Leaderboard

TONIGHT! The Dysfunctionals 3 piece at O'Neill's Solihull. You know it's going to be a good one when you arrive at 7 and the place is packed (many of them drunk and pissed up on booze) and the dancefloor's full. At 7 o'clock! Arse of a load in through the full dancefloor, setup all pretty normal... speedier than usual if anything. The DJ was a bit weird - he kept doing Tony Blackburn style talking along to the tunes which was hilarious. Went on to an excited/feral crowd, dancefloor was packed from the first song, IEM mix was absolutely perfect, Bass sounded great, drummer was smashing it... pretty much a dream set. The 80s numbers (Tainted Love (Yes, I know it's technically a 60s song, but you know what I mean), Don't you want me baby? and another one that I can't remember) seemed to go down the best for some reason - no-one in there looked old enough to remember the 90s, let alone the 80s. Quick vape and Shandy break, got accosted (not physically) in the gents by a bloke telling me how much he loved punk and Nirvana and that we should do Teen Spirit or some X-Ray Spex (?!)... I politely demurred but he really wasn't having it, bless him. Second set was even better than the first, Nirvana man came up midway through (mid song!) waving his phone at me, with Teen Spirit on Youtube... I told him (again) that we don't do that one I'm afraid, he got rather cross and started telling me how easy it is and what a good song it is. 🤪 Two terrifyingly huge, tattoo'd bouncers appeared halfway through the set and stationed themselves on stage, which was worrying and reassuring in equal measure. I think they were just keeping an eye out for any ne'er-do-wells, rapscallions and/or miscreants as there was no trouble. The drummer got propositioned twice (mid set (he is gorgeous TBF)), my wireless dancefloor visit had me surrounded by a gaggle of absolute honeys, the holy trinity of Saturday night pub covers (Dakota, Sex on fire, Brightside) went down an absolute storm (knock 'em all you want, drunk people love them) Nirvana man shouted for Teen Spirit (AGAIN) as an encore (We didn't play it), the singers voice held out (just), the encore (The Oasis one about Sally being able to wait) had the whole place up... an absolutely belting time was had by all. Same setup as last night (Sterling -> Newly expanded small pedalboard -> Amp board (VTDI set to 'Warm compression' or 'Fat Tube'... something like that) -> Mark CMD 121 -> PA) with Leopard print Converse, foot fans! Nirvana man came up AFTER WE'D FINISHED and asked for Teen Spirit again. He really likes that song apparently. Load out was a ton of fun (through a packed dancefloor (many of them drunk and pissed up on booze)), fifteen minutes back to my Dad's place to three cats who swore blind they'd not been fed in weeks (I'd fed them about six hours previously), a pint of Old Pa StingRayBoy's homebrew Whiskey cider (ABV unknown) and a fish finger, smokey bacon and St Agur blue creme sandwich. With chips. Best night I've had in ages.

I keep telling myself to stop acquiring more gear - anybody that knows me also knows that I don't listen!! Beautiful Maruszczyk (I'm going to have to learn how to spell Adrian's surname!!) Mensinger custom 5 with Poplar eye front, Mahogany body 30" neck and matching headstock. Came fitted with flats and plays like a dream...lovely low action and super smooth neck. Hope you fellas like it as much as I do...

Played a boozer in Worthing (the Egremont) with our AC/DC tribute’BAD BOY BOOGIE’. Hard to believe that the band’s been going for 30 years! We’re all old mates and it’s such a laugh. Only do about 3/4 gigs a year with it now but it’s always a craic and last night was no exception. Got a lift too so enjoyed having a few beers with it as well. We dress up with the wigs and all that and don’t take ourselves seriously but the audience always love it, who doesn’t like a bit of DC ! Actually got another one nxt Friday at the cavern in new Malden. Rock ‘n roll xx🤣

