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Afternoon / early evening gig at The Imperial in Filey with blues trio ‘ The Alligators’. Small venue with no stage, but reasonable amount of room for us. Took my recently acquired Sire U5 short scale straight into Rumble 500 combo. We haven’t played since December, so nice to get back to it. I made one or two stupid mistakes but nothing to scare the horses. We’re having a rehearsal this week ( my 2nd with the band!) so hopefully we can refine some bits here and there. Anyway, the gig - comfortably full pub of people who had come out on a rainy afternoon to listen, including a lady who reckoned we’d played ‘Black Magic Woman’ for her before somewhere and asked for it again - the BL couldn’t remember it - so we did it for her anyway. Two sets of around 50 mins just flew by, and a great response from the audience. I love doing Sunday afternoon gigs, and even an hour away for me still home before 9pm.

Back at the Piv in Nuneaton for another Sunday 4-6 slot. It's one of our favourite gigs, with a nice laid back vibe. They seemed to have the heating turned up to 11 though, so it was darned hot! There again it always seems like a "proper" gig when you're sweating, so I threw a few bass stances for good measure. I'm normally a reasonably tidy player, but this time had a rare melt down in the 2 octave riff in the middle of Frankenstein. Ah well, it gave my bandmates something to laugh at. No photos this time, so you can have another punter photo from Friday which I quite like because it shows how much fun we have playing together 😁

Here is mine. Element is for silent practice at home only. Board is Mono lite, powered by Cioks DC7 (attached at the bottom of the board). Modele B has been on and off the board for years, some days I dig it, some days not so much, but it never sound bad though. It plays quite nice along with VMT.

I am Alice’s son

Just back from doing a rare solo acoustic guitar/vocals gig. It turned into a brilliant evening. Was beset by technical gremlins at the start (buzzing power supplies, dodgy wiring and breaking a string on my main guitar in the first intro to the first song…). But just used my backup £40 Yamaha FG512SJ with a Seymour Duncan woody in the sound hole all gig and it sounded great. The venue usually has music on Saturdays, so Sunday afternoons currently seem quiet for passing trade (though a load of my friends and their mates came along and made a racket). Maybe Saturday nights would suit my rowdy loud playing more anyway. I needed a decent gig after a rubbish few weeks in several aspects of life so this one did the job perfectly. Very happy indeed. Edit - added the only photo I can find from the gig

Just a few hours rest from my Zurich adventure, before a 450 mile round-trip to North Wales to do an Eagles tribute show at the beautiful Rhyl Pavilion. A bit stressful 'cos there was a problem with he house PA.. thankfully - and by pure chance - we had ours in the van. Lucky escape. We had a great night. The show is really coming together after a year of hard work. I can start to relax a bit now. After a crazy few days I could do with a couple of days off to recover, but... back to work tomorrow. Ah well.

