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I feel I just have to share, the excitement is growíng So, after 20 long months of waiting my Wal MK1 is finished and soon to be on the way. Update photo from Paul.

I normally don’t post these but today is a bit different. Oh yes, Moog phatness! @CameronJ, @Al Krow, @GisserD, @lee650, @Bo0tsy, @tonyxtiger

I have both and they’re both well worth the money. Get The Meters one too, thank me later.

This is where my GAS is directed:

Attended audition, passed audition. Didn't mention it in case I didnt get it! Very chuffed to get this one!

Just a two word review...

I’ve lived in Scotland for 20 years; when should I expect the rainy season to end?

Chuck’s the bassist on this track:

My band has been struggling to break into local venues and we played two gigs last year. By chance we got ourselves an agent (our guitard met her when seeing a band she represented at a local pub). We played a gig last week (arranged by her) where she saw us for the first time, and we now have eight gigs lined up so far this year. Although she is taking a small cut, she is arranging a fee that incudes her payment so there is no downside for us at all. Result!

You have to teach yourself. The 'learning how' is quite simple: notes, note values, accidentals, key signatures and rhythm. Could teach it in a couple of sessions. Learning to actually DO it is just sitting at home in a room banging away for years!.

Okay, okay so plenty of head shaking from the experts and the knowledgeable, but I just discovered Chuck Rainey. I'm learning Rock Steady by Aretha for an audition and have steadily fallen in love with the extraordinarily splendid bass line. So I do a little research and discover that I probably haven't just discovered him as he has played on so much. I have actually been listening to him for quite some time, notably with King Curtis. I just didn't know who he was. The riff to the song is a joyous thing, rhythmically perfect, and perfectly repetitive with some little unexpected flashes. He then breaks into a few bars of pure inspiration before settling back onto the groove. Yum. It's beautiful. A little more research and I find he played with Steely Dan who were of course one of Bruce Thomas favourite bands and Bruce has always been my biggest influence. So there we go. Anyone familiar with Chuck's work who'd care to point me at other of his gems would render me eternally grateful.

Not sure if this link will work, but... http://www.markbass.it/media/upload_area/2018/01/18/cat_news2018_web.pdf

Yes, I know. Here we go again. There is, however, a point to this. I have been trying to work on getting a wider musical perspective recently as I am finding that my composing is suffering from a significant lack of useful and effective knowledge of harmony. I also play a lot nowadays with people who are a lot better than me and I am trying to 'catch up' as it were. I know the basics but I was finding that most of my tunes were following a very narrow pattern in terms of harmony and I wanted to find some other places to go. I also find my solos on gigs are clumsy and full of clinkers. In an effort to address these shortcomings, and knowing that there is no such thing as a quick fix, I have spent a lot more time playing guitar recently and, more to the point of the thread, learning to read treble clef so that I can look at music which is fully formed instead of just bass lines. I have been at this for a few months now, using a few 'how to read guitar music' books and, intermittently, dipping into transcriptions by people like Pat Metheny, Al DiMeola and Ralph Towner (books of transcriptions that are, for me, quite challenging). As a result of this, I am seeing a considerable improvement in my guitar playing, my knowledge of the fretboard and the ways in which these master musicians put their tunes together. This concerted study has resulted in improvements in playing and understanding that I have not seen since I was able to practice more consistently when I was a kid (I am 54). I cannot sight read treble clef yet and my reading is still slow but I am beginning to find that I can find my way around pieces much more quickly than I used to without the hassle of playing things back and forth on a transcribe software interface. My technique is improving as well which is entirely a peripheral and unlooked for benefit. I have said this before on here; for me, reading the dots is not about sight-reading on gigs. I need that occasionally but not often. For me, it is about being able to access vast quantities of study material quickly and effectively and learning to be a better more rounded musician.

Looks a bit like a Rick

My guitarist has one. Ideal for sound checking. I think you'd need to invest in some decent rechargeable batteries. He hasn't had a single drop out though and no interference either. I'm going to switch too.

