Leaderboard

. . . . being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November. Always nice when the bass player gets some recognition.

Finally! I mean all she had to do is record over 9000 songs perfectly, through multiple decades! 😁 Like one does.

So, I basically only play Rickenbackers these days, not that I have loads. I have a Fireglo 4003 from 1999 that is my main bass until I started travelling. Last year I bought a 2009 4003 in Mapleglo, which after Fireglo is my favourite colour. Then, bored, late at night I came across a 1984 Mapleglo 4003 on Guitar Center. I don’t know what more to say, it’s basically the same bass but older. Neck shape is different but every Ric has always been different for me. It’s incredible

Second gig for my originals band last Saturday evening in Reading. Gig put on by a local promoter who has delt with our guitarist before. All new to me and was slightly nervous as only required to take Squier PJ-555 and pedalboard. Happy to find Markbass lm3 and 2x10 cab supplied. Small pub but a sizable enthusiastic crowd for the four bands. We were on second and went down very well. Friendly sound man and I could hear everything fine which encouraged me to do my backing Vox. I'm not great but it's so much easier when you can hear yerself. Lots of positive comments from audience members and one of the other bands want us to do a gig with them in September.....so far so good. update, some footage has shown up...got to work on that ending😆

The drummer from one of my old bands from the 90's contacted me to ask if I could play a gig with them as sadly their bassist had died suddenly. Went along for a practice last night and was blown away how good they were. All sixtys covers but not many that i'd ever played before or was even slightly aware of. I'd been practicing at how for the last week or so but still couldn't nail some of them. A Doors number and a Moody Blues one left me just sitting out while I recorded it to play to at home. Also wanted me to do Penny Lane but in a different key to original so that's on my to do list. A number by The Creations sounded great and Summer in the city went well but my fave of the night was Riders on the storm... nailed it imho. Lots to learn for next week but up for the challenge. Got a Zoom H2n recording of Making Time by The Creation from this practice. I'd never heard the song before so had a listen on YouTube to a live version....I think overplay a bit here but I was enjoying it so much. Didn't get the end right but plenty of time to sort that hopefully. Was using EB3. into fender rumble head through ampeg cab. stan practice - BC_.m4a

That makes me think of the non-musical things that can make a difference. Being polite, greeting the bar staff and listeningto anything they have to say, making it easy for a venue (not fussing or too many questions in advance... but do ak about parking and load in), publicising the gig, creating a decent poster (if you can) and sending the venue a copy, sensible volume and not arguing about it, packing up promptly. These are all things every band can do that cost nothing, and having been on the organising end, all things that some bands fail to do. It's amazing how many bands can't even provide a clean logo and a decent photo for a poster*. A good number can't provide a sensible description of the type of music they play. This is essential, the venue I help gets a very different audience depending on genre. Some local bands 'refuse to be categorised' - sorry lads, you aren't Primus! Usually a quick listen to online videos provides an answer (usually the most reluctantbands turn out to play 'americana' or 'popular covers') but why make life hard for a venue? One last tip. If you are a vainglorious lead guitarist who can only get the tone you want by running a 100W Marshall or a Fender Deluxe Twin flat out... get a power brake. 115dB at the back of the audience in relatively small venue means people will leave, and you won't get invited again. *If supplying a 'poster' make it a sensibly proportioned image so they can print it out. Many venues use A4 clip frames.

Covers band, which is an offshoot of the main originals band. Last night was our third rehearsal, the gig is next week. We went through 20 songs, and have 11 more we didn't do or have done before. Still a lot of work to do but mainly just with the arrangements. The drummer plays to a click, so we can time the sets quite accurately without having to worry about gigspeed 😆

New single out now from all the usual downloaded and streaming sites There's also a poptastic remix by Matt Pop:

New backup bass day got down to one bass but what a bass 72 P but band suggested I was tempting fate turning up to gigs with one bass. I have never needed the backups I’ve taken. Ever! I caved in and thought I’m just going to get a super cheap bass that can sit in a case - saw the Squier Jag Bass with one big pup - £219 - got it yesterday expecting it to be bad - but neck is satin smooth and zero fret sprout or sharp frets, 32inch - not had 32 or Jag before. It’s really nice to play. Pickup is nicely balanced and has a nice grunt to it. Tuners seem to be fine. Bridge is cheap - that and the strings are the only things I’ll change I think. im digging playing it too - rehearsals tomorrow to test it out.

