Sean

Interesting video about Cort.

Shows a Space being made. 

https://youtu.be/-ztqNMaZ9mE?si=3fN75S8BEF4yk069

The 8" future?

F1 San Marino?

Blueline Thruxton?

IYKYK. 

Brilliant to see this going to a good home. I'd have to hold a panel interview and do background checks before letting one of mine go to anyone I didn't know was qualified to be a Mesa custodian 🙂.

Stunning.

I can't remember the last time I saw a 15" Scout up for sale. Awesome beast. 

This is useful and I've found that it helps me

https://www.thestrad.com/playing-hub/performance-practice-the-missing-step-in-every-musicians-practice-routine/19405.article

Things I do, some of which are already mentioned...

1. Stand up to practise (if you stand for the gig). That way everything is in the right place, your geometry is the same as it will be for the performance. 

2. Practice the piece/song faster than the performance.

3. Learn the theory. If I can't write out a rough chord chart (or root note chart) for the song off the top of my head by the time I need to perform it, I don't know the song well enough. Being able to visualise the changes as a chord chart (or root notes) gives you another way to "see" the piece. It's like having the chart built in.

4. Related to 3. Know what's going on. A recent example was a challenge from a guitarist on my replica bass line of It's My Life by Bon Jovi. In the first verse before the chorus there's a C to F chord change where Hugh McDonald does his trademark "drone thing" and stays on the C (the 5th of F) and the chord is F/C. In the second verse in the same place, he moves to F making it a straight F. Knowing this demonstrates that you know your onions and also gives you confidence. The challenge stemmed from the fact that previous bassists had played the change to F in both verses thereby making the band perceive what I played as incorrect. Knowing this and being able to explain it, not only prevented by confidence from being undermined but boosted it.

5. Use visual aids for practising. I use highlighters in different colours to mark up sheet music. I'll use one colour to highlight a phrase that I need to concentrate on until it becomes baked in.

Try different stuff until you find what works for you. I tried exploring memory palace techniques and it is great for lists and party tricks but I struggled to apply any of it to learning songs. 

I have left a few 1 star reviews for various tradespeople and for the sole purpose of trying to save someone decent from having to go through what I did. I'm very very unlikely to encounter this bass builder but what this thread has done is steer me away from anyone in Europe other than Brooks. Not naming has potentially pushed some punters away from other reputable builders. 

The other one. Slightly different settings but just a few teaks to the EQ.

Very quick pre-rehearsal practise tracks for the band but my first 12-string recordings for many years.

My throat is now officially sore! 

3 hours ago, Sean said:

 

They offered me the gig! 

On Sunday at the SW Bash, I’d decided to not take a Spector to that audition, I just thought, nah, they’re so Marmite, they’re too “Spector”, especially the way I just run them all with a Haz-clone flat out. I was going to take my Valenti PJ or the BB2024x. Anyway, when I tried to play the songs on the Yam, I was all over the place, two frets out, what a mess and thought, well just be yourself and go for it.

The fella in before me was wheeling out a Trace on a big dolly. It looked like it weighed a ton. I went back to the car afterwards in one trip. 

On 14/10/2025 at 23:30, Sean said:

I went to an audition in a rehearsal room today. Monaco, GK Legacy 800, Spector. All I had between songs was how good it sounded, what is it? never heard such clarity from a bass rig, never seen anything like it before. What brand is that? etc etc.  

 

I wasn't even using my pedal board, just the Comp4 on the GP5. 

 

I've always thought that Spector + GK is magic but add in a Monaco and there's the holy trinity right there. 

 

I don't know if I got the gig but the gear made people smile and I had a lot of fun.  

 

 

They offered me the gig! 

Here’s a sample.I’ve recorded it this morning for the guitarist and drummer to practise with. It’s using a patch I adapted from @Wolverinebass. It’s using the Orange Rockerverb 50 and Orange 4x12 models for the >500Hz and the RB800 + Ampeg 810 models for the low end. It’s got some compression in the mix but that’s it. Bi-amping is so much fun, I can’t to try it live. 

There’s a rig rundown video with Tom Petersson and it shows his amp settings so copied those over for the Rockerverb doing the high end and then I moved away from the Orange AD200 for the bass as I just didn’t like it and thought the RB800 model sounded amazing through the Ampeg 810. I put TP’s settings into the RB800 model as a start and tweaked from there. 

