Leaderboard

I believe the kids use the term “goat” to describe their greatest of all time ?😂👍 today I went to promenade music in Morecambe to try out a few amps, namely an orange little bass thing….. so I’m playing away when a guy comes in, tells me it’s sound great and we get to chatting….. the guys lovely but somehow something a little bit “out there” about him told me he wasn’t your average punter…… I somehow had a feeling… We talked a good while, he listened in to me trying out amps, then he asked me to try out a trace elf and 2x8 cab for him, to which I said oh sorry for hogging the booth please , be my guest and jump on and have a go….. no he says, your doing great and I’d just like to heat you play it… I played, he asked for a little slap (which it’s been a long time since I’ve done that these days) so I obliged….. poorly 😂 sounds great he says, I’ll have it…. I switch back to the orange and carry on, he comes back in and asks about / complements my palm muting tech, as I thump away a’la jamerson style ,which was nice….. any way…. I came out of there and we chatted a while longer……. And bands, music , stuff…. What’s your name he says, I’m stu, pleased to have met you ….etc then he left…. Guy in the shop says, you know who that was right? only turns out it was stu zender! only my all time favourite player and total inspiration that got me playing bass all them years ago! I mean, I hammered that early jamiroquai stuff when I was younger and allthough I don’t get to play that kinda stuff with my band these days, it deffinaitly made me the player I am today… and for that I am eternally grateful.. i left shortly after and by chance seen him again outside , he was having a smoke outside his car before he left….. I went over laughing , he knew hahaha…. Gave me a great big hug and offered for a Selfy pic! we talked some more, such a nice guy he was…. Without sounding like some kinda teenage groups I had to tell him or more so thank him for what he did on that first album EOPE all them years ago….. he was chuffed to see me happy which was great….. so, if you happen to hear his next album, he’s recording it at home and using that trace elf….. I’ll listen to it, and I’ll smile to know that the bass I’ll hear on it will be coming from the amp that I demo’d for him ! #best day ever. 😂👍

Dusseldorf last night. 5 minutes before we went on there were 2 people in the room. When we walked on it was more like 200! Quite the shock! Smashed it again, went down well, loads of compliments and we sold loads of vinyl

A non-bass gig became one of the most surreal shows I have ever done last night. It was a small village open mic night that my goth duo has previously done. We were told we could do two small sets so spent the day rehearsing up an electric and an acoustic set. If you've never seen a post of mine, my duo is with the guitarist from my Sixth Form band and although the lowest key of my bands, probably the one I have the most fun with. Just a great excuse to hang out with an old school friend and make music. We arrive at the quiet country pub to discover it is absolutely heaving, to the point we are not going to be able to bring our gear in fully. A hasty decision is made to ditch the rehearsed up electric stuff and just go acoustic (bolstered by some under rehearsed stuff). Next thing the landlady is coming up to me and telling me that it's great to have Boy George in her pub!?! It quickly dawns on me that she must be at least 3 bottles of wine in and as the evening progresses she is dancing right down the front, coining up the phrase from Friday Night Dinner "Be spatially aware!" I make a mental note to keep her very much at arms length. We go on and go down a storm. We get a second set and at one point the young bar maid is coming up to me, mid set, to ask me to come outside and help break up a fight!?! Luckily it was all over as these things are, almost straight away. The irony was that I thought the gig would go down in my history for being my first performance in a cardigan! It's a funny old world!?!

Regular gig last night at The Riverside in Dumfries. When we showed up to load in there were 2 guys sitting at the bar. Horrendous weather didn't help. Did our sound check and went for a bite to eat hoping that when we came back at 8pm it would be busy. Up to 6 people now. There were more punters with the band. Started at 8:30 and all of a sudden people arrived within first couple of songs. Wasn't busy by any means but maybe around 20-30 all appeared to be having a great time so it turned out a really great wee night. Not a nice drive home with strong winds having brought leaves and smaller branches onto road with torrential rain and lots of flooding and standing water. Even the motorway was quiet. From Moffat junction to Abington i passed one truck and had one car pass me in a 30 min motorway drive. First actual gig with the new Handbox WB-100 and my Mesa 210/115 cabs. Using the Sandberg MarloweDK took me a bit to get the tone i was looking for. Overall the sound was full, deep and warm with a nice hi-end click to to it. All flat with a touch of mid boost. Happy with the new WB-100. Its doing a great job. Dave

