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We were back at the Queens Arms in Brixham last night, which is one our favourite pubs to play and we are the landlords favourite band. We set up quick and it sounded good, but later we were told the guitar was too quiet when it was fine at first. A combination of up on his amp and bit more in the PA along with a subtle equaliser tweak sorted it. We were playing quiet well and having a good gig, but there were some moments. A few caused by our singer with one particular strange one. At the end of the second chorus in Go Your Own Way he carried on and then me and the guitarist both went into the ending so we completely missed the middle section. Lots of looking at each other wondering what went on, but we laughed about it as we alesys seem to play our way our of problems. A good size appreciative crowd, and some people I haven't seen for a while. Next gig is NYE at a different pub. Usual rig, which I've photographed close up. Got some good feedback on my sound from a fellow bass player and their friend.

The band I had to leave back in March (due to me having a brain-bleed stroke) has been very supportive since then, kept in touch about my recovery and since then have asked me to do 5 or 6 dep jobs with them covering gigs my replacement on bass couldn't do. Latest was last Friday 28th November at a private party in a nice pub in Sherborne. It's gratifying that I still remembered the chords and arrangements for all the numbers I used to do, and could busk the new ones, although I must admit 'Fairytale of New York' unrehearsed was hard going - never played it before and frankly never liked the original! My short sax set (One step beyond, Geno, Tutti Frutti) went down well too; I suppose sdditional saxophony is my unique selling point! Following on from one of the other threads on this forum, the other band members would clearly like to have me back, and were thinking about hiding some gigs from my replacement so I could play them instead. I must say I felt conflicted - I would love to gig regularly again but I've had this sort of thing happen to me in the past but the other way around. Hmm... advice please!

A non scientific test. Pink noise from YouTube thru tablet into Origin Effects Bassrig 15 into Midas MR18 mixer with EQ bypassed. 1. Pedal off / bypassed. 2. Pedal on with cab SIM OFF tone controls at 12 o'clock. 3. Pedal on with cab SIM ON tone controls at 12 o'clock (mid position). 4. Pedal on with cab SIM ON tone controls at 6 o'clock (full).

I really like him, he’s an antidote for the world of social media bassists and musicians in general. He’s carved a niche out for himself, and fair play to him for managing to do it. Musicians have a bit of a habit of taking themselves too seriously and he’s doing a good job of injecting a bit of fun into things without any of the pretence. Like it or not social media as a platform for musicians is going nowhere, so why not someone like him.

I like him a lot. Nice to see irreverent and often self deprecating stuff in an age of “I’m the best” shite.

Hometown gig in a converted church that I've played before, nicer onstage sound than previous times. A few mistakes but a well received generally enjoyable gig. I've used a Peavey vb2 810 fridge for my last 3 gigs, this one and the 2 previous tour supports we did. The fridge was purchased for the usual blue book £100 for a non Ampeg 810: it's the 3rd 8x10 I've owned and I maintain that despite science going in the opposite direction they can be a good, cheap viable solution for certain situations. Obviously it wouldn't have worked when I was doing pub / club covers and probably not ideal for everyone. When I found out the bookings we had this year I either had to get an additional 2x12 neo GK cab or go on a different tangent. I flogged the GK and bought the fridge for half of what I got for it...I can rethink things in the future if needed. Fair to say that the 810 with the GK head is like a 3.5 litre v8 ticking over and never gets shouty; the volume is at the volume of the drumkit ( I'm enjoying playing with a more energetic drummer after playing with a sedate one for a few years) and one guitarist plays big chords while the other plays a bass 6. So I need to really ground the music, giving an illusion of being an octave below the bass 6. The tilt and roll drill with the fridge is pretty workable too, I struggle more with 4x10s tbh. My first gig with LaBella flats. Not wild about them on their own but great in the band mix, really full and consistent. The higher tension seems to work well too, nice to play.

Here is my recently refurbished 1998 Stingray 5... was originally a trans red finish but has been stripped and professionally finished with a buffed open pore nitro clear coat with a subtle brown wash. Tuners and bridge changed to black to match in with the scratch plate and knobs (3 months wait for the bridge from EB!!) Well chuffed with the finished result. Finally strung it up and played it today and it made me realise why I love a SRay5!

