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Well I've gone and done it again, another ACG! It's no secret I'm a huge fan of @skelf's work, and I'm happy to call him a friend, so I guess it's no surprise that when I fancied another bass, it would of course be an ACG. I haven't had a 4 string for a while, and I've never had a super fancy one, so here we go! This is a Salace SC E Type 4 string. It's actually a downsized version of the original design, by about 10% I think. The scale is 31.5", which has become my go to scale length these days, every bass I own is the same. It has a Tasmanian Burl Blackwood top, with a Wenge accent on a White Limba body. Set in, asymmetrical Wenge neck, with an Ebony Fingerboard, super slim 36mm nut width and 24 frets. SB single coil pickup upfront, and a BZ1 hybrid humbucker at the bridge, with a 4-way rotary switch for front ceramic coil, both coils in series, both in parallel and finally the rear alnico coil. East Uni-pre with active/passive switching. Hipshot a-type bridge, 18mm spacing and Gotoh Resolite Tuners. I know single cut basses are a bit marmite for some, and single cut 4 strings are quote a rare beast, but I'm absolutely over the moon with it. It has such a massive range of available sounds, it's incredibly comfortable to play too. As usual, working with @skelf was a dream, amazing communication throughout and the bass arrived well within the estimated 12 month build time. Here's a cheeky unboxing video >> And finally, a few more pics... Cheers, Eude

I have a pair of very narrow speaker cabs. I assumed that a particular head would fit them when they are stacked vertically. However there are a few millimetres overhanging on either side. This, of course, renders the set up entirely unusable. Sensing the opportunity to buy more gear, I am in the market for a bass head no wider than 10 inches. I am aware so far of the Elf, Gnome, Bam, and Harley Benton Block. Can you recommend any others? Ideally with precise measurements. Ta.

Yeah, but you're not likely to get 'opportunistically stolen'....

I collected this compact but weighty beast from Bristol today - a last bastion of the 'oldskool' Trace Elliot dating from Feb '99. I'll not fly into a drawn out essay here but history suggests this particular era of TE wasn't known for the same level of quality as their heyday but this example has stood the test of time. Everything works and it makes all the noises it's supposed to. Initial findings suggest the tonality is a little different than the SMX models and the additional features are very interesting so I'll do a review at some point. Did I need yet another black and green box with Trace Elliot written on it? Of course not, but I convinced myself 'something more compact' would no doubt 'come in useful' which if I'm being honest is at least half true. Anyways, I'm very pleased with my new toy as it sounds truly fantastic. ❤️

Many bassists of Magma, the French fusion band, have been using the cello tuning. Jannick TOP (from 1973 to 1974 and in 1976) started using this tuning in the 70's, because he was a classical cello player and because of the power it was delivering (through a full tube SVT 300 with the mandatory 8x10 cab...). He is using this gauges: C = 0.135, G = 0.095, D = 0.065 and A = 0.045. Philippe BUSSONNET (from 1996 to 2019) is using some slightly lighter gauges: C = 0.130, G = 0.090, D = 0.060 and A = 0.040. Worth listening to Magma and calling @Dad3353... 😉

Cheap wireless is a compromise on sound quality, and if you start running high numbers of channels you'll get in to issues managing coordination of frequencies between each unit. If wireless was the right solution for tidy stages and quick setups, professional touring shows would be using it for all of the connections - and they absolutely don't. If the cables around your drum kit are messy, whoever is cabling it up might just need to take more care, or you might just need some different length cables to have less mess. As far as keeping it tidy goes, it's always best to start your cable runs from the stagebox end, run a neat route that's not under people's feet, and coil any slack at the bottom of the mic stand, so if you do need to move the mic, it's easy to do so, and you don't get a tangled nest of excess cable back at the stagebox or mixer where everything meets. If the drum kit is setup in the same layout every day, I'll drop the stagebox for drums to the downstage left edge of the drum kit (snare side, near the front corner of the drum rug). I'll use short (2 or 3 metre) XLR for everything close enough, and 5 metre for the couple of things that are a bit further to reach (floor toms, the far overhead). If you get appropriately lengthed cables, run them neatly, then label both ends of each cable with what it's for, you can put them tidily in place so they all run together, then use wraps of PVC tape every six inches or so to make a loom up and they'll all stay attached together as one piece like that for the duration of the tour, and be coiled away as one at the end of each night. I'll do the same for anywhere else on stage where there are multiple cables always running to the same place. This way, you just have one big coil of cable to pull out for the kit, and you just unfurl it neatly from the stage box across the kit and everything is more or less in place. Goes in and out quicker, and you don't spend ages searching for individual cables or wondering what's plugged in where.

