Leaderboard

This is a picture of a mate of mine holding a 52 P bass outside where he works. Apparently, a guy came in and got talking about guitars and mentioned that he had a 52 precision in the car outside and did he want to have a look. We're trying to work out what it's worth...

Went to the Earl Haig Jam last night. An excuse to play possibly the most unexpected bass in my armoury. It actually sounded HUGE!

Hi - Marcus here from Bass Direct, firstly a big apology to anyone who has not received first class service from any of us who work at the shop, it’s simply not good enough. The first point i would like to make is that the old site had no stock control system on it whatsoever, and relied on me or the other guys relaying items that had sold to Mark, who at the time was the only person with any access to the website to modify/adjust etc. Secondly, in terms of any late payments, missed payments etc, me and the colleagues have nothing to do with payments or accounting, we never have done, this solely lies with Mark, who currently is on holiday and continues to be until late August (so these can be slow), all we can do as colleagues again is pass on information to him and hope things are processed as quickly as possible. In terms of actual service in the shop and via emails, we really do try our best, it’s not easy when juggling a thousand jobs at once, especially when it comes to incorrect stock levels and general misinformation, which is something that should (mostly) be a thing of the past due to the new website with live stock levels, bare with us while we get everything completely sorted and up to date on this. If anyone has any outstanding issues or wants to talk openly about anything regarding previous orders or current issues then please make any emails out to me and I will personally see that they are dealt with with the most urgency, failing that just drop me a private message here. Sorry again on my behalf and I can only say I will be better from here on.

Posting about my pedalboard last week reminded me I had another that needed finishing... and here it is! It's another battery-powered board, using the same Erbauer drill battery, but a much smaller 9v regulator. It will get used with my Fender acoustic bass and various mandolin family instruments. The VE-8 provides chorus, EQ, reverb, looper, DI and USB interface - as well as a bunch of vocal stuff.

I'm the exact opposite. I wouldn't even consider going to a gig unless it was seated.

Sadly I'm a lot less tempted to buy from a European seller as a result of Brexsh*t. Whereas I may have taken a chance on a bass before, I now have to REALLY want it and the price has to be HUGELY competitive in order for me to even think about it...

And I went with the Harley Benton jb-62 jazz bass, rather lucky for me I ordered it for the bargain price of £105 new and the week after the price went up to £138. Anyway aside from some fret buzz from some uneven frets it is actually very nice, there neck feels nice and the caramelised maple neck looks miles better than the horrible stark white maple necks that are on a lot of basses, the nut seems well cut, tuners are surprisingly pretty good, not gotoh or hipshot by any means but better than what is fitted on most of the Mim Fenders I have played. pickups sound good, nice and bright, punchy, does that cool scoopy jazz tone with both on full and as good as any stock jazz bass pickups I have heard, even the stock tort pickguard is pretty well done Now I just have to find the funds to get the frets sorted and I will have a cracking bass

It’s definitely good to read through now and again ,but it just makes me want to go shopping 😁

Top man! You get the long distance prize, unless @Kiwi puts in an appearance...

Those were the days, my friend.

If I was to have a speaker for upright use only I'd load it with an eight inch. The upright low frequency limit is much higher than electric bass, so there's no need for the lower response or low frequency output capability of larger than an eight. An eight will go high enough to make a midrange and/or tweeter unnecessary, and will have 1.5 times the midrange dispersion angle of a twelve. For higher output requirements I'd use a stacked pair. On the low frequency limit, the two instruments do have the same fundamental frequencies, but the main content lies in the harmonics, not the fundamentals. When an open E is played on electric most of the content is at 82Hz and higher, when played on an upright most of the content is at 123Hz and higher.

Love posts like those. "Shop delivers on goods that have been paid for shocker!"

Grinchburst

Yes. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to actually stand for 2 hours.

Absolutism fails again. Or do you post this kind of thing just to get a rise? Originals bands with no PA would never get out of their band leaders' studio round here.

