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I was playing with blues band The Alligators in Bridlington last night at The Stirling Castle in the town centre. Nice pub that puts regular live music on, with great staff and manager. I love it when you are greeted with a smile and offer of a beer! Used my passive Precision Lyte into a Rumble 500 watt 2x10 combo raised off the floor due to no space - actually quite liked it a bit higher. Also utilised ear plugs as didn’t want my ears ringing - even though it’s only a 3 piece with a 15 watt Vox and a small PA the levels can be deceptively high. Playing area was quite small, even for a 3 pc band like ours. After an initial problem with the mains supply we got set up and started around 9pm to a reasonable sized crowd. During the break ( 2x45 min sets) our guitarist Tony was chatting with an old band mate of his, who it turned out is getting married today so was out with some friends for a few beers. As he is a drummer, inevitably he got up to play a song with us which was okay although he was a tad inebriated. Told us his best man today is Tenpole Tudor, who we are old enough to remember! Another of his pals we got chatting to was Jeff Rich, another drummer who was with Status Quo for over 15 years. A lovely bloke, who we got up to play as well - he wanted to do a blues shuffle sort of thing, so I sang ‘Farther up the Road’, made famous by Bobby Bland and later Eric Clapton. Jeff was an absolutely amazing player, so strong yet subtle and groovy as. Really enjoyed playing with him, and so nice to meet someone with no edge or ego, just a fabulous musician. May be some pics with him kicking around that I’ll add later. (now added!) Got home around 1am, bit knackered today though.

Erm. Brief. Multi band “battle” thing…I know… But, we smashed it - playing a festival tomorrow. Nice little event - about 40-50 folks In a lovely venue. Sound was shocking onstage, but played alright - nice response considering we didn’t really take anyone of ours (as they’re out to see us tomorrow).

So he’s better than you and he’s earning for playing. Try not to be so jealous. It’s unbecoming. I think he’s great and musical. WOW! Music taste is subjective! Whodathunkit???

Gig with the main band in Fareham yesterday (Friday). A bit quiet to start with but picked up towards the end when the hen party reached peak inebriation - had to step over the bride being comforted and filled with water while sat on the pavement outside on load out. Tonight (Saturday) I am being a Punk Pirate 😁

Day 2, gig 2. Rained heavily while we waited side of stage… then the sun came out as we played. Played really well, big Ashdown house rig - possibly lowest output ever - possibly ohmage issue. Couldn’t get stage volume I needed. My rig would’ve been preferable, but that’s life.

Some strange comments here. He is making a career out of music. He played in bands to fund his way through college. You only see one side of him on the internet. I don't like the playing of many successful bass players, but that's no reason to hate them. He's a bass player making a success out of playing bass. IMO there are no downsides in that. Good on him.

He recorded a few albums that are as boring as you would imagine. On the other hand, he's making a lot of money (way more than when he was a luggages handler in a London airport) and it's a good thing for him. At least he's earning money thanks to music, which is very difficult. So congratulations for this!

Think of it in the sense that he's an entertainer rather than a musician. He's not making a career out of playing music, as such, but rather using a musical instrument as a prop to show off high-level muscular co-ordination exercises, not unlike a gymnast, say. There's clearly a market for it but just don't let the presence of a musical instrument trick you into thinking it's musical 😉

Last night was the first proper run-out for my new acoustic duo. The vocalist and myself, from our covers band, have got to the point where we want to gig a lot more than the rest of them. We are both retired with no childcare responsibilities, the rest of the band are younger than us and have either one, or both, of those things to manage. So, we’ve put together a duo for those weeks we have no full band gigs. The plan is to tap unto the micro pub and café market locally. We’ve already got a few in the diary, including an Indian restaurant that Mick, the singer, goes to every week. I’ll be happy to be paid in-kind for that one ☺️. For now, we are just plugging straight into the PA with no monitoring. We will review that as we go along. Our set is unashamedly sing-along covers.

