bass_dinger
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Posts posted by bass_dinger
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On 29/06/2025 at 11:28, Marky L said:
Does anybody else have a dodgy temp fix that has become semi-permanent?
The earth pin somehow snapped off my pedal board power cube PSU whilst in its case. An IKEA pencil in the bottom of my gig bag pocket and a quick reshape with the multitool and voila! It's now fixed to the PSU with a hair tie and after six months is proving is efficacy 😃
One could instead use an earth pin repair kit.
Its purchase preserves both the pencil and @Marky L, for future and alternative use in the band.
I have one in my kit case, should the previous superglue-and-dowel repair to my own adapter fail.
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On 19/06/2025 at 21:19, choob.squeemer said:
Err- fretless banjos can anybody actually play one lol
Rhiannon Giddens can.
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12 minutes ago, Terry M. said:
Popped in there last year briefly. As a bassist I thought it had nothing to offer me.This is by no means meant in a slanderous way whatsoever.
Hobgoblin is more your folk music shop - they do have acoustic basses (4 string, fretless and even a 5 string which they made for me). But they specialise in stuff that other shops don't stock: accordions, thumb pianos, erhu (Chinese violin), Indian lap-harmoniums, fretless banjos, marimba, chambord, bagpipes, and a couple of zebra-hides worth of African drums.
If you haven't heard of it, can't play it, and don't need it, Hobgoblin stock it.
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24 minutes ago, paulmcnamara said:
Apparently Hobgoblin in London is Paul McCartney's favourite music shop....... it's spitting distance from his MPL Offices in Soho Square. Maybe he'll invest in the company?
One of the chaps there (John, who has since left) told me how Paul McCartney was a regular visitor to the shop, and he sold him a Hathway mandolin. Paul McCartney asked for a discount, and after a few minutes of negotiation, John said "in the time that we have been talking, you have earned enough in royalties to buy it!". All in good humour, and Paul McCartney paid full price.
John also taught Paul McCartney a few chords, which he used in a song that he later released - Dance Tonight.
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11 minutes ago, chris667 said:
I was at an open mic a few weeks ago. The Crafter mandolin the chap was playing disintegrated during its owners set! It went out of tune while he was playing and over the next ten minutes or so the top started caving in. I told him to get the tension of, the strings straightiaway. There's a lot of tension in mandolins. Angry little things!
To be fair, this one lived in a van so not stored in ideal locations.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry!
Poor mandolin! Silly man for storing it in a van!
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On 16/06/2025 at 16:18, Stub Mandrel said:
I visited Hobgoblin in Brighton.
I used to visit their other stores in the past, this one felt a bit unwelcomingn staff just chatting to each other.
That's a shame - a lost sale for them, and off-putting for you.
About 20 years ago, I visited Hobgoblin in Rathbone Place, with my 7 year old daughter. They let her try every instrument in the shop (even a Low Whistle - the holes were so big that her fingers went inside them!).
She eventually settled on the violins, and told me that her two favourites "played good and sounded nice". They happened to be the two most expensive in the shop, and the chap behind the counter was so impressed with her technique and her ear, that he offered to let her borrow his own personal violin while we were looking for a ¼-size instrument for her.
Hobgoblin - YMMV.
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Even though PMT (and other big chains) have sadly shut down, music shops still seem to be viable in the UK. We have....
The specialists who sell just one type of instrument: eg The Gallery, selling nothing but basses and bass gear.
Add to the list of specialists Just Flutes in Croydon, T A Craig (a violin shop in Sevenoaks), Laurence Dixon for Double bass, sax.co.uk
The quirky: Hobgoblin, for folk instruments. Richards Guitars for high-end acoustic guitars and mandolins, with each instrument set up before it leaves the store.
The traditional shops which provide excellent service: people here often commend single-store music shops, and which have built a good reputation. So, Rich Tone Music in Sheffield, and Rock Bottom in Croydon. As @SumOne describes them, such shops are "a go-to hub for musicians ".
When I go shopping for an instrument, I want a seller who knows more about the item than I do - not someone who got a discount because they bought 20 boxes of guitars, and needs to shift them quickly.
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2 hours ago, jazzyvee said:
Just found out this from a non musical friend.
From that helpful link, we see the following:
"Immediately following their appointment, the joint administrators concluded a knock-down sale of £2.4 million worth of stock and “certain intangible assets including websites, trademarks, and commercial data,” for £1.2 million to York-based Gear4music, which said it is not acquiring any part of PMT’s trading business, nor any other assets or liabilities, and has no current plans to use the PMT trading name."
So, Gear4Music has purchased the PMT stock.
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I recall reading Michael J Fox's autobiography, in which he shared his own battle with Parkinson's (and his open-head, conscious, brain surgery to relieve him of the symptoms).
He was unable to act, but could do voiceover work - Stuart Little was him.
So, perhaps the voice will be unaffected by the illness?
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4 hours ago, tauzero said:
Despite him just getting his name as the title of a thread on BC, he's not dead yet.
You are right - when I see just a name as a thread title, I think that the person has passed away.
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4 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:
MDF probably isn't going to be the best product to build from if you want something robust
But @NancyJohnson, ... I wanted to become 'The Man Who Used The Handy Bit of MDF', which has been stored in my garage for 7 years for just such a purpose.
I will see what plywood my dad has in his garage (38 years of storage, so, more than 5 times more legendary...).
