martthebass

On 01/07/2025 at 11:29, YellowLedBetterBass said:

Are there any short scale P Basses that actually sound like a P Bass out there? After Glasto this weekend and seeing so many people using them (especially Inhalers bassist who sounded fantastic with that Ampeg behind him), I really fancy a P bass.

There's always the Sandberg Lionel, I love mine though it's more of a modern P sound than an older school thump.  a number of users on here have swapped to EMG Geezers on their Lionels for a more vintage tone.

17 hours ago, Adee said:

Not flashed off my pair of Lionels together. The blue one I added a clear scratchplate so you can see more of that gorgeous finish and an EMG Geezer Butler, I found the stock a bit sterile and was lacking something, the GZR is spot on, so much so that I took the 2 band active out of the cream Larry and put an Ivory GRZ It just wasn’t sitting the mix and felt a bit lost but the EMG punches thru nicely. The third knob is just a dummy … I’ve got an EBMM Stingray Short Scale in Starry Night, it looks the nutz but just doesn’t beat the Lionel Bergs!!

 

Lovely pairing Ade.

Im with you on the Ray/Lionel comparison, despite the price difference the Lionel is imho the better all round bass. I’d love another but I think Mrs MTB might kill me…..plus I want to change my Mini Cooper.

3 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

Did notice that the bass player in Wet Leg was using a JMJ Mustang 😎, sadly with a pick and a terrible sound though. 😢

Think he uses one of these on and off.  Yes, not a great sound.....bit of an accomplishment as it's hard to make one of these sound bad.

9 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Not seen much from you recent months @martthebass All well i hope.

Is your singer also a leftie guitarist. Must be a Glam thing. Ours too.

 

Dave

Not too bad Dave, not had too many pics taken so not posted much.  

Yup the singer is a lefty....that's one of the reasons I tend to use a Shorty on Glam gigs otherwise I end up sword fighting with him......

A very hot and sticky this last Saturday; a Bikers Rally at the Breighton Ferry.  Absolutely cracking gig with lots of enthusiastic punters; sound was a bit of a problem as there was a wall in front of me a couple of metres out which gave me some horrible harsh sound spikes in the first spot.....the ears are still complaining despite me having moulded 21db Decibulz plugs.....

20 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

The Dingwalls are cracking basses for the money but i'm not spending a lot on any more gigging basses after my VM4 was knocked off its stand by a drunken bum while sitting on stage and i was getting changed after the gig. If i can and have the space i take my bass into changing area when not on stage but not all changing rooms have that amount of space.

Dave

Ouch.  That's what stops me taking the expensive stuff - especially on easily accessible/zero stages.  Never bothered me when it was the old jeans and T Shirt bands.

BTW - Black bass and LEDS!

Now back from Jon and in full working order.  Just in time for a Biker rally gig tomorrow.

Jon initially thought it was goosed because it sounded distorted and then realised it was supposed to be like that….

At the minute I tend to use my cheapest bass on most gigs (a Sandy Lionel) but that's only because it's the most suitable for this band and the majority of the venues we play.  I do have one case queen (a Status CW1) that was bought for me with money left by my Mum so I have a sentimental attachment, however it gets played often at home and is not a wall ornament.

6 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

What big leather coat? I haven't worn leather since the end of The Terrortones.

Could've sworn some of your recent images showed you wearing a long garb of some description.....I won't spit hairs on the fabric/substrate.....

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Hurtsfall played the Nottingham Craft Beer Festival in Sneinton Market on Saturday. If you are not playing covers these events can be a bit hit-or-miss and on top of that we were the last band playing that day, so we didn't really know what to expect. 

 

Sneinton Market is currently the "happening" area in Nottingham where all the interesting independent shops are situated in units in the old market buildings. On arrival we discovered that the beer festival had taken up the whole of the Avenues area and was entry by ticket only. However to allow people to still use the shops you could get in but didn't get a wristband which was required in order to buy beer. As performers we all got wristbands but I don't recall being asked to show mine before being served. 

 

There were two stages - one outdoors where unfortunately the performers seemed to be mostly ignored and also had to compete with all the other music - there appeared to be at least one DJ set up on every avenue, and the other in The Grove where we were playing. Probably the most convoluted load-in so far this year. There was only one entrance and some of the avenues were blocked off half way along the length meaning that getting all the gear to the venue involved not only negotiating all the beer festival attendees but also doubling back on yourself to get around all the blockages. Certainly not as easy as the last time we played at The Grove when it was possible to park directly outside the venue. 

