved my C4 MIDI issues. It was simple once I got a clear idea. I programmed on switch one of the Ampero Control a recall for the first preset of the C4, so I can always go back to square 1! (Mode: SIngle, channel 1, CC 104, Data 0). On the second one the increase preset (Mode: SIngle, channel 1, CC 106, Data 0). On the third the decrease preset (Mode: SIngle, channel 1, CC 107, Data 0). And on the 4th switch a tap tempo (Mode: SIngle, channel 1, CC 93, Data 0). I'm also using the Source Audio Dual Expression Pedal, straight to the C4 via the Control Input jack. As simple as that. I hope anyone can use this info. Enjoy!

Kraysy ～ Seal

See - this is what’s nice around here… every so often we get a thread where people passionately throwing around misunderstood “facts” go away … and we get to learn from experts like @agedhorse and @Bill Fitzmaurice

I Fought The Loire ～ The Clash

The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde Georgie Fame

I had an OLP Tony Levin and a fine, cheap instrument it was, I'd be very interested in a full blood TL SR5, I think a lot of people would.

I have too, I have known guitarists who thought they could just wing it. A few notable ones have been correct, most of them have been very wrong!

I just got mine yesterday, and spent some serious time with them last night. I also have a spark amp, so this is a mini review for people like me on the shelf. So with the case (and I can't imagine using them without the case) it is a very neat package, zips up and keeps everything together and out of the way. If you don't have the case, seriously, get the case - cant believe at the price they go for they sell without it. The sender itself is obviously one of the boss WL10/20 type senders, and is very handy and easy to use if you don't have an Ibanez SR. If you have an Ibanez SR, you need some kind of extension which kind of takes away from the self containedness of it, but still works ok. The headphones themselves are very well made and look quality, although there are quite a few small knobs and buttons to break, another good reason for the case. Cant comment on the battery life, I played for about 3 hours yesterday with what had come through the post without charging them. Sound wise they are very clear and the sound is good - so much so I used it for comparing all my basses, and I am sure it showed more detail than anything else. They are easy to pair with your phone or whatever (once you read the instructions on line as it isn't immediately obvious how to do it). The big advantage is that it is easy to use it without any software, which is pretty good as the software is kind of the let down a bit. As mentioned up there, there is a tuner in the app, which is frankly not very good at all - I used it a few times and then reached for my polytune clip, it can barely work out what your E is on, and your B (or is an F or a D?) well, it will let you know if it is on! It has the directional thing mentioned, its an interesting gimmick and I can see it being good on a guitar but I really don't know what it is trying to do, If I am on stage with my amp and I starting turning round, it doesn't really go quiet in one ear when it is away from the bass as bass is fairly directionaless and normally pretty loud. But it is there and if people like it it then it is good and it is certianly fairly clever - I guess that is where a lot of the money goes. It has a drum machine that is basic but functional. I used it from the app - the manual says I can use it with the little switches on the side by some combination, I didn't try that. The software is functional, that is about what you can say. It lets you set a basic profile, an EQ and a series of effects in a way that is not immediately obvious. The advantage there is you can put them in the 6 patches that you can then change from the buttons on the side of the headphones so you can truly use it in a portable way. This is the weak point of this compared to the spark. In the software for that you have a set of 4 presets, and if you select those you can change amp type, alter the values on that amp, pick effects and the order of them visually, switch them on and off. You also have the supurb song selection packs, where not only do you have jam packs that you can jam along to, you can pick any song from your library and play it, and the software will work out the chords and structure for you and move along with the song, an excelent learning aid. There is nothing like that in the Waza airs. This portability has to be the strong point of this, you can take it anywhere - it would be ideal if you want to go and pick up a bass (but don't forget your extension leads if it is an ibanez). All in all for this you are paying for sound quaility and portability. And quality. If you are an experienced these are about as good as you can get for playing. If you are a beginner or intermediate, or aren't moving around much you would be far better off with the spark which loses on the portability (although they now make a battery one) and a bit of quality in exchange for much better software, eaiser to use and select effects, and auto tabbing of any song you want to select. As well as having a speaker for non quiet practice. I am glad I got them, but they are expensive. I can see where the money goes although it is dissapointing they are so much more than the guitar ones when it is almost certainly the same hardware, it would have been nice if they had spent some of the money on some better software in the app, but you are largely paying for a total absense of wires, where the spark you need a headphone lead. Although if you have an SR, you need a guitar extension lead, so not entirely lead free

killing an arab - the cure

Psycho Killer - Talking Heads