Leaderboard

Just got home from my Spacewasters gig at The Hope & Anchor, Islington. 4 band bill, in an 80 capacity venue, luckily a dedicated storage area for gear. We headlined and played well, though it was soooooo hot down there, even setting up had us all sweating out half a stone. Didn’t bother with a soundcheck but the sound man was very good and kept the volume to reasonable levels. I played my black Fender JMJ Mustang into my Behringer BDI21, DI taken from that to FOH, and then into a small 100 watt Ashdown combo of some sorts for stage volume which was plenty. Due to my plantar fasciitis rather than DMs I wore my Skechers trainers. Edit - Review now online, in punktuationmag: The Spacewasters are approaching their 25th anniversary, and over the years, they’ve become really damn good musicians. Maybe that’s not a very punk thing to say, but as their guitarists sprinkle frenzied solo magic on the likes of ‘Leave Me Alone’ and ‘Devil’s Bones’, we have to be thankful that they’ve chosen to channel their talents not into tedious 20 minute jazz-prog suites, but into shit-kickin’ street-level punk rock n’ roll. Add the larger than life presence (and sense of humour) of frontman Mick, and you have a recipe for one hell of a good time. Check out their new album ‘The 7-Legged Groove Machine’, it does exactly what it says on the tin, and it does it very well.

A twofer for the Glam Lads this week, played to a group from Mencap Gateway on Thursday night, we love doing this and the clients always love the show. We normally only do one per year but we’ve already agreed a return in December. Last night was a private party in a local WMC, we normally avoid private jobs as they rarely work for us but the couple who booked us have been to a few gigs and convinced us. Surprisingly it was a great night with enthusiastic dancers all the way through both spots. Resting these aching bones now until next Saturday for a more normal gig at the Pen Nook in Deepcar north side of Sheffield. Oh….red, white and blue sparkle Converse.

An interesting one last night, the 'occasional' blues band playing as the opener in a three band bill in a pub! The headliner was a goth band, with an original indy type band in the middle. Essentially the gig was everything we would normally avoid - too many bands with nothing in common, playing in a pub with not enough space for not much money. Originally we thought that we were being offered a normal pub gig to cover another band pulling out, but it transpired that we were part of a multi band bank holiday event. Anyway, the blues band doesn't play enough gigs (due to a couple of members being very busy with other bands), so it was nice to play live together again - Facebook had just informed us that our last gig was a year ago! The gig was pretty good, we sounded as if the last show was a week ago and went down really well. All the people involved were great, even if there was a bit of a clash of genres. Every band used my cab, which wasn't what I originally intended. In another thread, some people were saying that they never let anyone else touch their bass. I'm usually pretty relaxed about that (to a point), as you have to be a bit of a d1ck to damage a FSO type bass. I'm more bothered about other people using amps, as you can do damage if you don't know what you're doing with absolutely no ill intent, as the girl playing bass for the goth band nearly did at the soundcheck when she plugged her amp into my Berg cab while my amp was already running and then wondered why it wasn't working! I quickly unplugged my amp (a MB LM3) and then adjusted the gain on her TE Elf so that everything was OK. I took my amp off after our slot and let the middle band use the Elf, just in case!

So Ive put this together for the U2 tribute Body was ex Chris Cross Neck from Aliexpress Pickup Tonerider Cts pots, orange drop cap I've literally screwed it together and tuned it up Sounds like a P bass Ive even wired it up myself and it works

I recently joined an Alanis Morissette tribute act, Jagged Little Alanis. First full set was last weekend at the Essex Arms in Brentwood - great little venue. The amazing fella who did sound videos everything. Here’s me trying to be Flea 🙄

I'm lost for words. So sad and a real loss. May I be so bold as to quote the final line of a beautiful post to Sam by @Dad3353 in the depression topic, a line which I think would echo all of our thoughts... "Thank you for your participation on this Forum; we are all the better for it."

I've been on the hunt for a big Acoustic rig for a long time, something like a 360 or 370 head into the matching cabinet with an 18" speaker in the weird, back facing configuration. They seem to be as rare as hen's teeth in Europe, so I've been using an Acoustic 136 combo as my main amp for a while now. Then the successor to those two big Acoustic rigs popped up on this forum. So now I'm the proud owner of a massive, impractical but wonderful sounding Acoustic 320/408 combo thanks to @Skinner. The 408 has four 15" speakers, and it's another of Acoustic's unusual configurations - two conventionally mounted, forward facing speakers, plus two mounted horizontally to face each other in the middle portion of the cab. The beast had it's first full rehearsal this week, and the most interesting thing is how much bottom end the cabinet chucks out. It seems to generate some unusually low frequencies that are audible and sit perfectly under the two lead guitar sounds in our post punk/new wave influenced outfit. Meanwhile, it also puts out the middly clank sound of a Rickenbacker that sits in a tonal gap that the lead guitars also don't occupy. First gig with it at London's Lexington next week - all I have to do is work out how on earth I'm going to transport it to the venue!

