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This has been a lot of work, but this is our promo video. This kinda started semi seriously to have fun playing hard music with my friends but I've decided to try and get out doing shows. I'm Scottish, so my accent is wrong for singing like Mark King so I just tried to sing in my voice. I am also not a singer! There's obviously some autotune at work, but we probably only spent about 10 hours in the studio recording the audio for this! My singing is...passable live. My sister (who is filling the role of Mike Lindup) is an outstanding singer, who fronts my other band called Danger Zone (wedding/events band). Level 42 splits people. Some people hate slap bass out of principle for some reason. For me, it's hugely enjoyable and highly expressive. So I'm aware I'm going to take flack for even attempting something like this! So be it. I'm well aware of the failings of this band (my vocals!). However, the guys in the band are top notch and I want to show off our hard work. This has been a very challenging project from start to finish. In truth, we don't sound much different live - thought obviously the singing is not a good. I can sing and play the parts no problem, the drummer is super humanly tight and our keyboard player is also a masterful sound engineer. We use a Soundcraft UI24 which is awesome. The bass was my JayDee through a Trace Elliot GP12 with what I think is the correct EQ setting. The only track with the Status was "Heathrow" I'm trying to get this band out doing shows, but my home town of Dundee is dismal for live music. I guess I need a promoter or an agent. Any help or advice would be very much appreciated!

Easily solved. Just leave the UK. Plenty more cheap Thomann goodies for me. 😁 Oh, and did I mention the cheap beer, low cost of living, borderless travel, and the right to live and work anywhere in Europe unhindered. I really miss the UK. 😋

You never know who was the instigator on things like this, so rather than burning bridges with all of them I’d just reply and say thanks for letting me know, wish you all the best. That simple communication could really work to your favour years down the line when not expecting it.

Anyone remember Tom's ( our very own @wwcringe ) African Build? Turning a wavy, cracking, variable hardness, unknown species and less than an inch thick body, presented to him by African drum-maker contacts of his in (I think) The Gambia: Into this fretless through-neck: Which he played later that year at the Mayor of London's Show in Trafalgar Square?: Well - they've presented him with another one: And before you ask....of course I said yes

Aye, I wouldn't want to inflate Dave's ego by letting him know you're all that bothered about him and his stupid band...

I'm sorry, but you've been well and truly shafted here. Shouting and banging your fists might make you feel better but won't change the situation. Yes, have a conversation or respond to the email, but keep it reasonably polite. You never know, It may all go t**ts up with their mate Carl and you can be ready to take his place, or if you've proved you've been reasonable you might get a recommendation for another band at some time in the future. My approach is always to keep it polite and professional, even if in this case they clearly haven't managed this. 😧

I'd invite you all over here to stay in Ireland but... you know... well... wow, this is awkward... 😳

Well, I accept the majority view here that I should walk away with dignity. That's exactly what I did 6 weeks ago with a band I was depping with who wanted me to join them permanently. Not really my music, so I stepped away gracefully. That band is still very much in touch with me. However, with last week's crew, my feelings are a bit different. I wouldn't join them now if they change their minds, because I don't like the way they've behaved. Desperately trying to rein-in my irritation and frustration, I've replied to the Dear John email thus, rightly or wrongly.: "....That’s disappointing. I’d have a few comments to make about what’s happened here, but it’s a done deal, so not much point really. I did wonder who the chap sitting at the back of the room was last Thursday. Now I know. Let me know if you hear of a band needing a bassist, please. Steve"

It is home!

