JapanAxe

I hit this problem when the first lockdown happened - suddenly I had loads more time (no commuting) but found I lacked the motivation to do the things I’d always wished I had time for. What helped me was starting a Bullet Journal, and I still do it now. I use it just for the fun stuff (bass, guitar, keyboard, singing, electronics) but many people use it for all aspects of life. I note down (in ‘spreads’ - see video) things I want to try, improve on, buy, sell, build, repair, whatever. At the end of each day I give myself 2 or 3 things to do the next day - I don’t always get them done, but every day I have a record of the small steps I’ve made to reach my goals. It’s a way to: - Track your past - Organise your present - Plan your future Here’s a good place to start:

I have for now abandonned the idea of adding more switching options to my D-Roc. Instead I tackled the issue that was more pressing to me - I can never remember how I last left the rotary selector switch! So I popped off the metal knobs and replaced them with push-on chicken-head knobs as pictured above. Now I can instantly see (and just as importantly, feel) where the selector is set. Result. *Apologies to Frank Zappa and Ike Willis.

May 2 gigs June 4 gigs July 1 gig (2 if you count playing at my niece’s wedding ceremony - yikes!) August 6 gigs (that’s more like it!) September 1 gig A bit variable, but I’m actively seeking out more band work on JMB.

I’ve seen some discussion that Rhythm Stick was originally recorded a semitone lower but the pitch was raised by speeding the tape up. It would be a lot easier if the open E string were available. Not sure whether anyone has asked Norman about it.

You and most cover bands then! When I play it on skinny-string guitar I find the trick is to count the drummer in. The first guitar note is on beat 4 but most people seem to hear it as the back of 4. One of the ways I work on improving my bass playing is to keep a folder of dots for numbers I struggle with. Now and then I have a bash at one of them. It currently contains: Highway Star Hysteria Master Blaster New Born Son of a Preacher Man

A friend of mine is a solo guitarist/singer with backing tracks and all his kit is linked up wirelessly. His only cables are for mains, and he covers these with hefty rubber mats. The benefits to him are (1) quicker setup, (2) less stuff for drunken feckwits, sorry punters, to trip over.

I would want ‘Trace’ on the left, ‘Elephant’ on the right.

Are we right in thinking that this wasn’t explained to you before you joined? What reason(s) have the band given for not wanting your bass in the mix? Is the position likely to change, either over time or if you play different (larger? smaller?) shows? And do you think the experience will be worthwhile to you in terms of fee and/or satisfaction?

Mrs Axe was decorating one time and had a paint roller tray of white emulsion on the landing floor. I said, ‘The cat will walk right through that.’ Seconds later, the cat scooted up the stairs and walked through the paint tray, panicked, and ran round the house leaving white footprints everywhere. The cat was called Marshall but my nickname for him was Fat Boy Dim as he was all 3 of those things. Without fail he would time his use of the litter tray to coincide with us sitting down to our evening meal. More than once he stood in the litter tray and crapped out of it onto the floor. But no, no Valentine’s Day gig.

Thanks for the good wishes. We have recently started rehearsing with an excellent guitarist, with yours truly on bass.

And that’s exactly why my maple-board Precision was my choice for last Saturday’s theatre gig. The lighting changes drastically throughout the set and I need to be playing the notes that I mean to play, especially up the dusty end.

Late-notice stand-in with Dire Streets at Axminster Guildhall, having spent a day and a half getting back up to speed with a 2-hour set that I hadn’t played in a year (although I had done some more gigs with them on rhythm guitar). Excellent venue with great lighting and PA and a good-sounding room, plus nice green room with refreshments. Not a capacity crowd so the seats were set out to leave room for dancing in front of the stage, which plenty of people made good use of - more during Sultans of Swing than Private Investigations it’s fair to say! Got a compliment from the sound guy on my bass sound: '73 Precision > Origin Effects Cali76 Compact > Origin Effects Bassrig '64 Black Panel > DI to PA. I had been suffering some IEM angst over my Sennheiser XSW setup but it worked brilliantly last night. In the close-up pic I must be playing the solo run from after the last verse of Telegraph Road, as none of the other songs take me so high up the fretboard!

Strangely, for sight reading I have taught myself to find higher fret positions without looking; but on a rock or pop gig I really want to see where I’m putting my fingers. One of my Precisions has hard-to-see side dots that I make more visible with white paint from a Posca pen. The dots last maybe two gigs!

I don’t think you’ll save much weight downsizing from the Super Twin. The cloth front version only weighs 17kg plus as you know it has wheels on it. But I’d suggest the Two 10 (13kg - cloth front, no tweeter) as long as you don’t give it more than 500W.

I would have to say there are things I haven't thought of replacing yet.

That’s not a phrase you read on here every day!

I’m pretty sorted with my Focusrite Scarlett & Reaper setup, but what makes me want to bang my head on the desk is MIDI. I’m no technophobe, it’s just a weird blind spot that means MIDI never seems to want to do what I want it to do - changing patches is about my limit. You have my sympathy.

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I’m kinda happiest with just one (Precision) and a passive tone control, but I do also enjoy the modern sound of my NG2.

Thanks Dan. You’re not wrong about the option paralysis! I’ve put mine back to stock for the time being. The D-Roc is passive so no buffering to be had. It certainly wouldn’t be the end of the world if I just left it that way, but modders gonna mod…

Well I swapped the bridge and middle pickups over (no de-soldering)... I like the soloed neck pickup, very Precision, not least because it sits in the same place in terms of the speaking length of the string. Not so keen on the bridge/neck ('Jazz') setting, again no surprises because I don't really enjoy Jazz basses. Consequently I'm thinking of having the following 4 options: bridge, bridge/middle (parallel), bridge/middle (series), neck. If I can re-purpose the existing 4-way rotary to achieve this, that's a win. I'll still need to re-wire the neck pickup from parallel to series, but that's not hard.

Now that's useful to know!

Thanks for that Matt, really useful. And yes it was the V-Town Guitars video that I watched. That lobster fella also did a load of stuff to a Dingwall but tbh it's hard to work out what's going on in his vid! Yes I'd worked that out about the series/parallel wiring of the pickups, all the conductors are easy to access and switch around. In the stock arrangement where the neck pickup is wired parallel, it is never soloed. It's not like this bass needs more treble, it's pretty spanky to start with - hence the idea of a bigger value tone cap.

Good call, I’m in a Dingwall owners group.