Leaderboard

First gig back with covers band after me being hospitalised last month. We hadn’t played together for over two months because of all kinds of disruption but it worked pretty well, even though we were without our keyboard player. Small but enthusiastic audience in a village hall, with lots of dancing from the get go: possibly fuelled by the free wine that had been provided earlier. I played my Nordstrand Acononyx throughout, as it is my lightest bass and I was worried about getting through 2 hours (turned onto 2 1/2 with encores) with the after effects of a broken rib. It did the job really well, both from the comfort perspective and tone wise.

Fun in the sun for The InSect at the Carshalton Eco-Fair yday

Just purchased a new Vintera PBass and I’m very impressed with the quality and sound. Nicer than my Player Series PBass and highly recommend. Neck is a delight to play, awesome pickup too, even the vintage bridge is nice and works well I might consider a black pickguard but I’m not sure yet.

Scotland. Punching way above its weight for years.

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

Hope it’s okay to share this - no idea if it’s of any interest to anyone here, but I thought it might be worth sharing anyway. The reason I filmed this - and the reason I’m posting this here (mainly for the topic in the first half of the video), is because I think it’s an interesting discussion about using many effects with bass This is just my two cents and thoughts on that, and a few other things. (Thought it was better to just post the video rather than write it out). Feel free to remove if it’s against the rules!

I shall be watching… unbelievably for the first time! Anyone else a Tap ‘virgin’?!😁

I was involved in a studio in Wardour Street in the early 90's. We often hosted TV companies as a location. One marvellous day we hosted David, Derek and Nigel. They were with us for 3 hours straight and didn't stray out of character for a second. It was hilarious from when they arrived to when they left.

My daughter started taking bass lessons at that age. She's just turned 15 and got her Grade 8 certification a couple of weeks ago

I imagine that they write and play music because it's fun.

A while ago I finished the build a a rather challenging bass build. The Brooks QB. This 34" scale twelve-string bass is a tribute to the Quad Bass that Jol Dantzig from Hamer built for Tom Petersson in 1978. Except I didn't put a mixer in the built-in panel, but two effects! A big thank you to Bas Becu from BQ Music for building the SansAmp type overdrive and the Aguilar TLC Compressor. - Mahogany body. Les Paul Junior Double Cut shape - Flamed Maple top. Sun burst high gloss - Body back, sides and neck: Mahogany gloss - Pearloid Binding - Glued neck, mahogany/maple five piece laminate. - Two spoke wheel type double action truss rods. - One carbon stiffening rod. - Ebony Fretboard. White side dot inlays - Sintoms Jumbo frets. Nickel-silver - 34” Scale - Buffalo horn nut/ string guide - Custom made 12 string bridge and tailpiece. Black - 4 x Gotoh GB 350 bass tuners. Lightweight. Black - 8 x Gotoh ST-31 Octave string tuners. Lightweight. Black - D’Addario EXL 170-12 strings - Gotoh large black strapnuts - Pickup 1: Lace Alumitone. Black - Pickup 2: 2x Nordstrand NM4 - 2 x Switchcraft output. - 2 x Volume. On/off switch with led light for each effect - Weight: 4,5 kg I'm pretty sure the new owner is Gonna Raise Hell on this monster! I'll post pics of the entire build process in separate posts below...

Evening all. Just finished communicating with Will, who I have to say, has gone above and beyond this evening. Even until this time when the shop is closed, Will has been talking to me about the bass I have on consignment with him. The long and short of it is, Will has agreed to buy the bass off me for very close to what I was hoping for in order for me to finalise some plans that the sale of this bass was set out to secure. The money was also in my account, tonight, within 5 minutes of agreeing the deal. Amazing. I am ever so grateful for his help and for his open, honest and friendly communications. The deal was done with absolutely no hassles. I have no hesitation in dealing with Will and Bass Bros in the future, and if you have any thing you want to buy, sell or part ex, you can deal without any worry, I promise you. Isn’t the bass community great. It’s alive and kicking, and we really are a lucky bunch. Thanks Will and Bass Bros 🙏🏻

Give it 5. Dave Brubeck

I doubt that I will be buying it, but good on 'em...! They're musicians and if they still want to releasing new material and touring, then that's pretty inspiring actually. It's not as if they need the money - I'm sure that even Jagger isn't bothered about that at this point. I've just played a blues festival over the weekend and run into an old mate that I played a couple of gigs with several years go (he was playing the same venue after the band I was playing with). He was saying that he was glad to see that I was still doing the circuit, bearing in mind that I assume that he's a fair bit older than me (I'm in my early 60s). I've no intention of stopping and neither has he. He said that he will keep going until he keels over onstage and leaves his last gig feet first! No reason that the Stones shouldn't do exactly the same...

