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Garden Party for us.

Saturday night, back at a WMC that Dirty Roses have played at before. Went down well, which was nice. I've done several years of social club work so I'm used to the bingo and play your cards right, it's still a novelty for the others. Antoniotsai dragon bass -> Lekato WS-90 -> Zoom MS-60B+ -> Tecamp Puma 900 -> GR Bass AT212. We have our youngest fan.

This afternoon.. a bit of a special one for me - I gigged with my son for the first time ever. He's 13, the rest of the band are 15/16, but they're pretty accomplished for their age. An afternoon stuffed with proud Dad moments.

Bedford BandStand Sun 17th big crowd for Bedford Cardiac unit....strapless!!!!!!

Very early days but loving this already. MY first fan-fret and first Dingwall. Not a review but my first thoughts and feelings. I had faith that these Far Eastern versions would be good quality and haven't been letdown so far. Everything seems topnotch. Hope it stands up to some hard sessions. By far the easiest playing bass I have ever owned (maybe that's the banjo size frets?) The neck is a perfect P size and shape for me with very smooth rounded edges. Weighs in just under 3.9kg or 8.9 lbs. The balance on the strap is perfect. The pickups seem to be amazingly punch for a passive bass, seems all 4 selector positions can be are very usable, never had a bass that I would want to solo the bridge pickup before, this seems to be one that could work for me. Like I said early days and honeymoon phase right now, but there is nothing not to like (except for the price maybe) but then I have had more expensive USA made and boutique basses that these would give a run for their money. This really is a Super P. The custom shop versions must be obscenely nice! Maybe it's just the Dingwall thing, and I had no idea all along.

Our very own Dood demoing this fine beast.

I’m going to be out , just waiting to get the shipping costs and final bill. These have been on my radar for quite some time. This is the Korean reissue , improved tuners and set neck. Thumpy as all heck. I have too much stuff , but I’ve been looking at these for years. Finally will be getting one.

As some of you missed it (distracted?) she's selling a course on how to play the guitar: "Original Audio" "I love how you played guitar" "You rocked it" And crap or not, it's other people's music and they aren't being credited.

I often put my Zoom MS-60B+ on top of the amp with a short lead. At one gig, everything went silent at one point and I saw that the pedal had vibrated off the amp. So I took to using a longer lead and putting the pedal on the floor, except at a couple of open mic nights where the pedal sits quite happily on top of the amp and stays there. Until tonight. Bah. Another open mic one, this time when playing guitar - I'm so used to playing wireless that at the end of my slot, I just stood up and walked off stage, causing a mic stand and music stand to come crashing down. Oops.

Update: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BASS Honestly, it's a stunner. It feels alive. I may change the pickups for something potted (I can be quite heavy-handed) but it sounds amazing with flats. Here's a clip from a dep with my Son's band this afternoon.

I spent the day turning this piece of Sapele; into this Precision Bass body; It will be for sale soon on BC probably with EMG pickups and preamp and Wenge neck??? The body finish will be hand sanded finishing oil to as much of a gloss as I can get. I think it’s going to be a beauty.

Hello! Couldn't resist this one. Never seen another in the UK. Any others out there? A pretty unique spec - ovals, matching headstock, blocks & binding. Board is a lovely bit of rosewood, body is basswood. Pickguard was switched to black at some point, but I've got a correct replacement on there now. It plays and sounds great 🙂

If you run a length of tape up each side of the neck along the fretboard edge, [First, before the across pieces...] you can then peel the across fret bits of tape off in a one-er... I use one of those thin metal fret shields.

All I can say is that the followers of such obviously fake prestations must have been away the day the brains were distributed.

Hate to say it, but don't be surprised if your collection ends up in a heap on the floor with a wall mount like that. The distance from the wall will add much more pressure on the screws holding the thing up. Get a few second hand Hercules wall mounts. I have 30 or so of them, some mounted to dry wall (with the right rawl plugs) and they've not let me down carrying heavy loads (some 7 string basses) for years. They're not a foot proud of the wall either! You can normally pick them up for a tenner second hand, maybe less if you get someone selling a batch.

