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After being made aware of some special pricing, on a thread here on BC, from those lovely folk at Thomann, I pulled the trigger on 40th Anniversary Squier Precision in trans(ish) blond, at £285 (28.5% off list), it was rude not to. It arrived today and straight out of the box, it screamed keeper. Everything as you’d expect from a well put together P, but at a price that seems impossible for the quality. It weighed in at 3.8kg, but I had a spare set of Hipshot, lightweight tuners, so fitted them straight away and that weight is reduced to a very acceptable 3.67kg (lighter than my Mustang). The 40mm nut width was also most welcome (the same as my Mustang). Matt body, satin neck make it pleasant to handle. The sound: a proper, full on P, with a very usable tone control. The nut was a little rough in places, but a nail file soon put that right. A bit of fret buzz on the G string around the 12th fret area also needed a little polish to the frets to remove that. I’m pleased, very pleased. I’ll update with more pics when I’ve fitted the tort guard I’ve ordered along with more thoughts after a few days of ownership.

On Thursday we played a free show at a local gallery where our guitarist has exhibited in his day job as a professional artist. He's been getting into multimedia and projections in particular so this night was promoted as "Sound and Vision" and featured ourselves alongside another local band as well as what turned out to be seven separate projectors. The room was great for the projections with masses of tall, bare walls but the sound was predictably affected. We had a good turnout which made the laborious set-up worthwhile (ever tried negotiating a menu that is both upside down and beamed onto a wall several metres away?) Obligatory self promotion links: https://deadtenantmusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/deadtenant https://soundcloud.com/dead-tenant/sets/dead-tenant-live-demo

Furthering on this am jetting off to Portugal on Monday to record our (The Spacewasters) 2nd album. No instruments needed as the studio has them all (I’ll find out what I’m using when I get there), accommodation at the studio. Now we’re not professional, no chance of being so and under no illusions that this makes us so, but what a great hobby to have where we have the opportunity to do something like this.

I bought a Dakota Red one, too..it's everything you could want from a Precision bass and it looks great!

New band starting on Sunday. I've been building a board with the specific set in mind.

Having made music with my friend Nick since 1989 (first proper band / gig together), we've finally made an album. No hard sell but if anyone wants to check it out for free on Spotify / Amazon / whatever your preferred streaming platform is, "...Beyond Reverence" by Deadlight Dance is out today. Probably filed best under 80s Goth but it has enough layers to hold the interests of anyone who isn't expecting "Mega Party Mix Anthems 37". Of course I played bass on it but I also co-wrote all the originals, co-produced, co-arranged... as well as doing some mandolin, electric drums, acoustic drums, singing and Bass VI. If anyone is REALLY keen, search us out on Bandcamp and support the band but I'm certainly happy with a few of you checking us out. This was only supposed to be one jam once lockdown restrictions eased! We're performing the album acoustically on mandocellos (as you do!) Sat 16 Sept - SWINDON Shuffle onstage at The Beehive in Old Town at 7.15pm Thurs 21 Sept - MILDENHALL, WILTS The Horseshoe Sat 23 Sept BATH Chapter 22 (supporting Ghost Dance). And any follows across any of the social media platforms is always appreciated.

Ha, bloody audience on their phones. I once bought a car on eBay between songs at a gig I was playing. 😂 I was keeping an eye on a car for my wife that ended that evening, I forgot to bid before we started and suddenly remembered during the gig. My phone was on my amp which is usually kind of beside me when I play doublebass, I quickly opened ebay at the end of a song and saw the auction ended in a couple of minutes. Shouted at the guitarist to do a double length intro to the next song while I stuck a bid in. Checked ebay in the break to find my wife now owned a new convertible. 😁

"Decent" bands don't advertise. It's all done by word of mouth, recommendation, friends of friends etc. Get into a band (or several) and meet as many musicians as you can. If your face fits you'll meet people who will be interested in working with you.