Actually, I've always wanted to write a book. I have tried to get something started a few times, but so far I'm struggling to find a cohesive narrative combining Japanese basses & guitars of the 70s and 80s (with a focus on the Rickenbacker bass copy) with graphic sex, violence, and Lovecraft-esque eldritch horror. Art can be such a struggle... It appears that Chushin was one of Japan's biggest guitar manufacturers of the 70s era, and their instruments were sold worldwide with a plethora of different brands - in the UK, common names like Columbus, Avon, Grant, CMI, Saxon, Sumbro, Grantson etc were all predominantly Chushin builds. With most brands being importer names, the best way to pinpoint who made what is to tie a manufacturer to a single brand (eg it's known that all 70s MIJ Ibanez was made by Fujigen Gakki) so when the identical instrument turns up with a different name, you know who made it. With Chushin, the exclusive brands were Maya and El Maya, which were owned by a Japanese trading co/exporter called Rokkomann. This pic is the nearest thing to proof that basses like yours were Chushin: The biggest problem with positive ID is the number of different factories making instruments during the 70s copy era. Most people with a bit of an interest will have heard of Matsumoku & Fujigen but there were literally dozens - possibly into the hundreds - of manufacturers, from big mass-producers to little backstreet woodshops, all making good copies of Fenders, Gibsons, Rickenbackers etc. Many of these will have been short-lived & disappeared without a trace. Very few records were kept, either by manufactures or importers, so what we know comes mostly from surviving catalogues and examples, plus a bit of testimony from people who worked in the industry at the time. With Rick copies it's sometimes easier to know who didn't make a bass, rather than who did. Instruments made by Fujigen, Matsumoku, Kasuga and Yamaki all have particular build traits and combinations of details & hardware that make them easy to ID but there are a lot of Fakers where it's educated guesswork, and a few where it's anyone's guess! Even with the Chushin/Shaftesbury type there are a couple of quirks & variations which make it a bit less certain - fretboards & inlays vary, some are unvarnished and have real MOP inlays, some have translucent plastic scratchplates while others are solid white. This may not indicate different manufacturers, as details sometimes change over the years. And some might be made in Brazil - but that's a completely different can of worms...

and the newly built "Bruce Foxton" bass gets a video debut..

I'd like this too..

Just because you don’t/can’t be bothered to adjust the truss rod, doesn’t mean it doesn’t need adjustment. Manufacturers supply an adjustable truss rod for a reason. IMHO every player should know how to set up an instrument - and that is nut height and slot profile, truss rod, action and intonation. Why pay someone else to do this - it’s not exactly difficult, is it? Fret levelling is a bit more work but doesn’t need doing that often unless you are grinding the hell out of the frets. pVery stable wood moves less, but all wood moves over time and especially with changes in humidity/temperature. Even changing strings can do this (different gauge putting less/more tension on the neck).

It’s reason 49 for playing solo 😁.

I'd just leave it there, I'm not sure the email needs a response, maybe just a brief 'no hard feelings' if you think there might be some useful contacts for the future but there's no point telling them how P'd off you actually are.

How annoying! he was obviously a shoe-in, you were plan B. Wish them all the best and move on.

It sounded not as good as with the org. neck but looked ok 🙂

Sack your guitarist, run parallel high and low rigs with octave up into a guitar rig and octave down into a wall of 15" speakers. Low pass filters with slow chorus for the deep stuff and high pass and delay / postrock verb / fuzz for the high stuff. Then sack your drummer and beatbox. Then lose the instruments and go acapella into the fx rig and start your new avant-garde solo choir. You've already got one fan here!

Did someone say orange... (just kidding) not really! BOOOM ORANGE BB BASS!

The marriage guidance scheme is called “Related”

Excellent! @lozkerr and @Trueno smaller / lighter pedalboards have been awarded an exemption by chief monk, so you're good to stay in a while yet gents. Haha - exactly how much was that used Digitech pedal? 😁

It's early days, and there are some aspects I'm not completely decided yet, but these are the early thoughts. I had most of the day without electricity today, so spent quite a bit of time at the table next to a large window with paper, pencil and set-square. On of the challenges is that - although this wood seems much more homogenous than the previous one, at 25mm, it is quite thin. But, I MIGHT go bolt-on all the same. Using the body as my full-size template, this is where I got to during the day: Those of you who remember @eude 's 6 stringer last year might recognise this flush-heel joint I developed for that one: And those who remember the Tom's African Bass I might remember the headstock. Volute especially for you-know-who: Tom generally prefers smaller scale - originally pitching for 32" But...hmmm...not drawn up yet...but what about multiscale? And Tom says "YES" So I'll be drawing a 33" - 31" multi-scale tweak in the next couple of days...