More seriously, I plan for the outside to be the pretty veneered MDF, with the inside frame to be a hardwood (garage, 7 years...).
The Rack Strips mentioned by @nekomatic looks like a useful addition too - no need to worry about threads on the wood failing then.
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12 hours ago, miles'tone said:
Palmaris Longus tendon
I don't appear to have one. Either that, or my arm is too fat to reveal it....
In other news, here is a research article that shares data on the prevalence of the tendon, according to people-groups. It appears that the 15% refers to the global population, but different populations have a different prevelance.
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On 27/05/2025 at 13:19, Rosie C said:
I am wondering whether there's a limit in the to posting for sale adverts? We're moving house soon and there's 20 years of stuff to clear out!
I shall Follow @Rosie C with interest, and a cheque book open.
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2 hours ago, WinterMute said:
Depending on what you're planning to house in it, you may want vents to the top and bottom too,
EMU Classic Keys Module; later, a Behringer umc404hd (PC sound interface).
If I go too high, then the unit won't be able to double as a plinth for a PC monitor screen.
So, I will perhaps leave a slight gap, for air circulation, but not a full 3-Unit vertical spacing.
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Tier 2 fail for me.
I am now the owner of an EMU Classic Keys Module, formerly owned by @ash.
I can use the midi capability on my Kurzweil SP76 to drive it. Sadly, I don't yet have much piano playing capability to play it well, but so far I am enjoying the extra sounds.
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I want to make a 2-unit wooden sleeve rack, like this
I have the wood (veneered MDF), and can get it cut to size.
However, I don't know the internal dimensions of a 2u Rack; I need to buy the internal metal brackets; and I wondered if I need ventilation in the box.
Can anyone advise?
Robert
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Bought an EMU rack unit from @ash. Easy and quick transaction, clear and cheerful communications, quick delivery, all adding up to my most enjoyable Tier 2 Fail yet.
Robert
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49 minutes ago, Yorkielanc said:
This is a genuine review of Gear up Music
Many thanks for sharing that review.
And welcome to basschat.co.uk - I am honoured that your first post was in reply to my question!
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On 20/05/2025 at 14:42, warwickhunt said:
My case of choice... anyone want to sell me theirs?
It may be that Hiscox will still have some in stock, once they have filled all existing orders. To quote their Website, "If any inventory remains after fulfilling current orders, we will update you as soon as possible with any available stock for purchase." So, because I am looking for a PRS guitar case, I will register with Hiscox for updates.
About a year ago, I bought a used Hiscox mandolin case, simply because I planned to buy a mandolin one day soon - and because I had not previously seen a used Hiscox mandolin case for sale.
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I am enjoying this build diary, very much. Well done for saving a damaged instrument from the scrapheap.
I must say, seeing the complexity of the build has cured me of the foolish notion that I could also buy and repair a double bass.
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Just now, Richard R said:
Damn! I wish I had thought of that! 🤣
@Richard R you can have "Pump it up", by Elvis Costello, if you wish.
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On 20/05/2025 at 22:07, Richard R said:
Which of course means it exists:
Edited yesterday at 22:08 by Richard R
These are excluded from the competition!I am here to make the inevitable "pump up the bass" joke.
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On 14/05/2025 at 10:30, Ajoten said:
Any similar experiences? Does such a thing exist as a short scale 5 string ABG?
32" scale- Hobgoblin did a 5 string under their Ashbury range, with a Belcat preamp. It was in their catalogue for a while (but not now). I had one of the first batch off of the production line, having asked Hobgoblin if they could start making them.
The B string was a bit dull and thuddy, compared to the E to G strings. Body was the same size and shape as a Lowden O series guitar and easily manageable as a gigging instrument.
I played both that 5 32" string, and a 34" Washburn 34" for years, before I even realised that the scale lengths differed!
34" scale - Boulder Creek. My current acoustic bass. Surprisingly manageable for something of that scale length. Much more control of the tone from the preamp, which includes a phase inverter and a tuner. A set of Thomastik Infeld (spelling?) strings gives a rich B string with sustain that matches the other strings, and the authority to "own" the low end. I preferred this bass - it was all-round a better instrument. Only the Covid19 lockdown stopped me playing it in my acoustic band (and it is now for sale on Basschat...).
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It feels so painfully and pointlessly slow - as if I am trying to play bass guitar left handed. I have gone backwards.
As I said to my teacher, "I used to be a musician, until I started playing the piano."
As for my piano teacher, I don't think that he is trained in that discipline, but he makes up for it by being a skilled musician and former band leader. I once played an arpeggio, or somesuch, and commented that it sounds like All Kinds of Everything by Dana. "I played with her". On other occasions, he mentioned working with Harry Seacombe, Max Bygraves, Shirley Bassey. I really need to ask him more about his background!
How many of us are in this position?
in General Discussion
Posted
Not me.
I have sold a comic collection, and other instruments. I also put aside a piffling £12.50 per month to save regularly for instruments. Christmas and birthday presents, even money found when clearing out my parent's house.
It doesn't always work out - right now, I owe the joint bank account £550 for a spray job and body rebuild. However, last week, I found £500 worth of shares which I can now sell.
The above process has funded three Hiscox cases (1 mandolin, two bass), electric piano, two Washburn XB925s, an EMU synth module, a strap.
So, no, I do not have that problem.