Well I’ve spent the last year or so changing my technique on my fretting hand, always used to do the thumb-wrap over the neck and now arthritis has set in that hurts, so now trying to play with thumb straight on back of neck. Seems to have worked, something I’m rather pleased about.

Provisional Otis Jay Blues Band line-up for a gig on 1st May at Forest Arts Centre, New Milton. All very welcome! We sold out last year, so 🤞 Singer and harmonica player are on loan, but like Marcus Rashford are playing up a storm.🎤🎺 It will be this lineup’s second and last gig. There are three Dave’s, and my second name is David. On 2nd May, the remaining trio will be going forward with… shock horrow … a girl singer. Watch this space!

They're few and far between for me, too! For every gig like this, there's fifty "Why do I bother?" pub gigs... something most Basschatters can probably relate to!

I noticed there weren't any videos online yet documenting the changes to the Octabvre design, so i made a quick and dirty video to show the sounds.

Maybe a little known fact, but the Marshall factory (Milton Keynes, Bucks) has a small 'museum' of amps, guitars etc in and around reception. Although it is primarily for the guitar nerds, in amongst the Les Pauls and Bluesman amps are a few pieces of Bass memorabilia, with pride of place going to the irredeemably individual Lemmy.

OK mine turned up today ! Superbly finished, the colour is much nicer than the photos on Andertons website. Setup was a bit shonky, it needed the saddles lowering considerably (truss rod was spot on) as well as pickups actually screwed in properly, other than that - good. Couple of fret edges needed a little tiny sand, but overall - this is a fantastic bass. The switches are single coil (bridge coil for each pickup), and series. Weighs in at 9lb 4oz, so definitely not a light weight but nothing crazy. Sounds great - bargain. May end up saving me money as it could very well replace something I have far more expensive.

Another shout out for Ishibashi. I’ve imported a few Japanese oddities from them. Clear communications; honest descriptions; fast dispatch and secure packaging. Never had a problem. I wouldn't hesitate if it is an instrument that is a Japan-only model.

Good morning, I'm planning to bring my ACG J-Type 4-string (0096), ACG Finn Fretless 4-string (0122), ACG Harlot 6-string (0240), ESP Ltd B-208FM 8-string, Michael Kelly Firefly 4-string acoustic, Chapman Grand Stick 10-string (deep matched reciprocal tuning), and an Ashbory Mk2 4-string. I'll either bring the Phil Jones Bass BG-110 Bass Cub Combo ... or I might go wild and load up my Gallien Krueger stuff (2 x MB500s along with a 115MBX and 210MBX cabinets) and my pedal board. 😱 Oh, and a folding sack trolley!

well done mate, Van Morrison is normally known as difficult and cantankerous

Agree with the thoughts above, mod it, play and enjoy it, and def keep the original parts.

You own it. Do whatever it takes to make it the instrument you actually want.

I cheated 😃 Dropped a fairly high output Warman JazzBar in place. Then cut a PG to hide it.

My plans have changed - I have ditched a conflicting event (long story) - so I will now attend and I will bring some kit. I'll probably bring my ACG 4 and Manton 6.

I listen to Rush a lot, when I was at school but never listened to the bass particularly maybe it's time to do Rush

Haha understood

So the headstock is fixed, all it took was a bit of tape?

Phew, glad it’s just not me.

I'm sure some purists will be throwing rocks at their computer screens, shouting "Heretic!", but for me, an instrument is for playing. If your reversible mods make you like the playability/sound more, then go ahead and mod it and play the heck out of it!

Bless you. I am glad to be here and it was nice to know I was missed.

I have to round off this thread by saying a big thank you to Carl (Dudgeman), who, in a quite epic piece of basschatting has very kindly printed me some truss rod covers on his 3D printer. Top notch work sir!

Great gig. Packed it out, crowd loved it. First time I've played with a real Hammond master AND horns. Loved it. All originals, mixture of Blues, jazz, funk and a little rocky/pop.

