Leaderboard

I popped back yesterday and ended up having a chat with someone who lives on the floor below mine; he said that a B&W cat had been in and out (and in and out and ...) of the church they opened up round the corner to take in the residents (As they had all flooded out in their nightwear and were not let back in again till the next morning). I choose to believe it was Kitty Kitty x

A bit 'meh' to be honest. We played a 70th birthday which was weird off the bat, but aside from the birthday (ahem) girl herself everybody else there was under 50. 70 isn't like old old, so it's not as if all of her friends her own age were dead or anything. Anyway as it was mostly familes and small children we played really quietly and aside from 2 or 3 people on a few songs towards the end nobody danced or really cared all night long. Still, we got paid a princely sum and ate social club buffet so what can you do?

Played ‘A New Day’ festival. Had a great slot as the penultimate band squeezed in between Jethro Tull and Ten Years After. I was using a new (to me) Schroeder 2 x 12 cab (1212L). It’s a tiny thing that I bought off here a couple of weeks ago. One of the drivers is angled off to the side. Was also the first gig for my Sire V9 which I’ve just withdrawn from sale. We’re travelling to a festival in Liege today and I didn’t want to risk my Rik at customs! Anyway, the Schroeder, driven by my Bugera 1001T absolutely blew me (and band mates) away. Incredibly loud and seems to defy the laws of physics, Nice n punchy too! overall, the sound was impeccable. We played a blinder and the crowd responded in spades. I think the Sire is gonna get some more exposure too. Really handy being able to tweak the tone from the bass rather than the amp and absolutely zero neck dive. Nice looker too! Happy colin!

The 59 Les Paul is only going to get comparatively cheaper over time. Of the 600 or so made in 1959, there are only about 3000 remaining. And that number continues to rise...

This is why I should't be left alone during the week. I asked a friend about his Mustang bass, and he said I could borrow it to try out. I told myself it was so my niece could have her own bass when she comes round to 'play guitar' (which mostly consists of her pressing all the buttons and moving all the dials in my office/studio) I expected to want to change a few things on the bass ('Go for it' he said), but when it arrived I was floored with the little thing. I haven't played a Squier since my first bass, which was an Affinity P bass, which was great, but the neck in particular was pretty anaemic looking. This thing has a lovely dark tint; the fretwork is great (amazing for £300!) and I'm able to get a fairly low action without problems. I don't even mind the strings, despite having ordered some La Bella flats for it - I rather like the raspy little pickup and the poky sound. It's like a small happy dog and my regular P is like a calm Labrador. So now I have a pack of La Bella 760-MUS flats doing nothing. And you know what that means. I have gone fully down the rabbit hole, reading all about Mustangs and their history, even going back to Geddy Lee's book where they must have passed me by previously (tbh I was expecting Geddy to have some Stingrays, anyone know why not?) So then I bought this, because that's probably sensible right? A few days later I had a big vets bill which meant selling a lot of things (actually it was quite good to have a clear out) but when you're paying about £500 to boil a pan of water it puts things into perspective, so I decided to honour the agreement and get this thing posted. As you can see, it's a 1966 Mustang, from the first year of production - which would normally go for about £4500, but since this has been modified, allegedly in the 70s, with P/J pickups, it was to my mind great value. I'm not particularly worried about absolute originality, and rather like modified basses, especially if it makes them cheaper. The body, neck, hardware are all original as far as I know, and working perfectly. The neck is straight, the fretwork is lovely and the feel of the thing is spot on. Broken in but looked after, I'd say. The tuners are the lollipop style found for a short time around '66 when Fender made them in house to cut costs, I believe. The pickups are (we think) dimarzio (neck) and Fender (bridge) but I'll confirm at some stage. They sound great together, giving a nice 60s jazz growl together and individually the P sounds fantastic, like a mid heavy slightly more rubbery P sound with lots of articulation. The Jazz soloed is burpy and tight and not lacking in guts. Playing over the back pickup is more comfortable for me than on a regular sized jazz (not that full scale basses are difficult for me, I just wanted a mini P bass really) The slab body, as with my Stingray, to my eyes looks amazing (on the Squier, too) and really suits the narrower body. Super comfortable to rest your arm on, allowing the hand to naturally fall over the back of the P pickup. The controls are vol/vol - I am tempted to have them changed to balance/tone but I'm playing this bass 99% at home through my studio/headphone/bassboard setup where I can roll off the top end, although with flats and a custom foam insert (which slides in and out nicely) I'm really happy with the top end and can adjust it externally. I'll try and get some sounds recorded and post them here. The case is original and you can see the original owner was 'Victoria' which is pretty cool, can you imagine tracking her down now? Cheers ped