I was sitting in bed one Sunday morning, perusing Reverend basses on Glasgow's Merchant City Music website and Mrs BillyBass, sat next to me, started talking about going on a spa break. After a quick online search I suggested a spa hotel near Glasgow and she liked the idea. I then came clean and told her why, this was followed by a short negotiation and she agreed on a deal, she gets the spa break, and I get a new bass. On the first day in Glasgow I went to Merchant City Music and GuitarGuitar, which is just up the road from it. Both shops have a decent selection of basses; Glasgow puts London to shame on that point. In Merchant City Music I tried the Decision P and the Reverend Mercalli 4 and 5 strings. Lovely basses all of them, I picked the 'Venetian Pearl' Decision P due to its appearance, it didn't sound better than the Mercallis. They also have a couple of Reverend Thunderguns there too, these have set necks, which are glossy. The bass cost £879, which is a bargain. Reverend don't seem to have hiked their prices like Fender and most other brands. I've had the bass one week now so I've got over the initial 'wow'. This is a keeper, the pick ups sound right for the music we play, the neck is lovely, the string spacing/nut width is comfortable, and enables me to play root-octave-root-octave with a pick comfortably (my previous main basses-Charvels-have Jazz sized nuts)...and I love the look! Venetian Pearl, is actually a gold burst, going to a cream sparkle and the pickguard is a lemon yellow. It looks like a yellow burst in the website photos but it isn't.

Packed a couple dozen people into the small room above the Packhorse in Leeds for our originals outfit. There was pretty good sound (apparently), ‘thick bass tone’ got a couple of compliments though non-functional fans meant it got very sweaty. Good clean fun.

Ahh, feck it. Ordered the Seafoam jazz. I may end up taking the neck off it and putting it on my P bass, which is how I've justified buying the pretty thing to myself...

My first gig tonight since getting hit by covid a few weeks back. Standing is still proving a challenge. The Village Club. Stanstead Abbotts. Herts.

Tonights gig.

I want active basses to have an on off switch so I don’t have to keep pulling out the jack all the time to save battery drain in the studio.

You can't let a few dodgy experiences put you off, you've most certainly got to "kiss a few frogs" on the way, but you could say that about much else in life

Basschat? You also need to leave someone with a deposit that’s the value of the bass …. kinda

TBH, I had kind of decided on a tort pg before it arrived. I’ve had anodised pgs in the past and didn’t like them. This one feels nicer than those, however, and looks better too (it has a more pronounced ’grain’ and is shinier, an altogether different beast). I may end up keeping it as is and have the tort for when I fancy a change. I’m really looking forward to using with my band. It’s a Mod band and the various genres that that entails, but I think it’s the more aggressive tunes I think we excel at (The Jam, The Who, Small Faces, etc) and the tone of this bass should enhance that over the Mustang.

I don’t even Noah myself - the Who

Most of the people at my gigs are checking their phones to see when they should take their medication.

Not over enthusiastic - they tell you that is the rule, its written everywhere when you come in, and in the venue, if you break the rule, someone will come and tell you not to break the rule again. If you break the rule again, you get kicked out of the venue. That seems very reasonable. And as a result, having seen tool with my eyes rather than through a wall of other peoples phones, I realise how good it is, and how good gigs used to be

I only go to metal and punk gigs. No one talks because the music is so loud it would be hopeless. At the front, where I like to spend the evening it would be near impossible to hold up your phone to video it as 50 people slam in to you as they mosh. As for fans getting lost in the music, that's up to the band to take us there, grab us by the throat and keep going until the end. The only rules in the pit at metal shows are never intentionally hurt anyone and if someone falls down, pick them up (or if they need help then help them)

This just popped up for me - properly widdly but some lovely grooves and playing by all concerned: Hiromi has a great ear for bassists - she's played a lot with Anthony Jackson over the years.