Thread from the dead! Playing the Fool has just been reissued. Completely remixed from the ground up, with all the missing songs. I got the 2xCD / 5.1 Blu Ray version, and it's ridiculously good. Gawd bless Ray Shulman. What a player.

Couldn't agree more. I'm not big on mods but if you have a man for the job it can be fun and the three I made done turned out great My first Spector was done in '16 , a LX5 trans black originally, the controls moved to the cavity cover and the whole thing was refinished to a violet sort of color, highgloss on the body, oil finish on the neck. Played many gigs and even today on of the first bass I grab for practice or writing. The second was a pre-LX Euro5 natural, didn't do anything to the controls (East deluxe) but swapped the PUs to a 40P and J plus shaved the neck which was beefier originally than the LX The 3rd one was a blue SSD NS-4CR in boring blue that became classic white. I sold this long ago as 4 stringers weren't much use for me but with the full maple wings and super quiet Noll electronics it sounded massive. I don't think I have a pic at hand but you get the idea, a white NS Spector with dot inlays. The thing about refinish and mods is that you should do it only if the basses are keepers as they affect resale value (eventhough I received several offers for the pink and the purple) The pink and the purple have hundreds of gigs in them and keep counting and I love what was done to them even after 8-9 years. But these kinda things are not for everyone and to this day these are the only instruments of mine that were modified (apart from a pu or preamp swap)

Neck arrived. Looks lovely. Bit of Birdseye in the wood. No sharp fret ends. There's an ever so slight backbow. Beyond this I can't comment as it arrived about ten minutes before we were off out. More later.

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=666965339388258

I think we should have a rule/guideline where we don’t post people’s names in the subject of the thread without some context. Yet again, I looked at this and thought, "oh jeez, bless her but at least she had a good innins." I used to exchange emails with her years ago, I even got a reply on Christmas Day once. Bruce Foxton was the last one to not be dead when I opened that thread..

Always a good thing when an artist's work is recognised, but all this Hall of Fame stuff is a load of corporate b/s. Imho obviously.

There is of course the easy 60s option, an oil wheel projector... Though LED is an option too https://optikinetics.co.uk/product/aura-projector/

Rather better rehearsal with the originals band this time as the BL wasn't stressed out and exhausted. Got a little disrupted towards the end as the slightly dodgy PA amp in the room started cutting out on particular notes. Still, we continue to make progress.

John, who organised it, has posted pics from the night. There's a video and a couple of pics of your band. John was a sound and lights man at one of our gigs and said "where have you guys been hiding?". He's been very supportive and came along to our last gig. He's a good fella.

First off, I do own some amps. Mesa Subway D-800+. Got 2 of em. An Epifani UL901V2 with a custom tone stack and 2 ohms capable. I paired these with either my Subway 212s or my Subway 410s. I own 2 of each. While these are IMO the best amp/cab combination to get great sound. I have found better options. 4 years ago I switched to IEMs. With a Quad Cortex and various other pedals, I now enjoy. I just picked up the Anagram last week. I have built several pedal boards with various devices such as (but not limited to) the Le Bass. Subway pedals. ReVolt. CabM. And a few others, All in all I estimate I have 6 pedal boards. 2 are Quad Cortex based. So what freedom am I finding? I no longer gas for amps. No matter what's out there. I'm free of interest. The IEMs rock. And sound so much better than trying to run an amp. Whether it's a small pub or huge stage gig. All I gotta have is a pedal board. Bass and my wireless units. Pure freedom. Wireless cover 300 feet in every direction. I tried to find where they would start to lose signal. Never got far enough out. I just don't need to move 300 feet from my signal point. So happy to be free of amps. I will keep the amps I have. They may come in handy one day. But gigging with amps is over. And needing more is never gonna happen. No dragging a 410 or 212. No more volume wars with the guitar player. IEMs truly set you free. And! Wait for it. If you buy decent IEMs (like I did). The sound you get is pure magic. I even still experience that "thump" we all know and love. Probably some kinda weird effect. Like still being able to feel a lost limb. But satisfied I am. I get some people will never part with their amps. I guess they like hauling cabs. I guess they like having ringing ears. But for me amps are so 1985.

