rushbo

Here's a picture of a gentleman from China, knocking one out in his shed. I'm not sure what the esteemed and not-at-all AI generated luthier here is doing, but I'm sure it's boutique.

This is good advice. I kept a short scale bass at work to noodle on a lunchtime, but I found that when I picked up my "regular" bass, it took a bit of acclimatisation. A "cricket bat" bass may be the way forward.

I don't know what I'm more proud of - the fact that I regularly gig with basses which would cause many of the members of BassChat to reach for their weapon of choice, or that my own prejudices are so absurd that it's pointless trying to explain them. While there are several things in the Wonderful World of Bass that make me roll my eyes and tut, there are only two which cause me to clench my teeth, fists and buttocks simultaneously. Both are pictured here: Exhibit A: The two "extra" screws on some BBoT bridges. Why oh Lord, why? Exhibit B: That bonus bit of wood at the dusty end of the neck, often shaped into a jaunty diagonal. I don't know what it's called, I just don't like it. I have no doubt that these are perfectly great sounding basses and fun to play, but I'm afraid if they ever fell into my hands, I'd probably have to take them into the darkest part of the woods and put them out of their misery for the good of mankind.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but my dealings with Bax have always been positive... The last things I bought from them - a Warwick Gnome Amp and Cab were both 'B' stock, but arrived boxed and in immaculate condition. Initially, all was good. However, after a couple of gigs, the DI on the amp developed a fault, meaning that the signal from the amp to the mixing desk sounded horribly distorted. As I bought the gear about a week before all the recent shenanigans, I was a little trepidatious when I got in touch with them about a returning it. I quickly received a free postage label and sent it back. I was told that the turnaround time was 11 weeks, which didn't really fill me with hope. However, I was kept informed all through the process and after just under four weeks, I received an email to say that a brand-new replacement was on the way which arrived promptly. So far, so good. I'd use them again.

Bought another book from Mick - as smooth as always.

. Full disclosure: Slap bass played well doesn't offend me at all, and I wish I could play it better...

Good work!

I agree - I had a BG250 15" and it was excellent. I think people have woken up to how good they are as the secod hand price has crept up from £150 to closer to £200.

Just to muddy the waters a bit, I think you also need to consider demographics before you take the plunge on manufacturing physical media. My old Rhythm and Blues band sold a decent amount of CDs at gigs and by mail order- and by decent amount, I mean 300-ish of each CD we made. One of the reasons for that was that our audience of 40-65+ year-olds were still hardwired to buying actual things, rather than streaming or downloading. The band had a BandCamp page with competetively priced downloads in MP3 and WAV formats, but digital sales were minimal. My advice would be to look at your audience. If it's full of bright young things, then streaming, downloads and maybe some boutique vinyl could be the ways forward. Of all the stuff we sold however, it was T Shirts that generated the most revenue and a well designed, sensibly priced shirt or beanie will always be popular.

The Roxy Music tribute I play in has used projections for a couple of years now. We've made it as simple as it can be - I put together a three hour mp4 (edited on an excellent free programme called Shotcut) with appropriate, royalty free images and short video clips. We check with the venue well in advance to see if they have the facility to run it and about 70% of them do. We play 200-300 seater places - some have a projector and some ask for us to bring a laptop with the mp4 pre-loaded. I've always got a couple of memory sticks in my gig bag with the file on, too. It's not synchronised to what we're playing, but it adds another visual element to our performance and we often get people saying how much they enjoyed the "film." Occasionally some of the "screens" that the images get projected on are basically white bedsheets (with stains and creases) but from a distance, they look fine. My advice would be to get one done - it's quite a fun project - let the venues know you can provide one and always keep a copy handy, along with an HDMI lead or two. Ours is also available to download from our website.

They're called We Are Not Devo and they're ace. If they play anywhere by you, go and see them.

I was once asked to join an All About Eve tribute band, well after their chart successes. As much as I like AAE, I politely demurred.

That is amazing. If you'd have sweetened the deal with a few tunes from his collaborations with Jan Garbarek, I'd have been there in a heartbeat.

Genius.

That's very useful - cheers Linus.

This was my rig for Saturday night's gig at The Maltings in Ely - My Gnome 200-Watt Pocket Bass Amp Head into the matching 10/4. It was the first time I'd used it at a gig - I trialled it at a rehearsal and it coped very well against drums, guitar, vocals and electric fiddle. The gig however, was with a six-piece band (drums, keys, guitar, sax, vox and bass) on a good-sized stage with PA support, and I was stunned at how loud and clear the setup was. I didn't have to push the volume at all. Considering the fact that it's a single 10" speaker (and tweeter) the sound was rich and full. The Gnome amp is quite transparent, which suits me fine as I love the sound I get from the Entwistle pickups I fit to my gigging basses. The cab is light, but solid and seems to take effects well, although I don't use many. As both the cab and amp are 4ohms, I was able to get the "full" 200 watts, but I didn't need to drive the rig too hard at all to get a sound that filled the stage, with headroom to spare. It's early days, but the initial signs are very positive - an amp that fits in the pocket of a gig bag and a cab that's an easy, one-handed carry. Colour me impressed.

Rob did another superb, bespoke 3D printing job for me - immaculate as always. Cheers Rob!

Thanks all, but I've gone with a Warwick Gnome 200 Watt Pocket Bass Amp Head and the Gnome Pro CAB 10/4 1x10-inch 200W cab, which should be arriving on Monday. I managed to get a great deal on the pair and they look perfect for my needs. Cheers for your input.

Thanks for all the input everyone, its much appreciated. Just to muddy the waters, I've spotted a Genz Benz Focus LT 1x12 200w/8ohm at a sensible price not far from me - would that be a better bet with either of these mini amps? I'm not looking for huge volume and as most of the gigs we do have PA support, so it would be for my montoring only. BQ250: https://www.tcelectronic.com/product.html?modelCode=0707-ACT BAM 200: https://www.tcelectronic.com/product.html?modelCode=0707-ACV Thanks!

Genz Benz Contour - it's actually 300w

(double post...)