Two more weddings over the weekend. Friday - The West Mill in Derby. Played here a bunch of times before. Load in up a flight of stairs which is mildly inconvenient but the fact that guests are eating on a completely different floor and therefore not bothering us is more than compensation. 95db limiter but in reality its not a bad one and we definitely were over that all night without any issues. Bride, groom and guests were rough as anything and, fueled by lots of booze and an abundance of Colombian nose powder, they did pretty much everything in the book to be as obnoxious and downright rude as possible. Venue were very keen to tell us the million rules we were forbidden from breaking and not even remotely interested in doing anything about the blatant drug usage going on. We did the minimum and packed up and got out of there. Saturday - Upthorpe Woods nr Bury St Edmunds. Unusual outdoor woodland venue which would have been ace in anything other than Saturday's torrential downpours. We set up in the only real indoor space which was essentially a huge shed with a hollow wooden floor and a tin roof. Acoustics sounded like a huge shed with a hollow wooden floor and a tin roof. Bride, groom and guests were perfectly pleasant but not the wildest bunch you'll ever meet. Best part of the night was the pizza and the 11pm curfew. Home by 1am was definitely a welcome bonus. This coming weekend we are in Maidstone on Friday and then Ceredigion on Saturday so will spend most of the weekend driving. Oh the joys.

A rare double bass pic! From Rebellion last week...

If you were properly purist you'd just have an upright bass and no amp.

Cici here! Well, sadly I can’t help being a girl, and I have long hair because I like it. It has nothing to do with my playing, and I’ve never rested on my looks to gain followers, nor am I interested in anyone who does. I take great pride in being the best musician I possibly can be, and it’s about the music for me. I also dedicate a lot of my time to trying my best to help other people pick up the instrument, sharing any info I have, and seeing where I can push the instrument in my solo bass jams. I’m not interested in being an ‘instagram girl’ so please don’t diminish me to that, and take the time to truly look at what I do (whether you like it or not is fine). Thank you.

Posted this week by Ron Carter ...

Finally found it, a D&B track I like! Didn't take too long did it 😎

Seems that Beyoncé wants $155 for tickets to hear, but not see her perform. The seats have no view as they're behind the stage but you'd be able to hear her so... that'll be $155 please. Cheapest seat with some sort of view, albeit probably on a screen...$300. Can't help thinking that we're just so lucky to have people like this to entertain us.

100% this. I have a massive box of effects at home and I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm not going to get massively better at any technique after 300 years of playing, so I'm venturing in other directions for expanding my interest and enthusiasm for my instrument. Obviously I recognise that the audience for this is realistically one, ie me Meanwhile at jam night I'm happy to knock out Autumn Leaves for the millionth time and get a polite round of applause for a nice plummy walking line. Sometimes the band even nod their approval, or maybe they're just falling asleep.

@Downunderwonder only quoted the first sentence. The second sentence was "Originals bands play venues with in-house PAs and engineers." That sounds pretty absolutist to me (who used to play in originals bands with our own PA).

Is that Creme Brulee?

We made the mistake of playing bingo in a club to which we were the visiting band. We made the bigger mistake of winning. We nearly didn't get paid and there was very little love for the band that night. 😄

I've made three boards of various sizes using the plastic fascia/interior windowsill type plastic strips. Easy to cut, simple to glue together and I cover mine in black gaffa tape. Lightweight and none have let me down so far.

Somewhere in the world, a US artist manager has just read that and is now on the phone to his talent, "hey, I've just had this like amazing idea for the next tour..."

I used to be bass into amp and no more (I'd borrow the guitarists' tuner before rehearsing / playing) but these days I am really enjoying a small pedal board and using effects. Never say never. Ultimately it's about what suits the band / song.

