Leaderboard

Just got in from our (The Spacewasters) first gig this year, and also our first since our singers motorcycle accident last year which sadly resulted in him having his leg amputated just below the knee. Was at The Black Heart in Camden, 4 bands on the bill including my old band Knock Off who were headlining. All played well, was a good evening, only downside was it was soooo loud, at some points on the other bands I couldn’t hear the vocals at all where the bass was just dominating the mix. We went down really well, prob the best of the night, and sold a good bit of our new merch so all well & good, especially with our newer material going down just as well as songs the band have had for over 10 years.

Great gig in a tiny pub in Lanark,Scotland. The Horse and Jockey. I had been told by some folk it was tiny and....it was! We managed though but it was like playing in a goldfish bowl at times with folk all around us. No stage to speak of just a corner next to the jukebox! It was a bit of an odd set up for us as the guitarists combo sat on my speaker cab and faced side on to the band. The keyboard player was also side on and looking at a wall or the bar all night! It got really full at one point when folk from the concert hall down the road piled in after a show! We went down a storm with folk asking us when we are coming back! The guy in charge gave us two more bookings for this year which surprised us as the usual carry on is doing a gig then spending the next month trying to get hold of the guy to book us again even when going down a storm! They are either too busy or never even seen the band on the night! Next time in we may spread out a bit. I really didn't want to take up any more of the space or tables as it was a mainly middle aged....ok old! audience and standing about all night right next to a band isn't really a fun night out! Well maybe not for everyone! It was very tight and I had to raise the neck of the bass to let folk pass and yes..it had to happen! Some guy tripped over my mike stand and it went flying towards me! Managed to catch it!!! Yes a great wee venue!

Local carnival last night. Big aspirations on a show string budget. PA provided and backline, but we have our own idiosyncratic rack in ears system so had 15 minutes to clear backline (to make room for a our 5 piece horn section) and get 11 of us on stage in 15 minutes. Our sound engineer and guitarist had another gig so it was my job to oversee all of it. Just about managed it with some delegation, then we managed to keep a crowd for an hour and half set. Two more gigs today- set ups will be much more straightforward!

Just got home from my first gig with one of my JMJs and pleased to report that I still love these little basses, it just felt & sounded so right in the gig environment.

And now with extra octaves courtesy of @uncle psychosis I’m very pleased with it

Just got back from Alex James’ farm, following a wicked mid/afternoon set with Katy Hurt at the Big Feastival. We had a blast, and apart from a complete mind fart on the last chorus of the last song I think I played OK 😀 Started with a reasonably sparse crowd (pic below) but it felt like most people who walked past stopped and stayed for the whole set which was delightful Bass was my glorious Zoot P5, onstage duties handled by my Elf and a single Barefaced Two10. Marvellous!

2Young 2Old , two younger guys , and a couple of geezers in the rhythm section. One guitar player is going back to Boston next week to finish his music degree. Talking to a young guitar wiz in between sets Friday and he mentioned if we were ever looking for a sub , he’d be interested. Perfect. I told him we’d get a date at our favourite old dive , and then go from there. Said if he could cover about a dozen vocals to give us the list. We’d do the study. So 2Young 2Old will carry on … it’s been an enjoyable little project for the summer. Not too serious. The gigs have gone well.

Welcome to the end of August, everyone..! We have yet another splendid crop of entries this month based on a photo provided by last month's winner... @lurksalot He offered some cryptic words of encouragement with the photo ... "Whilst a bit chill, it's almost like someone has stolen the fire from the sun... so maybe chilling..!" Here are the entries for this month, please vote for your favourite 3 ... 1 @Leonard Smalls ...a punky and slightly garbled musing on collective emotion and tribalism inspired by West Ham's theme tune..! 2 @Dad3353 ...Yet another doomed effort to get away. It's not to be; the next awakening N° 6 will be back, once more, on The Island ... 3 @AndyTravis ...A little bubble floats off on a summers day... Happy and growing into a big strong bubble; a bird spots it and swoops to pop it... Does it survive the chase..? 4 @xgsjx ... Alone & broken-hearted, he sees the demon in the sky that took his love away... 5 @Doctor J ... the greatest of all the bubbles was a chimpanzee. Join the King of Pop's ghost on his journey through the nine circles of hell, trying to find his old pal... 6 @lurksalot ... a race to the moon, to strip whatever minerals would make the most profit, and leave a transparent shell..! 7 @upside downer ...A strange tale of being pestered by an annoying git who, for some reason, wants to ruin your day... 8 @Nicko ... Age-Related Macular Degeneration - a progressive eye disease that my father suffered from which leads to loss of central vision... 9 @MoonBassAlpha ... I suddenly felt the urge this afternoon ... 10 @Wolfram ... An introspective, ambient piano theme to relax you as you lay on your back watching the bubbles drift by through the deep blue sky... Whittle your favourites down to 3 , then tick the boxes. A superb selection again, this month. Voting will close at midnight on 31st August.