Couple of gigs at the weekend. Friday night was playing at a wedding with the blues band - I know, I couldn’t quite get it either. Venue was a nice country hotel that I’ve done many times before in my old function outfit. Arrived in good time to find another band soundchecking, hadn’t realised they were on as well. Good thing though, as it meant we could set up in front of them, play an hour as guests arrived and then quick pack down and out. We played the more commercial stuff in our repertoire and actually got a few up dancing, but it was a bit of a strange situation - the bride and groom are fans of ours so they called the shots on who they wanted I guess. I used my Precision Lyte into the Rumble 500 combo, and it was fine as usual. We got packed down fairly quickly, and then myself and the drummer availed ourselves of the rather nice hot buffet whilst listening to the function band. Home by just gone 10pm so not too shabby. Sunday evening was another of our trips up to Scarborough with the acoustic duo to play at The Lookout cafe bar on the pier in the harbour. Weather was great despite storm warnings, and another full house at the venue including an old friend who sometimes joins us on bigger gigs playing keys. Usual request format , with standout tunes being some jazz standards ( All the way, Moon River and They can’t take that away from me ), our version of ‘Green Onions’ (which I’m unsure that the requestee knew was a Hammond organ feature), and finished up with some Floyd - ‘Wish you were here’ into ‘Another brick in the wall’. Another enjoyable evening, and we return there in a couple of weeks. 😊

Stockton on Friday night. This is a fair old drive from Stoke. I'm not sure if I've fully ranted about our van #vantanamo on here before but it is absolute torture. Any other 6ft members here forced to endure a Transit Custom? Anyway this was a killer journey. We went straight to a premier inn to get keys and drop off bags. When we parked up the roadie flipped out. Apparently no-one told him we were staying over in Stockton so he'd not brought any toiletries or clothes! 🤣 The gig was at NE Volume Music Bar which is pretty cool. Stockton looked a little dire (and I'm from Stoke) so I didn't wander around town. A lovely rider of home made veg curry and an assortment of snacks and beers. The room was pretty full when we went on and they seemed to know all the words. Such a great feeling to be able to do this so far away from home! We played 1hr 30. It was incredibly warm on stage and I was fully soaked. I drank 2 litres of water and 660ml of Punk IPA on stage. I had a pint of beer after the set, then another after the load out. Too much information perhaps but I didn't need the bathroom until we got to the hotel! I was starting to get very worried but I guess I sweated all that out! One for The Road festival at Fulford Arms in York on Saturday night. A shorter 45 minute set at this one. I was cajoled into using the house drum kit again. I need to remember why I usually refuse. The hi-hat stand was basically broken and the bass drum wouldn't stay still. Terrible sound after a rushed line check. This is all stuff that would ruin my night years ago but we're so used to it now. We smashed the set and went down really well, although I don't think there was anyone there who wasn't already a fan. Long drive back to Stoke got me to bed at 2AM Sunday morning

Bought this recently becuase I needed a 2nd bass, I have my P (first ever bass) but wanted something with a different tone, and my favourite ever bassist (Roger Lima from Less Than Jake) plays them pretty much exclusively. I was going to get a Stingray but when I found out that Roger plays a USA Sterling I started looking into it. I have quite short arms and fingers so thought the smaller body and slimmer neck might be good (tried a jazz bass and hated it). Went to try this one and it fitted like a glove, I just couldn’t believe how comfy it was. Considered it for a day or so as this is only my second bass and a lot of money for me but in the end I went for it. In very good condition for a 2007 bass, the body has some minor marks and a couple of chips in the back (which I will touch up) but the frets are almost perfect and the neck/head perfect. it came with a pearl pick guard but included the original black one too so I fitted the black one which I prefer. Took it apart a bit to polish the frets and all the metalwork, set the neck and check the intonation, everything works perfectly And it sounds AMAZING. Apparently the pickup/preamp drives harder than a Stingray but never played a Ray a/B with this one so wouldn’t know. Turn the bass and mids up a bit and it’s just wonderful (novice so not sure how to describe it - just fat with a rounded zing?). Not really sure there’s a lot of difference between the 3 pickup selector options, it doesn’t drastically change the sound. Unfortunately one of the strap lock button on the Schaller locks I bought for it was faulty so waiting for Bass Direct to send me another (they were great) and some new strings on the way too. Need to raise the action on the A string as it’s a bit low compared to the rest but need to get the proper imperial size Allen key for it.