I made a Nordy-esque mute a year or two back. The sponge was from some packing material which I glued to an offcut of wood trim. I added a couple of little magnets so I can put it on my mic stand when it's not in use.

Also, the Embassy is usually significantly cheaper than the Thunderbird, the geometry is "better" (in that the tuners are not in the next time zone), and the Embassy I had was super light - great if you like that sort of thing/have back issues.

As I've always said, any gig where I was worried about the safety of my instruments, I would be more worried about my own personal safety, and wouldn't be playing it in the first place.

Taddaaaaaa

Just finished the neck conversion on my lacewood U S. Masters bass. Nice to have 24 frets on a shortie. The neck was an unfinished 70 quid jobbie from ebay, I think the board is pao ferro though it was sold as rosewood, but I'm happy as the original neck has a pao ferro board. Here's a picture next to the Mustang for comparison. I only had to move the bridge back by 15mm for intonation. Eventually I'll be defretting it, but having just fettled the frets I think I'll play as is for a bit after all that effort! Finished neck and fretboard in tru-oil, just 3 coats for a minimal satin sheen.

Over the decades, the stuff I bought has, maybe, changed in commercial value, but it doesn't interest me to even look it up, as I won't be selling any of it, anyway. Good when I bought 'em, and still good all this time later. I'd not hesitate to change a worn-out pot, or have a p/u re-wound; the 'collector' value (if any...) is of no interest to me. I'd rather have my stuff working at its best.

As it says, use the code ANNIVERSARY25 to get it for £35.62 with free delivery. Think these are usually around £55-£60 but that code is 25% off their already discounted price: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315276816222

Fifths rather than fourths, surely? Are you aiming at the same tuning as a cello or an octave down? For the same tuning, you'd start with a D string (0.060" or so) as the C string, G string (0.040") as itself, then what would normally be a C string on a 6 string bass (0.030") as the D string and something like a 0.020" as the A string. If you have a look at https://www.daddario.com/globalassets/pdfs/accessories/tension_chart_13934.pdf you'll see what would be needed to get similar tensions across the four strings.

just added a Thumpinator, decided to go 3@1 > thumpinator > cali76 > jive > warped vinyl > bassrig

I have received the pedal, and not only does it work flawlessly, it also sounds no short of amazing, both as cleanish preamp and as overdrive! I had high expectations, but got to say they have been exceeded, I am blown away with how awesome this pedal sounds. Edit!!!: I probably ought to add, that while this pedal is an astonishing sounding overdrive it is unfortunately quite noisy when engaged. However I just swapped the 2 stock EHX 12AY7EH tubes with 2 EHX 12AX7EH tubes, and beside the pedal obviously not being capable of quite as low gain overdrive settings but on the other hand also being capable of higher gain overdrive/distortion than before, it is actually also a whole lot quieter (as in much less noisy) dialed in to deliver about the same amount of gain (9 o'clock Vs. before maxed gain knob) as before the tube swap (relative high gain overdrive (but not distortion), and not any more noisy than your average drive pedal), but also the drive it delivers is considerably tighter sounding, which I prefer. So unless you need just breaking up/light tube breakup sounds I can warmly recommend swapping the 2 stock EHX 12AY7EH tubes with higher gain EHX 12AX7EH tubes (or whichever brand 12AX7 tubes you prefer). In any case I can confirm that tube swap seems to make a substantial difference to this pedal. EHX ought to re-release all these big 2 x tube pedals, not only do they all sound amazing, they are also amazing value for the money (or well, judging from the 4 I've owned myself (Black Finger (still own), The Wiggler (even owned 2 of these at some point, but was stupid enough to sell both), LPB 2ube (which I very much regret being stupid enough to sell, awesome stereo/2 channel tube preamp, being able to bridge the channels and use it as a tube overdrive too), and now the English Muff'n), and from the demos I've heard to the others).

Mrs.H and I are currently at HRC Dominican Republic and there is a dismal selection of basses on offer here. The first one I saw was in the main concourse and is probably one of a thousand that Gene Simmons has played @cetera. The second was on display in the HRC shop and isn’t a celeb bass - just a bit bizarre. I’m still not sure what’s going on here.

My Ibanez AGB200-BKF

What's that you say? Oh, go on then!

