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Just a bit of an update, and a huge thank you to everyone who commented or reacted. With just one gig in the diary and with a regular venue switching to an agent, we have called time on the band. The singer started off a little defensive (as you would expect) but did see that it was right in the end. He admitted that some gigs completely wipe him out and he has good and bad days more generally. We all wish that it was not so, but to carry on (in front of 'strange' crowds) would expose him to criticism (and possibly even ridicule) and that would be far worse. We will bow out on 7th October. More importantly, we are parting as chums. Thanks again for the support people have given. This is a remarkable place - and this is demonstrated so often here.

Good midweek gig at The Gryphon last night. After a late night two nights in a row (and the usual 5:45 alarm 😭) I'm knackered today! Too much headbanging as well, my neck is giving me some jip this morning. There were a few issues, the first band took a while getting off stage, which meant we were rushed and our guitarist couldn't work out why his amp was quiet. Turns out it had been switched to half power mode. Still, it went very well and there were lots of positive comments and we even sold a t-shirt. Very hot up in the small gig room there though. I think capacity is about 50 and we were almost at that, plus no air condidioning. My new digital only fuzz was working a treat tonight too. On my GX-100, I'm running a transparent overdrive into a bass fuzz and then a parallel signal with bass overdrive into the fuzz face model, both fuzzes with a bit of clean blend, boosting the lows on the fuzz face, reducing them on the bass fuzz. It has that high end chaotic movement to the sound that most digital fuzzes don't quite get. My rig was Dingwall Combustion -> GX-100 -> Laney Digbeth 500 -> Fender 610. WhatsApp Video 2025-08-21 at 09.36.02.mp4

My legal team have advised me not to contribute to this thread.

I've mentioned this before on BC, but I once left a band by going to the toilet during a rehearsal and escaping through the toilet window. There's more to the story, but the crux of it is that I ran away in the least dignified way.

In another thread a forum member mentioned a band finishing with "everyone remaining chums". While I applaud this band for its maturity, I don't think I've ever had a band finish without never talking to at least someone again (which I fear says something about me...). My least amicable split was when we accidentally dropped a flight case on our singers tambourine that she referred to as her "instrument". In penance the guitarist and I went to a music shop to buy her a new one but she didn't like the sound. Thus followed an argument along the lines of "but they all sound the same"... "no they don't"... "well you don't have to play it because it annoys everyone anyway"... etc. and the nickname "Jingle Bells" being coined. I think we only lasted one or two more gigs! I'm sure others can better this!

In my teenage incarnation, Our band had a disagreement over the tempo of a Santana song we were going to cover. After much heated disagreement, I rolled the drummer's snare down a four-flight, stone staircase. The end. Probably the best tempo it had kept for a few months.

Zero F's, but many replies. 😂 Mark

Well that’s the oil sanding finished and just the final coats of Liberon Finishing oil now. The chatoyance on the Sapele is gorgeous and the grain is starting to really come out. The Liberon is such a joy to work with.

Hold my beer........🤣

There are 14 'Ranks' and 4 Badges. The 4th badge requires you to 'like' all 5,000,000 basschat posts.

Looks like there's 14 badges according to my profile. No real idea what they mean or how to get them though 🤔 I'm assuming that being a "veteran" translates to "spends and incredible amount of time on Basschat instead of practicing" 🤣🤣

I still feel 'imposter' syndrome about my bass playing. It feels like I've got away with this huge bluff.

Oops. I slipped and sourced a trio of strymons.