Played the Brit club here last night, a surprisingly excellent gig. Not for any other reason than we weren’t sure how well a blues band was going down, but as it turns out very well. This is the first outing where it’s been a full evening of just us, we advertised it as an ‘evening of blues’ and an appreciative audience turned up. The guitarist introduced us with ‘if you don’t like psychedelic blues you’ve come to the wrong place’! Also first outing for the Marshall stack and sounded awesome. Went old school for this one, back line and only vocals thru the PA.

Bit of a "Meh" gig last night - Cantina band at The Lounge in Boldemere, Sutton Coldfield. Usual story - not that many people there, a few enjoyed it enough to dance, dep drummer (mate of mine, top bloke), we played really well and sounded good, I got paid to hang around with some mates and do what I enjoy, so I can't complain. Played some songs with a pleccy again, which was gratifying... sounds great with the EHX Bass Soul Food on Blitzkrieg Bop and Anarchy in the UK. Punktastic! First outing for the new expanded mini pedalboard - upgraded from a Nano to a Nano+, replaced the Harley Benton ISO 5 with a Cioks DC7 (lovely bit of kit) and added an EBS multidrive and a TCE Sub 'n' up to the Soul Food, Hookers Green Bass Machine and MXR chorus deluxe. The Multidrive sounds great (Tubesim setting for me) and absolutely roars with the Soul Food in front of it. Also used the Sansamp VTDI in Rock mode for the first time - Wow! Played the Sterling -> mini board -> amp board (Thumpinator -> VTDI) -> Markbass 121. O'Neills Solihull tonight with the Saturday night covers band, usually a really good gig... fingers crossed!

As you will see, from my signature, I am fortunate to be a Rotosound endorsee. In anticipation of a new string order, I asked if I could collect the strings from the factory, and have a look around. That request was granted. Accordingly, me and @Rumblefish braved Junction 10 of the M25 and the M25 itself to head to Sevenoaks, to meet up with the artist rep and have a look around. I have to say, we were both fascinated to see the process from wire store to the smoothing of the (flatwound) strings. What was also fascinating was the lervel of a) hand operation, and b) the machines that had been designed by previous members of the Howe family, and that were still in use. Additionally, as well as working on designs for new machines, James is the man to undertake the maintenance of the machines in the factory. Some of them dated back to the very beginnings of the factory, and original machines were still in use today. We were both impressed by the whole process and the sheer skill of the folk who guide the windings onto the core by hand, and by eye. Even the ladies in the packing room were hand coiling the strings to go into the packets. How they produced bundles of strings with the same diameter was astounding to watch. I know not everyone here is a fan, but the sheer amount of manual intervention in the production of the strings was reassuring, and the 'British' ethos of the company was very evident. The core steel of the strings may be sourced externally, but everything else is done in-house, and on machines that had been designed and built in-house. A truly wonderful operation. I didn't want to disturb people by taking pictures, but I promise we did go!!

Very rare dep gig for me on Saturday; a private birthday party at a village hall, playing a drummer-less acoustic-ish mix of covers and the band's originals. The audience seemed mostly disinterested, and somebody had brought along a pogo stick to entertain the children so the entire set was accompanied by a sound not dissimilar to an industrial stapler... sadly not in time with the music. In any case, I was happy with how I played and kinda enjoyed the novelty and general stupidity of the whole situation, plus I was ferried door to door and given a big block of chocolate as a thank you. One of their singers seemed quite keen to do some more acoustic stuff and said she'd be in touch, which would be fantastic if it actually happened as she's got a great voice.

A bit of a quiet night - except for the bloke that bellowed FREEEEEEEEEEEEBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRD at regular intervals. Not a busy pub but those that were there seemed to enjoy it. Had some issues with the Xvive IEM’s cutting in and out in the second set, and finding somewhere to put the transmitter that doesn’t wipe out either the router in the desk of my iPad for my mix is becoming a right royal PITA. I rather think I need to search for a better solution. Our sound guy had a new Allen & Heath CQ desk and WOW 😮 the difference between it and the old Behringer xAir was night and day. Everything in my IEM’s was clear and separated and but for the my system cutting in and out I was very happy on that front. Still need to get levels properly set for my mix but it bodes well.

Tried the Neptunium live and it sounded massive! FoH guy was so happy with my tone as much as I was. Been putting together some demo of the Neptunium since there’s none in youtube atm. Looking forward to finish it.