In the 70’s I was playing pub gigs in and around London 4-5 nights a week. Back then the pubs were rammed with people every night and thick with cigarette smoke. My old natural finish Jazz is naturally tobacco yellow ish. Much of that time we had a van and a driver/roady who stored all the gear and loaded in and set it all up. Those were good times, I drove to the gigs in my car, arrived 10 minutes before the off with my bass, got a drink, tuned up, plugged in and off we went for 2 and half hours. 80’s we’re a mix of pubs and working men’s clubs where the bingo always played centre stage and the function room was often upstairs, with no bloody lift. It all calmed down in the 90’s and beyond, but I have some great memories.

Wow! That story is hard to top. I can relate to all of it. We had something similar happen with a bunch of Irish dancers and musicians. I occasionally play my 51 Precision re-issue. Blue

This weekend saw two rather odd outings for Rascallion, I'll split the saga over two posts! First up, on Friday afternoon we'd been asked to provide the entertainment for a "Family BBQ" at the care home where Mr Lead Guitar's mother resides. Given the poor weather forecast all week, we half-expected the event to be cancelled, but after a decent morning's weather they decided to go ahead with it. The original idea was for us to play under a canopy in the back garden, but by the time we were ready to set up it was looking a bit black over Bill's mother's (literally) and then the heaven's opened, so Plan B was rapidly invoked. After the half-dozen residents who were sitting comfortably in the front lounge had been moved out, we set up in there with me and Mr Drums tucked in the window bay (Trace AH200 + BLX-110 cab for me, cut-down electronic kit with just a kick, snare, hi-hat and single crash for Mr Drums) and the other three across the middle of the room, and proceeded to knock out a few of our gentler numbers (e.g. a somewhat ironic Sunny Afternoon, Have You Ever Seen The Rain?, and Handle With Care, while carefully avoiding the likes of Knockin' On Heaven's Door) to an appreciative audience composed of Mr Lead Guitar's mother, and a few members of staff who watched through the door from the corridor. After a short break for food (during which a few other relatives popped by to express their appreciation having listened to us from various other rooms), we did a couple more tunes but then had to draw things rapidly to a close when an undertaker turned up to...... umm...... make a collection. Anyway, the home have asked if we'd go back again and do an outdoor show for them some time as they'd enjoyed it so much, and we've also had an enquiry from someone wanting to book us for a local village fete! How rock 'n' roll is that, eh?

You can stick the electronics in a pedal, a rack unit, a head, or a combo and they'll still do the same thing. So nothing happened to "bass - lead - amp" - it's just one of many ways to achieve the same thing. We each get to choose the one that suits ourselves best.

Wahey, my care package from ACS has arrived! A set of Engage Classic IEMs, some Pro20 earplugs, and a set of sleep earplugs. I'll give them a test and report back.

^ and this is the technical answer to why my NS EUB ‘sounds’ best through my TC BG250 208 combo.

Conversely, if there weren't a few posts like that, the only things said about BD would be negative. Like if there was a lot of criticism of the website being old-fashioned and not reflecting the actual stock situation, and they updated it, and all that happened was the new website got slagged off...

I'm sure your hood is lovely, but I'm glad I'm not there having to humph PA to all my gigs - I get a break from all that nonsense with the originals band here

Absolutely this. We play a hugely diverse mix of genres and don’t have any issues mixing it up. 👍🏻

Phew! We haven’t had this topic for about 6 months! My anxiety was starting to kick in. I can relax now.

'Hello, Cleveland!'

