Leaderboard

Very cool little venue last night, Percy’s in Whitchurch. Decent sound via 2 x Orange 1x15s, although I still prefer my 4x10. The Greco is such a pleasure to play too….. great bass.

A bit different for me last night. Went to see Alex's (our guitarist and bl in Bluesfire) other band for the first time The Rogues. A bunch of youngsters playing rocky britpop. Their new 'Live at Rockfield' ep has a definite Oasis vibe, probably because they had an ex-Oasis producer. On stage they were really good and had a more aggressive sound closer to the 'phonics, kaiser chiefs or manic street preachers. Compensation for not being on stage was being recognised by their bass player's dad 😁 They also announced they are Number 3 in the physical singles chart! 449518951_784893787140517_1242004675697746669_n.mp4

Bacchus Woodline-Handcrafted-Flame Tamo-Made In Japan Beautiful piece of wood, very smooth neck, fairly light, impeccable construction, and amazing tone...the turbo switch is such a nice feature. This just might be my last purchase. Why not, no need for another Jazz bass when you buy the best.

Four increasingly short sets at the Charlbury beer festival today. We were accosted by quite a few people who said they liked what we did, and Witney radio were interested in recording some for one of their programmes.

TONIGHT! Played Sousaphone with The Acid Morris for their Solstice (ish (Solstish?)) dance out under the concrete henge of Spaghetti Junction (Gravelly Hill Interchange for the pedants). The Acid Morris are like nothing you've ever seen, even in your wildest Psilocybin-fuelled fever dreams: Border Morris Dancing to techno remixes of traditional Morris tunes and tonight for the first time ever, a Sousaphone. Probably one of the weirdest things I've ever done, and possibly the world's first (?) Techno-Sousaphone-Morris Dance mashup (under Spaghetti Junction). It was a ton of fun, there were sermons (one entreated the audience (there was an audience!) to teach their tortoises to sing) , testimonies (mostly nonsensical (one about the benefits of Morris cats as opposed to Morris dogs (of which there are many))), there was a bit where we all cast soft toys into a bin bag (not sure why), a speech about how the Sousaphone is in fact the preferred instrument of the angels (followed by a short (improvised) Sousaphone solo) and several techno Morris dances. After that, it descended into a more or less full on rave (with Sousaphone accompaniment) which was ace - it was my first time jamming along to a techo DJ and it went down really well. I don't think anyone there had ever seen/heard a Sousaphone player jamming along with loud dance music under Spaghetti Junction. The ONE TIME your Sousaphone lights aren't charged up, you end up at a rave. LIVID. I was tempted to stay and have one of the funny looking peppermints that were going round, but my designated driver (who is also (sort of) the main idiot (and also my Dad)) was keen to nake a move (and I'm gigging tomorrow) so good sense prevailed and it was back home about 11:30 for a homebrew cider (ABV unknown) and a cheese and pickle roll instead. Their sound system has the potential for hooking up the SA C4 synth pedal, so there's every chance the next outing will involve Sousa -> Wireless mic -> synth pedal, which could be quite something.

I picked this up today and man it’s sooo good and so cheap £699. Just couldn’t resist at that price. after setting up, cutting the nut and dialling in my preferred set up I gotta say it genuinely embarrasses my other basses in the rack which at at a minimum cast twice as much. How is this fair ha. sounds a like a modern jazz, slightly darker, with slightly more tamed mids than my STD jazz 04 but with the active EQ you can of course sculpt it however you want. regardless of all the top level level parts the fretwork is really quite astounding- it’s been nicely levelled so you drop the action down crazy low (okay probably too low right now I’m just excited) and the ends are filed into nice sausages and polished. I’ll do so recording for my Instagram and uploading it here if anyone is interested:) I think if I had to have a life or death bass off where I had to slap tastelessly and overplay in order to stay alive I’d be using this ha

An odd one last night, playing with Nine Lives at the Balaclava Bar in Fraserburgh. We had to get a dep singer, as the gig was booked before we got our new singer on board and she couldn't make it. Thankfully, our previous singer agreed to step in, which is probably the best kind of dep in terms of familiarity with both the material and playing with us. We also got some new powered speakers for our PA. Gig went well, but it was a strange night - it was only moderately busy, but we had people up dancing and I could see people singing along. Yet come the end of most of the songs, nothing, nada, very little response. The floor wasn't even sticky at the end, very unusual for the Balaclava. Oh well, a gig's a gig. Gear used: Epiphone Les Paul (not very) Standard (anymore), then Yamaha BB1200, into Markbass Mini CMD 121P IV + New York 121.