Hi folks I have lusted after an ACG bass for years and recently got a fantastic Retro B from Alan directly. Alan not only is an absolute gent but he is one of the finest bass builders in the world IMHO. Having a significant birthday on the way I thought it was only natural to commission a build from Alan. So after some online discussion with Alan he invited me down to his workshop to look at some woods for the body and neck and go through options for the pickups and preamp. Alan showed me an absolute stunner of a body that had been treated with Acrylic Resin. I also picked a beautiful acrylic impregnated fingerboard on a flame maple and wenge neck. For electronics it will be the ACG BZ1 pickup in the bridge and an ACG PB in the neck. For the preamp I chose the East uni pre. I’ll attach a picture of the body and neck and will update the diary when Alan sends me pics on the progress of the bass. Seriously if you haven’t tried an ACG bass before play one, they are absolutely stunning basses to play and Alan is a top chap and an amazing luthier.

1978 Fender Jazz. Refinished by previous owner. Originally Olympic White ?

Indeed I am! Here was my kit for the trial - a gasses/vapours repirator, heavy duty marigolds and safety over-glasses. To apply the two coats, I used small squares of cloth cut from an old T-shirt. For the trial wood, I used some paulownia offcut that I planed and sanded on both sides so that I could do a comparison of 'with and without' with the same abuse metered on the surfaces. This was a couple of thumbnail crosses pressed hard into the untreated side: And then turned over and the same treatment on the side that had two thin coats of CA glue applied (around 30 minutes between each coat with no accelerator on this particular trial): Good result!

Im not sure Rock has ever been as predominant in the general population as we think. Certain musicians are remembered as they wrote such decent music it survives across many generations but a quick google of uk top selling singles of the 1960s, 70s and 80s shows that other than the expected Beatles and Stones many of the legendary artists barely have a foothold. Sure they had a big sway in the music press and album sales but were not as omnipresent as would be expected. Most of the bands I loved in the 80s and 90s made far less money and received less airplay than Banarama or Wham!/Bros. My kids definitely play songs by Stone Roses, The Cure and The Specials though and haven’t even heard of Bananarama. I don’t think rock is quite dead yet, it’s just having a lie down.

Close, but in general use it refers to post WW Two babies and the usual time span is from 1946 to 1964 which makes me one, I'm from '46 and I am trying to ignore your reference to "checking out" soon, although of course I know you are right. How did I ever get to be 76? 🙄 Edit: In keeping with the topic of the thread I must tell you I still have and still play the Gibson J 50 Adj that I bought new in 1967 and it still sounds great and is worth a lot more than I paid for it, not that that was a factor way back then, I just wanted a good guitar.😊

A lot of truth in the statement on the JMJ

Take the money and consume the buffet 😊

Every time I see these mentioned I need to do a double take as my mind wants to read this:

My Sandberg with flats sounds the Deal

OK gig updates... Bass wasn't my main instrument of the week - I played mostly cello and some baritone sax. With the sax there were two performances at the end of the week. I played in a big band, which wasn't full size, made up of clarinet, trumpet, 2 tenor saxes, me on bari sax, bass and rhythm guitars, keys, and drum kit. We did a 30 minute set of a mix of stuff including Green Onions (something like this, La Bamba etc We played in the room that was set-up with the bar, rather than the main hall, so it meant people were dancing... The other bari performance was wind ensemble, where I was a substitute bassoon..., playing more classical repertoire. For string orchestra performance, I was the concertante cellist (soloist) in a concerto grosso by Stanley, plus 'Elegy' by Elgar. For orchestra, the main work was Haydn symphony 104: the first movement has a slow start then sets off...