Played a 50th birthday for our singers other half last night at a pub in Kempston. Glad the road over was reopened after the recent flooding. Good lively evening and took the opportunity to play some newly learned songs.

We did a wedding gig last night - nothing fancy, mostly playing background music as the guests arrived. No pay, as the BL had signed us up as a favour for the bride. One requirement was that at the end of our set, before a ceilidh band came on, the bride's father was to join us on stage to play some blues harmonica. As it happens he was clearly sober and pretty good at it.

Busy Bandeoke in Bristol last night.

I don't think they are aware as they're new in town. However in a twist of fate I'm doing the sound for a small open air festival next month and I've been told they are first on. So I'll get the opportunity. Plus I'll make sure I give their sound special attention!

After months of trying to hunt down a EBMM Stingray shortie in the UK I finally gave up. I’ve managed to meet my shorty needs with a Sandy Lionel and Sterling ss Ray, I was a bit wary on the Sterling but I’ve concluded that some decent pots and tuners will turn it into a more than decent bass. So with some money spare i decided some Starry Night goodness was required…..

A largely unheeded double over the weekend, which always tends towards a slump of the shoulders, but hey, we got paid. Friday night was in one of those increasingly rare pubs which are focused on live music (decent in-house PA, lights, small stage), which meant the load-in and -out was a Personal Gear Only delight, especially for me with just a rucksack full of Stomp/leads and my Mono. Sadly the crowd hadn't got the message (tho it was a grim and dreich night up in Darwen; even I didn't want to leave the house, and I was getting paid) and we played to a handful in the music side of the pub, while another handful of punters lurked around the bar side. The place was apparently open till 2:30am, so it may well have gone bonkers at 12:30, but by that time I was back on the road home. That evening's Pisht Mitherer was an older bloke who very very much wanted In The Ghetto, and seemed to think that by asking every ten minutes we'd suddenly all learn it by some kind of osmosis... The landlord (also a sound engineer, apparently) liked us enough to re-book us, and offered us a spot in next year's festival, so there's that. Saturday was a chi-chi bar in a converted mill, up two flights of stairs, this one with the D drummer, so I had a multi-tasking shift on playing, singing and keeping him on tempo, task, and starting and stopping within a bar or so of the rest of us. Bloody draining, is what it is. It's one of those transitional places (we were packing up by half eleven, most people had moved on) where people come in (notably gangs of half a dozen ladies) to meet for a drink or two and then go somewhere else so there's very little chance of any engagement with the crowd - I say crowd, but it's a very big room with lots of booths, so the 25-30 average of people were very widely spaced. Then there's the stairs to be tackled at the end of the night, too...again, though, we got paid, and it wasn't a super-late one. Next weekend is the Monthly Mither of the very lairy place on Friday (just for once I'd like to do a gig there without the 5-0 making an appearance; it's been three on the trot now), but then a private gig with the old trio on the Saturday, so that'll be a nice change.

Last night was third time out with my recently acquired Fender TB600 head, via my BF Super Twin. Bass was my AVRI 63 Precision strung with Chromes. Venue was a gopping estate pub outside Bristol but the staff and punters were friendly enough, despite medically inadvisable levels of inebriation among some of the latter. Suffice to say that I enjoyed the gig, thanks to (1) the sound coming out of my rig, (2) the playing of the lead guitarist.

Big Gig this weekend. Maple Road is headlining The Bend Theatre. That means we get the big catered dressing room. Daryl