I bought this from the classifieds here. My old friend @shug has one of these, and, despite being a remarkable human being, and probably the best bass player in the north west, he also sounds very good. At a festival gig a couple of months ago, his band were on after mine. My wife Jan and I stayed for the evening and enjoyed the show. This amp, through Barefaced 10's, and Shugs playing, combined to be simply sublime. So, I have to try one don't I? Anyway, it's here. It's not the best example you might find. It had loose DIY rack ears mounted with pop rivets which have now been removed, and the case is a bit battered and scratched. But it's functional, and I've spent a bit of time with it over the last couple of days. I have other splendid amps, some quite expensive, but this thing has me scratching my head. It sounds bloody marvelous! It's so present, so right here in the room, so hefty, weighty and toneful. It's got me wondering that modern amp manufacture has taken a wrong turn somewhere. Why didn't they just stop here? I actually can't believe that tomorrow night I'm choosing to take the cheapest bit of kit I own out for a gig, and I'm really looking forward to using it. Yours, puzzled, Rob

If i ever have to witness this guy with his super talented guitar mates on Tiktok again im going to throw my phone in the bin. Its turning bass playing into a form of Mcdonalds. All 3 of them taking turns doing some incredible solo that just blows your mind. Super fast, super clinical. Super bad taste imo... Look how incredible we are. But in the end there is no musical meat on the bone. Dont get me wrong hes a beast on the instrument but his playing and his platform after a while just bores me and my sister. . l have yet to see the guy play bass in a band.

OK, last few bits and bobs with this one. Setup first. I like to be able to get the action pretty low. 1.75mm for the E string at the 12th and 1.5mm for G string. That's with only a touch of relief on the truss rod. I've stopped using nuts and instead have a zero fret. The fretwire is the same for the zero fret but I don't level it when I'm doing the other frets. All this means that the action is incredibly light. Particularly the first 5 frets. My daughter's guitar teacher (who's a far better bass player than me) came round the other day and said it felt like playing a fretless! That's definitely my goal. Most people probably will want to raise the action a bit, particularly since this is an acoustic, but it's nice to know it can go low if necessary. My setup routine is probably similar to everyone. The only thing slightly unusual is that I level the frets under string tension. First step is getting it to tension (or actually a semitone below), then using a straight edge on top of the frets to get the neck as straight and flat as possible: I then use an aluminium C-shaped beam with 400 grit sandpaper on the bottom to level all the frets (as mentioned above, apart from the zero fret). More or less the final job is the pickup. I'm using a fishman matrix Infinity piezo which is under the saddle. This means I need to drill a hole in the top for the cable. After countless hours of work this was definitely a job not to do with a hangover. Or given I've got an eight year old, high on gummy-bears. Mark up the bridge location with tape, then a 2.5mm through the top, praying that my plans are accurate and I'm not about to drill through the X brace..... Phew. Done. Tomorrow I'll string it up again and plug it in for the first time.... One thing that has turned out beautifully on this build is the finish on the top. It was an epoxy seal coat then 5 or 6 wipe on/wipe off coats of tru oil. As a finish it look stunning. The last one had a french polished top which was nice, but dare I say it this one is better. It's hard to see in my rubbish photos, but the wood glows....

Ive tried to send Fretmeister a message but it wont send. That was not acceptable at all. I apologise to Fretmeister for that. Im under a bit of financial pressure and it came out on BC. Again im really sorry matey.

Try not to regurgitate Beato without thinking. Music is easier to record and release. There is loads more of it. That’s as right as he was. The rest of his rant was embarrassing. The good stuff is still there, you just have to sift through it a bit more. The quality of the good stuff is as high as ever. Yes there is more dross, but there’s also a lot more niche / experimental excellent stuff that “in the old days” wouldn’t have been released because of a record company gatekeeper not seeing massive profits from it. No. I won’t suggest anyone because music is subjective. You’d just use whatever I suggested to argue over even though it is just a matter of taste. As for “greats”: there’s a couple of million of people who genuinely think Taylor Swift is a great. They are right. She is a great to them and that is all that matters. I’m astonished you are only 45. You sound at least 30 years older, like a muttering octogenarian in the corner of the pub, demanding his beer is served in a proper dimpled mug with a handle because everything newer is wrong. . I’m older than you and I hope I never get so bothered about a young musician managing to earn a living from playing. I don’t like Jaco. I don’t like The Beatles, or more accurately I like the songs but cannot stand their vocals. Amazingly I am allowed to not listen to them or watch them. You could try that.

Not musical?

