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I've only got a couple of instances. Here's the earliest one.... My first ever 'proper' gig back when i was about 16 was an unusual one. It was at the very back end of the punk era so didn't seem to be quite such a shambles as it would nowadays - artistic improvisation and being pretty different was still encouraged. But we really were dreadful..... We had somehow snagged a support slot to a jangly/indie style band at the local main music venue (The Square in Harlow if anyone has ever played it) and needed to play for 45 minutes. Problem was that we only had 5 songs and about 20 minutes of material. I was ready to bail out of it but was persuaded by the guitarist/singer that we could stretch the songs a bit and he would fill out the gaps in between to help. We decided to dress up a to try and make a bit of an impact and Drosso (the singer/guitarist) informed us that he was going to make a grand entrance after the bass and drums had jammed around for a few minutes. I turned up a bit late (dressed in a tails suit and with Dave Vanian style white/black make up on) and literally walked on to the stage, plugged in and the drummer kicked the pair of us into action. Drosso came running up the stairs onto the stage a few seconds later. He was dressed in thigh high cavalier boots, a g string with his knackers hanging out, Sgt Pepper jacket and had a hollowed out teddy bears head over his head. We stretched out the first song for about 10 minutes. When we had finished the song Drosso reached behind his amp and grabbed a bucket he had stashed there earlier (I hadn't seen any of the prep work so this was all totally new to me). He then threw its contents straight over everyone in the front couple of rows. It was full of liver, fish guts and general entrails from the butcher shop. The crowd were not massively impressed and we spent an uncomfortable 30 more minutes playing total rubbish with Drosso generally abusing and taking the wee wee out of the crowd (all cardigans and chinese slippers) whilst they all glared at us waiting for us to finish. We reached the big climax and as we hit the last note Drosso triggered the 4 big flashbombs that he had set up (and not told anyone about) behind the gear at the back of the stage. It was like being on stage with Motley Crue! Except you don't get curtains at the back of the stage at a Crue gig. Which then caught fire and necessitated the evacuation of the venue.... Fortunately we didn't burn the whole place down. We just about escaped with our lives but were never invited back

Last night's gig.......the iconic Nottingham venue Rock City for Beat the Streets. It was flippin awesome......particularly as Bowie played there in 1997. Might be a bit of a come down playing the Dog and Duck next. Our 15 minutes of fame...well 30 minutes in fact

Hi Chaps, Following on from my post in Introductions, and asking about lightweight setups. Today an amp popped up on Facebook Marketplace only 10 minutes away from me in Lancaster. I had been looking at buying a new Markbass CMD 121P, but this was too good to resist. It's been gigged quite a bit, the cab was covered in white cat hair 😂, and it appears the cat liked to exercise it's claws in the cab covering. But it sounded great, works fine, and the price was right. A bit of de-hairing, trimming the plucks and a bit of cleaning and it came together nicely. I now have my first rig! Tomorrow, before noon, my first decent bass (vintage Precision) is arriving too! It feels like Christmas! I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has a similar setup, amp settings etc, as I'm going to have to get used to dialing this in. Cheers, Rob