Have you ever been to Marnhull? Have you even heard of it? Before I joined this band I hadn’t, but there’s an RBL club there in deepest North Dorset, and we’ve gigged there regularly, most recently being last Saturday. Its location is down a country back-road in the middle of nowhere so there aren’t any noise problems, but this time there were many ‘road’ (eg lane) closures for repair, and rumours of severe flooding in the area were rife. Anyway, I got there with no trouble and we set up in good time for a band chat and a few bevies before kick-off at 8.30. At this point the club organiser decided to alter our timings from 8.30-9.30 + 10.00- 11.00 to 8.30 – 10.00 and 10:15 – 11:30 so more raffle tickets could be sold, I think. After an exchange of views (especially as it’s the lowest-paying gig we do) we agreed to shift everything to the right by 15 minutes as a compromise, sticking to 2 x 1 hour sets. That said, the club is in a very up-together building with great acoustics, enthusiastic dancers and (amazingly) a nice green-room right next to the stage area, letting me change into my ska hat and shades out of sight before my sax set. I’m currently using the Squier Mustang bass procured from @WoodinBlack of this parish for the first set, replete with flats, changing to my H-B Mustang-a-like with rounds for the stompy second set; amp is AG700 with a Darkglass 212N 1000w cab and Nux radio link. For the saxoholics, I use my least-valuable but ear-splitting 1969 Conn 10m Tenor with Nux radio mic to ponce about with out on the dance-floor. In the end it was an enjoyable evening, with our drummer’s young teenage grandson playing ‘Wipeout’ with us to open the second set. It was his first ever public performance and that’s a real drum workout – kudos to him! My Satnav has an obsession with back-roads, so it decided to send me home via lord-knows-where to get onto a main road. This is bandit country, total darkness, no houses, and as it happened some prodigious flooding lurking around 90-degree bends, which had drowned several small saloon cars. Fortunately, the Jeep Cherokee once again justified its £710 road tax and got me through, no problem! Pix are of the stage setup pre-start with our lady singist checking the set-list, and then a long view of the hall with our promo poster!

I depped for the 1st time with the fantastic Duran Duran/Spandau Ballet tribute show 'From Gold To Rio' at Market Drayton theatre on Saturday night. Great band, soooooooo much fun and basslines that kept me concentrating for the full 2 hours! Looking forward to my next dep with them in December now!

Bit of a dull gig last night. 40th birthday party, again, in an echo-y barn (again again again) and no one listened to us the first set at all. Everyone went outside to watch the rodeo bull shenanigans they put on the same time. Bit of a crowd the second half, but the venue is a cider factory and it was quite clear birthday boy was only interested in getting absolutely plastered, and his speech at the start of the 2nd set clearly indicated he was doing a good job in that respect. Then on to today’s adventure, band call 2 for footloose. Starting to manage to rein in the md and excitable drummer with the tempos. Not playing my finest but too tired from day job. A couple of notable moments, after the rehearsal we head down to the pit, being a former municipal swimming pool is was formerly the deep end. The recent weather meant it was trying to return to its former role. And our beloved md, forever tinkering with the drum part, adding triangle here, cowbell there, (yes we all said it) asked the drummer to do a suspended cymbal roll and a fill at the same time. When the drummer replied he wouldn’t for the same effect with regular sticks the md asked- ‘do you have any double enders?’ Many double entendres followed.

A bit late, but here are some photos from our gig supporting Byronic Sex & Exile 2 weeks ago: BTW our next gig supporting Aurelio Voltaire on November 5th is now sold out, so if you haven't bought a ticket you won't get in.

Sunday's board looked like this The combination of the Pulp n Peel at the start and the BDI 21 at the end before the power amp was exquisite. The FI did multiple jobs from synth bass, to wah, through octaves and all points in between. A small sweet board. The chorus is the best I've tried, the Death Saw well named. I tamed it with a clean blend courtesy of the LS-2.

