Leaderboard

My birthday and Christmas fall within three days of each other and I was gifted this Retrovibe by the fam as a joint present for both events after me seeing it in Bolton and commenting on it to Mrs ead (not by any means as a hint; as a few of you know I'm selling my basses these days due to arthritis). Having been in touch with David it seems it was one of 8 made in this colour around 10 years ago. Absolutely immaculate although the pickups are apparently not the original fit items, so I will probs restore the right ones if I can find some. Interestingly it's a 33.25" scale and has the push pull on the bridge tome control.

Here is mine ... Eberhard meinel ❤️

I had this on an Alpher bass:

I got a strap with pictures of Fred and Sybil on it ❤️

I’ve been pretty much coasting along in comparison to many in this thread. I did meet up with a bunch of old mates from the 80s that I hadn’t seen for years and sadly one is now in a wheelchair with MS. I already knew this but actually seeing him like this wasn’t that pleasant. One of the others was due to have stent fitted but refused the op as apparently he could suffer a stroke (he’s already had 2). Oh for those days in the 80s when we were all young and seemingly indestructible.

Thanks for all the responses. To answer the various questions: I don't know if it's the right foot switch for the amp - it came with the amp, but it was an estate sale so there's room for error The problem seems limited to the foot switches, it works fine when I just use the front panel switches None of the switches seem to be latching, they are just momentary Our best guess is that as @Sparky Mark says, the foot switches need some switch cleaner and a bit of use In other news, I had a friend stay over Christmas and she's an electronics engineer, so we took the amp apart to look at the front panel illumination. Inside the amp: Confirmation of the age: It turns out it didn't need great electronics skill. The front panel is connected to this board, and there is a 2-pin connector on the board (yellow ellipses) which comes directly from the mains transformer (yellow arrow). So the panel AND its drive circuit have been disconnected all this time! I had worried that maybe the panel was disconnected but the driver had still been live and was possibly damaged. I re-plugged the connector, and voila! Mmmm! While we had the case open, I took a photo of the power supply capacitors. There's a bit of 100Hz hum on the speakers and we're suspecting dried out capacitors. There's a bit of work to do to remove them though.

Music related? F**k yeah!

Possible bass Christmas present. Had a surprise "Merry Christmas" message from a guitar player friend, first one in forever 😀 Mentioned a close friend, who we lost back in 99, and that he'd got his hands on our mate's bass 😎 Said he thinks it's only right that Hammy's bass should go to me 🙂 Arrangements for hand over to be made in the New Year.

Please add a ‘w’ to Newtownards - I’m from Northern Ireland, not Scotland…;-)

Its Showcase time ... or at least copy someone else time, as December is traditionally the challenge of presenting a cover, a new one specifically recorded, or any that had been recorded this year. A faithful attempt at the original, a minimalist approach or a radical re-imagining but based on another song or tune. here are the entries showing their... ...Factor Have a listen and vote for your favourite 3 1 @Al Nico A pop/disco track transformed into a future rave disco remix, 2 @SH73 This month a short one, Napalm Death cover You Suffer. All instruments and vocals played, recorded, mixed etc by me. It's the shortest song ever, Napalm Death is famous for. 3 @Leonard Smalls I've had a go at DAF's AntiFascist anthem, Der Mussolini.... Featuring my very best German vocal! 4 @Jean-Luc Pickguard Here's my cover of Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On" written by Sonny Bono before he formed U2. 5 @upside downer I've done a cover of 1-2-5 by the Canadian garage rock band The Haunted, which was a number 23 smash in the Canadian charts back in 1966 6 @lurksalot Happy Chrimbo guys this is fairly short , but maybe, for some, not short enough 7 @MoonBassAlpha Listen to Girls Talk Dave Edmunds Cover 8 @skankdelvar A Happy Christmas to you all. A great bit of fun this year , some brilliant ideas well done all let's have 3 votes each, voting will end at midnight on 31st december Happy Christmas

Quite pleased with my new amp from Mrs UD.

My friend is a knowledgeable amp tech She explained it to me (though I've since been to Google to make sure I get it right here)... The 50Hz AC mains is rectified, converting it into a series of positive DC pulses, and the capacitors smooth the pulses into a steady DC voltage. If the capacitor isn't working properly, the ripples aren't fully smoothed and you can hear a ripple frequency in the speakers. But because it's between the peaks of the rectified wave the frequency has been doubled to 100Hz. I found this drawing which sort of shows the frequency doubling...