I like him. He's funny, different, irreverent and behind the humour, a good player. Check out the Charles Berthoud v Danny Sapko video. He appears to be a smart guy and can play. Making a living in the bass world is a tough ask these days, so more power to him.

A double report, because I was lazy last weekend. Last Saturday, played with Nine Lives at the Grampian Bar in Torry, Aberdeen. First time playing there. It wasn't very busy - maybe 15 folk in at any one time. Thankfully there was a table of folk who stayed for most of the gig and were well into it, plus my best mate came down for the first half and Mrs. Neepheid joined us later on after an earlier social engagement. Still, it was one of those when you wonder if the pub made any money at all. Gear for that one was Yamaha night - the SB500S (even in its unfinished state having only a bridge pickup) followed by the BB1200 (which I forgot to photograph, oops). Amplification by Mark Bass as per usual. Fast forward to last night, Nine Lives again and back to a favourite haunt, the Balaclava in Fraserburgh. Gig didn't get off to the best of starts - while the drummer and I were loading our gear into the pub he suddenly realised that he'd left the mixing desk at home - he had changed cars in order to service the brakes on his usual motor and left it in there by mistake. Thankfully he only lives half an hour away from the venue, and we were mercifully early, so he bombed it home while we set up everything around the missing mixing desk so it would just be plug in and go, debagged his drums to save a bit of time there etc. Despite all that hoohah, we still somehow managed to be ready 10 mins before kick off. And it was a cracking night! Maybe because it was a pay weekend, the pub was busy and we had plenty of dancers and singers enjoying the tunes. Much better night than last weekend, that's for sure. Played well, some bloops but easily recovered and acknowledged with winks, smiles and funny faces. I played my Epiphone Mike Dirnt signature G-3 the whole night - sorry, backup bass, but I was just having too much fun with my new toy. It's a bloody terrific bass, a joy to play and sounded immense - cut through the mix like a knife in all pickup settings. Had a whale of a time playing it. Usual amplification.

SD quarter pounders PJ pickups, multitonal gotoh bridge, Schaller tuning heads, a matte black s/plate … and black volume / tone knobs what do you guys think? Enough mods for grunge/rock/punk covers? 😁

I’ll jump in on this too. I’m 61, and I’m still fronting an original heavy rock band, the same band I joined in 1982. Were recording a new album and it’s sounding absolutely awesome, very pleased with it, and live were better than ever. My voice is still holding up, and young people who come to see us love the stuff, it’s old school, like their dads listen to, and it goes down pretty well. THAT SAID…….. a month ago, my best pal lost his battle with cancer. He was 59 and an amazing metal guitarist. I helped lower him into the ground to the sound of “Where were you?” By Jeff Beck. In January, my mum died. No great surprise, but still, you know. In February our drummers wife had a heart attack and died for 10 minutes. Somehow, they revived her and she survived, but unfortunately with severe brain damage, so he has his hands full looking after her. The band, keeps him sane. My point. If you’re young and you’re reading this, be all you can be. Take nothing for granted, don’t waste time being miserable, do the things that make you happy, with the people that make you happy, play music, love music, all music, and most of all, KICK ASS. If you’re old and reading this, all of the above also applies to you, x2. F*** getting old.

So, after many weeks of waiting, the black bridge finally arrived from EB in the USA. FINALLY! One added bonus is that Anderton's haven't said anything about returning the old bridge so I am going to hang onto that for now and if I don't hear anything for a few weeks, then I will look to re-claiming some of the ridiculous amount of money the bridge cost me! Just fitted, re-strung and a (very quick so will need further adjustments) setup means this project is finally finished. I'm very pleased with the final outcome and it certainly is now very much a one off in it's own right. the black hardware really adds to the look of the bass IMO and with the black scratchplate and knobs, against the washed open pore polished finish, it really works for me. Like may SR5s it is a bit heavy but I think this one may stick around for a little while now. looking forward to giving it a proper go very soon.

Every time I see him I can't help but think about this picture:

I should probably do a review of the LFSYS Silverstone II as I've been using it for a while now. Needless to say, its revolutionised my gigging experience and afforded me more compliments about how the bass sounds than anything else I've used previously. I just need to work on my actual playing now😉. Shout out to Dave Green @Ashdown for his assistance and wisdom in helping me get a lovely old late 90s Mosfet powered ABM400 fully restored in time for today's gig. It was literally bolted together the day before the gig with no real testing. It worked flawlessly, didn't break a sweat, and sounded immense with the Silverstone II. Bass on the day was my lefty USA Standard Jazz.