That's interesting...I thought it was just me. I went from Schaller locks on all basses to just the normal buttons and rubber washers on everything and they all felt more comfortable on the strap. You wouldn't think it would make much difference would you? It seemed to change the pressure points over my shoulder and tuck the bass back into me a bit. That's on all 3 - a Spector Pulse 2, a Warwick Proline and a Zon Sonus

Frank Zappa and the parents or guardians of invention

Has this actually been confirmed, or is it what Carol said? ** About time really.

Jane’s Rehab, followed by… Jane’s Relapse

"Ouch" - The Rutles

Every time I hear about Outkast this is now the first thing that springs to mind, ruined them for me!

I was in a band like this once, for about 5 years. It was one of the best band experiences for me because we were good, the venues booked us (we had several residencies) and it made playing so much fun. 100% agree.

I had a few Pete Skjold basses including a Whaleback like the model shown above and these are excellent basses, not AI generated. The anchoring system was something he tried years ago, but did continue... He is inspired by JP Basses like our own @skelf and even bought the rights to Jean-Philippe Ferreira (the guy behind JP Basses) to continue his work under the Denoncourt series, when JP decided to stop making basses. You can write Pete an email: he always answers.

So for some songs the click is just for setting the tempo and nothing else. Do these songs always have the same structure and length? If not that will lead to synchronisation issues with the video. If you are only playing places with in-house PA and lights then you'll find that most of the venues that could support video projection will already have some sort of system installed that is appropriate for the size of the venue. You may find that some of the older set-ups will result in people on stage casting shows and obscuring parts of the screen, and you'll have to decide if this is an acceptable compromise for your performance or if at those venues you would be better off with no back projections. Unless you can find someone to produce all the imagery and videos it's probably going to take several months to implement, so I'd start by asking all the venues that you are playing in the meantime how their projection system works and what inputs are available and what formats they support. That will give you an idea on how to proceed. You could test the water by getting the venues to project your band logo while you play. We have one that is included in our technical rider in various formats, and if it gets lost, our singer has copies on his phone that can be emailed, texted or AirDropped to the lighting engineer while we are setting up. Here's a couple of shots of my band with our logo projected onto a screen behind us. This first one is from a fairly small venue and as you can see we are obscuring part of the screen and projection: Of course that's not a problem if you play somewhere big:

Rehearsed it again last night, set of La Bella Deep Talkers, action raised a little and PUP lowered and it was glorious (although PUP is slightly noisy I guess that goes with the SC territory). An advantage of the madly long neck is that I found I can use the very end of it as a thumb rest, and in doing so can play right over the PUP which is my preferred style, so that problem might be solved 👍

Pictures say all that needs to be said, it's taken me a while to get here, but I suspect that of all the fretless Precisions I've owned (P, PJ, PP, PM) and all of the board materials I've used with them - rosewood, ebony, maple, graphite - this is by a long way the sweetest. Classic Vibe body, PUP, and circuit (the PUP as I'd been told would be the case, is very very good indeed), paired with a stunning Warmoth neck. First rehearsal tonight

I'm never pitching the band so it's hard to come up with a big selling point. I think most of our gigs come from " call ins" so I can't imagine we have to pitch very much. " We're very clean" Would that work? Lol Daryl

It's kind of hard not to like AC/DC. Daryl

I've been pondering the idea of a video wall. My 80s band played a gig in front of one a few years ago, and our frontman's daughter very kindly created an MP4 of instantly-recognisable 80s films. We'll pass lightly over the licensing fee issue... It worked really well. I'd have liked to include some more political footage - the Falklands war, the miners' strike, a few memorable Spitting Image sketches and so on - but the link between the music and the footage made quite a difference. Video wall controllers aren't as expensive as they used to be, and second-hand flat-screen TVs could be used instead of pricey monitors, but including one involves (a) more gear to cart about, (b) a longer set-up time, (c) whoever is rigging the video wall needs to be done and dusted before the drummer and bass player need to set up and (d) most importantly, the video wall support needs to be stable enough so that it won't tip over and fall on the band. And it needs to be easy to fit-up and strike, too. Not a simple ask. But if I can find solutions, it'll solve the problems with having to have projectors out front in just the right place.

