dmccombe7

Yep i remember the days when you could go see a band every night of the week and they were free access too. Dave

Our drummer wears a hat most gigs but never had any issues. ? Might be better mentioning it to him next time. 👍 Dave

Bingo at half time ? Always do that at our gigs in BL clubs. Dave

In harmony

But we're young at heart @obbm Dave

I'm too old for it. 😂 Dave

yep same as yours Daryl, Blue Burst. It needs a bit more work to get it just right tho. Bridge pick up needs to come up a bit and possibly lower the string height at the nut a little more. I've had it for approx 10 yrs but just used it at home. Recently decided to set it up properly and try gigging it. Dave

Its actually an Overwater J4 Contemporary that they put together from spares they had when taking samples to Tanglewood. They only made a few of these so no serial numbers etc. Its a decent bass but i was finding it a bit heavy in the 2nd set and moved to my trusty VM4 for last 5 or 6 songs. Part of the problem was i hadn't gigged for 4 weeks so my back was feeling it. It sounded ok but i really need more time to get the best out of it. I had dropped the string height at the nut and raised the neck pick up by 5mm but still hadn't adjusted the bridge pick up to balance it so it was a bit bass heavy and lacked a bit of mid drive. I'll get that sorted this week and might give it another go. I like the look of it in the pics. The other thing was it was a lot hotter than my Sandberg and i had to tweak amp volume a bit at change over. I believe there are gain pots in the control cavity that would drop the gains from the pick ups more in line with my Sandberg. I think its Kent Armstrong pick ups and pre-amp. Dave

Couple of pics from Sat nights gig with Blockbustarz just appeared from Auld Gambling Hoose in Alloa. Excuse the wig, it was a new one i was trying out for a friend. 😂 It needs a bit of trimming for the next gig. Couldn't see thru the darn thing. Dave

Our guitarist used to use Marshall stacks with various distortion etc pedals before joining us. He was using a Freidman 50W all valve amp into a Freidman 212 cab with a few pedals maybe 5 or 6. He then upgraded his amp to the Freidman 100W at a cost of £4k and his pedal board now consists of his Shure wireless, distortion/ boost pedal for solos and a delay of some kind. All the other effects he used to have are now built into the amp but what a great on stage tone he gets compared to his 50W Amp that i regularly found a bit boomy. The new amp has a much more even tone across his range. Amazing the difference between a 50W & 100W head. I guess you get what you pay for. Have to say he gets no noise between songs now either. He generally uses Gibson Flying V and Les Paul and occasionally brings a Strat. Dave

Our guitarist uses one of them. Does make quite a difference. Dave

It is a good size Daryl and must be able to hold 200-250 people i reckon. A decent small concert venue. I like playing it because we have plenty of stage space. Twice we've played it and the audience were great both times. Not sure i've ever played on a concrete stage. To be fair the bass cab was sitting directly on stage with no gramma pad this time and it wasn't boomy in any way at all. I know the drummer was using twin floor toms tuned low and maybe it was down to a lack of damping but not sure why it wasn't noticed at sound check. Dave

Nice, so good. I can understand not doodling over that. Nice to let her shine on her own. Dave

That is the down side of long rehearsals. I try to play a bit lighter on long rehearsals and even the longer gigs. Dave

Its quite a good venue but it does have a few issues with sound. Difficulties with drums on a drum riser and a hollow wooden stage was causing a lot of very low droning sounds. SE added a gate of some sort to help but it wasn't there during sound check. You seem to get a lot of rebound noise which made it sound as if we had a lot of reverb on things but there was very little being used. It could do with a bit of a tidy up around the stage area and the changing room but its not the worst we've played by any means. To be fair to them they are trying to upgrade a very old building that i'm guessing was an old theatre come picture house come bingo hall and now being changed over to a proper venue. The team working in it last night were pretty good tho and very helpful. Give it a couple of years and it should be a decent gigging venue for touring bands. Dave

Enjoyed those, great singer with a very nice voice. Dave

Auld Gambling Hoose in Alloa for BLOCKBUSTARZ tonight. Reasonable sized crowd maybe 100 in plus a childhood neighbour turned up who lives in Alloa. Owner said its been slow over past few mths. Anyways thought i'd try my Overwater J4 for a spin but half way thru 2nd set i realised it was getting a bit heavy and my back was feeling it and i changed over to old faithful Sandberg VM4. Wife reckoned the VM4 was better sounding, deeper but clearer. Had dancers up most of the night with a full floor for special request of Time Warp. Audience seemed well up for a party tonight and really enjoyed themselves. Using Overwater J4 then Sandberg VM4 into Handbox WB-100 and BF 212 cab with Shure wireless and Keeley Bassist Comp. 1st set fro 8 to 9:20pm and 2nd set 9:45 to 11:15pm Got paid and a 1:15mins drive home. Dave

Probably not but as the camera moved about it was picking up a decent sound out front wherever it was so you are doing something right. I've had many gigs where i thought it wasn't sounding great out front and it used to worry me until i heard recordings and it was usually fine. We now are all pretty happy that if the sound we hear on stage sounds good then its usually good FOH too. To be fair we are starting to use PA hire more often these days with a view to almost every gig from next year rather than me humphing blooming large PA cabs in and out my car are ridiculous hrs after a gig and either the drummer or singer trying to do sound from on stage. Its been pretty good TBH over the years but having a dedicated PA guy just takes the pressure of the band. Dave

You now have no excuses 😂 Dave

You passed that test 😂 Dave

I did think that myself, quite an artistic walk in to the stage area. Well done your Mrs. Now is she available to hire for other gigs 😂 Dave

That's what i've used altho it came in a roll approx 25-30mm wide. Dave

Not really much to take a pic of and didn't think it was worthwhile bothering you. I'll take some when i do the bridge pick up tho as i hate to disappoint you guys. Dave

Yep have to say it sounds ok out front there. How weird that must have been playing with a Vulcan bomber in front of you. That's one you won't forget. Dave

I removed the neck pick up completely tonight and there's no springs but the 2 strips of foam have a 7-8mm hole in the middle of them suggesting there should be springs fitted. I had some foam i bought for below some bass pedals i had mounted at one time and put an additional strip on the existing ones. Its allowed me to get the pick up to 5mm below the strings and it has made a huge difference on the sound and made the tone more balanced and fuller. The bridge pick up was already at 5mm but its now a bit quieter than the neck pup. I want to use this bass at tomorrows gig and will possibly revisit the bridge pick up next week and raise it a couple of mm to see the effect. The existing screws were just long enough. I think if i take this any further i'll need to go down the strip of wood idea and screw the pick ups onto the strip of wood. I can't find longer screws that will fit thru the pick up holes. I've had this bass for several years and it was always an ok bass but never great to play. I bought some nut files and dropped the string height at first fret from 30 to 25thou as a starting point as i've never tackled a nut adjustment like this before. It worked really well and it plays far better now than ever before. Now that pick up height is up a bit it has a more rounded, even and deeper tone. Its an Overwater Contemporary J4 bass that was put together by Chris's team at Overwater from spare parts they had when taking the idea to Tanglewood. It has no serial number or anything like that as i think they only did about 3 of them so in a way its quite rare 😂 I had just bought my Overwater Custom fretless 6er and i was offered one of these basses. Dave