Leaderboard

Played our third gig with DJ5 last night. It was a charity gig in a village hall, complete with a "PA" that last saw action when the desk was run by a brontosaurus, but we played pretty decently and went down well with a roomful of punters. The sound was awful, as it tends to be at these things - hollow stage, tiny FOH, poor monitoring etc, and the lighting was four par-cans that were literally in my left ear, but we all had fun and it was great to get out and play again. The band's coming together well now, and we're all finding our roles in it. We debuted three new songs (If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, Breaking The Law and Kick Out The Jams) as well as playing a one-off of a version of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, featuring the vocalist's 13 year old girl (my god-daughter) on vocals. Sorry for the crappy picture quality; although many photos were taken, none of them seem to be of any use! After our set we were asked if we wanted to headline two nights at a big biker rally in Cardiff next year, so we must have done a halfway tidy job of things!

Still on a bit of a post-gig wind-down so thought I'd do this now. Second gig for Dirty Roses - we've been rehearsing for a few months and have finally emerged. Between the first and second gigs, at the same pub, I've replaced the RCF 710A Mk2s with Alto TS408s. Smaller and lighter, and I've got to load and unload the buggers so that's the way I want them. The gig went well, from an audience and gaffer POV (plenty of singalong and dancers). There were definitely scrappy bits which need to be sorted. I don't think there will be a problem saying to the others that x and y need sorting, everyone is amenable to criticism. It's a question of whether x and y will actually get sorted. Mrs Zero was out front and the new speakers got the thumbs up from her. She's also written notes about what we need to sort out. I hope that her 64GB phone gave her adequate room for that. The gaffer was also impressed with the sound, so the all-Alto system (2x TS408 FOH, 2x TS308 monitors) is looking good, along with the Behringer X-Air XR12 that runs it.. Next gig is next weekend. Confidence is increasing. Oh, I should also mention (I may have also done so if I wrote up our first gig in this thread) that the rest of the band were brilliant in bringing stuff in and out from the car. The load in for me consisted of two journeys from car to "stage", the load out was just one journey. Replacing the not-terribly-big RCFs with the tiny Altos has helped there.

Second gig of the weekend was the modern rock covers band (Wednesday’s Child) playing a little pub in Dorking. Bank Holiday weekend meant a sparser crowd than usual but they seemed to enjoy it and we had fun. Two new additions to the set, one of which is the wonderful Twisted (Everyday Hurts) by Skunk Anansie - what a bassline 😀 - and both went ok I think. Now for a busman’s holiday, off to a beer and music festival as a punter 😎

Played a local festival yesterday, late afternoon spot. We seemed to go down well and the rain managed to hold off!

We played an outdoor event yesterday, in a combination of rain, sun, wind and a bit of thunder. Fortunately we were well covered and the turnout was pretty good in the circumstances. A few songs in my MB setup wasn't right. Not enough volume and no bottom end. I could see the speaker in the combo pounding away but no movement in the extension cab. Between songs swapped out the speakon lead for a spare jack to jack speaker cable I carry and all was good but these things are always a bit stressful when they happen mid performance.

Actually Friday, but it was a great night at our regular pub venue. Fantastic audience that was up and grooving pretty much all night long. Also my second outing with the 4x10 Ashdown cab I got from @richardd replacing the 1x15 and teamed up with the 2x10 I have used for aaages, so I'm running 6x10s 😃. Need to twiddle the fiddly knobs a bit more but it pounds!! HEFT baby!!

Used some matt gold vinyl to cover the old black pickguard. I was surprised by how well it went with the body colour

So did my two Dep gigs with Up To Eleven. A rocky covers band doing unashamed crowd pleasers. First was a local fete second a rugby club so very different crowds! Despite most people just carrying on doing bouncy castle, space hoppers cake eating etc. We had a good receptive audience for the fete if far away! Not helped by the damp but the rain held off. The club crowd ebbed and flowed, times were 8 to 10 which was unusual! Lots of very rowdy dancing and singing and it really was good fun. I did get lost when they did a medley of play that funky music and superstition and changed songs a verse early...

