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Playing in part of a power trio, we had a show up in Newcastle. Making the trek from mine is 5hrs but as my Mum's family were all from up that way, it's one of my favourite parts of the UK. I stopped off in York the day before for a day of sightseeing, which was fun. I met the drummer in Hartlepool and he showed me the old parts of Hartlepool (I love history and travel). We had an emergency rehearsal where we snapped the pic below for the last ditch social media plug and went on to Trillians. I was using my 2014 Gibson Thunderbird with my Blackstar U700 head into the oldest looking Fender Bassman cab I have seen. I had to borrow a speakon to jack cable from the sound guy who was very insistent that I return it. I explained that I was not drinking and experienced so returning it would not be an option. He replied to say I looked young but (for the win) it turns out that I was actually a year older than him! Apparently, it must be something in the water down here! The show was fun. I felt I played well to a small but enthusiastic crowd. The band was on form and the sound / lights were amazing. My last show until a little flurry in September. Sadly, nobody seems to have taken any pics of the show but who doesn't love a three guys stood up against an old van cliché band shot, right?! I'm on the right.

Essex International Scout and Guide Jamboree. Holy moly that was good fun! Most fun I've had with my trousers on for some time. We were looked after incredibly well by the team and treated like VIPs (we even had a young man who took upon himself hold up a couple of umbrellas to shade us from the sun whilst we were eating... bless him). The tech team were equally as helpful and accommodating. Indeed, the monitor engineer said he was so happy when he saw our tech rider, that me and the two guitarists use Helix devices and no backline. It made his day when I said we're all happy to have the same monitor mix as well. The kids were up for a good night from the off. Singing, jumping and dancing as soon as the drums kicked off "Chelsea Dagger". And they kept going for the following 75mins until we finished. There were several video and stills cameras recording and broadcasting to the big screen on either side of the stage (including one at the front of the stage on a sliding gantry that one of our singers relished by gurning into it several times). And they even found time to put an Instagram reel together by the morning. Incredible stuff. Hopefully we'll get a copy of the full recording in good time to use for promo. A proper festival vibe. Felt like rockstars for the evening. Hopefully get to do it again next year. PS There's nothing quite like kicking in an octave effect when you've got all those subwoofers as your disposal. *explosive*. Instagram Reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-Hm6xPI7HN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Bluegrass festival gig last night. A little bit under rehearsed but no train wrecks, it was made worse by monitors that weren't loud enough. The sound guys at this venue are usually very good so we are expecting a better set tonight as part of a roster of four bands. I used my trusty '70's Czech DB and ran a DI from my amp to the PA. We are in the midst of a heat wave here and it was over 30C in the evening and very humid with no wind on the stage, forecast is for the same thing tonight.

Latest developments: I had an appointment at the trauma clinic on Tuesday. They didn't make me talk about my childhood but neither did they remove my stitches, so the earliest date for that to happen in now Tuesday of next week. There's still some uncertainty about the grey bit in the middle, but to my eyes it was smaller than it had been and less grim-looking. I've got a new dressing on and can flex the fingertip without too much difficulty, so that's good. The worst thing about all of this is that I wanted to start my sponsored walk on Saturday but this now can't happen until at the soonest Wednesday, and as I'm anticipating it taking me a week to complete it, time is running out. However, in much more positive news, I've played the bass this afternoon, badly and with three fingers, but I've played. Cheers, JRK

This popped up on YouTube yesterday and is well worth a watch. The interviewer, Mason Marangella, is the owner of a company called Vertex Effects, and the channel does a really interesting blend of effect demos and also carries some really good/interesting interviews with musicians - this Freddie Washington one is great! Freddie talks about (and plays along to) tracks from various points in his career - amongst others; Herbie Hancock, Phil Collins, his time with Michael Jackson, Anita Baker, and of course, Patrice Rushen. There’s also a really nice reminiscing section at the end! Amongst many high points, for me, is the play-through of Sweet Love, by Anita Baker. His line, and playing, are a masterclass in note choice, feel and (quite often overlooked) note length… Enjoy!

