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We've done this New Year's Eve Eve gig for a few years now and it's always a sell-out. It's in the small village of Twyford and seems that most of the villagers were there, probably for the excellent buffet! I'm glad I took the day off as we do it all again tonight...

I succumbed to my urge to get a jazz…and negotiated a significant discount from list. It comes with ashtray and pickup cover. I was surprised to find a CoA in the case - i thought that was a custom shop only thing. I haven’t told my band yet but I’m looking forward to their reaction at the next rehearsal whenever that might be….i suspect it’s not black enough for them.

TODAY’s THE DAY FOLKS!! Come get your EARLY NYE PARTY started with us at Precinct - Tap & Table!! Doors open at 3:30 and show starts at 4! It fills up fast and seating is limited so don’t be late!

Ordered some strings yesterday at 10:40 and they were on the doormat in the morning! Fantastic!

And she's arrived. First time using https://www.theguitarstoreonline.co.uk/, can't fault it so far, free next day delivery and 5% off your first order, that'll do nicely. Tonight shall consist of mostly alcohol and a potent mix of pleasure and frustration. Then i'll give the MXR a go.

Or albumen... Oh, wait, that would be Fear of Egg White. As you were...

We’re putting the finishing touches to our newest (9th?) album which we hope to release in the spring. The documentary that has been being produced by a Dutch filmmaker will be released in the spring too. The producer is hoping and expecting us to play several gigs to promote that. Currently I think we only have 2 gigs in the diary (in Italy) and they’re not until October.We have had zero editorial input to the documentary so we have no clue what story they’re telling. They’ve followed us for 3 or 4 years and in that time there hasn’t been any drama, so I really don’t understand their angle. The film will be followed by a double live album which was recorded a couple of years ago in Rotterdam and is being released by the film producer. Despite all this assumed exposure I am fully expecting to be as obscure and penniless in 12 months time as I am today.

I found a good deal on one of these locally and couldn’t resist snapping it up. Love the blue - looks great in person and on camera! It just took a little setting up to get it playing well. Sounds good too but I have a spare G&L MFD P pickup I’ve been itching to get into something.. hmmm 🤔 Apparently these were made with laurel fretboards, but this particular one looks dark and rich unlike a lot of the dried out stuff I see. Would these be considered Classic Vibe tier instruments? Happy New Year to BC!

Hogmanay shenanigans imminent. Going sideways again. Same rig as Saturday.

OK Everyone, I'm going to call it! The winners are: @barkin @prowla @paul_5 @NJE @jimmyb625 @Jono Bolton @Downunderwonder @Maude @TimR The first out awards go to @SumOne and @Quatschmacher, both out on 5th Jan. There are too many interesting purchases to award a winner for that so I won't. Special sneaky award to @Mrbigstuff, who changed his name half way through in order to confuse me. It worked! Over to here now:

Enjoy, happy new year!!!!

If you have nothing against remote digital exams and ebooks, Trinity is offering the "same" 8 grades as ABRSM, at way less. I bought the whole shebang for the 8 grades, including scales, arpeggios, exercises, pieces, sight reading, music theory with workbooks and model answers as well as audio, for £247,01 this year, just to reassess my level for fun and only for myself with my tutor, but without taking the exams as, at 60 years old, these sheets of paper called diplomas are of no use for me and I can already play pieces from grade 8. As a new subscriber, you get 25% off on your first order, and if you buy a bundle, you'll get 50% off on one sight reading book (the cheaper IIRC). Until today at 23:59 there's also a 25% off without being registered. This is what I bought: https://store.trinitycollege.com/collections/piano-exam-pieces-plus-exericses-from-2023-extended-edition/products/all-grades-bundle-piano-exam-pieces-from-2023-extended-edition https://store.trinitycollege.com/collections/piano-exam-support-material/products/sight-reading-piano-initial-grade-1 https://store.trinitycollege.com/collections/piano-exam-support-material/products/sight-reading-piano-grades-3-5 https://store.trinitycollege.com/collections/piano-exam-support-material/products/sight-reading-piano-grades-6-8 https://store.trinitycollege.com/collections/theory-of-music-workbooks The syllabus is free: https://www.trinitycollege.com/resource?id=9166 https://www.trinitycollege.com/qualifications/music/grade-exams/about And here are the fees for all and everything: https://support.trinitycollege.com/support/solutions/articles/202000096448-fees-and-payment-uk-ireland#:~:text=This article provides the official fees and,are outside of the UK and Ireland%2C Worth a check, no?

Classic rock radio stations who play "all the classic hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's" All of those stations have around a dozen songs they play on repeat and all of them have the same dozen songs. There are hundreds of songs they could play that fit their description but nope, they're all playing that same dozen songs over and over again only broken up by adverts for funeral plans, over 60's cruises and incontinence pants because they know their listeners aren't young.

Early in the chain. Some like before comp, but I prefer it after the comp. It throws a more consistent/even input signal to the synth, which can help the synth's pitch detection and sound generation track better and less glitchy. I also get longer note sustain before it glitches out especially the Thrillinganes green preset 1. Sample here:

Thank you for running it this year.

Basses already on order don't count

I'm in. I'm really hoping I have time to make a headless travel bass with an additional Roland Hex pickup system this year. The design has been in my head for ages, so with a bit of luck I'll go out when I buy the headless bits 😁

It's now December 31st. I might order a bass in a minute, as a year without buying anything music related just doesn't feel right. My left eye keeps twitching and I've developed stammer. 😁

Bass bins obvs. 😄

If I'm not mistaken it's a LaFey Remington Steele with a stainless steel fingerboard. Vigier have made fretless basses with metal fingerboards too.

I visited the Gibson Garage in London yesterday after touring Denmark Street. I have been to the garage a few times before so I knew not to expect to see many basses — there were probably about half a dozen on display. I ended up buying a beautiful cherry 'inspired by gibson custom' epiphone firebird and couple of t-shirts, and the branded pleckies that are offered when trying an instrument are a cool touch. I didn't want the hassle of lugging the huge firebird hard case back home on the tube & bus, so it will be delivered on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. (when the missus will be back at work.)

And their incontinence pads don't work!

I need to learn to add more interest to my bass parts. When we're jamming ideas in the rehearsal room, I keep it simple and solid and tell myself ill add to it later but then never get around to it. I need to be a bit more lively on stage as well.

Happy New year, everyone!

It's that time of year again, the slate is wiped clean and it's time to pledge to abstain from the capitalist consumption of bass gear (or any music gear at all, if you're going hardcore). I would like to thank @Richard R for his sterling work during 2025, and for these well crafted rules which I will be copying wholesale The RULES Tier 1 Challenge During the calendar year of 2026 (01/01/26 00:00 - 31/12/26 23:59:59): - No bass gear purchases/trades whatsoever, be that amps, pedals, basses, accessories. Tier 2 challenge (should you play other instruments, engage in music production etc) - As above, but extended to your other musical gear Allowances in both tiers: - Consumables such as Strings (sticks, skins, reeds, batteries etc) Buying a set of new strings that happen to be attached to a bass is out. - Maintenance/setups that only involve work on existing aspects of your bass (ie no purchasing a preamp to add to it) - Breakages. If something breaks through no unusual intervention of your own, and is unable to be repaired, you may replace it. - Already committed purchases. If you have purchased something in 2025, you are able to take delivery of it within 2026. If you have put down a deposit on something before committing to this, which then requires a final payment within 2026, that single payment permitted. - Genuinely unsolicited presents, which you had no involvement in choosing. (So going out with your partner to play a bunch of bases, choosing one, and then them buying it for you would be a fail. But we would all applaud and cheer you and your partner and want to know what you got and why!) - Educational purchases, ie tutorial books, lessons, anything that furthers your playing is permitted. Buying a proper usb sound card so your on-line lessons work better would probably be OK. Buying one because you might have on-line lessons but haven’t boked any is definitely out. (A bit like the cops overlooking you speeding to take your wife to hospital to give birth, but they wouldn’t overlook you speeding to a date where you might get her pregnant!) Amendments: Without setting precedent for future years: 1.Normal cables are allowed this year, even if they aren't replacing breakages. (Wireless or any non-conventtional systems aren't) 2.Purchases made with music-store specific loyalty points are allowed. We could get tighter with the definition, but let's just allow if for now. (But I couldn't use the Amazon points I am racking up on work travel and hotels to buy a set of machine heads) 3.Asking for gift vouchers for a present then spending them on gear is still a fail when you spend them. Straps, plectrums and sundries are still OK. Grey areas: - PA equipment has been a Tier 2 fail, but if it’s for a band you don’t play in but do sound for then we can probably argue it’s OK. - There used to be a convention that things not in the signal path didn’t count. So straps, stands and the like were allowed. I'm cool with that - what do others think? - Parts for bitsas I think are out. MOST IMPORTANTLY This is a bit of fun. The idea is just to make us think "Do I really need it?" before buying something, and to maybe focus on playing more than purchasing. Nobody will get punished for buying another Fender, or even a Ric, it's your time and money to do what you wish with. So see how long you last, enjoy seeing how far you and others get, and let's try to keep the economy flatlined for as long as possible. The runners and riders will appear here: @tauzero - T1 fail - 23/01/2026 - M-Vave Blackbox @TimR - T1 fail - 12/02/2026 - as yet unknown bass @Maude - T1 fail - 12/02/2026 - Rivolta Duocata @paul_5 - T2 fail - "first week of 2026" - Chocolate MIDI controller pedal @SimonK - T2 fail - 11/01/2026 - Swiff IEMs @TrevorR - T2 fail - 10/02/2026 - Behringer in-line belt pack @neepheid @Suburban Man @knirirr @Machines @Richard R @Mrbigstuff @Merton @bass_dinger @Quatschmacher @BassAgent @Geek99 @Chienmortbb @barkin @Velarian @Downunderwonder @Mokl @Jean-Luc Pickguard @Franticsmurf @lozkerr @msb @FiFoFum @fergs40 @Mudpup @Grooverjr @Shockwave @ezbass @Stub Mandrel @Chadu25 @Si600 @Soraa @Lozz196 @Obrienp