Ah, band vans! My 70s covers band 'Sweeney' were loaned the bass-player's hotelier mother's spare diesel Transit delivery van and told to take care of it! We became one of the AA's best customers, usually due to a random cutting-out of the engine on accelerating from rest. Then, while returning from a gig at RAF Northallerton (supporting the Pioneers 'Let your Yeah be Yeah') there was a crunching noise from the engine and the oil light came on. 'Just keep going, it's only about 150 miles to London!' said our gitrist. but after five of them the poor old York diesel had a Julius seizure, fortunately right next to a phone box. To add to the fun, we had the lead singer from the Pioneers with us, sitting on an speaker cabinet. He was dressed only in his satin form-fit stage gear, after he'd fallen out with the other two singers who'd left him stranded and gone back to London without him. Having called the AA and suggesting that they bring a new oil pump (they laughed), we were resigned to a very long wait in a tiny village at two in the morning waiting for rescue. However, Mr Pioneer had other ideas. He phoned for a taxi and offered to take one of us back to London with him. Guess who insisted upon going? No prizes, it was our gitrist... We were towed to a garage at 4am. At 8am the mechanic told us that the engine was toast, The bass-player's mother went tonto on the phone and insisted that her long-suffering partner came up with a pal to tow the van back to London the following week because she was sure the garage was ripping us off - turned out, it wasn't. In the meantime, we had a gig the next night in Deal (Kent). I got a lift from the garage guy to Lincoln racecourse, not to so as get a horse and cart, but to the van rental company that operated there (they couldn't spell, their vehicles all had 'rented from the Wining Post' loud and proud on the tailgate). We loaded up the gear, left the Tranny and drove via Epsom (the three of us remaining all lived near there), had a sh*t, shower and snack then picked up our gitrist in Clapham and went on to Deal - just in time. After two more gigs using the rental in Sussex and London, we unloaded and I drove it back to Lincoln. Got a train back to Kings Cross, tube then Southern Electric (ah, civiiisation at last!) back home. Two days rest, then a local rental van (lovely brand-new Bedford CF with sliding driver's door) for next gig in Plymouth. Not hard to see why we didn't make much money...

Apologies in advance for the messy cabling but a recent house move has meant I now have space for a more permanent home pedal set-up. I feel very fortunate.

My first gig. In the 80s. The singer didn't even show up. We tried ringing his house several times. No answer. Turns out his mum had made him go to his gran's birthday party. Rock and roll baby.

Mine have been my shortscales for the last two years, which was a huge surprise for me. I traded one of my Ibanez MC924's for an Atelier Z Baby Z-4J because I had wanted to try one for a long time, but I really didn’t expect I would like it as much as I do. Then one year ago I added a Sandberg Lionel that I put LaBella flats on (which was even more surprising, because I had never liked using flats before, but the Lionel just begged for them) and it's just a ton of fun to play. I really enjoy them a lot! I have no place for them in my band (I play doom metal tuned down to low A) which really just adds to the surprise

Do you have a bass, that might not be your most valuable, might not be your number one choice of gigging instrument, might not even be your favourite particularly…… but it’s the bass you pick up and play the most, it’s the one you generally reach for when you’re learning new stuff or just noodling at home, it’s your number one basically? I do…. Sire V7. It plays fantastic, sounds fantastic, looks fantastic…… it does everything with bells on. I didn’t expect to like it quite so much when I bought it (in a sorry state) last year, but it’s become my “go to” for almost everything. I’m considering gigging it in place of taking two (differently tuned) Thunderbirds to gigs. It’s not quite the right aesthetic for an original rock/metal band, but…… who cares right? A surprisingly great bass.

I'm lucky, my local Evri delivery is a lovely lady. In any case it's always a good idea to get to know your local couriers and treat them with respect. It'sa tough job and making it a bit easier for them is reciprocated.

Its a gorgeous area with some fascinating history and of course the home of Nessie and the greater mountain Haggis. That's the one with 2 shorter legs on its left hand side for running round mountainsides altho it can only run in a clockwise direction. Dave

1982 Ibanez Musician MC924PW

Hey guys, I had been hoping ever since the inception of the ME range that they would eventually offer the Modern, as the German/Japanese models have always been rather expensive. So, I’d been keeping an eye on them to show up in stock on Thomann and pulled the trigger last week. Annoyingly they don’t help themselves by only having rendered images on the website, in fact it’s nearly impossible to find a decent photo or video (aside from the official release video) of them currently. I might even be in the very small amount of bassists here who even have one😂 First impressions so far have been great, loving the almost Spector-like tone with both pick ups. The only little niggle has been a high fret up in the dusty end which will be dealt with soon, otherwise it’s been a very easy bass to set up with a lovely low action. I’m thinking black hardware is the next step😏

@BigRedX uninstall re-install worked Hx stomp xl now working. Thanks for the advice. jonny

Ibby SR300 Passive P, Tonerider, Flats Body Mod by @Andyjr1515 🙂

Transatlantic Sessions at the Royal Festival Hall last night. Great evening of Celtic and Americana music. It featured the absolute cream of Celtic and Americana musicians sharing one stage - including guest vocalists Julie Fowlis and Loudon Wainwright III... just stunning!!!