I’ll be one of those obnoxious blokes saying “I already have mine”. But, I do… and it took me a long time and $$ to get it. Totally stock and unmolested 1954 Fender P-Bass. The neck pencil date is TG 10-54.

Think this is my 12th musicman. My first Sterling. well worn, pearl blue 1999 faded to an almost ocean turquoise/bottle green. Sounds and plays well enough to explain and justify the “road worn” state - It’s cleaned up well - trying some new Hyper Slinkies (40-100) on it.

While I'm happy with the look of my previous kit-built telecaster, I'm not happy with how it plays and sounds. The neck is really chunky, and body wood is really soft and dark sounding. Decided I'd make one from scratch. I'm thinking of another telecaster style shape, but with some more modern design elements thrown in. Just got the body wood delivered. It's a really nice slab of Black Limba with some nice orange streaks. Will document progress. It may not be a fast build 😂

Yeah, it is a hack, and this is still IP theft, so, absolutely no. As BigRedX says, with all that comes with it, Logic really is good value... Pay for it like the rest of us. The Student bundle, which also includes Final Cut and Mainstage is just £199.99 On a more, perfectly legal note, I was running my 2012 iMac (32GB ram and upgraded to 2Tb SSD) in my home studio on Catalina, because it wouldn't let me update further as it wasn't "compatible" with newer OS. This meant that many of my plugins and functionality stopped working as everything else updated... ...until I discovered "Opencore Legacy Patcher" (https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/). It's was pretty straightforward to patch (backup everything first - and the instructions are decent) and my 2012 iMac is now happily running Ventura (it could run Sonoma happily too, but I've no need for the latest OS), and all my functionality is completely up to date. The only Logic functionality which isn't working are the new AI tools (Session Players, Stem Splitter and ChromaGlow), which need an M processor, but hey, don't be lazy, write your own backing parts...! 🤪 Buy Logic and patch an older Mac and you'll be fine for a good while...

Z7 preorder placed...

He's better now. He's even dropped an album called "I'm Still Here" It’s heartening to see him managing his condition with such resilience. I’m still supporting him on Bandcamp and encourage others to do the same. I can relate to the financial strain, bc I deal with diabetes and have found that good Health Insurance with Diabetes has made a huge difference in managing my condition. Let's keep supporting Steve ❤️

I like a good hard "one" 😁 Or not much out funks the One on this, when 'er gets going at 1'50. Bootsy Baby! In fact, no-one Out-Ones Bootsy! Whodathunk Silent Night was funky? But it it, 2'23 and on... Proper Christmas Carol!

Exactly this ^. You probably need to define 'rig' for these purposes, @Clarky. More sensibly - and entirely to my astonishment - of all the truly lovely amplification kit I own my go-to for almost every gig is the Trace Elf. Virtually all of my gigs have full PA support so I have no need (or use) for silly-loud on-stage volumes, which makes the Elf the obvious choice regardless of the venue, the genre of music, or the overall volume level. It handles a 5-string Rickenbacker and an aluminium double bass equally well, so there's no point in anyone trying to dismiss it as some sort of one-trick pony.

Anybody come across these Vintage Revo shorties? https://vintageguitarsrus.com/collections/vintage-revo-series-bass-guitars. I rather fancy the semi despite the 3 point bridge. Unfortunately, the spec doesn’t say what the nut width is, just that it is Graphtec. I wouldn’t get on with it if it is 42mm.

Recently bought a Fender AVRI ‘75 jazz, long drive for it, played ok, needed some adjustment to suit me, deal done The neck had too much relief in it, but truss rod was really tight. Only a few weeks earlier I had read in this group about somebody having the same problem, with the same bass they had just recently bought A quick search shows this to be a fairly common issue with a well known fix involving washers So I took the neck into work, it helps that I run two engineering workshops, one being a machine shop Thread size is 10 unf, so got a bush machined with internal diameter to fit that size thread and outer diameter same as ‘the bullet’ Had a couple made in stainless steel, 3mm and 4.5mm long Back clamped the neck slightly, fitted bush and bullet onto truss rod with a small blob of clear grease, tightened up slightly and left over night The desired effect was achieved, stringing with 40-100, put some relief back in the neck, leaving it exactly where I would have liked it! Opening up an M4 washer is what people normally do, but when you can do a proper job, it’s worth the effort Should of took some photos I know! Tony