And so, onto Saturday, which saw me travelling the hour or so across to the Prince William of Gloucester barracks in Grantham where we'd been booked to provide some entertainment / background music at the Army Training Regiment's Pass Off Parade event. Nothing much in the way of details had been forthcoming since we originally took the date, but the general idea seemed to we'd do two, maybe three, 45-minute sets some time between 4pm and 8pm while folks were partying. We then got a message last week saying they were bringing the event forward due to the weather forecast, so wanted us there at 10:30am, with a view to starting at 1:00pm or thereabouts. No worries, an earlier start should mean an earlier finish,which was fine by us. As forecast, the weather on Saturday was pretty foul, so when the two Corporals who'd been tasked with arranging things gave us a choice between a small, rather wet, open-sided stage with a canvas canopy, or a large, mostly dry, solidly-canopied decking area outside the bar opposite (where the audience were originally going to be while we played on the small stage), we obviously opted for the latter. After helping the two Corporals move half a dozen heavy stone benches out of the way, we got everything set up and ready to go, accompanied by the distant sound of the band on the parade ground doing their stuff as the successful recruits paraded, and their families watched on and got wet. This is when things started to get interesting... 12:30pm The parade finishes, the various service personnel and much-smaller-than-expected crowd of guests wander back from the parade ground, and mostly disappear into the bar in search of food and drink. Corporal #1 informs us that they'd like us to go on at 2:00pm, after a performance by a troupe of African dancers (whose presence had never been mentioned until now). Oh, and could the dancers put their music through our PA? Fine, says we, and the Corporal disappears in search of a suitable connector so he could attach his sooper-dooper new iPhone containing said music to our desk via our drummer's not-at-all-compatible-with-a-sooper-dooper-new-iPhone lead. 2:00pm Corporal #1 returns clutching the necessary connector, the very funky tribal music erupts from our PA, and the African dancers (four very smiley ladies) start shaking and shimmying their stuff on the now *very* wet small stage. 2:20pm The dancers finish their performance (very enjoyable it was too, a definite burst of sunshine on an otherwise miserable grey day), and we finally launch into our opening number in front of the small number of people who'd gathered on the decking with us to watch the dancers. 2:45pm After we've played our first five numbers to a smattering of applause, Corporal #1 intervenes and says they want to do the raffle now, so we stand down and let them get on with it (using our mic and PA, obvs). 3:15pm Raffling finally finishes and we strike up again, totally ignoring the setlist now and just cherry-picking from our more upbeat numbers in an attempt to engage with the few remaining spectators. 3:25pm Two numbers in, and Corporal #1 asks us to pause so the African dancers can do their second peformance, which is just as entertaining and sunshiney as the first. 3:35pm The dancers finish their performance, and on we go again. This time we manage a whole two and a half numbers before Corporal #1 approaches me (fortunately during Roadhouse Blues, so nothing too complex) and asks would we be able to move into the bar, and carry on in there? By now, all the guests who'd attended the event were long-gone, and the only people left in the bar appear to be regulars ftom the camp, including umpteen small children racing around. We finish Roadhouse, break down all the gear, cart it into the smaller room off the side of the bar (carefully avoiding the aforementioned small children in the process), set it all up again, then sit around noodling while waiting for somebody to come and tell us when, and for how long, they want us to play. 4:55pm The two Corporals reappear, and ask if we could start playing now and see if anybody comes in from the bar to watch. We play another three numbers, to an audience composed of the two Corporals and the odd small child running in and out. Nobody else in the building shows the slightest bit of interest. 5:20pm Commonsense finally prevails, and we're dismissed. As we broke down the gear for the second, and last, time, our two new best friends were very apologetic about how things had panned out, and also very grateful to us for just going with the flow. To be fair, they had no control over the weather, and we'd already been paid twice our usual rate so couldn't be too bolshy! Might things have worked out better if they'd put us (and the dancers?) in the small room off the bar right from the start? Maybe, but ultimately they were just following orders... As an aside, I suppose it was inevitable that I'd get gear-stalked for the first time ever on such a strange day! While we were still standing around waiting to be told when to start, surrounded by folks eating. drinking, and generally milling about, one of the guests came over and commented how nice my '51 Precision Reissue looked. In the course of a brief natter, it turned out he had an old (1980's?) Ibanez Blazer and a Yamaha something-or-other himself, but in the general confusion I never did think to ask whereabouts he was from, who he played with, and whether he was a BC member! 🤦‍♂️