@Happy Jack has pretty much nailed it. I used to run a jam session. You should understand that most Jam Sessions aren't really a free for all. there is usually a core of people who form a house band with vaguely rotating members. The organiser is usually being paid a few quid by the pub and so they have to make sure the music keeps on going and are at least not driving the other customers out of the pub. I had a couple of singers who would usually give me advance warning of what they wanted to sing and I'd have chord sheets available for some of the songs. Most popular songs have three or four chords and simple structures and anyone who has played in covers bands will have a few songs in common. Any 'jamming' is usually a guitar solo played over a single chord or either a verse or chorus repeated for far longer than is sensible I had a lot of bands come along and play half a dozen songs if they are 'between' gigs and a couple of acoustic acts who would just do their thing but borrow bass and drums. As for playing bass at these things, I'm the worlds worst improvisor and played some shocking mistakes. No-one seemed to notice, too busy dreaming up their own mistakes I guess. I prepared as best I could, made a note of songs I hadn't heard before and looked up the chord sequences. Keep the playing simple, root note only or root fifth. The most I would do would be simple 3 note arpeggios but the root is your friend. Oh and don't forget you can use dead notes when you haven't a clue what the guitars are doing. I loved it when the guitars were playing full chords for a song. If you recognise the chord you know what the root is, barred chords are easy to follow.

I don't have clue what a boomer is, but I can't see the market in old electric instruments lasting forever.

Another change up for me. First gig with it tomorrow. LS-2 acting as a tuner mute with Turbo Tuner on send of B Octamizer>Cali76>BassRig>Khan VTDI Cali76 running at 18V. IEC splitter sends power to the Khan and the GigRig Generator which powers the rest of the pedals. Khan’s DI out goes to the Rockboard XLR patch input, and the Thru jack goes to one of the 1/4” outputs if I need to use an amp. Temple USB adaptor for charging my iPad, and a spare 9v out (hanging loose at the bottom of the 2nd pic) for charging my bluetooth page turner. BassRig will pretty much just be an OD/Amp sim, but also function as a backup DI if needed.

I've always had a soft spot for 3 pickup basses, despite my oft-stated loathing of bridge pickups. I just think they look so damn cool. This is my third (how appropriate) - previously had a Gibson G-3 and a Danelectro Hodad. I don't count the two Gibson Grabber 3 70s Tributes I briefly owned as they were both defective and were returned. It's my thread, so I make up the rules! I was in Glasgow last week and as a poor deprived Aberdeen boy I could not be in Glasgow and not visit the guitar shops. First off, pleased to report that Guitar Guitar has reinstated their "bassment" and basses are now back downstairs and they have a lot more stock out on display. However, I also went into Merchant City Music and saw this: Oh dear, that's bloody nice, I thought to myself. So I had a try of it and I think I may have found a bridge pickup I actually like the sound of. Long story short, thanks to a very lovely, generous wife I now own this bass. So far only played it through headphones/Yamaha Sessioncake but it sounds good to me. The differences between the switch positions are subtle but noticeable. Will take it to a band rehearsal next week for a proper blast (where the pickup selections may have more effect). Digging the Reverend style - the modern retroness of it all. Plus I'm a sucker for block inlays. Everything is well put together - hardware is excellent (chunky bridge with choice of stringing through body or top load, Hipshot tuners), neck is good with no sharp fret ends - it feels like I got a lot of bass for the money.

bugger, gone too big for my board again.....and Origin Bass Rig not included!! ....not that this board ever goes out like this!

Try Solovair - Like buying a pair of 70's DM's. I think they bought the original plant or something

You might as well start getting ready to buy one, just like Thanos, it is inevitable...

That needs more knobs.