It’s whatever floats your boat I guess, I’m down to 2x LFSYS monza cabs, puma 900, and genz shuttle 9.2 and a streamliner.All of my needs covered very well. One cab is more than enough for rehearsals /pubs and two when i want to spoil myself 😂x

Well, well, well and of course, well, a four way tie indeed. I thought it might be difficult to split them and I guess I was right. Congrats to @Dad3353 @Jean-Luc Pickguard @upside downer and Lurks ( ah shucks) for the joint win. The honour has been bestowed on upside downer for the pictorial inspiration to carry us through the heady Augustine days of summer. He thus muses... "Been pottering along the Grand Union Canal on our narrowboat and, on our way to the pub in Shrewley one night, we passed this. Minstrels, tell us the story of this abode!" Simple rules ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and the deadline. ✖️ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ✖️ No Bagpipes/panpipes as the photo is from Shrewley, there might be a Scottish pigeon somewhere near Shrewley, but don't tell the Shrewlians ✖️ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you.. Deadline-wise, we will go for Midnight on the 25th (effectively breakfast time on the 26th) I am on my holibobs at various points in August so I had better be extractum digitum, I will take my ipad, so should be able to do the voting thread, but be gentle with if it isn't the normal smooooooth me A line or two of blurb as usual for the vote thread will be super smashing. Good luck, Have fun

Hello Just thought I'd share my experience from this weekend when I was lucky enough to perform at the World David Bowie Fan Convention in Liverpool and meet two of my musical heroes, George Murray and Carlos Alomar. They also guested on two songs with our band, The Bowie Contingent, with George playing my 71 P bass which was an incredible honour. George is a lovely man and was kind enough to sit with me for an hour and let me ask him anything I wanted about his time with Bowie, and about bass playing in general. A wonderful, gracious human being! Lee

I know we have the Funk and Soul thread, but thought this was a bit more specific. Had this on on the car yesterday - great, great album, but what really struck me was just how funky the first track, Use Me is. So I started listening to it a little more closely, and what fascinated me was "the one". It is there, but it is so subtle it is almost as if it is a ghost note, a suggestion, rather than an emphatic thump. Any other great examples?

So it was a seized truss rod ..not financially viable to repair..and now discontinued..so been offered a full credit .. I have to applaud GuitarGuitar for there help ..I had pretty much destroyed the nut trying to move it ..in hindsight should have left alone when it would nt budge ..but they were top guys 🤟

Addicted to That Brush - Mr Wig

duties thus dutied , can I steer you here...

Comb as you are - Nirvana

This has a really strong "one" which contrasts really nicely with the syncopation on bars 3 & 4

Ha! My lad was there! He sent me a vid of you guys! I was gonna suggest to the band we have a look at getting on the bill next year 😊

The supreme looks nice👍

I had a great rehearsal for a dep gig yesterday then last night I had an actual dream about playing my bass, which is an ACG Border Reiver. In the dream I was on stage with a band and I could just play whatever came into my head, effortlessly, which is not always the case in my waking hours... So I guess that's my dream bass.

Yes - you'll just have to cut the pickup end of the solderless cable and connect it up that way. Some people solder directly onto the pins of the preamp but if that goes wrong you've ruined the preamp. Far better to do the modification to the cable as that is the cheap bit.

You'd think we'd be talking to each other, eh? 😂

I am learning Sweet Love from @ChrisDev 's transcription. This video is a good addition. Thank you both.

Barry Melton, San Francisco legend - The Fish in Country Joe and…. Appearing in Emsworth, Hampshire. Starring our own @Steve Browning

After reading recent posts, I have shifted my hpf from first to after the compressor and octaver. Much quieter. The compressor exaggerated the noise when not playing, and the octaver seemed to bring some hf noise into the high audio band. Both ok on their own but with compressor and octaver on and after the hpf it was intrusive when not playing.

