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Hey gang.. Some of the longer-term members here might remember that I play in the house band at Sunday for Sammy, a huge music & comedy show that - until 2020 - happened every couple of years at Newcastle Arena. We've had some amazing guests over the years... Mark Knopfler, Brian Johnson, Trevor Horn, The Auf Wiedersehen Pet cast, Johnny Vegas, etc. But then COVID happened. And then nothing... until now! After 18 months of planning by an amazing team, it all happens again next Sunday. Two shows in one day, with a huge cast, it's a massive logistical challenge. I've been working on the songs in my own time for the last few months, and rehearsals start in earnest tomorrow. In the meantime, the crew loaded in to the rehearsal space today, and we (the core band) popped along in the afternoon to set up and do line checks. Here's some photos - more tomorrow! Two J's at the moment - both with flats. I might switch one for a P. FOH is set up in one of the dressing rooms. Monitors. My drummer pal. Guitar village. My hangout.

Errr..... interesting !

OK...... I'm still on a HUGE high so please bear with me if I'm little over-effusive... On Saturday night my brand new Doobie Brothers tribute show 'The Doobie Experience' played it's DEBUT show. It was at the lovely Shoreham Ropetackle Arts Centre and quite honestly we really couldn't have had a better evening, in every way! First of all, on arrival, we found out it was all but sold out (200 tickets!) with people having to stand all around the edge of the seated area! Then, we were meeting our own dedicated sound man for the first time and were thrilled at how good he made us sound, out front and in our IEMs! It turned out I'd worked with him a couple of times previously (with the Spandau/Duran show I'd depped in) so I knew he would nail it! He'll be with us now on most of our shows and has all the settings saved! Best of all though, the actual show was AMAZING - we played great (just a few tweaks will need to be made going forward), the sound was fantastic and the audience loved us! We actually had people actually queuing to shake our hands and thank us afterwards! It's those kind of nights that really make everything worthwhile. I can't wait to do more! Gear-wise I kept it more traditional (no Spectors! ) and played my Fender FSR PJ bass through my old GK400RB head and LFsys Monaco cab. Only effects were Chorus (1 song) and Phaser (1 song), both care of my Zoom B3. IEMs were KZ-ZS10's and my Sennheiser G4 system. Here are a few short phone clips from the night that show the different Doobie-styles we covered: Rockin' Down The Highway: Another Park Another Sunday: One Step Closer: China Grove: What A Fool Believes: Sweet Maxine: It Keeps You Runnin: Long Train Runnin': Takin' It To The Streets:

It was a pretty great gig lastnight on the ska scene, first outing for the Sandberg VM SL - interestingly, I ended up playing it passively with a Sadowsky Pre and Tonerider Duke installed. The bass was light, but by god those Dr Martins were heavy!

Should turn the light out but need to chill for a bit with a JD. Just got back from Llandovery, about 1hr 45 minute drive, mercifully the vocalist has a new van and felt guilty as I've been driving him for months. Our gig got switched to another pub because of a wake. Limited space but we were a man down and managed to fit. Just. Staff were great. 45 minute first set went ok. Locals friendly but not very engaged at first. Second set people warmed up, especially after some Manic Street Preachers. Lots of positive reactions, handshaking etc. and I even got bought a beer (nice bring the one who isn't driving). Yes we had a few minor fumbles, but we haven't played without our rhythm guitarist for a long time and we did some long forgotten and ungigged songs. Had to compromise on tone as electrical noise meant I had to keep both pups on full (Flea Jazz). Affected guitarist too when he used his strat instead of LP. I got told to turn up! We have a rehearsal on Monday to polish up with our full lineup. A big gig on Sunday, our first in the big room at the Earl Haig (my favourite place to play - see previous post) proper stage & lights 🙂