I tidy cales away using the 'figure of eight' method; I finish by lifting it up from each side (left and right...), and put a Velcro band around it to keep it as a loop. No tangles, no twists. Works with all types of cables, and garden hoses. Hope this helps.

Normal crappy Jazz scratchplate but more decorative control plate.

That reminds me, I bought a TE Elf head a while ago to take to gigs as a backup to my Ashdown ABM, but I haven’t seen it for some time. I must try to remember where I put it. Younger me would never have believed that it would be possible to lose a gigable bass head.

Only thing music related was a DVD of the Bob Marley film One Love. Which is excellent btw.

This '77 beastie dropped down the chimney.

Does anyone need something to do over the holiday period? Well here is your chance , as the December challenge is now at the voting stage we have the opportunity to commence for January. After a tie between @Al Nico @Leonard Smalls and @Chiliwailer I did a quick first past the post photo challenge this morning and the winner was.... Mr smalls , who has contributed the following to get your lips around ... "Tis a Raasay cask strength..." RULES ... ✅ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and the deadline. ❌ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ❌ Bagpipes, really! it maybe a wee dram on show , but be careful out there. ❌ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you.. Deadline-wise, we will keep the theme going and aim for breakfast time on Burns Night 25th January A line or two of blurb as usual for the vote thread will be grand. enjoy.

My take on 'elf on the shelf'... I sold my Orange Crush 25B this week and replaced it with this Elf 110 combo 😁

My signature sound is to play everything slightly out of tune and out of time.

Yes. Yes, I do.

#1 daughter is quite artistic. That 'thing' freaks me out a bit 😳.

That shorty TT has me twitching……

That's good information; no disrespect intended towards your friend. I recently replaced some swollen but still working capacitors in a 1980s NAD amplifier because I could see they were damaged. The good news is that new capacitor technology has moved on and you should be able to find replacements in smaller packages.

Hi there actually I have no idea. There is facebook sites dedicated to tribut acts, they probably advertise on there Probably start following a few bands online and maybe message them that you would be interested if the opportunity came up I joined U2 Tribe after a support slot with The Policed in Southend. I saw their bassist had announced his departure and so I contacted their singer Job was mine immediately as they had already seen me and loved my bass sound

I got the MXR Bass Synth! Chuffed!

Possibly. Peavey are marketing it as a pro amp (complete with extremely expensive speaker cabs with built-in “road cases”), with the much less powerful Elf as the consumer-level version. They need something in between, but I’m not sure they’re selling the numbers of the TE-1200 to make the business case for it. Also, Peavey’s distribution in the UK is pretty bad these days. It used to be that literally every music shop in the UK had a big pile of Peavey gear, and every rehearsal room had a TKO or TNT combo in the corner next to the drums. Not any more. They’re not nearly as ubiquitous as they used to be. Peavey has never been cool, but it’s always been solid, reliable (if a bit vanilla-sounding) gear that will still be in full working order for the cockroaches to play through after a nuclear war! I love mine - it’s got a “weight” to it that most Class D heads don’t have. It doesn’t sound like a Class D, it sounds much closer to a proper old Trace with a big toroidal transformer. I have a few small-ish issues with it, but it’s never given me any problems and I hope Peavey continue to do good things with the brand - it’s got a legacy that it needs to live up to.

Go wireless, problem solved.

Only had first hand experience with the L2500, but I would pick it any day of the week and twice on Sundays over any J bass. Why? Well, the purely personal answer is that I despise J basses. MFD pickups sound amazing. If you *really* want a single coil sound from the L2500, you can mod it to provide that with inner or outer coils by changing one selector switch. The G&L bridge is fabulous, apart from the saddle lock feature, it has lovely rounded edges which make it a joy for palm muting at the bridge - no sticky out bits anywhere. I love Sire basses (I've owned two - had a D5, still have a Z7), it'll be a fine bass, but the V is a J bass and so as far as I'm concerned, it can get in the bin.

We played a gig the Sunday before Christmas; the keys player was hobbling around with an arthritic ankle and foot (6 months ago he had an operation to fuse the joints and went into anaphylactic shock and all but died on the operating table, caused by the anaesthetic, and they couldn't operate!!), the drummer brought his nephew to set up the kit, because he'd strained his lower back and couldn't bend down, the guitarist is a cancer survivor, currently OK and I've a bad back and arthritic hip which meant I sat on a stool for the gig! In the last year I've lost a band leader to fatal stroke, another will probably never gig again due to several doses of double pneumonia, lost dozens of gigs due to 2 band leaders having hip replacement surgery, and 1 band leader taking time off to be with his sick wife! Getting old is more than tough, it's an Fing PIA.

