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I blame Martin (@The fasting showman) for this. He sent me a message yesterday about an old Fender Bassman cab which was for sale on Facebook about an hours drive from me. I didn't know I wanted one of these cabs, and to be honest, I'm still not sure! But it was so cheap that it didn't make any sense not to go and buy it. So here it is. I am still in shock as to how big, heavy and awkward it is, the pics on Facebook didn't give a clue to scale, and I certainly needed help getting it in the back of my car from the house. Now it's home, I'm trying to figure out how to convince my wife that it's a good idea to keep it, when I don't have anywhere really to actually keep it! The speaker is a reconed JBL D140F apparently, but I'll check that out in due course. Anyway, feel free to roast my stupidity at today's purchase. Though it does look quite nice with my Bassman 50 on it I must say. Rob

https://www.cortguitars.com/dp/gb-short-scale/ Could be fun!

Well, always wanted to have a go on. Road trip to Doncaster yesterday and returned with this example. A very decent price and it sounds immense. Not everybody's cup of tea but hey ho.

Just noticed the pink is Fandango pink. This is all I can think of... From Toast of London

Music, like football, is pricing itself out of the hands of those who would most enjoy it, and can afford it.

Firstly, this is a cab I wanted when Genz Benz still existed. I never had enough bass tokens for one though. I'd not even heard one though. 2 12in drivers with a tweeter. 4ohm. 600w. 23kg. I bought this from @wavydavy Dave on here, and it was a great transaction (prompt and well packaged etc). I was going to buy a new bass, but I saw this and thought... let's get it. I used it for the first time last night at practice. I am really happy with it, especially in combination with the Bugera Veyron I bought recently. The lows are really tight and focused. It sounded really punchy . It's quite 'sparkly' even without the tweeter in use. I'm really looking forward to using at the weekend, especially as our drummer is using his Gretcsh kit not his electric 😁

Magnificent bass. I just want to play it and do nothing else. D’Addario Chromes are sufficient. I’ll keep them/won’t likely change for rounds as intended. Fret markers are at the fret lines not at the dots. A little odd but I’ll live. I may stain the top a deeper color (if it takes). I’m pleased and inspired to play more.

I bet he didn't - I bet he said something more like "You won't believe how many frets you need for slap - the 21st fret will shock you!!!"

Long time lurker, first time poster - had to make an account to send this one in. Courtesy of Fender's dealer portal, here's a date for this bass! The serial shows this bass an American standard jazz bass from the 15th of July, in the year 2000 Do what you will with this info, glad to be of help

A friend of mine put it rather eloquently - never sh@g the payroll!!

There’s nothing amiss. honestly…some dodgy inlay stickers and everyone loses their heads 😉😆 @bigmuff69 - Mark, if you want me to go and have a look let me know, assuming it’s local to you x

Hi Rob, You don't need cross bracing for the cab to work and many commercial cabs don't trouble themselves with it. The point of cross bracing is that linking opposite panels stiffens them both. as pressure changes in the cabs it pushes or pulls the panels and at certain frequencies (dependant upon the size of the panels, stiffness and their mass) they will resonate. Since the panels push out at the same time the forces cancel so the movement is damped. Putting the brace dead central risks creating a node and simply doubling the frequency of the panel's resonance so dead centre isn't great. Even slightlyoff centre though and you are good. The biggest panels are the most resonant, as smaller is also stiffer. Usually bracing front to back is difficult in a small cab as the speaker is in the way. If you are limited to a single brace then side to side is a good compromise. The two braces in my photo were my best guess for damping. I dropped the top to bottom brace later as it wasn't achieving anything. I don't spend hours on bracing. My simple method is to feel for resonances with my finger tips whilst feeding sine waves from a signal generator., sweeping up and down the frequencies. Putting the brace(s) where they do most good. a single side to side brace worked well and the cab is really quite well behaved. I'm pretty much agnostic on wadding. It's a really complex issue with lot's of theories but little proof. It definitely changes things in the cab and resonances are reduced but it's really hard to say that there is a working predictive model. I'd say cover the rear panel with some decently heavy felt stuck to the back panel with contact adhesive. Staples alone always work loose IME. If you want to go further then you can treat opposite panels or even cover them all. If you go for the white polyester wadding then make sure it can't move around in the cab and keep it well away from the ports.