These are more like the Alembic/Wal/ACG thing than your usual auto wah or whatever. Just a different take on a treble control section, basically. 😉

Fell in love with an electra that @ots was selling, but I missed out. tracked a new one down (specific older model with maple fingerboard) at bass direct and it arrived yesterday. Had to fiddle around to sort out a buzzing 10th fret on E string, but sounding superb. 👌 👌 👌

I keep seeing used Summits hovering around the £1100 mark which just seems hugely tempting. I love my Bass Station II and it's left me something of a Novation fanboy. I had a Hydrasynth desktop which was fun for two weeks and then the screen died, so it went back for a refund. I've seen so much anecdotal evidence of crappy QC I've stayed away from them since. I think it's a great synth for sonic exploration but if you want to be able to just pull up recognisable sounds quickly you'd have to be very skilled at wavetable synthesis. I'd really struggle to recommend it as a main instrument for a musician in a band. I want to recommend a polybrute because I really want one, but I haven't actually used one so my opinion on that means precisely zero!

Agree, nowt wrong with supporting home grown businesses, but for me I’d be wanting something “extra” if the price was more than a comparable item manufactured elsewhere. Dr Martens spring to mind, their UK made boots are of a much better quality than the overseas made ones - with a price tag to reflect this of course.

When choosing a mic for a female singer, the most important thing is to avoid giant teddy bears.

I personally believe that there is nothing wrong in being supportive of your own country. We have fantastic engineers and manufacturers here. Ashdown, Barefacef, Status, etc It doesn’t automatically make you a racist to want to support these talented people. Just my 2 cents/Pennies!

I'm in the house band for a jam night. It's nominally labelled a blues jam, but we've had folk singers, a drum troupe, a guy on a didgeridoo and every permutation of 2 guitars, bass and drums. We also get the occasional keys players and a brass section. We've been going for over 20 years and have many regulars. We get serious people but the guys who get most out of it are there for a fun night. The one thing I hate with a passion is a badly played slow blues. . . . and Red House in particular. Jeez, show some imagination!! Anyway, turn up and tell the guy running it what you want to do. If they are any good at running jams, they'll try to put you together with people who will be able to support you. Of course you can end up with the guitarist from hell, but that's jam nights for you!

It's amazing. Enjoy! Once you get your head round the software and make some patches for yourself, it becomes a whole new beast. Also check out the Patch Directory via the software for patches by QM

Nothing to do with bitterns, then. I was born in 57, so I must be one as well (not a bittern, obviously).

Running On Empty - Jackson Browne

I was in a jazz groove trio (no vocals) and we ended up doing only festivals... not Glastonbury size ones but small festivals up and down the country and sometimes Europe. In a small venue we wouldn't go down that well, unless it was a jazz club, but the same audience at a festival would love it. Mainly I think because you've got a variety of music so now they have time for you. So we put our energies into doing odd ball small festivals mostly in the summer. Quality gigs and a responsive audience, plus as you say, you get to enjoy the other bands.

I wish you many more years of going boompity boom boom.

Boomer is short for ''50's baby boom born person''. Many due to check out in coming years.

It's 00:16 and I've just read this entire thread from start to finish twice and, guess what? I'm going to read it again.

UK Subs tomorrow night. Their last ever visit to my wee country before Uncle Charlie hangs up his creepers. Can’t wait!

I run a blues jam, so we tend to get variations on 12 bars. At least the ‘blues’ label discourages open-mic people - that’s a totally different kettle of fish. As Jack says, the vocalists call the shots, so pal up with one or try yourself. It’s non competitive and friendly, at least ours is, and we welcome new faces. Good luck…

Do Fender own Charvel? Look very like the Charvel basses minus the J pick up?

I’m down to 2 now but the ‘Squier’ has done about 200 gigs with me now. It’s like a pair of comfy slippers. Don’t try a JMJ.....it’ll make you want to buy one big time.

"Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work, you can always hit him with it." - Boris the Blade

Oh God ... he's lit the blue touchpaper ...