Leaderboard

I managed to steal a few moments for some playing this morning between meetings, and I'm very pleased. Size isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, not much bigger than 1/2 my pedalboard, so that worry has totally gone. Build quality, as with all Boss stuff I guess, is very solid and workmanlike. I only played around in manual mode so far, there's obviously a load of pre programmed stuff in there, but I wanted to see what this will be like in real life for me. The natural tone of the unit is lovely flat, I assume it's not doing much, if anything, but it sounds nice. The amp sims are good, a good range of options which all seem to be quite different. The myriad of effects all seem to be very useable, the range of some is limited a little compared to separates, by the limits of the physical controls, but there is plenty there and it's all useable. Everything I use for my regular tone is there, plus all the extras I use when nobody is looking, like Delays and Reverbs, the Slicer is well cool, and the Synths are really musical, and again, thanks to the limits to some of the settings, it's hard to find a Synth that's unusable, which in my experience is very easy with the likes of an EHX Microsynth. The regular Octaver is VERY OC-2-like, the Polyphonic has a similar vibe too, but tracks properly, which was cool as often the polyphonic ones sound a bit pants. The compressors all sounds different, which was a surprise, but lots to explore for someone that rarely gets on with compressors, unless it's in the studio with someone who knows how to operate an expensive one. The filters, autowah etcs, all very nice, and easier to set up than my MXR, plus there's 4 different core options, unlike the single one on that pedal. I was worried about the ability to stack drives, but as the core tone is so nice, I can achieve that by setting an amp sim to be overdriven and then use the drive section for more drive. Perfect. The different drives and distortions are cool too, will need a proper play to really dial those in. Of course, there is more you can do under the hood to make all the above more cleverer, but from just using the physical controls I can do everything I need and want to do. I'm impressed, very impressed. Does anyone want to buy some pedals?...

Of course it matters - a guitarist and a drummer are wrong and need corrected, tag team style with a keys player. Get your head in the game!

I was looking for something understated and unassuming for the 70s Glam band. Something that would allow me to dissolve into the background and not stand out too much. Think I’ve got it about right with this one….

Obligatory post. My first "new" amp for quite some time and total overkill for bedroom practice, but YOLO. Sounds great through the ACME cabs and plenty of tone options. More present in the mids, and feels better suited to these cabs than my Tecamp Puma 1000 which sounds too polite by comparison. These rarely come up used, as I've learned from past experience, so i didn't hang around this time. Thanks @Mama Huhu for a smooth, easy and honest deal. A bonus is that my better half hasn't even noticed 😁

A rare photo of me stepping up to the mic, good job there aint no sound 😱

Well, your resident grippy Scot is here to tell you that £1500 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a bass - I've bought CARS for less FFS! The most I have ever spent on a bass is £1300, and I thought long and hard about it. FWIW it was my G&L wunkay and it was my post-lockdown treat to myself. Apart from that, I try to keep it below a grand. There's so much good stuff appearing around the £500 mark these days (and lower) that there's no need to spend more to get "quality" any more. The "high end" manufacturers know this, and they are running scared from the increase in quality at the "lower" end of the market. They can't make their stuff any better (because they were already "the best", right?) so all they can do to differentiate themselves is to jack the price up to create this artificial aura of superiority - tapping into this "I paid more so it must be better, right?" part of our psyche. It's all smoke and mirrors. The high end aren't innovating, they aren't improving, and eventually people will see through this transparent bluff. I already have, I think.

They are both quoting Jimi Hendrix, Third Stone From The Sun. https://youtu.be/Zts332Y-nyg?t=42

So after some hassle with the courier delivering to the address down the road that is one word different to mine (not the first time; I have complained) I have the Three10. The true test will be on a gig (I have two in a couple of weeks), but my initial impressions are good. The tone is what I expected: overall very warm, a little less upper mids than my Compact, a touch more bass, but just the right amount of the right kind of highs (IMHO). I've played around with the tweeter and not heard a massive difference with it on or off, but I play with flats and no wild effects, so frankly I'd rather have a mellow tweeter. The wheels and handles mean its not much more awkward to move than the Compact, though I did not enjoy carrying it the hundred or so metres back to my flat! Plus it matches my office.

Completely agree with that, especially if, like I did last year, you get a hosting band seat. Then you're really in at the deep end, but it's very liberating (once you've got over the 'I've never played/heard this before, how can I play it now?' thing)...

Surely G♯ A♯ B. Let's not encourage this mixing of sharps and flats. Although in Cm, I suppose that should really be A♭ B♭ C♭.

