Leaderboard

My dear friend and extraordinary bassplayer Barend Tromp offered to make a demo video of my bass! I'm very happy with the result, Barend played some killer grooves and is able to really push an instrument to the limits! So finally you guys can hear my "black beauty"! [youtube] Also check out Barend his solo work with contributions of Michael Manring, Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn! Barend Tromp spotify

The classic question of what do you ‘need’ and are there specific tones you’re after? Are the drives too raunchy or just missing a vibe? I had the ToneHammer for a number of years and used it in AGS mode as a slightly warmer low gain drive sound and it was great in this role. It then meant some other low gain drives came alive in this gain staging role. My pedal board is basically a preamp/eq, some compression and a couple of drive pedals. I have the option to add or swap in or out a few things but ultimately for the current pub gig it’s all I really need for this gig. There’s not much room for experimenting and even using some fuzz and octave combined but it’s not quite right for the tunes we play. For this reason I’m just using the basics but they work! I flip from thinking I need more stuff then get it and it doesn’t hit the mark then go back to the basics again, think I should be making more interesting sound only for them to not work and back to the basics again…

I have a few basses but this is still one of my favourites. I think if I could only have one this would probably be it.

One word: Flea I have literally no idea how the guy who can barely play and sounds awful on almost every record is venerated as a bass god. This isn't something I would share (as there's enough negativity in the universe) but this irrational hatred of a hugely successful musician emerged when I was a music teacher for 5 years.

The Soundgear by Ibanez logo. I mean seriously? It looks like the logo on a combined guitar and amp package from Argos for under £80.

Not exactly new, it's a 2014 bass and I've had it a month or so now, but with one thing or another I haven't got round to posting anything, so I'll explain. The current Mrs C and I retired together on 26th June, and during the countdown - whilst planning our new lease of life - had decided on a retirement present each. Hers would be another (third) dog......she's obsessed with Scottish Terriers 🙄......mine would be something I could pass on to our daughter at some point. I've had an itch for a semi hollow bass for some time and had been getting back into the Byrds and the Grateful Dead, then I saw this little beauty for sale, and it fitted the bill perfectly. The only problem was that we were about to go on holiday and I didn't want to miss out on it, so we went from Plymouth to Southampton, via Manchester (on the day Oasis were starting their home gigs🥴) and it came with us on a cruise round the Mediterranean, where it celebrated it's 14th birthday🍰. It's in mint condition, has all the case candy with it, stating it's number 25 of something like 75 I think, but I'm not sure that this makes it particularly collectable or valuable. If Ruby can prise it out of my hands when I'm a bit older and weaker, I think she'll like it, it feels quite compact and the string spacing is a bit narrow for my big hands, but it will suit her fine and she's working on a suitable looking customised painted suede strap for it already. I don't know how close it is to an original vintage one, I should think it's more of an homage to Chris Hillman's '67 single pickup Starfire bass, but it's a lovely thing and I can't put it down at the moment. Its got roundwounds on it presently and I should think some flatwounds would be better suited, it's a bit bright and I'm hankering for some more whump! I might even consider adding a neck pickup? it's alright this retirement malarkey!

2 Starry Night Stingrays…….

Toobs. Since when did the word valve suddenly become pronounced toob? For example, "man I hate those shi**y little modern class D amps, gimme somethin' with toobs in" What are you talking about you gibbering idiot, you're from Wantage, not bleedin' Idaho.

Absolutely, thanks once again to @Steve Browning and @obbm, I use the box pretty much every rehearsal, perfectly engineered, built like a tank, and to paraphrase Anchorman, works 100% of the time 100% of the time 🙏

