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Just a quick message to let everyone know that John of Noise Works did a fantastic job of fixing an awful banana neck on an eBay-acquired 1979 Shergold Marathon bass. I bought said bass a couple of months back and did everything I could (truss rod, low tension strings, filed some proud frets etc) but the bass was virtually unplayable - looks like it had sat in its case unplayed for years with high tension Rotosound steels. I tried the Shergold forum on FaceBook (thanks @ash for reminding me of this forum) and some peeps recommended John. Eventually I went with their advice. Over the course of a few weeks, John heat clamped the neck, fixed the dents and bumps on the back of the neck and levelled/polished the frets. The result is a slick playing, low action bass with loads of 70s/80s cred. Very reasonable price and friendly service too. Recommended!

It’s arrived and it’s like an old friend coming home ! Needed setting up, action was very high and the Rosewood fretboard was drier than a nuns chuff ! Anyways fretboard done, frets polished and action set and she’s ready to play

Jazz numberrrrrr nine? I think? I've stopped counting.

Picked up the combo a few weeks back and happened upon the cab a few days ago having given up hope of ever finding the matching set - love, love, love this thing! punchy TE sound in spades, plus it glows under UV 👽 1994 vintage

I've been having a really good session again today looking at the Silverstone II. Today's progress has been really interesting, using the Silverstone as a pure FRFR solution (I've also been playing with the cabinet from a "standard rig" point of view too). As I have one in for review, the Darkglass Anagram has been providing front end duties along with my beloved and rather ancient Alesis 24 band programmable EQ in to my fave Bergantino B|Amp or my EBS 802. I have to say that Silverstone II takes effects and amp sims admirably! I've dialled in a killer tone on the Anagram which sounds brilliant through both my studio monitors and the Silverstone II. In a live setting, I have the option of sending FOH a different signal, so there's plenty of options for doing that but it's nice to know that what is coming out of the cabinet behind me is a fair representation of what FOH is also getting. For me, this is really important. A very capable and portable solution with plenty of beans on tap! More later

The only ones I can confirm are definitely genuine are Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Pepys, Glenn Miller, Jesus, and Paddington Bear

Here's my baby

I recently picked up a new jazz bass... MIJ active deluxe LTD. Beautiful to play and lovely tone. A nice companion to my Japanese Stingray. I like Japanese stuff, alright?

My work here is done - for now. Having considered putting an HX Stomp on my board I finally opted for an HX One on the basis that I rarely use effects and then only one at a time. Also swapped out the Mooer baby tuner for a Boss TU-2. It all runs from a battery.

The other obvious advantages of the FI over the MXR: - input gain - 99 presets, in banks of 10 (sure, I get that is overkill for many) - two stomp switches - display - midi The FI v4 VIP has a pedal-board friendly format not too far off what the MXR delivers My tuppence worth, if I may, if Andreas wants to stay in the game with the advent of the MXR Three improvements to suggest: - improved display. Boss stole a lead on this some while ago - please check their 200 series => can label patches with words and not just numbers. "Chaka Khan" is so much easier to remember than "#06"! - load patches 1 - 10 with popular cover band patches - arpegiattor (currently only available on Boss SY series of mainstream bass synth pedals) Marketing: Why aren't there any decent YT clips of bass-players using the FI v4 VIP live in a band in the way that Paddy has just posted?