Last night I was back in covers band action with Nine Lives at Wilsons in Aberdeen. Night got off to an odd start, when some people noticed me and the drummer getting stuff out of the car and asked "who's playing tonight". I replied "Nine Lives" and they replied "Excellent!" Had a joke with the bouncer that they must have us mixed up with another band. Anyway, the gig went well - it was a bit of an awkward setup because some people were in the bit where we usually put our stuff, playing darts. How very dare they! So there was a lot of shuffling stuff around while we set up. Still, we got set up and ready to go at the billed time. Gig went pretty well, had some very enthusiastic dancing in the first half. Second half dwindled down a bit towards the end, but we did a thing we've done on and off and played a softer song as the second last one and we had a couple of lovebirds up dancing to that, so it worked. Then blew the place to bits with Whole Lotta Rosie, along with my usual wireless walkabout. Never ceases to amuse and entertain people, and as long as people still get a laugh out of it, I'll keep on doing it, lol. Gear was the Epiphone Les Paul (not so) Standard, followed by the Fazley Hot Rod (the "Ratlet") with a Lace Aluma P in there because it was lying around and I was bored. Usual yellow and black amplification. Footwear was pink suede Vans slipons.

Back to pub land last night for Glam Viva after a run of WMCs. A great lively pub in Brimington just outside Chesterfield, The Butchers Arms, a great live music venue. I was a bit under the weather as I’m on a short course of nasty antibiotics but, bucket at the ready we soldier on. Fortunately the bucket wasn’t needed and the good hormones lifted me. Got a compliment on my playing from a drummer in another band…..that’s the second time in ten years, I’ll try not to let it go to my head 😂 Sandberg Lionel into my usual Markbass rig and red/white/blue sequinned Converse Chucky Ts.

Long horrible journey to Abertillery, a mining town where the average road gradient is about 45º. The local Blues club. They were a bit disappointed with an attendance of 80 people at £5 a head, which filled the place and we thought was excellent on such a grim nightn although the venue looked welcoming on a dark night. Bluesfire so LOTS of pa, lights etc. Played from 8:30 to 11+ with a raffle break. Nice little stage and great sound as good ceiling, carpet and plenty of bodies to control the sound. My rig has been sounding glorious since I just boosted a mids a bit. Could barely hear my voice in the monitor though. First time they've only used one sub and to my ears the low end sounded much better. We got a rapturous reception and were more free and improvisational than usual which was mostly fun and occasionally hairy. By the end I felt like I'd been beaten up, so the long slow load out and hour's drive in more rain were tedious. In bed at 1:45. Another gig tonight with Bendricks Rock nearly two hours away. Fortunately singer will drive. I see much ibuprofen in my future. I hope my body copes with this two month glut of gigs.

Last night turned out to be a good one, despite having a particularly heavy cold that seems to be doing the rounds. I still have some in-date covid tests and it's apparently not, so on with the show. The gig was guest-headliner at a Metal 2 The Masses competition heat (playing while the votes are being counted and the judges are deliberating), so I swapped my usual 10-6 shift at work for the 7-3, got to the venue for 4 as instructed, sound-checked at about 6, nipped to Tesco for a picnic that I couldn't taste, and then just loitered in the dressing room until showtime at 9:45. I would have liked to see the competition bands but I was best off sat on a sofa with my menthol sweets and a bog-roll. Stage time came around fast enough, and although the drummer had been at the JD a little more than usual, he only made a couple of mistakes and I managed not to have any fits of coughing, sneezing or otherwise malfunctioning. There were plenty watching and all the inter-song noises were positive and enthusiastic, but the highlight for me was the looks on the faces of a pair of lasses down at the front. I may be wrong, but I got the feeling that they'd perhaps spent the night dutifully supporting their boy/friends in one of the more shouty-thrashy bands, so being faced with two corseted sopranos in an operatic-symphonic outfit at the same gig seemed to catch them off-guard; they looked somewhere between emotional and mesmerised ...in a good way. Packed up and tried to help as much as possible with loading out, but I was at the 'if I start coughing I'm not sure I'll be able to stop before I run out of air and keel over' stage, so I made my apologies and my exit. Had a gloriously rough night and now need to spend the next three days helping my lass to move house. Epic. Gear was my RB Streamer LX 5 -(G30)-> [XS-1 -> BC-1X -> VT Bass v2 -> BDDI v2] -> TC BAM200 -> Blackstar house cab, and it really sounded quite good from where I was stood so hopefully that translated to FoH. Noticed that I was getting some very brief drop-outs on the G30, which is very unusual for it in my experience, but I eventually spotted that it was happening every time one of the singers operated the switch on her radio mic. Will have to see whether it was a one-off or maybe a different channel will be less susceptible to issues. Took the Hardly Benton along as backup, and the one photo I was bothered to take all evening is of it...