Hello all. It's been some time since I have owned a bass (2 Years), that situation has finally been resolved. Long story short My US Musicman Stingray was stolen shortly after I went through a divorce, where I lost my house and my job all at the same time. I literally couldn't afford anything beyond sustenance. I sort of have some semblance of a life again after 2 and a bit years, though Rent is extortionately expensive and I don't see it getting any easier ever... But life goes on! Managed to get a bit of cash together to Paypal Pay in 3 on this bass. I felt that getting a bass was more important for my mental health at this point. (Don't worry, I have a large emergency fund and some savings, I just don't like to outlay all at once). Made in Ukraine Stas Pokotylo PJ bass. Clearly a Fodera copy, but with a different headstock. Stas has no website, but conducts business through Email and his Social Media pages. Stas Pokotylo (Стас Покотило) (@guitars.sp) • Instagram photos and videos Mahogany Body Maple Neck with Rosewood board. Bolt on 24 Fret neck, Medium/Jumbo ish frets. Very heavy duty bridge. Not a clue what it is. Wilkinson Closed Machineheads. EMG P-J active pickups with no pre-amp. Roughly 7.5lbs in weight, Though this was taken on a very dodgy set of scales... regardless, it is light! I needed to take apart the bass, clean, reassembly and set it up when it came in as the action was pretty high (Though it seems to have been by choice as the Truss rod position was perfect for low action). Dropped the saddles and all seems well. Very little buzz from the frets if any. I am not a fan of the P-J combination usually, but this is surprisingly pleasant sounding after changing the pickup heights a bit. The Jazz pup surprisingly overpowers the P pickup for a change, which is better to my ears. It has a nice clangy tone with the Tone control all the way up, bring the tone down it has a really nice and wiry finger funk sound. The strings that it came with seem to be used standard gauge nickels. The condition of the bass in the photos is not representative of what it is like in real life, there are more dinks and scratches than I realised. I get the feeling the bass was un-played for quite sometime during it's life and probably stored in a bin liner in a moisture laden basement due to the dings all over and the slightly rusty screws. I cleaned off all of the rust on the screws and replaced the Pickup screws for new ones. There were a couple of sharp dents in the fingerboard which I used the Soldering Iron/Wet Tissue trick on and they are much less noticeable now (It didn't effect playability, just cosmetic). The Low E tuner is quite crusty so will be taking it apart to check out the gearing and get some lube inside it. The nut is a little skew whiff in terms of alignment of the strings, but for now is perfectly usable for the time being. It is certainly a lightweight bass considering it is of mahogany construction. I was very surprised with the pleasant weight. Plenty of sustain at the low end. No Dead spots or wolf notes. Whilst it is a bass of few features and built to a price point, it is clearly a quality made instrument. I believe Stas Pokotylo makes the basses for Jinjers Bass player. I might drop Stas a message to find out a little bit more about this bass, including it's age and original spec. So in conclusion, it's a fantastic bass for the money which needed/needs some TLC, It was certainly made with some care and attention. I am happy with the pickup sounds and I don't see the need for a pre-amp. The Playability is very very good and is on-par with my old USA Musicman Stingray. This bass will certainly last for many years to come Short term I would like to get the strings replaced with some Nickel 40-95's and the Pots replaced with something a bit meatier as the current ones seem a bit crusty (I believe these are 425k rated, not sure what brand they are all I can see is the T on the pot with a wiggly character next to it, any recommendations? Long term, I may try and get it refinished (Just a sand back and reapplied clear finish) So yes there it is! Not something you see everyday. It definitely scratches my Vincen Garcia itch as it can certainly cop that tone despite the reverse P and active pickups. Will I keep it long term? Hard to say, I did actually go into buying a bass that was Passive and Fender USA Jazzish... But came out with this instead. We'll see how it goes!

Hi This isn't so much a build diary as its dead easy and quick, but it might help other people thinking of making their own pedalboard. I stumbled on this modular pedalboard. I think @SamIAm might have suggested it in another thread. https://github.com/indifferentengine/ModularPedalboard/blob/main/STL/Components/Handles/3 Rail Handle/Handle.stl I liked it and downloaded the STL and Fusion 360 and put a new roll of eSun Fire Engine Red PLA+ and printed it up. It took nearly 30 hours as the printed elements need to be strong and so had an infill of 60%. However I just left it on the printer for a day or so. I got some cheap aluminium 2040 (that's 20mm x 40mm) V-slot extrusion off Amazon and simply assembled it together using T-Nuts (supplied with the 2040 pieces) and some M5 8mm bolts. Top tip, 8mm bolts are not long enough despite what the website says. M5 10mm bolts are needed as you can only get perhaps half a turn on the T-nuts. I had M5 8mm on the shelf and stupidly assumed that the designers knew what they were talking about. I also printed two handles, they come in halves and need to be glued together, that's why there is a slight gap in the picture below as I hadn't glued them. That's a job for later today. It measures 600mm x 300mm so will fit into any number of 3rd party bags on Fleabay. This is what it looks like from the side. I have ordered some plastic end stops in black. I did print some but they were a nightmare to fit so decided to buy some to cover the ends up. This is it with the pedals I have. A Peterson tuner into a Mod Dwarf and then into a Tonex amp sim.I deliberately keep this minimal otherwise I'd end up with loads of pedals that I liked but don't really use. I have space for 2-3 more pedals (if I took the handles off). Not sure if I'm keeping the handles or not yet. # As the whole design is modular, I can change this as needed into something else.I could split the four rails into two small pedal boards. There are lots of other options on the website so I can't take any credit for any work here at all. The next problem I do have and would welcome input, is the PSU for this lot. There's quite a lot of space under the top and there are designs for a PSU. However the Mod Dwarf needs at least 1.5A at 12V and preferably 2A at 12V. I can't find a single pedalboard PSU that can put anything like this out. I was hoping if I mentioned @LukeFRC @LukeFRC @LukeFRC three times, he'd come in with some clever electric ideas Thanks Rob

