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Just read this right through, I don't get the people saying 'do the gig, it looks good on your CV' - we're talking about a pub band here, not some corporate entity. I absolutely wouldn't play the gig in your position, nor would I communicate that to them - they've kicked you out, you don't them any consideration. If they haven't got a replacement lined up, then they're going to look pretty silly if they arrive at the gig without a bass player. Well, they should have thought of that before they did the dirty on you. Walk away and forget them. Some people aren't worth remembering.

Hello, OP here. Yes, we’re just a pub band, nothing special but with enough integrity for me to always want to do the best I can - for me, my band mates and the punters. That integrity extends to being as dignified as possible over this whole sorry matter. Inside I want to vandalise the social media accounts and call them all sorts of words that the Basschat swear filter would censor. But as a grown up man who likes to think he knows how to conduct himself I’m keeping my feelings to myself, publicly at least. The local scene is small and cliquey enough that I don’t want to look like I’m wingeing. I put something on my Facebook status and I’m surprised, touched even, by the responses from friends, mates in other bands and people who come to see us regularly. Also, I know how few bass players there are locally, I may well have the last laugh yet. All there is to do now is move on and enjoy a bit of a break until the next thing comes along. Happy Christmas 🙂

Out came the (not actually) Dremel precision router base and the trusty 1mm bit and let the routing begin! Headstock ones done ready to glue: And the 12th fret ones:

Well. It here. It’s a thing now.

Finally got round to gigging it last night. It sounded so clear the band commented on it. Actually they were also impressed with it with the weight and finish of it. loved it, I was pretty happy. now I just need a bag, don't want it to get dented up like the tc 112s (must remember to tuffcab those)

woohoo! No offence to JK.

@Andyjr1515 Just to add on here, it really doesn't seem to matter which bass I use, I know what my desired tone is, so I'll shape my outboard gear to achieve this; any perceived difference in tonal output after installation of a new bridge will be lost in a band environment, too.

She's finally home with her sister.

Count your lucky star that you swerved a U2 video!

metronome as a parting gift?

And look how it turned out for those losers 😕

I picked up an Ashdown MAG600 from here earlier in the week and was keen to try it out last night. I think the model is an EVOIII although it's not labelled as such, it just has the 15th anniversary logo on the front and all the facilities found on the later MAG's. It's well equipped with the usual Ashdown VU meter and passive and active inputs. It has a five band EQ entered around very useful frequencies and deep and bright switches. The EQ can be switched in and out from the front panel. It has a one knob compressor and an octave down facility and overdrive, again switchable from the front panel. The distortion can also be operated with a foot switch. The Octaver is a bit of a waste of space - sure it works well and sounds good but without being able to foot switch it in and out you could only really use it for a whole song. On the back it's just got an IEC mains in and switch, two big fans and usefully, a pair of Speakon/Jack combo sockets - so all round, a pretty well equipped amp. I played with Stray, a fairly loud but not stupid loud, Classic Rock five piece at Leo's in Gravesend. It's a nice rock venue with a medium stage and a good sound engineer and PA. I was running the amp through an Eden Nemesis 4 x 10 which is an 8 ohm cab rated at 500W. I've used the cab with other heads and it's never been lacking volume, but of late, I've been running a 2 x 12 stack to get the sound closer to my ears (which are protected with ear plugs). Tonally, I bloody love the thing. The EQ, as mentioned is really useful and the tone is solid and clear but warm with a hint of grit when pushed. I played the first set with a Jazz Bass and the second with a Ric 4003 - two different beasts and the Ashdown really brought out that difference. In isolation I was over the moon with the tone. I had the deep switch in and each EQ knob pushed a bit past noon with a bit more top and high mid than the rest. Once we'd kicked off sound checking though, I had to really crank the master volume and by the end of the night it ended up around at around 3 o'clock. Bear in mind that with my Class D heads (A GK MB500 and a Bugera Veyron 1001T) I seldom get the master volumes past 11 o'clock - so this surprised me a bit. Having said that - the tone did not break up at all - it was sweet. I think - having not used the 4x10 for a while, the perceived lack of volume may have been down to all the sound coming past my knees. I know I was pretty loud cos the Jazz fed back a couple of times. I'm also going to experiment with not having the deep switch in, so I can drive the front end a bit more. To summarise - the amp is well equipped and easy to dial in great tone, but the verdict is out on for the time being on volume. I'd be interested in the collective opinion on my observations.