This just popped into my head after reading some of the latest updates. Myself and @stingrayPete1977were at a local blues jam at one of my local bars. It wasn't great - no, seriously, it was terrible. We only used to go to get a drink and catch up (and inappropriately slap our way through Mustang Sally if the opportunity arose (it was always the closing song of the evening)). It would seem that there really was only a "stock set list" that was limited to the following songs. Tore Down Stormy Monday Hey Joe I Shot The Sheriff *generic blues noise with no vocalist. Mustang Sally Seriously, that was about it. Didn't help that there was literally only 2 or 3 vocalists - and they had a repertoire of 1 or 2 from the above There were some notable folk (for all the wrong reasons). They included some of my faves - organiser (bass player) who brought all the gear, dubious organisational skills and very short temper. Lets call him Tony. - harmonica player (who was played over absolutely everything) - a guy that would turn everything into reggae - and usually got up to play Hey Joe, just after the previous jammers had played it - drummer guy who wasn't a great player was terrible. He owned a massive drum kit. Think stadium rack kit with probably over ten toms... double kick drum set up... Lets call him Jim. - a guy that came down with different pedals, amps etc each week... played a Strat, and whatever he played through, it sounded like "him". Lets call him Willy. - a lady singer - lets call her Fearne. (Fearne is clearly with Jim but not with Jim if you ask either of them). Anyway, myself and Pete are having a drink in the "viewing area"... and an argument breaks out on stage where Tony and Jim are absolutely screaming and shouting at each. I can't really remember why - but I have the feeling it was over Fearne. Not that there was any romantic link or anything like that, I just think Tony was protective of singers (and lack of them) at his jam. Maybe Pete will remember better than I can. Anyway, the next sequence of events still come up it our conversations now and again to this day... Argument escalates and the the c word starts making its debut. Jim starts pulling on Tony's ponytail and that was the final straw for Tony. Tony reaches down and picks up the bass drum above his head, scattering Jims drums everywhere... and then throws it offstage. On it's journey earthwards, it flies past Willy's guitar (which is on a guitar stand off to the side of the front of the stage), clipping just the top E string, snapping it instantaneously. Guitar remains motionless on the stand. Willy of course jumps up into action and gets involved and the whole thing just erupts into chaos. Of course, myself and Pete did what everybody else would do in such situations, continue drinking having a little chuckle between ourselves. And before you say anything... (I appreciate that it may seem far fetched) that missing of the guitar and just clipping the top E string... lord only knows what chances of that would be. One half a mm the other way and the whole guitar would have been part of the action. Local amateur jams. Brilliant.

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Buy a lined Fretless, then close your eyes. Hey Presto: Unlined Fretless!

I just heard this song on the radio and the bassline was so annoying I just had to vent my spleen, and what better place than here on BC? Anyone else got any examples of basslines that really get on your tits?

The aged burgundy one with the toggle switches is a ”normal” 2020 XJ-1T. V/V/T knob config. The switches adjust the mid and high frequency centres, respectively. Push/pull on the 1st volume knob goes from active/passive and the push/pull on the 2nd volume knob puts the pickups into series wiring. The gold one without the switches is a 2021 XJ-1T Lite with V/B/T knob config. The Lite models don’t have the preamp frequency switches but otherwise the preamp is the same. The bodies on the Lite models are apparently slimmed down slightly to help bring the weight down. The Gold Lite is bang on 9lbs, the Burgundy XJ is just under 10lbs. Both basses are made in Japan. Fit and finish is flawless! I’ve never tried the cheaper “XJ-Pro” series basses - none of the finish options took my fancy but by all accounts they were good basses. Discontinued now though…they didn’t last long!

After completely falling in love with my G&L CLF L-2000 I decided I'd like to try a few different styles and having sold a few basses recently, I wanted to try G&L's P Basses. After speaking to a few dealers I was able to secure a SB-1 and a LB-100 on approval. The SB-1 arrived earlier today. First impressions are, well, wow. Build quality is brilliant as expected, it weighs just over 8 and a half pounds and the Pickup is some thing else and it easily overpowers my Stingray 5. That said, it's very versatile and still retains that warm P Bass sound, just more of it. I was interested to see the body shape of the SB basses in person as they looked a bit incongruous to me, so a chance to compare one to my P basses was useful. You can definitely tell they're related and the difference is subtle (a bit like the Lakland DJ4 vs. Jazz Bass shape). It certainly looks right to me, if a little different. I don't even mind the headstock design too much! Playability is excellent and the whole bass is really top notch. From what I understand, the LB-100 is more of the traditional P Bass but I look forward to trying it when it arrives (hopefully) Wednesday. If it's anything like the SB-1 in terms of playability and build quality I may well be selling something else shortly!

Full rig for this evening in the boot of a mini. QSC K110, Sadowsky and Vong pedalboard, and Kala Ubass. Thumpy goodness and almost flute levels of cartage.