Eagles tribute gigs for the last couple of nights. First, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh. It's a gorgeous hall with a lot of history. House PA, extremely good engineer, great lights Best of all, though: 800 people in... on a Thursday night! Hats off to the promoter. Last night was a lovely theatre outside of Whitehaven. A little more cramped, but another very enjoyable night. I used my new (but not new) 1996 MIA Jazz RI, and it's a Bobby Dazzler. Love it. The only downside was the van breaking down as we left Whitehaven. I finally got home just before 5am 😅 💤

This one is primarily, but not exclusively, aimed at those of us who are in the mellow autumn of our years. The partner of our vocalist and band leader had a stroke last week. She’s likely to be in hospital for another few weeks and is likely to need lots of support when she gets home. Consequently, and rightly, we’ve cancelled everything band-wise for the rest of the year. Onwards, we’ll have to see how things go. So, while you are able, do that gig, join that band, buy that bass, climb that mountain. Whatever you want to do, while you can. And, prompted by a recent thread, don’t stick around in that dysfunctional band hoping things will improve.

We love playing at the Crew in Nuneaton (downstairs from Queen's Hall if you're familiar). It's a rock bar and they like it loud, so we properly rocked out. It's a great atmosphere with guitars and posters on the walls and ceiling. Hot again too. It took the Stingish bass again, but have a hankering to fetch out my Sire P7-5 next weekend for a bit of P-bass goodness. It's been a while. A couple of malfunctions: my amp overdrive footswitch needs rewiring, and a riff run that I've messed up two gigs in a row needs practice!

So @Dankologyand I are in a band together. this is our new single. I wrote this after my old band exploded following a gig. The Drummer and Singer decided they wanted to carry on with me and I asked if @Dankology would be interested in sharing guitar and bass duties. The Video was done by us (it’s my Daughter in the video) All recording done by us. this is “Running Home” https://www.facebook.com/share/17SqnCzL55/?mibextid=wwXIfr https://www.instagram.com/lettersheleft? igsh=MXZwY2diNXNja3l4cg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Music is available to buy/stream on all platforms enjoy!

I’ve met Danny a couple of times and chatted a bit online. He’s a really nice lad, a pretty decent player too and his Instagram stuff is funny and at least a change from the stuff that’s normally stuffed down your throat on the daily. He’s easy enough to avoid if it’s not your bag but kudos to him for making a living from all things Bass/BEHS

I'm hoping he'll do a three part series featuring Peter Hook, Melissa Auf der Maur and Nate Mendel. Then we'll really have something to grumble about 😁

If you need a second cab the best advice is to get another one the same as the cab you already have.

You might well think that he talks bollocks, but he certainly is not a 'shite player'!

Bit of an annoying twit

After a few frustrating rehearsals (arrangements unarranged, mistakes and confusions ignored, keys changing hourly etc) last night's rehearsal for Friday's big gig went really well. It all came together and while it wasn't perfect, we were all aware of the little things that need tidying. Our sound engineer was dancing to some of the songs (always a good indicator), there was laughter from the band and cups of tea all round. And we managed to finish early enough to avoid the worst of the amber rain warning. We play the local Crown Court Xmas party on Friday - its a fun gig but knowing there are judges and barristers there (including our singist), and that it's for people he works with and has to maintain a certain reputation with, there is an extra element of pressure.

I think Mr Sapko and myself would have completely different music tastes judging by his playing on clips, but I find the guy funny and love some of his not-so-subtle mickey takes when he lists people and puts another person's photo up. Carry on Danny as far as I am concerned.

I can't think of any reason to avoid Ashdown amps. I haven't really come across one I didn't like that didn't have a usable tone with minimal fiddling of the tone controls. ABM's are a favourite in particular. I've owned and used ABM200's, 300's, 400's, 500's, and 600's. 900's and 1200's are just double 500's and 600's and not really on my radar. I currently use a rack ABM600 and it's superb. I do like the early mosfet powered units and just recently purchased a late 1990's ABM400 from @harrison from this here parish. I've fully restored it and these early mosfet units have a really unique tone while still having that same ABM grunt and presence all ABM's have imho. All I need is an early ABM200 to complete my collection of old school iron and I'll be a very happy bunny. Imho, there's no gig you couldn't play with a good ABM 😁

I wish you the best for your treatment and may you have a quick recovery. I look forward to reading about your future gigs. In the meantime keep us posted on how you are doing.