Which is why I’m going to hell in a handcart.

I wonder if she’d make it through the month if he only managed $52,000?

On behalf of a grateful membership I welcome this communiqué and wish you the greatest of joy in your purchase while observing that recent events have gifted you not one BJ but two.

new prices are crazy crazy.... secondhand prices aren't. My top tip for buying basses ... decide what you want (model wise) look around the internet for one... then just give @warwickhunt a bell and see what you can make him part with - he's got a collection of very very good warwicks, and normally early (ie pre 1991) models, and if you ask nice some of them he's not super attatched too.

... well, at least it’s removable

This ^ On both counts With my unquestioned qualification to an opinion by being a crazy b*****d who will mod pretty much anything with anything: - functionally and sonically, there is nothing wrong with the standard bridge. The Jazz and the Precision aren't world leaders for no reason - yes, a different bridge will look different, it will feel different and it may sound different. Not better, just different - if you have to drill different screw holes, you will almost certainly reduce the resale value of the bass, however fancy a bridge you put on. If you swop to a 'drop-in' bridge and subsequently want to sell, put the original bridge back on and sell the new bridge separately The Gibson three-point bridge is one of the worst designed bits of metal I've ever come across relating to bass guitars. What on earth were they thinking!!!! As @NancyJohnson says, there are improved drop-in one's available. Same advice if you come to sell, though. Put the original one back on and sell the better one with it as an extra or separately. That's my view, anyway

Musicians..? With an ego problem..? Unheard of 😀

Played with Stray at The Red Lion in Gravesend. We had a reasonably sized and very enthusiastic audience - a great night. One young lad turned up with his dad and a bag full of LPs. He told Del he'd been listening to them all his life and asked him to sign them as they were his inheritance. I used a new (to me) Ashdown MAG 600. It was paired with a Nemesis 4x10 and I was keen to try it out. The tone was absolutely to die for, but to be honest I had to massively crank it to hear myself. To be fair, I wear earplugs and I was standing close to the cab so mebbe it was all passing my knees, but it didn't sound like a 600W head to me (or whatever it is into 8 ohms). I'll persevere with it though and try it with a taller 2x12 stack next time. I think having the deep switch in might also have limited the amount I could drive the front end - hope I can make it work for me as it sounded schweet. Anyway - last gig of the decade for me, next up we'll be supporting Hawkwind in January at Minehead 😎😎

Same way a dog uses a lamp post.

He looks really well these days (his teeth are implants - but hey...)

Okay, I get that they're humorous but I'd not be doing any of the things such as cancelling the day before, or messing up the gig, etc. I'd simply say my short farewell "good luck in the future", hand over the admin of the social media (WITHOUT vandalism of it...) and look forwards from that point on. No moral requirement to do the gig, no band should have a "make or break" gig, they can cancel it and carry on or whatever else the others want to do at the point they have no bassist. Put simply: in issues such as these, take the moral high ground. From the original post and the way they've treated you, this is a very simple/achievable thing. Good karma, and all that.

Hope they recapture some of that BSSM/Californication magic.

Seriously? Far too much Christmas spirit of good will going around here! Reputation? It's a pub pand for chr1sts sake, your rep will be tomorrows fish n chip paper. Me? I'd tell 'em I'd do the gig and then on the day just not turn up, stuff them, appalling behaviour and I hope it brings them crashing down in a pile of flames. You put in over 4 years of faithfully turning up to gigs and rehersals with a car crash of a drummer and this how they treat you after all you've been through? Can't believe people would even think about "honouring" this forthcoming gig, you don't treat people like that and then have the bl@ddy nerve to ask them to play on! What?!! Scr3w 'em all!!!! Edit..written after drink was consumed and I'm not really that Mardi-honest!