We have an answer!!!! It is But you really need to read the WhatsApp messages that came when I was sent that: Worth it just for the level of confusion on show!! 🤣

My two

I would suggest that people look at it from both sides. The seller knows they have sent it, they have the tracking information, the courier claims they dropped it off, the buyer says he has nothing! The seller has no way to know what's really going on, the courier has lied through their teeth but neither the seller or buyer really know. The seller is in just a big a bind as you as they rely on the courier information. You both think you are in the right and according to the information you have, you are. The dodgy person here is the courier. Personally speaking I wouldn't leave negative or neutral feedback. You've got the amp, it's been a pain but move on. The learning lesson is don't use cheap courier companies. P2Go are bottom feeders here. I am not the seller just to be clear.

That's good advice, and quite sobering to learn that one could lose some of the value of one's property if one doesn't fulfil the terms of the court order. This, surely, will focus the mind of the luthier - and give @EddieG comfort....

Kenya dig it?

How is it that virtually no other company makes such cool finishes.

If it's a city rather than a country my bet would be on 'Monkey Gone to Hebron' by The Pixies

Billy Bootleggers in the popular Ouseburn area of Newcastle upon Tyne. Great live music bar with in-house PA & engineer (who actually knows what he’s doing). The bar has three bands on each Saturday, and we had our favourite 5pm kick-off slot. Lots of folk in for the music supplemented by passing trade and with dry warm weather, there was plenty of passing trade. We played well and the bonus of being home by 8pm makes it doubly pleasing. Oh and first gig with the Finally v2 ‘with bass in mind’ and I couldn’t be happier with how this sounds, now at the end of my chain (arguably where it’s supposed to be) it provided a lovely fat warm input to my amp, and the engineer said it’s the best D.I. he’s heard in a while. Oh and we got paid too 😎

Here’s my three at recent gigs: Limelight Pino, Bitsa in LPB (both with Ernie Ball rounds) and my latest, a Nash ‘63 with LaBella Low Tension Flats.

New cab to go with the RM800.

Hm. I think some of you guys haven't appreciated that she clearly stated the song has the exact same vibe as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Siberian Khatru". 😁

The process is also very simple. I’ve done it.

Was it something by Bob Mali?

For the first time ever, 3 5-string Jazzes in the house. And boy, are they great.

There was a Harley Benton hollow body that looked quite similar to the Eastwood Classic series , but was much cheaper. Two pickups. I picked up a Classic IV several years back on kijiji for a good price. Good bass for the money. The HB looked like a deal. I like shortscale hollow bodies.

So left home alone, and with a gig tomorrow night, I pulled the gig rig in tonight and fired everything up. And then I had a thought, maybe I should try the Finally at the end of my board as intended and guess what, yes I liked it. In fact, I really liked it, so out came the the wiring kit and I rewired my board for a second time this week. So this is the current state and what I hope is the final state. I’m really happy with how this is sounding across fretted, fretless, and EUB.

The new larger Bumble Bee double decker 🐝. I just need to programme it now.

No gigs this weekend.😒 Daryl

I've got to agree with @binky_bass - if you want a custom bass at a reasonable price then Alan has got to be your man. Build quality is exceptional and he will give you regular updates. Further to the comment about new builders with no form - I have to disagree - our own @Andyjr1515 and @Jabba_the_gut have built some amazing basses(I have at least one from each) and have a solid reputation on here. My own local custom builder, Kersey Guitars, has only recently opened his works and is building his reputation by turning out good quality instruments. Jon Letts besmirches the reputations of small luthiers by his actions - however we should remember that he is doing damage to his own reputation and integrity and we should not judge other luthiers by his performance. Personally I'd be back in the Small Claims Court asking them to enforce the original judgment. This may involve a Legal Charge on his home, which will mean if/when the property is sold YOU get paid. May take some time but you are guaranteed to be paid eventually. See para 3 below. https://moneyadvisor.co.uk/charge-on-property-2/

Few weeks ago I was struggling between standard TT5 and TT5 Superlight. I finally bought standard TT5 from BTM-Guitars, and it arrived today. Looks and sounds great! Weight is only 3,7kg.