Having owned both this active Affinty 5 string and Sire 5 strings in the past I would say the string spacing on both brands are pretty much identical.

Getting older is tough. There seems to be more losses than gains. I feel for you all as we too have lost nearest to us this year My wife found her brother in may, Brain Hemorrhage 56 years old a close friend had a botched heart op and died suddenly another close friend has bone cancer it never stops I told my wife she had to retire, she's 62 and was a customs officer for over 40 years I hope to retire in the next 2 to 3 years and hope 2026 is quieter My love to you all

oops, sorry. I’ve already started on it, obviously…..

Excellent Len, but please take that 'e' out of 'whisky' - it's from Skye, not Newtonards.

Well done Skank, IBTL!!

I've done quite a few high level amateur theatre productions. The exact arrangements have varied from show to show, but the most common setup is that the MD is positioned so that they can see the stage and see what's going on. The cast can also obviously see the MD too, and there's usually also a large TV screen somewhere visible from the stage so that everyone on stage can easily see the MD. The band normally have in ears, and each person gets a mini mixer so they can configure their own mix as they want. The MD normally has a talkback mic so that they can let the band know when the cue is coming up. In general, the tunes are played as written, but there will often be vamp sections which are open repeats to cover stuff happening on stage which might take longer than expected. These are agreed with the band during the band call/dress rehearsal. Sometimes there's click tracks too - if stuff goes wrong while there's a click track happening things can get... interesting!

Remember that "settings at noon" is everything but flat. This is true with nearly every amp. For some reason people believe that the "noon" setting is really flat. You need to explore the possibilities as well as the limits of your amp by turning the pots bravely to their limits. BEWARE: you may find new and interesting sounds from your machine.

Sorry to hear so many people have been having a hard time. Take the time you need to be kind to yourselves and work through it. Not a vintage year here either tbh. My brother was diagnosed with stage 4 sarcoma, my mother in law had two strokes and most recently pneumonia. These are tough times when you’ve got relatives in the later part of their lives and trying to cope with the complexities of that. As others here have said, help is available if you need it. A lot of places offer low-cost or “pay what you can” counselling services, and organisations like Andy’s Man Club offer a supportive place to talk without the expectations of formal counselling sessions. https://andysmanclub.co.uk Take care of yourselves and here’s to better times ahead.

I got a new wallet. Which will never have any money in it as long as I play bass. There. That’s bass related.

Santa brought me some Pino Palladino Signature Smoothie Flats, I might have to buy another bass now to put them on 😁

Shaped, sanded, black grain filler and first coat of Liberon Finishing Oil.

I used to do panto every year. The set up varied but the md ( on piano) and drummer could see the stage. I was underneath to their right. Other musicians on the opposite side of drummer and md or sat with their backs to the stage. The songs and musical interludes were set pieces so any deviation from the script was in between and so didn't affect the band. We all had a cue sheet with our music and you learned when things were coming during the band call ( rehearsal for band only ) and usually the technical rehearsal held on the same day. The songs came thick and fast so generally you just kept your eye on the md. View from the stage looking out. Id be under the stage to the left. View from inside the pit.

Broadband duly restored, even if the wiring for it has all but been condemned (full fibre to be investigated), and now I have recovered from opening the case, here is my new Overwater headless Progress. Feels completely at home in my hands and is a joy to play. Martin nailed the neck profile I wanted and I do love a headless bass. Thanks to Martin Lee, Chris May and everyone else involved in the building of this marvellous instrument. We will be very happy together for a long time. Three piece ash body Three piece maple neck Lined ebony fingerboard Hipshot tuner/bridge John East Overwater preamp

I'd be tempted to (as above) fill the chips with something clear, lightly key the current finish and spray with translucent black nitro. You'd still see the grain and save yourself a lot of time and swears. Easy to diy, just wait for the temperature outside to pick up again.

What a fantastic bargain for someone! Always had a soft spot for the Lexus amps and cabs. - I can honestly say that pretty much every band I've seen this year (roughly around 40 gigs, mostly in the UK) have used 'big rigs', regardless of venue size. Most being small to medium. None of them have used IEMs. National bands have all had roadies. I use a 'big rig' (well 2 at a time if I'm honest, 2x amps and 4x 15's) for one of my bands regardless of venue size. They are alway mic'd as the amps don't have DI outs. The FOH sound is always near identical to the sound coming from my cabs. To summarise, in my experience, big rigs are most certainly not out of date...