Not refering to the Jean Michelle Jarre album! At the bass bash I brought some magnetic field paper to see what was under the pickups of various devices. Most are pretty obvious what you are going to see, but here are some notable ones. I found it interesting anyway As a reference, this is a standard bart soapbar, twin coil humbucker, looks like you would expect This is a high gain rickenbacker 4004 pickup, obviously originally designed to go over 4 strings, but covers 5 nicely A dingwall twin pickup - goes with the line of the pickups, with the high notes further out Here is a normal single coil and what I assume is a GK3B (although obviously could be a GK2-b This is a mudbucker on a homemade Gibson Les Paul bass clone - huge area covered and probably explains the name! This is a sandberg pickup in a soapbar case - looks similar to the dingwall pickups mostly - this pickup was lined horizontally, so the pattern is just how it is in the case A fender (actually squier) metal covered split bass pickup - I looked at two of these, and the pattern is the same, the D string has most of the magnets! On the same table - two single coils and a P pickup - no surprises but very well balanced Finally a G&L MDF pickup in a L2000 - as you can see the magnetic field is so high its bending reality around it. And maybe even gravity. Interestingly I wanted to put the Rickenbacker 4003 pickup here, but pressing hard against the pickup I can just make out the dots on the pole pieces, but it is so weak it is very hard to see.

My usual reaction these days is "Eff off! I'm not paying that!" Scot's gotta Scot. But it is getting ridiculous, and it's not just gig tickets. Someone's making money at our expense, and it isn't me, that's for damn sure. I rarely go out to the pub these days, never mind gigs, because the price of a pint is taking the p!ss. Maybe it has to, because if it's not the pubs who are taking the mick, then it's someone above them in the supply chain taking the mick out of them, to then take the mick out of me. I'm not having it. My wallet has a vote, and it's voting "no" a lot more often these days.

My lad did a Mensa Test (the proper one where you book in and attend, not something shonky off the internet) at 12 (he'd been mithering me for a while, so I took him down one Saturday), and that's always described as an 'intellgence test'. He got his results back (with an invite for Mensa membership) and scored 162 on the Stanford Binet, which is pretty much off the scale, so on paper he's very very very intelligent indeed. In the real world, however, I wouldn't trust him to sit the right way round on a khazi three out of four tries, he's as daft as a brush 90% of the time. There's definitely a limit to the usefulness of some 'intelligence'...

Been in the studio today doing captures of various drives and preamps/di’s

Just a public service announcement that might be of interest to electronics constructors - I picked this crimp connector set up for seventeen quid from the middle of Lidl yesterday. The crimp pliers work better (IMHO) than the highly-rated Japanese ones that go for £40 plus and in addition to the JST-XH and Dupont type connectors in the set, also work perfectly for Molex KK connectors - so much so that I will probably be flogging my Japanese one off on eBay shortly and hopefully getting more back for it than this Lidl set has cost me!

So I tried rolling off a little bit of bass and boosting the mids slightly and I think that it worked. I felt like I wasn't being lost behind the kick drum and it gave me a little bit more definition in my bass sound. A work in progress as no venue is the same, but a good start. Thanks for the advice everyone!

Shocking 3D printed cock would get far more hits. Those of the errant thumb persuasion may be tempted…

I did this about 9 years ago. A nice post punk trio I'd been part of for a couple of years was a bit light on gigs and I did 8 dep gigs for a mates band and sort of never left. Felt a bit guilty but the leader of the trio was a bit reticent at playing anywhere out of the locality and was too busy to do much on the getting gigs/promotion front so. There were no histrionics and I still see the drummer often and he's helped me out on many occasions since. Still with the band I depped for - longest dep ever.....

I appreciate that they've rescaled the headstock to a smaller body size - or at least, cleverly used black to help 'shrink' it optically. Also, the pink and yellow colours are fab. Maybe a bit too bold for my tastes, but at least they're taking some risks with statement colours, rather than black or wood.

Ditto, Royal Albert Hall last night. Front seats of a box, £60 each. Ate at a Lebanese restaurant beforehand (yum), £65 for us both. Travel to and fro with a railcard £40 for both of us. Been looking forward to last night all year and considered it to be fantastic value. I guess it all depends how much each individual values going to see live music - there is no 'one size fits all' opinion. Personally, it is one of the things I enjoy most in life, more so than making music, so I am more than happy to pay for it.

