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Thursday night at The Fox Town Annex in Mequon. I thought we were sloppy. It hasn't been announced but I think our drummer dumped us. He's turned down 8 summer bookings. Great drummer and singer but apparently isn't into us. I was really good about chatting at tables with the punters. I had put a few scripts together that worked very well. Good crowd and a lot of dancing. I guess people are easy to please. I'm starting to question the direction of the band. But where could I find another money making band at 72 years old? Daryl

This is my 1980 Wal Pro 2E, it had been sat in its case for the last god knows how many years in need of a good going over. The pots were knackered, the jack socket was shot to bits, it was basically unusable but I had other working basses and so it wasn't a priority. Eventually I came to my senses and gave it to Paul at Electric Wood to do his magic. I was expecting it to take ages, which I was fine with, but he turned it around in only a couple of months and then apologised for taking so long . He ended up doing a whole list of other stuff that I hadn't realised needed doing, but to his credit he stuck to his original quote. And oh my god, it sounds incredible -- I'd forgotten just how good. It'll be coming with me to the various Bashes this year, so you can see for yourself. And it'll be getting its first gig for at least 20 years at the end of this month, at a dementia research benefit with the ska band.

https://www.aurokcomposites.com/ I'd be grateful for a fresh set of eyes, so if any of you would like to pick holes in it over the weekend, feel more than welcome. It's taken 3 months for me to put the site together after some intense reflection on what to offer and how to offer it. I find it easy to lose track of small details like wording consistency, or a lack of clarity on specification after my nose has been up against the glass for so long. Basically I've standardised products based on what we've been asked for in the four batches made so far. For example, no demand for wooden fingerboards (which surprised me as I really like how they tame fret noise) and no block inlays, so we aren't going to offer them as part of the standard spec. Also, because we're low volume, I can tend to each order personally so no need for a complicated ordering system...yet. (I'll have to look at scaling production capacity and embedding QC before that becomes feasible.) On Sunday evening, I'll email an update to subscribers and post on Facebook. Cheers!

Unless it goes somewhere you’re really not comfortable with, or interferes with your life in general I’d say stick with it Daryl, as you say you’re getting pretty regular paid gigs which always seem to be decent from your posts on here.

Right… update time. Ziricote / sapele body now oil-sanded to 2500 grit and I may have accidentally summoned a small woodland spirit. The ziricote has gone full “brooding Victorian villain”, dark and dramatic, while the sapele is glowing like it’s just been told it’s the favourite child. The carve is doing that hologram thing where it moves every time you tilt it. I’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time just rotating it under the light whispering “oof”. Edges are basically glass now. If this gets any smoother it’ll need a warning label. No stain, no funny business – just oil, patience, and far too much staring at it. Hard wax oil going on next to lock it in and give it that silky satin feel without killing the depth. If this one doesn’t sound good, at least it can sit in the corner looking expensive and judging everyone. MGCS – Made to Play, Built to Last.

Daryl Thanks dclaassen I need the money so I think hanging in there is the best option. Daryl

I’m not that far behind you age wise Daryl, and left a very successful band a couple of years ago. I now play mainly in a duo with one of my best friends, and am still enjoying doing gigs, which happen to pay well. If this was to end, I think I’d struggle to find anything similar, so would probably do the dep thing if I wanted to continue playing live. I don’t rely on the gigging I currently do, but it would leave me worse off financially if it folded, so I understand your dilemma. I’d stick with it if I were you, whilst maybe looking around for something to fall back on should things not work out.

Good on you sir! Enjoy! Got my pro 2e back from Paul about a month ago, it had been de fretted but i wanted put back to original. He’s da man alrighty! and a thoroughly nice one at that! X😊

Last week I ordered a Vintage V51 in 2 tone sunburst (for my Police tribute) But this turned up They've made an error at the factory and a few of these have snuck through. Shame, it's actually nice but no good to me

I'm won't jump ship yet Stub. I do think it would be nice to investigate dep opportunities. Thanks Stub Daryl

I think you meant... That's neat....

