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Spend Thanksgiving Eve with Maple Road @The Barley Pop Germantown WI 11/23 7:30-10:30 Thanksgiving Eve is a big gigging night in the States. We have had success with our New Year's Eve gig at The Barley Pop.This is the first time we've played there on Thanksgiving Eve. I don't know what to expect. I'll let you know how it goes. Blue

I was bored. So, I decided to refinish one of my Jazz Basses. Nitrocellulose lacquer used. I'm quite pleased with the end result.

Discs.

For plugging the drill holes that I'm just about to make for the new bridge screw holes, dowelling is no good. Why? Because the grain runs along the length of a dowel and the circular bit is therefore end grain - which has insufficient screw-pull-out resistance. And so I use a plug cutter on some similar strength/softness wood to the body. For this one, I'm using mahogany which is closer in hardness to what is probably an alder body than, say, using maple. With a following saw cut, it releases the 'across the grain' dowels: And the plugs are in waiting for the wood glue to fully set. All being well, tomorrow I will be able to drill to refit the bridge in its straightened position and then I can string it up with a couple of spare strings so that the pickup positions can be accurately marked

His greatest performance, the electric mouse on rails......

The Beatles are becoming increasingly significant to me. Or perhaps I ought to say their significance is becoming increasingly clear to me. The more I study what they did, the more I learn of the context within which they did it, the way they anticipated musical genres by many years. Their songwriting skills, their experimental side, their willingness to work with the creativity of others, their ability to absorb influences of other great artists of the time, and the blueprint they created for future generations to follow all suggest to me they were pretty damn important. I wasn't of the Beatle generation, they'd gone by the time I began my musical journey. They excited my instinct to kick against the establishment which seemed intent on repeatedly telling me how amazing they were. So I didn't pay them any attention until the 90s. My drummer at the time told me to go listen to a couple of albums, and I was genuinely astonished. Abbey Road was one and it blew me away. I couldn't imagine how it must have sounded to folk when it first came out. Mind boggling I assume .

As someone with 2 Dingwalls, I did not need a 3rd (or the 2nd but let's not digress). However thanks @MattParkerBass for pointing this out on Facebook Marketplace. The cons ? Missing the pickguard (apparently it was stolen at a gig ?!), as well as the magnetic battery cover oh and it's a 6 hour round trip. The seller was collection only but was willing to hold it for nearly a week for me, so off I and the wife trekked on Saturday morning to central Cardiff. Picked up the bass and had a nose around the city, and left before the Rugby finished to avoid the chaos that would likely ensue. n.b. to Cardiff city council, you need to sort your bin men contracts out. According to the Dingwall FB Group, this is one of 66 in this finish globally, so that's pretty cool. I had a spare Combustion pickguard knocking about, so routed out the extra pickup gap much better than I expected to. Not sure the white will stay, but it's good for now, as is the pickguard off entirely. Dingwall are sending me a new battery box cover also, result. It's surprisingly different to the NG2 which is a bit lighter (fewer pickups aside) as well as a the NG3 being quite frankly louder with an identical setup. I think this and the D-Roc need to be keepers (please don't laugh @AndyTravis) - as they do everything for me sonically, ergonomically and aesthetically. We're on nearly 8 months for the D-Roc and haven't had the itch yet, so fingers crossed.

I love gigging, love the being on stage bit, but recently have found that I seem to find rehearsals more overall fun. It’s probably down to not having to hang around for ages both waiting to go on, then afterwards waiting for the other bands to finish before finally packing up & going home. So I suppose it’s more that what I really like is playing music, whether with an audience or not.

