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I've been very quiet on here recently, for various reasons, but the main one is that I've been building, and learning to run a music venue! I run a recording studio, and my mate runs rehearsal rooms, all from one building in Stoke. We've built up a decent reputation over the years. There was one bit of the building we didn't have, and that was a garage, but last year the mechanic upped and left, and the landlord offered it to us. We spent countless hours turning a dirty old garage into a spanking new venue and I'm super proud of it. Please check it out if you're looking for live music in Stoke or The Midlands, and obviously get in touch if you'd like to play! www.rifffactory.co.uk https://www.instagram.com/rifffactoryuk/ The bar: Opening week: The garage:

NBD was actually Sunday, but I won't tell if you don't. I've been a dyed-in-the-wool Precision devotee for quite a few years, having found that they just work for me. But slowly the worm has turned... My Dingwall journey led me along the path Super P > D-Roc > NG-2, which obviously opened up non-P possibilities. I tried a friend's Jazz (American Standard?) and thought, 'I like this!' Then I found a 2001 MIM J at an auction, loved it, but was outbid. I was pretty disappointed. Finally I came across this Flea Jazz being sold by our own @Mickeyboro, tried it, loved it, brought it home, loved it even more. If I'd been a good boy I'd have shifted my D-Roc first, but clearly I'm not - no presents for me, but that's fine, I'll just sit and play this. It does what I hoped a Jazz would do - a different and spankier voice but still with authority behind the notes, a comfortable playing experience, and a sound that makes you think, 'Ooh, that's like a record I've heard'. Going between this and my original '73 Precision, the Flea Jazz feels old like the '73, not least because it has nicely rolled fingerboard edges. I've spent some time tweaking it to my preferences - neck relief, action, Monty's Instrument Food, and a replaced intonation screw (disclosed prior to purchase) and have been having altogether too much fun going through my Steely Dan transcriptions. I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to gig it, but there may well be a 70s covers rehearsal in January, for which this would work a treat!

Well due to injury, and therefore necessity, I have succumbed and bought a shorty. I have no idea how much movement I will get back in my shoulder but for now I can reach the 3rd fret pf a 34” bass. Back of a cornflake packer calculation says 30” scale length is ideal so off I went a-hunting. I did no want to spend an awful lot, I am already £250 down on a U Bass so It was an Affinity, HB, or Hartwood. I did not get on with the Affinity ‘Tang, the HB has been showing 1-2 weeks for about a month and now showed a bit longer so a Hartwood Delta finally showed up. So far I am delighted. Feet work is some of the best that I have ever seen and there are lots of little touches that please. Machine Heads -Smooth and precise Control Knobs- Not the push on, splined type but held on with grub screws. Body-Flawless, at least on first look. Action- Higher than I like but playable out of the box. Frets- I do my own fretwork and these are wonderful, the best fret ends on a bass or guitar I have had in 60 years. Screws-Pick-guard and control cavity screws sit well down. They are domed but sit well into the countersink. Nut-Could go lower but I will not be touching it for now. Criticisms? The neck has what look like ran drops in the finish. However you cannot feel it under your hand, The pick-up selector switch is not straight up and dos but angled. Oddly when playing it seems more natural then if it were more like a Les Paul. The switch may be the first thing I change thought as cheap ones fail quickly IMHO. Bridge- BBOT. However That does not matter to me, It is a well proven design and it works. Strings - Shiny and bright but may have more finger noise than I like.