Failed at violin lessons. Chucked out of the choir audition. Found school music lessons grim. Discovered TOTP. Got into ELO and part of that was the realisation that each instrument and voice had a different rhythm and melody. Used to listen to those albums over and over focusing on different parts - so I was aware of bass. I had a 'classical' guitar I fitted bronze strings to... then a Kay 'sg copy' (I still have it) and made a couple of deadly amps from old valve record players. Went to uni and got better - used to vamp chords along to a copy of "The Beatles Compleat" as folks sang along. Got a gorgeous mid-70s Epiphone Jumbo and became moderately competent as a rhythm player on it. My best mate had a Precision that fascinated me - I had to play it whenever I saw it. In the end he leant it to me for a month on the condition I learned one finger per fret. Ended up buying a new Hohner Jazz and getting into a cover band at my second audition. then my brother gave me a B2. Then I got a Maya fretless P, followed by almost accidentally getting a Fender Performer. Two originals bands brought me to 1996 - I lived for music and mountain biking. <over 20 years of non-musicalness due to work but mostly a tough marriage> Towards the end of this I was self-employed and started playing bass to break up the monotony of working on my own - discovered I was good at playing by ear to the radio. Then I started finding my own way again (divorce incoming). Did a weekend warrior event and led to a band, Ialso did some random stuff with a local singer songwriter. Starter buying basses... Then covid... Once vaxed, moved out to look after my dad. As soon as I could, joined two bands. Met my new partner through gigging. One band never gigged so left and started another. Started going to jams and open mics, got confidence and did some depping. Got asked to join two more bands. So now I have too many basses, four bands and I do the odd dep and have an incredibly supportive partner who lives for live music. Yes I'm burning the candle at both ends but I have a lot to catch up on. And it's f£%@ing awesome to rediscover myself.

I've accidentally fallen back into a live electronica project, which is something I didn't think I'd ever do again. As such, I have been able to dig out some classics again, like my SL-20. Sounded so damn good last night. Can't wait to jam with this board again! Full run down for those who care about that kind of thing.... PedalTrain Jr Max (with risers along the top). All cabled with EBS gold flat patch cables. Powered by a Cioks DC7 + 8 Expander. Signal chain... Input -> Boss OC-5 Octave -> Horrothia Teeth Mk.1 -> Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler -> The Really Good Pedal Co. Funky Puppy -> WMD Geiger Counter Pro -> Horrothia Type One -> Mr. Black Gilamondo -> Dr. Scientist Tremolessence V3 -> Boss SL-20 Slicer -> Dr. Scientist DUSK (black out enclosure) -> Source Audio Nemesis -> Keeley Bassist (used as a hard limiter) -> TC Electronics PolyTune Mini2 -> Output I'm kinda hoping that in the I can slim this down and do less stuff/hand over more sonic duty to the keys player, but for now, I'm rocking the full tool box. Generally happy with everything here, though I'm considering swapping out the Funky Puppy for a Mastotron and Prometheus combo. The FP is utterly awesome, but the controls are sooooo sensitive to different input levels that balancing it to various pedals before it is a constant challenge. I'll see how I feel after the next session.

There’s nothing wrong with MIJ/CIJ Fender instruments. In general they are top notch for consistency. The 62 Jazz reissues are more common and therefore maybe more prone to modding than some models that are less common in Europe…..like the PB-70US. Remember that Japanese Fenders have various grades - typically denoted by a second double digit. Say, JB-62-75 where the first number refers to the model year of the reissue and the second set of numbers denotes the price (in 00’s Yen) when it first sold. The lower priced versions came with a smaller headstock and small footprint tuners, as well as locally specified PUP’s. The body wood may be Basswood (Linden), which is light but dings easily. Higher valued instruments have larger tuners (similar to US) on a typical Fender headstock. The body wood is typically alder or sen (ash). The PUP’s may be wound to US spec or imported US PUP’s. Hence the term US in PB-70US. Basically you will have to look far and wide for a bad MIJ Fender.

Reminds me, we need another rank after GrandMaster, with a title like 'needs therepy' or something!

I can’t be bothered anymore. Sadly it’s unraveling as expected. Inflation picking up and right wing tosspots being elected by the financially illiterate. If anyone is interested though here’s the next phase: https://youtu.be/zd43_cPhHk8?si=iR15LBQfoaaoAQF3

If you have to ask, you wouldn't qualify. ... (Sorry, just a quip. Here's the answer...)

Hey, I'm super helpful! Where's my damn badge?

My brother likes his Italian food and he says it was a different class, especially compared to the previous works outing they had at one of Jamie Oliver's establishments, where they overpaid for small portions of very mediocre food and most folks stopped off for chips on the way home because they were still hungry.

