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Saturday night I depped with a local band at a pub in Bracknell. Being a warm evening most people were outside so we just played to a small crowd inside. They seemed to enjoy the set but were muted in their appreciation... Decent payer and I had a nice compliment on my bass tone from a punter so not all bad

Next is into sanding and finishing. Martin is just finishing the profile of the back of the neck first. All paid for now so not long.

The Zep tribute played at the Nightrain in Bradford on Friday night, a hometown gig for 60% of the band these days and the only one we're playing anywhere near locally all year. We hadn't played (or rehearsed) together for a month, so it a bit rusty but a pretty good performance overall. A few people reckoned it was a bit loud at the start of the set, although a muso mate of mine who was near the back reckoned it sounded awesome! First gig since the drummer got his driving ban, so the logistics were a bit of a challenge! I think the reality of the situation has started to affect him and he even managed to forget his bass drum pedal! Fortunately, there was one there we could borrow, so no harm done. Same rig as normal (Fender Jazz / Handbox amp / Berg cab) and the new Vans pigskin hitops got an outing! Before and after show pics:

Sunday day gig, thought it was going to be hot so took a fan, so did the drummer. We eventually made a fan table behind us and it was a good thing! The gig in general went well, normal set list, we didnt' get any new songs ready like we were hoping too, people were too busy. I used the Ric in the first half and it was as good as normal, but the guitarist broke his single guitar strap (he has 3 guitars and 1 strap), so as my ric has a strap with no strap lock I switched to my Maruszczyk in the second half so he could use the ric strap. In the second half he was getting electric shocks from his pedal board and threatened to stop so I let him use my wireless so he could continue. Aside from that and a few messed up songs that noone noticed, it went just fine!

I think they’re just sharing the view that sometimes the public view of a person isn’t the same as their private behaviour. The internet isn’t like a car park. There’s enough digital space here for everyone.

Oh, and a little catchup on odds and sods I had been pottering around at but forgot to mention... The top horn strap button was in at a funny angle (at least for the strap buttons I intend to use, and it annoyed me, so I filled and redrilled it (only got a pic of the filled hole - plus waiting for the felt washers to arrive). Also did that final fettling of the MM pickup route and now I'm a lot happier with the string to pole piece alignment. Seen worse on an actual MM, ooh, neep, you shady biatch

Hot one tonight minus one guitarist who had to go to see to a plumbing emergency at the London flat. Ran through a couple of new songs that are fine but not a lot for me to do other than AC/DC root note pedalling. Works for the song but … Annoyingly something more interesting I had suggested that I saw mentioned in the “how was your gig” thread and thought ooo we could do a good version of that - the Lillian Axe version of No Matter What - drew a load of blank stares and “never heard it”, so I guess that’s a No then 🤬 Got home and said to wifey “do you know this song” and she said “yes I love it and I’ve been telling you to do it for months” (not to my knowledge she hasn’t but that probably just proves I never listen) 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

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.

When I'm bored, I do a new build. This is my latest. Poplar P-Bass body (i was inspired to use Poplar when I found out that the new Pino Stingrays would use this wood) Rothko and Frost Paisley Paper (over £33 for each sheet for the front and rear!!! Aaaagh!!) Custom wound pickup CTS pots Roasted flamed maple neck - i used white mother of pearl side dots to make them easier to see against the darkened maple when gigging. Nitrocellulose lacquer used on the body and the neck Lollipop tuners I aged the body except for under the pickguard, to mimic the way older basses look when the clear guard protects the topcoat from UV ageing.

I don't think anyone else though you were trying to take over. Knowing you're not alone in a situation can definitely be therapeutic.

I've seen your dad's face @sascha peakman and all I can say is that he doesn't look that sympathetic at all, not the kind of person I would trust and I never made a single mistake with this feeling: It's all in the (here, frightening) look and attitude, you would be amazed all it can tell (In my profession, I received lessons on how to get to know people in less than a minute by coldly analyzing the data available). You were right to say all you said about who he really was and some people owe you some apologies. The problem is that we often only see the tip of the iceberg and, here, the other part is really scary. You have all my sympathy and I wish you all the best.

Here's my entry for this month's BC compo compo... In order to be as authentic as poss I should have bought an old Fender through a big valve amp, then mixed everything using tape delays and valve mixing desks and whatever else. However, as I have none of that stuff, just a Sandberg bass, a Helix, an Impulse keyboard and battered Squier Strat plus Ableton on a PC and a host of VSTs and plug-ins. But I did play the bassline in 1 with no further overdubs so that might be a touch authentic!

Who would like to join me in Tribe "don't be a d!ck"? It's an aspirational tribe...

A decent new dub album from Zion I Kings: ....my only issue with this and most other modern dub albums is they can sound a bit 'clean' and perfect to me, like it's not that far off what I try to make on a Laptop and that Laptop production process is what I can picture in my head. Whereas something like 1970s Black Ark type productions just give more of a feel of a hot smoky Jamaican ramshackle studio and live musicians.