OK I am breaking a self-imposed decade-long exile from posting to chime in here, because I just got the Future Impact VIP that was up for sale and I'm so bloody impressed with it as a product. You guys are absolutely right - in fact, I'd said something eerily similar to Peter earlier today in a private chat where he was very kindly giving me advice on a usb-midi converter. First up - tracking on the VIP is stellar. I don't have the MXR, but I own the Source C4 and used to own the original Deep Impact. This feels both immediate and accurate, it gives me that finger-ear connection that makes me believe I'm playing an instrument. Feed it clean bass with clean technique and octaves jumps, slides, ghost notes, bends are no problem. The only thing that might improve it a little bit is some kind of training mode with AI or similar to give even better, context-dependent note-on/-off triggering. But it's already really, really good. If you're competent enough to play in a funky covers band then this pedal will do what you want with minimal adaptation to your playing style, you can play it and still feel like a bassist. Sonically, I only needed to play through a few presets to hear very clearly that this will do anything that is showcased on that MXR demo, and more besides; including stuff the MXR can't do to the best of my knowledge but stuff that's still useful for actual real-world bassists. E.g. some of those classic bass monosynth patches a la MJ or Herbie rely on mixed waveform voices and/or pulse width modulation. The MXR 'voice' button is a bit of a black box that sort of kind of maybe covers these a bit but definitely not to the extent the FIV4 does. The FIv4 filters and associated envelopes sound great in a way the C4 can't manage; the sweeps are smooth, the tone is fat and pristine in a good way, that'll dirty up nicely if desired. In particular the very starts of the notes are the first time I've been convinced by a bass synth. Ergonomically, the VIP makes this much pedalboard friendly and the metal finish looks good, better in real life than on-screen. In an ideal world a future hardware revision would include LCD screen, USB interface and either rotation of the VIP casing 90 degrees while retaining top cable entry, or an additional footswitch for separating patch up/down functions. At the moment fast-pressing moves you down a patch number instead of up, it is ok when you get used to it. As Al has said above: The big but very solvable problem is that the v4/VIP presets showcase the power and quality of the pedal but by and large aren't at all useful for the average gigging bassist in a band. All it needs is slots 1-10, or better 1-20, to be filled with a range of presets chosen to mimic synth bass in classic tracks a la the MXR, and it would elevate it to the undisputed top of the pile. It wouldn't matter how easy it is to edit beyond the basic level and dynamics controls on the front, because the users that feared the editor would never need to touch it. That'd probably also help with the dearth of decent Youtube demos, since bass reviewers wouldn't have to gain programming expertise first. I think part of the issue for the FI is that the people developing it are way more adventurous and forward-looking than us bassists! As it is, for now we just have to accept getting our editing fingers dirty or at least downloading some of QM's excellent patches. Hence my question to him about an appropriate MIDI adaptor. A secondary problem is that a lot of the useful online info about the FIv4 is buried in gigantic megathreads here and at the Other Place, that are hard to search or browse efficiently. Honestly I love the MXR demo and am still keen to try one, but I think once the hype has died down the FIv4 will emerge as still being current best-in-class for synth bass. It's not just powerful, it's musical and fun. Right I'll climb off my soap box now! Be interested to hear people's takes on which classic synth bass tracks would make the cut for a preset top ten or top twenty...

In theory this ought to be possible as the patch files contain a 32-character name already. That could easily be done in the next update. (Even before as it’s just a question of assembling them and uploading the bank file to the cloud.) I presume rhetorical. Mainly because no one has bothered to do any. I did get Panda to send Gaz Williams a unit with the express outcome that he’d record a video but a year on he’s still not got around to it! I’ve just revived an old idea of mine for being able to move patches around on the pedal without recourse to the editor as I’ve finally had the headspace to flesh out a nice UI for it. Let’s see if it’s possible as regards the actual coding.

Timescale depends on how long it takes to reach the minimum order quantity, fabrication will take a month after the orders are recieved. The heel can't been pre-drilled because the location of the holes depend very much on where the holes in the body are located and different basses may have holes that are out by a fraction of a millimetre - which matters when it comes to the neck. However, inserts and neck bolts will be included. Drilling the holes is relatively straight forward if you have brad pointed drill bits, clamps and a drill press. Just install the neck in the body pocket, make sure it's a good fit against the longer side of the neck pocket and mark the holes by putting a drill bit or something pointy and the same diameter as the holes. Then just twist so the end makes a mark in the heel and then transfer the neck to a drill press, clamp it securely and drill out the mark with a brad pointed drill bit that almost matches the diameter of the inserts. Then screw the inserts until flush, add a blob of superglue to each and install the neck in the body.

Unlined with the dots on the side at correct place (where the note would be).

Awesome news, welcome to the dark side 🤣

I met Dave Swift at the same Bass Bash and asked him about this. He said if he used a flat-wound B string it sounded ‘like a football hitting a sheep’! No-one has mentioned Dingwalls yet, so… Dingwalls. Most will be aware that they (and other fan-frets) overcome the common problem of indistinct B strings by using a different scale length for each string. I had a Super P (with 35in B) that did the 5-string Precision thing brilliantly. I only traded it because I discovered I liked the tightness of a 37in B.

If I remember correctly I was chatting with Dave Swift at the SE Bash a few years back and his 5 string Fender had flats E to G but a round B - maybe to get better definition?