Electric Soup, 90s and 00s indie classics, hence the yellow bucket hat you can see poking out at the back. No car-crashes, good fun gig. Punters were sat at tables due to where we had to set up in the pub, but we had people dancing at times at the back. The BH800 worked well with the tone prints meaning I didn't have to take 2 extra FX pedals. Shuker 3 -> Getaria wireless -> TC Electronics BH800 -> Orange 4x10 isobaric cab (+ DI from amp into PA for FOH volume control). Footwear, maroon creepers.

I played out at a local pub called the primrose in Leeds last night. It's a night where they put on five bands and so we got a 35 minute set and feels like a Leeds rite of passage . There was an old Peavey bass amp provided but I took along my rumble 500 and I was glad because the sound from the peavey was pretty mushy and muffled. I took my sire V7 because I find that it gives me a nice crisp tone without being quite as in your face as a stingray. The music in our band is funk rock so I need something that this going to sound nice when slapped. I also just got a boss me 90 b on Thursday and so I had set up a load of patches because on one of the songs I switch between a clean sound and an octave pedal and then distortion and then octave and distortion. I had foolishly added a bit of envelope filter to the clean octave sound and when I played it at gig volume it was definitely a bit too much top end. Oops, I'll join the me90b discussion later on the appropriate thread... The first band on were a very tight rock band with a female singer, bassist playing a p with flats very nicely. Our set went pretty well with the usual issues with speeding up when we get excited and the guitarist struggled a bit with his guitar dropping out of tune all the time I think next time we need to get the guitar out of the case in advance so it can get used to the temperature in the room. The PA was a bit muffled though which doesn't really work for the hip hoppy lyrical delivery and my partner said that when I spoke through the microphone she couldn't make out what I was saying so definitely the PA was just not quite right. Shame because we have been practicing three part harmonies for a while and I think they probably got lost in the mush. I also tried a Bluetooth wireless set up my dad lent me and it worked great. The band after us were a four-piece metal act called 6 foot under with a fantastic front man and really talented musicians, in particular the guitarist who had that trait of sounding amazing but looking like he was barely moving his hands. I'm not really into metal at all anymore but I appreciated their musicianship and the show. They even gave out Yorkshire tea bags with their qr code on it! All in all a fun night out, just a shame there weren't that many people out to listen.. I wore my altra lone peak trainers as always.

Our first time playing at the Gate in Hugglescote. It looks like they have entertainment fairly regularly, but not with bands with a drum kit. It was a bit tight, so much so that the drummer sat on the bench instead of his stool and had no room for a floor tom. That made for a few chuckles on the occasions he forgot and hit on thin air 😂 I never find it fun having to move every piece of kit six times while setting up, like a sliding tile puzzle. A bit unusually for a Saturday night pub gig they wanted us to start at 7pm. As we expected it was a little thin on the ground when we started but soon got busier. The Rumble had to go on the bench. I don't normally have it up high like that, so it made for a different experience and I tried not to be too self-conscious being able to hear every little thing. A good night was had. Some dancing. A lot of compliments, and it turns out there were quite a few musos there too. Most importantly my black DMs looked great, having polished them this morning 😂

This afternoons gig with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam covers band was a charity event in Boness that was sold out. We've played this venue many times for charity events, retirements, birthdays and are back again Feb 2026 for a 60th. The guy was at the gig today. Start time was 2pm and we literally had dancers on the floor for the first song and that lasted all the way thru the afternoon. Couldn't have asked for a better audience. When you get a lot of women out for a Saturday afternoon Xmas party they just wanna have fun and they did. The few males that were present also up dancing with everyone on the floor for the last few songs. The new Xmas songs went down a treat and we played well. Had a few hiccups with the PA where it cut out on occasion. Looked like he was running the powered cabs too hard. He decided to leave the subs in the van and just go with his JBL full range cabs. In future we'll always use the subs with them. He notched down the bass and kick drum volumes and i boosted my amp volume to compensate. Still sounded great tho but that solved the issue for the 2nd set. Decided to use my Sandberg MarloweDK for this one as the event was billed as a Xmas event so we went with the tinsel and a more Xmas look. Marlowe sounded excellent thru the Handbox WB-100 and BF212 cab. First time i've used this combination in the Glam band and i was very pleased. Sound guy also commented that it sounded superb out front. Some older ladies wanted to book us for 2027 for a triple birthday party but its a bit too far away to be taking bookings so we asked that they get in touch middle 2026. All in all a good day and home for 7:30pm via the Indian takeaway. Few pics of the stage etc appeared so that's all i have for time being. Dave