I really like the vibe of this '66 Precision that Mike Long has at the moment. It's tempting me to try a C neck again. It's all there, all original, even the case, and the weight is great. I have a guitar here which he would probably straight trade for........ hmm. https://www.atbguitars.com/1966-fender-precision-bass Rob

Astley was a cunning Master of Disguise - real name, Lola. 🤣

I should probably do that before it's too late...

Flats. I know that there are loads of players who love them, but I went through about 5 or 6 brands before realising that they weren’t for me.

There’s one crucial detail which differentiates this from someone playing air guitar…

If you're doing it, I'd suggest putting masking tape over the wood of the fretboard.

Man, who cares?

I've got a 1962 Precision, it's definitely authentic but it's had quite a bit of work done over the years including several neck replacements, various different bodies and a range of different electronics. For a while it was most of a 1969 Jazz, then later an excellent 1980 Stingray, and I believe it spent some time in the late 90s as a genuine Gibson Les Paul guitar, having had the neck, body and pickups replaced. As you can imagine, with that heritage it's extremely valuable.

Dear lord, what have I done…?

Played with Nine Lives last night at the Balaclava in Fraserburgh. Pretty good night, was a bit quiet at the start but it filled up during the first half and was nice and busy in the second half. Saturday night is the night to play in Fraserburgh, by my experience, should you ever find yourself playing there. We had a hen party (I think) and a divorce party all in one night. The divorcee in question was well oiled by the time she arrived though - spent half the time on the floor, she'll feel that today! Also in a new first for my gigging career, I got my bottom spanked by a lady with a miniature tambourine - a new peril when going for a wireless wander! Spanked all the way back to my amp so I was and to give credit where credit is due, her timing was not awful - kept me right anyhow! I took a highly unprofessional course of action and brought two basses I had been modding and mucking about with this fortnight - the Jet Star with the added Peavey T-40 pickup and the Fazley Hot Rod which recently arrived at Neep HQ and got a pickup change (Tonerider Duke) within an hour and a half of arrival, and copper shielded the night before. What could possibly go wrong? Well, nothing, as it happens. Maybe I'm lucky, or - whisper it - maybe I'm getting half decent at modding basses... The Fazley Hot Rod in the first half was a joy to play. With no controls to eff around with I could honestly sense the freedom from thinking about it and just enjoyed playing. The Tonerider pickup is a great sounding pickup - lots of output but more than enough low mids to really punch through with quite an aggressive sound. Really happy with it. As for the Jet Star, being wary of a boomy sound from the T-40 pickup neckwards, I hedged my bets at the start of the second half - both pickups on, T-40 in single coil. And it was... OK. Compared to the Fazley in the first half I was having a less good time. Part way through the set, I switched to T-40 pickup only, in series and wow, what a difference. I needn't have worried - the sound was much more satisfying, heavy but not boomy, lots of low end substance but never muddy. Much bettah! You know what my rig is by now! Which again only needed to be up about a quarter on the master to easily fill the pub with bass.

Gryffindor!!! Oh sorry... you said thinking hat.

Care to test that theory? 😄

I’ve discovered that in my search for a good PBass pick tone ( fuller and deeper ) that adding bass wasn’t the answer Im finding the following makes the difference in a close enough to finger tone kind of way Turn PBass tone control to around 50% Leave amp bass tone set as normal Reduce low mids to appear to make sound deeper ( not too much ) as a large scooped tone doesn’t cut through ) Turn high mids to give a little bite but nothing excessive and leave treble around mid way ( no cut or boost ) This is where using the amps “ shape” feature that you find on some amps or Ultra Low etc doesn’t really work for this pick tone ( it’s too boomy and sucks too many mids out ) Its more of a slight reduction in low mids that the increase in mids pick playing doesn’t need ( if you want a fuller sound ) Still got the clank if you need it ( increase bass tone more ) but it’s a good place to start on the amp Also found using a standard sized pick was easier to palm mute when required instead of a triangle pick that in truth isn’t that much larger in terms of grip.

Most of these are Hercules, some are String Swing, which are also decent. I've put more up in the studio since that photo was taken and have 8 more on walls in the house. None have failed yet!

I do think it IS getting harder to convince the “I won’t pay for music” crowds the value of what we do. It’s bad enough trying to get a “like” and a “share” for slaving for hours over a video editor!