Some time ago, I bought a handmade 6-string headless bass off Ebay after somebody mentioned it in the marketplace. It had generic Chinese pickups in it, with two volume controls with pull to switch between serial and parallel coils on each and one rotary switch to select bridge, neck, or both. As someone slightly unkindly remarked, the knobs looked as if they belonged on a cooker rather than a bass. After getting an Ibanez EHB1265 with upgraded Aguilar DCB pickups, and having seen a pair of DCBs the right size for this bass in the marketplace, I decided to upgrade it with the DCBs and an Aguilar OBP2 with stacked bass and treble (just hoping that the OBP2 isn't too overwhelming). This allowed me to keep the three-knob setup. The pickup holes were marginally undersized for the Aguilars so I had to do some filing to get them in. Obviously I didn't want to start drilling other holes in the front so I was rather constrained by the positions of the holes already drilled. This did present a problem as the position of the barrel jack socket would interfere with the bass/treble pot, so I took a different approach. My initial thought was to put the jack socket on a plate mounted on the outside like a Les Paul, but the flat section of the perimeter was too narrow and I didn't want to start carving flat bits out. So instead I got an oval metal jack mounting plate and bent it to match the inside of the control cavity, then enlarged the jack socket hole slightly and mounted the plate on the inside. Next stage was wiring everything up. I wired up the tone control to the OBP-2 (ran the wires for the tone control through some heat shrink to try and keep things neat), then the volume control, and finally wired the blend control, jack socket, and PP3 battery holder in. Initially the volume control didn't work - that was because I'd connected the grey pickup wires to the volume pot body and the black wires to ground, but the two weren't connected. A short bridging wire on the volume pot sorted that out. There was just room for the 9V battery holder - I didn't want to put the battery in loose. Volume is at the top, blend to the left of the battery, OBP2 is nect to the jack socket, the oval plate holding the jack socket is visible, and the stacked bass/treble pot is the other side of the jack socket. As can be seen, there's not a lot of room. The last remaining piece of the puzzle was the rear cover, which I wanted to change to magnetic closing. The control cavity has a very narrow margin which wasn't very satisfactory as the screws that were holding the cover on were barely gripping and they were also really tiny. I took a couple of short lengths of wood and glued neodymium magnets to them, then glued them in position inside the control cavity. Then I glued a matching pair of magnets to the cover, and all was well.

I should add that I went overboard and also fitted a Roland GK-3B pickup.

What does it matter? Is anyone forcing anyone to listen to any potential new Stones material? Is anyone forcing anyone to go to their concerts? No, they're not. If you're not interested stick to playing covers in the local Dog and Puke and be on your merry way. If you don't want to still be playing at 80, feel free to be filling your incontinence pants listening to what ever tickles your what not. It's up to the Stones what they do. If there's still an audience for whatever they're up to, all the best to them.

