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There's still stuff to do, but visually this is pretty much there so I'll do the 'finished shots' Photographing this, with or without total cloud cover, is...er...challenging. Anyway, here's a few arty ones: And two or three in the great outdoors:

Second (and last) date of the Rascallion Village Hall Tour 2021 last night. Interesting setup - the folks at the hall had said they'd be removing the DJ desk for the night, but then decided it was too much hassle in between Friday night's regular "village pub" event and Sunday's Christmas Dinner, so we ended up with me and Mr Drums on the stage, and the other three down on the dancefloor, which made for occasionally interesting inter-band communications. Also possibly the ultimate in socially-distanced gigs, with us at one end of the hall, and the small but perfectly-formed audience seated at tables at the far end. Anyway, despite a few minor "incidents", with final choruses omitted, extended codas added where there shouldn't be any, and somebody down the front starting at least one song before everybody was ready - cue much scurrying to catch up - we got away with it, and the audience enjoyed themselves and were *very* complimentary at the end. On the strength of last night we've been booked for the hall booking fella's birthday bash in February plus the promise of four more dates through 2022, and also a slot at a local outdoor festival in July, so it presumably can't have been as bad as it occasionally felt from where we were sitting!!! 😎

Wahoo!

I assumed they just did a 50/50 split between Kings of Leon and Wilson Picket and figured they had it mostly sorted.

The Boss Tuner TU-3 App which is totally free for Android and Apple smartphones. https://www.boss.info/us/products/boss_tuner_app/

The Grolsch strap lock

Origin Effects Cali76 compressor. A subtle effect but makes a huge difference overall. You don't really notice it there but definitely notice when it's not there

The Guild Starfire I Bass. Granted they're relatively new but there seems to have been very little fanfare about them compared to other basses that have been launched recently. They certainly seem to have missed the short-scale band wagon that's been gathering momentum steadily over the last year or so. For under £500 they really are excellent instruments and built to a high standard.

Arrangements have been made…back in the club.

I always thought you had more stock than Bass Direct Andy….

Strange Brew - Cream I hope I don't get sued for suggesting this

I think generally just everything has gotten so much better these days. Growing up in an era of rubbish budget instruments and cheap practice amps, I am constantly amazed by how good most entry level stuff is these days. Maybe we understand a good setup better these days but I think it's hard to buy out and out rubbish now. Apps have been mentioned but you look at the online lessons and availability of tabs (okay, I'm sure someone will point out they are often wrong) but generally it's all a lot easier now. And making music should be accessible.

Clapton has a bit of cheek to go all legal at someone when he himself shot the sheriff.

Behringer BDI21 is an amazingly good bit of kit for the money. I also think that Ashdowns ABM600 should be raved about a bit more than it is. Sure it doesn’t compete with Class D weight & portability but it’s hardly heavyweight and the difference in its sound to Class D amps is easy to tell.

I love what you did there! I did something similar after I bought a Fender Rascal 5 years back. Loved everything about it except the quirky body shape - not an aesthetic issue, just that the body extending so far south of the bridge put everything in the wrong place for me. I bit the bullet and had the bass re-bodied a la P Lyte with a nice piece of walnut that I already had, and that's been my go-to gig bass ever since. I loved this bass so much that I decided to have the original body re-shaped as the basis for a similar build with the amazingly versatile Rascal pickup/control configuration. All in all, most satisfying thing that's ever happened in my bass world. You just have to be ready to take that leap of faith, but that's easier said than done! All work done by my Basschat buddy Andyjr1515 with build diaries to prove it.

I depped with some friends in their rock band last night at a pub in Beverley. The guitarist/ keys player and the drummer have been friends for nearly 50 years now, and it’s always great to sit in with them. Usual stuff - mainly dad rock with a bit of Slade at the end. Crowd loved it, and the gig made even more enjoyable by some people in fancy dress. I used my 63 P.bass into GKMB800 and Gen 1 BF Compact cab, and had forgotten how good a Precision sounds in these sort of situations ( or any other TBH). Hopefully not my last gig this month!

I have never found an Ashdown envelope I could use. And the Bassballs is a very acquired taste - even its biggest fans admit it can work on one bass and not another. Dont know the Malekko so I'll refrain. If I had to recommend one, guaranteed to work whatever the bass, and whatever sound you seek it would be the MXR Bass Envelope Filter. Utterly reliable, easy to dial in.

The La Bella 760FS-S flats are my choice. Pricey maybe but mine last so long that it's not an issue.

This is how it turned out, darker and less contrast than I'd hoped. Pure tung oil probably wasn't the best choice; I hadn't understood how different it is from tru-oil. Also, I think I overdid the stain, I should have sanded it back more. The restoration wax (satin finish), I could have built it up even more, but it was starting to leave white residue in the holes.

And... was this the first live appearance of the new BC t-shirt?

One subtle re-shaping later... Its broken nose bump is gone, and I've blunted the bottom point somewhat. You're right, it does look better for not being so spiky.