After Friday’s turbo set up two completely different experiences. Early set up for the 11 piece, for a centenary celebration for a local company, big marquee for 200+ people. A luxurious 2 hours to make sure everything was ok, neat and tidy, plus the local music shop lent us a pair of chauvet dominator moving heads to play with. Lunch and a kip then onto… Acoustic gig bashing the hell out of my old Taylor 214 with the two singers and the drummer on assorted percussion toys for an hour. We were pushed for time (the drummer was following the van- not used to our country back lanes 🤣) so had 10 minutes to get ready. Plugged in my one jack into the provided PA, 3 mics pointed in the correct general direction and that was that! Nice hour of mucking about then back to the tent for hanging around, then two hours of trying to get work colleagues to lose their inhibitions about partying in front of the boss!

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.

Today, the big room at the Earl Haig. Got a last minute call saying venue PA is out, can we bring our own. Caught alex on phone just as he was leaving, so sorted. But meant late set up. Opened to punters at 5, very empty big hall with maybe a dozen or so as we got close to soundchecking. A few verses of Johnny B. Goode with ten minutes to go and more like 20-25 people. Got a cheer, but then nervous discussion about rain, bank holidays and record numbers going away for the weekend. It's a pay to enter gig and we were worried we mighg play to a couple of dozen people. We need not have worried, it didn't get packed but we had as many people in as I've seen for one of these Sunday gigs. First song was ok, second was Oh Pretty Woman and my sound was glorious, huge throaty growl. Went down a treat. All three of us played the best we ever have, Alex's vocals have really strengthened and his guitar work was on fire. We had a great time and really put on a show. Tried to finish on time but no option but to do two encores. Afterwards great feedback, happy punters, happy venue and very happy band. That was definitely the best gig I've played ever, just felt spot on. Downhill all the way now! 🤣

Played a mini pub festival in Barton on Sea, Hampshire. Country-themed, hence the hay bales, but we blagged ourselves in as blues/Americana. Forgot my Stetson but went walkabout with my wireless so it would probably have blown/fallen off! Elf and two Barefaced One10s more than adequate… I bring the second out once a year! It’s possibly the only time I have ever had a view of the Isle of Wight from the stage. (Pic taken while setting up). What could be better? Oh, and our dep drummer breezed it. Happy days!

Here is family picture of mine Fretless bitsa (Bravewood body) Black bitsa strung with flats (awesome sounding bass) P Bass Lyte, in pretty good shape owned 22 years now My '73. Refinished many years ago and nicely played in, owned now for 33 years and used on thousands of my gigs '81 P bass special, almost mint this one

Spaniel Elton John

My new edition

That's absolutely amazing @Hamster! So, so brilliant to have 'Mr Guy Pratt' confirmed as a special guest for this year's South East Bass Bash! http://www.guypratt.com/ Amazing musician, great writer and a fantastic raconteur... He's worked with some of my favourite artists ever... This is going to be good! 😎

Not wired up yet as I still need to get the shelf screwed in properly but no more 90 degree pedals 🙌 sorry for the state of the desk

Last two gigs have been wrecked by decibel meter.Now before I am berated by comments of turn down then.These things were set at ridiculously low levels.The disco with poor low end as usual played at a volume that could wake the dead.We produce a quality full sound at a very low volume and trip the meter.It’s been a long time since we had this happen even in venues that have decibel meters in.Even after speaking to the agent after the gig he mentioned the problems artists playing in these venues are complaining that it is becoming really difficult to do there shows.His option is to put in a single act with backing.He then tells me the venues want bands with drums but the meters will not accommodate them.I have been playing for more years than I wish to admit to and played through 70s 80s when meters were everywhere and had no issue.We have now decided not to play anymore of these venues without the option to bypass or adjust the level.If we are not required to play at these places then so be it.We will always accommodate volume requests levels but sound quality to suite a decibel meter is non negotiable.The shows were very well received and we even got apologies from some of the audience on having our show wrecked by these meters.