That's the best mod-job I've ever seen on a Ricky 4001.

Normally I'd agree there, but...the SP212 isobaric configuration means that while it has two twelves it only has the output of a one twelve. A proper 212 will give the OP what he needs, save the SP212 for those gigs where it's enough on its own.

Warmoth custom neck baseball bat rpofile, ebony board and bound, Allparts bound body curiously relic'd by previous owner.... Dimarzio PAFs, Gotoh Lollipops, Kiogon circuit, LaBella DTs. It sings, first rehearsal in anger tomorrow evening 👍

I would hate to be in a band that did that. But as you have done 6 gigs in not much time, it doesn't seem his availability is that good, so maybe come to some arrangement about which gigs to do, as long as it is all up front.

And now some colouring in >>

A buddy of mine was telling me he didn't like the chunkiness of the beautiful flamed and birdseye maple neck on his Stingray. By chance I have a Stingray with a thinner Status Graphite neck that looks a bit out of place on my honeyburst Stingray, so I offered to switch them. I don't have any photos of the red Stingray before, but I think they both look phenomenal now:

He's apparently making a living from playing bass. It may not be quite the same dream that most of us had when we started out way before social media, but he's still living it. Personally, while I would never actively seek out his (or any other bass influencers) youtube stuff I do usually watch the short clips that pop up in my Instagram feed and he's made me laugh a few times, so good luck to him.

I don’t much like U2 but I admire them for staying together and lasting the course. I saw them in 1980 and 2006 and it was the same lineup. How many bands can say that? In my diary for 1980 i described them as ‘Like Siouxsie and the Banshees, but with a bloke’…😂

You are right, he is everywhere, all over youtube and all over here. If I never saw a video with his face on it again it would still be too soon. While I find it hard to accept the idea of hating someone you don't know, he is someone who could change that feeling for me. Don't know what it is, just absolutely detest videos with the guy.

The first appearance of the phrase on Basschat was 2009, but it was a serious enquiry. Incidentally, the search function is crap when looking for a phrase - it doesn't search for the phrase, which is a fairly fundamental requirement of searching for a phrase.

Best wishes, and I hope it's been caught very early.

I was just about to say exactly the same as @Stub Mandrel. Best wishes with everything and share as much (or as little) as you wish.

Friday lunchtime in a central Bournemouth church. We do it twice a year and share the retiring collection with the venue. Church has a regular audience for the music and we add to it - have had 100 folk before but 65 was just fine given the season. The promoter got up to sing on Mojo Workin’ and we played two encores. One of which debuted Time Is Tight. Love a bit of Booker T… Gear: Flea Jazz (currently in ‘for sale’ section), GK MB200 through Barefaced Two10.

We've had reports in about an individual using multiple accounts approaching buyers in the market place after they've made an enquiry on a thread. The scammer's method is to reach out via PM with some information about the seller (who it's likely he has no actual connection with) then invite further conversations with that friend via email off site. Then, while impersonating the seller via fake email, offer to take a deposit which is never seen again. He seems friendly and has certainly posted on here to give off a friendly and laid back vibe but he is exploiting the trust and goodwill on here. We can't emphasise strongly enough that you don't reply to anyone claiming to know a seller, don't email any email address they provide and for anyone who is thinking about putting deposit down on any item in the market place, please use a form of payment that can be easily reversed. A reminder is below to advice already offered by members 15 years ago to avoid being ripped off. Also, if you are contacted by anyone else in the future with an invitation to continue the conversation via email, please flag it immediately with either myself or woodinblack. Thanks in advance for your help.