Hidden by all the dust.🤣

The one that got away….. and finally back. A 2000 pre LX Euro 5 in rare emerald green color that I had imported from the USA in 2006 and sold ohh so foolishly in 2009. I was quitting playing bass but soon realized I’d better off mentally if I keep playing music anyways. Having kept a good correspondence with the owner and then one after him I was able to finally buy her back last weekend. (With both previous owners being present and happy as things coming full circle- both of them play Spectors btw 😀 A surreal experience indeed to say the least and it’s as great a bass as I remembered and even more so. But enough of this rambling let’s have some pics. The one with the dragons I took in 2008ish and the others are current. A happy fellow I am for sure

brought some fuzzrocious back to the board

Well it had to happen one day. For a long time I've had low level GAS for a Hayman or Shergold and that GAS built up and finally released when @AndyTravisput his Marathon up for sale. I've got an Eastwood Hooky 6 which is a faithful copy of the Marathon six string bass but I just fancied an original 'Hand Crafted in London' Shergold four string, and I'm absolutely delighted with it. A very Precision bass like tone but a touch more aggressive maybe, like a tiny smidge of Rickenbacker had been infused in a P. A bit of overdrive and you're in JJ Burnel territory. Tone down and it's still got plenty of vintage thump. Just lovely. Enough waffle... Pictures! 😁

Apology accepted. I also apologise for taking the piss a bit heavy handedly.

Duly reported, as unacceptable on a public forum.

Ah look, the bowls is on

Tonight I will be channeling my inner Mod.

There’s a 12th fret?!

I think it's important too not get worked up about what other Musicians do musically I'm not sure who you are talking about but if s/he is having fun playing a musical instrument it's probably a good thing compared to what they could be doing. My Generation had ridiculous nonsense like "Super Chops for Bass" and the "World's Fastest Tapper" but if that their is thing I say go for it!!

14 years. You daft old bugger you. Luv ya.

If he was just some dude playing bass tastefully, you would never have heard of him. His appeal is doing the tasteless and artistically void. Fair play to him, he found a gap in a very crowded market and made something of it. He's a stunt pilot, though, not the lad who's going to get you to Malaga in an Airbus.

Heads Behringer Nuke Behringer BX4500 (two of these) Behringer BVT 550H Harley Benton 600H Trace Elliot GP12 SMX Trace Elliott Elf Bugera Veyron BV100M Bugera Veyron BV100T Mark Bass Little Mark Tube 15Th Anniversary MBH110055Z Orange Little Bass Thing Ampeg SVT-CL Ashdown CTM100 Cabs No name 1x15 (two of) Trace Elliot 1x15 (two of) Trace Elliot 2x10 Trace Elliot 1x10 Trace Elliot Elf 2x8 (two of) Trace Elliot Elf 1x10 (two of) Ashdown RM 1x12 Barefaced Midget Barefaced Compact (two of) TC Electronic 2x8 (two of) Combos Ibanez Promethean P5110 TC Electronic BG250 Ashdown RM500 1x12 Power Amp Behringer NU1000 Also various preamp pedals for use with power amp. Apologies if I've forgotten anything.

Just did a farewell gig for our guitarist/singer in the covers band and unfortunately it's probably the worst we've ever played! For some reason we were just not connecting musically, which is unusual, but these things happen and we still had a good time. For this band I'm playing drums but I thought I'd tell this anacdote here as it's quite amusing. So, singer/guitarist starts the song with me on rim shots (guess the number!), and at the appropriate point second guitar and bass join in. At this point I assumed we would stop and restart given that the bass and second guitar are each in a different key to each other and the singer... but no, apparently that's unprofessional so we limp on playing the number in three different keys. I could see the confusion in the bassists eyes as he goes over to the second guitarist, they nod at each and at the end of the bar they change key but in the confusion they just swap keys, neither of which is what the singer is in! Eventually they figure out that they probably need to synchronise with the singer which they managed for the last chorus. Basically they forgot we had changed the key for the vocals with the bassist in the original key and the second guitar a semi tone higher for some bizzare reason. Anyway, it was quite the most novel free form jazz rendition of 'run to you' I've ever heard (we even apologised to the audience it was that bad! Although if it had been a jazz venue I think it would have been genius).