Ahhh, Dobbies...one of those dinosaur venues with a power-mad Conc.Sec. and everything*...you can get a reaction out of the crowd, but with pliers and gritted teeth. For the majority who don't know the place but will know many similar (still), there's total silence** for the bingo but they talk through your first set unless (metaphorically) grabbed by the collar, and the general vibe from the management is 'Why can't you be Matt Munroe? I liked him.' Last time we were there I gave Herr Conc. Sec. the hairdryer because as soon as we'd finished some fool on their side hit the smoke machine onstage about eight or ten times as we were packing down, it was four feet deep and you literally couldn't see the floor, I nearly walked off the edge. I lost 75% of my sheet, went to his table and gave him a bollocking, he tried to laugh it off till I pointed out if someone did fall on (or worse, off) the stage he'd be hearing from lawyers (and I'd taken pictures) about breaching H&S, and he shut up. We haven't heard back from them, but to be honest it's no loss. * Where you're referred to as 'The Turn'... ** The sort of silence only encountered in the bleak chill of deep space or Northern Club Bingo sessions, it's uncanny, unnerving and something I think CERN should have a look at...

It’s ready! Shipping today apparently, so we’ll see if it arrives before Christmas 🤞 Si

oh dear, poor old Basschat, the future isn’t looking bright …😂

Ahhhh...the complexities and beauty of club land in the North. I'd say we do about 70% of our gigs in WMCs now though the differential in 'pay' between them and pubs is not what it was. Unfortunately there are still a number of the 'bingo comes first' outfits, and I still scratch my head at why they pay out for a band....though a sizable number are now opting to cheaper solo/duo backing track jobs to cut down costs. While these can be a disappointing gig they have their moments, though Gladis and Wilf rushing off a quarter into the last spot to catch the last bus can be unnerving - I've never understood the rigid set times that put us on too late when this is a factor. These sort of places seem to be dying on their arses with closures every week and implosions of the committees due to finances/reducing footfall. Conversely some WMCs are still thriving, do less or no bingo type activity and concentrate on good entertainment. We love these places and try and support as best we can.

Here's an example of a club that does it right. One thing they do is allow promoters to puit on gigs in 'the Hall'. In the last few months we've had Focus and Curved Air (not tributes). I've got five gigs there across three bands next year. It's a brilliant place to play.

Good to know that there may be little smell. I also looked at speaker grills and spent a long time thinking through how to print one in four pieces and join it together using superglue, a special jig and all sorts of hard work until a rare bout of common sense broke out. Previously people had mentioned using an 18" speaker grill and cutting it down. I've just checked the sizes for this against the 8" speaker cab and of course when you lay it out, they were right and I was surprised (and wrong). The dashed straight lines show the inside of the 8" speaker cab, the large dashed circle is the cutaway for the Fane speaker and the small dashed circle is the port. The large solid circle is an 18" speaker grille and the smaller solid circle is a 300mm speaker grille. So the 18" speaker grille is pretty much a perfect fit, though it will need cutting down and flattening, though I can't see that being a major issue with a rubber hammer, a Dremel and a decent cutting wheel (or rather a few of them). For circa £10 per grille, this is a very cheap way to get a grille plus an hour or so of cutting. The other option is a small bit of rectangular hardboard with two large circles cut out with some speaker cloth which still might look nice. This is the speaker lightly sanded with some filler and the corners checked for fit. These will actually be glued on with "No Nail" rather than screwed. A little more sanding just to tidy up the front. You can just about see the t-nuts inside on the back for holding the Warwick Gnome on using slider rails. There are the same fittings on the top so the Warwick can be on the top or the back. There are holes on the side for grab handles. I don't use a strap for picking it up as I wanted the Warwick to have the option of top mounting as well as back mounting. Not sure I can paint it until I have worked out the speaker grille and how to fit it so I can easily take it on and off. I'm tending to think I mask off the corner piece areas before the Aracab goes on but would welcome thoughts.

We finally got a Jive Deluxe to see what the hub bub was all about.

I've always thought that the Sunday afternoon / teatime gigs made a lot of sense, even before I reached a 'certain age'! I remember doing a few places back in the 80s, playing to bikers on a Sunday teatime, and it always made sense, then as it does now. A punter can go out and have a few beers, see a band and still get to bed home at a reasonable time to get up for work on Monday morning. From a muso's point of view, a two hour drive home at eight o'clock is better than driving home at midnight, especially for semi-pros who have work the next morning.

