King Tut

Ken Pustelneck's Groundhogs were playing before us. We toured with them just before lockdown and had an absolute blast. Made some great friends right there!

I do. I’ve only gigged it once so far so difficult to report back. Checked the pre amp valves and one of them was incorrect, there’s some info online about them. Looking forward to spending a bit of time with it!

I picked up a B Stock one of these during lockdown for (I think) £379!

Year of birth bass for me!

Please tell him to come say hello!

Here’s Stray at The Sonic Rock Solstice Festival - Time Machine. https://youtu.be/VebxPR9omqU

A bit of a ramble, but last Saturday we played at Alfold Rock and Blues Festival. We had a great slot at 8.05 pm - the last band before Martin Turner’s incarnation of Wishbone Ash. It was our second post lockdown gig, the previous being four or five weeks prior. Sadly we couldn’t rehearse - our drummer’s daughter had been isolating with Covid, then I had Norovirus, then the drummer had to go abroad for work for a week - so we blagged it! I’d been looking forward to gigging my lockdown acquired Peavey VB-2 for a second time but was uncomfortable because I’d not really got to know it at volume. Also I’m recovering from a screwed up back and although we have roadies, I still had to manoeuvre it into its case and get it to the door and was really worried about putting my back out again, so I decided to use my Bugera Veyron - the one with the valve pre. I’ve never seen Wishbone Ash before, but I have the Argus Album and it’s one of my top albums, love Martin’s bass on it and how much it contributes to the songs. Del had promised to introduce me to Martin, and true to his word, prior to our set, he introduced us and what a lovely bloke he is. We talked about his Rickenbacker which turned out to be a rare one with the extra fret. I asked why he changed to a Thunderbird. Apparently, the neck on the Rick got broken and he needed a bass desperately so he borrowed a Thunderbird from the bass player of Mott The Hoople. The Rick stayed at the record label offices from where it was stolen and he’s never seen it since! Anyway, we played our set and played a bit of a stonker. Big ups to the monitor engineer, he quietly asked each of us what we wanted in the monitors and set them (no sound check) and off we went - none of us had to ask for anything to be changed. My little Bugera? Well I think I got the best sound I’ve had yet with Stray, so if any one’s looking for a Peavey . . . . . No just kidding - I’m going to spend some more time with it yet! I really enjoyed Wishbone Ash. There were a couple of Jazz moment but it was lovely hearing most of the Argus album played live. And Martin’s tone? Wow - awesome. It looked like he was using an Ashdown ABM head through a couple of maybe 2x10 or 2x12 cabs - hard to see. Really solid sound. All in all it was a fabulous day. To top it off it was my final official day of employment before retiring from the railway after 42 years of service, so a fabulous way to bow out!!

I've had a few Thunders of various incarnations. Great basses but that short top horn always threw the ergonomics off for me when played on a strap. Felt like my left arm needed to be a couple of inches longer, so they always ended up getting moved on!

Fair play!

Great work. Maybe add Barefaced Big Baby to the list?

That's really sad. RIP MB1

I was a fan of a local Folk Rock band called ‘Out of the Wood’. The bass player had a pair of these, one fretted and one fretless. The fretted one had a plaque glued to it that said ‘Bass Machine’ (I think - mebbe from an amp?’. Mick, the bass player sadly passed away, I joined and took his place and the basses came to me so i used them in the band. When the band split, the basses went back to the band leader. He sold them through our local music shop - I was gutted he never offered them to me first - I’d have happily bought them! Anyway - if anyone knows their whereabouts - please let me know!

That's what I said . . . . then never used it . . . . . until . . . . . I wanted to record some bass and provide two tracks - one unadulterated line in, and one through a miced up valve amp - bingo - £26 well spent!

I just got an email reminder for subscription

I had to ask! He took a DI too and blended them. Sound engineer was very happy!

Essential accessories pictured doing their stuff and set up on stage with my Bugera on top as a spare. Very pleased with the amp so far after the first gig!

I finally got to use this last night. We were rehearsing for our slot at The Sonic Rock Solstice Festival in Bromsgrove on Sunday. I, and the rest of the band, are extremely happy with it. It seemed really easy to get a good tone from, enough tonal variation for me and bucket loads of HEFT!! Looks great on top of my 4 x 10 and heavy enough to p**s the roadies off! Roll on Sunday!

Peavey VB2 valve bass amp. Big enough to be loud enough, small enough to get the power valves working hard. Bought for a bargain price during lockdown #1 and not used in anger yet. Gigs start for us in July with s couple of festivals but I'll probably wait until I've got some comfortable set up time before I let it rip!