Thought I'd throw a couple of quick thoughts down re the new desk I got (CQ12T). This thing is so small, light and easy to use out of the box that even old hands like me can manage... when you get used to navigation. Nothing unusual in that but I do still find myself toggling through screens trying to remember where the send fader is for something or which screen is the one that allows adjustment all of all of a certain setting in one place. The various PEQs (parametric graph type) are handy and easy to use and I quickly found myself converting the quick/simple channel set ups to the advanced mode, which I didn't think I would but it is quite intuitive... when I can remember which bloody screen. The negative... there has to be one! The one thing that I thought was initially clever was the auto-fader feature... but it isn't! Essentially the desk sets the input gain for you, based upon the input applied by instrument or individual voice and once initially set it will tweak the gain down if the input starts to exceed that which was initially set (guitarist anyone); fine and dandy and this works 'in isolation'! First full band rehearsal using the desk, I went through each of the 3 vocals, bass and acoustic guitar (no drums or electric guitar through the desk at this point), all set independently and sounding good (no peaking etc and the levels looked about where I'd expect them to be if I was using a fader meter). Band kicks into the first song and 8 bars in we are all looking at each other wondering where the hell the vocals and bass just went? Yep, the desk had turned us down and it will not reinstate levels if it pulls them back. I get that with everything playing the mics may well have received extra gain/input but we weren't pointing mics at the speakers or anything but I'm puzzled as to why it pulled back the bass in the desk! The bass was effectively DI straight from a preamp pedal. We tried this several times and each time it did the same thing, so I had to manually reset them and disable that feature. No big deal but a pointless exercise/feature if it won't work on a basic level. I'll report back with new thoughts as and when but has anyone else got one of these desks and wants to chip in?

Ha ha, I have no intention of helping with your GAS. Now I just need to speak to Alan about commission

Thats a good description...thank you, you dont help my GAS for ordering a new ACG.... Jonny

Rival to Shirley, you mean I'll see ya later ...

TC BH250 is 9.6", the BQ250 and BQ500 are both listed as 10". Was looking at the HB Block 800B recently, looks like a crazy amount of amp for the money. Remember the colour has to match as well otherwise the width is irrelevant and you'll need to buy yet another amp.

Just an update on the Harley Benton. Spent a bit of time on it yesterday, I have some studio stuff upcoming and give my recent bout of sickness (see elsewhere), I've not played much. Used it for about an hour, fairly loud, plugging in various devices, started to get some farty overtones/weird distortion; wondered whether it might be the cabs (nope)...it just doesn't seem to like a hot input. Went back to the Darkglass and it was fine. I realise the AO900 is undoubtedly going to be more robust, but in conclusion, I guess it's fine for short-term playing, but not for longer sessions.

This is what was posted in the GT/GX facebook group: GT-1000 Version 4.0 – Now Available – Now, even more creative features have been added to the industry-leading guitar effects processor, including three newly developed high-gain guitar amp types that spotlight the continuing evolution of our advanced AIRD and MDP technologies. Meet the Crew X-Ultra is inspired by a classic British stack amp modified with a modern multi-stage gain circuit. X-Optima features an innovative new gain algorithm that takes full advantage of MDP’s adaptive frequency shaping. X-Titan is well-suited for down tunings and extended-range guitars with seven or eight strings. Also Available: GT-1000CORE Version 2.0 Doesn't seem like anything new for bass. I'm curious to see if they're working on something for the GX-100 too...

I’ve got one vintage bass - a 1970 precision bass. It’s a gigging instrument not a case queen - it’s on its third set of frets and has had various repairs to wiring, jack socket etc. It’s an 54 year old bass at the end of the day. But yeah there are gigs and which aren’t suitable for it, and for those I have a cheap and cheerful pair of Yamaha basses instead. I don’t see the point of owning anything I don’t use, but at the same time I decide whether it’s best left at home for some gigs.

I stand corrected it wasn't Ted Danson from Cheers but a guy called Ted McGinley who looked very similar to Danson in the early days. Leather Tuscadero was her character. I remember it well. Tom Hanks also played a part in one episode when he was very young. Think he was trying to kill Fonzie for some reason. ? Robin Williams as Mork was also in it.

There's something that makes me feel a bit sad about it. Also, vinyl records being put on walls. Has a similar vibe to stuffed animal heads on walls. Trophies no longer doing what made them good.

