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Not last night, actually sunday. We had a gig at a pub in a local beauty spot (which considering I live in Yeovil, there aren't too many!), it was the day at the end of all the holidays. It was going to be a pain to get in. Turned up just after the singer so followed them in round a corner and parked by the building, as well as we could. Had to carry everything through a door that people were insisting of standing in the way of, but it was their party so couldn't be too annoyed at them. There was a tiny width of stage, and there were already a load of guitars there as apparently there was going to be a couple of people playing at our half time. We had to move the stuff as there wasn't enough room in general! Anyway, we started and people were dancing from the start and they moved all the tables out of the room which was good. Did the first hour or so ending with whole lotta love that we haven't done for a while. Then we had a break and a lot of food from the party, while the public event of what appeared to be people singing to a backing track with a guitar went on for half an hour. Not sure why there were two guitars and a bass though! Anyway we went back on and it went well, very interactive crowd, although towards the end of the night they started tailing off as the party had been going since much earlier, and the snow was making people think they should get going. Was much easier loading again though due to the lack of people and tables, but there was a fair bit of snow. This beauty spot is the top of the hill, I was going to go the normal way down the hill, but the drummer said I should go the other way, through the villages, which isn't steep because of the weather, I didn't think it was really necessary, but driving out of the car park after the singer, on a very gentle slope the car antilock hammered. The singer was going the other way so I followed, it was a very slow journey home considering how short it is, but got there! Heres my corner, nice and cosy. This was actually 8pm and completely dark but the camera decided to just lighten it up. Thats the road. Just before load in Just before we started.

Anyone with a BB434M who wants to swap their maple neck to a rosewood one? I'm SW19 (London) based but can travel a bit and meet halfway. Looking to do this to my project bass. The modding continues. Will then change to lollipop tuners for aesthetics and add a clear ramp. Highly inspired by Vincen Garcia's custom. So I'm going the route where this Yammy is what I'll call mine. Love the Sonic blue and similar finishes so much as it's my fave colour. Current one My plan(quick mockup using chatgpt)

If there is enough interest and willingness to commit to paying the full price of the Cheddon hall hire maybe we could group together to run the event to take the strain of Mike and his team? It is a great venue which would be hard to beat on price and facilities?

A mere 6.30- 10, and a 10 minute drive home with no excuse for a food stop on the way for me last night. I was rehearsing with 'The Bartenders' - a scratch band playing on the 17th. They're guys I've depped with before but the music is mostly stuff I don't listen to regularly so I'm still picking up the little details. After a few years of relaxed social gathering style rehearsals with the Hulla, these sessions are more focussed, harder work and they leave me feeling tired. But I also feel a great sense of achievement and as I have mentioned in the past, it's revitalised my playing and my self confidence. It mostly went well apart from my faux pas in getting the key of one of the songs completely wrong. I even managed some decent backing vocals.

Definitely 2 of them... Since selling my 1994 Blue TRB6 as a poor mature jazz student to someone on this site in the mid-2000s (that subsequently sold it on a few times and unable to trace), I still massively regret it to this day. I bought it from Chappells in Milton Keynes as a 16 year old after working and saving for a long time. Every so often I look for it, but I've accepted it's likely locked away in it's case somewhere but hope it's being enjoyed by a young bass player somewhere. However after this one came up at Bass Bros I knew I had to try it. I've had many basses over the years but none have ever felt so natural to play. Maybe 10 years of formative learning on an instrument is ingrained in me. So this one was same year albeit different colour. Still, in immaculate condition. Think it was Cairobill's? Although it seems to be like buses...a Black 96 TRB6 also came available. Tbh I wish I could keep both but reality is after losing job last year (FU tech industry) I recently also had to shift my KS Burl Burner which in any other circumstance I'd still have. But man, I got 3 kids to feed... So going to play both for a bit and decide which one stays and which one goes... To this day I'm convinced there is no better value for money and sounding 6 string that these OG Japanese Yamaha's.

