Leaderboard

I was rather bemused when my son told me there was a pedal-sized parcel for me today. I knew I hadn’t ordered anything as I’ve been having to tighten my purse strings due to impending major change of circumstances. I was therefore completely taken by surprise to find this incredibly lovely gesture and gift when I opened the box: Folks, this was totally unexpected and unnecessary, nevertheless I want to express my profound gratitude to the anonymous benefactors who were kind enough to do this. Thank you! My faith in humanity has been given a much needed boost after the kicking it’s been getting lately. ❤️

I took delivery of this one this morning. Richard Henry made the trip up to the seaside and brought it to my house personally. He had it advertised as a '72, and whilst the pot codes are 39th week of '72, the serial number is early '73, so I'm going to call it a '73. All original except for the saddles, intonation screws and springs. It was probably one of the grubbiest basses I've ever bought, but after two or three hours of cleaning and polishing, including the frets and the board, it has come up a treat. It's now sporting a set of Labella LTFs, the action is low, and it plays superbly well. It sounds fabulous too. The weight is an astonishing 8lbs 6oz, or 3.8kg. Richard has had this for a while, and I have resisted it all this time, and I even thought Brian on here was going to buy it for a while, but it remained for sale, and when Richard dropped the price for the second time in a week I just couldn't not buy it. I'm very pleased with this one. EDIT: Group shot added, the P bass collection. I really should stop now. EDIT 2, Two weeks later: I managed to snag an original 70's bridge and saddles, which after cleaning up, is actually really nice. I've taken just the saddles, 3 screws and 4 springs from this, and added them to the original baseplate. So now it's almost back to factory spec (the G string intonation screw is new, and a fraction shorter than factory spec) Rob

Continuing my post-midlife crisis 'straying from Precisions' period, I couldn't resist this absolute stunner over the weekend. Just... look at it. It's a 1998 model, and was actually the L-2000 they used in the catalogue that year. A couple of honest dings here an there, but otherwise spot-on. I'll be gigging it on Friday.

Dont cry 😀 Hiscox not dead! Polish guitar maker RUF Technologies has acquired the British brand Hiscox and is moving its entire case production—along with tools, technology, and brand identity—to a factory near Warsaw. The original name and high-quality standards will be preserved with the support of the former owner and key Hiscox experts, who remain involved as advisors. RUF produces high-end guitars using aerospace-grade composites and sells them in 14 countries. The company is actively expanding, especially in the U.S. market, and promotes its instruments at major global trade shows.

Harley Benton Shorty does. I bought one when they came out and it blew me away - I don't know how it is possible to make a bass that is so good for the price of a night out. The tone, through my set-up, was very similar to the gorgeous woody tone of P bass in Santana's Europa. Out of preference for a bit more bite I changed the stock pickup to a Tonerider and it is now awesome. I have sold off most of my basses, including an MIJ Mustang, but keeping the HB Shorty for my Precision flavoured moments.

Late report... you'll see why. Saturday's Bendrix Rock gig at Penarth Ex's was memorable for all the right and wrong reasons. I help organising/publicising gigsat the club and it was where we had our first gig so I put out a press release bigging up our dinosaur connections. It got taken up by a local paper and I heard stories it was being talked about. Expectations were high but we were down to a four piece. Indeed the drummer and lead guitarist handwrote two setlists of what we could do after setting up. We also had our mascot for the first time. Around this time I got really dizzy while setting up some simple lights. Tried rehydrating but was so bad when we soundchecked with War Pigs I expected the rapidly expanding audience to disappear. This was unusual as people normally arrive at quarter to nine. We had lots of new faces arriving from eight. I did recover a bit but wasn't 100% right through and had a nasty wobble and nearly fell backwards playing Saturday Night's all Right. We went down a storm. Right through the first set we got not applause, but cheering. We played War Pigs, Paranoid and Crazy Train (we had to from our list) and this went down well, of course, but so did everything else. We finished saying we literally had no more songs (our current full band list is about 10 longer). But after several minutes of chanting and roaring we gave in and our singer said what do you want us to repeat. They all shouted "Muse". Fortunately it was Uprising not Hysteria! I turned up the sub on my octaver and you could see the audience's glee when I shook the whole building. Don't say people don't notice bass. It took longer to deal with all the handshakes and well wishes than to pack up. Several people said how much better we were than our first gig. I've been to literally hundreds of gigs there as it's my local club and I can honestly say it was as packed as I've ever seen it and the best reception I've ever had for a gig. People spilled over from the 'Music Alley' into the lounge, but were coming in to join the dancing. We all agreed this was why we gig, and we donated a modest bit of our fee to the raffle for the stroke association. I packed my gear, dropped it to my partner's nearby house and walked to the pub, feeling a little wobbly. I joined her and friends but managed no more than a sip of my Inches cider when the bar stated pulsating and swaying. She walked me home (I was crashing into walls and generally swaying like a drunk). I didn't get to the loo before the first 🤮 I ended up on the floor for three hours, my brother came over as we were told four hours for a priority ambulance. They got me downstairs somehow and I was lying in the porch contemplating how to get to his car when the blue lights appeared after less than an hour. Cutting it short, it's probably severe positional vertigo. I puked so much I had to go on a drip but thanks to the wonderful NHS and lots of pills/IV, I am recovering and hoping to go home soon. Waiting on a cat scan to be sure it's not a brain injury. So good and bad! I gave the Performer an outing. It sounded glorious. This really doesn't give an impression of how full it was.