Wonderful gig @ one of our fav' venues All Saints church Shillington Saxon), most of the village turn up! Also they provide a hot meal...gig heaven...ha

Played a local cider festival with The Hulla Band last night. We were due on at 5pm but as with multi-band line-ups, everyone was running late. Each band had been allotted an hour and the sound guy said they were all playing their hour with no set up or break down consideration. We went on nearer 6 by which time the crowd had increased and the cider had flowed. We were the first band with a drummer, played a tight, rocky 45 minute set and had the crowd up and dancing from fairly early on. We were allowed an encore and were off stage within the hour, much to the delight of the sound man. A really enjoyable gig and free cider afterwards! 😃 And I found out this morning that we've been re-booked. In the pics I'm behind the Uke players. First outing for my Guitarbass VI through a Trace Elliot combo provided by the gig. I was happy with the guitar apart from an inconsistency in the volume in the higher register strings, partly due to not having set the equaliser on the combo properly but mainly due to the pickups which need replacing - something I was planning to do anyway.

I wouldn’t have recognised him in those glasses either 😄

New venue for us last night, great pub just outside Leeds, the Old Masons Arms in Rothwell. Landlord couldn’t do enough for us, tea provided and iced water and even stopped a few giddy punters getting too close to gear when necessary. The pub was packed and up for a party, so much that I think we went over by 30 minutes in the end. First time for us, the bar had a tip jar for the band and there was a princely sum in it at the end of the night. Great to see live music still thriving with the help of good management. Sadly I managed to close one of the gear case lids on my right hand on the pack down - fingers not broken but won’t be playing for a few days, luckily we’re on a little break till early November. Also why is it that when I play in Leeds that they always manage to close the A1/M1 for the drive home🤬🤬🤬🤬

I played with my 80s covers band ("A Flock Of Eighties") at the Maiden's Head in Maidenhead last night. Was worried about the size of the stage as when I've played here before with a 4-piece it felt crowded, but thankfully all 5 of us in this band are fairly economical with how much space we take up, so we made it work. We have 4 lead vocalists - the three of us along the front, plus the drummer in the shadows at the back. By process of elimination you've probably deduced that that's the guitarist in the back left corner. I've been recovering from a heavy cold, and was monitoring the recovery of my voice with some mild concern, but I think last night sounded pretty good, if I do say so myself! The audience at this venue are always great fun. The pub do insist on playing their own 80s playlist before we go on and during the break, and I imagine you don't need me to tell you the inevitable consequence of that. A nice chap did come up to me afterwards to talk about my barefaced cab. I'm assuming it was one of you lot. Come on then, which of you was it? S.P.

Shout out to @Merton for stepping into the breach for me last night, my mother died Friday night and I wasn't in a position to play a gig. The video I saw looked great, apart from Matt getting the lyrics wrong of course 😁

One of those strange social club gigs yesterday. They danced if they knew the song. Clapped politely from their seats otherwise. I swear this kind of punter wants a different band each weekend but playing the same set. Anyway, it was good to play and get paid.

Finally got the chance to use the TE-1200 on a loud pub gig last night; no bass in the PA so onstage rig was doing it all. Cabs were a pair of Barefaced Two10s. To say the rig delivered would be an understatement. Whatever I fed it from my HX Effects - clean, slightly driven, all out fuzz, octaves, choruses - the rig was always there, full blooded and present. I was very happy with the way it handled everything, it absolutely nailed the tone I have in my head without any additional EQ after whatever the HX was doing (which was sometimes absolutely nothing!). Wonderful

I think this is a first for me, I somehow seemed to have missed this thread? We were out celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Waltham Chase Trials Motorcycle Club - a gig I landed by chance whilst talking to someone at a corporate do in Bournemouth. A great night had by all, bonus was they fed and watered us as well😊

Pub gig in Elmsett with Dirty Hands. Small village, great pub that was full all night. We played well, and folks were happy throughout…good times! Used my new usual rig of Jazz 24 with the beastly Dual Showman…gives such a warm, clean, solid sound. I just put new rounds on, so the fingertips are a bit sore this morning…

Took the Acoustic I bought at a thrift shop for €50 out for a gig for the first time this week. Boy, is this absolutely amazing. What an amp. Heavy, though. But great.