Curious as an endangered cat, I had a look at the schematic in search of clues. First glance it looks not unusual but look at the power amp input stage: I have no idea what's going on there, never seen anything like it. And it's got half the reservoir capacitance you usually see for that power of amp (and only the usual rail voltage) Has it a very big power transformer? There's some magic going on there... It's not classA, by the way, class AB. Class A amps are hilariously inefficient; an amp stuffing 200w into a speaker would burn 2kW in heat. Get me, what a geek. Sorry. Been up to my ears in solder fumes all day and it's done something to my brain...

I think it's just time moves on. The players who were revered say in the 70s or even 80s have now been surpassed technically. Whether one likes that or not is another thing. I have no problem with him. He's excellent. He does well out of it all and as far as I'm seeing he's not harming anyone from doing so. If someone hired him for their band instead of me, I'd probably be more surprised that I'd got to a level where I'd actually be considered with someone like that. It's all individually calibrated as to what we like or not. We are all the best at being ourselves and nobody will ever play exactly like us. I enjoy watching people who are better than me as I feel I might learn something and quite often do. I feel it's kind of inspiring to make oneself a better player. Don't like the content? Don't watch it. Just as I don't watch clickbait tossers like Danny Sapko.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-djFcltLFQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== just incase ppl want to hear it

This has been through many BC hands - at least @Gwilym, @bubinga5, @carlsim, and @eddking (who I bought it from). Ed and I met up at Gordano services after an eventful journey down (for me) and exchanged a Cort GB5 Custom and some money with the Sei. The neck is lovely, as I'd expect from a Sei - slim and shallow. It's light and is well balanced, both seated and on the strap. The tuners are smooth and free of play. The bridge is nice and chunky. Soundwise, the Bartolini pickups have plenty of output with nothing lacking. The East Uni-Pre controls are volume/blend, bass/treble, mid sweep and boost/cut, and passive tone, plus a mute switch and an active/passive switch. The blend is very effective. Treble and bass do their jobs nicely, with a lot of boost and cut but very controllable. The mid controls definitely work but I think I'll steer clear of them. The "passive" tone works in both active and passive modes, and in extremis gets rid of all the treble. With any luck, the Basschat bike has found a forever home.

And he’s encouraging loads of new players to pick up the instrument. Far more than old Grandpa Simpson up there ^ is doing.

If you don't like Charles Berthoud, just don't watch his videos. Simple. That's the point here.

I think there should be a stewblack option.

I ticked cetera - was that right?

Yeah, talented and successful. Where's my pitchfork? I'm fairly sure he'd cope just fine plodding along down The Frog & Gristle on a Friday night. There's plenty of revered bassists that I can't stand, and could claim that they just play pointlessly fast runs of notes that have very little musical merit, but I don't because clearly others like them. People like what Charles Berthoud does, otherwise he wouldn't keep popping up in places, and it showcases our favoured instrument to a wider audience. If that makes a few people delve deeper and even take up bass then I really can't see the problem.

100% this. World has changed, just got to respect the algorithm!

We have a winner !

I imagine he found there is far more money in social content than playing in a band

latest version of the small board. this one might stay like this for a while. hopefully.

Now that we've all finally got rid of (though not yet fully recovered from) the Covid which scuppered our birthday gig at the end of July, we (Rascallion) reconvened on Thursday afternoon to bang out a few tunes for the "Family Day" event at the care home where Mr Lead Guitar's mother had resided happily for the last few years of her life. Same as last year's event, the weather forecast wasn't looking too hopeful, but we set up as best we could in the shelter provided by the small wooden gazebo in the garden, which had been extended forwards with a pop-up gazebo (thank you Lily's Boutique of Woodhall Spa!). Mr Drums was using a reduced kit of just snare, kick, hi-hat, and a couple of cymbals, so a few tunes didn't sound quite right, and for once I struggled to get a decent onstage sound out of my trusty Trace Elliot mini-rig (AH200 head + BLX-110 cab). In desperation I did something I've not done in ages, punched in pre-shape 1 plus a less-than-carefully-sculpted gullwing shape on the EQ, and was rewarded with a lovely deep, rich tone which fitted in beautifully without booming - must try this more often! Luckily the overall sound out front seemed to be good right from the start. First set was rather soulless / soul-destroying as we played to a small number of folks loitering in the summer house to the right of us plus an equally small number dotted around the garden under various umbrellas, and got pretty much zero reaction until we finished the set to a smattering of applause. We had originally intended to take a 20 minute break, but as the rain had now set in (along with a distinct "let's-get-the-heck-out-of-Dodge" feeling), we gave it 10 minutes then cracked on. For whatever reason, the second set felt much more satisfying, and by the time we hit Roadhouse Blues, a few folks were actually up and showing an interest, and even applauding loudly. Our final run of Walking By Myself, Long Train Runnin', Gimme Some Lovin', Whiskey In The Jar and Bad Moon Rising went down a storm, and we even had to pull Old Time Rock & Roll out of our back pockets as an encore. Totally different to the first set! As we were packing up, half a dozen folks wandered in from the small "Garden of Tranquility" where they'd been hidden from view round the corner from us, and said how much they'd enjoyed it and had been bopping along (embarrassingly so in one case apparently!), which made it all worthwhile. We also got a couple of enquiries from folks about booking us at a later date, though to be honest the same happened last year without anything coming of it, so we're not counting our chickens just yet. That's it for now as we've nothing else in the diary for this year, so it's back to the workhouse next week to work on a few more new songs, and see what might come up. Definitely one of the more interesting setups we've had, but happily, despite the rain dripping in through the small gap between the two gazebos, all the gear stayed dry (with the help of several carrier bags and amp covers) apart from one DI box which somehow got overlooked.