GEAR LIST: 1. @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 2. @TheGreek - All short scale this year - a @Jabba_the_gut scale 5er, Mini Ray, Short scale P bass 3. @Harlequin74 - Zoot Performer, Status Shark, Spector QV4 , Markbass TTE501 and Matching CAB. Maybe the Lehle Basswitch… 4. @Frank Blank - @Jabba_the_gut short scale fretted and fretless, JMJ Mustang, QSC K12.2, Grace Design Alix 5. @TrevorR - Mk 1 Wal, Wal Pro IIE, Aria SB700, Frankenjazz, pedals and MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 6. @bnt - travelling light, probably a couple of pedals such as T-Rex Diva Drive, Orange KongPressor 7. @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. 8. @greentext- 2008 Spector NS4-H2, 2015 Sandberg VS4, 2000 Trace Elliot T-Bass, my pedalboard and my tin of picks 😈 9. @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). 10. @SuperSeagull- Status S2, Feline P Bass, Modded Fender Lyte, Flea Jazz, MB Combo 11. @Merton - various short and medium scale ACGs, Zoots and Conway basses, Barefaced cabs, modern Trace Elliot amps 12. @MacDaddy Shuker (probably no3), Snapdragon Folding Bass, possibly a Rob Allen Mouse. 13. @neilp - matching pair of fretted and fretless 1980 Aria SB1000s, possibly my fretless Wal mk1, Ashdown ABM500/Ampeg 4x10, Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig 14. @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. 15. @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 🚙 😁 16. @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) 17. @tauzero- the basses that @TheGreek made me buy (handmade 6-string headless, Pedulla 6 fretless), Roland GR-55, one or two Seis, anything else that occurs to me, Mrs Zero (probably) 18. @Stingray5 - EBMM Stingray 5, a trio of Tunes i.e. TWB-6, TWB-4z, SWV4-BB, Boss GT-6B, Eden EC180 combo. 19. @rumblefish- Reverend Rumblefish,GB basses,Mesa Walkabout amp,Vanderkley 112 MNT.

I think Baloney is taking this a bit too personally. Paco de Lucia learned note reading because McLaughlin and Meola said it is about time. It is true there are top musicians that aren't formally trained. But... I suppose I am mediocre at best. Studies in music schools, lots of training and the ability to read and even write scores has been my edge. Some theory has pushed me far further than I could ever have reached by myself. I remind you that when I learned music, interweb, and youtube were non-existent. Players exchanged copies of scores, and copied LPs, CCs, and later even CDs. Now web is full of scores, lessons, whatever. As said, theory isn't a must, but as the tools are there, why not to use them?

(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presents Dear ～ Blondie

I saw Devin Townsend when his click system went wrong and they had to reboot the laptops. He was open about it and properly explained that as the next song had orchestral parts and he did not, in fact, earn enough money to fly an orchestra round the world to do 1500 capacity venues he was using backings and backings need a click track. It also controlled the backdrop and the lights. Nothing wrong with that to me.

There's a T-shirt to buy? Where? What size? Vintage? Is it any good for metal? Darn.....looks like I have T-GAS now! 🤣🤣

Tiny Dangler ～ Elton John

I was a punk when I was young, part of the schtick was to be anti-everything and while that did encourage independence and a strong DIY ethic, which I still have thanks to the era, it also made us throw a lot of the good stuff out with the bathwater. I remember arguing vociferously against learning theory, backed up with hollow arguments about not adhering to a orthodoxy, how untrained musicians make interesting and surprising note/chord choices. Then I was lucky enough to meet someone classically trained, a violinist, guitarist and singer, who is steeped in theory. She makes note/chord choices that even I wince at. Because she understands the orthodoxy she absolutely understands how to subvert it. I'm rambling, in short, know your enemy. Now I just wished I'd learnt theory when I was a kid, not that it was an option as my family were a) bastards, b) not financially well off and, (just for good measure), c) bastards again. But it isn't their fault (even though they were bastards) that I am not learning theory today, that's my hangup, but man, I wish I'd learned.

Prepare to want one for yourself.

So the best laid plans and all that... I was supposed to be travelling up to Scotland this coming weekend for a couple of gigs with a few old band mates that I used to play with. To save me the hassle of travelling with a bass, another mate of mine offered to lend me his JMJ for when I was up there, which started this whole thread about strings. Anyway, the strings arrived yesterday and my mate's JMJ arrived today.... He misunderstood my request and thought I needed to borrow a short scale so sent it down to me! He's a very dear friend but I do sometimes wonder what's between his ears. So it looks like I'll be travelling with a bass after all! Here it is with my other short scales.

I bought the ones @lemmywinks recommended and they have solved the problem. I could definitely have fixed it by just repositioning the OEM ones but the new ones are much nicer so it was a nice upgrade anyways 😃 J PXL_20230823_152801348.TS~2.mp4

Years ago I worked in an ice cream van doing the rounds in Newton Aycliffe in County Durham. The jingle machine packed up one evening so we played Led Zep's Black Dog from a cassette as we pulled into each street.