Hello everybody, i am new here but I just found something in my garage that might interest you all. A Peavey Zodiac BXP white with the De Scorpio neck and mirror pickguard. I bought it in the mid 2000s like this, i think it was an aborded project to build a white Zodiac DE. I never played it but now I do and it’s a good bass even with the BXP pickups, I might swap them for the Dimarzio Relentless PJ but for now a good clean as well as oiling the fretboard and a new strings. what do you think of my findings ? PS : Sorry if my English is bad it is not my birth language.

here's the full length with pickguards, dodgy control panel and quite nice knobs. I can see better pots wiring and capacitors on the horizon. None of this is difficult to solder up using decent CTS pots, and decent wires. A close up of the front. if this was a Hollywood film, you;d be able to reverse engineer my DNA just by looking at the reflections in the knobs Strap points in, pick guard screws aren't quite right. Will probably move to silver button heads as opposed to countersunk. Here's the back. This is a 60mm wide backbone rather than an 80mm backbone. Seems fine though and saves circa 300g. Things that still need to be done. I still can't get a decent glossy finish so all my guitars are still raw. Six months and no tangible progress. The pieces that make up the outside are not glued together yet. There is tiny movement between them. This needs to be done but I don't want to screw up before Saturday. Rewire the contol panel. probably not before Saturday though I might have a sneaky look on Amazon today for next day shipment on CTS pots. Reprint the pickguards as they aren't perfect. Probably change the pickups to my new Wilkinson ones and design a new pickguard. Thats thne nice thing about this bass, don;t like the pickups, try somnething different. Perhaps a telecaster deluxe design or a strat type design with three pickups. Not a massive problem to do.

Been taking these

Been away, doing stuff. Big life changes, got uninspired, left the instruments in a cupboard. And then i remembered i'm a frikin' bass player baby! Ging 5 strings a go, i blame Nightwish!

Inspired by chat about current gear prices here and elsewhere, I thought I'd share this advert, which I recently stumbled across while digging through some newspaper archives for work-related research. This appeared in the 15 September 1963 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The fact that Leonards (a local department store) was putting these prices up-front in big writing suggests to me that they regarded these as competitive – they wouldn't have been simply stating RRP here. To put these figures in context, here are the CPI-inflation-adjusted conversions of those prices. They're surprisingly close to the current RRP for top-of-the-line (non-custom-shop) American-made Fenders, higher in most cases. BASSES Jazz Bass $279.50 = $2,854.61 (£2,271.66) Precision Bass $229.50 = $2,343.95 (£1,865.28) Plus another $59.50 ($607.69; £483.59) if you're a fancypants who wants a case. GUITARS Stratocaster $259.50 = $2,650.35 (£2,109.11) Jazzmaster $349.50 = $3,569.54 (£2,840.59) Jaguar $379.50 = $3,875.94 (£3,084.42) Cases from $49.50 ($505.56; £402.31) AMPS Piggyback Bassman $399.50 = $4,080.21 (£3,246.97) Princeton $99.50 = $1,016.22 (£808.69) I've had a look through contemporary used car listings from the same area, and while you couldn't get a nice car for these sorts of prices, you could get a car. Instead of a Jazz Bass you could have picked up a (ahem, stick-shift) 1955 Mercury Montclair, and instead of the misbegotten beast that is the Fender Jaguar (with case), you could be cruising around in the misbegotten beast that is the Ford Edsel. Ask yourself, what are the ladies going to go wild for – a Fender Jaguar or this fly whip?

The Eagle has landed. It will come as no surprise to anyone that it is all good.

Here is my Electra for sale in the classified. I wouldn`t pay nearly £800 new but for £425 posted, yum yum!

Yep, it was played by Phil Spalding. In fact, Phil talks about that Bassline in the video below. He was a very funny character:

Less upper mid is a characteristic of their 10's vs their 12's. Having had a Two10 and three One10's, and now the two Super Compacts. I was a little naive when I bought the first SC. I thought it would be just a bigger version of their 10, but it was very different sonically, and at first I was a little disappointed to be honest. The SC's are more "hi-fi", they reproduce a lot more of what goes in, without colour. Once I got used to them, I found I could get what I wanted out of them, and they sound huge, but it did involve a change of amp! The Bergantino I was using just didn't sound how I wanted it to through the SC's, it was too pronounced in the upper mid, very hard to describe, but almost clanky. Bear in mid, I'm a vintage P Bass with flats and the tone rolled off kind of chap. Now this 3x10 is out, I'm rather excited at the prospect of having "that tone" back again, smooth, warm, old school. I've withdrawn the Berg from sale as I want to see how it sounds through the 3x10. The wait is going to kill me.... Rob

Jam nights are a brilliant way to develop your skills. Yes there's the odd hiccup, but it's more than made up for by times when you know you've really been able to lift a performance.

I played (and still play) a weekly blues jam , so if somebody was doing blues material and needed somebody at the last minute , I’d often get a call simply because I knew so many players. And over the years had been in a lot of varied lineups. These days I try and get a song list in advance and give everything a listen. Sometimes I just have to listen hard and trust the instincts. My odds are pretty good at nailing the groove , but there are times the inevitable is inevitable.