First gig of the year, with the Zep tribute in Cottingham on the east coast. A bit rusty with a dep guitar player as our BL / guitarist is still out with serious back issues, but all-in-all a pretty solid performance. A decent crowd with 160 tickets sold and a great reaction. I didn't bother taking any pictures as it is pretty much the same rig as the last 60 / 70 gigs. I did note that the (very good) sound engineer (actually a husband and wife team) DI'd from the Caveman preamp / DI on my board rather than from the amp. Some do, some don't, but seemed to sound good out front either way. Next gig in Scotland with the same dep guitarist in a few weeks...

First gig of this year for Blues Delux at a regular local bar in Stirling. Sunday afternoon set finishing at 7pm, very chilled out as we were again playing to diners and people out for a quiet drink, so it's more or less a usual Sunday crowd. The gig started off quite ropey. First song it was obvious the levels were all a bit askew. Second song we had recovered the levels but for unknown reasons our guitarist played the song in the wrong key before stopping midway through to tune his guitar and joining in for the last verse chorus almost in tune. Then the bar staff came up to us as we were about to start the third tune and said there had been a complaint from a customer about the loudness of the band, and would we mind turning everything up!? So we did, and the rest of the gig was rock and roll. We stopped briefly to do a short acoustic set in the middle of the gig with our singer and guitar player on acoustic. Also got complimentary beer from the pub for the first time ever. Not sure what that was all about. Rig wise I'm in a really happy place at present. Silverstone II and a TE AH250 GP12 SMX almost sound as if they were made for each other. The dual band comp is I think the secret sauce that makes it all sound so good. Back up amp was a GK 400RB IV and used it on the second set just for the hell of it. Playing my Sadowsky a lot more recently and it also adds something new and good to the sound. To sum up, ropey start, but a rock n roll finish with free beer, and an early night. ☺️

First one back for the new year as vox was away in January and we were a guitarist down, so there was a bit more space to fill but generally went ok. Good crowd singing and dancing so that was good. We had a rehearsal last Monday to clear the cobwebs and check adjustments for songs minus a guitar. I decided to run: bass->Anagram->Baby Sumo->Barefaced BB2 and with the Anagram di’d to the PA but got the usual amp and spare out anyway as I had a previous issue with the Baby Sumo (not repeated since) so wanted to be prepared. No problems last night and it sounded great in the wild and through my IEM’s. Massive cramping in my fretting hand in the last couple of numbers which was a trial and I ache this morning. Now I’m away for some r&r after a crazy couple of months at work, and I get back just before the next gig so will be going into that with no rehearsal and a couple of weeks not playing

It was a really fun one on Saturday night at the recently renovated Exchange basement in Bristol. It used to be a big corridor with a tiny stage, but they've opened up the space and now there's a bigger stage and increased capacity. We were opening up for a local band's new album release and I got to try out my Spector NS Icon 5 live for the first time, which was nice. The gig was a sell out and I was surprised at the number of people who came to see us. My brother and his mate came along too, so that was really nice to have them there as well. On the Spector front I tend to pick rather aggressively at a gig and with the curved Spector boddy and big pickups, I lost count of the amount of times I smacked my fingers into the pickups. They were feeling a bit sore the next day 😅 That's going to need some work if I'm going to play it live more! It sounded great through the usual Boss GX-100 -> Laney Digbeth and then the venue's Barefaced Super Twin. We played well and individually had lots of complements after the gig too. Should be getting some professional pictures back from that gig at some point once we hear back (and pay) the photographer. The other bands were Row of Ashes and the headliner Epimetheus.

I once took a banjo to a local luthier shortly before he died, and he snapped it in half and burnt the pieces. God, I miss him.

Imo single cut basses sound more stern, less frivolous than double cut basses. As if they heard their retirement age has been pushed back. On one hand they exude an atmosphere of business acumen and accountability, on the other they give the impression of a lesser lust for life, of not letting go at parties. Single cut basses are a lot like a greengrocer's hammer: beware when one is applied in earnest.

