JPJ

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. 

I have a pair of new old stock FaitalPRO 12PR320 12" drivers sitting here doing nowt. This is the driver used in the Basschat 1x12” cab design (Mk1 I believe). I was going to build a 2x12 cab using these but then a lovely Vanderkley 2x12 came up local to me so the project has been shelved.

I also have a complete set of good quality plywood panels to construct the 2x12 available to go with them but due to the weight, the plywood will be collection only.

So £250 collected, or buyer to pay postage on the drivers. Plywood available as a package deal with the drivers for an additional £50 but collection only.

6 minutes ago, ziggydolphinboy said:

hi there i gather this just runs off of a 9v power supply ?

 Kindest regards

 ziggy

 

No, these run off internal 9v battery only, and are always on (no footswitch). I had our very own @bremen rehouse mine in a standard pedal enclosure adding a 9v input and a true bypass footswitch. 

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!

Heading back home from a trip to New York and Nashville, help a brother out with his credit card bill type bump.

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. 

11 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

TC BG208 on eBay with free delivery here, ends tomorrow night:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/277281572070

Bargain! 

6 minutes ago, sshorepunk said:

I did consider that, need to check it out again, more from the portability point

I did own a TC combo a while back, the tone print is useful 

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. 

Having shipped my Head of Doom back to Ashdown I received a call today from the legend who is Dave Green. Turns out she’d popped a capacitor which he has replaced along with its sister, and she is now winging her way back to me, and should be here on Monday. 
Amazing service again from the Ashdown team. 

As a recent convert to the world of double bass, I have followed your rebuild thread with great interest. He/she/they/them looks an amazing bass and another one saved from the great gig in the sky. Well done 😎

On 15/07/2025 at 00:04, JPJ said:

As I mentioned in the ‘How was your gig” mega thread, I decided to take my Head of Doom to the gig yesterday as a bit of a nod towards the recent  final Black Sabbath gig. Turned up at the venue, loaded in, set up the PA, then set up my rig. Powered up the Ashdown and she illuminated like normal but wasn’t making a sound. Tried all the usual idiot checks without success, so running out of time, I just upped the level of the bass in the FOH and relied on my IEM’s for monitoring. 

Tonight, I decided to check again, and in the silence of my man cave, she is making a noise, but not a noise you want to hear. So, thinking it might be preamp valve related, I whipped her out of the rack case she lives in, and had a squint through the ventilation slots. Preamp valve looks like it’s firmly seated, but more worryingly, there is that unmistakable smell of blown electronics. I’ve shot a website enquiry over to the guys at Ashdown but I think she’ll need to head back there for repair.  

So 24 hours after the initial website enquiry I received an email from Dave Green requesting that I sent her back to them. She’ll be on her way tomorrow, arriving in Essex on Monday. Outstanding customer service again from the guys at Ashdown 👏👏😎