I’ve gigged quite a fair bit this year with the new Northern Soul band that started last year. Last night’s was a fosters poor turnout. Other bar (though all open plan as such), had a few, but we had maybe a handful. A few ventured in for a dance then went back. We were offered the chance before we started to get paid the full amount and pack up, or play- our choice. We played, as thought, we may as well. Everyone seems to have either been scared witless unnecessarily, or they’re frightened of having their Christmas screwed up with the dreaded ping. I don’t post in the vaccine topic, lest I get into an argument- even though I’ve been tripled. The venue are really whizzed off- lockdown in all but name, but minus the furlough. Anyway, I digress. Last night’s rig

I'd also add G&L's. I'd say they are criminally underrated.

I never realised Gary Glitter was in the Shangri-Las!!!!!!!!!!

You would have thought at that price Macca could have included one in the case

The amount of bass/low end on most 210s nowadays should be more than sufficient for rock & punk, but whether a single 210 could cope in a live environment is another question. Although it might well get loud enough, up against drums & guitars the depth of sound may not be enough, giving the impression that the cab doesn’t have enough lows. The temptation could then be to push the cab beyond its limits.

Thanks They are Steinbergers and were designed as a replacement for the banjo tuners that were fitted to the original Gibson Firebirds, etc.. They are - even though at one point they were fitted as standard to the low cost Epiphone versions of the Firebird - the best guitar tuners I've ever used. Exceptionally easy to restring, fully locking and really nice and controllable tuning. They went off the accessories market for a while but are now available again through Stewmac (although like hen's teeth in Covid times). This was a set that I fitted to our band's bassist's genuine 1964 fake Firebird: The top T shape is actually the string clamp and the tuning knobs actually raise and lower the cylinder it sits on into and out of the tuner body. To string up, you: - turn the tuner until the cylinder is fully extended. The exposes the string hole drilled through the cylinder. - attach the ball end of the string to the tailstock and thread the string though the hole - pull it tight - clamp it - turn the tuning knob to draw the cylinder/clamp unit into the tuner body - this tautens the string up to pitch A complete re-think of a tuner

Another Girl Another Planet - The Only Ones

Well, enjoy it! At their price it’s a bargain.

SO, I spoke with Andertons and they offered to weigh the 3 surf green Fallouts they have in the warehouse. All 9.2lbs. Still not light by any means, but….. have ordered one anyway! Arrives tomorrow. 😃

I've tried loads and loads of flats and would say each brand has different character. Of those I have tried, TI Flats are probably the most different in that they are quite bright and low tension. Some are extremely high tension (eg La Bella Deep Talkin flats), some are dull thuds (eg D'addario Chromes), some both. I love the feel and sound of TI Flats and have them on all my basses (costs me a fortune) apart from an EB3 that seems to sound better with that extra zing from rounds. So I'd say that if you like TI Flats you actually might not like other makes of flats. Similarly anyone wanting to try flats - until you have tried TI Flats don't write them all off as dull thuddy things.

He's not.

The Led Zep tribute played to a packed venue on Thursday in Chester. Great gig and a great audience. You never know these days whether it's gonna be empty or sold out, although the last couple we've done have been pretty good. On the other hand, I've just heard that an acquaintance of mine died from Covid yesterday (un-vaxed of course). First person that I've known to die from it for about a year. We have one gig just between Christmas and New Year, then nothing until late February. I'm keeping an open mind about whether we do the gig or not...

The Domino Effect.

Fair play to him though, he did own up to it.

So I had a really interesting day. Chris McIntyre has already closed up shop for Christmas. So I have to wait a little before I can continue this experiment. However, two things came together very serendipitously. Firstly, the chap making the pickups has a second set of them on the way to me. He felt there was an issue with the base plate (fairly minor, I would have said), but he wanted to sort it, so he wound an entirely new set and sent them out to me, out of his own pocket. This is pretty legendary customer service. Secondly, Nuno at Lusithand reached out to me after he caught this thread, and offered to send me a Double NFP to try out, and send back if I preferred the ACG. I took him up on the offer. The preamps he makes look great and sound good from what I've heard on Youtube; I scored the ACG first and so went with it, but now have the chance to compare both directly. This has all got me thinking I might be able to find a second bass to mod with the second set of the same pickups and use the Double NFP in that. Then I could conveniently compare the two set-ups reasonably directly. How cool would that be? The problem is going to be other variables changing between the builds, if I do decide to do it. I'd be changing more than one thing at a time, so the best I would be able to say is 'this particular build sounds like this'. I think I'm going to do it anyway, though. I think it would be great fun. I have found after further examination that a secondhand Cort would likely fit the bill very well, if I can lay my hands on one. The GB74JJ would be ideal, as it has good hardware, a battery box and control cavity routed already, will be built well, and has decent woods (ash body/maple neck + maple FB). Plus new pickup routes in the correct Wal locations would I think obliterate the existing ones and give a reasonably good cosmetic effect without too much work. If I went the route of getting another Precision body and modding it, I'd probably have to wait a bit before I could collect all the bits I want secondhand (neck, bridge, tuners) to make it as economic as a secondhand Cort. I really do need to have a good think about how to test this all out well for recording purposes.

There’s more to music than just funk.

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Last Sunday, fundraiser for Mencap & Mind organised by Lions. Also played with the acoustic support band .