After some research and deep thinking I decided to build a cab based on the old B15 double baffle cabinets. It was a fun project and Im quite happy with the result. Maybe Ill make another and another and another... I used 18mm poplar plywood. A celestion bl15-300x driver. F2853817-D0AD-464F-9699-E634F06E1D10.heic C58BFCBF-7878-4511-86E8-9F310DD8A065.heic BCFDAEED-230C-4445-A0D0-F64BBB7D0015.heic 3FC65FB3-2FF4-4FB6-B238-4E6DD59E8198.heic B667B803-3423-4736-B17F-E1A8F24949F2.heic D76A355B-D18E-43B6-8D71-8A5F765657B4.heic

Rust in peace covers sorted

I made a scratchplate for My SB-2, got the bass unloved for only £120, best buy of my life!. Now also own a tribby Kiloton (same body as the SB-2) and a JB. JB is waaaaaaaay heavier than the other two. MFD pickups ...DAMMMMN. as with most of us on here i have other basses and coming back to the sb-2 is startling every time. Love 'em.

It's not for everyone, but the more you do it the more you get used to it. It's like anything where you push yourself out of your comfort zone. And very rewarding. The key is to remember that no one is expecting you to be note perfect, it's live music and unless you're absolutely useless, most people won't remember any duff moments.

Something along the lines of these outfits, but a bit extra:

I have the upmost respect for anyone who does dep gigs. I couldn't do it if my life depended on it. I can barely remember our own original songs.

I'd want money to be even seen with it.

Surely that's only built to play a single, particular Fleetwood Mac song?

Another own goal... I was in an originals band, the guitarist was also the vocalist, he wasn't convinced his vocals were the best so we thought we'd get someone in. The vocalist we chose had a great voice but we weren't sure it was right for the music, so a few gigs were booked as a tryout. By the time of the 'incident' I was getting fed up as the new vocalist would always turn up late after everything was setup and disappear as soon as we'd finish. We were playing at a small pub, the song in question had the lyric 'you call out my name' just before the middle 8, at which point I 'inadvertently' blurted out 'w*nker' at the top of my voice just as the band dynamics went quiet. The vocalist instantly turned around and came at me, I'm trying to fend him off with my bass whilst still playing, the band keep playing but have joined the audience in that they've turned around to face the debacle at the back of the stage and are laughing. I wasn't sure how long I could keep up my defence when the vocalist, in the spirit of the show must go on, went back the mic. After the show I expected more of the same but he did his usual disappearing act but this time for good, which did solve this issue of whether he was going to stay in the band. Of course, once the band realised he wasn't coming back he became the greatest vocalist ever and apparently it was all my fault we were now not going to reach the dizzying heights of fame!

Just to expand on this idea, how about the the theme from Jaws that speeds up as it approaches a detected person? 🦈