Just to echo what @WinterMute has said, get as much RAM as you can afford. None of the M series Macs allow you to upgrade RAM as that type memory is part of the main CPU. So the days of slipping in an extra 16GB as you can afford it are long gone. Personally speaking I'd get memory over CPU every time now. Whilst you can run an older version of Logic Pro on the older laptops, I run an older version on my 2013 MacBook Pro, I have a feeling that its quite difficult now to do this as you have to buy the new version on a newer Mac which then allows you use the older version on the older Mac. So you *may* need a newer Mac for a while. I would certainly investigate this further before putting any money down on an older piece of kit just to be safe. The older Macs do work very, very well. though. My 2013 Macbook Pro was used every single day for 8-10 hours for 6-7 years. The keyboard is fine, there are 2-3 dead pixels now on the display, but you don't notice it in use. I only keep and use it really to annoy some of the other people in the teams who have the latest and greatest MacBook Pro which is quite an expensive beast now. If you do want to buy a second hand mac, I would suggest the following: 1. Check the battery %. If it is less than 90% after being charged up all day/night, assume you need a new one. Check the number of power cycles. These can be expensive from Apple. They are more expensive from Amazon as the vast majority of the batteries for old Macbooks are made from second hand batteries and are junk. Learnt that lesson the hard way so you end up buying more of them. They aren't that difficult to change, but it needs some care and attention. 2. Carefully check every single key on the keyboard. The Mac keyboards are excellent on pre 2015 models and after 2021. The middle years are very iffy as they changed the mechanism. 3. Load up a graphics program and make a few solid colour backgrounds or windows. e.g. Red, Green and Blue. Then move that window around the screen to check for dead pixels. Most of the time, you won't see the dead pixel as the screen has different colours but this can find dead pixels quite easily. 2-3 aren;t an issue, 20-30 might be. 4. Check the USB and HDMI connections are OK by plugging stuff in.Sometimes crap gets into the sockets and stops them working. 5. Check the PSU whilst its working. Is it too hot, people scrimp and save and use an under powered PSU. A 3rd party PSU is not a problem, but make sure its the right rating. Unplug the PSU and watch the battery percentage for a few minutes to see if it goes down a lot. My old Macbook won't last more than 45 minutes without being plugged in as the battery is rubbish now and I can't find a decent replacement. 6. See if the lid on the Macbook opens smoothly. Never seen one go wrong, but I have heard of it. If in doubt ask on here. There are loads out there for sale, if you pass on one, don't worry, another one will be along soon. Rob

I've updated the first post to say the answer is on p2.

I think Suzie Quatro had a reoccurring role on Happy Days. Daryl

Went with a TC BH800 in the end, picked one up off here for a very good price. Sounds fantastic and is frighteningly loud, can be heard over an enthusiastic drummer at 9 o'clock and just keeps going past that with big clean lows. Obligatory awful lighting practice room shot, possibly a bit overkill for a rehearsal rig but it's easy to carry and was sub £600 for the lot. It's a knee high beast of a setup!

My mistake 35/40 years ago was getting the best instruments I could. Then watching them rocket in value and become too valuable to take outside the door. Painted myself into a corner I didn't see coming.

Yes , but actually it's the City of West Bend WI. Washington County 20 minutes north of Milwaukee. Also home of Happy Days and The Fonz. Daryl

I would have thought that the Epiphone Embassy would get you right in the ballpark for tone, playability and cost.

Jumping into this conversation while on the train to Gatwick! What we have for our bands are roller banners - the type that are contained in an aluminium box, spring-loaded, and supported, once unrolled, by a foldable pole. We have so far gone for cheap or even the cheapest, because we are thinking about improvements to the layout all the time and we like to be able to update the banner's design - none of our banners look exactly the same as the previous. I don't think they look corporate at all. They are small, lightweight and extremely useful for band identification. All those people filming snippets on their phones or taking pictures will have a reminder of the band's name long after the hangover has gone... Incidentally, for those of us who use modern, civilised measurements, the size we go for is 200cm by 85cm.

Got it tidied up. Still need to get a shorter cable for the external pedal, but at least it's hidden underneath the board. I'm running the Mojo Mojo into the Bass Big Muff on dry mode as one pedal, turning the effects loop on and off, and it's monstrous. Loads of definition from the MM and glorious fuzz from the BBM. Does make me wonder about replacing my overdriven sound with pedals too. Get an LS2 or something like a Morningstar ML5 that I can control with MIDI to switch between loops and find another combination of pedals where one can be dirty and the other blends it. A rat clone and something else maybe. I might be getting ahead of myself! And defnintley ahead of my budget of £0... Other changes: I've swapped out the boost at the beginning of the chain for an EQ pedal that is doing a boost with some EQ points that I want. It really saturates everything massivley. Plus I've added a phaser because now I have more DSP than I did after ditching the fuzz in the GX. And I've got an Amp sim in there that I can turn on/off for practice.

A few dramas and crisis halted the board now back on track. Mocked the board up in chipboard to see what and how the pedals go where. The board is actually larger than the initial plan. Hopefully the board will be finished in the next week or so