Just picked up the Joyo Flanger from BC. Now I only need the Pipe Bomb compressor and the Ocho octave pedal to complete the set. Shame they don't do an LS2 clone but I have no idea how they could bring that off in such a tiny form. Wonderful pedals the Ironman series. Really good quality sounds, superb construction and a great design.

We use a lot of (gentle) humour and pride ourselves on our between song chat. Our music is quite dark so it offsets that. We also don't play the same songs in the same way in the same order, which is my pet hate as a player - so I am sure some of the audience get bored too! At the last gig, the PA died ahead of the encore so we jumped into the middle of the crowd with acoustic instruments and played up close and personal. That definitely went down well.

I find that constantly shouting out "How ya doin' Glaston-berry!" Always works.

Finally getting round to updating the studio, I've been doing it piecemeal for years and the cabling has gotten scruffy, plus I need to move some rack units around to make room for some new kit. Having a new rack unit built to house the amps and storage, and adding 2 new units to the upper racks, an RND Master Buss Processor and an RND Master Buss Transformer, a second Shelford will eventually be added and the UAD X16 will go into the side rack. I foresee an extended period of cable wrangling in my immediate future...

So, that is how it went to Heiko, and it came back last week, but I had to do my part of the job, as we agreed that I'll do all the reassembly. It's now fitted with a brand new BassLab/Richter 3 bands with variable mids preamp, the mandatory Richter status LED between the Delano SBC 5 HE/S pickups, some new ETS knobs, a new output barrel jack, a set of Dunlop Straploks instead of the usual Schaller ones, a new Gotoh battery box, the BassLab identification brand that was removed/missing on the bow, the official side "dots" with the F-clef at the octave on the front, a new "bracing" for the top, a new zero fret, some repairs in the carbon that were needed and the pickups support correctly glued as well as the ETS tuning system put the right way round with the correct screws (check the photos). It's now tuned E to C; the action is very low going from 1.2 to 1.5 mm at the octave with the perfect neck relief; the playability is, of course, amazing and the tone is really huge with a kind of permanent reverb, even dead flat or in passive mode, and becomes immense when you start using the 3 bands EQ with variable mids preamp. It's also hyper ergonomic and very light at 3.445 kilos. The colour is the official Maserati Yellow. It took around 5 months to Heiko to finalise the resurrection of this extraordinary instrument, but it was worth it as it's almost as new, even if it's a very early model without truss rod or serial number, so from 1998 or 1999. Enjoy, and especially @Dazed!

The real reason Scott started wearing gloves...

At my last gig the guitarist had various broken string/tuning problems in between songs and me and the drummer ended up busking various 70s TV themes to amuse the audience in the meantime. It became a bit of a thing as the night went on, and was a lot better than awkward silence and shuffling about onstage.

That is awesome. I hope things are on the up for you very soon.

We had nothing to do with the poster but delighted to be fundraising for Wiltshire Air Ambulance and knowing the bands on the bill, honoured to be headlining such a great collection of local talent.

Thanks for good wishes... I've run out of tlrts (reaction icons).

Our fans seem to appreciate the between-member banter we engage in between songs - even some poor humour. For example - here’s a song by Elmore James dedicated to men of a certain age who wander around in the middle of the night looking for the bathroom. It’s called ‘I Can’t Hold Out’… Maybe I should stick to the bass!

I’m playing my final gig with blues band The Alligators at this festival this Saturday 12th July.

On the mend. thanks for good wishes.

Not sure if this has been posted, only just come across it. I knew of it but surprised to see it on Youtube.

I've been to see a few local bands recently. Mostly bands with senior members. Some are very good musically but outside of that I've seen some real snooze fests. Bands with very little interaction with the crowd and not many smiling faces on stage. Our saving grace is our lead singer who does a great job telling stories and engaging the crowd. What are you guys doing to engage your crowds? Daryl

Thanks to @stevel my quest for a Aerodyne has been fulfilled. A cracking bass in as new condition and good to meet a fellow Basschatter.

