martthebass

Played a very nice large social club on the outskirts of Harrogate last night. As we walked in the consec explained that the clientele were a bit jaded with live music as the previous consec had cycled only 5/6 bands so he was taking a punt with us having just spotted us online. He also said it might be a bit thin on the ground but if we’re lucky we might get a few dancers. 
…….anyway the word must have got out as the place was rammed with punters many in 70s glam dress and the dance floor was full from half way into the first spot. Just goes to show that some thought can really make a difference in some of these trad social clubs.

Glam Fever, proudly bringing glam rock to the masses since 2015.

Love the ‘brûlée’ finish, but £2.5k!!

Think I’ll stick with the Fallout bass.

Ive used shorties pretty much exclusively on gigs for the last 5 years. I got the first one, a Mikey Way sig Mustang because of the large flake finish which suited the band ‘look’ but quickly realised the benefits of using it on a small stage with a singer who flaps his arms a lot. Since then I’ve added a JMJ and a US Fallout and have also found them a bonus with my aging digits. 

3 hours ago, dmckee said:

I’m having a major G&L GAS problem (as a result of enjoying my Fallout so much) and I need help…. 

 

First, I thought I might buy a cheap JB-2. Ordered one from Andertons but it was really heavy and I was underwhelmed by the tone. So, the current rabbit hole is the L-2000, which I have had and liked before….

 

SO, Anderton’s have L2000 Tributes at  £449, but I’m worried they’ll be at least as heavy as the JB-2 was. (I had them weigh some SB-2 and they were over 11 lbs apparently!). 

 

OR, being a little silly, I could buy the Fallout’s big brother, the pearl grey L-2000 that’s in GG in Glasgow, at £1399. They weighed that one for me and it’s a decent 8.4lbs. BUT, that’s a lot of money and oddly it doesn’t seem the have the usual hard case you normally get with USA G&Ls. And I’d prefer a different colour this time, I think. 

 

OR, I wait and see if a CLF Research L-2000 pops up, as they seemed to be selling at reasonable prices when they were around. Just doesn’t seem to be any anywhere right now.

 

OR, I put my wallet away, stick with what I’ve already got and try and stop this madness. 😃

I’ve had a few G&Ls, L2000, L2500 and a JB2 (trib) but the Fallout has been the first one I’ve bonded with.

12 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

I'm 69 and been doing this at one  level or another since I was 13.

 

I think about throwing in the towel occasionally.  The thing is , I really can't.  I'm retired and I depend on the  supplement income from gigs. Plus If I quit I'd  have nothing to do.

 

Blue

Keep going till you drop Daryl. Like you I’ve had ‘challenges’ of late but the mental health benefits outweigh the hearing damage and additional aches and pains - party on dude😂

3 hours ago, meterman said:

That’s weird, I remember really liking the pickup on the MW Mustang I had. It seemed to have a fatter sound than the other Mustang basses I had. Probably should have kept mine!

Don’t get me wrong, I like the base sound it’s just that the Fallout has so much ‘more’ that I’d love to have some of the same in the MW.

The price of the MW Mustangs does seem to have rocketed!

1 hour ago, Osiris said:

 

I'm sure I read about a simple mod that can be done to these to add a series/parallel switch, or a push/pull pot. Can't remember where I read it but it'll hopefully turn up from a Google search, but it was claimed it makes the pickup much bigger and more aggressive sounding if I remember correctly. 

It's be a quicker and cheaper upgrade if nothing else! 

Cheers, I’ll check that out 😁

I’m thinking of a humbucker upgrade to this one. The tone on the stock is ok but I find it a bit weak against my Fallout and I occasionally swap about in a gig. Anyone any suggestions?

1 hour ago, ped said:

 

So he's been copying me too

You’re a legend in your own lunchtime Ped😂

11 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

We definitely do, probably the best fun band i've been in. We all get along so well in the band too and we have some great laughs when are in the changing rooms (ooohhh Matron !!!!!)

Dave

Yup, what else would you do on a Saturday night. As we say, 4 blokes of advancing years who like to dress up in questionable clothing.

After a few weeks off due to band members illness, covid and what have you it was nice to be back on stage. A nice sized bikers rally just outside Knutsford, first one of the season for us. We were opening on this one, the organisers know we can generally get a crowd up and ready for the night...and we did. Next outdoors one is the Farmyard rally in Helmsley in June, always a laugh that one.

Under £1000.

New I'd likely go for s Sterling Stingray SS.  Used, no question, a JMJ Mustang.

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

2nd JMJ Mustang bass incoming….

Black or blue?

Loving what you've done with the headstock; I'm going to try and find someone who'll do the same, it's the only thing I don't like about mine.