I’ve got 2 Sandberg SL. A TT4 jazz (about 6.4lb) and a Lionel shortie (5.7lb). Great basses. Really happy with them.

It would remove one of the really heavy transformers from the amp. Sadly you cannot remove the output transformer but you would make the amp several Kg lighter. Of course if you take out that much weight you will more than half the heft.......

Well don't effing buy it then. Problem solved.

My ME90B arrived on Thursday last week. I moved house on Friday so today was the only time I've managed to sneak half an hour with it. Of course, I haven't read the manual... Initial impressions are good. There is everything you could want in one box. Yes, the Fuzz isn't as good as my old Darkglass, the distortion not as good as another old Darkglass... Etc. etc. But there is sufficient quality and control. I haven't bothered with the presets yet, though I remember from my old Boss GT10-B their presets were generally very good so I look forward to playing with that. I've tried quite a few of the different effects and so far I'm very happy. No more patch cables that can slip, no velcro coming unstuck, far less weight, able to save settings... It's just so sensible and practical, which Volvo driving man that I am means it's perfect for me. I need to get used to which effects are on which pedal and really get in to twiddling but with all parameters at noon I am satisfied I've got good quality sounds that I can click on and out easily and that I've got rid of the problems separate pedals unfortunately bring (noise, more points of failure, not playing nicely together...). More detailed review to come soon

I own a Bite bass. I had never heard of them before until I entered an online giveaway and I was actually lucky enough to win. I got to go on their "configurator" and design a bass and then they build it and sent it to me. You can see my bass below (yes, I went over the top with the design, perhaps, but since I wasn't paying for it, I figured I'd just go for it. I still like how it looks though, ostentatious or not). I wrote a review of it for their website shortly after I got the bass, which you can view here. I've had it since October of 2021, so almost 3 years now. It's held up in that time. After owning it for all this time, I can still say I honestly love it. I was probably going to end up buying an American Professional II P Bass from Fender, to have a nicer P (I have a few basses, but I am definitely a P bass person), but since winning this bass I haven't felt the need. I think the neck is better than the fender bases I've tried. I did get the "J" style neck on it, which is something the Fender mod shop still won't let you do on a P Bass. It feels great and has flawless fretwork with no sharp ends. The while they use CNC machines for a lot of the build, the finishing and fretwork are apparently all done by hand. I like my action medium-low and I have no issues with buzz. I also really like the tone. It's got tone you'd expect from a P bass, but maybe just a little brighter than typical. It cuts through a mix really well and sounds great in all of the various projects I play in that span several genres. I get compliments from other musicians frequently on its tone and looks when I'm out gigging. I really have no bias here, since I won it and didn't pay for it. I could sell it and it would all be profit, but it's become my #1 bass now, so I don't have any plans to part with it.

Damn the Sandberg configurator.. Trying to talk myself out of pulling the trigger on one of these?

This is my Sandblasted P bass. ive changed all the hardware to black. Big fan of black tuners on a maple neck. I got this on a whim used, for an amazing price a few years ago. Dont think I'll ever let it go. Its outlasted a few basses worth a lot more, inc a Yamaha P34.