Well, this is a NBD thread I honestly didn't expect to make. Some of you might know that back in September 2024, I set myself a challenge - to achieve a "giggable" bass in a £150 budget - new parts only, ignoring postage costs. The core component of this challenge was a bass I spied and really liked the look of - the Fazley Hot Rod - a no-nonsense, pickguardless FSO, reverse P, volume only. Bax are the only vendors of these as far as I could see so even though they were out of stock and on back order, I laid down £84 for the bass. Yes. £84. Unfortunately, most people know the story now - Bax went bankrupt in early 2025. Womp womp. And you know how it is with companies going bust - the customers are at the back of the queue when it comes to making things right, so honestly I had written it off. But, Bax coughed back into life after being bought over. Then I started getting emails suggesting that they would be honouring past orders. I was sceptical, but I played along, answered any questions I was asked (confirming the order details, and a bit later on asking if I still wanted to wait, or take store credit). I opted to wait and have the order fulfilled as originally intended. Well, would you believe it? Look what arrived this morning... I tell you something for nothing - there's a lot of bass here for £84 (well back in September last year they were, they're £94 now - oh no!). It's the neck which surprised me the most - absolutely no raggedy fret ends, and even a very slight attempt to roll the edges of the fretboard. No swarf in the nut. Tuners are serviceable - not the smoothest turning but no play in the gears. Bridge is a BBOT - it works, nothng more. The only places I could see where money had been saved are in the finish - it's a bit uneven in places (but you have to look closely in the light to see the unevenness) and then the pickup. The stock pickup is comically low in output - I was giving it a test in my Tascam Bass Trainer and with the input level set to 10 (the maximum) the Fazley was barely getting to half way on the input monitor! Of course, the stock strings are hot garbage, thin, rougher than Rotos and went straight in the bin. In probably the quickest time from receiving a bass to replacing the pickup (about an hour and a half) I had the stock strings in the bin, the fretboard oiled (because it looked as dry as a camel's hoof) and the stock pickup out and a Tonerider Duke in there. What a difference! Much better output. The stock strings weren't giving the truss rod much to do - after I put my beloved D'addario XL nickel rounds on it, the neck was a banana and I had to tighten the truss rod three quarter turns! Further tweaking may be required, but I gave it a quick and dirty setup and now it's playing great. So that means so far I've spent £119 (£84 bass and £35 pickup), leaving £31 in the budget. I was expecting to have to change the bridge and/or the tuners, but in all honesty they have been unobtrusive and perfectly serviceable. Which leaves more room in the budget for some silliness/extra credit. I think I will fit one of my preferred Sire/Reverend style 3 string retainers, and I will fit a silly knob - which was the plan originally, but I stole the one I ordered and put it on the Epiphone Em-bassy (which I got when I was sure that this one would never materialise).

So that Curly Claro Walnut headless Status KingBass with the MK-style ultra short strap, DI preamp pedal & the top shelf Inner Ear System we were going to buy you for Xmas would be unwelcome gifts, then?

Common sense. I play with one band where the BL just bungs the leads into a bag and I'm glad it's not me who has to extract them.

Nah, just very good practice! Bit like doing a sound check before a gig!

I’m often surprised when people recognise me as I have one of those generic faces that you see everywhere! When I was touring with the theatre band, me and the crew would often get people coming up to chat when we were eating out before the show, which was nice. Now I play mainly locally, I think it’s still nice when people say hello, especially musicians I haven’t seen or worked with for years. Our monthly residencies attract lots of musos and it’s always good to catch up with them, even though I play like sh*t when it’s bass players…..

I think many of us enjoy the feeling of community around live music. If you play regularly and also go to local gigs as a punter you get you know a lot of people and vice versa. I nay be biased but I have found that hobbies and interests that require a bit of effort and understanding like music tend to attract more open-minded, friendlier people. Music is something that can bring enjoyment to a large number of people at once. When someone recognises you from a gig that's a buzz for both of you from that musical connection.

Yea, of course there is! It's really the lowest level of fame, a bit of recognition because someone has seen you on stage. I was in a couple of bands that were quite well known locally several decades ago. When I went into a pub, quite often someone would recognise me. Later on, I would meet someone through work and it would turn out that they used to be a fan of a band I was in. To this day, people will come up to me in pubs and start talking to me as if they know me. I will chat away for a bit, always referring them as 'mate' or whatever, then after they've gone the person I'm with will ask 'Who's that'? Of course, I've no idea, but generally they will have seen me play over the years and probably talked to me after a gig one time. It's no big thing - it's not like someone genuinely famous walking into a bar and everyone trying to work out if its really them. I imagine that real fame may become a bit tiresome after a while, but the odd person vaguely recognising you because they used to like a band you were in several years ago is cool.

I once shared a "cigarette" with him while we discussed P Funk at the Chillis aftershow party in the Astoria that I'd somehow blagged my way into. Seemed alright to me!

Don’t modify it, it is perfect as it is!

Objectively he can play, this is a place for irrational dislikes. There's no logic to it. (I also hate Queen and can't listen to it and feel embarrassed playing it. But John Deacon is as cool as.) He's sold millions of records and inspired thousands of people to play. I'm sure he's a good egg, too.

Nice pick-up choice, now I need to add mismatched pole pieces to my irrational prejudices list.

Try https://www.croxguitars.com/products.html. And yes, bushing is probably a better term than ferrule.

