Happy Jack

I bought an old Ovation Magnum, the strings are tired and rusty but sound just great so I want to buy the same again. The strings are: Extra Long Scale Tapered construction Roundwound Gold ball-ends on all four strings No coloured silks What am I looking at?

I like your thinking, Pete, but I need the Hercules for a special, a very special project ... details to be announced later this year.

Bass on Hercules stand = 31" x 23" = 713 sq" Bass on Bass Bar = 44" x 22" = 968 sq" So it takes up roughly one third more floor space, but it far harder to knock over. Ya pays yer money ...

Nicely done, sir, but I'm pretty sure that Roger Waters would have been using a pick rather than slapping! Ignoring that, you've pretty much nailed the tone.

Mine just arrived so I used it to replace the big Hercules stand in the sitting room. First impression - why didn't I know about these earlier? Ridiculously simple, ridiculously effective, far less intrusive than the other stands I've used.

Understood, but what you hear through your TV is NOT what you hear at the gig.

Thanks guys, but I don't think this is nitro. It's not a high-gloss finish like many of the modern lacquers, but it's far more 'plasticky' than nitro.

I've just bought a lovely 1979/80 Ovation Magnum III in a brown lacquer finish vaguely reminiscent of Rickenbacker ShitGlo. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Ovation-Magnum-III-Bass-with-Original-Hardshell-Case/192537820510?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 What the photos in the listing don't show is that the finish is strangely 'cloudy' and also paler in some areas than others. It looks almost like it's been exposed to too much sunshine over the years. It plays beautifully and sounds awesome, so no actual problem, but I'm wondering if I can titivate it a bit with a judicious application of T-Cut. What does the panel think?

Good work!

The thing that cover really screams at me is that Peter Tork is playing a Guild Jetstar, which is absolutely NOT the bass I would have expected to see him holding. Gretsch 6070 fine, Fender Coronado maybe, but a Guild? Having done a quick Google it's obvious that he did play one quite frequently, but I was a big Monkees fan in the mid-60s (I was 10, OK? Cut me some slack.) and I just don't have any memories of this bass.

Shortscale: Hofner 500/1 Violin (either original vintage or the CT model) Hofner 500/7 Verithin (originals are rare, probably a re-issue) Longscale: Gretsch 6070 (frequently, and incorrectly, called a Country Gentleman)

I happen to know someone who is a complete BeeGees nut. She's never heard of "Alex Hill", no matter how much of his music he left in the case!

If you want to get him something which he doesn't already have, works really well with DB, will attract loads of attention, and is just ridiculously cool then may I suggest http://www.sonuspeaker.com/?page_id=95 I checked these out at NAMM in January and they are just wonderful. They're not perfect for every gigging player since (for example) they can't really be stacked, despite what the makers claim, but this is quibbling.

I've looked at these a few times, but always get stopped by either the price of these things, or the Midi involvement ...

This could be a long wait ...

That Bass Bar is the perfect solution to my newest band ... bought one as soon as I saw it here!

Bass Squoink Bass In Boots

The nastiest drum I've ever heard is a piccolo snare. As a non-drummer, if there is one contribution I can make to this thread, it's DON'T LET HIM HAVE A PICCOLO SNARE!!!

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Radial-Tonebone-BigShot-I-O-True-Bypass-Instrument-Selector/VFK?origin=product-ads&campaign=PLA+Shop+-+GENERIC&adgroup=GENERIC&medium=vertical_search&network=google&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=40736d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=127211954479&gclid=CjwKCAjw_47YBRBxEiwAYuKdw6TtJ5ufAX8SCpNbtuSYItVNWa1HOW9uditoew3jFEN7pijch4V7HhoCp-8QAvD_BwE

Lindisfarne were much more radical than people realise ...

Now have a cuppa.

I'll get no bonus points for cheapness, but for me the first stop would always be a Radial Bigshot unit (several flavours to choose from). In one band the setlist has me switching between DB and EB several times in each set, and my Bigshot is invaluable. It's passive so I have no cables or batteries to worry about. I've got two inputs with an adjustable gain on one of them so that I can balance up the signals as between the two instruments. There's a separate Tuner Out. Switches are Toggle between inputs, and Mute. There's also a Ground Lift / Phase switch. Like all Radial kit this thing would survive having a Chieftain tank driven over it. If you don't fancy paying the thick end of £100 for one, they're very safe pre-owned buys.

Can't agree. The money is an important aspect of it for sure, and both ways - i.e. for both venue and performer - but there are genuinely other factors here. The guitar/vocals guy and the drummer from my main band also go out as an acoustic duo (guitar & cajon) and have actually taken gigs away from the main band. That's cool. The gigs concerned are venues that were either too small or too bad acoustically (or both) for a 4-piece rock band, but which work well for an acoustic 2-piece. In truth, I don't miss playing those places.