Leaderboard

On lead guitar last night with a pub covers band. The venue was a ginormous chain pub with a huge (but not separate) ‘function room’ area at the back. Sadly they had at some point walled off the stage to create a store room and somewhere to mount the biggest TV screen I have ever seen. I really wasn’t feeling it at first as I’d played with the band the previous night and could have done with a night in. Our sound check quickly cleared a table in front of one of the PA speakers, which didn’t bode well! But as soon as we started playing our first set there were people on the dance floor, and it just got busier as the night went on. By the end there were several people dancing on the tables, which fortunately seemed to have been constructed from scaffolding materials! The landlady was so happy with the band that she paid us an extra 20%.

Auld Gambling Hoose in Alloa for BLOCKBUSTARZ tonight. Reasonable sized crowd maybe 100 in plus a childhood neighbour turned up who lives in Alloa. Owner said its been slow over past few mths. Anyways thought i'd try my Overwater J4 for a spin but half way thru 2nd set i realised it was getting a bit heavy and my back was feeling it and i changed over to old faithful Sandberg VM4. Wife reckoned the VM4 was better sounding, deeper but clearer. Had dancers up most of the night with a full floor for special request of Time Warp. Audience seemed well up for a party tonight and really enjoyed themselves. Using Overwater J4 then Sandberg VM4 into Handbox WB-100 and BF 212 cab with Shure wireless and Keeley Bassist Comp. 1st set fro 8 to 9:20pm and 2nd set 9:45 to 11:15pm Got paid and a 1:15mins drive home. Dave

Played a local pub (to the drummer and myself)on Friday night, The Yew Tree in Norton Canes (South Staffs). We are, as they described, a light rock band doing 60's, 70's 80's and 90's covers. We got there around 6ish to set up but found that they were still serving meals and they use the stage area for bigger groups, so hung back 'till 7pm. This also gave the lead singer time to grab something to eat. We started at 8.45pm and although the place was not packed but was busy and the audience were appreciative. Started the second set just before 10pm getting a similar response but having people from the 'sports bar' in the back of the pub popping in to listen as well. Finished just before 11pm. Now we had cleared the tables from the stage when we set up and we put them back afterwards as they seemed a little short staffed. The punters had told the landlady that they had had a good time and were pleased to have been able to hear the music and still be able to hold a conversation with friends. She had also enjoyed what she heard and was over the moon with the response and comments from customers to the point that she recommended us, via an internal WhatsApp group, to the other 200+ pubs in the chain and said she will book us again. Sorry for the long post and sounding a bit euphoric but this is only our 4th gig as a band, The Context, and we acquired it via a 30min set at the Yew Tree open mike night in April. They booked us there and then.

Three gigs this week. Tuesday was our monthly gig at a local pub ( acoustic duo). Plenty of great requests, including a few for the inevitable ‘Paranoid’ which we left until the end. Probably the busiest we’ve seen it, a lovely crowd all up for a good time and a laugh too - we did ‘Sylvia’s Mother’ and don’t know how we got to the end TBH. A fabulous gig, best we’ve done there I think. Wednesday was my weekly gig playing rock and roll at a local club. I’m getting a few songs together to sing , to give my guitarist mate a break mainly. I did JJ Cale’s ‘The Breeze’ and also ‘High heel sneakers’ which went down well with the dancers. Then Saturday I was depping with a local band at a garden party 6 miles from my village. We played under a gazebo at the end of the garden, and I had a tortoise keeping me company throughout ( see pic). One of those rare occasions where I wasn’t the oldest guy in the band, sax player was 83 and played seated unless soloing when he stood up and rocked it. Material was a mix of ska / reggae / soul with a few pop standards thrown in as well. Well lubricated audience loved it, and we got fed and watered. Nice to play with people I’ve never worked with before, doing stuff I’ve not played before too. Tunes included ‘Lip up fatty’, You can get it if you really want’ , ‘My boy Lollipop’ and ‘Everything I own’. Finished by 8.30pm, home around 9.15 so fine with me.

Lovely gig at the Victory Club in Barton (on Humber) last night. Didn’t expect a packed house at this time of year so was shocked at the great attendance. Up and dancing from the second number in the first spot which was appreciated and made the gig fly by. The motorway gods were reasonably kind also as a threatened M180 closure failed to materialise - bonus. We’re continuing the East of England theme next week with an outdoor gig in Withernsea, hope the weather is compliant.

50 minute afternoon spot at Ellesmere Port Summer Jam today. Only our third ever gig. It's a slow ball to get rolling right now but we're getting there. No amp/cab, just a HX stomp in and IEM straight from the desk. It always sounds fine at rehearsal but I need to do more work on my gig mix as it's never as well defined. Thinking about that diverts my focus away from what I'm playing, so I need to get it sorted. Played well, pretty happy all round. Sun came out and people listened. Nice things were said afterwards. Unfortunately the wrestling show had finished by the time we got off stage so my plans for a top turnbuckle band pic were scuppered. Here's a little phone clip of Macy Gray. Of course, our friends & family managed to catch the bit where I trip over my lead, nearly stack it then hit the wrong note. And some Jamiroquai with added photo (video?) bombing.