One of the things we seem to have lost sight of is that for nearly everyone on here, the people who watch the more than 10 seconds of any of the videos being discussed in this thread are not our audience and are unlikely to ever be our audience, so lets stop worrying about them and maybe put some of that outrage energy into producing some great new music and performing it in a way that will get people excited about both the music and the performance.

I’m not sure this is a valid parallel - I think the Jaguar campaign was a genuine misstep, rather than a calculated move, hence the CEO taking a walk without a successor.

Agreed. Anger is a weird emotion. I like Charles Berthoud as well. He seems the kid of guy who would be just as happy smashing the root note for half an hour than playing the most complex lines you've ever heard. But, could he do it down the Three Tuns on a wet Tuesday evening? Probably. What's interesting is the nature of musical fame and what constitutes a musical career is changing. People like Charles and the other YouTubers now present a realistic career path for other content creators. It's weird, yes, but it's no less valid than playing in a cover band or whatever else you can do with four strings and a whole lot of heart. The avenues for playing live are becoming fewer and fewer and this is how these people now live and make money. Good luck to them I say.

Could be worse it could lead to an entire country turning into a reality TV show. Ermm OK that’s already happening.

That’s just two reasons why wedding bands get paid more money than pub bands though? I spent around 15 years in a pro function band and played probably thousands of weddings in that time. My band would usually play 4 sets throughout the day, starting with a walkabout jazz set when guests arrived, then some cool stuff during the wedding breakfast, followed by two evening sets to get them all dancing. This would mean we’d often have to arrive around noon / early afternoon and finish maybe 12 hours later. All this after maybe a 2 or 3 hour drive to the venue. Factor in hotel managers who saw the band as an annoyance / wedding planners who had no idea how long it took for an 8 piece band to set up / learning first dance tunes for the bride and groom / drunk guests etc etc, then it made the difference between us and pub bands very apparent. In the mid / late 90’s we would get £250 /£300 each, often more for longer sets / far away gigs etc. We certainly earned it , and could see why pub bands wanted to get in on the action. They would seem financially more attractive, undercutting us by a large margin etc. and we did lose some of the lower end of our business to them. However by then our reputation had grown so the bulk of our work remained intact. Scroll on a few years though as finances got squeezed everywhere , pub bands benefitted from this and pure function bands started to suffer. Our band’s work got hit quite badly, so I eventually jumped ship into the rising tribute / theatre band world, and never regretted it. 2 x 1 hour sets, my own dressing room, no lugging gear into damp marquees, start playing 7.30pm and done by 10pm, pro sound engineers / PA, what’s not to like….😁

I only bought one thing this year (see above) and unwittingly assisted lee650 by doing so. (. 👍) Having bought exactly nothing in 15 years I feel pretty good about my mean abstinence rate when factored in over a lifetime. That one purchase was therefore a statistical blip and not significant in statistical terms. I therefore feel a prince Andrew style entitlement to reinstatement (despite the actual facts) - strange parallel there 🧐

Garden Party for us.

Builders came today - starts September 8th. I’ve offloaded 3 and acquired 1. thats good maths that. and it’s been months. I was getting jittery.

Made by a Mr. Tony Rider, 'Tone' to his mates.

It sounds like it *might* be user error after all... :rolleyes: I've noticed that you CAN turn the units on while in the box. I noticed that while putting the box in the gigbag, where it usually lives. I must have pressed the button for one of the units without realising, and there it was shining... Today, after making sure charger box, transmitter and receiver were all fully charged, I simply turned both units on, set a timer next to them on my desk, and carried on with my work. Four hours later both were still fine. I'm not sure if there's much difference in power consumption between them being 'on but unused', or 'on and used'. While I figure things out, I am going to find a safer way to carry these things.

There's only 2 bags I'd ever recommend... 1. Soundwear 2. TuffBag The Soundwear is the Rolls Royce and has carried my main orchestra bass around for the past 25yrs and still looks brand new! The Tuff Bag was imported from the USA. I was looking for a famous Mooradian case (it's a bit lighter than the Soundwear) but they went out of business. The Tuff Bag people bought the pattern, materials and even employed a few of the staff. They added better straps and made them even better! Highly recommended. Ultimately it's about how much you value your instrument. Would you buy a Soundwear for a £750 school bass? But if you have a £120,000 old English or Italian bass then the cost of a Soundwear or Tuff Bag is negligible. Horses for courses I suppose. (tip, avoid the ones with the wheels built into the back of the case [Tom and Will etc] - they often break. Focus on light weight, padding and zip quality). That's my two peneth.

I think he needs to invest in a back up strap and some time in sorting out his pedal board. No-one should be getting shocks from a pedal board. Its generally all low voltage in pedals and suspect its more a static thing than actual voltage shock but definitely needs investigating. I prefer my fans in front of the band 😂😜😂 I take a large 18" gym fan for our female singer and a smaller 16" gym fan for myself. Drummer also uses a 16" gym fan. Wearing Glam costumes and wigs it does get very hot on stage and those fans and 2 litres of water each gig are my saving grace. 🤩 Dave

I get that totally. People used to think my father was great too. Small village back then is not dissimilar to Facebook situation now

The current Squier Affinity range is so capable it's managed to morph into the new Fender Standard to trick the badge snobs.

