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Been trying to return a shirt, using Evri’s return service. Printed the label Evri emailed me, attached it and took it to two of Evri’s recommended return shops. Both times the very patient staff scanned the bar code over and over again but with no luck. In both instances they tried a number of different approaches to registering the return, even confirming that the email and instructions I showed them were correct. I took it another shop this morning by way of a last resort. Again, no joy. I did the mandatory “Evri chance it’ll get lost anyway” jibe at the top of my voice as I took back off the member of staff. To my surprise a fella behind me said “I’m an Evri driver, let me see if I can help?” We went outside to his van, he took out his scanning device and it registered without an issue. He took my parcel, and issued me with a receipt and a card with his name and contact number on. I checked my emails and there it was, registered as collected and on its way to the depot. Look, it may never see the light of day again, but I have to say that the courier couldn’t have been more helpful and at least I do have some evidence of the return being in the system so have a chance of a refund. I’m pretty sure that he went against Evri policy, so this isn’t necessarily a shout to the company, and no it’s not a £25,000 Wal that’s gone missing, more a nice story…. as you were…

Like so many bass players, I have recently been investigating the lightweight route (lazy, perhaps, but it certainly beats dragging a wardrobe across gravel and up stairs to gigs) and found this thread. My setup until now has been a Laney Nexus 400w tube head with a 1x15 and 4x10 Laney RWB cab underneath for the open air gigs where you really need to move some air. For indoor gigs I have been using a MarkBass CMD121P and have recently had to add a New York Traveller 121 extension cab to keep up with the guitar players. While the Laney rig is EPIC, it is also HEAVY (but worth it for the right setting). I am finding, however, that I am dialling out everything that MarkBass seems to add to colour their kit (very marmite on this, I know a lot of people love MB kit - and they are great for the weight and the price… if you like the MB sound). After a lot of reading, I took got in touch with Stevie at LF Sys for a final piece of advice and very quickly took the plunge to invest in one of Stevie’s finest Monaco cabs. (Stevie was honest enough to say that a pair of Monaco’s would not be the same as the Laney rig, but would get me to the same ballpark - after playing through just one Monaco, this was really close on its own so can certainly see that 2 stacked Monaco’s would definitely be all I could ever need on those outdoor gigs where the back line has to do all the work). Originally, I was looking for a solution for electric bass so also managed to bag a Genz Benz Streamliner 900 to pair with it - and it certainly does not disappoint! (Understatement there - my jaw hit the flaw at how great this sounded!) One of the bands I play in has a couple of guitarists that seem to have their amps constantly set to 11. At these volumes, the MB rig was getting muddy and the Laney was rig overwhelming. So: enter the GB Streamliner and the Monaco… wow! This setup gave me the heft and richness of sound I was looking for in bass tone and sat in the mix with absolute clarity without drowning out the rest of the band, and absolutely none of that mushy muddyness that can so easily and often creep in! This then got me thinking and wondering how it would fare for upright (being a clean FRFR cab and all)… so GAS strikes again and I managed to bag a Genzler Magellan amp for a steal on e-bay and tried that last night. Again, I was truly impressed. All of the rich, ‘substantial’ sound of the upright and all of the harmonics developing beautifully with each note played. It really was ‘my bass, only louder’. This is one versatile cab, taking the tube grit of the Streamliner with electric bass with ease and, the very next day, providing a really clean sound with the Magellan and upright bass. Definitely a cab that I would recommend to any bass player - upright or electric. Bearing in mind that, as the Monaco is 8Ohm, I was only using 1/2 the max power of each amp yet the volume was plenty (and then some) for the two rehearsal settings. I have a feeling that I may shortly have a MB rig and a Laney rig up for sale… although parting with the Laney will be hard, but I suspect it may start collecting dust as the Monaco really does get to the same ball park. Thank you Stevie!! Obligatorty pic for reference:

It’s not one yet but it will be. I have a Boss BCB1000, PT Nano and a Ghostfire Mono Lite+ copy. I’m hopeful that one will become a board and stay that way for more than 5 minutes