Aaah, the subject of a lot of speculation over the years. Highfox, the answer, from the very man himself.... 'Tony Swain'.....Not sure from what article it came from (my son found it recently - He was transcribing the track). "There has been much speculation about this subject but as I also played and recorded the bass lines it is time to put the record straight! The Bass was played using an early Roland SH1000 made in the late 70's This was originally designed to sit on top of a Hammond organ so it looked like one! This was a monophonic synth but would play two octaves at once so using a combination of square and sine waves an octave apart combined with a lot of wrestling with a portamento switch to get the slides this is how the bass lines were done. No sequencer was used at all on the bass lines just a lot of sweat and keeping time which was helped by me also being a drummer! The synth was recorded through a Boss chorus guitar pedal (blue type) and then compressed a lot through a studio DBX160 a really great vintage compressor.The bass was very high in the mix but cut through because of the compression and the split octaves.Just an illusion bass was the best of two different lines recorded over two days on Analogue 24tk before digital came in. I hope this finally answers the question. All the Best Tony"

Tips I've learned... Micromesh used dry doesn't lift lacquer (got the T-shirt too!), but keep wiping it on a monofibre cloth to avoid clogging Press ferrules in with a soldering iron. This softens the lacquer and avoids cracking. However don't hold it on for too long or the lacquer will boil (another T-shirt!) Nitrocellulouse is quite forgiving if you need to fix a dint. Spray into the cap and then paint it on with a very fine brush to build up the level, then flatten it back with the micromesh (T-shirt #3) Nice job btw!

I prefer the black pickguard but whatever suits your taste better? I’m no expert but what I did with a Nitro finish is do lots of very light coats to build up the opaqueness of the colour not try to completely cover it in a couple of coats then do the same with the clear coat (I had problems with Nitro so now I use acrylic cellulose car paint as I seem to be able to get a better finish buts that’s probably just down to poor technique) From your photos I didn’t notice the crazing or the imperfections so just make sure people can’t look at it too closely As for the logo watch out for the Logo Police that operate in this area!!!!!! You will be run out of town with pitchforks!!!!!!

Looks really nice!!! Great job!!

Alternate opinion, they remind me of what we used to say about the F4 Phantom : Put in a big enough engine and you can make anything fly. If the OP wanted to go to the trouble he could have the EVM-15B that's been hanging from a nail in my workshop for the last 12 years. That's how long it's been since it was worth my lugging it around.

What a beaut, congrats John

You b*tard!

Joined a ska band

If you are only doing it up to sell then it probably isn't profitable to do much but no harm in getting a quote for a re-cone. Old drivers turn up on ebay from time to time so if you are in no rush then keep looking and an old EV may come up. Or try and sell your old working drivers to someone who has holed their other speakers but has a working 15. There's always a market for old drivers for people who love their vintage gear. If the driver is working you can repair. layer up tissue paper and latex adhesive (Copydex) over the tear as if it is a fibreglass repair on an old rusty car. you might get away with an old Peavey Black Widow as a cheap replacement, it'll be roughly right in a cab of that size, not ideal but I don't suppose the old EV was either. Used they go for £30-40 on ebay

I thought an OBBM cable had failed (yes, I know). Sent it back to Dave and he could find nothing wrong with it - turns out the problem lay elsewhere. Very embarrassing (for me). Got the cable back after Dave inspected it and he had replaced the original Klotz cable with spiffy new Sommer cable, even though it wasn't necessary. He didn't charge me for it either. This is what I call customer service 'above and beyond'. Thanks, Dave and I'm sorry I ever doubted your top quality product! I should have known better!

I see from the Public Peace website that Adrian and Wojtek are going to be on the main stage of the London Bass Guitar Show on the Saturday. Hopefully, Adrian will also be exhibiting too. Not that you'd know from the LBGS website, which is woeful with any up to date or accurate information.