You will need an interface to get your bass audio in there. A pickup is less ffaff than a mic. Audio interfaces are cheap on FB marketplace. You will need to have some sort of syncing noise/visual so you can glue audio and video together in iMovie You will need to spend 3 or 4 hours on a "teach yourself Garage Band" YT series. It is far from rocket science, but if you just pile in and hope for the magic after 10 minutes you are destined for Dissapoinment Central.

I had a HA550 that was awesome but too big and heavy for my needs. Had a Kickback 12” 120w combo that was great … but again heavy! Loved the look of the aluminium driver tho.

Iron Maiden in Bremen last night with Avatar. Avatar were good, but not my thing really, though I did know two of their songs from off the wireless. Maiden were Maiden, it's a 1980 to 1992 retrospective tour so you know what to expect. The big digital screens were very effective though. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though it was open air and we all got a bit damp during Avatars set.

I’ve known John W for nearly 40 years, and he’s always been superb at his craft. It’s great to see him getting a deserved mention. A proper hidden gem, and a lovely guy with it!

I've got the Energy 2x10 and use it mostly with a MB AG1000 head. I love it. It's plenty loud enough, goes deep enough, and it sounds like the tone in my head. Very happy with it.

Reposting here from the MXR thread at Peter's request, where people were discussing the relative merits of the two pedals: OK I am breaking a self-imposed decade-long exile from posting to chime in here, because I just got the Future Impact VIP that was up for sale and I'm so bloody impressed with it as a product. You guys are absolutely right - in fact, I'd said something eerily similar to Peter earlier today in a private chat where he was very kindly giving me advice on a usb-midi converter. First up - tracking on the VIP is stellar. I don't have the MXR, but I own the Source C4 and used to own the original Deep Impact. This feels both immediate and accurate, it gives me that finger-ear connection that makes me believe I'm playing an instrument. Feed it clean bass with clean technique and octaves jumps, slides, ghost notes, bends are no problem. The only thing that might improve it a little bit is some kind of training mode with AI or similar to give even better, context-dependent note-on/-off triggering. But it's already really, really good. If you're competent enough to play in a funky covers band then this pedal will do what you want with minimal adaptation to your playing style, you can play it and still feel like a bassist. Sonically, I only needed to play through a few presets to hear very clearly that this will do anything that is showcased on that MXR demo, and more besides; including stuff the MXR can't do to the best of my knowledge but that's still useful for actual real-world bassists. E.g. some of those classic bass monosynth patches a la MJ or Herbie rely on mixed waveform voices and/or pulse width modulation. The MXR 'voice' button is a bit of a black box that sort of kind of maybe covers these a bit but definitely not to the extent the FIV4 does. The FIv4 filters and associated envelopes sound great in a way the C4 can't manage; the sweeps are smooth, the tone is fat and pristine in a good way, that'll dirty up nicely if desired. In particular the very starts of the notes are the first time I've been convinced by a bass synth. Ergonomically, the VIP makes this much pedalboard friendly and the metal finish looks good, better in real life than on-screen. In an ideal world a future hardware revision would include LCD screen, USB interface and either rotation of the VIP casing 90 degrees while retaining top cable entry, or an additional footswitch for separating patch up/down functions. At the moment fast-pressing moves you down a patch number instead of up, it is ok when you get used to it. As other users have said: The big but very solvable problem is that the v4/VIP presets showcase the power and quality of the pedal but by and large aren't at all useful for the average gigging bassist in a band. All it needs is slots 1-10, or better 1-20, to be filled with a range of presets chosen to mimic synth bass in classic tracks a la the MXR, and it would elevate it to the undisputed top of the pile. It wouldn't matter how easy it is to edit beyond the basic level and dynamics controls on the front, because the users that feared the editor would never need to touch it. That'd probably also help with the dearth of decent Youtube demos, since bass reviewers wouldn't have to gain programming expertise first. I think part of the issue for the FI is that the people developing it are way more adventurous and forward-looking than us bassists! As it is, for now we just have to accept getting our editing fingers dirty or at least downloading some of QM's excellent patches. Hence my question to him about an appropriate MIDI adaptor. A secondary problem is that a lot of the useful online info about the FIv4 is buried in this gigantic megathread here and at the Other Place, that are hard to search or browse efficiently. Honestly I love the MXR demo and am still keen to try one, but I think once the hype has died down the FIv4 will emerge as still being current best-in-class for synth bass. It's not just powerful, it's musical and fun. Right I'll climb off my soap box now! Be interested to hear people's takes on which classic synth bass tracks would make the cut for a preset top ten or top twenty...