Ashdown put the Capri on the hot wash and shrunk it a bit. 23" scale now https://ashdownmusic.com/collections/basses-22/products/roasted-capri-23

Get an observatory, you lot - this is the cab design thread! 😉

Nobody mentioned it, but the Leslie cabinet is mandatory for a true Hammond B3 sound. 😉

Incredibly, yesterday I called up Bass Direct and they assured me they had some in stock, I ordered one and it just arrived today as promised. Colour me impressed! Thomann still can't guarantee a delivery date after having been paid for the pedal two months ago - they just agreed to process the refund. Now to get to grips with the pedal!

It takes some experimenting, but I've done just that. I built thus scope, Including the focuser, around an ED lens cell. Won a silver medal for it

As @Bill Fitzmaurice has said I did a blind shootout of six speakers ranging from 6" to 15" at a couple of bass bashes this year. All eq's flat and diven at the same volume by identical PA amps so no tone shaping taking place. Even when I told them what they were listening too people couldn't reliably list them from smallest to largest. The favourite was an 8" cab which a number of BassChatters are now building but all had some admirers. If I did the same next year with different drivers I'm pretty sure the favourite would be a different cab. After the demo I had the 15 out so I used it at a couple of rehearsals, with a TE Elf it sounded great but not special, with a Warwick Gnome it sounded special. Neither amp is flat (and we've measured them) and the speaker certainly isn't flat but the Eminence Deltalite 15 suits the Warwick Gnome and the high efficiency of the Deltalite and limited top end suit the Gnome. I am a scientist and can use measuremnts to understand what is going on but using your ears is still the only test that really matters. We all percieve sound differently so personal taste is what matters in the end and if you are enjoying your sound you will play more and ultimately better. It just isn't the 15'ness of the speaker that's doing it

We played a club near Bolton for the fourth time. The Concert Sec there lives in the 1960's and puts some real clunge on. He's been ignoring my whatsapp messages about next year. He came up to me before went on and tauntingly reminded me that I had gone up to him and shown him a fake Rickenbacker the last time we played. I had two with me that night, plus a P Bass. He wouldn't have it that the Ric I brought last time was real. It was a 2002 4003FG and it was on my stand. He very grudgingly admitted it was real. We always get told what a breath of fresh air we are when we play there. We went on played our two spots, went down like heroes with a 1.05 second spot with dancers throughout. When he came to pay us at the end, I reminded him that he hadn't responded to my Whatsapp messages and laughingly said that I thought he'd died. He told us that though he really likes us we aren't right for the club. Some people left. Like they do when it's cold and dark out and not far off Christmas, etc.. I remined polite and cheerful, as we aren't short of work. Instead of losing my sheet, I just said, we will go down far better than some of the acts you've booked up to June next year. You should've seen his face. Permanent worry-lines forming. He was beyond horrified and demanded to know which ones would frighten their punters and clear the place. I was too much of a gentleman to tell him.

That would bother me.

Here's another one, with Jimmy Smith playing one of my favourite basslines. It's a bit long ("if it's 3 minutes long, it ain't really jazz" etc.) but around 5 minutes in is particularly good.

Skywatcher 66ED cell. ZWO guider on one of my home-made bitsa guidescopes. The cooler is an online design that uses a copper plate slipped between the sensor and the next circuit board. I 3D printed a cover to help insulate it and support the peltier, heatsink and fan. Quite tricky to get right as you have to make a heater from resistance wire to go around the sensor to stop condensation and get the right balance of cooling and warming! Camerea also has the IR/UV filters stripped out. Made a huge difference, but then I got a big cooled mono ZWO and a filter wheel. Sadly, not got up to much since 2021. I think this one is with the ED66. After this, I'd better shut up and let the thread get back to speaker cabs!