We've talked about this as a band and it's not something we like the idea of, aware of the fact that we _could_ but....well, don't want to. But, you indeed have a valid point 👍

One band I was in had a drummer that was a proper pain and often "couldn't make it", our solution was my girlfriend of the time became a drum machine operator, so when old silly bollocks wasn't available we did it the other way, which worked fine, in fact it worked better without him! There's often a think outside the box option. Obviously if you're into a very traditional "rock band" type line up then having a drummer is a big thing, but there's a lot of folk out there in the world doing great stuff without one.

You're welcome, EZ!

No need to apologise. It's what I started the thread for!

I would've preferred the blonde but saw the Jonny Dibble review prior to purchase so didn't want to risk it. I'm pleased to say I'm very happy with my dakota red P and also happy for the guys who ordered the blonde and got a good one. They really are great basses 👍

We're nearly as out in the sticks as you, and our solution is to drive to BrightLightsBigCity... Round here a dream night out is Lady DJ playing hits of the 60s70s80s90s at the Horse and Jockey, with a medley of Wurzels and Quo songs, a punch up between farmers from Knucklas and Rhos y Meirch followed by a lovely big vomit outside Costcutter.

This is exactly it @Gwilym, and it's what I'm saying since the beginning of this thread, but some people with absolutely no knowledge in electronics weren't able to understand it. Glad that EMG mentioned it too in their ABC manual, but it's strange that this Alex guy didn't do it. And in the OP case, a simple MN taper balance pot of 250 or 500 KOhms will solve this typical insertion loss issue keeping all the signal a totally passive path. Some people here owe me some apologies.

When i got back into bands and gigging again in circa 2010 i took on any band to get experience and simply to be playing bass in a band. I went thru rock tribute, ceilidh band, 70's covers band, Glam covers, prog originals, funk/blues band, function band and finally my current Glam covers band which led onto classic Punk covers band. As mentioned before both my current bands were thru people i knew or they knew me thru other musicians. I had kept in touch with various musicians i had met or even just spoke with thru PM's on band websites. Our drummer i first came across 6 years before we got together in the Glam band and it was a case of me enquiring about the band and the singer had already heard about me thru his friends that knew my friends within the local music scene. I suggested the said drummer and was told he was already in and he had recommended me for the bass part. I finally met this drummer 6 yrs after we first spoke on a PM. We kept in touch over that 6 yrs on what each other was doing. We've been in the Glam band for 5 yrs now and when his punk band were looking for a bass player i said i'd help out and give it a try. I enjoyed it so much i stayed with it. So 100% agree the good bands seem to be the ones where you meet thru word of mouth. My main point is to try doing anything to keep playing and get to know people. Word will get around if you are good and reliable with what you do. Also helps being a nice person to get along with. I'm lucky i have 2 bands that i get along with like mates albeit the female singer and drummer are also in both bands LOL Dave

Sgt Fury - SAHB

Having a listen now. It reminds me a lot of some of the music we'd have heard at Slimelight when I were nobbut a young 'un - superb!

The pole pieces on my one don't align directly over the string and this has been the case on a number of guitars and basses I've owned in the past. Other than aesthetics it really doesn't affect sound or playability and if there has been a tiny discernible difference in sound output, raising the pickup one side marginally helps.

Careful, the price of beer nowadays could cost you more than a mic clip

I use my 100v3 for acoustic duo and small gig duties, and it’s been amazingly good. Everyone who picks it up can’t believe it’s not an empty cabinet. I’m looking at getting a 500, or possibly 800 in the near future. Unsure whether to go for combo or head option though. The 800 comes in two formats, standard and ‘stage’ varieties. The stage version is of no interest to me with bells and whistles I will never use or need, but the regular model is giving me GAS every time I see one. Probably wait for a nice s/h one to surface, although they seem quite rare.

If I didn't already have a G&L Tribute LB-100 (which I got for a pretty decent £350), I'd have been all over these. Congrats, it looks great. I think the anodised pickguard looks fantastic, but it's your bass, your way.