Just back from playing a gig with Elton John tribute I’m Still Standing at a 1970s-theme weekender in Butlins Skegness. Supplied rig was an Ampeg SVT and 8x10 which sounded righteous and smelled like a hot car engine when cooking away mid gig. Most excellent. I had a grand old time. And so did a few hundred other people by the look of it 👍

Return to Zender.

I bought the plans for the Omni 15 TB ages ago. I then cut the wood at the beginning of this year and promptly moved onto another project. (basschat mk3) I finally pulled my finger out and finished the "wheelie bin" this weekend. I loaded it with 2 x Beyma SM212 drivers, an Alpha 6CBMR and an APT80 I couldn't decide on a finish, so ended up with good old decoupage. I've done a few cabs like this now. I knew I kept all my Beano comics for a reason. Fitted wheels and handles on the side to ease transportation along with sprung handles on the side. The crossovers were the hardest part for me, but I eventually cracked it (thanks Stevie for supplying me with the necessary parts) So - How does it sound? Good - very good. I started with some pre-recorded tunes and was really impressed with the balance of the 3 "sections" of the cab. The bass is deep and full without sounding boomy, honky or muddy. The mids cut through really nicely. The closed back alpha sounds great. The APT80 adds plenty of sizzle if required. Great for slappers or if using as a PA cab. I tried it with my TC Electronics BH550 and with the EQ flat the cab sounded really "equal" - nothing seemed too harsh, too loud or too quiet. It doesn't seem to need many watts at all to reach respectable levels. I would imagine a 30-50 watt all valve amp would thunder through this. The build was fairly straightforward. The mid range horn construction is probably the most challenging part of the woodwork. I found that building the cab in 1-2 hour sessions was beneficial. Reading the plans plenty of times before getting started really helped too. I'm yet to use it in a rehearsal or gigging situation, but I will report back once I have. Positives Self built - Great sense of achievement and finish can be customised Can be built with different user options / drivers. Info listed in the plans. Big, full sound Negatives Heavy - but.....you can't have everything can you? Not sure of total cost - I got the parts together over a long period of time, so it doesn't seem as painful on the old wallet. I had the Beymas already, so that helped. Fairly easy to load into vehicles thanks to the wheels. Stairs are the only issue i've found so far It's probably overkill for most of the gigs I play, but I imagine that larger events or outdoor bookings without PA support would be right up this cab's street I've tried it with a P Bass and a Jazz and it really does sound very good indeed. Every nuance of your playing is there for all to hear! (is that a good thing?) My fab missus made me a retro denim patch cover for it too. Groovy! I will update this post once the cab has a few gigs under it's belt. Cheers Jon

First time using my BB414

Quite a nice outing for us last night. New venue for my indie rock band, The White Line. We played Dirty Habit in Whitley Bay which is quite a fun, high-energy bar. It was quiet during set up but soon filled out nicely with dancers. The photos are from before and the video is a quick one from the set break. We rocked a pretty good crowd all night, aside from one major disaster. Resident drug and alcohol dancing guy (you know the one, he goes to LOTS of gigs) decided to put his pint down on the subwoofer. I shouted and shouted but he didn't have a clue what I was asking for, so the singer went to grab the drink instead. About 2 seconds too late. Off it went, onto the power reel that was powering that side of the PA and the singer's pedal board. How nothing went kafautz I don't know but we politely stopped the show to request a bartender to come and sweep up the glass after the song finished. Dancing man wasn't going to, he was too busy dancing on the broken glass... I also had a nice young lady intently staring at me all night long. Unfortunately too young, but the attention was nice nonetheless. However, after the gig she approached me with her mate and her mate's dad who'd arrived to pick them up. She was a new bass player and looking for some advice on stage amps. I'm clearly getting old. Nevertheless I dutifully pointed her to Basschat. Hi Claire! Can I please draw your attention to the difference in cable management between my spot and the singer's? Amateur. The rig was my G&L L2000 into a Shure wireless, TC Mojomojo, Paradriver. Using a QSC wedge in front of me partly because the weird shape of the stage would render a traditional backline useless and partly because I'm still not quite 100% after covid round 2, so my already-ropey backing vocals needed a little extra monitoring just to be sure I was on key. I wasn't. You'll notice there isn't a stage amp. Sorry Claire! PXL_20221015_205850451.mp4