Although this has me wondering a little bit… https://bassbros.co.uk/product/skull-bass/

I’ve just uploaded a quick snippet of the tone of this thing🤟🏻

Hey Everyone, I'm new into DIY pedals! Just finishing up my first FuzzDog pedal, a Mastodon (based on Mastotron). Final wirings are being done in the underbelly (hopefully done today or tomorrow), I have already tested the board out of the enclosure, seemed to work!

I'm now 73 and my back problems started when I was twenty, I was in and out of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, Middx during that time, surgery was suggested but I was warned that it was risky and if it went wrong, then I could spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, so I decided against it, and over the years I had various procedures on my back which were all extremely painful, and all of them only temporary fixes, this resulted in lots of time off work, and eventually early retirement. Five months ago, the pain really kicked in again and because I couldn't get an appointment to see a doctor, the surgery advised me to call 111 who in turn advised me to go to A&E which I did, I was kept in overnight and then transferred to an Orthopaedic Hospital the next day, I was told that surgery was needed and this time I decided to agree to it, the following morning I was in the operating theatre. When I came round I was pain free, and three weeks later I'm still feeling great, so because I don't want to risk injuring my back again, I've now decided to stop gigging and just play and record at home because if I gig, I will have to lift heavy equipment which will put my back at risk. I've enjoyed gigging over the years but as I've struggled to find a suitable band in recent times, I think it won't be too hard for me to get used to not gigging any more. I'm not going to sell off everything, but I've put a couple of my higher end basses up for sale, I will keep a couple for home use and anything else I might need, but I will gradually shift all the gear that is no longer needed. I'm now looking forward to enjoying what time I have left pain free (hopefully). 🙂

First gig of 2025 for Hurtsfall will be on Friday 21st February at The Grove (on Avenue C in Sneinton Market) in Nottingham. We'll be supporting The DSM IV with Modern Coven opening. Tickets are £10 or £12 on the door.

I've never heard of a venue being licensed for a certain number of performers in recent times. The old "two in a bar rule" that the MU campaigned against for years no longer applies to my knowledge. Guidance on the need for music licences can be found on the .gov website. Requirements for licences are governed by audience size and the hours when music is performed, but not by numbers of performers. The venue you spoke to may have had insurance that limited the number of performers, or they may have decided that they don't want any more than three people playing. Or they may just have been looking for a convenient reason to say no.

That's your 'home' pedal setup?! Christ in Londis, I dread to think what your gigging setup looks like!

Kinross - Backstage at the Green. It's quite a big, plush hotel, with a converted concert room (that used to be a swimming pool at one point, I believe). It is a bit of a circuit gig where a lot of heritage / ex big(ish) names play, along with some of the bigger tribute bands. Still about 30 tickets left, as of Friday! It's a really pretty village and a great place for a night away if you fancy coming along with the missus (always rooms available). We get a few hotel rooms as part of the deal, so it's one of the those gigs where we get the chance to have a few beers after the gig. We play it every year, always great fun.

Feck.. several Kronenbergs in, I've just panic bought it. Refret incoming me thinks. I'm gonna get the original electronics checked out for reinstallation, if the pots have had it, maybe just the pickups.. not liking the idea of SD's in it.