Well I discovered rock music through seeing guns n roses on MTV around 91 - I would have been 10-11 years old. I got one of those ‘everything you need’ electric guitar sets from Argos for Christmas that year, and I became a very mediocre rhythm guitarist over the years that followed. I wanted desperately to be a widdly, flashy lead player but lacked the willpower to consistently practice. I was a good enough rhythm player to join a metal band at 15-16 writing our own material and playing locally. At 17 we weee established on the local scene and our mates band’s bass player left. I got on well with them and they asked if I could stand in on bass until they found a replacement. I’d never played bass before but figured it’d be ok if I stuck to root notes and learned as I went along. It was a total revelation, and I never really went back to guitar. I vowed never to play covers because that was an admission of giving up on the dream. Except a couple of years later I received a great job offer which meant I had to quit playing live (shift work and regular rehearsals don’t match) After 17 years climbing the ranks, the shifts ended as I moved into management and the first thing I wanted to do was start playing live again - and at 42 (at the time) playing covers in pubs sounded a lot of fun - and guess what?! It is! What I enjoy about playing covers, is that it’s made me a better player. I used to write basslines for my own ability - so I progressed very little as I was never challenged. Learning ‘professional’ basslines has made me better at what I do - so now I’m just marginally above ‘barely competent’

General Incompetence, probably!

It’s all a huge bluff… 🙄

I have seen such things in several european countries!

UPDATE: We’ve finally wrapped up the warehouse move! The new pre-owned showroom is now open too, so if you’re in the area swing by, grab a coffee/tea/beer, and check out some lovely basses. Always happy to talk gear and hang out.

If you have time you could pop in and see us, we can put LOADS of 5-string basses in your hands

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.

Jim Marshall did use some of the Fender circuits at the start, Fender's were based on the RCA sample circuits and the later Marshall's took their power amp designs from the Mullard Audio books.

I'm a Grand master. I guess that means I've spent even less time practising, or living a life, than you!!

I fear he won't. It wouldn't be a good thing for him in any case. He has a degenerative condition and has already lasted almost 10 years beyond his initial prognosis. He has a new lady friend and they are enjoying getting out and about. His future is ultimately going to be horrible, so better he enjoys time with her.

What's this "fifth" thing you mention?

I'm nicking that for the next time a colleague thinks it's funny to ask if they can play tambourine in my band!

The very best sounding B string for me is on my Ken Smiths. Then my Warwick Streamer S2. I play both over the neck pickup 90% of the time. There's a lot of variables in the answer to your question though, scale length, setup, strings, pickups. Take up Bassdirect on their offer.

Not something to brag about. It's just BC management acknowledging you are a veteran of a certain age. A bit like reaching the pension age, but without having the financial package to go with it. Personally, I would have preferred a set of strings rather than badges. But hey ho, that's just me.

That was Steps

I was never very musical as a kid - my sister played flute and violin to a moderately good standard, I had a couple of cousins who played cello, French horn and other things pretty well (one is now semi-pro in a folk trio). I dabbled with trombone in primary school and drums in high school but never did more than a couple of terms of lessons. Then when I started 6th form in the summer of '99, I went from a small rural school to a big-ish college in town and discovered other people. New friends, wider circles, socialising, pubs! In our gang there was one guy who was a total metal head and wanna-be Steve Vai, another guitarist who was actually good (and very humble with it, he's now a pro tutor) and a drummer with Marfan's syndrome who we called Fingers. They needed a bassist and the only one we knew was into The Smiths and stuff like that, he wasn't interested but I asked him for some tips. First bass was a black Yamaha P-bass bought second hand with a massive combo (I think it was 100w and had a 20" cone, it was big enough to sit on without touching the floor, perfect for a beginner!). I was never really into metal and all I ever did was chug roots, but it was cool. We were called Chasin' The Dragon (I was too young and innocent to know what that meant at the time), I don't think we ever actually played a whole song all the way through! We spent a lot more time drinking than playing. I drifted off into different circles after a few years but kept playing for my own amusement. I had a black and white Squier Jazz for a while, then a Jackson Kelly, gave fretless a go then gave it up, I had a Peavey thru-neck and possibly a couple of others, before gradually losing interest. Uni, jobs, wife, kids, mortgages came next and I finally picked up another bass (a Rockbass Fortress) again a couple of years ago. I dabbled here and there until the bug bit hard again a few months ago - I just traded up to a Squier CV60s Jazz and I realised why I never felt like I wanted to play the Fortress, it was so heavy and chunky, the Jazz feels so easy by comparison. I've even actually started to learn some music theory, instead of just learning songs by tab.