Not quite new but in such good condition it looks new. Its one of the earlier 212 cabs i believe. Bought @eddbass cab from the for sale section yesterday. When i went to try it Eddie had it set up in his conservatory with a TC Staccato amp. Boy that thing was loud. All set flat same as the bass. He let me use his gorgeous Warwick Jack Bruce Signature Thumb bass to test the cab. Oddly enough i'm a huge JB fan from his session era with Cozy Powell etc. He was a big influence for me along with Neil Murray. Initial reaction after the volume was how deep and yet clear it was. The tone was even across the full bass range. No boominess anywhere and no high end shrill that i've experienced with some amp/cab set ups over the years when you boost the EQ on the bass. Loved it, bought it there and then. An easy one hand lift too so that was another huge bonus. Got it home and set it up with my Mpulse 600 and using my Geddy Jazz it just sounded so bloomin good. Left the amp with the same settings as with my Mesa PH212 cab but this sounded deeper and clear with every note. As i positioned myself around the bass cave (its a small box room so not a lot of space between Mesa rig, multi bass rack, filing cabinet, Hi-fi separates and my album and CD collections along one full wall) but if you stand to the side of the cab you can still hear it as clearly as standing in front of it. I've never experienced that with a cab before. The volume and tone remained the same even leaning over it and beside it. Its hard to describe that TBH. Its a very well built solid cab. Handles at each side and one on top and a set of inbuilt wheels at rear bottom edge to tilt and run more so on even floors i would imagine. Only one Speakon connector on the back. Not that i'd need to hook up another cab with this one as its fairly loud at 4ohm. My only minor criticism and its been rectified in newer models i believe is that having strap handles on the sides means it can't be stored securely on its side in the car so i may put some small rubber feet on one side fixed to the corner metal protector screws. Might need to use slightly longer screws but that's fine. Doing it this way means no other holes drilled in cab for extra feet. That way it will sit flat on its side in the car. Other than that i can't fault the cab. Will use it at Beat Generator gig in Dundee this coming Saturday to give it a proper test but i'm confident its gonna work a treat. I think i may be a BF convert after this cab. Dave

You cannot spell Bass without a B. Come at me 4 string zealots.

For the last few weeks we've been working on nine new covers and last night we allowed ourselves a smug nod with the realisation that eight of them are finally ready to go into the set.

Dianna Jones Rocks joins the party with Maple Road Blues Band THIS SATURDAY on the big ol’ stage at Old Falls Village Park! Bring your crew and grab some brews, and a chair, and maybe a blanket or snuggie, and join the party too! 5:30pm sharp! Please let this be a good gig. I really need it. Dep drummer though. Daryl

I've just come into possession of this: I think it's from the 1970's, and it has one missing cone and one dead cone, which, given the 4ohm impedance and paltry 160w rating, I'm not surprised about. I'd like to fit some new speakers to it and give it a bit of a spruce up. I have heard it in action, years ago, and from what I could tell it sounded pretty reasonable, so if I can get it up and running again it might be fun. I have the mesh grille and all the fixings, but the one 15" speaker I have won't fit in the hole in the baffle, annoyingly. I'm not sure at present whether this is because the speaker's chassis is too big or the hole is undersized; I suspect some research may well be due. If anyone has any info or insight into these cabs then I'm all ears. Cheers, JRK

This was going to be our Saturday but it’s been cancelled… bummer! I organised the spring and autumn festival last year but as I’m leaving post next week it was organised by others. Well, what with one thing and another, the posters went out very late so very little uptake. Shame really as it would be one of my last gigs. The only upside is that we’d be setting up in 45c heat, which would have been a bit much. Still, next week is our last Friday and all my musician friends are coming along and we’re having a big jam at the our Brit club. Should be a good blast. I’m getting everyone up from the 5 bands I’m in for the last number… a giant jam of superstition. Actually maybe we should start that first as it could take all night!

5kg would be the packed weight with gig bag, ie what is on their system for shipping weight, which probably explains the reply

I'd like another Jazz Bass at some point. I used to have one but it didn't speak to me. I realise now that I didn't understand the nuances of how to dial in the pickups for different sounds/occasions - user error. This SBL vid is what has piqued my interest again... @17.40

Bruce Springsteen and the mighty E Street Band last night at Co-Op Live in Manchester. Seen Bruce many times but not for a while so hoped he’d still be up for it, and he absolutely was! They played for over two and a half hours straight through, with no signs of tiredness or slowing down. As well as Bruce, incredible performances from all of the 17 piece band, especially Max Weinberg on drums and the very cool Gary W. Tallent on bass. Gary mainly used a short scale Spector, but also a Guild Starfire semi in natural which sounded immense. Nils Lofgen was also on fire, being given quite a few extended guitar solos. A great sound for such a large venue, and well organised inside too. Shame the parking was so hit and miss though - okay getting in but dreadful queues on the way out mainly caused by conflicting crowds from the Etihad stadium next door. The football crowd should have been gone before we left ( kickoff at 8pm) but in a brilliant lack of consideration there was an extra 30 mins or so added to the game ( a special leaving feature or something) which meant both arenas emptied at exactly the same time. 70,000+ people trying to get away simultaneously meant a lot of frustration for all. Then our journey home involved two lengthy diversions off the M62 so I got in around 2am. Still, an amazing evening with an amazing band, wonderful.