Lefty DBs are very rare indeed. If you can find a "native" one to buy, as you say perhaps at Thomann, I would go that route. Converting a proper acoustic double bass - as opposed to an electric upright - from righty to lefty is very complicated. Besides the obvious - installing a new, symmetrical nut and bridge - you have to literally open up the DB and move the bass bar from one side to the other; the bass bar has to be under the E string. You also have to make sure to reposition the sound post on the opposite side from where it is on a righty (that will depend on the size and length of the bass bar). You will probably also need a new fingerboard, and have it reshaped for a lefty player. Proper DB fingerboards are not symmetrical. The machine heads in the scroll of an originally righty bass may also be in the wrong positions for easy re-stringing as lefty. All the above would need a lot of work by a good luthier. While I know of lefty players who only did the nut and bridge replacement and got on with it on a right DB, I would prefer to buy a new, properly left-handed double bass rather than mess around.

Sorry or the late reply been really buy at work here are a couple of picture taken now, & a couple from the seller in Japan the Ric TRC was already on this when I bought it. All I have done is taken off the tugbar & tuned it up. It feels very well made I bought it a I missed my Ric 4003, but couldn't justify the price now.

Not quite a gig, but was in Germany with students at a jazz festival. I was the Rhythm Section Instructor for the top jazz band Long days but good fun with a bunch of great young musicians.

I just watched this again (I have done so so many times) but this time I was listening through a £350 pair of headphones. Mike Rutherford is astonishing on this, throughout. A massively underrated player. So much creativity and talent - and a Status double neck!!

Some of us will remember the Fender American Series from about 20 years ago (not American Standard) that came with the S-1 switch as stock to change between series and parallel mode. I tried a used Jazz 5 string version just a few hours ago in Fair Deal Music in Birmingham and asked the question: Fender why did you stop this feature? In series mode it simply sounded divine. To me anyway 🤤

Absolutely when we started out. A 4th member would need to add a lot to a band to justify the others taking a hit on the pittance wages. There's also no excuse for not throwing in some backing vocals at least. Even better if you can lead a couple of songs to give the main singer a break

I presently play in 2 tribute bands NOT trios but for the last 12 years I've also been in a pub/rock/covers trio/band and the main reason it was a trio was financial. Pubs weren't paying any more than they were 30 years ago but the cost of gigging has gone up massively (equipment, strings, fuel etc), being in a band with 2 (or more) guitarists in, didn't make sense. Venues certainly weren't bothered if you were a 3 piece as opposed to 4/5/6, so long as you were a full live band and you were entertaining! Easier to manage 3 diaries and no negatives to speak of!

Yeah, and they can do one for that price too. I posted on Tech 21's Faceook page and asked how many they would sell if the price in the US was the same as here which was at the time $712. They replied with a care emoji. Really?!! Really?!!!! It costs more than an HX Stomp which guess what, you can do everything this does and a whole lot more, plus it has presets and midi control as well as 2 inputs so you can run a bass in stereo which is in stereo like an Alembic. Unlike this which is just parallel from a mono signal. Their stance is totally wrong to me. Summarised, it's "but it's not us! We have no control of the price gouging idiots at Rocky Road!" Now, either they really have no control and Rocky Road is price gouging us, or they're doing what Ernie Ball did which is keep the US price artificially low by deliberately making everywhere else more expensive by charging the importer full US list price. I think it comes over that they don't care about you at all if you're outside continental US. Which makes it doubly ironic they replied with a care emoji to me.

I have just learned that Tamsin Greig plays bass in a forthcoming TV series and I may need to loosen my collar and lie down for a bit.

For those of you with deep pockets... Spector Custom Shop now offer short scale options https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2025/02/08/short-scale-spector-basses-are-finally-here-custom-shop-expands-ns-series/

Sounds like a plan!

Awesome! Congrats, I hope it serves you well and the original electronics do their thing. The PG on my 73 has shrunk and curled up, crooking the screws a bit. I don't mind, but if you really want to prevent that from happening... It's a very pretty bass.

trace-elliot_GP11-AH350-AH500-MK-V-BASS.pdf

TV rule number 6357: Whenever there are twin guitars in a band the camera should never be on the one playing the solo

Interestingly, in Argentinian slang, Evri means scumbag.