It’s ok to not enjoy gigging. I have played most genres, in most European countries, in pubs, at weddings, festivals, functions. I’ve been paid well, paid badly and not paid at all. I enjoy the camaraderie, playing with other musicians, the opportunity to visit interesting places and meet some interesting people. But once on stage with an audience and having to perform, I lose all enjoyment. I’m not nervous, I’m diligent and learn my parts (and often others parts), I look good so I’m told, and hold my own with anyone I’m on stage with. But I don’t enjoy gigging. There’s nothing “wrong” with me, and I get a bit tired of the lack of acceptance that some people don’t like gigging. It’s nothing to do with not having found the right band/people/venue/pay/underpants/ burger relish or whatever. I accept that probably a majority of musicians here love it…good, I’m glad for you, truly. I hope you get many opportunities to do the thing you love. Just stop telling people that they should all be the same as you. There. Hope that clears that up (said the pharmacist to the bishop)

OK, OK, I got the title spelling wrong. Mea culpa; now corrected, and thanks for the info. Now, on with the fun...

Here's my old band "Stupidity" playing She Does it Right, we only covered the Wilko era, and we only played about a dozen gigs, we weren't the greatest band around, but playing those Wilko inspired songs was so much fun for us. It was recorded on a mobile phone so the audio isn't that great. We all miss him so much! She Does It Right - Stupidity.mov

Your refinishes are superb Kevin, love them all. Here's my "refinish" effort, it's a home-built P bass, the body was originally sunburst which I purchased from Northwest Guitars, Mighty Mite neck with Fender Am Std Tuners, Fender Custom Shop 62 pickup, and ObsidianWire Solder-less harness. I stripped the sunburst back to bare wood and used spray cans from Northwest Guitars, the finish isn't perfect, and slightly flat, but I like it because it looks a little bit aged.

I'm afraid Kate Bush is already on my island. Sorry. 🙂

My little corner at the inlaw’s house , looking after my mother-in-law so I spend a lot of time there. I have another practice rig at home. I use the Hotone as a headphone amp.

Some lacquering! I like to put a couple of coats on maple fingerboards before fretting. I don’t like the Fender method where it’s flooded with lacquer after frets are in!

Too good to be forgotten? They were much better than this - got to blame the Management and record Company.

It's impossible to limit to just 8 so here are the first ones that come to mind... Nimrod - Elgar Last Plane Out - Toy Matinee Love's The Jailer - Lake Take Me Away (Together As One) - Paul Stanley (I've Been) Searchin' So Long - Chicago Girl Can't Help It - Journey Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell My Old School - Steely Dan Book - A photo album of my loved ones Luxury item - A comfy bed

http://www.bachmusik.com/en/music-instruments/bass-guitars/model-bach-bpb-60

All the best with it Blue. Sure it will be a great night. Dave

I prefer Wings - "They're only the band the Beatles could have been!"

I'm 36 and I'd say, after the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beatles are my all time favourite band. They changed music completely. The sheer amount of incredible songs they wrote is beggars belief, all while young men in their 20's and early 30's. I sometimes see 'they weren't good musicians' bandied about as a counterpoint to them, which; A - is absolute tosh B - smells a little bit of the same attitude that we see online when people say they like a certain bass player. "I like flea!, He's the best! "How can you like Flea? Les Claypool and Mark King are much better technically, therefore they are superior bass players!" Kinda defeats the point of music. It's about the songs created, not technical ability, and judged by that metric, no-one can touch The Beatles.

What is this 'Kraftwerk' of which you speak, young man..? ...

Couple of updates. Yesterday (before the football! ) I decided to get on with the fretboard radius so that I could see how the fret position markers looked, they didn't really work as I had hoped, they were kind of camouflaged against the grain of the fretboard unless you were directly in front of them. Good decision to do the radius before working on getting the sides levelled off, I have moved on to the second fret marker option of using aluminium sheet. This morning I measured up and found the best saw with the closest kerf to the sheet, did a test piece first, which worked really well and then set to work marking out then re-cutting the edge slots. Once they were all cut I then did the aluminium pieces to shape, flattened them out and then glued them in the slots. Once the glue had dried it was just a matter of levelling off the aluminium with the top and edge of the fretboard using a file and a quick sand and clean. Still need to level off both edges of the fretboard. Need to go over the radius again and take it up through the grades, but very pleased with how well the aluminium is looking.