Sounds all too familiar - sorry you’ve had to go through it A couple of years back I auditioned for a band, lost out because I was too far away vs the other bassist; I was asked to be a dep and promptly given a dep gig a few months away. He then became very unreliable due to family/health issues so I got asked to take over. Sure, no issue. Dep gig still a month off. Suddenly two weeks before the gig there’s a Facebook announcement about a gig the night after the one I’m doing, where they’ll be unveiling their new bassist. I then get an email with the set list and told “btw our new bassist will be in the crowd to watch and get tips”. So I politely emailed and said it’s probably better for him to just do the gig if he’s there (“he can use it as a warm up for the real unveiling” were the words I used) and removed them from my contacts. Musicians as a breed are often w4nk3r5s. Bassists are of course the exception to the rule.

I might just do that, what with my newly minted Irish citizenship and all! #smug

Better they told you sooner rather than later when you had learned the set for them. I'd try to stay amicable if you can. You never know what's gonna happen in the future and keeping amicable contacts is the way to go. If things change for them they can still call on you and you'll have the option of being the better person. You can either accept the position or simply say you are already with another band and you come out looking good with everyone. They could pass your details onto other bands that might be looking for a bass player. On the other hand you could give them abuse and that might follow you around the local circuit. Best stay amicable and just accept they wanted their mate. Nothing to do with you or your ability. Hopefully you'll get something else quickly and just move on. Dave

Just an idea I had... I'm currently building my fourth bass. It's generally going very well given the short time I've been doing it and I'm sure if I continue to hone my craft and amass better equipment I'll one day produce something someone might like to buy. In the meantime, though, I'm just making them for myself, which is all well and good, but surely the real challenge is making something to fulfil someone else's needs. As a consumer, I'm very forgiving of my own shortcomings! So I was just wondering - if there's anyone else out there at a similar stage, i.e. able to handbuild a serviceable bass but not feeling ready (or perhaps even willing) to go into business with it. If so, perhaps we could come up with an arrangement where we build an instrument for each other? In theory it wouldn't be limited to two people - an even number could pair off and an odd number could just go round in a circle. Obviously there would need to be further discussion to hammer out all the details, expectations, etc, but I just wanted to put it out there and see what people think. It may well have been done before on here - I wasn't sure how to word a search for something similar! I know there are more dedicate builder's forums out there, and I might try there in due course, but I've found the community here very encouraging and it's as good a place as any to start.

Dark Cloud Carl, my new band name...

Taking this to heart I've just spent £2K at Thomann on a new pa for my rock trio Upgrading the vintage Carlsboro....

The vocals sounded pretty good to me. Mark King isn't exactly a Pavarotti either.

Not necessarily... This is what I did too. I have a 9-to-5 and am in no way a pro muso, but I provided youtube links and band Facebook pages which demonstrated that I am in quite busy and popular bands, and I was accepted on the strength of that. It seems to me that in reality the main criterion is how much you play, rather than how much you earn. It's 40 quid bloody well spent.

Cheers Pete. Yep, the MB200 is working well, and has made me realise my tone is in the GK world. Not had to push the gain over noon yet, and thats keeping up with a guitarist who uses ear plugs and a tube head in to a 4x12 cab at rehearsals. God help us lol,.

Nothing will change for a year. After that it depends on the trade deal that is negotiated.

Yup, as an example outstanding sales pitch for our beloved brand, can't see how that's gonna fail to nail it. 😁

I guess my real disappointment here is seeing our leader dropped by a Digitech pedal. I was expecting a man of bassfan's calibre and class to be felled by something amazing like a new custom Shuker bass or similar. But nope, it's an used Digitech pedal... *sigh*

I did Google Tiny desks but just got loads of dolls house stuff... 🤔

Let me Google that for you. 😉 <- seriously, I knew about TD but didn't know its history until I did actually Google that for you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Desk_Concerts Thanks @owen - I only watch them when they're brought to my attention, hadn't seen that one.

@dave_bass5strongly recommended you follow @cetera's excellent advice. I certainly did! ...and get a Spector 😁

I'm REALLY wishing that Yamaha would do BB's or an inexpensive attitude style bass in the same colours as the new pacificas! INCLUDING 5 strings with maple fretboards! Love the pink and the grey best 😁👍

It's pretty good. Here's a Norwich based Adam and the Ants tribute act.

Most of my basses have ramps and light strings, so low actions for me. I can dig in if I want, so clank is there if I want it, but no problem with thump or attack either.