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Thank you all so much for your interest in this matter, you have made me feel the warmth and human touch of this community! I have now contacted the shop and the shop is willing to withhold the sale of bass for the time being until the police have completed their investigation. As for the police, a officer asked me to report to the national fraud and cyber crime unit and re contacted him again, which I already done. I hope to be contacted by the police again in the near future. Thanks again for all your help and I hope we can get a good result!

Dropped the expressionator as it wasn’t really doing much and I preferred having a touch more space between the Xero, expression pedal and Ricochet (for ease of tap dancing!). This is the happiest I’ve ever been with a pedal set up (okay, when I had all the Moogerfoogers on the board was pretty sweet). Right now, I don’t think I’d swap out anything - that’s not something I’ve often said!

I'm 58, most "modern music" of any era is crap, time dissolves the rubbish and leaves us with the good stuff. The main problem today is the ease of music production, I say "problem" because it really isn't as the world needs more music, but anyone with a laptop can throw a tune together in any number of apps that sounds like anything else out there. More power to them, but as we all know, there's a deal more to great music than a few loops and a mixing algorithm. Talent will out eventually, but the signal to noise ratio has been going the wrong way for a couple of decades now, and it takes time and effort to sift through the rubbish to find the great music that is still being made.

I knew I wanted to try this pedal as soon as I saw it. I've been patient, and waited for a second hand one to pop up. First impression - it's amazing. It's so much more than just an octave pedal. Example; it's a phaser. Subtle and delicate until you punch the mono button when it becomes rich, and gooey. It's a filthy fuzz, if you punch the fuzz button. If you punch both it's a gloriously disgusting phaser. Use the sub 1 and punch mono it's an OC2 type synth. Add fuzz and modulation it's a full on bass synth. Dial in some of the other available octaves (there's 4 and a clean ) and it's a monster synth. Take out the mono and fuzz and it's a much more clean usable mix of octaves. It sounds so very good. Only downside is the crazy bright light rendering the controls virtually invisible. But that's an easy fix. Other than that I cannot find any fault. Its small size is a win when your board groans beneath the weight of pedals, it looks sexy as hell, it doesn't introduce unwanted noise, it's many pedals in one. Well done MXR.

Modern pop(ular) music isn't aimed at middle-aged bass players, just as the popular music of my youth wasn't aimed at my grandad. To be honest, if I turned on, say BBC Radio One, and found the music fascinatingly diverse and stumulating, I'd assume something had gone wrong with the radio, my brain, or modern culture

Glad you took that as intended; I read it back earlier and It could have come across differently! In all seriousness, as others have said - there's a lot to read and understand about compression and limiting. It's a fun journey so read up and don't make any decisions until you try it and learn what the different controls do and how they interact. One of the reasons someone like Sklar doesn't worry about it himself is probably because the engineer or producer will decide how the bass fits into a track and will adjust accordingly, and every track will be different. For us mere mortals it's more about finding a great core sound that fits into our own, probably more limited, range of applications.

Don't quite know what your definition of modern music is, but current music there is some great stuff being made. First Aid Kit - Swedish harmony duo, touch of Country, but more leaning towards melodic pop. Michael Kiwanuka - old school Soul with some very modern twists, Ezra Collective - funky Jazz, Little Simz - Hip Hop meets old James Bond theme music, Christine & the Queen's - don't know how to categorise but melodic, electronic dance, pop etc. I'm 59 and loving more new music in the last couple of years than I have for ages. Give BBC 6 Music a try.

Dear Bass lovers, attached a few pics of my new Headles EVO-X4 Bass in progress ...

OK, I was thinking about doing this recently, but now it is directly in response to @DTBand his request where to find new music. A couple of suggestions, not rules; under 5 years old, where you first heard it, and an idea of genre would be good. PLEASE put the artist name in the post so the thread can be searched at a later date.