I don't remember having seen such a topic here (I could be wrong...); how about the same 'rules' as the R4 programme (courtesy of Roy Plomley...)..? Eight tracks (whole albums count for however many tracks they have, up to a maximum of eight...). Any artist, any period. One book (other than Shakespeare or a bible; they're already there...), and one 'luxury' item, as long as it doesn't allow the breaching of the isolation of the island (so no escape boats, or CB radios etc...). No need for a uber-long discourse on the choices, but a line or two could be nice. Any takers..? I suppose I'd better offer up my selection, so... Coming Back To Me (from 'Surrealistic Pillow', Jefferson Airplane...) pure sentimental thoughts on some now lost to me. Who Knows Where The Time Goes (from 'UnHalfBricking', Fairport Convention...) for the lovely voice of Sandy Denny. Blues For Allah (from 'Blues For Allah', Grateful Dead...) thought-provoking, meditative. Hortz Fur Dëhn Štekëhn Ẁešt (from 'Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh', Magma...) to frighten away any predatory animals. Raga Manj Khamaj (from 'Concerto For Sitar & Orchestra', Ravi Shankar...) for peace and joy. Hejira (from 'Hejia', Joni Mitchell...) to remind me of all the other Joni Mitchell tracks I'd have brought along, if it weren't for the 'rules'. Why Don't You Try Me (from 'Borderline, Ry Cooder...) Just wishful thinking on my part. Symphony N° 9 (Schubert...) which would be the one I'd have to save if a wave swept all the others away for ever. I'd cry, though. A book..? Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, in English, please. I've read it, several times, in its original English and the excellent French translation; on a desert island or not I still keep re-reading it and understanding (or imagining I understand...) more each time. A luxury..? A set of drums. My own Camco set if possible, or a darned good e-kit (and its power source etc...) if not. I suspect a set of acoustic drums would be more in the spirit of the thing, though, so I'll settle on the Camco. There, that's me set up for a while, hoping that there's fresh water, and packets of seeds get washed up occasionally so that I may grow radishes, tomatoes, maybe even lentils and beans if the island geography supports primitive culture. I won't be on there long, though; I'm now 72, so I've had my three score years and ten. Maybe enough time for a crop or two, with luck.

I got the Bass Terror about a year ago. Coupled with a GR BASS AT212 slim (4 ohm version so I get the full 500W on tap), it's been my main rig for rehearsing and gigging with the busier of the two bands I'm in. The combo has an excellent sound for the sort of blues-rock I'm playing in the 'power trio' so just one (normally overdriven) guitar to compete with. We have a quite sensible stage volume and even for small gigs I go through the PA so the ample power on tap has never really been explored, master volume never gets past 9 o'clock. I did turn up past halfway at rehearsal once, but it was scary and I was audible outside the village hall and 100 yards down the hill... So... raw power isn't an issue. The sounds is great, rumour has it that there's a fair 'scoop' built in. I usually run the tone controls close to flat with a touch of treble and bass boost and rely on playing with pickup selection and tone on the bass I'm playing. Sometimes the PA is too bass heavy and I boost the treble. I always DI out of the amp, with ground lift on, although any hum issues we've had have always come from something else in the end. I wind the gain up to anywhere between 2 and 4 o'clock depending on how hot the bass is (Jazz with 62 PUPs needs more gain than Epiphone with humbuckers or P-bass). This gives me a very controllable sound, from clean to a nice growl or even a clank if I dig in without a huge leap in volume. It's very easy to find the sweet spot for different basses. Sound is good - so good, everyone hearing it for the first time seems to compliment it. At a beer festival gig, the sound man said I sounded like Jack Bruce (which may not be a good thing...) I've stopped using effects for several months, but may start reintroducing some, but the setup works brilliantly with or without. The weight of the amp is not great, with the AT212 I can carry a cased bass in one hand, speaker in the other and amp over my shoulder in its bag and have enough power to play any stage IMHO. Own downside, when using an octaver one night, the amp nearly vibrated off the cab. Since then, I keep it in place with an (orange) ratchet strap over the top and through the cab handles. The bag is nice, but three of its four feet fell off quite quickly. The fourth stubbornly refuses to come off, despite me trying to persuade it. The front pocket just holds a speakon lead, a kettle lead and its europlug extension. I keep meaning to swap over with an extra long kettle lead. Zips are heavy duty. The handle warmer velcros in place, and is sort of worth using but looks silly so I take it off during gigs. One gig the amp started buzzing, realised it was mechanical so did a few gigs with it on the floor. Turned out that the internal shield had started to touch the valve covers causing a loud rattle. Was easy to gently bend the cover, so this doesn't happen, but required 14 screws to be undone and replaced! This was a bit disappointing, I noticed that the other side of this cover has a sponge strip so it doesn't rattle against the outer cover. Ideally, the valves should be fitted 1/8" or 3mm further forwards. Other than these minor issues, the amp is perfect for what I want. Note that it has a clean setting and a pad switch for active basses, but I definitely wanted the Orange sound - a good rich overdrive but not an insane one. I'm also a total convert to the idea of a real valve preamp with a class D power stage.