Just done a lovely little solo gig at Bar Dos Hermanos in Leicester. Quite a quiet night possibly due to the ghastly weather but it meant I could experiment with more subtle stuff and new tunes rather than competing against a really noisy crowded bar. A girl from the audience asked if I knew Jolene and could she sing it (she was really good too so that worked really nicely). Chucked in a bunch of new stuff too which went down well. And only got slightly soaked loading out. Happy with that. Gear: the usual Simon and Patrick SP6 guitar and soundhole pickup, Allen and Health desk and Mackie SRM350 speakers. Footwear by Clarkes.

Short freebie gig playing an intermission set with the 7 piece jazz band last night that turned into an important learning experience for me. One of our members who is a teacher had organized a day long workshop for several school choral groups and due to a cancellation asked if we could fill a slot in the evening program and it went well and we sounded very good. I planned to use my Yamaha SLB 200 and go straight into the Traynor SB 112 combo that I have used many times either by itself or as a monitor with a line out to a PA. When I had it set in place and turned it on nothing happened, it usually takes 2-3 seconds to come on and has never failed before so I checked all the cords and used different wall outlets and still no action. Luckily the school had a bass amp I could use and it all went fine. Now for what I learned. If your amp has been sitting in a car in a parking lot for seven or eight hours with the temperature around -15C it will take while to warm up and come to life. I had taken it straight in and it was still cold but after I changed to the other amp I tried it one more time and stood like an idiot wondering why I bothered and then after about 10 seconds lights came on and all was well, it just needed extra time for the current to warm up the components, who would have guessed? Edit: Yes, I tried it this morning after it had been in my house overnight and all is well, lesson learned.

More of an audition than a rehearsal but whilst at Whitby Goth festival last November, I had a call from the singer of Siouxsie and the Banshees tribute “Painted Bird” saying that the bassist had left and the remaining three had all said I would be a great replacement. I was flattered. I said yes and tonight was my first rehearsal / audition. I took my Fender USA Jazz, for that Steve Severin vibe and my Blackstar U700 head. The built in chorus and overdrive immediately gets my sound in the right area. I have been so busy with real life that I went in feeling under rehearsed and I didn’t want to waste anybody’s time. We started with Metal Postcard and then launched into Happy House. I could tell they were happy. As the set wore on, it was obvious that I had put the work in. Nine songs in and I missed the timing on a section of Switch, but it was in the bank by then! I am officially the new member of the band… and I must be doing alright as I was presented with a band t-shirt too! My first show is Water Rats in March with Echoes of the Bunnymen.

My last gig was NYE. We don't have a gig until February 19. It will be my first gig at age 72. This stretch of no gigs is driving me crazy. Daryl

It’s tiny! Demo coming very soon!!!

I have taken the brave decision to launch a new print and digital bass magazine for the UK market. I've been publishing magazines in my day job for 27 years and think it's terrible that we don't have a dedicated magazine anymore. We launch the mag officially at the Birmingham Bass & Guitar Show next month where we will have a small stand and giving away a sample issue (while stocks last) - we will then publish quarterly moving forward. Editor is Joel McIver who ran Bass Guitar magazine and then Bass Player so no cheap AI generated content here! Website is here You can subscribe via the website - our socials launch on Monday. If you are at the show next month come and say hello - be nice to put faces to names. The cover of our sample issue is here for your thoughts and comments.

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1961195121498875&id=1808464263 Overall not a bad night at our monthly spot. First gig with new drummer Paul. certainly has done his homework, great player. A little loud but has an E kit he’s going to use, hopefully.