I wasn't trying to hijack a thread, I gave a quick post with my experience and people kept asking me questions! I didn't blame Dave, he did what he could I think, its just important to understand they can't help with everything rather than just have blanket praise that they are always amazing. If you want to ignore my experience that fine, I don't mind. Maybe I think its more to do with the fact that some modern amps, while lightweight and small, just aren't as fixable as older ones, which is why I don't own or want one. Also do they have to provide such good service as they break down more than other brands? I really don't know, and I don't think it would be possible to find out with any accuracy, so it would be unfair to assume that. Its great they give good service but I'd rather have an amp that never breaks down personally. (btw the sex panther ref was awesome, made me smile!)

I’d stick with it Daryl but start looking for other opportunities and/or deps. Seems you’re still getting regular work with the current gig so go with the flow.

If was after something to double on gigs with my upright bass. In order to quickly put down the upright and pick up the electric bass it needed to be lightweight and shortscale. The band is all acoustic (through PA) so I wanted it to look right as well. I saw Eastwood selling Rivolta guitars on their website and they were making twelve of these Duocata basses and it ticked all the boxes. I do like the look of Rickenbackers and love a florentine cut. These basses have checkerboard binding and more than a hint of Rickenbacker about them, the soundclips were good so I ordered one. It was a gamble as I'd never heard of Rivolta before but it paid off, this little bass is fantastic. So well made, so playable and sounds great. Simple, single PU, volume and tone but there's so much variation in tone with playing position. I'm really fussy but I really can't fault this bass, well I can but it's three really minor things that most people would never notice, or let bother them. The volume control is a touch on the on/off side, there is a tiny bit of plastic swarf on the inner lower edge of the 'f' hole binding, and the biggest bug is that the scratchplate isn't perfectly aligned to the strings. Told you I was fussy. All easily sorted though. The woods, the grain and the colour is lovely. The neck is a three piece with two more strips on the headstock, like a Rickenbacker albeit they're all the same wood. I don't know what tuners they are but they feel solid and stable. Nor do I know what pickup it is but it sounds great. The binding everywhere is perfect, you cannot feel any edges, the frets are nicely finished, paint is perfect, just a really well made bass. They're made in Indonesia then sent to Rivolta in Nashville where they set them up and QC them, it arrive still in tune really nicely set up. Anyway, enough waffle, pictures 😁.

Looks good so far. Only thing I'd recommend is to help people build trust with you would be a bit more personalisation on the 'about' page. A picture of you with one of the necks, maybe a bit about you having moved to China and so forth helps people realise where you're coming from and the face behind the business. You wouldn't want UK/US/EU customers being put off (wrongly) because they see it's a Chinese company and become wary for whatever reason. It would also be great to see more of the process, workshop, materials etc. In time, testimonials and warranty/support info would be reassuring, too

Beautiful bass! 👌 Far to good to be sitting around unused, @Rich Glad to hear Paul's done such a good job on it too... Under Wal himself, and Pete the Fish, 'Wal' customer service was always outstanding over the years, and Paul has maintained that tradition for sure.

It's very playable, I haven't put it down all week. I was going to put flats on straight away but I'm liking the growl with the stock rounds (D'Addarios). Definitely not just an oldskool wannabe. Go Nigel go! 😁

My 'band' consists of a drummer and me. I swing between bass and guitar, but tonight was guitar. I have no pride and no skill. As a laugh we decided to do one of my original songs as if sung by Lemmy in Motorhead. I was using a Laney LC15R valve amp with a Strat, brought from this very parish from @kwmlondon. As Kim lives London and I live North Yorkshire, I only managed to pick it up at Xmas and due to other commitments, tonight was the first time it got used in anger. Bloody hell, for 15W it's loud, it's very loud. Its my first and only valve amp and I still don't understand why a tiny 15W valve amp should be so, so loud. Not just loud, it sounded really good as well. We wound the gain up, wound the volume, I did my best to channel Lemmy and play and sing at the same time whilst Bev the drummer was laughing so hard, she couldn't play. We did a second even faster run where we tried to combine The Ramones and Motorhead and it was a wonderful joyous experience. It's been a utterly sh1tty week at work with issue after issue and escalation after escalation, so putting it all behind me for 90 mins of manic singing (badly) and playing at stupid volumes was great therapy. Now I can't speak as my voice has gone and I still have lines in my fingers from playing so fast and hard, but it was worth it. We've decided we're going to do it at the rather staid open mic sessions in either Settle or Sedbergh. I suspect they'll kick us out but it will be fun. Rob

50 years old

Mine - TC Electronic Spark Booster. Full size. (Acutally it was free because I got an Amazon voucher for Christmas!)

