Leaderboard

We played Silja Rocks last night, my first gig on a cruise ship going between Helsinki and Stockholm. We were first on in the starlight Bar opening for Michael Schenker. I was travelling light using my Ibanez shorty and a Zoom B1 four using the house rig. I’d been picked up at 0120 to get a flight from Heathrow at 0730. Travel all went without a hitch. When we arrived we were disappointed that what was provided didn’t match what had been promised, main worry being no backup instruments. I risked it and Del managed to blag a Les Paul from another band. I ended up going through an EBS Fafner 600 and a Markbass 4x10. I had a lovely tone but I had to seriously crank the volume to get loud enough which again leads me to blather on about how loud my Bugera 1001T is. Our drummer was struggling as he had a seriously crap kit to play on which was a shame. On the plus side, stage and FOH staff were all fab and we had a great stage sound and apparently FOH was epic too. We had an absolute blast and went down a storm. We made a point of watching a part of Schenker’s set. He had a great band behind him and they were on fire. Finished with a raft of UFO numbers and I was in my element. Currently sharing a bus back to the airport with his band (minus Michael) and they’re all great guys. Still pinching meself about how this is all going in my retirement, honestly! Caviar for breakfast and as many Maoams as I could eat - heaven!

Greyhound in Sutton Bridge tonight with 4 Play. See, there’s four people in the band and we play music. Clever! (Not my idea it was like that when I got here nothing to do with me officer). Starting to gel nicely. Now need to work on removing the drummer from BVs and getting guitarist to leave more of them to me. And need to sort his pedal board. About 3 drive pedals, badly chosen delay settings, and a mix of digital and analogue on a non-isolated PSU. Ground hum, anyone? Very Fen, but the crowd were up for it, good sound, we played well! Nothing til 22 October now sadly. ALL FINGER AND WRIST PARTS SURVIVED WITHOUT INCIDENT FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR. HALLE fudging LUJAH 😁

Pretty chuffed with this little compact board. It does everything I need...

I did an outdoor unrehearsed 45 minute set last night with a guitarist I’ve done a lot with in the past. His son was due to play drums but was delayed at work so we roped a guy we knew who was there to play for the first few songs. He’s a talented keys player and did ok on drums but…..what creased me up was, as his son arrived, the guitarist announced “Thanks to Pete Best, but Ringo has arrived”. Classic. And I played my CIJ 62RI P bass for the first time in a while - there is something about a P bass.

Well. It’s been a while. 1993 Ken Smith Burner Arrived after a lengthy trip from Switzerland 😊 Had one before - really, really lovely.

Swede Child Of Mine - G&R

Bjorn In The 50s - The Police

After going through some 9 different basses since January and as many string sets, it would appear this is the n.1. A very "banal" Squier Affinity PJ. It has pieces of paper in the bridge as the springs rattle. I will find a more elegant solution but I am not that bothered. The black knobs with inlays are from another bass. I put them there because they are heavier than the stock ones and the bass is slightly neck heavy. The truss rod has somewhat limited range (although sufficient at the end of the day), and has a permanent stain on the back of the neck. The fact that the neck was in poor state gave me confidence to do some work on it. I filed a couple of high frets, I filed the nut slots. Most likely I have done a poor job by a pro's standards, but it all worked. I can get just enough relief and the neck plays very nicely. I have put tonerider pickups on (with KIOgon loom) and they are amazing. Strings are Labella LTF which after breaking in sound just beautifully. The next step is installing Hipshot licensed ultralight tuners (I have bought them already) to improve balance. They should be more than sufficient. I am also considering adding finish. I like glossy necks, they just need sone care, and hopefully this will improve neck stability. It's not like I have to fiddle with the truss rod regularly because the neck moves, but sometimes I find that after a day it goes sharp instead of flat. I guess all this does not sound like the dream bass, but that's all I was looking for: a bass that sounds great, plays comfortably, and is not heavy. It took me a while to get here.

On a personal note, I would much rather stumble on a cheap bass that sounds and plays superbly, and gets loads of positive feedback from other musos, than a top end super expensive "Name" bass that does the same. Because I would expect the top end bass to sound great, and so would everyone else. Nothing beats a one in a thousand cheapy blowing the doors off.

My dad recently passed away leaving a collection of guitars and basses, including a travis bean which I believe to be a tb2000 with the serial number 222… it is in immaculate condition and would just like any info on it and a rough price check as from my research they vary quite alot. Funnily enough there is a post from 2017 in which someone talks about owning this one? Not looking to sell as the collection has sentimental value. Thanks in advance!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, biker clubs and hells angels are a lot less bother than regular pubs for misbehaviour.

Well, no cigar yet...but close Final pre-paint carve work was to inset the jack plate: Then trial 2 with the primer and pink: The back is completely grain-free now. At first glance, the top looks OK too: But there's still a bit of grain showing: But that's it I will be able to fill and sand that back and then start on the final coats. Oh, and headstock

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I'm working on a "pick attack", I'll have something this year. It's not hard to implement; more a matter of testing different designs for sound qualities, and deciding exactly how to fit it into the modular scheme. Right now I'm testing a filter that can function similar to the Wal (in the schematic above) but a different topology that can do other things as well. My goal isn't to copy a Wal, but it should sound pretty close when tuned the same.

What's He Building In There? - Tom Waits

You're doing it wrong x2

Youghourt The Love - Florence & The Machine

Interest rates have just jumped here , so the cost of debt will rise. I’m thankful the mortgage is paid.