I had tickets for their last tour but it got cancelled due to "visa issues". I hope I get another chance to see them for the first time but this is definitely a strong second best.

I’ve only just found this thread and felt I should jump in. I’ve got a through-neck Jazz 5.

Same experience with the Fullertons. I tried a 58 P bass, I genuinely thought the more recent Classic MIM 50's were better. For me, if you want an original but on a budget, you cant beat the 80's MIJ reissues

As I said, this is an old clip done on v3. V4 has hugely improved tracking by comparison, and also has the ability to switch tracking priority modes. There are further improvements in the pipeline too. Octaves will always present a problem to any pitch-detection system as an octave above the fundamental (2nd harmonic) is always strongly present in most real-world instruments.

When I messed around with this during Covid I initially did the above, recording the audio and video through different means and then having to stitch together, was a right faff, but then I discovered this handy device - https://www.roland.com/global/products/gomixer/ - basically just plug it into your phone and plug your bass into it and you’re good to go. Sounds like this - https://www.instagram.com/p/CRrLGJrCewa/?igsh=MWU4MTBxcXYwM21jaA==

The Bass Gallery has a very clean (if pricey) Fullerton RI Precision. Looks great and also pretty light (8.6 pounds) https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass/products/fullerton-p-gally-on-me

Ok, I'm done. I'm not 100% happy with the mix and it's a couple of seconds over. I've cut a minute off it and I can't take any more off. It just sounds weird to me now because of the cuts.😆 So I've had enough. It is what it is. Like I said. Based on the E7 triad riff and I mess with the scales each time round. Affecting(contorting) the melody, chords etc. Listen to Echoes of the Altered by Dreaded Ted & The Nutters on #SoundCloud

Just got in from a rehearsal with Knock Off. Went well as usual but the highlight for me was the Hartke HA3500 410 combo with their VX speakers, combined with my JMJ Mustang and Behringer BDI21 the sound was awesome. I know some people aren’t that keen on Hartke gear but this amp was just great.

I did two gigs this weekend, and they couldn’t have been much more different. Saturday night I was playing at Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival with blues trio The Alligators. It was actually my final gig with them, as I’ve started a local weekly residency at a rock n roll club and it was getting a bit much - I’m supposed to be semi retired for gawds sake! Anyway the gig was okay - some great bands on before us including sax player Tom Waters (son of pianist Ben Waters). A friend of mine was on directly before us doing some of his original stuff, and then I joined him for a few covers to get the crowd dancing. Then our band got started at 11pm, to play for around an hour. Onstage sound was really loud, so was glad I’d taken my old Barefaced Compact to use in addition to my Fender Rumble 500. Played my sunburst P Lyte and it sounded good, just about keeping up with the guitar. As is customary, we were joined by a couple of sax players towards the end, and it was in danger of getting out of control. Managed to steer it to a conclusion, and I was quite relieved it was all over. A really steamy gig, drove 50 miles home with the sunroof open. Sunday evening I was back in the familiar ‘Lookout on the Pier’ in Scarborough with our acoustic duo. Really busy along the beach, blisteringly hot weather so parking wasn’t easy due to the crowds but we got set up and ready to play by 6pm. Loads of requests, with some good ones including ‘Out of reach’, ‘Tears in heaven’ ‘Human’ (Rag and Boneman!) and ‘Iris’. Fender Kingman bass into Rumble 100 combo - nice and quiet after the previous night’s gig. Couple of days off now - next gig Wednesday so will give my fingers a rest.

Zombie thread revival, I know, but I've recently bought a P-Retro from John - they don't have the silver knobs in stock, and the website looks like it's Out Of Stock completely, but they're not, they have the black ones. It's now a v2, I think the change is the battery. I shouldn't be surprised (because I've got U-Retros in everything else), but it's a stellar preamp; it takes the workhorse P and, somehow without changing it fundamentally, takes it into another league of usability. That two-way parametric EQ thing is genius (clockwise for mids boosted around the frequency point of the other dial, anti-clockwise for a bass/treble boost/scooopiness), and the selectable pull-bass (4 points of boost, I use the 100Hz one) is really useful. It sits post-tone control, and when switched out you have your original tone without any bells and whistles. As if you'd want that... 😀 Not exactly cheap, but for my money (which John now has 🙂) it's worth every penny.

The three of them together after the fretless had its fingerboard replaced: