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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

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.

@Mike Brooks was joined by Matt Gleason of Monty's at the South East Bass Bash last month and we had a demo of Monty's bass pickups. The P Retrowind was a stand out and one of the nicest P pickups many of us have heard. They are just gorgeous, UK made and although they're not cheap, as soon as we heard it you knew it was special. https://www.montysguitars.com/collections/bass-pickups/products/retro-wind-p-bass-pickup I know @cetera @NancyJohnson and too many others to mention were there but I came away decided that the next P pickup I was going to buy would be one of those. And that is coming from someone who is a dyed-in-the-wool Toltec pickups fanboy. Toltec would be an excellent alternative. Either ay you're getting a UK handcrafted product with excellent support from a small friendly business run and owned by their GenX founders.

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

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

Ovacandidaphobia?

I failed on December 30th

Just received a Alpha omega clone by DSfx, excellent build quality inside n out. The other black pedals ... DOD carcosa,green russian (blend n diode selection) , Darkglass vintage and a Keeley delay clone. Should be a new Boss xs-1 on there that my wife bought me for Xmas, after one day it wasn't working right (now on back order 😒).

For your Peavey's use BassBros. Going through a retailer, it will be easier and quicker, but you'll take a significant knock on the money you'll get.

Charles B inspired me that learning bass would be fun, also highlighting in his videos just how easy it really is, so I bought a bass and started playing it. Wasn't long before I could play all four parts of any arrangement at once as well.

I'm starting to realise more why Piano is sometimes seen as being a bit posh as to formally learn isn't cheap (and compared with Bass it feels like an instrument that does need formal tuition). Or at least ABRSM certainly know how to extract ££ from students! I'm already upto about grade 2 or 3 level so have been looking at the course books to do some practise before I have my first lesson in 35 years. If I were to get all of the Grade 3 books: Exam Pieces (contains nine of them, can also pay for additional ones on the syllabus) Scales and Arpeggios Specimen Sight-reading Discovering Music Theory Workbook Discovering Music Theory Answer Book Music Theory in Practice (practice exam papers) ...these are short books (e.g. 'exam pieces' is 16 pages) but they cost about £12 each new. It'd be helpful if ABRSM just put them all into one book per Grade rather than extract maximum £ from students. Probably not all are really needed, but most are - and not only are there lots of them, they've made it so buying second-hand isn't ideal. I've bought a couple on eBay and then found that: second hand workbooks have all been written on (have returned twice for replacements and they are still marked-up) so you ideally need a new one. the syllabus changes often so at least with the exam pieces you need to get the newest version. the 'Music Theory in Practice' and 'Music Theory' workbooks don't give you the answers, so you either need to assume you are right or try to look stuff up online or buy the answer books. So per-grade that is upto about £70 of course books, but that is actually a relatively small part of the overall cost as can add + £50 Theory exam + £80 Practical exam = approx £200 total.....and that's before paying for the main cost which is lessons that are approx. £30 per lesson weekly = about £1,500 per year. If it takes roughly a year per grade then it's approx £1,700 per grade all-in, for me to pass grades 3, 4, 5 one per year is perhaps £5k total over 3 years (Grade 5 is probably where I'd stop, at least with theory). Anyone that casually mentions 'I did upto grade 8 piano when I was young' (as a friend recently mentioned - and he has barely played since) potentially had parents spend >£13k on it. On the other hand, it is less elitist now as the days of needing a big house with an expensive piano are gone (I have quite a decent home piano keyboard that cost less than £300), and there are loads of free online lessons and piano books from second hand shops so it doesn't necesserily need to cost a lot to learn. However, after 35 years of playing without lessons I haven't really progressed so it does seem that Piano is an instrument that really benefits from some formal tuition and learning structure (as opposed to Bass for instance: I bet if you ask good piano players how many had years of formal tuition and passed grade exams the % would be much higher than if you ask decent Bass players on this forum the same question).

I was away over Christmas and then spent a particularly long time on another 12 minute Dave Holland Big Band tune. Should be up tonight. Thanks for your patience.

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

Get back out on the Edinburgh riot grrrl scene with my new band. The last one folded back in the summer, due to g-word issues. That upset me more than it should have, as we were making a bit of a name for ourselves. But shit happens and there's no point in crying over spilt milk. Plus brush up on keys, get to grips properly with Reaper and <whisper> try to become a little better than utterly useless on the g****r. Just in case it's needed,you understand 🙂

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.

Setup for 80s covers band gigs in pubs to big halls (400). 2 recent gigs with it and it performed as well as expected (better than me 😂). My first big board and I'm pleased that the effort to route into a patchbay at the back helps operationally (19" audio rack panel with d-series cutouts, am waiting on the TRS module, hence the temp solution). Only two effects pedals! 😆. The rest is wireless bass receiver and IEM transmitter, battery, headphone amp and tuner. It can be totally wireless without the XLR FOH feeds (bass out, band IEM in) when I use a pair of low latency 5.8GHz instrument dongles to reach my amp. The pedal switcher has triggers that I use to control the presets on the MB301.