Leaderboard

That's from a while ago - that settee's long gone. The basses are all still here though. The observant may notice the fingerboard end on the fretless isn't standard, I got Jon Shuker to replace the original board which had been nicely defretted but of course had lines on for an unlined ebony board and he shaped it that way.

The rules are: 1. Say a pedal is great while you own it (knowing you might someday want to sell it) 2. Continue to say it is great while you try to sell it (say something like 'best pedal ever, but doesn't fit with my current projects') 3. Out of politeness to the new buyer don't publicly disrespect the pedal for a while. 4. Move on to hype of a shiny new thing being announced, openly criticise the old pedal. I think we're still only up to stage 3!

Ahhhh, NYE...generally ours have been positive, even better when the DJ says 'Can you finish and be off for 11:45 so I can do the countdown?' Of courrrrrse we can... 🙂 We did have one disaster, thanks to a promoter who we didn't use again (amazingly, that can be a two-way street), when we turned up to a £25 ticketed do at a Working Man's/Liberal/Con/Labour Club*, and by 'we' I mean our guitar/acoustic trio doing all sorts of stuff, to be greeted by the landlord/sec with a cheery 'Where's the f*cking rest of you?'. After explaining I was considered medically complete he informed us, with furious gesticulations at the promo signage, that he'd booked a 7-piece soul band, and the sellout crowd was expecting that. Attempts were made by both parties to contact said promoter (we hadn't had any contact directly with the landlord, so it was very clear who was to blame) but unsurprisingly he wasn't answering his phone. We set up and gave it a go for the first set, but it became immediately obvious that by the time drink had flowed in any greater quantity we'd be needing chicken wire a la Blues Brothers, and the DJ saved much further pain, embarassment and possibly violence by saying 'Pack up and get out, lads; I'll take it from here.' We were packed down and out the door by about ten. When we finally got hold of the promoter days later he was so embarassed (presumably after a biblical bollocking by the landlord) that he actually paid us in full. One consolation on the night (other than the early finish) was the thought that somewhere a small pub was, presumably delightedly, squeezing in a 7-piece soul band they hadn't booked... * I forget the exact flavour, but uniquely it was less than a mile from my house at the time...swings, roundabouts...

Panda were scheduled to exhibit at Guitar Summit last week but had to cancel at the last minute due to two of the team being ill. Here’s one of the demos they’d prepared:

I know this thread is from a while back, but just in case anyone’s still interested, here’s the finished bass - looking and sounding great! 😉 I asked a friend to check it over with a one minute demo. Antoria.mp4

Not my specific unit, just a random Google image of it, but I got this a couple of days ago: Absolutely amazing. I use it for my always on 1 octave up effect, to emulate an effect somewhat similar to that of an octave course 8 string bass. Much clearer and more natural sounding than the TC Electronic Sub'N'Up I used previously, even if I had that running with a custom made Toneprint, I meticulously dialed in myself, with pre and post octave engine EQ filters, specifically for my application. Obviously the XS-1 octave up still sounds somewhat artificial, but it is still a substantial improvement over the Sub'N'Up, and with the octave mix at 50% or lower it does sound completely natural. Gone are all the odd digital artifacts and occational glitches as well.

Famous last words

I always use tracked 24 and collected from my house, that way I know it's gone.... and I'm 95% sure it won't sit in a hub/store for days. I also never send at the end of the week to avoid weekend immobilisation...

I will keep my Hiscox guitar case for as long as I live , and then it will be passed on to my son , because inside it is a beautiful Hiscox Guitar ( very rare) with a bowled back made of strips of wood. I was lucky enough to meet with Bryn Hiscox to place my order.

Here’s the one that started it all

I've had my eye on one of these for a while and have been reading the comments/reviews on the topics that mention the Z7. On Wednesday I had my replacement credit card and it had to be road tested and... well... ummm... I was looking for a natural finish but when searching Anderton's website, the only Z7s with this finish were 5 strings. But search for natural finish basses without using the manufacturer's name and these pop up. The QC and setup out of the box were great and I don't see (hear?) the need to fiddle to make any improvements so far. The pre-amp set up will take a while - I've only played through headphones so far but it seems there are a lot of potential options. I can see what everyone is saying about the knobs feeling cheap and I'll be looking for replacements at some point. I also think the two stacked knobs seem quite vulnerable to knocks, particularly if the bass is on a stand on a stage. Mine weighs in at 4.4kg (9.7lbs).

Also, my 50s inspired but not really that 50s Partscaster. Mark Jenny ice blue metallic, light aged body. Shuker neck, gotoh and EMG hardware.

Yes, absolutely. For that simple reason that the octave strings on an 8 string bass will have lower output than the bass strings. This way the artificial notes can be lower in the mix and sort of hide behind the real once, rather than having the artificial notes be the dominant ones. That said I am not really looking to emulate an 8 string bass, I just happen to like the tone I get from adding an octave.

I gave it up for best part of 10 years. When the fun stops, stop.

Playing bass for me has never been about being in a band. Obviously, playing with other people/live etc is the goal and I've been lucky in that regards..... but I'm also more than happy playing by myself, learning classic basslines from legendary artists and noodling around/creating for my own pleasure. That, for me, is foremost...... the pleasure of playing the instrument itself.... anything more is a bonus. This was particularly pertinent during Covid lockdown when I developed an even closer bond with my instrument and took the time to develop my playing...

The only surviving image of me, when I played through a TE Quatravalve into a 1x18" and a 4x10" and a 4x5" brightbox. So young back then, I didn't even notice the weight. 😢

It's possible if you provide the goods which are actually worth the asking price. Compare and contrast with Epiphone's prices ticking upward, but giving basically the same instruments they always did, as well as creating strange anomalies like a bolt on single pickup Grabber costing more than a thru neck, two pickup Thunderbird or a hollow bodied Jack Casady (which surely *must* cost more to make than a Grabber). It makes no sense at all.