I have the same view with The Who, surely its better to leave a legacy, take the view that Led Zep did. Bill left and Charlie died, draw a line.

I think Iv finally got my live rig sorted (top pedal board) now, really happy with the range of sounds I can get from this. Got the smaller board and wah to interchange occasionally which gets some funkier sounds in the mix too!

100% and that guy might be a valuable contact in future. Both bands i'm in at moment have same drummer. I first spoke with him 6yrs before being in a band with him. We had discussed by PM's about doing Glam Rock but couldn't find the right people and it fell away. Then out of the blue i got a message thru the grapevine that a guy was looking to do a Glam band and when i spoke with him and suggested the drummer he said he knew him and was already on board and the drummer had also recommended me on bass. We had never met and had never heard each other but when you know you know. We've been in same band for 5 yrs now. Bit of a long winded storyline there There's no reason for not giving a quick one liner reply saying you are busy at moment. Dave

will do… thanks for all the advice! I may come back hopefully with some pics from a NBD!

Yay and thrice Yay! I've been keeping my fingers well and truly crossed for this since I couldn't make last year thanks to some nasty scrotes totalling my car. I'll also have a look in the bass-ment for some raffle goodies. GEAR LIST: 1. @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 2. @TheGreek - All short scale this year - a @Jabba_the_gut scale 5er, Mini Ray, Short scale P bass 3. @Harlequin74 - Zoot Performer, Status Shark, Spector QV4 , Markbass TTE501 and Matching CAB. Maybe the Lehle Basswitch… 4. @Frank Blank - @Jabba_the_gut short scale fretted and fretless, JMJ Mustang, QSC K12.2, Grace Design Alix 5. @TrevorR - Mk 1 Wal, Wal Pro IIE, Aria SB700, Frankenjazz, pedals and MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 6. @bnt - travelling light, probably a couple of pedals such as T-Rex Diva Drive, Orange KongPressor 7. @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. 8. @greentext- 2008 Spector NS4-H2, 2015 Sandberg VS4, 2000 Trace Elliot T-Bass, my pedalboard and my tin of picks 😈 9. @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). 10. @SuperSeagull- Status S2, Feline P Bass, Modded Fender Lyte, Flea Jazz, MB Combo 11. @Merton - various short and medium scale ACGs, Zoots and Conway basses, Barefaced cabs, modern Trace Elliot amps 12. @MacDaddy Shuker (probably no3), Snapdragon Folding Bass, possibly a Rob Allen Mouse. 13. @neilp - matching pair of fretted and fretless 1980 Aria SB1000s, possibly my fretless Wal mk1, Ashdown ABM500/Ampeg 4x10, Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig 14. @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. 15. @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 🚙 😁 16. @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) 17. @tauzero- the basses that @TheGreek made me buy (handmade 6-string headless, Pedulla 6 fretless), Roland GR-55, one or two Seis, anything else that occurs to me, Mrs Zero (probably) 18. @Stingray5 - EBMM Stingray 5, a trio of Tunes i.e. TWB-6, TWB-4z, SWV4-BB, Boss GT-6B, Eden EC180 combo. 19.