Hey gang For a while now I've been on the hunt for a J to use on my Eagles tribute gig. I picked this up a few days ago, and - ever-wary that you don't quite know what a bass really sounds like until you've gigged it - after a couple of shows I've happily torn the plastic film off the pickguard. It's absolutely lovely. Light, resonant, even across the neck, and sits perfectly in the mix. A nice smooth top, with a lovely growl when you slide and dig in. Happy days.

I started up an 80s band some time ago. We are still "forming" finding the right songs and so forth but it's feeling good. So I wanted an 80s bass and having sold off three basses at the end of last year I was feeling good and came across an Ibanez Musician from 1980, fully original. Struck a deal and it was delivered yesterday by the owner and used last night at band practice. First impressions: chunkier neck than I'm used to but not unmanageable. Weight is ok and a decent strap. Lots of knobs! These are a bit excessive I think: vol vol tone, three way pup selector, active/ passive switch, bass, mid, treble... So for ease of use it's both pups on full then using the active to find the sound. I played through an Ampeg head and Trace cab with the EQ relatively flat. This bass cuts through the mix! Gorgeous consistency all over the neck in terms of tone and volume, lovely for high fills, really nice sound for finger pops that I can't seem to get with other basses. So far I'm chuffed. Terrible photo, but I've been too busy playing it to just admire it.

Not sure if I should even post this here... It might offend some people so I've hidden this below. If you are easily offended, then don't look. You can't say you haven't been warned

Not any more! The postage from the USA for the new badge was brutal, but this rig is all about the look of it, so it had to be done! In other news, our emigration plans have moved up a gear. I don't have time to fix the foot switch and I'll not really need it - so it's available here for postage:

Hello Kiwi, Haha, yes I do have Chinese connections, my wife is originally from China (Tangshan) I believe Ashley did the graphite stuff after I left (which was sometime in 1984 I think). The pickups were almost certainly Kent Armstrong but potted in black epoxy moulded from an original Ebony pickup cover Ashley carved himself. I seem to remember the actual ebony pickup covers on very early models) were problematic (resonance problems) which was solved by the epoxy. You may notice the impression of the grain of the original ebony former in the moulded pickup covers. Unless it has been replaced since, the 3 band you mention was actually a 4 band with both lower mid and upper mid filters controlled by one dual-gang log/antilog potentiometer. It was a bit experimental in those days but Ashley seem to like it. I am sure there are vastly better active units available these days. Here is is a pic of my fretless ...

Exclusive at Andertons No idea how limited 'limited' is. There's also a few guitars in the same finish, it looks like the Jazz is the only bass offering. https://www.andertons.co.uk/fender-player-ii-jazz-bass-guitar-lavender-haze/

But then we’d only have old vintage instruments to lust after. Yep, fair point 🤣

I reckon everyone should chill out and stop making new stuff for a bit

Ive got just the right suit to match if you wanted to borrow it 😁

Thanks, I hate it.

I certainly am Hopefully that far in the future Mrs Woodinblack will be better and capable of doing the vegan food and the heart thing will be fixed in some way

I'd be happy to chip in a higher fee for the day, and bring some veggie munchies. My catering skills are superb, witness the DoI Page 4,000 Walnut Cake.

We're opening up for Epithemus' album launch on the 7th of February, so that should be fun! https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/exchange/sat-7-feb-epimetheus-140572#e140572

Yeah I will be there ( Vintage Bass Room ) with @AndyTravis and a plethora of basses and amps/merch. Don't be put off by The Guitar Show, they are contained to downstairs while the cool bass cats have the upstairs to themselves, completely widdle-free! Its a very cool couple of days and plenty of Bass stuff, Bass Direct, Ashdown, Spector, Dingwall... As soon as I have a confirmed list of who's exhibiting I will pop it on here. Come by and say hello if you're coming

5-8 in Barry (actually sneaked out 15 minutes early) with Fractured Persona then drive to Newport and 8:30-11 with Bluesfire. Back via McDs for a MacPlant and home after 12. Remind me... I do this for pleasure, right?

SnotGlo.

