The fasting showman

Sometimes the contrast between the music you love and the music you are forced to play hits you!

I was also fortunate enough to see them, alas, not with Richard Lloyd, but Jimmy Ripp did a great job; I caught them at Lunar festival in 2016. I lived up to my reputation as a curmudgeon by paying for a day at a festival but turning up in time to see Television line check and leaving as soon as they finished, I needed to process seeing a band that I've loved for so long without any distractions. It's just the way I am sadly. To say they were enigmatic was an understatement; Verlaine said over the mic to the lighting guy 'don't bother with lights' or similar, it was a June evening. Verlaine's voice was what you expect, he never exactly tried hard, but the audience joining in on every song was striking, the mass of goodwill emanating from the crowd; 'Guiding light' really has lived with me from that gig. I've photos somewhere, I fear on a now broken phone or laptop, of the band strolling on with gigbags on their back and plugging into 2 rented AC30s and an SVT . A quick line check and straight into 'See no evil'. No fuss whatsoever. I remember contrasting it with the ridiculously over the top covers band I was with at the time where the guitarist had a rig with 999 duff sounds and a tablet with the chords to Valerie on it. So glad that I was able to see the band, what a legend. Seeing Verlaine there in profile pre gig, ambling on with a coat on and a gigbag stays with me.

Exactly where I'm at fellow Lichfieldian! See you down The Feathers...

I'm currently in a band with a drummer that drags like crazy, sadly of the two bands I'm in it's the one with the most gigs; isn't that always the way? He often trots out the phrase 'serve the song'...in reality that means the first 8 bars of every song he's figuring out what to play, then I'm shackled to whatever he does for the next three minutes, akin to jogging with a rucksack full of house bricks. And these are paying pub/ club gigs I should add. In rehearsals there's lots of the dog ate my homework / why is everyone being so nasty excuses. From a man in his 50s. I can't convey how exhausting it is to carry every tune and how if it's a precise iconic bass part there's the responsibility of driving the band as well as playing your own part. I've derived great solace from this thread, my addition would be 'To respect the dance floor'. I think I need to get my backside into gear and find a better gig.

Bought some strings off Dave, perfect for what I needed. Great communication and prompt postage, many thanks again. Martin

That doesn't sound like us from the singers description, Perry Farrell was an influence though! My blurb above doesn't do Cass Lewis' playing justice, he's one of the greats who could have played for anybody and done a brilliant job from having seen him play up close.

I'll tell my Cass Lewis war-story again; hope it measures up to when I told it last time and nothing has been added! Back in (I think) mid '94 a band I was in, who shall remain nameless as I wouldn't want this to end up on a Google search as there's acrimony between ex members and mental health issues etc, supported Skunk Anansie when they'd just broke. If I recall it was at the Water Rat near to Kings Cross, the event was called Splash Club or similar. If I ever Buy or sell anything on Marketplace to any of you I'd probably crack under interrogation and divulge the band name, not that we were known as it was one of the handful of 15 nanoseconds of lame-to-fame I've had. I remember a few of us clocking who he was, we'd remembered him from his TTD stuff, he actually overheard us say 'that's Cass Lewis!!' to which he smiled and said that indeed he was. I'm not really a fan of Skunk Anansie but I can appreciate how good they are at what they do. In the soundcheck I recall some of us saying that Skin's voice had a Candi Staton grit to it. As for Cass Lewis, he sounded fantastic; his rig was a pre EB Cutlass into a TE Quattra Valve into (this is very contrary to the current zeitgeist) 2 x Mesa Boogie 4x12 with the angled baffles but square sides. The cabs had JE / The Who/ Shepperton stencilled on them. Just an incredible soundstage from his gear. A lot could be also attributed to how together his playing was compared to mine at the time, really assured, boldly executed and clearly communicated. Not really trying to do anything radical (not that I can remember compared to some of their later stuff but it's a long time ago) but barely breaking into a sweat. Back then I was all over the place trying to be all things to all people...it was a real lesson listening to his presence in the band. Martin

Hi, I've just recently bought a G&L Fallout Tribute bass as Guitar Guitar were selling them at a price that a fool like me couldn't resist. After initially thinking this is novel but have I made a mistake, I took the D'addarios that are stock off and I've replaced them with standard long scale Legacy 45-105 (Legacy are an OEM brand James How / Rotosound make, you probably know) in nickel. I've left more windings on the tuners than I normally would as the Tribute models have tuners I'm not crazy about; they sit high on the headstock face compared to the tuners on my USA G&L 5 string, I suppose I've helped the break angle at the nut. Anyway, the bass feels much better to me now, I'm well aware I've gone off piste from the usual small bass/ thin strings approach but things feel much more resonant and positive. Nothing against D'addario strings as I know they are good and well liked, there's something in the mids about them that doesn't suit me, I prefer cheaper nickels like Legacy and some of the Fenders (OEM from D'addario!) but change them every couple of months. It's turning into a great little bass, hopefully I'll gig it over the next 3 weekends.

The perforated rack shelf sat tight on top of the amp. It was certainly better protected in the rack case than the combo was hitherto with the top vent.