YES!

Once you get beyond promoting your next gig or your mates mates posting their holiday snaps most social media is fakery to some extent. Whether it's lifestyle influencers faking an idyllic, carefree existence or the fitness fanatics who enthuse about a healthy lifestyle while neglecting to mention their own heroic steroid intake, or the straight up thieves trying to steal your money with crypto scams. Even most of the funny animal clips are clearly staged. Add in that posting content can also be highly lucrative and it's not that suprising that a lot of content creators don't seem to know or much care where the moral boundary is between presenting the best version of yourself and outright deception. I'm not sure a lot of the audience it's aimed at is that bothered either, right up to the moment the outrage bandwagon starts rolling.

I’m old and grumpy. Complaining about The World Today is a civic duty.

I have a big, unwieldy, noisy, hits-off-your-knees-when-you-carry-it, 45cm fan. It works but I sort of hate it. I once worked with a drummer who had a tiny plastic one but he could put it right behind the stool and pointing up his shirt. I called it a fan bidet, but in fairness he was the coolest on sweaty gigs.

That doesn't seem to tally with the comments...

Which ones are irrational?

The only way that could be less disturbing is if you’d meant to type “someone else’s” instead of “my”

I didn't know Liberace had a wooden leg as well as a milky eye.

Which nut are you referring to? Theres more than one nut involved in this guitar...

Liberace's nan?

Sunburst on modern basses. It looks fine on instruments designed in the 50s/60s, but not on sleek instruments like Ibanez SRs for instance. Painting a Dingwall in sunburst is like dating Charlize Theron but making her dress in your nan’s clothes.

Cool, what are those weird looking basses at the back?

I disagree with you all, just take a closer look at the evidence. IT WAS IN HIS ATTIC FOR YEARS…… it’s the surest sign of authenticity 👍

I’ve had a RH750 for about 10 years and have found it to be a very reliable and versatile amp, what with the tweakable eq points I have been able to replicate the sound of just about any amp, in particular my Trace Elliot 250 SMX which I was finding a bit too big and heavy to lug around. A couple of the knobs began to crack, but I contacted TC Electronic and they immediately sent me a replacement set for free which I fitted easily and I’ve had no problems since. Also I find the three presets very useful. I have preset one set as per the TE 250 SMX, the next one completely flat, and the third one with completely different eq plus compression and distortion etc, all a bit bonkers really, so I can quickly get the right sound for whatever the musical situation or for the size and type of room, plus all very tweakable on the fly. Oh, and the built in tuner is amazing, very useful indeed. Still get the dreaded GAS 😱 from time to time though, so may well get tempted by something else eventually!

I would strongly recommend trying to go for a used, slightly higher-end starter bass rather than a brand new Squier Sonic, Markbass, or Harley Benton. Yes, those new starters are so much better than they used to be, but that quality has also trickled up to the lower end of the mid-quality basses. If you find a good used mid-range bass, especially one that's been a little abused, you could end up with a life-long bass instead of something you'll outgrow. Seriously, look at a used Sire or a Squier Classic Vibe. There's one in the classifieds right now for £250—which is "good Harley Benton" money. I recently had to grab a cheap bass for a wedding gig in Latvia. Flying with my expensive instruments is always risky and a pain, and hey, it was my wedding, I could do what I wanted! So instead of renting one for a week, which would have cost me about 300 Euros, I decided to just buy a bass in that price range. What followed was a great adventure, I went to every music shop in Riga to try out everything around that price. I'd tell the staff what I was up to, and they often gave me free rein, hooking me up with the same amp i use at home , some even offered to buy the bass back from me at a reduced rate afterwards. I went into it expecting to walk out with a Sire, a Markbass P , ibanez or maybe a used Harley Benton. What I ended up doing was falling completely in love with a fantastic Squier Classic Vibe P-bass. I took the neck off wrapped it all up in my clothes and paid for checked luggage to bring it home and i'm going to be rehearsing with it tomorrow, It has no business being as good as it is— My Stingray is sitting unloved in its case.

Personally I’d be looking at a Sire. Absolutely stellar basses at any price.