I picked up mine a few months back from Ead, I wasn't expecting great things but once it'd had a setup it's one of the nicest Fretless's I've played - including far more expensive stuff.  I believe this is one of the later ones, but as it's fretless it wasn't going to suffer from some of the fret problems anyhow.  Ead had already installed an East pre so that also did away with potential issues from the stock pre that had been reported.  The board is also a really nice thick slab of ebony with just a touch of grain that is a real surprise at this price point.  

CDs and Vinyl for me.  I don't buy much new Vinyl but if I'm musing through one of the second hand record stores I'll occasionally pick up a gem.  As others have said, CDs can be had for cheap and I prefer ownership to a bit of software....which I'd no doubt lose or manage to destroy or somesuch.

Great little basses these.  Mine's been my main player in the Glam band for the last 5 years - doesn't let itself down despite being a 'budget bass'. GLWTS

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

I dabble a bit with recording and quite surprised myself how well I managed it, I’ve got the new iPad Pro and was using GarageBand with an irig, but I upgraded to a focusrite solo which I found better quality, I tried other apps but GarageBand was easier for me to use ,and once I spent some time with it I soon had it working well 

Thanks matey, I’ll check that out. I’m only looking at recording one thing at a time.

It’s been years since I’ve done home recording of any kind. I had a Fostex X15 which shows the ancient-ness so to speak. The last few decades , musically, have been mainly of a gigging nature and not being a multi-instrumentalist I’ve refrained from putting ideas down to media.

With my new semi retirement status I’ve a hankering to do a bit of noodling but would like a bit of advice. I have a new iPad Pro and a zippy gaming PC (that I use for Astro imaging) and wondered if I’d be best employing one of those in some way or would a 6/8 track standalone unit be the best option (it would need to have rhythm built in). Which ever route, I could do with guidance on what would be required if going the PC or iPad route. TIA

9 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

 

Used my Sandberg MarloweDK for the first set and it sounded good. Decided on the P bass for 2nd set and it was so much more full sounding and i really liked it. Some of the FB clips i've seen so far the P bass sounded amazing out front. I personally could hardly hear it as i was standing directly in front of my bass rig.

My wife said the P bass sounded a lot better, deeper and filled out the sound better. I'm still trying to get used to the wider neck and i occasionally miss a string  but hey ho its punk and i can get away with it

 

I’ve always had a love hate relationship with P basses. I hate the sound on stage, my hearing seems incapable of picking it out of the mix. Out front though it’s just the best. I ended up going down the Mustang JMJ route which seems the best compromise for me - doesn’t fit the glam rock image though 😞

9 hours ago, dmckee said:

Everyone seems to love the JMJ, so I went and tried one in Merchant City in Glasgow. BUT, the neck dive was pretty bad. How normal is that? It strikes me that the geometry of the Mustang body (re strap button position in relation to the 12th fret) makes this more or less inevitable? Or am I wrong? I didn’t love the lack of body contours either I have to say. (I did really like the chunky neck though). 

 

I wanted to love it, but these things just put me off.  Is it possible to get a balanced (and body-contoured) Mustang 😃. Too much to hope for? Probably just not the bass for me…. 

I’m pretty sensitive to neck dive but it’s not so bad on mine, maybe there’s a bit of variation? It tends to want to hang at the 3 o clock position which I’d expected as it’s a thicker headstock/chunky neck. I use a non grippy 3” strap and that handles it fine.

To be honest the neck dive on this mustang is far better than the CIJ one that it replaced…but not as good as my Mikey Way which is a bit heavier (basswood body).

On 23/04/2023 at 11:37, ped said:

Sounds like they’re pretty consistent through although I gather there were some issues with incorrectly offset (or not) saddles early on, with some reporting their bridge being slightly off centre to compensate. 

Mine had a problem with the ‘A’ saddle, I think on the early ones they were wound pretty far out for some reason (screw incorrect length) and it fell off mid gig never to be seen again. FMC sent me another one gratis and all has been good since. 

5 minutes ago, casapete said:

Feel your pain Mart, we’ve been stricken with illness for a couple of months and had to cancel some gigs.

Nothing you can do, and audiences / venues will hopefully understand. 

Cheers Pete, we hate cancelling gigs, especially at short notice. We’ve had to cancel the last 2 on the trot, both new venues that we were looking forward to. 

5 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

More pics.

 

Bit o bass face going on there Daryl!

Sadly another gig free weekend as the singist tested positive for Covid on Friday. Definitely having a run of bad luck health wise at the minute 😞

N’mind, onwards and upwards, next gig is a bikers rally at the north Cheshire show ground on the 5th May…..hoping I remember how to play 😆

4 hours ago, bassfan said:

Got the status out today for a practice. God it’s good. Not gigged it since getting the Sadowsky, it’s coming out tonight! 

Far too nice to keep cased up