I’ve just got me a secondhand Florence, which is awesome fun to play. A kind chatter on here sent me some worn in flatwound La Belles which feel great. The only downside is that the tone pot needs replacing, it’s not working at all. What surprises me though is the cheap, made in Korea, pots that Sandberg use, I don’t understand why they don’t put a few extra quid into the kitty and put CTS pots in there?

it was 9.4lbs when i weighed for the advert. Also the bass has that little something extra in it……..my love, blood, sweat and tears lol

Medical costs in the USA are the most frightening thing to me, and many/most Americans.. Unless you are properly rich, you can easily reach the limitations of even the most comprehensive medical insurance, as I'm sure you're well aware, Russ. Brits have never heard the term "co-pay" when they go to the doctors, but every American has. That's all money that won't be available for buying basses ect. We've been spoiled in the U.K by the NHS and the welfare state ect and we take it all for granted. In America it's a much harsher reality for most people. The high cost of living in the States nowadays is hard for me to get my head around, because in the 1980's when I first went it was shocking how much cheaper everyday items were. Groceries, eating out, CDs, clothes ect were much less expensive than in Britain. It was El Dorado. Now they want to charge you just for entering the country and everyone is obsessed with the price of eggs. I remember when if you were British they wanted to give you stuff for free. Life in America seems to have got meaner, in every sense.

Seems like that's the way it is most of the time for me. Of course I can hear my bass and vocals when nobody else is playing. Why don't these sound guys come on stage when your actually into the set with their tablets and chrome books and and check the stage sound then ? Daryl

One last (ever) pair: 21 Am PRO II FSR Jazz 21 Am PRO II Precision both in Dark night with Rosewood boards. Picked up the P bass last night - was a swap with my sunburst 06 American Standard S-1 P Bass and a couple of other little bits (so no, I didn't buy it!!!! 😋🤣🤣🤣) Had planned on stopping off at Bass Centre in Melbourne, as we had a long layover on the way back to the land down under-er (after visiting the motherland last week) but a jetlagged missus and a very tired and dangerously-bored 3yr old did not make for happy travel mates, so had to skip it in the end. Just as well because they were having a clear out on some lovely Fender goodies, including a gorgeous and long-coveted Dark Night P (which was efffffin cheap too!). There was also a brand new Adam Clayton Jazz there for a used bass price 🤤🤤🤤 But as it happened, a really cool bloke in the same neck of the woods as me happened to want to downgrade from his AM PRO II DN P Bass around the same time. Worked out a trade deal on the 06 P Bass over messenger and boom - I'm now set for life bass-wise, I didn't buy any basses like I had previously promised AND the credit card was not cut up after the holiday! We all win. Or so I told the better half! 🤣🤣 PS -yes, the plastic is coming off the Jazz this evening!

I’d suggest checking out jimmy Johnson’s bass playing on youtube he plays with a really narrow string spacing and straight fingers. You may pick up some tips there. I will search some videos and post here if i find some close ups.

I’ve turned 65 this year and been playing in bands on and off since the mid 70’s mainly as a guitarist but eventually my bass calling pulled me into the deep side and now 99% of my gigs are on bass. Although i get paid for gigs I never do it just for the money and over the years i’ve done many gigs where i was not into the music, or it was a non paying gig, or helping out a friend, but enjoyed the opportunity to play something different. I still have that burning desire to become a better player, especially when it comes to jazz, so as long as that desire continues so will I. It also helps that i’ve managed to acquire both the dream bass and dream guitar i wanted since the beginning of my gigging life to gig with. Shallow maybe but it does increase my level of enjoyment. 👍🏾😁🥳

didn’t even last 24hrs lol

Really not satisfied with my board at the minute but not sure why… I don’t use a lot of drive but have 3 pedals capable of it on my board (hate the HX drives though). Thinking of dropping the rattler for something none drive related and also thinking of trying a MXR vintage bass octave instead of the Octabvre… any thoughts or suggestions?

Given my situation (Brit living in the US... for now), the cost of living over here is astronomical. Almost everything is more expensive, with the exception of petrol and some consumer goods. And the consumer goods are getting more expensive because a certain Tango-tinted sociopath decided to add an import tax to everything not made in the States. I earn quite a lot more here than I ever earned in the UK, but have less disposable income. Groceries/shopping - anything from 50% to 100% more expensive, for sh*tter food. Medicine - don't go there. Bills - energy about the same, phone/TV/broadband much higher. Taxation - once you add up federal and state, not much different in my income bracket. Property taxes - dependent on location, but makes council tax look like a bargain in many places. Loads of "stealth" taxes too. And then, of course, you have health insurance and all its associated expenses, which is just plain usury.

Don't you guys know that "each of the worm-holes in fact acted as a sort of resonating chamber resulting in a lightweight instrument laced with unparalleled acoustic properties and overtones"? Luddites.

Just made my last visit to Nobles. Bought some leads and a footswitch, bade him farewell and thanks. Nice to see someone retire rather than go bust.

Better photo from Rebellion...