Warwick invested millions in their six axis machinery to carve custom shop basses to very close to the finished product and also to guarantee consistency with work like fretting and the curves where laminated woods are glued (e.g. the body to the through neck and the curved streamer and thumb bodies). The custom shop now offers almost anything imaginable, included discontinued models, longer scale lengths, different string spacing and models with more strings (6-string Streamer Stage II, for example), and you pay for this customisation, but even the standard models are Fodera pricing new. The used market has never really reflected the retail price, particularly in the U.K. - and many sellers post things up at completely unrealistic prices. I would expect a passive original German corvette to be £400 tops, a Streamer stage 1 to be no more than £800-900 (unless it’s a rarer 6 string or in a high polish finish, or customised) and a thumb NT £900-£1000. The Infinity is a bit less common and was more expensive new, but even then I wouldn’t pay more than £1,200, even for a mint model. Limited edition models or rare models don’t really command much of a price premium - it’s not as if it’s a ‘59 Precision, is it! On the plus side, as they’ve gone firmly out of fashion, bargains are there to be had. I used to own several but I’ve gone right off them over the years - mainly due to the poor ergonomics, baseball bat neck from the mid-90s to mid-00s, headstock-heavy balance in a 5- or 6- and the tone from the MEC electronics is decidedly average. A very old streamer with EMGs (a la Stuart Zender back in the day) is definitely worth checking out as they have a really nice feel and a properly punchy sound. On the plus side almost every Warwick 5/6 I’ve owned has got a fantastic low B - the best and most articulate of any bass I’ve played.

+1. With my new found knowledge I can say with 70% confidence that is a 4003 in Jetglo. Perhaps. Or maybe a 4001? Blast.

I Yes there was a 4002. It was a high-end model with an ebony fingerboard, Birdseye maple body and low impedance pickups in different positions to the 4001/4003. So, in a nutshell - although some of this will be covered above - you have: 4000 - single pickup, unbound, dot inlays. Through-neck up until ‘73, when it became a set-neck. 4001S - twin pickup version of the above. First through-neck, then set-neck, now latterly through-neck again. 4001 - twin pickup deluxe version of the above, so with body and neck binding, triangular inlays, stereo facility (although a few S models also had this). 4003 - replaced the 4001, in both S and Deluxe. Different truss rod system (note, on the 4001 you do not adjust the neck like on most other basses - you have to release the holding nuts, move the neck into position by hand, and then tighten the nuts to hold it in place. This is where loads of people wreck the truss rods or pop the fingerboard, by adjusting the rods like on other basses. However the 4003 system can be adjusted like most other basses). 4002 - boutique (and rare) take on the 4001. 4004 - various versions, e.g. Laredo and Cheyenne 1&2, but essentially an unbound, scratchplate-less, twin humbucker equipped take on the 4000 series basses. Addressed all the issues people complain about on the 4001/4003 but wasn’t popular. 4005 - big-bodied semi-Acoustic. 4008/4003s8 - both 8 strings. 3000 series - different bass entirely to the above. 4001v63, later replaced by C series. Modern take on the ‘60s 4001s. 4001CS - Chris Squire Signature. Numerous limited runs of 4000 series specials, Blackstar, Tuxedo etc. Rickenbacker 4003 - Al Cisneros signature. And probably others I haven’t mentioned, like the twin necks and 5 strings. And as stated in the other thread, necks, pickups, pot values, exact body dimensions and details etc etc etc have varied hugely over the years. If you can’t be bothered trawling Rick Resource, get Paul Boyer’s book, otherwise we could be here for years. 😉 I honestly do not get where the weight thing comes from. Even the heaviest 4001/4003 won’t be over 10lbs, and typically - and I’ve played at the very least several hundred - they’re around 9lbs. Some, like mine, are lighter. They’re more consistent weight-wise than Fenders. Oh, and it’s “Jetglo”, “Fireglo” etc. There is no W on the end. If you don’t get the book or trawl RRF, take what’s provided and Google; there is simply far too much information for one thread. Heck, the whole of the RRF covers all the differences!

I've a feeling I played that one at the last SE Bass Bash, it's a nice bass 👍

I have been caught out like that. I did service at church a while back during which we prepared and cooked two sponge cakes on the platform as part of the service. Used my phone as the countdown timer, plugged into the PA so everyone would hear the cakes were ready and I would stop preaching. Of course just before the end I had a phone call. From my mother who thought it was Saturday morning! Flight mode is your friend!

Hey, not at all, I very much think this thread needs a thoughtful voice of reason in juxtaposition to our reactions. It’s easy to tip beer over everyone’s head and burn your bridges but harder to be the more reasonable person. However, I am, by all accounts, unreasonable so I must express that in my responses.