Not unlikely. If he's been trading for 40 years, Brynn must be thinking of retirement. If he can sell the brand name and add something to his retirement pot, good luck to him.

Another update - THE BASS IS BACK! Arrived very early at 8am yesterday, and after a little time to warm up in the house and a couple of setup tweaks for relief and action, this bass is now 100% where I want it. Low, low action, fast to play, great tone, and looks amazing. Robin has done a great job of getting the finish right - you have to look really closely to tell it's had work done to it at all - the neck binding in particular is a lovely piece of work, blending back into the original around the headstock. Truss rod now works in the normal direction, with a seriously long key available (nice one!), the carbon rods are in there doing their job, and the whole bass just feels so much better. Thanks @Manton Customs!! If anyone would like to see some pics of the completed article on here, let me know. Cost was seriously reasonable considering what's been done here - the bass overall cost to me is still a lot less than a new one, and I can have confidence that it won't need work like that again. It really is a stunning instrument.

In a bizarre twist of internet fate, I saw Supergrass this weekend, exactly 15 years to the month after they reformed! What a prediction! Superb band, Mick Quinn is one of my favourites.

I am here to make the inevitable "pump up the bass" joke.

So while I'm waiting for the neck bolts to arrive I might as well do a bit of tidying up. The bottom front edge of the bass had taken some nasty damage to the laminations - but all easily fixable. I sawed down some birch ply down to one lamination and let it in with hide glue and then scraped with a cabinet scraper. I'm not worried about small gaps and visibly repaired cracks - I'll mix some fine powder birch sawdust with glue and fill the cracks. Okay the finish is buggered in this area ... I could touch it in - but I'm leaning towards a full refinish. The end pin hole had been reamed out massively and was also at the wrong taper for the new endpin - it nearly fell into the bass! So I made and glued in a liner from thin mahogany stock And I'm using the incredibly slow method of bedding the endpin into the hole by double stick taping sandpaper around the pin ... it works well and is way cheaper than an end pin reamer - still got some to go! I've ordered an ebony saddle to replace this ... er ... 'wood' one 🙂

BC Rich Usa models rarely seem to come up, but even some of the older Japanese ones don't seem to appear often. Warlocks are quite frequently seen in the wild, as are the occasional eagle and mockingbirds, But I have yet to see another Ironbird for sale (usa or import) for many years - I picked mine up on here courtesy of @Cosmo Valdemar. Subsequently, I've had messages from all over asking if I would part with it. There are two 'holy grails' that I've been in search of for many years - A Wave and a Bich. In fact if I did find one I would seriously consider the sale of relatives

They used to be happy to get something out of a box and weigh stuff, but now they don't. I suspect their new massive automated warehouse system would get in the way of wandering over to get one off a shelf. It's a shame but I kind of get it for them - they are probably warehousing hundreds of incoming basses a day. It would need a dedicated team to weight stuff on the way in and stick it on a site like smaller places can do. But it is also why I won't buy a bass from them anymore.

I prefer it in the 'new' colour, adds to the retro chic, as do the lipstick pickup covers, it looks amazing now, like a forgotten entry in an old Danelectro catalogue

Great review, I`m sure at some point I`ll end up with some form of LFSys cab, they just seem to tick all points, only thing really stopping me is I haven`t had to use my own rig for years, all the gigs I do have gear already there.

Heh, I can't leave anything alone... I also swapped the bridge for another one which let me get the action a touch lower but I'm still not wedded to the chunky high mass bridge look on this bass...

No, they are not, it all depends on the price tag.

Never discuss it with a priest. They're all guitarists.

I was spoilt in my previous bands as they often featured the same, awesome drummer, who has been in bands since the ‘60s. Everyone else is compared to him and is normally found to be lacking. When I first started playing bass as my primary instrument, I was often struck by my inability to lock in with the drummer and assumed it was me, as I was a bass newb. The drummer in the band I was in couldn’t make a gig and so I asked my old drummer (the guy mentioned previously) from my guitar playing days to dep. From the first beat, there was that lock I had been looking for and I haven’t worried about my ability in that dept since, it either works or it doesn’t, but it’s so satisfying when it does. The difference between a good band and a great band is often a good drummer and good harmonies.