As promised, a few rough FM clips (please forgive the crappy playing). @Al Krow, the last one is especially for you. 😉 QM Bass 01.mp3 QM Bass 02.mp3 QM Bass 03.mp3 QM Bass 10.mp3 QM Bass 14.mp3 QM Bass 18.mp3 QM Bass 19.mp3 QM Bass 21.mp3 QM Bass 23.mp3 QM Bass 24.mp3 QM Bass 25.mp3 QM Bass 28.mp3 QM Bass 29.mp3 QM Bass 33.mp3

Yesterday, we returned to Mooncalf Studios in Wiltshire, for our penultimate session for album no. 3. Playing gothic original material, we usually record the drum tacks and keys on GarageBand, take them to the studio to upload and tidy up, and then add the guitars / bass / vocals. We uploaded the last three songs and recorded the bass and vocals. I used my Fender Jazz USA (2008) and my Squier Bass VI for the bass parts. I also got to use a Jerry Jones Sitar guitar that we had hired for the princely sum of one bottle of red wine. Oh, and I added a simple part on my David Bowie Stylophone. The sitar took a few runs. Mainly because I was writing the part whilst in the studio. The bass all went down in one take with no overdubs, across all three tracks. That doesn't always happen but it is nice when it does. I also did a few lead vocal lines, which went down pretty easily. We have three guitar parts and one of my vocal parts to do and the album is done. Anyhow, enough about me... who else has a recent studio session that they'd care to share?

This one:

Like most basses, a lot more than I sold mine for….

The dead spot is inevitable on instruments as it's linked to their resonant frequency and every material has one. You could add some weight on the headstock to move it further away so it won't annoy you, something like the (Fender) FatFinger can do wonders and it's easy to place and remove.

I blame the "keeping up with the drummer" mindset. Even I have fallen into that trap in my post. The drummer should be playing at the appropriate volume. Too many non-musical drummers playing at one volume. But that's another thread.

I've had mine since October. It's a KILLER! Loads of punch and headroom and heft, if I may say it, simple and brilliantly effective EQ. The hpf is something I'd never really thought of before, but it's a really useful shaping tool which fattens up the bottom end beautifully if counter- intuitively. Who knew that removing bass improved the low end? Everyone bar me, it would seem. I'm not a technical fella so this amp is perfect for me. Just switch it on and it sounds great. Fiddle around and it just sounds greaterer. Build quality looks to be as good as it gets, though time will tell, I guess. As for extras, I'm particularly taken with the USB out which I use to power my tuner. It sounds good through every cab I've put it through. I did some European shows back end of last year with a venue supplied cab at each. No issues with any of 'em, not even the beaten 90's Laney 410 at one nor the ancient Marshall 115 I ended up with at another. I'm the UK I use it with either a Barefaced 210 or 610 and it cooks, fellas, lemme tell ya. I'm doing a UK club tour with Atomic Rooster starting 19th of this month (Coming to town near you!)and I'm planning on using both cabs together. We'll see how that pans out. I'll finalise that set-up during rehearsals next week. I'll keep you informed... Shug

Starting a new build for a fellow Basschat member, because this one deserves documenting properly — if only as a cautionary tale. The brief: a paulownia body, finished properly in nitrocellulose, going Dakota Red, paired with a MIM Fender neck. The timing: while fighting a genuinely world-ending case of manflu. The wood: paulownia, which has zero sympathy and even less respect for human suffering. As usual, this will be a warts-and-all build thread — no carefully curated highlights, just the reality of what’s involved in getting a nitro finish right on a wood that actively resists it. This is very much not a “quick colour and clear” job. Paulownia has a habit of revealing grain, pores and dents you were sure you’d already dealt with — especially once primer goes on and you’re already feeling sorry for yourself. The plan (and yes, this is the long way round): Multiple coats of nitro primer Careful flattening Shellac to lock everything down before colour Grain filler, because the grain will come back if given even half a chance More sanding than feels medically advisable Eventually… Dakota Red At the moment it’s firmly in the “primer shows everything you missed” stage — which is nitro’s favourite moment to kick you while you’re down. The aim here isn’t speed; it’s getting a finish that won’t sink, print through, or look like it’s been applied with a teaspoon. I’ve also added a cut out to the neck pocket as the neck is a heel adjustment truss rod. My cunning plan is that it will be covered by the pickguard in normal use but means that the neck can be adjusted in situ by just taking the pickguard off and not having to de-string, remove the neck, adjust, attach neck, re-string, tune and repeat until it’s right. Progress may be slower than usual, fuelled mainly by tea, ibuprofen and stubbornness — but it will be done properly. I’ll keep this thread updated as it goes along, warts, mistakes, fixes and all, including the usual sanding, swearing, re-priming, and pretending this was all part of the plan from the start. Dakota Red to follow… once both the finish and the builder are fully cured.