Went to see a local band play their third gig of the day(!) Their schtick is playing requests and when in places frequented by local musicians they also have a lot of guests up in the second half. Got asked up to join in for several rock songs, mostly ones I know for a change, but ended up doing American Idiot and Money for Nothing entirely by ear which was fun. This is the band without me!

Photo from yesterday evening's guest spot

Had a cracking gig as dep in a UB40 tribute last night at the Big Tribute Fest 2025 in Plymouth. The band were headlining the Saturday night.

First gig with this tonight The Policed It sounds amazing and a great crowd Couldn't be happier

Thanks for all the tips. The keyboard player and bass are going to work on both their arrangements and tones to give each other more space and work together better.

Runnymede Live, Victory Park, Addelstone. It only took 2 years but Electrik Soup finally got around to doing a gig! The phrase 'herding cats' was invented for this band 😆 Outdoor gig today, fortunately the weather was good. We were the first band on at 12:45pm. Set consisting of mainly 90's indie and Britpop (hence the bucket hat). One of the guitarists forgot to bring the bass amp, so I used a Warwick Gnome belonging to the other guitarist, just as a DI. It sounded really good, with a surprising amount of 'heft'. On stage monitors were plentiful and although we didn't have a sound check the on stage sound was sorted by the third song, and FOH sounded great according to the punters I spoke to. I only took a clip on tuner, which died as I was tuning. All I needed on an out door gig 😖. But Shuker 3 is awfully resilient and tends to stay in tune regardless of environment. So I got away with it. Gear: Shuker 3 > Airbridge wireless > Warwick Gnome (DI) > FOH

If the keyboard player cant maintain discipline and stay out of the bass players way then nail a plank across the two lowest octaves of the keyboard

A little while ago the Japanese Spector distributor ordered a very limited private run of Spector Euro CST's in a beautiful desert island finish over poplar burl, with an ash back, maple fingerboard, abalone inlays, EMG X pickups and the Darkglass Legacy (Haz-copy) preamp.... The finish blew my mind but I never thought I could get one. However, 2 bass sales and a very lucky timing (this bass was included in a shop 'sale') meant it actually became affordable. Cue the fantastic Danny Stewart at Bass Japan Direct who obtained the bass for me, checked it over, dealt with any declarations and couriered it to me in record time..... And here she is.... Just absolutely stunning and less than a 3rd of the price of a US custom equivalent! I think I'm in love!

No, wait. I can procrastinate a little longer, I could move the existing pickup's wiring to go through the selector switch and the switch output to the volume pot. Needs doing anyway...

Selector switch arrived today, so it's big drill time - no pressure, yay! Going super careful, I put masking tape over the hole and its edges, then went up 1mm at a time from 9 to 12mm. Despite the tape, I did chip the finish a little in one place around the hole, but thankfully not a big bit and hidden by the dress washer. Attack a perfectly nice bass with this monster using a hand drill? No, it wasn't scary at all, lol. Unfortunately, that's all the "easy" jobs done. Next step is to make a template for my pickup route, then take a big, deep breath and attack the front of the body with forstner bits and a router.

I’m going to cross post from my busking thread on the Everse 8. it’s very relevant here as I got to try out Stevie’s new 8” prototype cab. ‘So, I got the chance to try out a new prototype cab. It’s wonderful, very capable for an 8” cab. The driver for me for trying it out was having the Everse 8 distort a lot when I pushed it a lot harder on one recent busking gig. I was asking too much of it - outdoors, no walls nearby, playing with a drummer on a portable kit - but I realised that I want to step up my power/speaker size. When I compare directly to the LFSys 8” prototype. I now appreciate more cabinet resonances when I turn the Everse up loud. I think this is because it is a composite cab, and also not as well braced as the LFSys cab. There’s no contest for me. Having the prototype LFSys 8” cab to compare to the Everse shows how much better having a dedicated, properly braced, rigid bass cab sounds at high volume. I’ve sold the Everse 8 and accepted that what I need for busking is more speaker size and power. I did a lot of testing out of portable camping batteries and the Jackery Explorer 300+ is where I landed. I’ve solved a significant EMI noise problem with that, and will simply use my well used B-Amp with an LFSys cab and the Jackery. I accept better/louder sound will now need a bigger carry - so got my luggage trolley back out. I now await an LFSys Goodwood 10” with great anticipation.’ I’ll update the thread here once I get my new Goodwood.