Well. by a fluke I scored top in November and won a certificate to put on my wall. with thanks to you kind folk, for honouring me with the choice of photo this month and this was my offering This is a themed part of Chester Zoo that highlights the plight of wildlife in the southern Asian Islands. Here are your choices , and a fine bunch we have , with newcomers to being welcomed to the fold. As is the norm , please choose your favourite 3 entries before midnight on 31st Jan. 1 @Leonard Smalls It's inspired by the time I worked at Chester Zoo (as a boat driver, what else?). One day loads of police turned up and completely locked the place down - they thought they'd smashed a major drugs ring. Turns out a lad who used to work there had been caught in London with a carrier bag full of weed, that he said had come from Chester Zoo. The police duly found a large amount of cannabis plants growing behind the bird house; however, they'd grown from hemp seeds thrown out while cleaning out the bird cages! For those who only want the very funky bit, rather than the ambient build-up, just skip to 3 minutes... 2 lurksalot my take is cheesy wordplay ...but not too many of them 3 @Nicko I'm not one for laying on a beach so here is the island nightlife (or Cheshire nightclub) soundtrack instead. 4 @Nail Soup "Daddy's Taking Us To The Zoo Tomorrow" - the antidote. 5 @Doctor J A quick glance on a small phone screen, with my deteriorating eyesight, of the seemingly deserted resort made me think of the Jonestown compound, Waco and then some kind of Andromeda Strain type of apocalyptic tragedy, as these things frequently end up. Yeah wrong way, I know! 6 @Dad3353 I've composed the jingle for the TV spot that this paradisiac resort has commissioned. All is in the title, really, it's a hypnotic exhortation to make you think of Paddling, Pedalling and Pédalos when next booking your holidays. Cunning, no..? 7 @Wolfram Hey guys, this is my first entry, so go easy on me! In fact, it's my first recorded bass guitar line since about 2006!... New Years' Resolution has got me going on some music again, which can only be a good thing. It's not really finished - I have had time to neither write nor record lyrics, but here it is so far - Midwinter Daiquiri: 8 @SH73 Song about a zoo and ice cream that makes no sense at all. the lyrics don`t. I tried reggae this time. 9 @upside downer Decided on a laid back, gentle reggae feel for this one, despite Indonesia not being in the Caribbean. The lyrics focus on the wish to get away to sunnier climes and the attractions of a South East Asian holiday. What's it like in Indonesia? You're asking the wrong bloke. I've never been further east than Antwerp 😄 Many thanks to Tom Waits for the pronunciation of 'Indonesia'. That's your lot folks But I reckon there'll be something for everyone in there , most excellent so that's 3 votes closing at midnight on the 31st

Not sure if it counts as a pun, but after David Bowie released Low, Nick Lowe released an album called Bowi.

I've been rebuilding my board over the past few weeks, and I'm super stoked with the result. Getting some sweet synth and ambient tones from it. As you can see, there are a lot of loops (the PurPLL is in the loop of the T-70 which is in one of the ML5 loops which is in the C4 loop 😵), but due to the fantastic Morningstar MC8 midi controller, I can access all pedals super easily. Signal chain: Empress Bass Compressor Source Audio C4 (underneath board) in the loop of the C4: >>>Morningstar ML5 (underneath board) >>>>>>ML5 Loop 1: Iron Ether FMeron >>>>>>ML5 Loop 2: Broughton Audio Synth Voice Deluxe >>>>>>ML5 Loop 3: Cog Effects T-70 (with Montreal Assembly PurPLL in its loop) >>>>>>ML5 Loop 4: Hiero Effects B.E.A.D. >>>>>>ML5 Loop 5: TWA Great Divide 2.0 >>>Swindler Effects The Gulf back into the C4 One Control Midi Solo Loop (underneath board) >>>Iron Ether Xerograph Deluxe back into the One Control Midi Solo Loop Line6 HX Stomp in the stereo loop of the Stomp: >>>Poly Effects Beebo (I/O 1&2) >>>Hologram Electronics Microcosm >>>Red Panda Context v2 >>>Red Panda Bitmap v2 >>>Poly Effects Beebo (I/O 3&4) back into the HX Stomp

Another Katsu router user here too. My method used to involve templates but I now prefer the @Andyjr1515 method. First, mark out the pickup shape on the bass body then, if you are using Fender/Musicman style pickups with the semi-circular bump outs for the fixing screws, drill the holes for these using the right diameter drill bit (drilling the corner radius's at the same time). Then I hog out most of the remaining material with a flat bottomed Forstner bit, before using a sharp chisel to make the pickup square edges down to about 5mm before using this edge to guide the router bit that has a top bearing, to remove the remaining material down to the required depth. With this method there is no chance of your template being out, or moving during cutting, and because most of the material is removed before you go anywhere near the router, there is less chance of the router 'digging in' and going off piste. @Andyjr1515did a great explanation of his technique here showing how he uses it for neck pockets as well as pickup routes.

Yes, pop music (whether in 2023 or 1953) is the equivalent of fast food. You have to make an effort to find something more nourishing.

"Modern music" is not some discrete entity. It is, as music and art has always been, enormous and diverse. You aren't going to find interesting or original music or art on any mainstream media, which chases ratings/viewing figures and therefore adjusts its output to appeal to mass taste and opinion. Don't go looking for gold in a tin mine.

I've had the stomp for almost 4 years now and have had good results with it, mainly when using it in ampless situations, either recording or live. Whenever I use it as part of my pedal board through an amp however, it adds a brittleness and a thin sound to my tone that I just can't put my finger on or get rid of. The best I found was when it was sandwiched between an analog compressor and a Sansamp, it still had a bit of that brittleness to it though. I really want to get along with the Stomp but I just can't get a good sound out of it live, anyone else had similar problems to this? Anyone got any tips I can try to get a better tone out of it before I sell it?? Thanks!

After they put out the Embassy, I wondered how long it would take them to do the Newport. Well, now they have, short scale lovers. Around £350 gets you a pretty decent modern reinterpretation of the pre '63 Newport. Nice colours too. There's not even a sniff of them on the Epiphone website yet, but they're in retailers now (picture nicked from Peach Guitars, Guitar Guitar have 'em too, probably others)

Thought I’d share my use of the Karaoke Version website for practice tracks with the bass removed. I’ve used this site from the beginning I think about the early 2000’s. Back then a lot of the tracks were obviously home keyboard quality and some were not very good, but now the quality is excellent and if you were in a duo or live solo guitarist they are of gigable standard. I no longer gig, but having realised after a long period of depression that playing at home for one’s own pleasure is much better than not playing at all, and use tracks from this site with the bass removed, and have also used them without vocals for playing my sax to. I have nothing to do with the website in a business capacity and I’m only plugging it here as others my find it useful. I’m sure others will have better ways of doing backing tracks, but for me this is easy and simple, if a little expensive sometimes when buying a lot of tracks in one go.

Peavey Rudy Sarzos are great basses, superb build quality, far better than Gibson, Fender, Ricky contemporaries. Criminally underrated IMHO and therefore usually underpriced, despite their rarity. Beautiful neck thru body design. Great range of tones and wonderful playability. Quality Schaller hardware. I owned two until a week or so ago, now just the one, as I need to reduce my gear. They are quite "Alembicesque" and quite similar to high end Aria Pro II SBRs. Aria also made a Sarzo signature model. I have Alembics, Aria SBRs & Aria SB Elites, and Cliff Burton models. The Peavey is comparable to the Arias but obviously not in the Alembic league, and doesn't have that distinctive Alembic tone, or exotic woods, but when the comparative prices are considered the Sarzo is one hell of a bass for the money.

Practice rig for tomorrow and gig Sunday.

Thanks for trying.

Soon about to click over to 65 and I’m still finding new artists and music that excites me. I think the word finding is the key one. You have to seek it out.

So far so good here too - plenty of temptation, mainly from this site. But... "Hi, my name is Dave and I'm a gearaholic. It's been 38 days since I last bought something instrument related." 😃

That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore - The Smiths

No guts, no glory!

well as we approach the end of the 1st month of 2023 i can confirm thus far i have purchased NOTHING !! WOOO go me Helps the band are going down the IEM route now and i already have a pair of KZ10's (think that's what they're called) which i randomly bought a year or so ago as a cool looking pair of headphones lol (yeah i know nubbit) then got a new phone with no headphone socket - so yeah they became useless TILL NOW. Doesn't look like i'm going to "need" to buy anything this year for the bass looking promising

Entwistle PBXN. Cheap as chips, too, but don't let that put you off.

So, I'm currently the trying the alternative scratchplate too.. I'm loving this look too..

Tonights practice setup - used a Fender Mustang Bass on its debut with the band - cab wasn’t that great imo

Finally got around to re-wiring my pedalboard now i've managed to snag an Alpha Omicron. Decided to do it properly so it's all custom soldered cables and managed nicely. There's a patch bay underneath the Darkglass which is why it's raised up so high.

Unfortunately that's an urban myth that refuses to die. See this very insightful article by a chap who knows way more about compression than many of will ever know - Killed my tone (ovnilab.com) Just to be clear, I'm not trying to be antagonistic or out to upset you, it's just a common misunderstanding that keeps rearing its ugly head Compression has been covered to death on Basschat and is a very divisive subject but let's not open that can of worms again.

Why does music have to be 'modern' anyway..? Anything, from any era, that you've not heard before is 'new', no..? There are fine sculptures being produced all the time; those crafted in Ancient Rome are still fine, even if materials and techniques have evolved, and continue to evolve. There is music from all around the world, so delving into an Indian back-catalogue, or tuning in to music from Ghana (other countries/continents are available...) should give a lifetime's listening of stuff fresh to our ears. This week's churned-out pulp is no better nor worse than last week's/year's/decade's; crap has always been crap, throughout the centuries. There's Good Stuff from every century, though, just as worthy of being heard. Why this fixation on the date of production..?

In terms of 'popular' music, there is no modern music, and hasn't been since the 1990's. In the 1950's there was modern music that would have been out of place in the 1940's. In the 1960's there was modern music that would have been out of place in the 1950's, and so on until the 2000's where for some reason popular music reached its current state of stagnation. I'm open to suggestion for any music from the last 20 years that sounds like it couldn't have been released before the 2000's.

Tune Yards - Jools Holland - Art Pop

Norse pop singer Dagny (Dagny Norvoll Sandvik) to me is one of several people standing well apart from yer everyday pop dreck. Here a 7yo song that has matured nicely, IMHO. "Backbeat"

Same here ... + the Micro Thump

Given that this pertains to legal protections for purchasers, which vary according to where in the world you live, there is not very much point in asking on here if you live outside the UK, where BC is based. We will try, as Dad and others point out, to offer helpful suggestions, but we cannot give you a definitive answer. BC has some members who live outside the UK who may be able to offer useful advice, although there are not a great number of them. If that is not satisfactory to you, I'm afraid there is little more we can do. You need to seek legal advice that applies where you live - Latvia in your case.