NBD - Ibanez 30TH5PE Just arrived via an ex band mate now living up in Edinburgh - was collection only from there, which would have ruled it out for me, but a stroke of luck that I had a former bandmate who has relocated to that same city, and is also often back down in London with work.

As you can see from the photos, it's a reddish brown colour. In photo 2, the sunlight coming through the window was stronger, which seemed to really make the colour brighter. I have mostly switched to Short Scale for gigging bass guitars, but the neck on this is slimmer than my P bass, and its not overly heavy at around 3.5kg. I'll hang on to this unless I come across a lightweight short scale fretless. Really enjoying playing this bass. But I promised Mrs S that I would reduce the collection. Now, someone please buy my P bass. 😀

Final version

Addendum to my post above - just received a pic of me being a saxonob again, complete with hat and shades, band's playing 'Geno'. Our gitrist is a teacher, and obviously agrees that 'academic inspiration, I gave him none..."

My very first bass arrived today: Squier Affinity Jazz Bass in charcoal metallic grey. Now the journey begins.. I am 50, it's definitely NOT a midlife crisis. 😁

Enjoyment is imminent…

I've seen these, as I'm sure many have, on the Internet for years. I've also seen many opinions about them being complete tat. So, one popped up and I snapped it up. It's a 1972. The guy bought it when he was 12 at school and never really used it. One of those purchases that just gets continually moved around the house for years. He'd sold his amp 25 years ago, so couldn't be tested, but I was fine with that. It looks great, surprisingly light, and short scale, but looks cool!! The neck was very nice to be fair, nice size, feel, look and finish. The fret board had age related character and was straight. The tuners just seemed to be loose but I'd take a look at them. The bridge looked crazy, but a tidy and a quick investigation meant I could lower it fine. Still highish, maybe truss rod needs adjusting. As suspected, the electrics didn't work, so I took it apart. Hammered it with switch cleaner and turned everything a million times. Slightly adjusted the jack and hey presto! It was brought back to life!! I've fitted a pair of flats - surprisingly the tuners now feel great under tension - for that authentic early 70s feel. It sounds great! Each pick up has volume and tone. And the switch flicks from top - both - bottom for 3 independent sounds. These definitely are not tat like some say. I'm really happy, and will happily gig it! All in all very happy. Cool looking bass. 52 years old. And brought back to life ready for gigging

Spare parts arrived today, with full and clear step-by-step replacement instructions, cleaning wipes, stickers, screen protector, along with the new screen. Although a little fiddly, it's now back to new. Peterson tuners went above and beyond.

This is the latest version of my board. I've had the Spectradrive between the tuner and OC-2 for a while but that meant I couldn't access the aux, headphones or DI out on the Spectradrive. I'd prefer the compressor to be at the start of the chain but it sounds fine in this order. I'm quite surprised I've managed to get seven effects on a mini board!

For some people it is. For me it is not. I'm under no illusion about my future but I can't live then, I can only live today. I've wasted enough years of my life in jobs I detested thank you very much. Now I'm earning what little I get on my terms. The mental health benefits alone make it worthwhile.

Don't worry, in my head I might think it but I wouldn't do that to fellow musicians and the audience no matter the circumstances.

Don't be that sound guy. You're better than that.

Lost 37 years ago today...