Made the journey up to Newcastle today to pick-up this beauty! I am yet to try it out at a decent volume but I love the sound of it on my brief play of it earlier, I'll be able to give it a proper blast at rehearsal next week! I'll only be using this for my new Rock/Grunge band, I'll keep to using my Rumble 500 for session/dep work I think for ease. The Amp is surprisingly light though as is the cab.

To me, open mic means "anything goes". Just sounds like he was the end of a bell. An open mic I went to years back was awesome. Some bloke would tootle along with most acts on an alto sax. He didn't even ask permission, he just played, and he was good... Sounded a bit odd on our Eagles song though! Then there was a girl who plugged in a laptop for a backing track and sang Opera. Then the lad who made improvised electronic music using an old Nintendo Gameboy he'd reconfigured. That was more fun than two hours of soppy acoustic stuff.

He was rather emotional towards the end of the evening, which equates to a big loud soppy Welshman 🤣

"No picture, no bass" - Mob Barley -

Being delivered to @Hamster tomorrow morning (about to double check)

A week ago this little one man enterprise in the Netherlands caught my eye: Brooks Bass Guitars. https://www.brooksbassguitars.com/ The guy is truly into Gibson basses, which has never been my cup of tea. He even wrote a book about Gibson basses. Anyway, Rob builds his own versions of Gibson bass models, but with a twist. I totally fell in love with his EB-TB bass, a fusion of the first model EB0 (like a Les Paul Special) and the Thunderbird. Absolutely gorgeous! I just had to order one, based on the design alone. So - now it is ordered. It will look like this: Classic but yet not. Classy!

Okay thanks for your thoughts, sounds like I wasn’t being over-sensitive then

Wish i had known Stevie and i would have come down for an hour. What is the bands name. (you do change bands a lot ) Great wee pub and they have a live band on every Fri night and always pretty well attended. Last time i was in it got too busy for me and i left after the first set. Being sober i find it difficult to put up with drunken idiots in pubs unless i'm playing and getting paid for it. Maybe next time. Let me know when you are back. I'll come down and stand right in front of you as i did with another BC'er @Angelus who plays there regularly. Dave

Sex & Rugs & Sausage Rolls - Ian Dury & The Blockheads

David Bennett explains the modes by gradually altering 'Norwegian Wood'. Interesting.

Ooh it's been ages since I got along to one of these If I'm free I'll come along, gear will be whatever is handy, Barefaced, couple of Roscoes, EA iAmp, and a Becos Twain could all make an appearance

My belly kind of restricts viewing from above but back to front would be a good idea so I can read it in the mirror.

Great stuff, and well done to your singer coming back from such a serious accident. Well done. Dave

Dancing on the SeaLink - Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer

A while back I bought a very soft, padded, eye-mask for sleeping on a plane journey. I've since found it invaluable in the summer, or when I need to hit the sack in the evening to be up for an early start.

Perhaps not the best picture of my Warwicks but I got the glue gun out to add cutaway pads to my Hiscox cases and took a quick photo of the results:

A lot of you know I’ve gone a bit mad with boutique pedals. As I head toward married life I’ve been rejigging how I approach them and, as a result, I’m selling a lot of them, making boards with others, and collecting a few like a gear-hoarding magpie. Since I moved at the start of the year, all but five or six pedals (and my minis board - currently partially deconstructed) have been in boxes waiting for a board. As part of the overall rejigging I’ve realised that nothing is so sacred I have to leave it in its box. As a result, I’ve finally built a Broughton board (and one Southampton pedal that Josh Broughton worked on). I plan on putting other boards together over the next few months but this is currently my only fully-wired up board. Signal chain is right to left bottom row, then right to left top row. Knobs do not reflect settings; I’m just clumsy when I wire up.

The 15th South East Bass Bash will be on Sunday 12 November 2023, 10am - 5pm at Jubilee High School, Surrey, School Lane, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 1TE https://goo.gl/maps/SAd62ph7CAYqvVE48 Get the date in your diaries! I'm very pleased to announce that this year (so far!) our first special guest, who after a brief stint as a graphic designer, decided to pursue a career in music which took off when he was asked to join (the then massive in Australia) Icehouse for a world tour at the tender age of 19. In 1983 he supported David Bowie on his legendary ‘Serious Moonlight’ tour. This led to him being spotted and used by the likes of Robert Palmer, Bryan Ferry, Womack & Womack, and even The Smiths amongst others. He was thrust into the global premier league of bassists when David Gilmour asked him to play for Pink Floyd. Yes - Mr Guy Pratt! 😎

On now on BBC4 . Anybody else watching?