I've been moonlighting as a keyboards player for the last few years and this ^ is bang on the money. Most keys people simply can't help themselves ... they have to be using both hands or it feels like "cheating". I use a 2-tier rig because I hate splits but the principle is the same. My lower keyboard is for my right hand and that plays the main thing ... piano, organ, synth, whatever. My upper keyboard is for my left hand BUT set at +2 octaves so that I'm in the same register as my right hand, and that's for the twiddly bits and flourishes, or for strings/brass. Ego satisfied, plus I'm bringing far more to each song.

Back from playing Dorset Chilli Festival. Was a great day and some lovely food. Recommended.

Alternative title, "I'm not buying that one - it's all scratched!" Alas, poor Nate has gone. It was a lovely bass, but I don't gig Precisions. It's not my sound. So here's [yet] another Jazz bass... Previous owner has added a Parallel/Series switch (like Fender's original S1 switching), quite why, I have no idea. Also a Leo Quan BadAss II bridge, which is an excellent choice, although I'd have preferred the Fender American Standard/Professional bridge with the through body stringing. I guess you can't have everything. Liking the Shell Pink finish and the Pure Vintage 64 pickups (same as my American Original), but the relic job is VERY heavy handed. Then again, I could've been playing it since 1961 (eight years before I was born... 🤔) Like I said in the Nate Mendel for sale thread, I haven't kicked this around a gravel car park, but some Mexicans in Ensenada probably have. With it's American Original cousin...

Here's Rob Mullarkey playing through the bassline he came up with for a Jordan Rakei track called 'Moda' To me his touch and feel are exemplary, and not just on this track, but just about everything he's been part of. Enjoy!

Another weekend of incremental progress. I was out being sociable on saturday, and being slightly hungover today, so I was only really able to do stuff on Friday and Sunday afternoon. I'd decided early on that I was going to give this bass a full refret, and I figured that bit should probably be next in the order of operations. That way if I clip the body with a fret-cutting-saw or file, then I can address it when I'm tidying up the body before spraying. This might seem a little drastic, as the frets weren't in terrible shape, but I have my reasons. The first, and simplest, is that I may as well do it if I'm going to be putting in a dozen or so hours on restoring the instrument. The frets as they were could have been dressed and polished, but they would always have been a bit sub-par. The second is that I noticed that the fretboard is very low to the body by design, and that the saddles on the bridge appeared to be as low as they'd go. Obviously I've not seen what the action is like with strings on (I got this in bits), but those details were enough to make me a little worried that I might have trouble setting the action, especially if I had to dress the frets down any lower. To that end I ordered some super-jumbo fretwire – 3 mm x 1.47 mm – figuring it will raise the "floor" of the action up a bit, and hopefully give me a bit more leeway with saddle adjustment. The height of the existing frets was about 1.2 mm. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a big difference in terms of feel. I like my fretted basses to be really emphatically fretted, if I want low-profile and smooth I play my fretless. First job was to take the frets out, which just involves carefully pulling them with a set of end-nippers ground down to have an edge that's flush with the front. After that I relaxed the truss rod and levelled the board with light sandpaper and a levelling beam. This fretboard was already more or less fine, so I was really just doing this to tidy some of the tear-out around the fret slots. I have to admit that I didn't do the most careful job with the fret pulling on this occasion. Nothing that can't be addressed with some sawdust and glue down the line though. I radiused the fretwire with my home-made fretwire radiusing tool. This is just three bolts through a old chopping board, with a set of roller-bearings and washers spaced so that you can tighten up the radius on wire. Trying to do fretwork with wire that's a bigger radius than the board you're trying to bash it into is a maddening experience and the results always suck. Professional versions of this tool are adjusted with set-screws and gears. I adjust the radius on mine by gently whacking the middle roller with a hammer. After that comes the arduous and boring task of cutting fretwire to size. This just involves standing at the workbench with a big pair of nippers, cutting off each fret-length piece until your hands hurt. The last few times I've done this it's been on acoustic guitars. Going from those to a 24-fret bass was an annoying experience. If you have the proper tools this goes a lot faster, and with less bruising of the hands, but the proper tools cost like £200 and take up a lot of space. Then, if you think that's boring the next job's even worse. If you don't have a tang-nipper (again, those cost about £200) then the only way to take the ends off the fret tangs so they don't look ugly on the fingerboard edges is to file them off one at a time in a vice. I genuinely don't think I would have gotten into guitar building as a hobby if if weren't for the ubiquity of podcasts and aubiobooks. Finally, you take the fretwire and you bash it in with a hammer. You can get professional results this way, it's just slower and takes a little more care and finesse than using a radius clamping caul and a fret-press. I don't have the space for either, and wouldn't want to spend that much money, so I've just gotten very practiced with my nylon-headed hammer. Pro tip: If you're installing frets at about 7 pm on a sunday evening in a thin-walled terraced house, do it on the kitchen floor. This is just a thin rug over tile on concrete, nothing to reverberate and boom with each hammer blow. The next step is to file off the ends and dress the frets, but I've run out of time for this weekend.