Yeah it's nitpickin' They're an awesome Yin Yang pair

I got one of these a few weeks ago Rabbie. I've taken it out a couple of times and it's been very easy & efficient, but I haven't really put it through its paces. So I can't say much about its longevity, or its ability to handle cobbled streets or festival fields. Based on this limited experience, I'd recommend it, with the caveat that (to me anyway), it seems a fairly hefty price for a pair of plastic wheels with some straps and bungees. That said, it's a good design, and can be adapted to fit basses of all sizes.

I carry my leads, DI box, Wireless, mains extension leads, set lists, plasters, pain killers, business cards, etc. in a tool bag I bought from B&Q for 18 quid. Has a rigid bottom, so doesn't fold up when you lift it, and a wide opening so it's not to hard to find stuff inside it, though it helps if I've remembered to put in what I'm looking for, of course!

Fab track, enjoy....i bought a 5 cd box set of Areatha it's chock full of great Basslines...including Chuck Rainey, Jerry Jemmott, Tommy Cogbill ect....also bought 5 cd box set of Wilson Picket aswell also chock full of great Basslines....the 60's RnB scene along with James Jamerson is the reason i picked up a Bass

Do you have any switch cleaner in an aerosol? If not, it may be worth buying a can from RS or similar. A quick blast in the socket (smirk) may restore the resistance value of the connection to what's expected by the device. That or you've got an excuse to buy an entirely new rig. I find it takes very little surface muck to affect certain plug-in connections. I think the point was already made above about hyper-sensitivity to current loss with solid state devices. Very interested now to hear how you get on when you've done all of the trouble shooting.

I've only seen it once, a good DJ is hard to beat. They can play anything and any genre from any time period. And they sound just like the original recordings everytime.😁 Blue

I like them. That 70s Jazz, natural with pearl blocks, nitro - I don't care if it's new or not, if I was after a jazz bass I'd be all over it, it looks perfect to me. Not everyone looking for a new bass wants cutting edge innovation. If I wanted cutting edge high tech, I'd buy a new mac and a copy of NI Reaktor, not a bass guitar. In basses I prefer classic and simple, and I like that Fender keep these things going.

You get a jam doughnut for the oldest thread exhumation in the histpry of BC

I bought this as a 45 in the early 70's and only recently found out that Chuck is the bassist. . . one of the funkiest bass lines I've heard.

IMPORTANT: I implied that there may have been a problem with one of OBBMs cables, but I'd like to make it quite clear that there was NOTHING wrong with it and Dave's reputation remains intact! https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/318164-using-te-combo-with-effects-problem/

Nothing inspires practice and improvement like a really nice new (to you)instrument.

Always used to amuse me in the late 70's / early 80's to see all the punk and new wave bands on TOTP. They knew that going on the show was really compromising their ideals, but couldn't resist the opportunity to shift some units, and therefore used to to mess around & mime badly ( or not at all..) in the mistaken belief they were being so anti-establishment for their fans. I worked in music retailing at this time, and the effect of a TOTP appearance ( however bad/good ) was massive on sales, so they obviously knew what they were doing. Lots of those bands would not have had such success without TOTP and the Beeb in general, yet liked to give the impression of biting the hands that fed them. All good for the image I guess.....

Yay! The angled saddles arrived from Webbteca. They look great.

Sorted the bridge and ferrule drill holes (it's thru-body stringing) and, after trying both in a mock-up, settled on black pickup rings with gold screws rather than the other way round. I'm doing all of the jobs that might dint the soft finish before a final flattening and the last couple of gloss coats on the body. This is how it's starting to look. Pretty sure, by the way, that the slightly skew look of the pickups is the wide angle lens and not the actual fitting - although, with me, anything is possible :

I see Jah Wobble is signed up. As much as I enjoyed his slot last time, i would have preferred someone different as it was only a couple years ago. I am feeling a little underwhelmed by the artists so far.

and the coloured girls go 'doo doo doo doo doo doo doo"

The reach is real, but coming from Dingwalls and their 37" B strings, its nothing more for me. The wood on it is just awesome: The streamer is a beauty but needs some fretwork doing on it. Tempted to do something with the pickups and preamp too, but anxious about devaluing!

And then last week another second hand buy. BB414 Black Sparkle, a lot of bass for € 150,- including a case.