I don't know a lot about metal. But I know when a band touches the hearts and souls of millions over several generations they were onto something. I did see them in 1969. Must have been their first visit to the States. I was 15 years old. They played in the gymnasium at Montclair State College in New Jersey. I'm from Montclair. Daryl

This showed up last week... It's intended for guitar but actually sounds great on bass. I added the 'deep' option as the website said it was better for bass but I found when at volume you get that 'wub wub' sound that doesn't work for me. Otherwise it's great, a warmer/darker tone compared to the Walrus Audio Julia, closer to my 80s Boss CE-2B, but with more range in the speed and depth. And I now have the wankiest pedalboard known to man.

"Hello, I see you sell mandolins. Could I have one to fit this case, please?"

We threaten to unleash the dinosaur.

>Groans<

Yup. Either the Orange AD200 or Musicman HD150. As 'backups' I have an Orange OB1 and Ampeg SVT200. Why? Never played a class D amp that didn't sound like dog poo...

I've been fortunate to play with two very, very good frontmen. The singer/guitarist in my previous band, for all his faults, was excellent at reading audiences and had appropriate banter on tap. We had good on stage chemistry and I found it easy to play to his antics - I was usually the butt of his jokes and the audiences loved it. In my current band, our singer/BL has charisma in bucket loads. Most of the band (we're usually 13 on stage) are static and glued to iPads (long story but basically they're not dedicated musicians in the same way as most bands are) but he makes up for it. He talks to the audience, and makes a big deal out of talking to the band as a whole and individuals within it. The drummer and I (with much more live experience) try and work with him to provide a more visual element. I don't have any music in front of me, which I think goes a long way to connecting with the crowd (I have a 'cheat sheet' to my side out of sight of the audience). Being such a large line-up, space is an issue and limits the movement I can make. We just played our self organised festival and he did this which certainly kept the audience engaged! In my opinion, anything that gets between performer and audience (big music stands are my personal bugbear) has the potential to disengage, as does a band that is not clearly enjoying themselves or that is not performing. Some eye contact with the crowd is essential. Smiling or laughing, interacting with other band members and some kind of movement are all part of the performance that allows the audience to connect and enjoy.

I find a good old wireless walkabout goes down well. I also get up to no good during songs which have long, bassless sections - I pretend to sleep, or I naff off for a sit down and pretend to be on strike. Just clowning around basically. People seem to like it. Plus the basics - engagement with the audience - making eye contact with folk and nodded along with them bopping around - sometimes my hat gets borrowed - let 'em - I don't get precious. And for the final coup de gras - if the police come in for a venue check, be ready to play something like Breaking The Law or I Fought The Law etc...

I might tell 'em who's coming next for example, 'IT'S WHAM! TIME' or after 2 or 3 classic 80s songs I might say, 'with all this going on, we need some Spandau' Just before the Bucks Fizz number I sometimes recount my audition with them but mostly me and the keys player are just laughing all the time

I think you've nailed it there. I've done some successful gigs with a great front person and the crowd have lapped it up even though the band were embarassingly bad and played with and seen great musicians who never really made any attempt to reach out leaving a sterile atmosphere with a disinterested audience. I'd way rather play with a great front person with an okay voice than a great singer with no personality on stage. Band interaction is good though. I try to be a foil/straight man for the singer. My duo partner and I kind of heckle each other between songs, the first time we do it in a set the audience wonder what is going on but then get that it is an act and often join in. It has to look natural though most of the 'moves' have started up on stage as a spur of the moment thing but when they have had a reaction become part of the set. One female singer used to try and put me off playing bass when she wasn't singing, just as a tease. The audience soon picked this up and seemed to love her for it.

I've just got a second dep gig with a local band 'The Gowertones' on Saturday after a successful first outing a couple of weeks ago. Turns out the 'vaguely familiar' rhythm guitarist is none other than ex Wales rugby coach Mike Ruddock, and the 'really tall, could be a rugby player' vocalist is, indeed a Wales international with 11 caps, Kevin Moseley. Great bunch, no egos, just enjoying the music.

I always enjoyed purposefully antagonising them. That could be done a number of ways but, usually, it would involve musically heading places they were not expecting to be taken, which kept it exciting for the musicians, too. It also allowed more room for self-expression, which was always nice. I understand this is different for the covers game, though. If you're playing for the money, you can't really do much outside the well-worn tropes for fear of alienating your brand and affecting future bookings, so I suppose you're relying on one of the group with charisma to continually work the crowd to keep them engaged and that energy should feed back to the performers. Everybody should play some part in that, however, and take their eyes off the neck dots now and then to look at, and remember to perform to, the people they're playing in front of. There are few things duller than a band with eyes glued to the necks of their instruments.