It’s when you hear your riffs you came up with while demo’ing you need to start cursing 🤣😂

This build is completely @Owen's fault... A while back Owen gave me a set of tuners from a bass uke and the other week I thought it was time to turn them into something. I had a go on a rubber stringed Kala bass and kind of liked it so that's the plan. The plan is for a 21" scale, hollow bodied 4 string with a piezo pickup. I've already got some way with this (I took the body to the recent SW Bass Bash) so this build thread is catching up a bit. This is the scribble for the design with a couple of rough MDF templates

One of my biggest gig disasters was when I too figured that I could travel light and take the train. Turned out that there was no monitoring for the bass whatsoever. All I could hear of myself was the low frequencies coming from the back of the PA speakers. Oh, and did I mention I was playing a fretless? Yeah, I was playing a fretless. S.P.

So I don't believe in my ten years plus on this forum, I have not started a topic header! Abit remiss I know! So to quote Jilted John "Here we go, 11, 111, 1V!" So in the last week I have bought from @CookPassBabtridge a wonderful Vigier Passion 1V. 4 string.. I am in, the very, very fortunate position of owning a few Vigiers.. A passion series 11 with the all carbon neck, 1986. A series 111 passion custom with 10/90 graphite wood neck 1992. Plus this recent 2020 series 1V.. What they all have in common, it the amazing craftsmanship of Patrice Vigiers team of luthiers..outstanding.. The playability and action on any Vigier Passion I have played, is as good as I have found in my nearly forty years of playing/trying (lol) of bass.. They are a niche market for sure..That said, I would say those in the know, know how good they are.. So now I have a series 1V. passion.I had in 2014 A series 1V Arpege, but found the Glokenklang 3 band controls for each pick up, to much for myself personally, and I could not get used to the bolt on neck on this model, compared to the early series basses through neck versions.. The Passion 1V has a more simple layout of bass/middle/treble controls, and is very easy to dial in your sound compared to the series 111/111 basses with thier parametric control and cut/boost switch and tone control. The new Vigier pickups quieter than the wonderful single coil Benedetti ones..which are in my humble opinion still AMAZING!!!. Access to all the 24 frets easy on the series 1V a breeze. Action as good as ever on this bass..If you like a super low action, you will find a Vigier hard to beat! Neck profile super slim on all three series of these basses..but the passion 111 the slimmest..possibly more than an Ibanez soundgear! (Is that possible! lol) Obviously no truss rod which to some may take abit of getting used too..All the three series of basses have an almost totally straight neck with the slightest of slight concave shape..no deadspots whatsoever on the phenolic fingerbords.. if you ever get a chance to play a Vigier seize the moment👍😃

Arrgh. Stop it. *sticks finger in ears* I don't need a new amp I don't need a new amp I don't need a lovely new amp I don't need a lovely new Trace Elliot amp Arrrrrrgh

For some time I've fancied playing at a beer festival and got a chance yesterday at the Charlbury Oktoberfest. It went quite well despite having a dep guitarist (ours has Covid) who was only able to do a quick rehearsal the day before, which I couldn't attend due to work. No real mistakes, but the intros seemed a lot less tight. Sound was strange, though; the horn players kept complaining they couldn't hear me, yet I am told that my Orange Terror was distinctly audible in the bogs 200 yards away, and certainly clear where the audience were sitting. The guitar was barely audible to me most of the time but just about OK for the audience.

Crappy pic but the first proper (as in loud, no PA support!) outing for my TE-1200. It delivered, and then some. Cracking amp, hopefully it wasn’t a one-off haha

Really cool he liked your playing enough to buy an amp by how good you sounded. If it had been me he probably would have said, "Oh for f***s sake give it 'ere..." 😆

I decided to gain my own real world experience and pulled the trigger on the fine looking Thunderfunk in the classifieds here. Looking forward to it immensely…

Do you string them EAAE or GDDG?