Genz NX212 or Neox212 cabs pop up occasionally around your budget. That's what I would go for I think

Finally got the top coat on and the other bits attached to the speaker. It's basically finished. As it's really a deep black, there's not a lot of detail that can be seen on camera. The Gnome goes on the top or at the back You can see the rails here for front and back with the grab handles Here's the grill attached It definitely has a chunky Lego or kids toy vibe to it That's one down, I need to mull on the lessons learnt and then do Cabinet #2. Rob

I don't think Fender have produced quite enough minimally different variations of the Precision and Jazz basses yet, so I think they need to get on that

Think it’s tail end of Feb I’ll be there with Walshy. we do it every year, like a bass version of brokeback mountain

The Sapele body, wenge neck P bass is nearly finished. Just some knobs and strap lock buttons. This one has fought me all the way with neck shims, poly finish sagas, drilling through the headstock and accidental knocks. It sounds amazing though with Tonerider Precision Plus pickups and a Bloodstone Guitarworks solderless loom. Tuners are USA Hipshot Ultralites and a Gotoh bridge. I tried a custom headstock shape on this one. It will be sold as a player grade instrument due to the flaws but OMG does it play like a dream! I am tempted to keep it as the neck feels so lovely.

Is the one near Birmingham gonna be on this year? March/April time...?

You got the Jools gig?

It's a bit flat... a pearl finish would have been snazzier. Ultimately it's always going to be second-best to burgundy mist metallic though 🤩 Didn't they try mixed-magnet pickups a few years back? And people said that they sounded much better if you took them out and rotated them 180 degrees 😆

OK, so let's see if we can make this work on the basis that everyone pays more and brings their own food. Just checked that the hall is still available on Sunday 11 October and put a provisional hold on it. However, we will need at least 20 Basschatters to commit by paying £15 a head well in advance. This will also more than cover the continuous provision of hot drinks. If the attendance is higher on the day then we can just divide the cash surplus and give everyone a cash refund before close of play. Alternatively, the balance could be donated to a pre-agreed charity. Over to you 🙂

Well, after taking on board what everyone’s said on here & having another think, I’ve decided that I’m gonna save a bit more & invest in a Linn LP12. I’ll likely buy from a shop such as HiFihub.co.uk They have a good selection around £1500 and being a shop, I feel like I have some sort of reassurance that it’s going to be in good working order (they give them a full service).

Ditto and ditto. Food-wise maybe we could do a bring-&-share? Richard mentioned sandwiches and Geek mentioned a giant Costco cake, and I know Costco also do trays of wraps and things, and I'd be quite happy to make some stuff to bring. Obviously I couldn't hope to make anything as utterly brilliant as The Crumble

As many others have already said, look for a GenzBenx Neox212 or NX212. A Barefaced beater and fantastic sounding. Can't go wrong.

I still have my mini rig which is kicking out about 150w but I'm going to upgrade the speakers in the TC Electronics 208 so it become 4 ohms and can handle about 400w. Its a well known upgrade, will only cost £100 and that way I can use all 280w of the Warwick Gnome iPro

It sounds very good. Lots of midrange tone and very loud. I suspect I need to spend some time with it to work out the sound I like the best. Rob

Electrik Soup 90s and 00s indie classics. The Beehive, Brentford, that London. Saturday 10th January. Beehive Poster.pdf

Is that any worse though, than the sound of multiple cutlery drawers being flung down a stone stair well which is the default noise produced at bass shows?

I second that emotion!

It would be interesting to actually know how many people voted for each song, considering there's 'thousands of YOU, our esteemed listeners' voting; also one person, one vote? Even if 10,000 people were remotely bothered enough to vote, potentially some of the tunes here would be getting single digit votes. Also, by observation, there's an awful lot of ballads and questionable song choices there, too. That Tenacious D scores higher than Black Hole Sun, Seven Seas of Rhye, Little Wing etc. is quite telling how absolute pants these lists are.

@Richard R if I make it, I will bring Costco cake, theirs are so large that they have their own postcode