Never tried flats on my Longhorn, so am curious to know what they'll be like. The rounds have been on it a while now, and probably would be too dead for me on another bass but still sound fine on the Dano!

I've shared most/many of the experiences of the above @JPJ / @Phil Starr and in a very short 12 month period went from 'old school' backline projecting to FOH for guitar + bass + loud drummer (I've worn custom plugs for 20ish years... still lost a bit of hearing), to silent stage, IEM, PA carrying everything; in the process I've also ran bass/others through monitors +/- IEM +/- backline etc etc (as @Phil Starr suggested). Some/most of these have 'eventually' worked for me but my main two caveats have been that your IE have to isolate effectively (designs/shapes vary and make this tricky) and more importantly the person working the initial PA/mixer set up has to know what they are doing! I spent many frustrating months trying to get a sound through my IE that even resembled bass never mind MY bass tone. I dabbled with all sorts of pedals / DI's et al to no avail, eventually establishing that the mixing desk had some architecture that had (guitar) pre-sets integrated into the desk/interface input I was using. I was all but ready to say 'stuff it' and I remember reading all the threads and thinking many on BC were putting up with rubbish tone for the sake of the Emperor's new clothes... but it worked for me eventually! As it happens I am now happier that I do not have to go down any one route; I now regularly swap between ALL combinations depending on the situation - there is no right/wrong!

Another Satdy night, another bar...this one, however, was a bit upmarket/older clientele (a new venue to us), and when a 60th birthday Do walked in (about 15 ladies, there were balloons and sashes, that kinda vibe), a hasty rearrange of the set towards the Girly Dancy Songs led to a more engaged night than it could have been... Downside, tho, was something that hasn't happened for a bit: Singist/Geetard/BL got there first, and texted 'Lads, it's up two flights of stairs', which was followed by three immediate responses of 'Oh, f**k nooooo...' Still, as I say, that's the first one this year, so can't really complain, especially as I've tweaked me back (Physio booked Weds) and was able to honestly swerve much of the heavy lifting...thank the gods for Helix and inears...

Ey Up Mi Duck festival near Doncaster on Saturday night. We were last on and they went absolutely nuts for us, singing along so loud I could clearly hear them over the on-stage racket. This was the view while the previous band played at the other end of the tent. Sunday night at the Castle and Falcon in Birmingham supporting Theatre Of Hate. There weren't many in, and the response seemed a little lack-lustre, especially when compared to Saturday night, but we won some new fans and sold some merch so that'll do!

With In Isolation at the Black Bull in Gateshead on Saturday. This is great gig but the last two times it's been rather poorly attended, with this time probably due to to Eurovision and several other high-profile goth gigs up north. Despite that those that did turn up seemed to enjoy it and some were even dancing all the way through the set. Sold some CDs afterwards and had several people asking when the new songs are likely to be released. Special mention to the support band Machiner who were absolutely brilliant, and by far the most interesting and enjoyable new band I've seen for some time. Go and check them out on your streaming or download service of choice. There's a good chance that we'll be sharing the bill with them again in the future. The whole gig was video'd so hopefully I'll have some visuals to post later.

It’s rare to find one of these that isn’t signed by Sting 😄

https://www.sweetwiter.com/store/detail/Punchline--jhs-punchline-bass-station-pedal-sweetwiter-exclusive

I do agree. The SC's are very revealing. They precipitated a switch from my Bergantino to a Tecamp Puma 900, simply because the Tecamp had a more old school baked in tone with the "Taste" control. I admit, I am odd, there's not a lot of top end in my tone, and I do like a pushy low mid.

I have an early Shinko Korean Longhorn , a Chinese Dolphin nose and a recent Korean short scale DC with the truss rod cover. I’ve only had to adjust the Longhorn twice in over twenty years. It does not require seasonal adjustments like Fender style instruments. I picked up the Dolphin nose about seven or eight years ago , I adjusted things when I bought it , that’s been it. I’ve adjusted the DC just once. I did change the adjustable metal bridge to a wooden one. The wood sounds better and there is a sweet spot for it.

In March 1969 my Fender Precision cost me £120, nearly £1700 in today's money. That was the first "mass produced" bass I bought. It was a massive outlay for a young kid, but was definitely worth every penny. We don't know we're born today. CNC and Far East labour costs have given us playable basses for peanuts. Which is why so many can afford "collections". I have a cheap bass at home which feels good to play but you can hear where they made the savings. The pickups are OK but up against my Sadowsky they don't come close. IMO if you can hear the difference, more expensive basses are always worth it.