Indeed. I think you're effectively paying £100 just to be in a room with them. So many of these big gigs are a disappointemnt, too. I'm not a Cure fan really (I've never really tried), but Robert Smith speaks eloquently and passionately about this and I really respect that. Didn't they do something where ticket prices were limited to a price ceiling?

When I saw The Darkness last year Justin Hawkins, in between songs, announced that The Darkness` No 1 fan, Karl, was in the audience that eve. He then said, Karl, as you`re our No 1 fan how about putting your effing phone away and watching us. Did get a big laugh - rather ironically from many who were holding their phones up.

It's probably because the only bands big enough to flll the monster venues are heritage acts. I went to see mercury music prize winning Joe Armon Jones with two of the best jazz playing sidemen I've seen and it cost me £8 and there were barely 200 people there. A few minutes' walk away Mark King was slapping the beejesus out of a Jaydee for 3000 people.

I am now earning 12x what I was earning in 1987. My wages have probably outstripped inflation, but I dont remember 'old' people like me at gigs in the 80s. I suspect we are influencing the ticket costs more than anything and putting them out of reach of young people and teenagers.

(a) possibly and (b) probably not, from my experience. Bracing you can add if you feel panel vibration when you test it with a signal generator (e.g. phone app) - I put in a couple of diagonal braces from the rear to the side panels on mine. I didn't use any wadding in mine and reckon it sounds great without, so I haven't bothered trying it with. Happy constructing! ps: I have one up on you, my mum actually used my tea tray for a bit.

With free shipping.

I forgot about this one.It wasn't pretty. A classic. Not much I can say except don't get involved with the lead singer. I should have known better. Daryl

To be fair, I think that the music scene in most areas tends to be 'cliquey'. Musicians tend to get hired based on their reputation / who they know and people will recommend or hire bass players that they trust to not let them down and who they have a good relationship with. The trick is to build up your reputation and network to the point where you become part of the 'clique' that gets offered the best gigs! The second part of the trick is maintain your reputation so that you stay part of the clique and your place isn't taken by someone else!

If Adam Clayton doesn't want them then I don't either. Besides which, wearing a Rolex is just asking for trouble nowadays apparently. According to the Daily Mail, in central London you might just as well chop your own arm off with a chainsaw.

Yummy!

Don't go to a lot of gigs now; ticket prices aside, I honestly abhor the inconvenience and associated costs of the journey in and back (generally Reading to Landaan), the cost of getting a pint etc. Anyhoo...on to ticket prices. Guess I'm a little behind the curve here, but interest spiked when I read the happy news that Sugar had reformed and are doing two dates in London next May. Got the mailing list presale, no prices, navigated through that, no prices, tickets in basket, no prices, get to the end £62.10 a pop, plus a ticket agency fee. (God knows how the 10p element was calculated out.). At which point, I just shut down Firefox and went and made a coffee. My head was reeling... You're probably looking at £200+ to see a band play for 75 minutes. Old enough to remember going to see Rush at Hammersmith and the ticket was under £4.00. Five bands at the Lyceum for under £5.00. These prices seemed reasonable at the time, even adjusted for inflation.