Woodwind, I've read the posts here. I don't think anyone hates gigging. I think we all struggle with certain aspects of gigging. The only exception would be for those who have a real fear of being on stage. Who hates a well paid 40 minute gig with first class dressing rooms and sound and lights provided ? I struggle with the longer gigs. 3 hours is our limit and even 3 hours are tough for me at my age ( 69 ). I also struggle with places that book bands but don't understand bands or how to treat them. Blue

I am sure it's a doddle if you have the skill, tools and steady hands! I am sadly lacking in all those departments But - it looks like there are off-the peg lightweight bodies to be had. I can't work wood but can screw things together

Sad, but he made the most of what time he had. The Southend live clip is one of my favourite YT clips... Southend live

As a fellow born and bred Canvey Islander for 30 years, I am deeply upset at his passing. A true Canvey icon.

Why so many models? Because they have figured out that places like head-fi.org are obsessive about such things. Price them cheap enough and they will sell loads (many models to an individual too) as people in that space are borderline obsessive about comparing and contrasting. This advertising piece did make me smirk though - "shocking sound quality"

Sad to hear this. He did spend his bonus time well fair play to him. We could all learn from that. Everyday we get is a bonus...

They used to make cheese triangles, wrapped in silver foil. I use the term cheese loosely. I don't think there is any band - not even the ones I favour the most - where I like all of their output. So it is always a balance of % good/bad. And for me, despite growing up in the 60s, the % of good in the Beatles is very low. I like a few songs, especially when they were a Chuck Berry tribute band :), but mainly not my thing. But that is music for you - just like any art form it is subjective. Not liking the Beatles doesn't make me a bad person*. Plenty of other things, perhaps, but nothing Beatles related. 😂 *I was in a band for 5 years where the other 3 were all massive Beatles and Zappa fans. Especially Zappa. I had to endure lengthy passes of song lyrics being quoted and everyone giggling.

The only song I know I'd take to a desert island would be Marvin Gaye's Heard It On The Grapevine. The rest come and go, depending on my mood, but that one remains on the list.

Monitor engineer here. I mix very few shows that are fully on wedges these days. Did a first show with a new client the other week who were on wedges and genuinely had a "how long is it since I've done this?" moment! Of my regular touring clients, there's a handful where one or two members still use a wedge, but it's becoming the exception. It gives the FOH engineer more control as they're not fighting tons of stage noise, protects the ears of the artist from damage, means I can give them studio levels of clarity and separation in the mix (if that's what they want) and is a much more consistent experience from venue to venue than wedges will ever be.

My Ashdown is my ‘practice amp’ but the service from them was amazing when mine died. 100% would buy again.

Bassline is inspired by "Come Go With Me" by the Staple Singers....

Much as I hate to admit it , I prefer the full band rehearsals to actually playing in front of people . Don’t have to wear the monkey suit , or have a three hour ride home at two in the morning having just played to 100 wedding guests who only actually notice you are there 5 minutes before you have to stop playing .