Last night was Mondo Generator at Cobblestones in Bridgestone. The band are fronted by ex Kyuss & QOTSA bassist Nick Oliveri and have been around since before QOTSA. The two support bands, Nomad Lizard and Kadabra were awesome. Kadabra's bassist is my new hero, serious amounts of groove and awesome moves. Mondo Generator were just awesome, mostly their own stuff but with a few of Nicks songs from QOTSA and Kyuss. It was really cool to see someone I've seen play stadiums and arenas play in a small pub and hanging out with the punters.

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I am really fond of this tobacco sunburst. Anyone know the prices?

As far as I know the bassline on 'I'm too Sexy' was played by the sadly recently deceased Phil Spalding, not Richard Fairbrass.

They look nice. Eyewatering prices. I think the main problem I see with these is that I've never - from a Spector perspective - seen him playing anything except the honeyburst(?) PJ and JJ models. He's not associated with anything that looks like that.

Don't faff about, just come, bring basses, amps cabs and be prepared for an ace day with great food and top company.

My 1993 Alembic Europa Bass with Koa wood ❤️🎸

Had a UL310 and used it for 80 odd gigs when I was playing a lot but then sold it in favour of 2 x UL112. Eventually picked up 2 more UL310s and a UL902 but sadly never got use use them in anger as the band folded. Like so much gear they got moved on and so I never got to hear what this rig actually sounded like apart from in my garage. Great kit.

My three a few years back.... ....an '82, '64, and '71 (albeit modified with Jazz PUP and fretless board). A great gang, but collectively worth over £10,000. I love the idea of vintage Fenders, but in terms of value it's nothing more than an antiques market, you can build instruments of equal quality for significantly less than £1000 if you're patient. The magic is in the player not the instrument, despite what the dealers tell you 👍 PS those two rigs were also lovely, the Ampeg way better than should have been the case at the price - and so easy to hear on stage - and the Boogie/Bag End just glorious at any price

The gear

Drove back from seeing Phil Campbell then watching pub gig in Narberth over the weekend. Utterly knackered. Bluesfire played Cubanas in Barry, always good for us, as crowd into blues rock and guitar pyrotechnics. As I was getting ready to load (gig less than a mile away) had non-stop thunder for 5 minutes out over the channel. Managed to load as first rain came scattered big drops, but got in car and then it went biblical. Sat outside venue for 15 minutes until it stopped. Got in, to find guitarist's dad stuck in rain with pa , lights and puncture. Used venue pa and lights (as good as ours, better monitors, but vocals only). Meant a speedy knock down later. Numbers a bit low due to weather, so started 15 minutes late. Numbers picked up to be ok for venue but not as many as we expect. Familiar faces and some new ones. Alex got the crazies and did some mad solos, I played my '76 mij Maya fretless (really overdoing the slides and posing with frantic arpeggios) and Flea Jazz. Alex dropped me into a solo so I got the crazies too. On one song Alex called The Hunter. Paul started drumming Walk In My Shadow, and I started the Hunter as Alex came in with Sultans of Swing 🤣 somehow we all settled on Walk In My Shadow by the first change. Another song my high d started feeding back, in the playout solo so I had some fun with that. Felt like were were jyst having fun while people watched. Despite this, went down really well and we were bombarded with great feedback, especially for Alex. Several people promised to come and see my other, new, band on Saturday our first gig in Barry. Walked out on a high, promoter said he'll come to my gig on Saturday too. Nothing for us until July now, but got a good bucket on top of fee, so we were able to stash enough for rehearsal studion end of june and get extra each. Now radox bath...

Forgot to add. I laughed like I haven’t laughed for ages over some puerile, schoolboy “band humour”. Whilst we were setting up, the DJ started playing “come on Eileen”. I innocently said, “Am I the only one who doesn’t dislike this song as think we could play it?” One of the guitarists, replied, “maybe, but I wouldn’t trust Liam (singer) not to change the words to make it filthy”. Long story short, we started putting the word “spaff” into song titles and lyrics (obvs not whilst actually playing them). Childish. Yes. But we found it hilarious.

We played at a charity football match at Concord Rangers, Canvey Island. We were kindly asked back after playing at the inaugural event last summer. As usual with these type of event, load in and setup was a bit chaotic with lots of people, and the schedule was rather loose, so we finished playing a lot later than expected. Started playing at 6.30 with 2x 1 hour sets, but we didn’t finish until gone 10pm as they held the charity auction during our break (by what I overheard, signed football memorabilia was changing hands for a lot of money which was great for the charity!) Luckily, a lot of people stayed on after the raffle and auction so we still had a good sized (rather drunk) audience till the end of the night. It also marked the temporary return of one of our regular singers, Jenny, as it was local for her and she's heavily involved with the family running the event. She was on great form and was like she hadn't been away. Shoebury Con Club next week.