In other news the new orange amp is very good. Gigging on silent stage with IEM so relying on anagram for a convincing amp tone and this is nailing it, probably my favourite model in here now

I thought I was ready to take part in this thread but my wife announced today I have permission to buy another Wilcock bass 😂

Horrible dirty basses. The others are cowering under the bed, hiding in the wardrobe.

They were excellent pickups, looking forward to having some basses for reviews and demos very soon. I can also recommend the Aguilar 4P-60 which I have installed in a Fender Mex Standard P which I use on Queen tribute shows, voiced quite differently to the Monty's pickups but just a different flavour - different pickups work well in different basses, there is no 'one size fits all' solution with pickups.

It indeed does. 😉 Here's a tune I recorded with it a few years ago in one take: https://tonybertrand.bandcamp.com/track/i-wish-i-was-swiss

He’s not done well as PM…couldn’t you have developed him a bit more?

In a world record for me, no basses for 4 months. Although this is since getting my Dingwall ABZ and it being the epitome of perfection. I guarantee I am at my limit, however will enter 2026 with this mindset, for a limited time.

I'd like to see if I can manage this coming year without multiple tier 2 fails again.

Next year's thread appearing soon...

You mistook it for a guitar?

I quite enjoy hearing new things or techniques. I like to pick out little bits and try to learn them. Would never use in a band situation but it makes playing a little bit more fun. I have seen CB playing in bands on Youtube clips and playing "normal" by his standard. He is a very talented guy who is able to adapt to whatever the band wants or needs. I'm guessing he now makes a small fortune from his vids. Also like Dave504 as he's just a nut job that plays bass but its funny. Not so keen on the other guy Danny Sapko. He can play pretty well but i just find his personality a bit irritating. Dave

I’m going to find the magic talent tree

I find that when we come to record the songs I'll often simplify down my bass lines as some of the runs and fills get in the way of the vocals which after all are the most important thing to the average listener.

Don't lie... you're clearly breeding those mechanical spider things from War Of The Worlds and this is a baby one that accidentally got photographed in the reflection of your mirrored scratch plate. This is exactly the reason why I don’t have mirrored scratch plates.

I’d like to get our duo a wider variety of gigs. Stuff that’s a bit different from our regular bread and butter venues, not that they’re lacking at all - I’ve done 95 gigs this year which is way more than I envisaged when I stopped touring with the tribute band in 2024. We have an enquiry for a gig in Stockholm for later in the year which hopefully will come off, so that would be nice. I’d like to play more places like breweries / beer festivals, village halls, arts centres and maybe even small theatres. I think I should be looking at sorting out some better publicity, maybe even a showreel which seems to be the done thing these days. We don’t push ourselves enough sometimes, so would be interesting to see the results if we did.

@Gizmo I just mailed fair deal to enquire. For the price, the construction looks rather good and the finish options look good.

This ☝️ I think a lot of people have bought it because they get all gassed up by the YouTube videos, but then realise they don’t have any particular need for it in a live setting. Tracking wise I found that it wasn’t as good as I thought Ian Allison made it look and said it was but I don’t blame him for that - he was pretty transparent, his technique for it is just flawless. The tracking is still good, but you do have to play a certain way. For simplicity and having the main sounds a gigging cover/wedding/function band bassist is likely to need at your fingertips the MXR absolutely kills it, that was a very astute piece of design/marketing. People don’t necessarily understand filters and square waves etc and so find the C4 and FI overwhelming, I don’t think it’s necessarily that the MXR is better than either of them (I’ve never had an FI to comment - the FI sounds top drawer in the examples @Quatschmacher posted up earlier in the thread) but the C4’s editor certainly baffled me and I ended up getting rid fairly quickly as I just needed a couple of tones for certain tunes and had neither the time nor the inclination to bother to work it all out. The MXR is set & forget if you want it to be, and that suits the majority I think

No I had a pie barm.