Two gigs this weekend for Mustang Sally without our regular lead guitarist who's in Spain having a 'working' holiday (he's a therapy consultant and getting paid!). As our rhythm guitarist has given in his notice effective end October we invited his replacement (keyboards/vox) to dep for our lead, so still a five piece but a rather different sound with no stadium rock guitar heroics, but some nice Jools Holland-type keys instead. Saturday was a late start at 9pm at the tiny social club in Mere (Wiltshire). Place was rammed with a - for us - very young crowd (teens-40) who loved what we did and we had a great time - back home at 1am... Sunday was an afternoon start 5.30pm on a very smart mobile stage outdoors at the Castle Cary Cider Festival, with our set ending just before the rain came down at 7.15. I have to say that the crowd seemed to enjoy what we played as they necked every type of medicinal apple juice ever invented, singing heartily along with us especially with 'I am a cider drinker' (arghh!). The stage was a lightweight articulated unit behind a smallish prime mover - it featured lighting and power from an external genny, changing area, steps, retractable canopy and lighting gantry - all in polished aluminium and very stylish compared with the grubby curtainsiders we're used to. WOT NO BASS? Now here's a thing - we had to include my three sax numbers on both nights to fill the sets out. However, without our lead guitarist taking over from me on bass while I honked out front I was a bit worried that the band might sound feeble. However, Dave our new keyboard guy filled in very well with left hand bass and all went ok, tho' I'm looking forward to Francis's return next month... Here's a link to our last number on Saturday - more to feature the sound I'm getting now from the MM Bongo than any claim for originality or musical merit - yes, I'm ready to collect my coat! Best listened to on headphones - recorded on a Zoom H6 on a windowsill behind the band...) https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2unr7uje04lg6yktrzm3j/Best-Days-Mustang-Sally.mp3?rlkey=t3mz6qncp7sqhpm7nlycpk4ok&dl=0 Here's a couple of pix from Sunday - the stage rig and Gasman posturing again while blasting out 'Geno' on sax... and I swear that the Z Cars T-shirt had been washed since the pic of me wearing it for our West Bay gig last month!

Two gigs this bank holiday weekend, and a tale of two halves really. Saturday was the Rifleman's Ball. We were on at 2pm and played to a decidedly sparse crowd. Sure there were pockets of dancers and everyone clapped but there was about 300 people in a venue that can easily hold almost 40 times that and it had a very empty feel. Anyway, I don't care because for the first time in my not-so-illustrious 'career' as a bass player I played the Newcastle Arena. The same stage that I have seen Iron Maiden, Rammstein, Green Day, New Found Glory, Bill Bailey, Eddie Izzard and many more. That was a massive, massive tick in my life column and something that I am insanely proud of. Sunday was a bar on Roker beach. Small, sweaty, busy, and I had to suffer the indignity of carrying my own stuff, which was a real come down after the roadie-filled luxury of the arena! However, the place was standing room only with dancing and singing, so really the opposite of the Saturday for sure. Both great fun in their own way. As I know you'll be asking. The band is The White Line. I'd post the link but we're not accepting any more gigs and winding down so you're likes would be wasted! The rig in both cases (because I'm too lazy to pack a car TWICE in one weekend) was my trusty EBMM Stingray, a G&L L2000 as backup (never out of the case this weekend), and Shure wireless into a HX Stomp. Saturday: Sunday:

In case anyone wonders why a 9x10 the answer is impedance. If you use 8 ohm drivers you can't wire eight of them for an 8 ohm load, you may only get 1, 4, 16 or 64 ohms. You can wire a 9x10 as triplets in parallel, the three groups in series for an 8 ohm load. Or you can wire nine 4 ohm drivers for a 4 ohm load. That gave Ampeg more driver options than the 32 ohm they used in the 8x10.

I'd get the 212. The vertical driver placement gives wider midrange dispersion than a 410.

Beyond A-Ha and Death/Black metal, Norway's music scene has a lot more to offer. Just been enjoying some Dagny after a recommendation on another thread. She's excellent as is Sigrid. Also Norway's home to some fine electronica such as seminal ambient electronica guru Biosphere, space disco merchant Prins Thomas, fellow part time collaborator Lindstrom, Norway's answer to The Chemical Brothers, Ugress, and the better known Royksopp. So, any other small countries you reckon are punching above their weight music-wise considering their small populations?

I find the problem isn't getting it in, as much stopping it leaking out again 😆 Im sure I remember a time in my life when I could remember things!'

Yule Never Walk Alone Gerry & Pacemakers

First applied the yellow all over. The did the red on the outlines while the yellow was still wet. And feathered them to the inside with a dry brush. After the first few layers of lear it already looked gorgeous and a few layers later... The effects panel go the same treatment. And when it had enough layers of lear to be perfectly flat, I applied the lettering for the effects with decals When the lacquer process was done, and after the polishing I could start mounting the pickups. Then put the tuners and bridge on. And strung her up for the first time.

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"