I've recently spent a load of money on things that were just no fun at all. A new combi-boiler yesterday, car insurance the same day, and today I was off to the dentist to have a molar removed after it was damaged whilst I was getting a wisdom tooth taken out last year. I decided to spend some money on myself other than just paying these 'cost of living' charges. Well, I have been saying for a long time that I wanted a fretted jazz bass and the Flea signature model always intrigued me. I'm not a RHCP fan but the spec always sounded like the sort of thing I would enjoy and have a lot of use for. Bass Bros to the rescue. Let's hope it's as good as it looks! I bought a fretless CIJ jazz from them in October 2024 which I play all the time, so it'll be nice to have a fretted model to sit next to it.

Thanks Pete, The lack of a good drummer concerns me, but should I be worried about something out of my control at my age ? Maybe I'll stick with it. Maybe I'm overreacting to the bad gig last night. Daryl

It’s metal, but not as we know it…..

Thanks Martthebass, I'm going to go with the flow. Daryl

It’s not that modern lightweight amps aren’t fixable, it’s because you don’t have the necessary skills, experience and knowledge to do so. That’s been pretty clear in both your comments ant then your follow-up attitude. You will first need to understand how it works before understanding why it doesn’t work. Then you can fix the part(s) that are responsible for the problem. Does the fan work outside the amp on its nominal working voltage? Is there a proportional control circuit involved? Is it normal for the fan not to run until a specific threshold temperature? Does the fan start running when the temperature of a specific area or component rises above a threshold? Have you identified that there even is a real problem rather than an assumed problem? These are all questions that need to be answered before a QUALIFIED service tech begins a repair.

Nice example but I had to double take on the price. It’s probably a bit more than I’d expect for a 3tsb 66.

Sometimes, it works out well for the viewers. "We are at the Iranian embassy..." But generally, I agree that it is pointless to film cars skidding on a snowy road, or watch ministers entering 10 Downing Street.

Mud_Tiger_Feet_Live_TOTP_1974.mp4

Are we really doing this 😂

The Real Thing by Faith No More. I haven't listened to it in years and forgot just what a masterpiece it is. One of the all time great rock record, id put it up there with Led Zeppelins best. Billy Gould deserves more recognition as a great bassist.

Yep 100% agree with you Lozz. Dave

Nothing is better than Leopard skin print. Just so you know.

I'd be looking but don't jump unless you are sure. Maybe just go on Facebook and look for bands needing a regular dep.

That's boss-level help from @Richard R - first tells me that I have a T2 fail by precedent (fair enough). And then shares a link to an excellent magazine on Raspberry Pi project, with an article on building a Yamaha DX7 clone based on a Raspberry Pi ("Fail again, fail better..."). My package from Kitronik arrives between 9:17 and 10:17 today. Until then (and until @neepheid arrives to pronounce my failure), I consider myself innocent....

Good rehearsal last night, first time going through Won’t Get Fooled Again and we got further with it than expected. Have decided I’m going to start using my amp though, the studios amps are ok but it’s a different amp each week which takes me a while to get the sound where I want it.

There is also a difference between single driver and multi-driver cabinets because the 4 ohm version of a driver is usually a little less efficient than the 8 ohm version. Usually the difference is roughly a dB or so but sometimes it can be as much as 3 or 4dB which means that the 8 ohm driver is now louder than the 4 ohm driver. In multi-driver cabinets, it depends on the impedance of the individual driver rather than the grouping.

Well, I now find myself in the weird position of being the conductor of a decent town brass band and I take the rehearsals on Wednesday evenings... Main things I'm working on are improving dynamics to make greater differentiation between pp and ff, plus some articulation issues. There's a lot of gigs coming up over the summer.

It's got a lot of Ricky Capri vibe going on hasn't it. Also reminds of the Shaftsbury bass that looked very Rickenbacker.

Getting these basses refurbished looks like money very well-spent to me. These are unique-sounding vintage basses that are irreplaceable. Wal can't make them anymore because of the proprietary parts needed and nothing on the market sounds like them. The nearest you'll get is another Wal.

And here’s the full fat version!