ezbass

Cigarettes and Alcohol - Oasis

Rye Did You Do It - Stretch

Fields of Gold - Sting

Nothing like having the correct tool. However, someone here said a paint can opener will do the same job. At just £1.80 from B&Q (other diy stores are available) I thought I’d give it a go. The tip needed a little more angle and a a little filing for a better fit, but it works really well.

If you do eschew the pickup up cover, watch out for the very rough and sharp surround. Splashing out for a bezel from Rickysounds is highly recommended.

If they are cracking the whip, pick holes in their gear and then tell them to do one. I think the classic quirkyness of the T’Bird is perfect for your chosen genre.

The difference in pickup volume is by design, assuming this is a modern one with the push/pull pot. That volume difference is less marked when the vintage circuit is engaged. However, I used to always play mine with both pickups on and the louder bridge pickup meant I didn’t have to favour that pickup more in the blend, it was already done. Looking back, I wish I’d gone for the walnut as they’re noticeably lighter than the all maple (why mine had to go ⚓️). Congrats on a really nice bass; enjoy!

I have my flat wound strings around the tuning capstans on my two short scales and one is through body stringing - zero problems. The only time I’ve had a problem with windings around a capstan has been when taking them off one of my 33” custom builds, because of the significantly smaller capstans on that bass (compared to a Fender one for instance), it had opened up the windings and it snapped when I straightened it a bit. Wasn’t a problem in the long run, as this allowed me to put it straight on my Mustang.

There’s been a recent thread on this very subject:

You should avoid short scale strings, apparently. Because of the through body stringing, medium scales seem to be the way to go. However, I have long scale Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats on my JMJ Mustang and it came fitted with Fender long scale flats, neither have had any issues.

I know that phrase grinds your gears. As ever, we are grateful for your expertise and advice in these matters; thank you.

Val and Richard? I used to see them all the time at The Cartoon and Windsor Castle (especially during the Chris & Harry era) and supported them at The Riga IIRC. Great band, nice gig you have there.

Yesterday, I watched Haim (I like them, but the banter with the crowd was somewhat painful, as was a certain guitar note at the end 😱). I had a look at Wet Leg, OK, but the lyric writing seems lazy (mega repeats or lah, lah, lah). St Vincent is truly eclectic, a Prince/Madonna mashup and all stops in between (monster bass tones from JMJ), not really my thing, or is it (I really don’t know ). I watched Snarky Puppy with great interest, fantastic chops from the whole band, but I found it a bit like musical wallpaper, I couldn’t get excited by it. I’ve come to the conclusion that daytime, open air gigs aren’t my thing, there’s something a bit off about them for me. Much like a movie, I find gigs are best enjoyed indoors, in the dark.

Calling @Bill Fitzmaurice

I did consider the Bowie gig (like you, I’ve been in a DB tribute and loved the bass lines, especially Trevor’s early ‘70s and Carmine’s stuff) but I wonder what it would be like playing for Bowie? I get the impression it might be hard work on a personal level. Same for the Zappa gig, didn’t the rest of the band dislike Thunes because of him being Frank in absentia for rehearsals, or have I made that up and that’s without dealing with FZ himself?

It’s what Mike Pedulla has done and you have to respect that. Their companies, their reputations, their rules.

As has been mentioned above, it's a Bacci. To be precise, it's a Bacci Amrita LTD Animal Tonal, with a heavily reliced, alder body. Just listened to the Snarky Puppy set on iPlayer. Not really my thing and ML's tone seemed to all fundamental and not much else. However, for the type of thing SP do, it worked, it certainly stayed out of the way of all the other instruments.

Peter Gabriel’s original So tour. Playing with Manu Katche alone would be awesome, never mind PG, Richard Tee and David Rhodes. @TrypF’s Pretenders gig is a great shout. My old covers band did 3 of their songs and were always enjoyable (if a local Pretenders tribute band needed a bass player, I’d be all over it like a tramp on chips).

Nice. Beware, the wee buggers are addictive.

We’ll have to put it to a vote.

It's the symmetry and the smaller body size, to my eyes at least. The standard J is quite a big beast.

I'm probably going to just bring my pedal board and DI via my VTDI, I probably wouldn't be able to hear my rig over the holdback anyway (been there, wished I'd left the rig at home). Thus, more room in the van for comfort/ease of load out/in. Glad to see Cardinal Black doing so well @SamPlaysBass.

Top detective work @Fishfacefour. They are ugly, for sure, but then so is the Mustang to some (at least I used to think so). However, they do have a certain something.