OK. Gap Year. Stick with it. It's good. This was a memorable gig for all the most cringe of reasons. So... this was down in Cornwall on a massive private estate in the middle of nowhere. It turned out to be for the wedding of the son of a Lord (I won't divulge names as he's quite trackable). Working through some of the events of the day - 1. We were asked to get changed in the servants quarters in the house. We were told that "Tarquin" would let us in and show us to the room where we can get changed. As the good lord told us - "Tarquin. Philippino bloke... but awfully nice. He'll show you the way." I don't think Tarquin was Tarquin's real name - and I don't know why a he would be anything but awfully nice... but there you go. 2. We went off to get changed and whilst in the toilets, a tin box was noticed on top of the back of the toilet cistern. It was inscribed with William and Cathrine. After some keen googling, I found out that it was a cake tin from the Royal Wedding. That was the first indication that these folks were connected as up until this name, we only had the name of the events organiser. For anybody interested, the tin looked like this: 3. We went through the hallway (on the way to our holding room with the hired help) and the place was full of the family with their more famous family members... including one who probably wasn't sweating in the photograph and a picture of the lord with Charlie boy. As the evening progressed, we realised that we were in the company of some quite notable people... and our "warm up" act (who was providing the music during pre dinner drinks) would appear to be somebody of pop royalty (I'm shocked that they didn't just get her band to play). Anyway, that's probably a story for another day... Carrying on... 4. The marquee was built onto a hillside - a platform had been built on stilts to have the marquee on the level - but give the infinity views out the side of the marquee. Pretty impressive stuff. This marquee was absolutely massive - with large lounging areas, separate bars, the main eating area, indoor fountains... just think of something completely over the top and multiply it by ten. The band area was a separate "surprise unveiling" - in that it looked like (from the inside of the marquee) it was just the side of the marquee... but it then opened up into a.. err.. nightclub in a marquee. So this brings us to our first notable incident. We were running on a generator - presumably the same one that was powering the whole of the marquee. There was a lot to power - and probably of note was the huge chandelier and hanging illuminated pinata (but more on that later). As we soundcheck, there was what I could only describe what felt and sounded like a bomb going off. The whole ground shook and the sound was just louder than anything I'd ever heard. Everything inside power wise, was dead. We went out to the generator was located, and there we found that the top of the generator had been blown clean off. Cue the electricians (whole team of them) trying to get phone signal to source another generator. To be fair, they sorted it pretty quickly. They'd got a make shift generator running and then another lorry turned up with whatever was needed to restore power. I had thought that would be the end of events... but turned out, that was only the start of the fun. 5. We went to the catering tent - and jeez, you have seen nothing like it on this planet... Curiously enough, despite the immense catering facilities, outside the marquee, there were two complete stoners (like, obviously stoned) cooking up some dubious looking meat in a dubious, patently unsafe oven, out in the open for all to see... with their rust bucket of a van parked next to them. Clearly there was something not quite right... so being a member of the band (which gives you the right to speak to folk, right?), I struck up a conversation. Turns out these chancers were cooking the meat for one of the main courses - which I seem to recall was something rare and oxen like. I asked them how they got the gig... and apparently, the client had been ringing around catering people to see if anybody knew how to cook this thing. It would seem nobody else would go near it... but this pair told me that they had said "yes, do it all the time, no problem". I looked at him... and he pre-empting me, he responded, "yes, we've never cooked it before, but I mean, how hard can it be?". You could see and feel the tension between the catering crew and the stoners... who by the end of the night couldn't stand due to their alcohol consumption. Hilarious. From a bystanders point of view. And no, I didn't partake in the food. Come to think of it though, I can't actually recall eating anything. Probably had a bag of crisps in the van. 6. We'd all sound checked and was waiting in the house ready for "the call" after the speeches. It was delayed... and delayed... and delayed. The speeches hadn't even happened... so I went out to investigate. Turns out that the best man had told the groom not to marry the bride whilst waiting at the altar as she was only after his money. She clearly was... just after the money. He - socially awkward, dweeby, pretty ugly (trying not to be too unkind here) guy... her, super model looks but not the err... supporting pedigree shall we say. It was clear who her guests were and who the grooms were. Anyway, turns out, one of the brides friends had overheard this and told the bride. Naturally, the bride went off the hook at the groom shortly after the matrimonial vows had been exchanged. Unbeknown to us, the whole day was running late as the bride and groom had vanished and spent the day arguing in the grounds. The wedding breakfast had mostly gone ahead without the bride and groom being present. 7. Eventually, about 11 o'clock (that's PM), the speeches happened. There had been some cooling off by this point and the best man got up to do his speech. Lets just say, he started the speech with (and I paraphrase here), "it all started as an unlucky chance meeting on a gap year in Ghana where the "happy" couple met. He then proceeded to rip into the bride. The father of the bride then ripped the mic out of the best mans drunken hands and kicked him out of the marquee. Then started another half hour of chaos and guest awkwardness. The father of the groom came across to me and apologised and said he would still try and make the first dance go ahead. 8. The first dance. Probably the most memorable first dance I have ever had the (dis)pleasure of seeing. About quarter to midnight, the "nightclub" was revealed. Bride and groom were dragged onto the dance floor (literally) and told to dance as they were causing embarrassment. (I found this so funny - like the most embarrassing thing for the family at this point was the reluctance to have a first dance?! ). We played "You're Too Good To Be True". I remember this sequence of events like they were only yesterday - a - band starts b - bride and groom do nothing c - singer prompts - "this is your time to shine x and y" d - nothing e - father of groom appears with a sword f - groom puts his hands awkwardly on brides hips g - bride removes grooms hands from her hips h - bride is standing there, groom is dancing in front of her like an awkward Alan Partridge. i - father of groom gives sword to groom j - father of groom whispers in groom ear k - groom jabs heart pinata with sword l - confetti falls on the happy couple, causing the bride to roll her eyes and storm off stage m - we finished song with groom just quivering in the middle of the dancefloor, the guests having remained absolutely quiet and motionless (even whilst the band was doing the baa daa baa daa!! bit...) n - the singer turns around and asks what we should do next, we just shrug - the dancefloor is now empty and some of the guests are dispersing o - father of groom comes over to band and mimics the hand to the neck movement (cut it there) p - he speaks to me - "you're only contracted to midnight and I dont think anybody is in the mood for music anyway" q - we start packing up at about 5 minutes to midnight in absolute silence. No music, no talking, nobody in the marquee was talking. I don't think the band spoke to each other until we were all back in the van. r - father of groom gives me an envelope "for our troubles". (I should have mentioned we had already been paid up front anyway... so I think this was embarrassment money) s- we drive out the venue, having packed up, past the bride and groom who were arguing at the gate which was at the perimeter of the field we were in. We wound down the window and thanked them before wishing them a very happy life together. So yeah. that was a memorable one. I've never been paid so much for 4 minutes of playing. (If you are wondering, my rate that night for playing was £150/minute)