Zappa has for years been on my blind buy list. Whatever gets released I pick it. Call me a completist, fan-boy, idiot, all of the above I don't care, I just enjoy having them. Tape, then vinyl, CD's, re-releases and now expanded anniversary editions. I've bought them all. This upcoming release (ships 24/10) however, may be the straw that breaks the back of it for me. So it's a 5CD set this time, packaged as per the previous three Halloween releases, which I do have. It only seems to be available directly from Zappa.com this time and its priced at an eye watering $179.98. That does not include getting it here, so probably add another $50 to that. The packaging includes gimmicky crap (plastic mask/pitchfork) and a photo book. No idea how substantial the book is as yet. Might be 10 pages with as many photos for all I know. I'm sure the other sets were at least $100 less than this one. I'm blaming Ahmet. N.B. I know I'll be able to stream it for free. Great sets from two gigs though.... Disc 1: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78 1. 10-31-78 Show Start 2. Ancient Armaments 3. “Happy Halloween Everybody!” 4. Dancin’ Fool 5. Easy Meat 6. Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me? 7. Keep It Greasy 8. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing 9. City Of Tiny Lites 10. Pound For A Brown 11. Thirteen 12. The Story Of Ms. X 13. Nancy Disc 2: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78 cont’d 1. Dinah-Moe Humm 2. Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder 3. Little Rubber Girl 4. The Idiot Bastard Son 5. Bobby Brown Goes Down 6. Conehead 7. Suicide Chump 8. Little House I Used To Live In 9. Watermelon In Easter Hay 10. Stink-Foot Disc 3: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-31-78 cont’d 1. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance 2. Peaches En Regalia 3. Strictly Genteel 4. Sofa #2 5. Packard Goose 6. Magic Fingers 7. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow 8. Nanook Rubs It 9. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast 10. Father O’Blivion 11. Rollo 12. Camarillo Brillo 13. Muffin Man 14. Black Napkins / The Deathless Horsie Disc 4: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-27-78 - Show 1 1. 10-27-78 Show 1 Opening 2. Dancin’ Fool 3. Easy Meat 4. Honey, Don’t You Want A Man Like Me? 5. Keep It Greasy 6. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing 7. City Of Tiny Lites 8. A Pound For A Brown 9. Bobby Brown Goes Down 10. Conehead 11. Dance Contest Disc 5: Live at The Palladium, NYC / 10-27-78 - Show 1 cont’d 1. The Black Page #2 2. Dance Contest Aftermath 3. Little House I Used To Live In 4. Magic Fingers 5. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow 6. Nanook Rubs It 7. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast 8. Father O’Blivion 9. Rollo 10. “Let Me Explain This To You…” 11. Dinah-Moe Humm 12. Camarillo Brillo 13. Muffin Man 14. Peaches En Regalia

Proper Basschat behaviour 👍

Judging by the vintage if loaded with JBL it's probably an E140. If you don't see a 10cm diameter aluminum dome it's not JBL.

As far as I'm aware the Albert Hall only has 5 levels.

I've always been a bad influence!

Love these cabs.

i know its a different time etc but i remember going to see big 4-5 band gigs at the astoria for £9

I *almost* posted about it, but then I thought it was surely the one album that anyone talking about his double bass playing would already know. It's a great one, he's all over the bass and it certainly changed the whole business of latin jazz bass playing, but the focus of the group setting steers away from some of the excesses he might go for on solo albums.

I would never pay £BigMoney to see a band at the Enormodome - firstly you can barely see 'em, sound in a huge hanger is usually terrible, there's no sense of intimacy and there's 20000 other people there who've also paid well over the odds. But unfortunately, while people pay stupid prices (Oasis!) the stupid prices will exist.

Light as a feather .. have it on cassette tape, played to extinction in the mid 80s. That and Hejira my gateways into Jazz from prog.

Definitely be a crime if you stain it, and you’ll deserve punishment.

Having previously moderated an internet forum I can quite categorically state that it can be a monumental ball-ache, so thanks very much to the guys who give their free time to herd the cats, push the fog up the ditch and plait the yoghurt in order to make BC the welcoming, friendly and wallet-hazardous community that it is.

Yep i've been in that situation a few times but always been amicable as far as i can remember. I did leave an amazing Deep Purple & Friends tribute band because the guitarist and the keyboard player were almost fighting and it was close to blows at a rehearsal. They were all from a very rough area of Glasgow. An area i would never go near under normal circumstances. I decided this wasn't for me and there and then said i'd had enough, packed up my gear and said i'm not prepared to be in a band that behaves like this. The singer and the guitarists brother who was listening at rehearsals both tried to coax me to have a think about it first. The band were good but not for me. After 6mths they got in touch and asked if i would come back as they couldn't get a replacement that plays the way i do. Nice compliment and i did return but the guitarist wasn't learning his solos for the rehearsals and i eventually said this wasn't going anywhere now and its just not for me. I had nothing lined up to fall back on. This was 2012-13. All of the band remained in touch except the guitarist who took a huff but for me he was the issue in the band. It was his band too. Don't think i was in another proper band again until 2016 when i retired from work. That was the first Glam band. Dave

A photo from rehearsal this evening consisting of my Fender American Vintage 2 precision bass and 2008 Squier Classic Vibe Precision. Both fantastic basses and to be honest are closer to each other in feel, vibe and sound. The Av 2 has more bottom end whereas the classic vibe has a lovely vintage mid range to it but with a blindfold I’d be hard pushed to figure out which I was playing.