And in action the bass instrument extravaganza that is ORE. The Tuba Doom group is normally massively amplifed and we're all playing through octave pedals for super sub-bass action, but this was a rare completely acoustic set at Supernormal Festival in 2017 (Now my favourite festival and this may rank as my favourite ORE show)

Oh forgot to mention yesterday, I also fitted the string retainer/tree. I really like this Sire/Reverend style 3 string retainer - super compact, at the cost of the D string being captive through the middle and not quick release. I'll take that for the compact, minimalist look though.

A couple of ideas from me (YMMV! etc) Suggest checking out the Boss OC5 for an excellent and great value octaver? I share your pain re. drives: I've got 7 of the things sitting on my shelf which I really need to get around to moving on, haha! I found that my most recent multi (GT1000 Core) managed to match / out do them all which my cheap-as-chips Zoom B1-4 hadn't really come close to doing. But the most important thing about the GT1000 Core is the always on preamp setting, as we're not using backline, and finally getting a tone that I really like and seems to be getting plaudits from fellow BC'ers.

I was doing a gig with the blues/rock band yesterday We only usually do one a year but the BL decided to do a warm up gig in what was a great venue but. They've taken the carpet out 3 Guitarists stupid Bose PA right behind me I had my ACS custom moulds in and by half way through the 2nd set it was hurting my ears The guitars just kept turning up and up During a dreadful rendition of Heroes by Bowie I signalled to the BL that I couldn't hear and it was too loud H e wound the song up early and I said I'm done. It's loud, it's hurting me and I walked off stage I'm not a diva but I actually feared for the hearing I have left I'm still fumimg this morning

Well, today was a landmark in the project - the neck's on! Thanks again to the Mechanical Engineering Workshop at my work, as a drill press is not one of the things I own. Of course, it's never easy and there was a small miscalculation regarding screw length... Thankfully an easy fix, the chip wasn't lost and it was a simple fix - push some glue in the void, then clamp it down with a caul covered in tape to prevent the glue adhering it to the fingerboard. A bit of sanding afterwards and it was like it never happened. So I put some old strings on it, just to see how things were. On the plus side, the strings align with the neck nicely. I have some work to do though. Even with that 2mm plate I glued into the bottom of the neck pocket and a 0.6mm shim, the action can't quite get low enough with all the saddles on the deck. Have ordered those "whole neck pocket" shims off Amazon (the ones which actually get good reviews) which will hopefully arrive on Friday. Also I have a bit of work to with regard to pole piece alignment. I enlarged the two cutouts for the mounting lugs on the left of the hole and managed to eke out a mm or so. There is still some finessing to do and then I might be able to eke out another mm and I think that'll be as good as it'll get. Anyway, a big step forward. Oh, and the bridge pickup is ordered. To get the one I want - https://roswellpickups.com/product/jm4-bridge/ - I had to order it from a dealer in South Korea of all places. So I don't expect to see that particularly soon. I have a spare pickup I could pop in there in the meantime, so it won't slow me up.

Earl Sixteen 'Concrete Rockers' album ♨️

There's an ocean of difference.

Just back from Ipswich, where we played Rock Against Leukaemia - it’s ninth year now and they’re doing amazing work. It’s always a fun show, this one had us getting ‘glitter beards’ at the request of our singer’s little girl. (The things you do to keep kids laughing!) We played a truncated set well, plenty of dancers, and it was an opportunity to play a heavier than normal set, with Metallica, Fall Out Boy, Sabbath, Nirvana, Lit and a few others. Great night and can’t wait for next year’s 10th birthday for RAL! edit, I supposed I’d better show off said glitter beard, eh?

We've not been as busy recently, feels like ages since I've posted! We were supposed to have a big slot at Northern Kin festival on Sunday but that festival, along with a load of others, went bust. We managed to put together a show a Billy Bootleggers in Nottingham instead. One support act, then our 30 minute "acoustic" set for Rebellion Festival next weekend, then our latest album in full, then another 10 songs. We arrived at 1:30. The sound engineer was outside, "no staff here until 2pm". Apparently this was known to our front man so god knows why he wanted to get there so early. He was desperately hungry and went to order some over priced pizzas while we waited. Then it turned out the staff had locked themselves out of the venue so we had to wait another half an hour for someone else. Finally load in at 2:30 in the world's smallest lift. I was soaked with sweat by the time I'd set my drums up. Boiling in there! Sound was fine and the venue was rammed by the time we went on. The acoustic set was fun, but I really was soaked by the end of that. Everyone else got a nice 5 minute break while I re-jigged the drums for the "proper" set. Our latest album has some very intense and difficult drumming on it, for which I can only blame myself, but after playing it all the way through, and then another 8 songs from our back catalogue, I was absolutely done. I could literally wring out my t-shirt. Anyway, absolutely wonderful gig in every way but I really, really wish I'd booked today off to sleep and hydrate.