I was just thinking "I wonder if you could make an inflatable double bass?", and then realised what a completely stupid idea this is on just about every level. Which of course means it exists:

Most of them were in my spare room cupboard 😀 Had at least one of every model, US and overseas, released between the years 1978 and 2010. Total was 68 basses so luckily I had a very big spare room cupboard 😁 Only 51 manage this photo op.

Please don't expect loads of reviews yet. The first Goodwood has gone out to a customer who has promised to report back, and some beta testers have tried the cabs and will no doubt chime in when they're ready. But shipping won't start in earnest for a month or so.

Goodwood Revival ltd edition in tweed anyone 🤔 Here's to great success for Stevie 👍

I'm still using my Marshall 90's rig for large shows with 1 or 2 410s (dependant on how far I have to carry them lol) It sounds absolutely immense and the 7400 dbs is the only head I've found that can deal with a wah pedal properly. For smaller shows where I don't need wah, I use a TC bh250 and 410, but it does lack some of the heft (LOL) of the Marshall. I used to have a Hartke LH500 which was great, but I never really got on with the eq

What a really fun, learning thread! Isn't it possible to hire OK cabs where you are playing? I might always take a pre-amp with me plus my bass, but I would always vote fro hiring in backline at an overseas venue.

My current drummer (who is very good) calls it 'The Bluetooth's linked' when he plays with the right bassist... 🙂 EDIT: I should add that in my experience it's not always that the drummer (or bassist) has to be fantastic, it's more a chemistry thing: I've played with a couple of fantastic drummers who, while it was all OK, just didn't lock in, and that 'knowing what they're gonna do next' thing just didn't happen...

There is no standard, when configuring your bass it is there as an option to what preamp you want.

Yazz Ahmed in Manchester Jazz Festival, which I can’t describe better than Jazz Times’s reviewer - except to add that Ralph Wyld on vibes and marimba was just extraordinary - almost show-stealing, had all the others not also been so good. Also so far seen Phil Meadows’ Beware of the Bear with Joe Downard excellent on bass guitar and unexpected bonus of Rosie Frater Taylor on guitar; John Ellis with the awesome Grant Russell on DB; and Ladies of Midnight Blue which sounds like it should be a sort of smoky female-vocal led account of the standards songbook but was actually two women (very adeptly) whacking the bejeezus out of various drums whilst spreading Black consciousness. And blowing bubbles. I liked it.

Great review and I echo all your sentiments. This cab is seriously impressive!

If my sound is dull or flat it's time to change strings. ☺️

Still confuses the hell out of me that a 5-string version of the L2000 is called the L2500, but the 5-string version of the L1000 is an L1005 and the L1500 is an L1000 with the pickup moved towards the bridge position

I've worked on plenty of Ric truss rods and nearly always clamp the neck straight, prior to carrying out adjustments. It is an efficient way of taking the stress off of the rod during the process of straightening the neck.

First one of a few multi-act festivals this year for us this Saturday. It’s a reasonably close one for us (the furthest away being Nottingham in August). Sound check with provided sound guys is an incredibly early 12.45 pm. Our spot starts at 8.45pm! It’s just far enough away from most of the bands homes to make a trip back and then returning nearer performance time a non- starter. First act is on at 5 pm so I’ll probably sound check then head to the local town of Lanark for a wander. Just hoping that our set-list isn’t duplicated by the other acts. We’ve avoided Garth Brooks and Eagles in our choices but not sure of the repertoire of the other bands. Hope the good weather lasts ( although the performance area is indoors) as people are more likely to attend if the sun is shining.

Had a 3 hr rehearsal last night with the Glam band just to polish up some of the new songs we've added and to work a bit on a new Suzi Q song. Unfortunately one of our singers couldn't make it due to the poor health of her 12 yr old dog. Not so good news there. New songs went well but its amazing how much we missed her vocals. She has a huge presence within the band. Used my Sandberg VM4 into an old Peavey with a graphic EQ and a Hartke 410 with what looked like aluminium speakers. Sounded like a nice cab. Not so keen on that old Peavey head. Much preferred the old Mk3 twin channel and graphic EQ Peavey i had in early 80's with my Marshall stack. Happy days altho i did go to custom cab with a Peavey BW 15 & 12 speakers fitted. Looking forward to the next gig on Sat night at Beat Generator in Dundee. Dave

I’m often blown away by the various expertise of BC members on certain subjects, but @Bill Fitzmaurice is another level. Amazing knowledge.

Careful, someone will be along in a minute to tell you that on the basis of the technical specifications of newer and lighter cabs you're wrong, an old 18" speaker can NEVER sound good 😃

You'll be looking at the oddly named. P5 4-string. They're very good basses.