I'd been looking for the right Thumb NT5 for a while now, and then I found this... 2016 Masterbuilt with bubinga, wenge and ebony. It's supposed to arrive on Wednesday coming from Pau, France.

This is mine, with a blues tribute pickup off eBay

Just uploaded some nice phaser presets that I’ve tried to match as closely as possible to an MXR Phase 95 and Maestro Orbit. They were created on Spectrum but will also work on C4.

Vert De Ferk😳😳🙈🙈??…………

This guy on a Suhr.

Even Jamie Carragher thinks our working area is a bit cosy... Back to Huddersfield to play at The Plumbers Arms. Got lost three times on the way there (thanks, Google Maps!) but fortunately our ability to setup was hampered by the pub being full of people watching the Newcastle v Liverpool game so I wasn't late. We had barely enough room to fit all our gear and us with not enough tables being moved and the pub being rammed because of the bank holiday.My entire rig (bar my pedal board) is hidden by our guitarist Jen and her big coat, but it comprised my Sire V7, Trace Elliot Elf head and Barefaced Two10S in portrait mode. I was told to turn down twice, so I could barely hear myself as I was stood in between the PA speaker and the guitar amp, but muscle memory got me through again. I only managed to brain two people with the head of my bass, but both were gracious about it and promised not to sue us. The landlord even tried to book us for another gig before Christmas but for various reasons this isn't feasible, so hopefully we'll play there again in the new year.

Enter Bas Becu of BQ Music I had asked him to build a SansAmp type over drive for this bass. Almost ready except for the led lights

Back to the neck. The fretboard was glued on and I left it alone for while. Now I could start shaping the neck And when the neck profile was almost ready I did the side dots Routed the profile for the binding around the top of the body Glued the pearloid binding in. I use acetone because the bass will be stained. And stained does not work on spots where glue was spilled. Acetone leaves no residue. Attention shifted to the back side of the body: Routing the profile for the controls cover. And the wider cavity for the effects So far so good

Dalmatian Alley - Hawkwind

Van Halen - Ice cream man I hear it right away, but not any of those mentioned.

You'll now need an Electric Upright Bass (EUB), an acoustic upright, an acoustic bass, a five-string bass, a six-string bass, a fretless bass, an eight-string bass, a short scale bass, a Uke-bass, a practice amp, a gig amp, a backup for the gig amp, straps to suit each bass, gig-bags for each bass, a tuner, a variety of leads, a small pedal-board, a large pedal-board, a few guitar-stands, a microphone stand, A gigging-bag to keep your bits and pieces in (including hex keys, spare strings, spare mains leads, string cutters, string winder, multi-tool(s), soldering iron and solder, spare batteries, insurance fir your basses and other gear, a van, a PA including all leads and mixing desk, stands etc., ear-plugs covers/ flight case fir cabs and amps, a tame roadie, a driver, a groupie, a partridge, a pear tree, band-mates, an MU card, overnight bag, clothing change(s), web-page, publicity material, manager, business cards, logo, band name, set-list, suitable venue(s), recording studio, passport and a good chiropractor. That should sort you out until next Tuesday, when mist of the above will be exchanged for something else and the game begins all over again. Welcome and I hope you love what's to come. Everyone needs a hobby. 👍😎

Brutus are great.

I've been listening to Brutus a lot since seeing them last week at Arctangent Festival. Great band and I've never seen anyone drum and sing at the same time while doing both to such a high level. A seriously talented lady

Here are my 3 SR700's Right is a 2012 model, centre is a 2000 era which I had defretted and piezo bridge installed, wired in place of the bridge pickup, the left hand one is a 1993 vintage which I've had from new and was my main bass for many years, still plays well but is in semi retirement now. Great work horse basses

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.

"No picture, no bass" - Mob Barley -

Click tracks are very common on the touring circuit and very necessary as very often lighting, visuals and even guitar patch changes are synced to automatically change at an exact point in a song/live show. Backing tracks however are a bit of a bone of contention. I wonder why artists don't hire an extra session cat or two to cover parts, particularly at something like Glasto.