Played a village hall gig, which was basically a favour for a friend of one of the guitarists. Usual squashed into a corner stuff made worse by said guitarist/vocalist having messed his back up and having to sit throughout the gig, reducing available space even further. Band had nearly split up a month or so ago when the drummer walked. We had a new guy who had done a couple of rehearsals with us. Fortunately he is our local equivalent of Charlie Watts and slotted straight in with metronomic precision. Plus side also is that he brought an electronic kit, thus requiring less of the meagre space available. Problems with the digital mixer meant we had virtually no sound check. I used my recently acquired Barefaced Two10S with my Orange Terror 500 for a small footprint and my custom P/J with LaBella flats. Yep, vintage, on vintage, on vintage, without the sound check to adjust EQ: note to self, if you want to be more than a rumble, use at least one modern voiced bit of kit. Fortunately it went well despite the other guitarist doing Here Comes the Sun with his capo a semitone out, forcing on the fly transposition: somehow a semitone is harder than a full step Guitarist no 2 just stopped playing for the whole number 😏.

Nice work, my friend! Met a sweaty Schenker in 1980. He had been widdling for 4 hours in a rehearsal room we were next to occupy, clad only in a Flying V (natch) and a pair of silk shorts! Nothing like as great as your tale, but all I can offer…

Got this NG-2 to try out - very different sound to my D-Roc and surprisingly lower output (passive) even with same pickups, setup height etc. The strings are not Dingwall (not sure what they are) so might change to my 'normal' set before being sure. I was a bit hesitant at the 2 pickup version initially, but I think it looks better than the 3, and has enough sounds in it as it is, plus I have the D-Roc if needed. EDIT: Output is not lower, it just had Grossman strings on it, which seem to be quieter than Dingwall strings.

All of my favourites have been mentioned , but how about a shout out for these guys? All great players on some fantastic recordings. Herbie Flowers Mo Foster Russ Stableford Alan Spenner Klaus Voorman

Inflation is rocketing for several reasons including a supply side crisis and rising fuel costs. The situation in the UK is even worse as we have a weak currency. Most commodities are traded in $s. As the £ has fallen 14% against the $ and is anticipated to fall further costs will continue to go up. Its a tricky situation to get out of. As we import more than we export the £ in our pocket will continue to be devalued and costs will continue to rise.

Already done one gig today - a kid’s birthday party with my “rock band for kids”. It was great, and if I’m allowed to share any pics later on I will - short version is it was the kid of a relatively famous drummer so they are understandably nervous of too many pics getting out. Just learning songs for the second one, a pub/club gig in Eastbourne depping for our @Graham again 🤓 (There’s a last minute dep guitarist too, so the setlist has had a slight tweak and that means three songs I’ve never played 😎)

Does anyone on the audience actually care as long as it sounds right ? I can see that a seven string fanned fret bass might spoil the mood. But J Vs P ?

I have a bit of hard earned money sitting in Premium Bonds, wife gave me the thumbs up to draw some of it down and buy something that might appreciate over the next few years. Having missed out on the Slash Les Paul 4 and the two Korina 58 reissues of the Explorer and Flying V, she suggested I should start small (I'm not looking to make zillions out of this) and see what happens. So I did what any bassist would do under the circumstances and spent a ridiculous amount (albeit a fair price) on something that I pick it up next Saturday. Not saying what, but it's not a bass. Quite excited. I definitely have my eye on something else that should be coming this year, too. I will be discussing this when I collect.

I’m sure others will be along soon to give their suggestions, but my favourite, which has served me well for years is the Mono Classic gig bag for bass guitar. Not cheap, but ticks the boxes.

Los Bitchos in Bedford. All female instrumental band... here's a KEXP performance. they are down to a 4 piece now I think... only one guitar now.

Is it that tiara on eBay, “fits small woman, no longer required”?

Shipbuilding ～ Elvis Costello

Dog-Like Sparky - Cardiacs

It takes practice to get used to muting an additional string, that's all. It is frustrating because it feels like a step back, but you'll soon figure it out. I don't know how long it took me to be 'ok', but it was not as long as I feared. At the same time I'm not as good as I'd like, but part of the reason is these days I barely slap. However, what I noticed since I started playing primarily 5 strings: While slapping, my right hand moves a lot less. When I first started slapping I'd swing my forearm wildly. As I got better, the movements become more economical. With the 5 string I tend to mute the B string a bit with my palm, and in that position there is not a lot of movement, just the wrist. The other thing is that if I'm hitting the E string, I've started to wrap my left thumb over the edge of the fingerboard, and gently touching the B string, muting it. That way if I touch the B string while hitting the E, I still just get the E string ringing. These things just sort of... happened. Just like I never really set out with a plan to mute unused stings on a 4-string bass... I just played the thing and subconsciously found ways to play more cleanly. This is the same. It doesn't take very long! Just stick with it. In my case, after having owned 5-string basses on and off but never bonding with any, last year I found one that felt right. It sounded good, felt good... and I started using it regularly. Then I decided to use the 5-string exclusively at home. When practicing songs that we play live and live I still used a 4-string, I'd play them as if the B didn't exist. Eventually, after not that long, it all started to feel comfortable, and now I prefer 5 strings, but I swap around and I play 4/5 string basses with equal comfort. I think I just had to push myself a bit at first, but once you reach a certain level of confidence you're well on your way and number of strings is not an issue (well, until I try a 6er )

I've got a story about meeting Mr Schenker at a party in the early 80s - not sure that it's suitable for Basschat though...!

Bet it sounds good in the mix!

As a fretless player (almost exclusively these days) I’d go for John Giblin any day of the week.

If there are people who will quibble over you using a J instead of a P then they'll probably also quibble you using a J that looks like a P instead of a P. If you're going all out on the tribute act then you may as well get a P from somewhere

The origins of this shape is from wooden Affirma (AFR), designed by the late Rolf Spuler. Production at the Ibanez factory (whichever it was) started in the early 90's. There are slightly modified reissues available, too.