Ashdown amps are really bad for not being able to tell whether things are switched on or not.

Given the previous band history my response would probably be 1. Thank Fck 2.Fck that 3. Go Fck yourselves

Usually in inverse proportion. All the best musicians I've played with have been ego-free and their own harshest critics.

If I were in the OP's position, my reaction to 'you're fired, oh and will you play the gig' would have been in three stages: 1. Laugh. 2. "Hell will freeze over before I do that. Good luck." 3. Stand up, walk away, no backward glance, never speak to them again. If meeting is in a pub, abandon pint if necessary just to show that you mean business.

Played a pub which shall remain nameless. Been there several times, landlord is not my favourite person on earth, place could be nice but is a bit filthy. Bouncers are excellent which is a good thing as there's usually a fight and twice now our guitarist has been attacked by an angry punter. I put my Bugera Veyron through a Trace 15" cab which is loaded with a Bugera metal coned speaker taken from an old Behringer cab. Left eq flat but eventually tweaked bass down / mid up as the room was a bit boomy. Dirtied things up with Sansamp type patch on Zoom pedal, P-Bass with flats and it sounded phenomenal. Good crowd, got paid, hideous journey through a lot of rain and standing water, then crashed at a friend's house en route home as its a long drive. Closer to home next weekend, but not as well paid. Swings/roundabouts.

I just had a quick look at the ric Resource Forum and it scared me - too much detail to plough through! I'll start a new thread. Wish me luck 😅

Great gig in a fairly local pub for me :-) Its a place thats known more for Britpop/Oasis/Killers sort of stuff - most of the bands that play there fit into that bracket anyway - we're a bit rowdier and rockier than they are and i've thought that maybe its not the best place for us. But its been steadily growing there and last night was absolutely rammed out mainly with people that wanted to see us because we provide something a bit different. Everyone kicked off from the second song and didn't stop dancing and singing the whole night. And the regulars are lovely too - we've got to know them pretty well. Our regular geetarist was at the football up north so we had a dep for the night. He's absolute gold dust and a total fit for the band - he works on the material constantly, is totally reliable and a really nice bloke too. Loads of punters were filming him (he is a bit poop hot on the lead stuff) and all came up to say hello to him after - really nice to see :-) It's quite funny because he really enjoys depping for us and deps his own gigs out with his regular band to do our ones. So, a really nice one...........until i got home to find a missed call from the drummer. I called him back and found out he was stuck in the van with a flat battery with a 3 hour wait for the AA. I offered to drive back and help but he was settling in the cab with a sleeping bag. UPDATE! The AA actually took 8 hours to get to him......appalling service!!

That's a far more eloquent way of expressing my sentiments 👍

If you run a small business, customer communication should be be your No.1 proactive priority, especially if it's a price quote request. The golden rule is "lose customers = loss of business" Or maybe they have a sales prevention officer.......

I still think you shouldn't do the gig especially after how they've treated you, taking back their gear and just expecting you to play. The drummer sounds like an idiot, as above the rythum section should be close and he is clearly a nob. Just move on, leave them to it and find a better band next year.

to get "their Tone" man......

Similar thing happened to me , I was "released " from a band that still had one large gig to play , rather than throw my toys out the pram , I just sucked it up and played the gig and took the money and run . I'm in a new band now , but more importantly ,I m still very good friends with one of the previous band members , who is a great singer / guitarist who has helped me out by recommending me to other musicians looking for a bass player .

I'd play the gig, personally. Making sure that we had "a last drink together to toast our farewells and no hard feelings". I'd anticipate a decent laxative kicking in after about 40 minutes so one would need to time it so that things get interesting about third song in...... Oh, and a few minutes after sound check and before showtime with a spanner to detune the drums, alter the throw of the kick pedal, smear vaseline on the guitar strings and generally make sure that whatever they tried to play sounded awful. So I'd deffo play the gig. But then, I'm not one to hold a grudge, me. No sirree.

Nothing Ever Happens - Del Amitri. Seems terribly appropriate these days.

Call a band meeting the day before the gig and make sure you tell them you feel you've drifted apart as people, and dont feel you can gig with them anymore, then ask the drummer if he likes sex and travel. Then leave them there scratching their selfish heads PS i hope its not the Banbury band Cold Blue Daze

Walk away on the day of the gig 😃