Sailing was massive, Barbados and Jive Talking are classics and the Smokie song is great IMHO. But the question is basslines and even the totally wet Bay City Rollers song has a reasonably interesting walking line.

I used to be a one strap kind of guy. The temperature was a comfortable 24 degrees, very slight breeze. I had more hair on my head than the rest of my body combined. Life was sweet. Then a strap broke about a third into a gig, and no replacement on sight. I ended up playing sitting on a stool And the very next day I made sure I always had an extra strap in every gigbag and every tools case I'm likely to bring to any gig. But maybe it's just me... I just realised I do the same with extra batteries, strings, cables. When any hardware/cabling needs something, I'm the first one they ask, as I often have something useful in my magic box

This journey, into bass playing? What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road? When I was about 6 or 7 I heard Bert Kaempfert’s A Swingin’ Safari and Ladi Geisler’s bass just captivated me. From that day I wanted to play bass - wind forward forty years and my mid-life crisis finally gave me the impetus to actually learn… Do you still have the same fire and enthusiasm? Do you still love it? I still love it but the enthusiasm to play has been tempered by the realisation that I’m not actually very good and I now spread my lack of talent thinly across lots of instruments rather than just being poor at only one. What has changed along the way? Your taste in music, taste in basses? I used to be a bit of a music snob and wouldn’t listen to a lot of stuff. Learning to play and being in a few bands has widened my appreciation and there’s not very little I don’t like. What was the first bass? And what’s the latest? First bass was a Tanglewood that was quite decent to learn on. First “proper” bass was the Ric 4003 I’d always promised myself and which I got as soon as I knew I was going to stick with it. Since then dozens of basses have gone through my hands and all of them have now gone with the exception of that first Ric (which I will never sell) and a bitsa SG Nanyo Bass Collection that I’ve recently brought back from the brink and is now my go-to recording bass because it sounds so….fat-but-focused if that makes sense.

Good vid 👍

Now here's something quite different than your typical Muff-like/FuzzFace-like/ToneBender-like fuzz. Emma OKTO-NØJS. While most samples online evoke that funky and synthy stuff, I'm happy to say it dooms as well especially if paired with another dirt pedal. It's fun on its own, of course, but it shines in a company. I love what it can do when coupled with an octave fuzz and/or envelope filter. Of course it has its learning curve. Quality, fit and finish is great. It is also a looker.

Folks on Basschat seem to be baulking at the prospect of paying ninety quid for a set of Pino's signature strings, let alone a few grand for the bass. Like I said a while ago, three and a half grand for the standard version actually seems pretty reasonable to me considering what other EBMM basses cost nowadays. My concern would be how many enthusiastic amateurs with a few quid in their pockets are going to get carried away listening to vintage Pino from back in the '80's and buy the unlined fretless and then have it dawn on them how hard it is to actually play it in tune convincingly. It's easy to watch PIno play the bass be so beguiled by his effortless brilliance that you start to think it's achievable for mere mortals. Buying one of these basses could give some folks a rude awakening especially if they try it out on a gig. Back at the height of the fretless fad in the ,1980's I remember witnessing some shocking live performances from bass players who's enthusiasm outstripped their ability to play in tune.

This journey, into bass playing? What made you pick up that first bass at the start of this long and winding road? There seemed to be a lot of bass driven music around, growing up in the late '70's and early '80's, no matter the genre, though thanks to an older brother, I heard a lot of hard rock & metal, Sabbath, Hawkwind, Purple, etc. Hawkwind's "Space Ritual" stands out as the "wow" moment, then discovering Rush and others. Tried convincing my parents i needed a bass, but it wasn't til I was 16 that I got a Kay P bass and dodgy amp from a bloke that worked with my Dad... Do you still have the same fire and enthusiasm? Do you still love it? Fits and starts. Still love to play when I get around to it, but getting around to it takes a bit more these days, as I'm not in a band at the moment. What has changed along the way? Your taste in music, taste in basses? Taste in music has waxed & waned, visiting numerous rabbit holes, but still mainly hard rock & metal. What was the first bass? And what’s the latest? First: Kay P bass. Current: 4003 Always lusted after a Ric, took me 20 years before I finally bought one, but it was like coming home. Love them.