If you don't like the string spacing then try something else with a wider/narrower spacing. I went through a ton of 5ers before I realised 18mm+ is what I need. I'm not fussy with a 4 but it makes a lot of difference with the extra string(s) IMO. Practice floating thumb technique or your own adaptation of it, particularly if you're playing passages above the bottom two strings (heresey I know). As already said play your 5 exclusively for a while, it won't take long to adapt but going back and forth early on might increase the chances of hitting the wrong string at a gig.

It can be a tough business. For example, the attached pic is pretty cool. You can't tell we're playing to 10 people in a huge room. Lol Daryl

One tip?? Listen to the people who recommend the floating thumb technique....

I couldn't limit myself to just one tip, apologies. 1. Try as many 5-string basses as you can before you buy - I've owned several and it's taken a very long time to settle on a neck shape/profile that feels comfortable for me, and a lot of basses (even expensive ones) feel like a 4-string bass with a low B crammed in there for good measure. 2. Sadly there are still musicians out there who will be prejudiced against you for showing up to a gig with a 5-string bass. Yes, they are idiots but they still exist, so get ready for the inevitable "why has your bass got so many strings?" conversations.

Loved Little Simz on the Pyramid stage just now.

I have a lovely early 80s Tokai fretless jazz with Bartolinis that I swore I'd never get rid of - beautiful warm sound and the nicest neck I've ever played. But I just never play it, and I am starting to wonder about selling it...

excellent wow thinking of using this with my Rickenbacker have managed to source a B amp

At least she used a band. Ann-Marie just used backing tracks which shouldn’t be allowed at Glastonbury IMO. Dua Lipa is in the genre that expects a show, and I think she holy delivered for a long period of time. A bit like a more polished Madonna/ Kylie show.

If you compare pics of Sandberg / Fender be aware that the overall dimensions of a Sandberg are less/smaller than a Fender.

Excellent place! We're playing there tonight...

+1 to floating thumb technique, gives you more freedom and flexibility in your plucking hand, and not least it is the absolutely most effective way to mute strings you don't play. That said, even to start with, I had no issues going back and forth between my 4 string, standard 19mm string spacing, bass, and then my 5 string, 16.5mm string spacing, bass. Guitar and Bass VI however, every time I play those, which doesn't happen too often, my fingers will stumble over the strings on both my fretting and plucking hand because of the narrow string spacing until I've played it a while and gotten used to it. But we are all different, what might not be an issue for me might for you, and the other way around.

Wait until you've had a bit of back and forth before leaving negative feedback. They've done their side of things and sent the cab, it's got to you, so I'd say the worst you could do is leave neutral feedback.

Sounds like you have a Netflix documentary all lined up.

Update - managed to play the first fret on the 5th string. Got there slowly and not pushing myself but it's a relief to know that I'm on the mend! Gonna take me a while before I'm comfortable around the fretboard but really good to know I'm back on the mend!

Photo for those not on FB.

Another gig at a bluegrass festival last night. Only 4 of us (bass, banjo, mandolin and guitar) and we met for our usual one hour rehearsal just before our set and then had a lot of fun on stage with only a few minor issues. We have played this festival before and the sound was great, even better than usual with the perfect mix coming through the monitors. I had a bass solo in one song, quite rare in bluegrass, and nailed it and came home feeling very good about the evening. No photos this time but it was a lovely warm evening, perfect weather for an outdoor show and we will be back in early August for another festival. I'm mainly a jazz guy but these bluegrass gigs really keep me on my toes and playing with very good musicians is always a bonus and of course learning new songs is good for me musically and mentally. 😊

Put your 4 string basses to one side for 6 months and dont touch them. Only focus on the 5 string techniques. Learn to play across the neck more than along the neck. Practice your muting technique. Go slow to start with and make sure you play cleanly You asked for 1 tip, I gave you 4....what does that say about a bass player who obviously can't count! 🤣🤣

1. Buy the best 5er you can find. 2. Put your 4 string bass away and don't touch it until you are fluent in 5. Sorry. Can't count.

My wonderful old 1966 Precision. It's the best one I've ever played, but it's too valuable to take out on tour. I do use it for the odd local gig. The picture is about 1994. I've owned it since about 1984 or so. Best £260 I ever spent.