I've done this with my old 700rb combo. The head unit fits a 19 inch rack with the stock GK RB series mounting ears. I simply fitted the ears, put it in a 3 unit depth case to allow ventilation with the amp occupying the lowest two spaces. I used a Penn Elcom 1 unit depth rack unit shelf above the amp unit protecting the innards, the shelf is sufficiently perforated and covers the amp well enough. The advantage of having the amp in a standard rack unit without vents means that the amp is protected from stray drinks being put on top of your amp, obviously to be avoided, but sadly it happens when your back is turned. If you are local to the Midlands I've got the rack shelf if you want it, I swapped my 700rb case for a stock head box, long story. Martin

Just bought a GK MB200 off Stu, should have kept my old one but you live and learn hopefully. All good, great price, prompt dispatch and a decisive transaction throughout. Many Thanks, Martin

Hi Phil, I think I unceremoniously shoved a tweeter in your basic 1x12 design, credit to both of you for the inspiration though and demystifying the whole subject.

Until building Phil Starr's (brilliant) design for a 1x12 with tweeter recently I owned 2 cabs, a GK 2x12 neo with tweeter and a DIY 1x10. The 1x10 is an Eminence 2010 Basslite neo and the cab is on the small side. It's often been said to me by other band members ' you won't need your big cab for this gig, just bring your little tweeter box (meaning the 1x10)'. The little 1x10, whilst sounding perfectly good, is the darkest sounding cab I have compared to the GK or the Faital driver equipped 1x12 with horn I made from Phil's plans. I have tried to convey this to other people but absolutely to no avail, it's lodged in their mind that a cab with 10s is plonked on the top of a 1x15.

By the time I was doing the Saturday pilgrimage to the music shops (81/82) Yardleys had moved to Colmore Row and Exchanges took over their Snow Hill shop. I wonder if you remember the stars and stripes Stingray that did the rounds in the Brum music shops in the '80s?

Great catching up on all this, Broad St until '82, Snow Hill from then on. There was a brief overlap where they had a different shop exactly opposite George Clay a few doors up from the old Broad St shop. Martin

Might seem a crazy suggestion but a few years back I had, for a while, 2 basses with identical P bass pickups (a 2008 USA P bass and an old wreck of a rerouted Tele bass I still have that I bought a stock US P bass pickup for) yet the Volume pots were respectively 1Meg in the Tele bass, 250 k in the stock Fender. I won't open the maple / Rosewood board can of worms but all I'll say is they sounded electronically very different, the 1 Meg pot bass had a much more open sound that I was able to darken if needed, the 250k pot bass seemed under a blanket somewhat. Hope this helps, I'm not an authority on the P bass sound but it's what I experienced anyway. Maybe the pot change might get you what you want without changing pickups. I've never got on with the SPB3 either, I preferred the SPB1. Martin

Phil, as requested, the message I sent you. In case you are wondering what on earth is between the ports I'll explain...I'd rather PM you than stir up a hornets nest or lead to prospective builders demanding crossover designs etc! My main amp is Gallien Krueger 700rb ii. It has a 480w main amp / 50 watt horn amp that crosses over at 5k; the main amp seems to just run upwards whilst the high amp starts at 5k. It's crude in some ways but it sounds really nice, it's easy to dial in a bit of 'new strings' sound from the front panel. The 50w amp protects the tweeter also. I've used it since 2015, I'm very happy with the sound and it seems to get me compliments, albeit my sound not my playing! The GK cabs have a 4 way speakon that powers the main speaker and horn separately, they have a switch between a crossover or bypass to the 4 way speakon. From a woodwork point of view they merely have a hole hacked into the baffle for the horn, not rocket science. I figured that if my idea bombed I could merely cut another baffle. The horn is a P-audio pht 407n. A lot of the hardware I had kicking around anyway including half a pot of tuff cab! The horn takes up 0.15l by my maths. The Faital Pro PR12-300 and the PHT407n sound great together I am pleased to report, the cab has a great growl that tracks the notes really well, great presence for slap. Many thanks again, hope me going off piste doesn't appear as not heeding good advice of people who know better. I think it sounds better than my old GK neo 1x12 anyway and it was that job (i.e a bigger cab with a horn than my 1x10 yet smaller than my GK2x12) I needed sorting as cheaply as possible. Cheers, Martin

Just PM'd you my O level woodwork project Phil!

The mix of musical backgrounds is incredible; members of George Benson's band, Hawkwind, George McRae's band, Utopia, Frank Zappa's band. All bringing their musicality to Bowie's writing. It's funny when he grins at his band, and I get the same thing from Joni Mitchell on the Shadows and light stuff with Jaco, Metheny, Alias and co, it's like he's basking in the glory of the musos he has had the good fortune and taste to put together on the same stage. And the willingness to let them shine.

I like all of Bowie's bassists but if I had to choose it would be George Murray, which ties in with Visconti and the great Low / Scary Monsters era. If the link attaches here's George wielding a plectrum and a Travis Bean, the rhythm section feel is incredible

Hi Phil, the Faital Pro PR12 300 arrived today and it sounds great from what I can tell at home, very balanced sound across the neck and will be ideal for pub gigs where you've got the speaker firing into your back on a cramped stage (stage if you are lucky). I've still got some faffing to do with finishing off but I'll PM you the pics when sorted. It's an epic Covid related, toolbox stuck at the house of my Covid stricken boss, a £23 6ft x 2ft 12mm ply hyperbolic paraboloid from Wickes, hand cut panels with that saw you use to cut the end off a tube of silicon...but we got there in the end! Thanks for a great design, Martin

Hi Phil, all woodwork done...I was a coward and bought Monacor MBR 70 telescopic ports, 66mm internal. There seems to be plenty of pr12 300s available so that's reassuring that you are happy with the recommendation. Many thanks, Martin