They're definitely learning that a big PA is very different to a club PA and it shows up things that just weren't a problem before like the occasional string touching a pickup is barely audible on a small PA but its like a punch in the face on a big PA. Fortunately, they're quite mature for teenagers and learning quickly and keen to adapt. They played another festival today and went down really well, the organisers want them back next year.

Just a few cable management improvements thanks to a hole saw and Amazon's wide range of cables!

Ooooooooooh yeah!

Got asked to do a dep in a couple of weeks. I know most of the songs. Not looking forward to sequeing play that funky music into superstition- that always fries my brain! And they have Mama Mia on the list 🤪

Following intensive research, the MM humbucker likes a preamp. Ft. The SB14 Noe Dart Here...

I have played Elton John's songs and they are arranged so professionally, there's space for all instruments. But if a band just plays without thinking, the collisions are very likely. A pro arranger knows the problems in the low end, and is able to avoid them. Music physics is not magic, but some people can arrange music sound like magic.

I hadn't been on BC for a while, but caught up on some stuff yesterday, including this thread. You guys inspired me to take my Sandberg out tonight, and what a joy it is to play! Hadn't gigged it for quite a while, but will try to more now. Definitely got plenty of thump and authority out of it, sounded absolutely monster! 😎👌❤️

Pickup fitting...

I asked this question today..... .....and thanks to a few members am now aware of some tools of which I was completely oblivious, specifically a step drill bit (genius) and a tapered reamer. So, it seemed it might be useful to start a thread in which you could let us know which tools you use for which DIY jobs on bass, especially if they're old school and manual 👍

Last November, I couldn’t believe my luck to find a Classic Sterling this side of the pond: In May, I found another one - and with a maple fingerboard, to boot: A plan took shape, a deal was made, a beautiful bass received - and two necks were swapped: Such cool basses.

And so it shall be written, and so it shall be done... Now it has a kill switch and a producer/DFA switch. Right, top work everyone, let's get it back together and have a cup of tea... Only kidding, now I can't put off routing any longer...

It’s the age-old ‘what sounds good solo sounds shit in the mix’ and vice versa thing. The groove and timing in the track are extraordinary

I have a Hohner B2. The leg rest works fine. Don't underestimate the passive humbuckers, they are incredible. Better than the Select by EMG pickips on my Jack V.

Looks like we're doing this album after the Pixies, never sure if it's a good thing to listen to the isolated bass line of your fave track

I've been on a quest for a chorus for some time. I moved from stand lone to a multi for modulation, but regretted it. I've been through a lot of chorus pedal over the years and just had an urge to try something different - something that doesnt go with my usual needs. This video convinced me: I've been playing with it for a few hours and it's insanely musical. On both bass and synth (I have a Moog Sub 25) it's honestly stunning.

Damn you, Gary 😄 😄 Now I have to get one, thanks a lot 🙂 (secretly hoped though that there is a 5er version 😉 ) Yes but, alas, no. But the quest begins! 🙂

Exactly. They CAN both work in the same area. Dont get me wrong, im not arguing that keys dont cause issues in some bands, but a blanket 'don’t let him/her/them/they touch the bottom octave etc is nonsense. Are we to limit how high a bass player goes on the fretboard because it's now in guitar range? Everyone needs to work together to get it to gel. Do bands with two guitarists insist one doesn't play anything because its in the same register as the other 😄 As a keys player in one band (admittedly im not very active with my left hand because im not really a piano player) I manage to stay out of the way of the bass. In fact on some songs I play a fill or run that the bass should play but doesn't. I must admit ive been in a band who had a piano player and yes, he was all over the low end, quite annoying until I sat him down and we worked it out. I made him listen to the bass line and re work his left hand. Never once telling him he shouldn't use it. it sounded great after that. It doesn't take a pro player to figure this out, just common sense. Not something everyone has though (no matter what instrument they play).

I agree. Big risk of travelling with a bass is theft. I travel with a Bronco bass. Once set up it’s a capable little thing and the whole outfit cost me less than £200, including headphone amp and good headphones.

The other solution is buy him a vintage Fender Rhodes and for him to learn to play it right. Pretty much one funky 70's tone and little pure bass. Best band I ever played in was with keys playing one of those.....Light tones that worked everywhere.

I’ve played one, it was far better at being a bass than I was at playing it

Have I got news for you..it’s Ian Hislop.

Mini toggle switch installed... Had to remove a little material from the control cavity to get enough threads to poke through the top, because life is never easy. Next job is to enlarge the hole left by the jack socket from 9mm to whatever the pickup selector needs, probably 12mm or something.

Fixed. ...

Just a little old-school board i put together using spare parts...