NOT LAST NIGHT! I played a gig at the O2 Ritz in Manchester (My old stomping ground) a few weeks ago with The Groove Chorus - a 40 odd piece choir playing fun/funky/cheesy/disco/pop stuff. I used to go clubbing at The Ritz when I was a kid (Monday night Alternative (Goth) night and Wednesday night student (Indie) night) and I've seen loads of big gigs here (Including Chas & Dave!) so... this was a big deal for me! It was a long day, got there about 1 for setup, tech sortouts etc then a full run through... knackering but good fun! Eight piece band including a four piece horn section - we had a monitor engineer which hasn't happened to me for a long time. The MD, guitarist and drummer were guys I've worked with before and not seen for ages, which was nice; the keyboard player was a great bloke and really good laugh - it's always nice to meet someone who hasn't heard any of my jokes. The dress code was 'Denim on Denim on Denim' (NO black clothes allowed!) so I had to buy a pair of blue denim jeans - I don't own that many clothes that aren't black... It was as camp as a row of pink tents (at christmas) - we did 'I Will Survive'... how camp do you want it?! The gig was FANTASTIC - the place was packed, the choir sounded brilliant, the crowd loved it, the band were great, I played pretty well... a great night all round. Certainly the biggest gig I've played for a while. The organisers (and the rest of the band) said some nice things about my playing, which was gratifying and I've since been asked to play the next one, so... a good nights work! (Decent payer as well) Highlight was probably 'Groove is in the heart' - who wouldn't want to play 'that' riff through an ENORMOUS PA while hundreds of people dance to it?! Played the StingRay -> Secret Weapons board (Thumpinator ->VTDI) -> MB802 -> ENORMOUS PA Shoes were peach pink sparkle Converse (not pictured) Video- https://www.facebook.com/reel/1005081587691904

Hello All, I recently bought a 78 Fender P bass which seems like a nice instrument. As far as I can tell it’s pretty much original although the chrome is disappearing from the volume and tone controls and the electrics need looking at, nothing drastic just some buzzing which might indicate a loose connection of some sort. I have been mulling over changing a few things like the pots and wiring, possibly the black pick guard as I much prefer a tort one with a sunburst finish, and maybe even the pick ups. I appreciate that most people will buy an old instrument and keep it as close to original as possible, but I’m not that precious and would like the instrument to play and sound as good as it possibly can. Anything I change will be kept in case I decide to sell the bass on at some point and I suppose if it is ever sold then a new owner could reverse any changes that I might decide to make. Any advice or thoughts please?

That’s just too f***in’ cool for school 🤘

Mono Vertigo & M80 go for around that used, imo worth keeping an eye out for one.

I'm a Van's guy. Lol Daryl

That's what I thought! But it just splints past the thumb joint, with strap across palm and round wrist. It doesn't hinder finger movement, just means I keep my thumb straight and it feel perfectly natural... And it looks like a cool rock'n'roll black strappy thing!

Cool stuff. When I first saw the bass, I mentioned the Stormtrooper vibes it was giving me. Well, looks I wasn't the only one 😉

I use a trigger thumb splint... All pain gone from fret hand!

I kind of started the other way, my bass lines sounded like a fretless despite starting out on a fretted Jazz some 38 years ago. So I eventually moved to a fretless and my bass playing came alive. I also totally agree about the reverb pedal, I actually have and use two on my fretless board. @Ben Jamin if you want to try an excellent but inexpensive reverb pedal as suggested by @Hellzero then I use the Mooer Ambient A7 pedal. It's an awesome little reverb pedal and with settings 1 with everything at 12, it will do the trick. However, setting 6 has this string pad setting which sounds brilliant, especially with harmonics.

Sorry to hear you’re having some health battles. Perhaps take the pressure off yourself and give yourself a specific length of time ‘off’. Put everything away for a month and tell yourself you’re not going to touch it but after the set time you’re going to crack on. In the meantime, consume as much music and bass related stuff as possible. I find watching old live gigs of bands and artists I love on YouTube makes me itch to pick up the instrument. You might find that the idea of not being able to play it combined with lots of inspiration to be a good reset.

SAM. . . . . RIP MagLudi

@Andyjr1515, my 2013 Leduc U-Contrebasse 6 EUB has EMG pickups at the end of the fingerboard and adjustable via a locking screw. A bit like @RonC Safran bass (I owned one, but sold it as I'm Leduc aficionado and endorser).

Wow! Gigs like this are far and few inbween for me. Love it. Daryl

@agedhorse @Tech21NYC this is absolutely fascinating stuff. Thank you for sharing your memories and experiences. I wonder whether either of you came across Greg Burman?

I'd like to see them replace the singer with a guy I saw advertised at a venue (doubtless a tribute) - Rog Adultery.

As part of Record Store Day, I played a church in my hometown. Not only did it mark 12 months of me being alcohol free but it marked the first time I played a venue that my Dad had played. No, we're not religious but it amazes me that in 37yrs of playing, it hasn't happened already. I had friends come over from Wales and down from Yorkshire and we were on it throughout. The playback confirmed it. It was promoting my friend Rich Davies and his band The Dissidents. Got to use my Blackstar head and cab with my trusty Ric 4003s. It sounded immense.