JPJ

So the LEDJ 211’S arrived this week and I used them last night when I was “Dad’s Disco” at my youngest daughter’s 30th birthday party (wife’s suggestion, an upstairs hump 😤). Unlike my old iColors, the LEDJ’s use five-pin DMX and you need a minimum 6-channel controller so more expense buying a new controller and three five-pin to three-pin adapters. Anyway, I’m very impressed with the lights, they filled the dance floor beautifully and were bright and colourful. Interestingly, they are almost as heavy as the iColor’s they’ve replaced which I was not expecting, but the level of built-in control more than makes up for this.

Might help if you tell us which model of Overwater you have. Also, things that I’ve had rattle in the past include tuner bushing, tuner gear, tuner ‘ear’ (the ones that have a little screw in the top to hold the ear to the shaft), truss rod cover, truss rod when loose, string through body ferrule, neck plate screws/neck plate. I’m sure I’ll probably come across more sources of rattles but that’s the first 47 years worth of bass ownership experience.

I have one of these which used to get lost with the electric band but works great with the acoustic trio

So at our last gig one of my old iColor 3’s took a stage dive and is no longer with us 😪 Having hummed and haa’d about upgrading for some time, I have finally bit the bullet and gone for a pair of LEDJ 211’s. They put out quite a bit less lumens but we never ran the iColor’s at full power anyway so I am hoping these will serve well as stage wash lights. I will report back once I’ve tried them out in anger.

Not a single pair of long trousers between you - people will be getting the impression that we have a summer up here, and before you know it we’ll be overrun with ‘tourists’

There was of course that crazy design with flippable frets that went from fretted to fretless at the flick of a switch from Mickey Guitars of Toronto. There was quite a bit of noise about this system in the early naughties.

I had a similar experience when I went from the KZ’s to the Sennheiser IE100’s. The sound is just ‘better’ all round to my tired old ears, and as they as less bulky they are easier to wear.

Having never really used anything smaller than 12” tops, I’ve always been a bit reluctant to try 10s as FOH but when a pair of mk1 Italian made RCF Art 310A came available locally for a give away price I decided to jump on them. Fast forward to this morning, and we held a ‘technical’ rehearsal for our acoustic Americana three-piece to test these out alongside my recently procured Behringer Flow 8, ahead of a gig next weekend. Firstly, these things are amazingly loud (probably louder than my EV ZLX15P’s), and also much clearer. The line-up is female lead vocal, male BV, two acoustic guitars, and me fumbling away on double bass. The guitars needed no eq whatsoever, and only the lightest of fairy dust on the vox. The 310’s handled the bass admirably, and I was able to get a very natural sound. The Flow 8 (should really be called the Flow 6) continues to amaze me and took no time at all to set up. With five of the six channels in use, plus FOH, and a single monitor feed, this diminutive little mixer coped brilliantly. So I now have a complete setup that will fit in the car without losing the back seats, and will arguably sound better than my ‘big rig’ for the types of gigs we play with the acoustic band 😎

Weakness in the hands suggests it could be carpel tunnel related, but pain around the elbow could also be tennis elbow. I used to suffer from tennis elbow quite a bit, despite not having played tennis for over 40 years. I found that an Epicondylitis clasp like this helped, in fact I still carry one in my gig bag just in case. Like @Burns-bass my elbow (and knee, and back) issues disappeared once I started using the gym regularly with a personal trainer.

I used one of These when I had the KK Baby Bass five string

I’m afraid I can’t help with the restoration, but it’s a bloody lovely looking bit of 80’s bass you’ve got there 😍

First around 1977-78 Jedson short scale catalogue special, photo taken in my bedroom (I was probably playing through the family stereo using the old trick of the microphone input and putting the tape deck in record and pause). Second one June 2025, playing my Boosey Hawkes Excelsior double bass, no amp, EBS Stanley Clarke preamp straight to FOH with in-ear monitors.

Got chatting with the singer from a very good traditional country band we saw last night in Laylas, they are indeed only paid in tips, bars make no contribution, but drum kit (minus breakables), backline, and full PA with engineer are provided by the venue. He said they aim to do two four hour sets per day, and pick up drop in or dep gigs if they’ve got a slot free, this can result in playing 12 hours a day, all for their share of the tip bucket!

So yesterday (Monday) we arrived in Nashville (self-appointed music city). We were amazed wandering down Broadway at 5pm how many bands/duos/trios were playing in the bars - every bar had live music, some having multiple floors of live music and on a Monday. Fast forward to this morning and making the same walk at 11am, same result! Obviously, most if not all are playing for tips only, and you had to feel sorry for those playing to empty or near empty bars. We spotted at least two musicians playing in different groups to yesterday (one bassist was still wearing the same clothes). Got me wondering how it works out here? Surely you cannot make a living playing for tips only? Do you have to take the early, empty gigs to get later more popular gigs? Are agents involved or does each bar do its own booking? So many questions - you can tell I’m in the second week of vacation and have nothing else to think about 😂

I’ll take a look when I get home at the weekend, just landed in Nashville so heading out for some local culture yeehaw 🤠

I transport ‘Lilly’ in a Gewa Prestige bag, which seems to be well built and robust for the price (I paid £170 from Thomann).

I’m a massive fan of John East’s work having J-Retro and U-Retro pre’s in most of my active basses. But, for fretless, I much prefer the simplicity of a passive circuit. My Fender Tony Franklin fretless PJ is all passive, two pickups, 3-way Strat style switch, and a single volume and tone. Best sounding fretless I have played, with mwahh for days. The J-Retro does have a pronounced low mid boost baked in, but I think John might have added a dip switch or jumper for a flatter response in the newer J-Retros. Mine are the older style so I have a lot of the bass controlled dialled back.

Bargain!

It’s an easy one hand carry, and cheap as chips secondhand

The TC Electronics BG250 208 would get my vote but I’m biased as I own one and rate it very highly. Ticks all the boxes you mentioned. I’ve ‘upgraded’ mine with better drivers at a total of 4 ohms internal so that I get the full 250 watts without an extension cab but honestly, the difference is negligible.

Sorry for the thread hi-jack, but I started to build a vertical 2x12 some time ago, then became impatient and bought a Vanderkley 2x12 that came up local to me. As a result, I have a professionally pre-cut plywood carcass ready for assembly sitting in my loft, along with two of the desirable Faital Pro 320 speakers from the Basschat 1x12 cab design if anyone is interested.