New bass day, courtesy of @KingPrawn of this parish. Thank you, sir, for this beautiful Hohner 'The Jack'. Back in the day, when I was just starting out in the bass playing game, my first 'proper' bass guitar (i.e. not borrowed and not without a recognised logo) was a Hohner 'The Jack' headless bass. At the time I was under the impression that 'normal' basses looked too big on me, having seen a diminutive bassist with a local band wielding a Jazz bass that made him look like a child. Headless seemed ideal and I bought it from a mate who was playing bass in one of my favourite local bands at the time. A decade or so later I was taking a sabbatical and sold most of my bass gear, including the 'Jack'. By the time I returned to the bass game (sooner that I thought) I realised I'd let go of a really nice bass and looked in vain for another example. I ended up with a Spirit headless and later, having overcome my self image dilemma, a Precision and a Sterling MM. But always in the back of my mind was 'The Jack'. I kept an eye out but there were few sightings, and many of those were in Japan. There have been a few in the for sale thread here, but they have coincided with a drought in the bank account. Until a couple of weeks ago. As you might be able to see in the band photo (taken in the late 90s), my 'Jack' was a sandy coloured guitar and had been de-activated (or the active electronics weren't working). I think my new one looks better with the darker natural finish.

Awesome!!! In my diary and I'll be there! Will there be tee-shirts? (Please let there be tee-shirts!) @cetera - Charvel 3B, ESP Surveyor '87, Fender FSR PJ Precision, Hamer Impact, Italia Imola, Spector NS2, Spector Euro, Spector EuroX (Spectorbird), Spector Pulse II, Spector Dimension 4HP, Gallien Krueger 400RB & Legacy800 heads, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 cab @TheGreek - All short scale this year - a @Jabba_the_gut scale 5er, Mini Ray, Short scale P bass @Harlequin74 - Zoot Performer, Status Shark, Spector QV4 , Markbass TTE501 and Matching CAB. Maybe the Lehle Basswitch… @Frank Blank - @Jabba_the_gut short scale fretted and fretless, JMJ Mustang, QSC K12.2, Grace Design Alix @TrevorR - Mk 1 Wal, Wal Pro IIE, Aria SB700, Frankenjazz, pedals and MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 @bnt - travelling light, probably a couple of pedals such as T-Rex Diva Drive, Orange KongPressor @bass_dinger - 1999 Washburn XB500, 1994 Washburn XB500, Washburn XB925 in zebrawood, Washburn XB925 in bits, Boulder Creek 5 string (likely to be for sale, SWR Workingmans 12. @greentext- 2008 Spector NS4-H2, 2015 Sandberg VS4, 2000 Trace Elliot T-Bass, my pedalboard and my tin of picks 😈 @prowla- Probably a couple of Rickenbackers and some interesting oddities. Amp-wise a Markbass EVO and a 1x12 (last year I bought some others to try and never switched them on, as the EVO sounded spot-on). @SuperSeagull- Status S2, Feline P Bass, Modded Fender Lyte, Flea Jazz, MB Combo @Merton - various short and medium scale ACGs, Zoots and Conway basses, Barefaced cabs, modern Trace Elliot amps @MacDaddy Shuker (probably no3), Snapdragon Folding Bass, possibly a Rob Allen Mouse. @neilp - matching pair of fretted and fretless 1980 Aria SB1000s, possibly my fretless Wal mk1, Ashdown ABM500/Ampeg 4x10, Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig @NickD - Strunal Schonbach 5 String DB, and whatever else I can shoehorn in the car around it... hopefully a MD CMD121 H, Zoom B6, and maybe a Maruszczyk Jake and a Shuker Series 2. @walman - converted Wal Pro, Zon Legacy Elite, Status S2, G&L L2500 fretless, McMillen 12Step & DSI MoPho, Two Notes Bass Revolt, Trondheim Audio SkarBassOne, BackBeat2 (and my BackBeat1 will probably be available for sale). Darkglass Microtubes500 and one of the Barefaced cabs. All depends how late I leave and what will fit in the new car 🚙 😁 @Smanth With my small, light, battery powered gear (mostly) ... IBBY-Ibanez GSRM25 5 str sub short scale, 'ELIMA - Kala California 5 str fretless ubass, QUINN- HB 5 Str Fretless, MOD Dwarf based pedalboard, Boss Dual Cube Bass LX. (Also some toys to sell) Gear that doesn't need mains, 12 inch fretting stretch or a strong back! S'manth x