Yeah, it's a Tuesday...but it's not too early to look forward to the weekend and a Maple Road double-header! Sat. 8/3: Maple Road LIVE @ Wisconsin State Fair; Major Goolsby's Stage! 3:45pm-6:45pm. Fried stuff on a stick, a giant slide, unmatched people watching, and a whole lot of live rockin' blues! Sun. 8/4: Maple Road LIVE @ Kettle Moraine Supper Club! 2pm-5pm. Happy to be making our debut performance here! Come on out for some Sunday Funday action and we'll show 'em how we do things!

Well, there's an update: I went back to the hospital today and the clinic staff removed the dressing (eventually; it was caked in dried blood inside!) and cleaned it up so that a good look could be taken. One side of it is reattaching nicely; the other side less so. However, the consultant had a look and said that hopefully the good side will encourage the less-good side to behave and that I should come back in a week's time for another look. He hasn't ruled out me losing a big chunk of it but it does sound as if things are reasonably positive at the moment. I was advised to move the fingertip within the confines of the dressing (which was changed for a much smaller and less bulky version). I tried to take a picture of the wound but somehow just got the floor of the clinic, so you lot have escaped the gorefest this time. Cheers, JRK

Please forgive the ostentatious title, some of you will remember a discussion a while ago regarding tool sharpening and my insistence that sharpening jigs are not needed; well I was asked to write this about how edge tools are sharpened in a professional cabinet making shop. Now please don't try and compare how a jobbing chippy sharpens his or her tools on site that is a different story but cabinetry and Luthiery have a similar need for tools that are precisely sharp as opposed to being sharp enough. I will honestly say the one machine/power tool I would not do without is a wet grinder, I would rather rip boards up with a ripsaw and plane them flat and to size by hand than do without that and have done in the past. Why you may ask? Well when you are trying to do fine work in wood the single most important thing you need is control and with cutting tools the only way you can get that control is with very sharp tools, not almost sharp or even sharp enough, to get precise cuts first time and every time they need to be sharper than that razor you shave with each morning and kept that way. It is a job that can be tedious if you let it be, the trick is to let it not be and to do that it needs to be quick and easy then it can be seen as a way of releiving your mind from the concentration levels of doing careful work for long periods. Lets have a look at my sharpening area What you see is a wetstone grinder, a tub of water and two Japanese water stones which a are wedged into wooden blocks to keep them from sliding in use; they are then kept in the tub of water when not being used. Above these I have a variety of gadgets that are associated with sharpening various tools but there is only one of note, the grinding angle gauge The wetstone grinder is used to give a hollow grind to the edge on a the cutting tool at a set angle which is determined by a little gauge. Mine is a 25 degree gauge which is a good all round angle for many tools giving a nice balance between durability and sharpness. The blade is clamped into a sliding carriage at the correct angle like this Then it is simply a matter of switching on and moving the blade from side to side until you have a fully ground hollow edge that is square. I've tried to illustrate that with these photos as best I can You can just make it out but notice that ragged burr on the edge. All we have done is to prepare our blade for the real sharpening: In days gone by various types of oilstones were the way to go, when I was an apprentice I had a prized set of Arkansas stones but things thankfully have moved on some since then, we have the waterstones, diamond impregnated tiles, ceramic stones.... My own favourites are the waterstones and I'll explain why. Waterstones are a man made brick for want of a better term, made of precisely graded grits, they are bound together quite loosely so they actually wear quite quickly in comparison to other types but that to me is an advantage. When you sharpen a tool you abbraide it's surface so tiny particles are removed, these can become embedded quite firmly in the stone and cause something called glazing which reduces it's efficiency. Waterstones on the other hand break up very slowly so the particles are freed stopping that glazing. The downside of that of course is that the stone can quickly wear out of true, thankfully it is so easy to flatten unlike the old Arkansas stones that needed taking to a stone mason. To flatten a waterstone just get a strip of 80 grit sandpaper taped to a flat surface and give the stone half a dozen rubs on that and the