That is a big ask. The term is a safety blanket to those, mostly Americans, who deceive themselves into thinking the jump in quality of mid 70's Japanese products was the result of IP theft and shady practises. Truth is Japanese factories had been building 'crap' because Western importers put profit first and ordered crap, the game changed once the Japanese decided they'd had enough and started building on their own terms. Similar mindset is with us today regarding Chinese and Indonesian instruments, as if somehow cultures with a history of string instruments going back 1000s of years are incapable of building simple stuff like electric guitars.

Fender, (when it was Fender), researched into this many years ago and concluded that if you want to eliminate the dead spot, eliminated the headstock. Then change to a composite neck.

So it turned up today, my £63 (inc shipping) bass. Took it out of the box, and out of its gig bag (not great, but.. £63 and it has one, which is more than many do) and marvelled at how really green it was, seriously more green than the pictures. Really nice dark neck, a bit thicker than I would like ideally but ok. Good frets Tuned it up (tuners are ok), and played. It plays well, very impressed. I haven't plugged it in yet, that is tonights thing (comes with a lead too). Knobs feel solid (more solid than the ibanez EHBs). All in all its pretty amazing what you get. I will give it a try at a gig at some point, although they are a bit thin at the moment

The challenge was lining up accurately enough for the original side dot holes to line up. That said, at least it would then be in exactly the right position! Held together, this was would be I was aiming for if at all possible: Dry, I used some spool clamps to hold the side to side position. I then drilled a couple of micro holes in the nut slot through to the neck and tapped in a couple of thin panel pins. Same at the back - I lifted a fret and put a couple in there too. At the back of the neck, I stuck a strip of hardwood along the neck spine temporarily with two-sided tape to use as a clamping caul: I pulled the fretboard off to apply the glue, then could use the projecting panel pins to relocate and prevent the board floating around under clamping. I used a series of radius blocks before putting around a dozen clamps to squeeze all of the glue out and get a closed joint on both sides all the way up the neck. Here is the first clamp - 11 more to go: And here it was glued, waiting for some replacement side dots (which come as a thin cylindrical stick) to be fitted: And re-oiled ready to return to @Owen

Off to Horbury WMC for a 40th party attended by around 150 people apparently, although you wouldn't know it from the lack of audience involvement. Hey ho. The evening started auspiciously as I managed to find a parking spot literally three feet from the door! After I'd recovered from the shock we set up pretty quickly, said hello to the birthday girl and her husband, soundchecked, then sat around doing nothing for an hour and a half. Went with the by now tried and tested Siredowsky - ABM - Two10S combination, which sounded pretty good on a larger stage. At halftime I was approached by a local guitar tech who preferred his business card, so I'll have to look into that as I don't have a go to one in these parts yet. Managed to grab a bowl of curry, made by our guitarist's ex apparently, before heading back on stage. We all played really well, and our newer songs are sounding really good, apart from our drummist truncating Two Tribes again! We had a couple of half-hearted dancers for a couple of songs but that was about it, but star of the night was the 9(ish)-year-old girl who was dancing and cartwheeling on the dancefloor for the entire second set, which have me a bit of a boost. Before we started our singist approached us all and asked if we'd fancy giving London Calling a bash. Hell yes, I would!

I've been a little neglectful of this thread whilst being away this summer... but the project is complete! Here's a few progress shots... Body stripped and prepared: Primed! Looking waaaay too blue! Ready for go faster stripes Stripes done Big chunk out of the fretboard... Seamlessly repaired... i can't even find it in person. New frets whilst we're at it. And here we go... she's done! Here she is with my other recent acquisition... a 1967 Hofner! I couldn't be happier... she sounds stunning and plays so well. The one I've been looking for for a long time! Going out for our first festival outing together tomorrow (Monday), if anyone is at Twinwood this weekend! https://www.eternal-guitars.com/... I can't recommend Dave highly enough. We've had so many geeky chats about the minor details on this, and it's turned out better than i hoped. His own instruments are stunning too.