I know people will say I've paid over the odds for a bit of thin plywood, but I have an old Kay guitar and despite the cheap as chips construction it has a decent neck and great vintage sound, made better by fitting a Tune-o-matic bridge. So, when I saw this hadn't sold at £150 I thought I'd offer £75 for it, on the grounds that it would make a nice looking thing on the wall. After courier issues, it eventually got collected and arrived today. In its original case - like a long, thin cardboard suitcase with a divider inside. Surprisingly clean, but it may have spent up to 50 years in a loft, inside the case. Action was high, but I was able to drop it right down from 1/4". It would go lower, but the A-string is an unmatched one with a piano style bridge end so it's about half a mm lower than the other strings. New strings will sort this. The bridge cover has its foam but it has 'set' so it doesn't reach the lowered strings. headstock logo has gone sometime, serial number sticker is classic Kay/Teisco shape, but the text has worn off, the embossed serial number is just visible 400549. A serial number website from 2013 tells about a legendary spreadsheet for dating them, but doesn't have it as a download! Bass is super light, almost toy-like but fun to play. Sound is rounded, thumpy and vintage. For the price, I think it's a lovely bit of musical heritage. If @Bassassin is out there, I've read some of your previous comments on these, any further thoughts? Surely that isn't the original, moved, thumb rest?

Late 90s Aria with Barts. Light, nice action, ergonomically nice to play.... surprisingly average sound. I'm guessing that the original MIK EQ is a bit crap, so it's going in for new pots etc. Anyone know anything about the Bartolinis? Any danger they designed to be active? This bass is passive. Other than the sound at this point, I'm very happy with it.

The hidden cost of owning that bass - having to MOT it every year!

That would be the preamp in my Dean Exotica acoustic bass. To the best of my knowledge, the only acoustic bass with the Aphex System electronics.

Your mum sounds like a wise woman.

Depends entirely on the look of the band.

Wilkes used to put 'percussive' plates on their fretless basses.

Pic...

What I'm told

If you ever want to hate on a bass player... give them a dep gig. "Yeah, just standard stuff, no sweat". Just don't tell them it's jazz standards.

I decided today that I'd fettle my old Godin fretless as I've not played it for a while due to the fact I had a few issues with it: 1. overpowering E string. 2. treble side slightly high at bridge. 3. bad static/crackle when adjusting the sliders. 4. intermittent fault on the output. Whipped the bridge/piezo out and someone has previously fitted a nasty shim... removed and that fixed 1 & 2. Took out the preamp / EQ and cleaned the slider tracks with anti-static spray and a cotton bud (very dirty)... fixed 3. Took off the output plate/jack and hey presto a chunk of tin foil trapped in between the contacts! No idea how that got in there or why but it isn't in any more. Glad I dived in and did that as the bass plays and sounds lovely. Moral of the story; don't put off till tomorrow!

