Kirky

Saw the VFs a few times back in the mid to late 80s. Think he was playing Maton acoustic back then. I like them, their version of Children of the Revolution is awesome but the first couple of albums are very good too.

Ouch that's bad news, especially the 10 week wait. I've played 3 gigs with mine this weekend and it was running unusually hot yesterday. Will treat it with kid gloves for a while. Its a real shame about the wait, and a pity that Polar Audio (are they still the distributers?) don't hold more parts in stock.

A three gig weekend for my blues band!! Friday night at the Duck and Drake in Leeds, Saturday lunchtime at Yeadon Carnival (and back home in time for the England match) and Saturday night at the Junction in Otley. Loads of feedback from regular listeners saying the Saturday gigs were the best we've ever played and sounded, which is nice after 6 years playing together. Hoping we can maintain then momentum for our gig at the Blues Bar in Harrogate next Friday(13th).

I had a young, rather drunk lady shout in my ear whilst playing with my blues band, asking if we knew any songs by One Direction. I shouted back "Ask the singer". Her reply, "which one's the singer?". When I told the rest of the band at the break, the singer told us the said girl had then shouted in his ear (whilst he was singing) "are you the singer?" - not knowing the context, he had been quite confused.

Played the Tockwith Beer Festival with both my bands last night. Third outing of my Limelight Fretless - sounded great. Very friendly event in a marquee with an appreciative crowd and I'm pretty sure both bands will be asked back next year.

I was thinking about the Yamaha DXR10 (or 12) for similar usage. It has 3 inputs with separate volume controls so you could play bass along with your music player of choice. Perhaps a bit out of budget (currently £495 at Bax) but I've seen them second hand for £300.

But are you good at playing?

35 and 3/4" from ball to the start of the silk on mine.

The Thomastiks on my Musicmaster are awesome.

I've just bought a fretless bass (a Limelight) and I'm planning to gig it with my blues band on Friday (The Crown in Yeadon if anyone's nearby). I've had one practice with the band and my approach is going to be just play what I normally play, to begin with, then see where the sounds take me. I'm coping with the left hand ("fretting" hand) fine but the right hand is a bit unusual at the moment, its the first time I've played a Jazz bass and the RH position feels a little unusual to me.

Met with John yesterday to relieve him of his Limelight Fretless. All flawless and friendly and all I can say is, what a man cave!! Thanks John.

I used to play viola but haven't done so for years. Its a lovely instrument. John Cale's viola work with the Velvet Underground shows how it can fit perfectly in a rock band.

Yes that's the stuff I got from Screwfix.

These are useful too. I bought something similar but smaller from Screwfix. These are £24 and mine was £15 I think.

If he's handy with a soldering iron, Ampmaker's P1800 is an excellent choice. 18W point to point valve amp, nails the Marshall/WEM sound and is plenty loud enough for any gig. And you can built it into any cabinet you like and maintain the look/style that suits you.

Bass: Mexican Fender PJ (Deluxe Active Precision (or something) converted to passive with a Norstrand p/u) Amp/Rack: GK Fusion 550, Korg Pitchblack Pro Cab: TKS S212 Effects: Way Huge Red Rhino clone, MXR Envelope Filter (can't remember the model) Cables: OBBM and self-made

I've acted as an informal courier, transporting a guitar from one Basschatter to another. It's worth asking as there's a lot of us who travel about for work.

Tidy.

57 for me in 2017, with two bands. I think its probably the most i've ever done in a single year. I'm 54 and a typical weekend warrior. Both bands book their own gigs, and we're lucky that there still seem to be a lot of pub venues in Yorkshire although it can involve a lot of driving. We were in Selby last night, York tonight. Already 22 gigs booked for this year, and I'd expect ending up with around the same as 2017.

This is a great video - fantastic playing and an awesome range of basses. Sorry if its been posted before - had a search.

Twice I've seen Mascis play in smallish clubs, 20 odd years apart. Took me 20 years to build up the courage to go again, and I thought he'd have learned to play at decent volumes...I was wrong.