Must reckon i'm not much into the DCX's mid-gain drive tone. There are better options in the market imo for bass overdriven tones. Now push its EQ section with any (bass) overdrive pedal and it's much better sounding than without. Any knobs setting change is more noticeable, breakup is more detailed, and you got some super effective bass-taillored voicing and EQ as a bonus. Getting hefty and full lows from an od, even one with a blend, is not always easy, the DCX provides tons of them while retaining the breakup. And when the overdrive pedal is off, you get a great 'clean' tone enhancer, with tasty hints of saturation if it's your thing as an second bonus. Awesome pedal ! * Halcyon->DCX Bass might a winner

We're playing the Flint Cottage in High Wycombe tomorrow evening.

I never take my phone to gigs where I'm in the audience. I'd be worried that it would get lost/stolen/broken and therefore it just gets in the way of me having a good time. For gigs where I'm playing it spends most of it's time in my bag in the dressing room buried under a pile of equipment cases. I keep meaning to take some photos of the stage setup for the more impressive gigs but most of the time I'm too caught up in the moment of the gig to remember.

I have a friend who goes to a gig and then posts sets of photos (I think facebook has a limit of photos you can post) - she doesn't edit, she dumps everything she takes anywhere on facebook (so you have a lot of ones that should have just been deleted), Looking at the last set she posted, there are 5 sets of 80 photos (so 400 photos), and a load of videos, many of which are over 5 minutes. So much so that if you go through the photos fast (and note I doubt anyone has gone through the photos), they are almost movie like as there are only seconds between each one, so there will be like 8 photos of the singer walking across the stage). She also livestreams sections when she goes to a gig (which I find incredibly rude). That is how she experiences gigs, I guess that is how some people like to do it, experience it through the screen. I remember when I was a kid there was a whole thing about sneaking a tape recorder or camera in, and how security wouldn't let any of it through. I am a huge fan of having a camera I can take everywhere but do believe that in the process we have lost something, a forgettable memory.

it does seem a bit much. I saw people checking messages and using their phone discreetly and security had no problem with that. It was holding your phone up to video that got you thrown out and I am sure that you can explain that easily without having an issue, if your wife doesn't need to hold her phone up above her head while videoing to check it, but whether you go or not is your choice. I am 100% behind their decision, it made the gig so much better for the rest

Just a quick reminder that Hurtsfall are playing tomorrow at the Gothic Gathering at The Victoria Biker's Pub in Coalville. The stage times have changed slightly since the final line-up was announced. The new Saturday schedule is: DJ - 1:30 ish 11.00 finish - AUGER - 9:55 -10:35 - SHE MADE ME DO IT 9:10 -9:55 - CHAOS BLEAK 8:20 9.05 - THE GLASS HOUSE MUSEUM 8:00 - 8:20 stage break 7:20 - 8:00 - HURTSFALL 6:30 - 7:15 - SIOUXIE SUICIDE 5:50 - 6:25 - MARYS HIDDEN LIGHT 5:00 - 5:45 - WEST WICKHAMS 4:00 - 5:00 a very Gothic Burlesque party DJ 3:00 - 4:00

Good choice. I own a Rumble 100 V3, it has a great sound, it's loud enough to play live with a quiet drummer and is ridiculously light.

On SansAmp products like our Bass Driver DI etc, the "Drive" control acts like the volume control on a vintage non-master volume amplifier. As you turn up the control in the first half of the rotation, you increase both volume and power amp style distortion. When you get around 12 o'clock (depending upon playing style, pickup output etc) you start to get to the point where increasing the Drive results in more distortion and volume increases become less and less as the circuit gets more saturated. We do have a few products like our PSA 2.0 that have "Gain" controls. Gain increases the input sensitivity. Drive=distortion Gain=input sensitivity Volume=level These terms can be interpreted somewhat differently for different applications.

Being in a similar situation to the OP, I understand completely