Probably to be expected as he must have gone thru h*ll with that accident wondering how he's gonna cope with life. Well done to you guys for staying with him and getting him back up there. Hopefully he's getting more confidence and getting on with things as normal. Quite inspirational i have to say. I'm getting quite emotional myself now. 😂 That's made me happy today. Dave

Playing with Ruff Edge this week! Yes do pop in we are back in 20th October! I'll be honest I am not one for going along to pubs to see bands but I did manage about a year ago and joined in with the drinking from 2pm till about 10.45pm! Kind of ruined the next two days for me!

Don’t Ask Me To Dance - Arab Strap

Pearl's a Swinger ～ Elkie Brooks

Should have got two more made with room for girls.

She’s awesome! Best singer I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with, and the songs are cracking. Very privileged to have the opportunity to gig with her and the band

Yes it did! 😀 For anyone interested, this is what eventually arrived... Probably the finest guitar Alan of ACG has created. Would of been a tragedy if it got lost in the post.

Andy Baxter just listed quite a nice 74 P , never seen a case logo like that before https://reverb.com/uk/item/72828171-1974-fender-precision-bass-sunburst

@cetera - Charvel 3B, ESP Surveyor '87, Fender FSR PJ Precision, Hamer Impact, Italia Imola, Spector NS2, Spector Euro, Spector EuroX (Spectorbird), Spector Pulse II, Spector Dimension 4HP, Gallien Krueger 400RB & Legacy800 heads, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 cab @TheGreek - All short scale this year - a @Jabba_the_gut scale 5er, Mini Ray, Short scale P bass @Harlequin74 - Zoot Performer, Status Shark, Spector QV4 , Markbass TTE501 and Matching CAB. Maybe the Lehle Basswitch… @Frank Blank - @Jabba_the_gut short scale fretted and fretless, JMJ Mustang, QSC K12.2, Grace Design Alix @TrevorR - Mk 1 Wal, Wal Pro IIE, Aria SB700, Frankenjazz, pedals and MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 @bnt - travelling light, probably a couple of pedals such as T-Rex Diva Drive, Orange KongPressor @bass_dinger - 1999 Washburn XB500, 1994 Washburn XB500, Washburn XB925 in zebrawood, Washburn XB925 in bits, Boulder Creek 5 string (likely to be for sale, SWR Workingmans 12. @greentext- 2008 Spector NS4-H2, 2015 Sandberg VS4, 2000 Trace Elliot T-Bass, my pedalboard and my tin of picks 😈 @prowla- Probably a couple of Rickenbackers and some interesting oddities. Amp-wise a Markbass EVO and a 1x12 (last year I bought some others to try and never switched them on, as the EVO sounded spot-on). @SuperSeagull - Status S2, Feline P Bass, Modded Fender Lyte, Flea Jazz, MB Combo @Merton - various short and medium scale ACGs, Zoots and Conway basses, Barefaced cabs, modern Trace Elliot amps @MacDaddy Shuker (probably no3), Snapdragon Folding Bass, possibly a Rob Allen Mouse.

He won't turn up, he's been a very naughty boy.

OK - I haven't been back to London in years, so this is a good pretext for a few days there. I'm also planning to hit the guitar shops, maybe even Anderton's in Guildford. Booked a couple of Ryanair "Basic" flights to and from Dublin, so baggage space will be very limited, but I think I can squeeze a couple of pedals in. @cetera - Charvel 3B, ESP Surveyor '87, Fender FSR PJ Precision, Hamer Impact, Italia Imola, Spector NS2, Spector Euro, Spector EuroX (Spectorbird), Spector Pulse II, Gallien Krueger 400RB & Legacy800, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 @TheGreek - All short scale this year - a @Jabba_the_gut short scale 5er, Mini Ray, Short scale P bass @Harlequin74 - Zoot Performer, Status Shark, Spector QV4 , Markbass TTE501 and Matching CAB. Maybe the Lehle Basswitch… @Frank Blank - @Jabba_the_gut short scale fretted and fretless, JMJ Mustang, QSC K12.2, Grace Design Alix @TrevorR - Mk 1 Wal, Wal Pro IIE, Aria SB700, Frankenjazz, pedals and MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 @bnt - travelling light, probably a couple of pedals such as T-Rex Diva Drive, Orange KongPressor