When they were still in Brooklyn I spent a couple of hours at the Sadowsky workshop trying all their demo models. IMO every single one sounded better with the pre-amp turned off.

I has a quick 5 minutes on one in Andertons last Friday, my first time with fanned frets. I felt comfortable with the frets after a few seconds. I didn't have to acclimatise, and I was pleasantly surprised to not be playing two frets higher up the neck than I wanted, which has happened when I've tried headless basses before. It felt comfortable, but I hardly ever play sitting down, so I'd like to see how it feels on a strap. The sound was quite clean and hifi, which I like, but I found the tuners quite difficult to use. It's definitely worth trying one if you can.

We're not a wedding band by any stretch of the imagination. But we've been wangled into doing a few. All of them were bad. It's usually when the bride or the groom just happens to like our band. I don't think it occurs to them to hire a band their guests would like. Daryl

This. My version is, every gig is the Albert hall. Several times I've been asked to join bands because the band leader liked what he saw, and one of them was the proverbial man and a dog gig. Every time you have a bass on your shoulder you should be giving 110%.

In true BC fashion, this thread is going deliciously off the rails. Two mentions of G&L in 15 posts, in a thread about G&L shutting down. Don't ever change, BC...

Or, if you're desperate for one but haven't been able to get your hands on one yet, start at 4 and work backwards?

I can easily go a month without touching a bass, but other times ill play dailly, even if it's just 5 minutes. Can't see a time where i stop completely, even if i stop gigging. You'll be back to it within a few months i suspect!

Nevertheless, there are only so many venues, days (evenings...) of the week, and folk wanting to go out and listen to/watch a live band, and a fair number of original and covers bands, or multiple genres, courting those ever reducing number of slots. It would appear that the butter is being spread ever thinner on fewer slices; this trend is not likely to reverse, in the UK, soon. Just sayin'.

Hearing lots of good stuff about this at the moment. Very close to pulling the trigger on the 100.

Just got my hands on the Damnation Dirt Mixer. I also borrowed a reamp box which is super handy for experimenting. Back to the pedal drawing board… So far I’m leaning towards the Venus and Dagger for a good balance between clanky boost and a crispy distortion tone. The Black Math is a lot of fun though and infinitely more useable with the Dirt Mixer.

Apologies for only contributing to this thread now. There has been the sad passing of many musicians who I admired, or who inspired me over the years. But Danny Thompson's sad passing has been one of the saddest in recent times. As others have said, the Transatlantic Sessions are great, and his playing and tone are just wonderful. I saw him live just twice (with Pentangle) and I wish I'd seen him more. I also would like to have met him. In interviews, he always seemed such a decent, humble and humorous guy. The world is just that little bit less colourful since he has gone, and I know that a huge range of talented musicians who played with him will be feeling the same. R.I.P Danny 😞

He doesn't like that everyone knows his name and has seen his little winkie. No one cares and I doubt anyone would know it was him or remember his name if he hadn't tried to initially cash-in by seeking publicity and recreating the photo when he was old enough.

Belly at the Camden Electric Ballroom on Weds night, playing their album King start to finish on occasion of it being 30 years old, plus a second set of favourites Gail Greenwood is always excellent value for money as a performer 😎

I enjoy the BTW You Tube channel and can understand this desire to work with a manufacturer to produce a signature model, but raise the question as to why they feel it's necessary to bring another Jazz styled bass into a marketplace that's already full of them. Players here will make all the usual points about the hardware, the weight, the electrics, the nut width and (ooh) the tonewoods, but let's face it 99.9% of guys here (me included) couldn't recognise ash from alder or Wilkinson tuners from Gotoh unless they could read the name stamped on them.

Kev you are welcome to borrow my pair of QSCK10's and a single FBT15" sub to trial at a gig/rehearsal. I'm not saying that to indicate that is what you should buy but it might give you some further insight into single sub/10" top systems. Just give me a shout.

Or, for those of us who don't move in the exalted circles of promoters, showing the landperson that you should get another chance.

Occasionally Facebook throws me up some good stuff. New band discovery:

I have no great insight. It appears to be in the lap of the gods, more often than not. In any event, you always play your best and treat every gig the same. A guy I know played Woodstock and treated every gig with the same mentality.

Try playing in an originals band!

I can stand that for an evening. The extra money weddings pay helps ease the pain...

So I went with A for the front. It’s a thin body (32mm) and slightly smaller than a P size so it will be an interesting project to see how everything fits. I will definitely have to go for lightweight tuners to combat neck dive. Part of me is thinking about doing a short scale.

Take a look at his builds, unsurprisingly on the Builds Thread. Here's my two...

My kingdom for companies to announce things without making me watch a bloody video

Beautiful sounding guitar from Rob Armstrong - and thank goodness he didn't accidentally order two dozen saxophone cases...

Don’t laugh… that’s exactly how luthier Rob Armstrong came to design his “Baby Guitars”… he mucked up a case order and decided to build something to fit the mandolin cases that arrived.

Dont cry 😀 Hiscox not dead! Polish guitar maker RUF Technologies has acquired the British brand Hiscox and is moving its entire case production—along with tools, technology, and brand identity—to a factory near Warsaw. The original name and high-quality standards will be preserved with the support of the former owner and key Hiscox experts, who remain involved as advisors. RUF produces high-end guitars using aerospace-grade composites and sells them in 14 countries. The company is actively expanding, especially in the U.S. market, and promotes its instruments at major global trade shows.