I've got an old Matsumoku P Bass from late 1970s with ye olde Yamaha BB type tuners with the sleeve around the shaft to adjust the tuner tension. (Does anyone know who used to make these?) They look like this Anyway, these should have a tiny litle C spanner to adjust them with. but hens teeth are probably more common these days. The C spanner would locate in the little holes and you can then tighten or loosen the sleeve up. I couldn't find a satisfactory way to tighten them up without this spanner.... until now I got one of these bulldog clips and took one of the arms off it and then bent it And it can then be fitted into the little holes perfectly and used to tighten and loosen Just the job..... 🙂

Picked up my first short scale Here she is with my old smoothie, a US of A Musicman Stingray with roasted maple neck. It’s got the factory round wounds on it atm (EB slinky’s) which I love but I’ve got some labella short scale 42-100LTF I got sent by mistake awhile ago so I’m going to try them and see how she thumps. Absolutely love the tones from the passive circuitry, but still capable of that classic stingray growl if you dial it in. At 30” it feels tiny, but so easy to play. well chuffed.

We recorded a music video to our new single yesterday. Went quite smoothly I’ll post a link when it’s edited and ready. And we have finally booked into the studio for our next album (march 2023)

From my experience In stoner/Doom bands. I’d recommend recording one song and using that to showcase your sound. Maybe with an accompanying music video if you can stretch to it. (Doesn’t have to be amazing but people like to watch videos) Recording wise, all play live in a room with isolated amps. Then overdub vocals and solos. Shouldn’t be too expensive and gets the right feel for the genre. as far as getting gigs a lot of it is less about having music to listen to but more a case of being part of the “scene”. We had great success from playing the local metal to the masses heats and talking to people. This got the ball rolling. If you do record I would be interested in hearing the finished song/s

Leftyp, he’s the original bass player from Jamiroquai ….. and has played around the world with many other super cool artists too….. those first two albums were absolutely STONKING and at that time of the first, he’d only been playing for around two years. That in it self was outrageous given not only the skill in the hands but also the width of feels in writing those perfect lines….. his short term level of experience at his tender age of 19 impressed on me (I was 17) that if I practiced day and night I could be that good. it’s what pushed me on to live the bass, to firmly accept my role as a musician but namely, a bass player. As if a formal line in the sand to say, nope, not guitar, not drums, not keys…. It’s bass. And further more, it’s groove. now…. Whilst I could play like him (not really, but yes to some degree) back then I was simply copying him and his style….. could I have written lines like his? Not on your nelly mate, they’re something else entirely. Next level stinky poo. maybe even a few levels above that. So yep, I get not everyone will inow him or his lines, but if I tell you he literally woke me up to what bass is about , that should cover it… 😍👍

Need a five string, and the ability to swing...

For 3.5mm to 1/4" mono cables I buy a long (4m) moulded, quality 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, cut it in half and solder on Neutrik 1/4" jacks. IMHO the moulded 3.5mm ends are generally better than home-made 3.5mm ends. The Ugreen braided cables on Amazon are good quality. For full home-made the Rean 3.5mm jacks are very good and have a solid cable clamp. They do one with a large cable hole too.

Yeah we also talked about our early days influences and how he would run home from school to play jaco lines any minute of the day…. I said “funny that, for me ,it was stu zender lines !” which he found heart warming. said fame and money was nothing next to that feeling of having inspired people….. when I talk to anyone about that first album I usually mention how my mum bought me the album on cassette and how I literally wore the tape out playing it back and forth , the music just seemed to fade off the tape. same with blood sugar sex magic.

A hot meal and an appreciative audience, that's what it all boils down to in the end!

Thanks guys, a long post I know but just had to tell someone who would understand!

Antoria.

From the Thunderfunk very shortly

I would like to have a vintage SA-17.

SO36 in Berlin last night supporting Crass. The first night of our tour and it was crazy! I didn't expect so many people, or for us to go down so well with a crowd who don't know us. They were there to see Crass who are a lot more Punk than us but they loved it! Our bassist broke a string in the last song. Great timing as he's come on tour without a spare bass or any strings! What a pillock Hopefully tonight in Hamburg will be as good!