The wonderful Colin Holton seems to be the only guy in Salisbury who gives us a gig, yet another Salisbury Live thing for us! If anybody out there in Bass Chat land has a spare half an hour on Saturday afternoon, we're on from 3pm til 3.30pm at the world famous Wiltshire venue - The Barford Inn (I made that bit up about it being world famous, it's 2 miles from me and I've never been there 🤣). It's just off the A30 about 5-6 miles west of Salisbury, I'm looking forward to seeing a couple of the bands after us so I'll see you all there for a pint 😉... it's your round 🤘🏻

Heres my rig. Ampeg SVT CL and Orange AD200. Both sound great through the SVT212!

Beautiful Basschat x

2 outdoor gigs in North London for me yesterday. First gigs on bass for quite a while. First was at the Heath street festival in Hampstead. Nice stage and good sound. I had my new preamp with me but didnt use it at either gigs. First gig was with an Ampeg combo. Really nice sound. Quite tempted to get one at some point. It did rain a bit but that didnt seem to deter the crowd and we were covered. Second was in a private estate in Highgate. We were supposed to have a proper stage but it turned out to be a Gazebo with a small raised playing area. No side protection at all. Of course, the heavens opened up as we were approaching to set up. Again, backline was supplied so this time i used MB 3x10 combo. I had planned on using a preamp with this, but looking at the extension socket, filled with rain, I decided I wasn't going anywhere near it. Again, decent sound, which did surprise me as ive never been a fan of MB cabs. Highlight was when the sound guy turned the supplied Tube driven guitar combo on and a firework display emerged out the back of it. Apparently due to the tube being hot, a tiny drop of cold rain had shattered the glass. Guitarist ended up going DI from hisHelix Stomp. We had a really good sound though. Thoroughly enjoyed both gigs. What also struck me was how easy it was setting up. Never needed any effects, didnt even miss not using a preamp etc.

Now now stop getting competitive!

No problem, all fine. Like I said, it's probably better here because more people might see it and it is worthy of its own thread. Defiantly a good watch (well, I think so).

Ooh I love the figuring on the body - that's come up a treat 👍

Oh wow, So sad to hear of @Mrs Tinman's passing. I remember having a few chats with her on here and FB years ago and she was always funny and kind. All the best to @Tinman and your wider family.

I think he ended up ordering one of these, Hercules Transformer stands, seems as though it tilts from the base?

I must be really boring using the same kit every gig 😂 Sunday afternoon/evening at the White Hart in Melton Mowbray. It was a little bit quiet, possibly due to the Grand Prix, possibly due to being very close to Leicestershire schools breaking up for the summer. Still, we had a decent crowd, plenty of dancing and pointing phone cameras - although not by me because I forgot. Sir Duke was much better for its 2nd (and 3rd!) outing. We also had some great feedback - "How on earth do you make that sound with just 3 of you?" made me smile. Then this morning from a chap that comes to see us a lot, talking about our Mackie SRM450s which only have the vocals going through them, the rest just backline... "Morning Danny, great gig yesterday. Just again realised how perfect your PA setup is. When you first started, I thought it could do with being a bit louder, Ian said what a perfect sound. Later on I went to the toilet, I listened right from the back of the room for one song. I could hear every note and vocals were absolutely crystal clear. And it was still loud enough. Have to say it now, but even in the barn at Barkby, with all Micks expensive gear it wasn't such a nice sound. The harmonies just somehow didn't seem as good. A fantastic job of entertaining us last night as always, let the boys know! Take care." Always nice to hear that kind of thing, especially as we only ever do a line check. The landlord was telling us about a recent band that took 4 hours to do a sound check - sod that!!! 😄

Busy weekend, after a while of not doing anything. Had an hour slot at a local festival, Party by the Parrett, and got the 6pm slot which was nice. We had played a wedding and a party at the venue, and the guy that run the club liked us. Very well organised (stocked fridge back stage and everything) and handily the two main sound guys were the guitarists friend and one of the guitarists in my other band. We had argued a bit trying to get the set list down, we had been asked to do mainly rock (there was a more poppy band and a ska band on after us, so we stuck to the rock mostly) seemed to go down well and we managed to get it down to 1hr and 3 minutes, so went over a bit, which messed stuff up a bit but not too bad. We had quite a few dancers . My guitarist / sound guy did a video from the side WhatsApp Video 2025-07-05 at 18.45.55.mp4 Today we played a pub, outside, on shingle which is a bit of a pain for getting dust everywhere and trying to stand your drink up. Also not good for wasps (or well, good depending on if you are a wasp or not!), back to the normal 2.5 hour set. To be honest I wasn't really feeling it as my hand hurt for some reason but it went well with only a few notable mistakes, like going to do the organ backing section of Brick in the wall, and not realising I didn't change my patch from the backing track of Baker street (which is like a bell), which was quite amusing. We had a request for timber which we hadn't done for a year or so but the singer couldn't remember how to play it! Glad to get back to work tomorrow for a rest!

I’ve been drunk many times in my life, but never Ali Express Dingwall with a Tesco logo drunk