The wonderful Reese Wynans - Ron Levy - with some great 6 string bass from Jimmie Vaughn

Yep. Check out Barbara Dennerlein, too. Amazing bass pedal work.

Veeeeery nice! Congrats! I'm still very very happy with both my USA JOs. They balance, playability and sound are INSANE. I always get compliments on my sound when I bring one of them.

When EQ'd for the same frequency response you cannot tell the driver size. You can have a dozen drivers of the same size with a dozen different frequency responses. When cabs have the same cone displacement, be it from one larger driver or more than one smaller drivers, they have the same maximum output. The only factor that's attributable to cone size alone is the dispersion angle, it grows narrower as the cone grows larger. Even that can be tweaked, and for that matter a pair of tens placed horizontal will have narrower dispersion than a single eighteen. In the end one factor, be it cone size or any of the more than a dozen factors that sum to give the end result, doesn't determine said result. It's that sum total.

Personally I couldn't live with that.

Yep, probably best to wait for another production run. Or head to a shop

Frankly I’d get a different bass, pretty clear the QC on this model is poor

It would bother me, irrespective of how well it played and good it sounded, I’d have to send it back.

I watched a video of her once, and got increasingly annoyed with the camera angles - not once did they show the brilliant and sensitive Double Bass player. About five minutes in, I realised that the bassist was her left foot... Truly awesome playing. The Cat. Seems to be something of a standard, and often covered by YouTubers.

The devil on my shoulder is telling me to post something about how a good 12" speaker really helps bring out the difference the flamed maple cap is making to my core tone...

It's a bit like how I LOVE the treble/bite/zing of a bridge Telecaster pickup, but in my old band, the other guitarist wasn't keen at all. The frequencies did not gel with him, whereas I knew it was overly aggressive in the treble but liked it for that reason. I did what every person should do, if it works in the mix, carry on.

obne sunlight stereo and beetronics phaser are new and brought the pickle back

Chester Thompson - As well as his Tower of Power and Santana days, he has been on the road with his own bands and trios: And I was going to mention his solo @14:00 on this live TOP gig, when Rocco drops out, leaving Chester and the Pedals. But all the shenanigans are good!!

Even after it's been explained, people are still saying they prefer something which has no bearing on the sound. . . . a speaker size!!!

And with added whammy clavinet...

Why do we still think that the size of the driver cone is the most important factor in describing a cab? Every cab will sound different, I've owned cabs with the same driver configuration but completely different sounds. Not surprising when you consider that just about everything else to do with the cab - size, construction, driver specifications other than the cone diameters - was completely different. If I was still using backline the diameter of the driver would be the least important factor in choosing a cab.

I ran sound at free festivals in my 20's. Turnarounds averaged 15mins but were very band dependant. You never knew what you were getting but the pro's were always easiest to work with. Steve Winwood turrned up with Traffic refused to go on stage 1 because of the sound and wandered across to our stage listened to the band I was mixing and asked to come on. Are you kidding me! . A total gentleman, no fuss: "I'll play and you make it sound as good as you can" The easiest band I ever had to mix for. They knew what they were doing, the onstage sound was great and all I really had to do was make it loud out front. They even said "thanks" at the end. Sometimes it isn't the sound guy.

It's always a potential issue. I recommended a drummer for the last UK tour of Greg Douglass, the Steve Miller guitarist. The day before the tour started, he confessed he couldn't play one of the drum parts. We got through it, but I felt terrible that his last trip here was not what it should have been.

And don't forget the two jazz masters of the B3, Jimmy Smith and Rhoda Scott!

James Taylor Quartet

The Paisley Jazz Bass is going to Rob Harris (guitarist from Jamiroquai) in the first week after New Year.

What we've found as a similar type of show is that Sunday afternoons are a great time for people of a certain age. Weve now played a few well attended Sun afternoon gigs and it suits everyone from the band to the audience. Dave

Have a search for "Orgel vreten"

If any of them are on the Mu:zines wanted list they will be more than grateful to receive them.