job is done, easy. Another great advantage is that water is used a s a lubricant so rather than having oily hands after sharpening they are merely wet and the stones can just be put back in the tub with not further cleaning or drying needed. I have two stones, the large red one which is a 1000 grit stone and the yellow one which is a 6000 grit, I use one at a time, they are both out above just for illustration. I don't have photos of the actual procedure but it is easy to understand. To start sharpening you stand in front of the stone (1000 grit), one foot in front of the other (important). You take the blade in both hands with some fingers from each hand on top of the blade to give it full support. Place the blade on the stone and feel for that hollow grind, there is a point where it sits flat and stable. Now you can either sharpen at that or as I do lift the blade a tiny amount so I only grind the front edge. Lock your elbows tight into your rib cage to lock your arms rigid, then rock backwards using your legs, so weight shifting from the front foot to the back foot, that stops the blade rocking. Do that four times and you should be left with a tiny shiny flat across the whole front edge of your blade. If you look closely mine isn't even, my stone needs flattening (OOPS!) but looking closely notice the burr Change the stone to the 6000 grit and do the same again, remember this must only be done backwards never forwards, the stones are too soft. So four times then flip the blade over and place it flat on the stone, slide the blade over the stone backwards four times. Repeat that two or three more times until when you examine the edge there is absolutely no sign of any burr and the back face should be almost a mirror finish. That should give you a wholly flat edge, for a bench plane you may want to give that edge a slight curve, to do this I use an extra pass over the 6000 stone with pressure on one outside edge then the other and that will be enough to give you a nice edge for a plane And that is it, just give the blade a quick dry on a towel along with your hands and back to work but be careful, that blade will be sharp and i mean sharp. The grinding procedure isn't done every time, just when the sharpening procedure starts taking longer as the flats get bigger; typically I sharpen four times then regrind. Even with regrinding a single blade can be processed within a couple of minutes. I keep four to six plane blades above my bench and sharpen all of them at once, that way I am less likely to be tempted to use a dulling iron when it is so easy to quickly change and it is quicker to sharpen six once then one six times. I hope you can see the logic in that method, every cabinet shop I have been into uses that exact method so I assume that it is probably the best and easiest way of doing it, being quick and easy you are more likely to want to do it and the more likely your work will improve. One last thing and this is actually the very first thing with any flat blade. The back face of a cutting tool needs to be flat, when you buy it it won't be, not even close. The first job with any new chisel or plane blade is to flatten it; how depends on how bad it is. Sometimes 10 minutes on a 1000 grit stone will do it flattening the stone a couple of times, if it is really bad then some 80 grit carborundum powder and a piece of glass it the way to go. Once it's flat then it will stay flat as long as you keep your stones flat but that back face MUST be flat to get the best out of your tools. Very briefly the reason why: A chisel is used mostly but supporting the back edge on work that has previously been cut, either to the side or behind the cutting edge. The back of the chisel is used as a rest and as a guide for progression, if your blade isn't flat then it will either dig in (blade concave) or ride up (blade convex) and that will never ever let you produce good work. Plane blades Other than you wont be able to sharpen properly a bade that is hollow along it's length one of the most important pasts of a bench plane is the cap iron, unless that is in intimate contact with the blade face it will clog up and even with the sharpest blade in the world that plane will not work or certainly won't be capable of quality work but more on that again.

Good to know I'm lucky enough/old enough to have seen Rory 3 times, 1st was in 74 when I'd just turned 15.

The Raft Of Medusa - Cerebral Fix

It would be great to have one! York could suit those travelling by train. I could potentially find a venue in the city 🤔

Well I wasn't disappointed! Epic night and nostalgic as ye like, felt like I was about 12 again, I was hoarse as feck the next day lol

The Stranglers (being supported by the Buzzcocks) at Caldicot Castle last night. I'd not seen them with Baz Warne before, he's really rather good isn't he? Worked out that last time I'd seen them was 34 years ago!