Nah.

That reminds me of gig we did in small pub in the 80s. There was no stage and we were just set up at one end of the room. Fairly early on in the set an oldish drunken punter was already on his feet dancing in the space in front of us, but he was gradually encroaching into our space. As he started get too close for comfort the guitarist gave me the nod, went forward got behind him and got on his knees. Meanwhile I was right in front of the guy mirroring some of his moves and he was loving it, right up until the point where I backed him up into the prone guitarist, and over he went. The rest of the audience could see what was coming and thought it was hilarious. Looking back I suppose we could have ended up injuring him but fortunately he was so drunk I don’t think he knew, or cared. It seemed like a good ruse at the time.

Some time in 2006 I had a gig with the motown band I was in at a bar on site at RAF base in Northcote, NE London. A band that @Beedster stepped in to replace me after I moved on. It was a 20 minute drive from Shepherds Bush and I managed to get to the gig about half an hour before we went on. Everything under control. My girlfriend at the time even decided to tag along just to hear the band as well. So I started the unloading process...speakers...amp...cables....and... No 1979 Musicman Stingray. I turned to my gf and asked in slightly concerned tones Me: 'F***! Where's my bass?!' Her: 'You didn't pack it?' Me: 'You carried it out for me, remember? You were in the car when I closed the car boot so I assumed you packed it. Where did you leave it?!' Her: 'I left it leaning against the fence next to the car ready for you to put in the car.' Me: '!?*!!%#@!' There in followed a twenty minute mercy dash back to my flat only to find nothing outside. I frenetically searched the apartment and was about to give up when there was a knock at the door. I sloped down the stairs to find my Russian neighbour two doors down from me, holding my bass. Apparently he'd caught a shifty looking couple walking off with it. He pulled them up and they claimed someone had left it out for recycling but thankfully my neighbour knew it wasn't the kind of bass that someone recycles I nearly cried with relief but there was no time. Back in the car for another dash up the A40 back to the gig and I made it...ten minutes late, sweating like a pig but with bass in hand.

I’ve always liked the melodica, inspired really by Augustus Pablo but I’ve never got around to buying one, I’m watching a vintage one on eBay at the moment, I play a bit of piano so I’m hoping that will help although the melodica is in a different position, apart from that it’s only bass for me 🙂

There I was, in the middle of a very sensible Reduction In Force (I CAN'T do justice to more than 4 basses) when up pops this beauty on eBayI've always liked this bass, and it ticked a lot of boxes for me (mahogany, semi-hollow, f-hole, Matt finish, piezo), but I felt it was overpriced. "No", says I, "be strong", then the seller dropped the price by £100! Too good to resist, so the credit card took a punch to the nose... When it arrived, I was slightly underwhelmed, but I knew I would be: I'd played two examples previously, and both were the same- the piezo just swamped the magnetic pickup, to the point where it served no purpose. The second tryout, I raised the pickup to the point where it could compete, and I could see the potential. This one, though, was the other way around, the piezo was anaemic. Also, I didn't like the fact that although the neck is subtly lined, those lines don't extend over the top. This looks nice and sleek with the binding, but the player has to lean over the fingerboard to see where he is. Also, I don't like the Chromes it came with, they always sound sterile to my ears. SO ... Sell it on, or...? Investigation in the cavity revealed a trim pot for the piezo, and the balanced sound works well. Some 'skillful' use of yellow tape on the neck: A new set of Thomastik flats, and it's become, and likely to remain, my favourite bass! It's light, balances well, has nice simple controls ( vol/ tone x2 ), and sounds just fantastic with both pickups- tight and focussed with the Bartolini, and loads of girth and texture with the piezo. I'm a happy bunny.

Many years ago I was playing in a covers band. We had a gig at a caravan park. During the gig someone came up and asked the singer if we could dedicate a song to his father as it was his birthday. The singer duly obliges "this next one is for Joe Bloggs, happy birthday" We launch into the next song on the list. Half way through our rendition of knocking on heaven's door we notice a guy in a wheelchair being pushed up the front wearing a large home made badge with the number 80 on it.