One thing I haven’t done yet is put a dash of chorus >700Hz as recommended by Andy. 

@warwickhunt we're not going into competition with the awesome Cheat Trick 😉

My next adventure with the Monaco is gigging it with my 12-string using a bi-amp patch in a couple of weeks. It sounds great at home but it'll be interesting to hear it at the venue, see what the sound engineer says and hear any reactions. It's a jam night that's attended by quite a lot of gear hounds who always like a nosey at who's using what, so we'll see. 

11 hours ago, Pirellithecat said:

Theo Monaco

That's my new stage name, that is. Thank you.  

21 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

I found this photo of me playing my Overwater Original some time in the mid to late 90s. As you'll notice the strap button position doesn't seem to be a problem at all:

 

The body reminds me of the Status B2. Is there some direct influence there either way? 

15 minutes ago, cetera said:

The 2 x Paul's (@NancyJohnson & @prowla) and I convened for a lovely curry last night..... and, as Nancy says... it was indeed a windy night

 

Just had confirmation that Chris Childs (Thunder etc) will be a special guest and will do a Q&A, short career chat and demo at around 2pm on the day. We're also working on another guest or two (subject to their availability) as well as some fun stuff...

 

I've just PM'd the three of you about Matt Gleeson's slot.  😉

17 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

If at all possible, if anyone has a 12-string bass they're prepared to bring along, I'd love to see how my XB Driver handles it.

I'm on standby to bring mine too.

56 minutes ago, SimonK said:

 

I've got a Warwick which needs the intonation adjusting but am scared of German reverse screw threads if you fancy having a look?

Bring it along. 

I'll have one of the best guitar techs in the UK with me on the day, so it'll be in safe hands. 

One thing I learned the other night was to consider using a chart if the song arrangement is different from the record. 

Mr Blue Sky by ELO. 

Sit me down with cans on and I'll reproduce that line every time playing along to the original without any visual aid or chart or anything. Playing it with just a drummer, two guitarists and a singer, in an audition scenario, you lose a lot of your cues and, unrehearsed with a very different arrangement, it's easy to drop the ball. 

In retrospect, I should have said that I'm going to use a chart to stay on track as I know the song but not the arrangement. The end of the song was played differently, which was a surprise and that's just something you have to deal with on the spot. The other songs were very guitar based and had simple arrangements so there were no issues. 

On 13/10/2025 at 14:15, MacDaddy said:

Will there be someone doing setups?

 

What do you need setting up? What needs doing exactly? 

I was going to do set ups at the SW Bash but there was very little interest. 

4 hours ago, DynamicK said:

So I did a bit of rewiring, soldering a bunch of new earth wires to the pots.

Also soldered the bridge pickup again. 

Got sound out of the bass.

I've ordered a new cap for the tone control as that also doesn't seem to be 100%.

If I do want to replace the pots is the standard :  CTS 250K ?

No.  CTS pots might not be what you need. 

It's important to measure the diameter and length of the shafts. CTS are large and generally suitable for USA-made instruments. Bourns or Alpha are alternatives that are different sizes. 

I have a vintage high end Yamaha that recently had new pots and I went for Alpha because they were the same size as the originals. If I fitted CTS, I would have had to have reamed out the holes and that would be absolutely off limits on such a treasure. 

As usual, the answer to the question is, "it's depends".

I saw this at the bash on Sunday, I used to have one. It's being sold by a gent that knows amps inside out (literally). This is a bargain gem. 

Good luck with the sale, Tony. It was great to meet you in Taunton. 

On 11/10/2025 at 17:53, HeadlessBassist said:

@Misdee is absolutely correct. It's a late 80's Overwater Artisan, a slightly downsized, single pickup version of the Overwater Original.

 

Here're the specs from a 1987 review...

 

OVERWATER ARTISAN BASS

PRICE£599

BODYmahogany

NECKmahogany

FINGERBOARDrosewood

PICKUPone humbucker

CONTROLSvolume and tone; coil tap switch

COLOURSblack/red/blue/sunburst

Interesting strap button location. 

2 minutes ago, Rigetto said:

 

Yessir! 

You don't want to know how much I payed for this, it was a steal!

 

Very nice indeed! 

If you ever need to find a new home for it, you know where to come 🙃

3 minutes ago, cetera said:

 

Can I get an "Amen"?!

Amen. 

GLWTS

I think a better thread title would help loads 😉