 

Thirty minute turnaround between performers, whilst someone played on the other stage. No time for a proper sound check, set up, just one verse to make sure we could hear everything in the monitors and a couple of minutes to get changed and then we were on. Luckily there was nothing "miss" about this event. The venue was packed (that's not that difficult as it is really tiny) and it appeared that quite a few people had come specifically to see us play. Cue dancing, singing along to the songs and cheering in between. We even got our first proper encore. I'm a firm believer in both bands and the audience have to deserve an encore. None of this coming back on stage just because a couple of your mates have shouted "more". We were technically past the live music curfew but the sound engineer said do one more and so we did. Even sold some merch afterwards although at this sort of event you don't really expect to. Load out was much easier as the festival was over by the time we had everything packed up and we were able to leave by a much more direct route.

 

As usual here's a couple of photos:

 

 

Next gigs are on 10th July Supporting Miranda Sex Garden at Rough Trade in Nottingham, followed by Goths On A Field festival on Saturday 12th.

 

Too warm for the big leather coat BRX?

I've had a few fretless Stingrays, all with Pau Ferro boards and found them all well suited to the job.  I don't think it looks as cosmetically nice as ebony but that's a minor point.  One thing I did note though is that it's a bit on the brittle side, I had the board resurfaced on a SR5 as it had a little wear and when the nut was removed a bit of the board at the back of the nut popped off and had to be glued back into place.

12 hours ago, Sweenyrod said:

My Sandberg Family. SL TT, Electra VS4 (with Aguilar 60s and German tuners), TM4 Electra (Thomann Special) and the magnificent Lionel. I've become a fan boy! 

 

Is the Pink Lionel active/passive?  Did you get it from Bass Direct?

All our venues are cash only. If they aren’t cash then they aren’t one of our venues. Fortunately we don’t do it for a living and can be choosy.

6 hours ago, Misdee said:

John Shuker does a great job. At least you have the peace of mind knowing that it's a top repairman doing the work on what is a pretty pricey bass.

Cheers, I’ve used Jon on a couple of jobs before and he’s the only guy I’d trust on a pricey bass.

13 minutes ago, Kev said:

Trying to keep dirty laundry private until it's resolved, or is there another reason why you're having to arrange your own repair for an under-warranty ~£3k bass?

Bass Direct requested I use my own Luthier and had EBMM send the replacement part directly to me. I will of course request reimbursement of costs….

6 minutes ago, Kev said:

Why are Shuker getting involved?

Because the vendor isn’t fitting it Kev.

A new pre is now on its way from EBMM via UPS (so fingers crossed…..). Mr Shuker has agreed to fit it so here’s hoping it’ll be fit and ready soon.

I remember them as a nice bunch of lads. They used to frequent a local jamnight I went to years back every Friday when they were learning their trade.

Is it tone Lego or ordinary Lego?

On 21/05/2025 at 13:29, Woodinblack said:

OK, now a bit more reading and I find out that all of that information was pre-1984 truss rods. Post 1984 truss rods work like any other truss rod, except there being two of them, so back to a bit more of a comfort zone, except for not having any imperial sockets!

 

I had a 4004Cii for a while.  Yup, just normal rods.  The thing I did though was to make sure I put the same number of (partial) turns on each rod.  To be fair once I'd done the adjustment I never needed to touch the rods again, neck was very stable.

1 minute ago, dmccombe7 said:

The very worst that can happen is you don't like it, have to send it back and then wait for your refund.

But then again you could fall in love with it and job done.

 

Is your glass half full or half empty decision. ?

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Dave

He'll love it Dave.

Still use mine in preference to my EBMM Ray Shorty which was a fair bit more (even used), they are awesome little basses.  Us old Glamsters have found a sweet spot with Sandbergs eh?

Over the last 40 years or so I've had a fair few Fender Jazz and Precisions, US, Mexican and Indonesian.  I currently have none and expect that'll be the case until I hang up my gigging gloves.  

4 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

That`s the very one I`ve been umming & ahhing over

29 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Part of me is still tempted to give it a go, aaarrrrggggh

I think you'd be safe with this one Lozz.

https://www.thomann.co.uk/sandberg_california_vs_lionel_pf_bk.htm?srsltid=AfmBOop68odtvY22cC7MOJ5e3dIi5pbPqQ9y96_qnavhNNdId965YODafgE

1 hour ago, Acebassmusic said:

 

Would this be what you're thinking of. Our very own @woodyratm I think 🤔 Now where did I put that piggy bank / kids inheritance? 🤣

 

 

No that's a CW-2; that's one of the later one's that doesn't have the graphite through neck though I believe it could still be ordered with the carbon fibre shell like on the original CW-1.