obbm

I would dearly love to get my trusty Stingray 5 back again. It was fitted with a Status neck by Rob Green in early 2005 and was my go to bass for many years. Only sold it because I was playing in an Elvis tribute band and didn't need a 5-string. Big mistake. Where is it now I wonder.

This is a very difficult question to answer because as a child there was no pop/rock music as we know it today. Up to the age of 11, i.e. 1946 to 1957 all I heard was:- Summer – Hotel Dance Band Winter - BBC Light Programme - Two Way Family Favourites, Billy Cotton Bandshow, Uncle Mac’s Childrens Favourites, etc. In 1957 we moved, my parents bought a radiogram and had some LPs of Gilbert and Sullivan and some Musicals but nothing that interested me. (Note: I eventually modified the radiogram to became the basis of my first bass amp) I started to listen to Radio Luxembourg. By the 3rd year at school one of the form used to bring his Dansette and play records at break time - Duane Eddy, Johnny and the Hurricanes, Buddy Holly, Del Shannon, The Ventures, etc. There was a slow growth of, what was starting to be called, “pop music” on BBC Light Programme - Saturday Club BBC TV - Juke Box Jury ITV - Thank Your Lucky Stars But that was about it so it so a tape recorder was essential. Early 60s it was Cliff, The Shadows, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps, Helen Shapiro, John Leyton, Billy Fury, etc. The weekly NME was a great source of information, new artists/band and tour dates. Went to see Little Richard in concert and was converted by the Fender Precision in Sounds Incorporated. I had to have a bass. At the end of 1962 everything changed with the rise of The Beatles and the other Mersey groups. Compared to what had come before it was a revelation. By 1965 the broadcasters had eventually got their act together with “Top of the Pops” and the wonderful “Ready, Steady Go”. Yes I go back, listen to and play along with music from my youth but not my childhood, and I’m not embarrassed to admit that I like a lot of early Cliff and The Drifters/Shadows. There is just something about that early British Rock ‘N’ Roll that gets me. Given the opportunity I would just love to get out and play it again.

Out: Sadowsky UV70 Ibanez Mikro In: Musicman Sterling Sterling SB14

Thanks for the suggestions. I've ordered the larger Harley Benton Power Bank which also does 18v so hopefully I can run my Ashdown Pre-DI as an alternative.

Looks interesting but what it doesn't show or mention is the separate power supply that's needed to provide the 30-volts DC.

Harley Benton strikes again. That looks ideal. Thanks.

The bass amp at our local jam sounds very flat so I’d like to use my Flyrig as it gives the sound I want. In order to facilitate quick change-overs it needs to be battery powered. It works fine on a PP3 but lacks some oomph. Has anyone attempted this or can recommend a good 9-volt battery solution.

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I have been through various DIY projects of bass monitoring. Following surgery I prefer to sit down to play so I purchased a Fischer Amps Buttkicker and fixed it to my stool. To drive it I had a small mixer for bass and kick drum mic into a power amplifier. Later I built two platforms, a four transducer and a two transducer version. Both worked fine although there were a few mechanical tolerance problems with the moving parts of the transducers clearing the wooden platform. My woodworking skills are not brilliant. Due to house moving neither were completely finished and are currently in store. I found a really good web article about building a DIY platform. I have been trying to locate it again but alas I can't find it, I do however have the photos from it. More recently I have adopted a different approach and acquired an Eich active drum stool which is fed with drums through and Ashdown Ant and a Backbeat on the strap for my bass. To be quite honest I find the Backbeat to be the best solution so far.

Some years ago I used to regularly attend several of the local Jam nights, both as a punter and later as part of house bands. I found it great for ear training and improvisation as it made me think on my feet. If I didn't know the song I'd ask what the chords were and off we'd go. It was usually fine until we got to a bridge or a middle eight which of course he'd forgotten to mention 😀😃. Sometimes I'd get a guitarist who knew how to play the chords but didn't know what they were called. 😒 Over the weeks I would hear songs that were regulars so I'd be sure to learn them in case I was ever called upon to play them. Several good bands were spawned out of these Jam night attendees. After a long lay-off and a house move I've just started to discover the local jams here in the West.

And I predate you by 33 years and have been here for over 20. Welcome, you’ll find a great bunch with loads of knowledge and information.

Has anyone compared the BDDI v2 and the Sansamp section of the Bass FlyRig v2?

This documentary tells the story of RSG and explains Dusty’s involvement in bringing over the Motown artists. The programme was live from the studios of Associated Rediffusion in Television House, Kingsway, London. It was a game changer for popular music on TV.

That's very kind of you to say so Chris. I always adopted the attitude that I would treat my customers in the same way as which I would wish to be treated as a customer. In my former Corporate life I was always told that "Customer is King". It seems that this is lost on some of today's businesses.

Those of us of a certain age will remember Megan Davies of The Applejacks who had hits in 1963 and 1964. She was the first female bass player that I was aware of in the UK.

Not the usual sort of gig but for Mrs OBBM's birthday on Saturday we went to see Gary Barlow in "A Different Stage", a one man show, which is a combination of his life story interspersed with his songs. For over 2 hours it was just the man himself surrounded by flight cases containing various props and multiple keyboards. Originally he was going to do 2 nights at the Hall for Cornwall but they sold out in a matter of minutes so they added a third and then a fourth night, all totally sold out. Gary has been doing this show for a while now and certainly puts a huge amount of effort into it. There was of course a large contingent of die-hard Barlow/Take That fans all of whom were in great voice including the 50-something guy in the seat next to Mrs OBBM. Now I never took much notice of Take That back in the day but after Saturday I've been slightly won over to the point where I'm actually looking at videos on YouTube and playing along with the songs. I need help, is there any form of therapy or medication for this?

Here’s wishing you the very best for your surgery. I hope that it gets you sorted.

To quote from The Carpenters "Now and Then" album, "What Memories, What Memories". Thanks for posting Nik.

Maybe. Communication is mostly by beacons or horseback.

Very lonely down here in Cornwall.

Saturday night was the second visit this year to the The Portreath Arms, in Portreath. Nice friendly crowd and all went well. Even got them up and dancing. My set-up was my recently acquired MM Sterling, strung with DRs (why did I ever sell the previous three?) into a Sansamp Flyrig into a Markbass Nano (set flat) into a BF One 10. Great tone, nice and growly. As we don't have drummer it was more than loud enough. Landlady very pleased and wants us back again. Problem is it was the last gig for a while as the guitarist is starting a new job and needs to devote his energies to that for the foreseeable future. Sad in a way as it was finally all coming together. I think the motivation is there to continue but time will tell. In the meantime I shall be visiting the local Jam nights to try and meet a few more musos.