Couch straps are all vegan

Tomorrow I get to plug mine in 😅 been sat taunting me all week

Everything but the Non-Binary Sibling Sledge

What separates your band from the other bands in the areas you work in? - I'd say it's that we are an originals band and never play covers. What do you have that others don't? - Tricky to answer without sounding a bit arsy, a couple of seriously good musicians (and then me as a counterpoint). I'd like to think our songs are lyrically interesting and cover a number of styles and from the bass perspective there are not many songs without an excursion beyond the 12th fret. I know, sorry brethren. If you were pitching your band to a prospect, what would be your bast selling point. - We are very reliable. You can also add in areas where you think your band struggles. - It needs a decent bass player.

Ralph, who always insists on attending our rehearsals, and then curls up on the floor farting and snoring, would be much more useful to the band if he took the lead of his puppet counterpart.

The Roxy Music tribute I play in has used projections for a couple of years now. We've made it as simple as it can be - I put together a three hour mp4 (edited on an excellent free programme called Shotcut) with appropriate, royalty free images and short video clips. We check with the venue well in advance to see if they have the facility to run it and about 70% of them do. We play 200-300 seater places - some have a projector and some ask for us to bring a laptop with the mp4 pre-loaded. I've always got a couple of memory sticks in my gig bag with the file on, too. It's not synchronised to what we're playing, but it adds another visual element to our performance and we often get people saying how much they enjoyed the "film." Occasionally some of the "screens" that the images get projected on are basically white bedsheets (with stains and creases) but from a distance, they look fine. My advice would be to get one done - it's quite a fun project - let the venues know you can provide one and always keep a copy handy, along with an HDMI lead or two. Ours is also available to download from our website.

What is generating your click and what else does it do? Backing track? What application runs that? Have you thought about what visuals you want and how they are going to be produced? Remember that anything you don't produce yourself will be subject to copyright and usage fees. What sorts of venues are you playing? Ones where you have to supply the PA and lights or ones where that is provided by the venue? IME most venues with in-house PA and lighting systems also have a projector installed, all you have to do is find out what connection facilities they have and include yours as part of your technical rider. Projection technology has moved on massively from what Franticsmurf is talking about. We supported a band earlier this month who ran video projections with the projector set up on stage just in front of the screen. Here's a photo of the stage set up: The projector is the grey white box in the middle of the stage and was positioned level with the rack on the left and still filled the screen with video. However, if you have a drum kit that might limit your options on smaller stages.

Dispersion, dispersion, dispersion. It's inversely proportional to the size of the source. The main reason for larger drivers is they can move more air than smaller drivers. If you use multiple smaller drivers you can move just as much air with higher efficiency and wider dispersion so long as they're vertically aligned. Fifteens work best where dispersion isn't a concern, which means either in sub or in 2 way or 3 way cabs where the fifteen is only run to 800Hz or so.

I thought I'd try a different technique for the fret slots so I used the laser engraver it's done it spot on!!.........👍🏻🤟🏻

We don't play Oasis We don't play Dakota We don't play Sex on Fire We don't play Mr Brightside I think that sets us apart 😂 What we do play is 60s and 70s stuff that you will have likely heard of but that other bands don't do. Rock, prog and pop. We like doing stuff that is technically challenging and stuff that you wouldn't think a trio could do. That, and the guitar/vocalist has a great line in banter and amuses & entertains the audience. It's a lovely combination and I feel so lucky to be a part of it. I've been in bands with him for 40 years now