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!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwdcI6yInzO/?igshid=MWZjMTM2ODFkZg== Mrs Scalpy has done a post about the gigs from yesterday I mentioned in my post!

Some explanations here, on the same microtonal guitar YT channel: watch instead of laughing, Turkish and Oriental music is just amazing. Of course, I'm a subscriber to this channel as I really enjoy microtonal music.

This has been kicking around in the small ads of a certain German bass forum for the past couple of months - if I didn’t have one already I would have had it even before the price dropped to its current (ridiculous!) level. It’s had a bit of surgery to insert a battery compartment, but otherwise looks good. if someone buys it I can stop wondering… PS No relationship to the seller or anything, just passing on a tip. But please delete if inappropriate.

I’ve just rebuilt my nano board. I had an old Ibanez Tonelock phaser on it. On guitar it’s great, but I was getting serious tone suck and loss of punch on bass. I didn’t mind so much in the house but as the new term arrives I need the heft for rehearsals to start in about 2 weeks. Assuming I don’t quit as I’m mightily annoyed with many things over the last year. I have those 2 weeks to decide. So I might end up building a multi-board set up with each board feeding into the next!

Ever get one of those weekends...? The Friday Practice: Friday was a dreadful day at work, I got shredded for the plan I had proposed so I was tired and not really with it for Friday's practice. I decided to give my "new" V-bass synth rig an airing, as there were some songs where long notes would be good and so I could try different sounds to see how they worked (think bass+pads), and use a modelled bass for the normal rhythmic stuff. The setup is an HB Musicman 5 string, fitted with the Roland GK-2B hex pickup and into the V-Bass COSM Modeller and synthesiser. Link to my  post in Effects Thread This band are all used to each other, and most of the songs we knew, and we had a youngster on cahon as well as the drummer, and double trumpets. I was looking forward to the practice to clear the fug of the day away. The practice was a car-crash! Nobody was on form, we just didn't gel at all and it was just not right on so many levels. I was struggling with the bass as the string spacing is much narrower than my normal one and it dives like a stricken submarine. Playing with the band was much harder than noodling at home - my left arm was killing me by the end of the practice and I was making mistakes everywhere. I spent yesterday with a headache (I think I was just worrying) and I didn't have time to practice anything, I was dreading this morning. The Sunday Service: The practice before the service was much better than Friday. I struggled with "Come people of the risen king" and "Immortal Invisible, God only wise", but everything else was tolerable from me and everyone else was back on form. Straight after we finished the practice I had to go and deal with there being no signal to the projectors for the congregation words and preacher slides, so I sorted that out just before the service but missed the band prayers. We played the "pre-service" song ("On That Day", new to me) which was good and then, as the worship leader started to welcome everyone and introduced the service, the sound engineer walked up onto the stage and told me there was no sound at all on the livestream. So I unstrapped the bass and resolved that - which at least got me out of playing "Come People of the Risen King" as that was the first song. The rest was OK, but I wimped out on "Immortal, Invisible", by playing fewer notes and almost no volume. By the end of the service my left arm was on fire, even though I'd slathered on half a kilo of ibuprofen during the sermon. I have no idea how the congregation felt about it, other than one lady who said how much she enjoyed "On That Day" as it was one of her favourite songs. The summary: Good - the V-bass sounds are really good in a live context. The modelled "Active bass+TE Amp" sounded great and groovy and the modelled "8 string+octave" mixed in with the normal signal was just right for long sustained notes. So I'll definitely want to use that more and use some of the other options as well. Fretless and DB might get an outing. The 80's synths perhaps less so. Bad - that bass! I can't really complain as it was free on the recycling thread and I wanted something I could fit the hex pickup to other than my #1 Brawley. But how anyone can play something like that I have no idea. Had that been the bass I bought when I just started I would have given up. I know that most people won't notice or care about the bass sounds, but I am sure the V-bass is worth persevering with at church. I do need to find a new base instrument though. Or butcher that one.

They are my favourite saddles, I got mine from allparts quite a while back, I’m not sure how much the postage is

Looks like a great venue. Very atmospheric. Nice Dave

Through neck or bolt-on ???