Are you sweating awaiting the outcome?

Bang for buck, I highly recommend Toltec pickups https://www.laverackguitars.com/toltec-pickups You can phone up and have a proper conversation with Lee Laverack about pickups and all things techy. He handwinds pretty much whatever you want. He's done a few for me. He's very reasonaly priced too considering the quality of the parts and workmanship. He also covers the pickups for life. He's based near Leeds and is a gem. I reckon £110 for a pair of J pups done to your exact spec/liking. I've got a set knocking about here if you'd like to try them out. Not for sale but happy to let you borrow to try.

If you read Beedster's post again, he makes an important point which contributes to the discussion.

I mean there was a 10 year period when I was not playing at all, did not even own an instrument. Are you saying it's possible to factor that in for the averages? Already feeling better!

Just found this thread. Bought 2 basses and a neck in 2025. Might have to try in 2026.

If you play something that's quite close to the recording that they have in their head, they'll mentally supply all the other bits. Get too far from the original and the gears will start to grind though.

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.

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.

My dep last night went well. Hardest thing was many songs in different keys. Busy, noisy pub with dancing from the start. Plenty of room. A lot of songs I haven't done live before, a couple of older Beatles numbers for example, and Mama Mia. Cold as Ice by Foreigner and No Matter What by Badfinger are great songs I hadn't heard for ages I really enjoyed. Apparently I was a bit loud in the first half but corrected that in the second. Managed a few backing vocals. Had a message from the band saying I was 'brill' so that's nice.

BLOCKBUSTARZ at Lilliardsedge Caravan Park for the Hot Rods in the Borders weekend. Another great night was had. 3 yrs in a row we've been asked back by the Hot Rods guys which is nice. 2 x 45min sets that ended up a bit longer 9 - 10pm and then 10:15 - 11:30pm. Very warm on stage, sound wasn't quite perfect but sounded ok out front. We had problems with the drum channels on the desk and decided to just leave them out and play raw along with bass and guitar backline only. Only vocals thru our desk and the venues PA which is always a risky business but it works. Very busy night, all seats taken with every table full and standing at the back of the hall. Its actually a permanent marquee tent they have. Nice set up but stage is hollow and does create a boom so used my Gramma board last night. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There is some doubt about whether the Hot Rods will run the event next year but organiser for the Park who books us said she would be happy to have us back next year same time provided the event goes ahead. Decided to give the Godin bass a run out and it has a wonderfully deep warm P type tone that i have to admit was very nice IMO. It was in PJ mode all night, both pick ups selected. Godin bass, Shure wireless, Keeley Bassist comp, Mesa TT800 Boogie channel, Mesa SW210/115 cabs. Sandberg VM4 as back up. Really quite liked that Godin tone tho and its a really nice bass to play with a narrow neck very similar to the VM4 but having that typical old Fender-ish tone it kinda suits the music more than the VM4 which has a modern tone in comparison. I believe Godin had Seymour Duncan produce the pick ups for them. 1.5hrs drive home along quiet country roads made for an easy drive home but my eyes were starting to get tired. Home for 2:30am by the time i unloaded the car, quick coffee and a bit of TV before bed at 3am, back up at 6am with a cat bumping heads with me to get fed. Today will be a quiet sleepy day. Dave

Some photos from Thursday's "Twister Firestarter" gig:

The covers band, Top Deck, played The General Havelock pub in Ilkeston, Derbyshire. A good gig; ‘ilson’ people can be a bit wary of outsiders, but if they take to you they love you. We never had to buy our own drinks all night. We played in an outdoor, roofed, area. Showtime was 7.30 until 9.30 as it’s in a residential area. The pub seems to be managing its relationship with the locals well. Home by 10.30 to some cans in the fridge.

Two gigs this week. Wednesday at the rock and roll club was a good one - old friend of ours on drums who is really easy for me to lock on with, so it made for an enjoyable evening. Some people in from South Africa who danced most of the night, and were most complementary. Usual mix of stuff, with me doing what’s now appearing to be a weekly Chuck Berry medley. As some of them are so similar it’s easy to mix them up, although I seem to remember Chuck did this too sometimes so let’s just put it down to authenticity. P-bass Lyte into Hartke 3500 head / Loud 4x10 cab. Then last night I was depping with some friends in their pub rock band. Bit of a strange one as they were booked to replace another band who dropped out, and they were an Irish style kind of singalong bunch! Event was a birthday party at a nice local country pub, and when we got there I didn’t think it was going to be very good for us. First set only had a couple of dancers, but after a break the audience loosened up and we had most of them up at some point. We got a bit loud as a result, but nothing to scare the horses really. My old mate John Cambridge on drums ( ex- Bowie etc) meant a good gig for me. I love his playing and we gel really well, and he’s also great company, very funny ( although that might not be evident in the pic below where he looks rather serious). Songs included ‘Missing You’ ( by John Waite ), some Small Faces stuff and ‘Somewhere in my heart’ by Aztec Camera, as well as some other stuff you’d expect from geezers our age. P- Lyte into Rumble 500 combo, my go to these days. Finished around 10.45 pm, home by 11.30.

looks great but 450 not 4500