Wombat

Large headstock (but surprisingly little dive), single Bartolini, standard Zon electrics…

Yes, there is a Manson on eBay at the moment that hasn’t shifted for ages. Not a particularly interesting example imo mind - otherwise I’d be thinking of adding it as a sister to my fretless! I have 4 string Legacy (early ‘87 flame maple from when they were still in Buffalo) that’s just under a bed at the moment so I might be persuaded to part with that if you were interested!

I didn’t ‘pass’ the audition because I didn’t agree with one of the guitarists that John Deacon was the best bassist in the world. I said he was a ‘great’ bassist but definitely not technically the best. And it was a blues band and we weren’t playing any Queen songs 😂.

c1979 local charity gig... Aug 2025 local charity gig... A theme going on that isn't just that I have the same bass on???

Yes, but is he happy!

Did you have ‘The Manson Explorer’ that was on their advertising at the time? The stripy one? There are (or used to be!) pictures of it on the Manson history page of their website. I have a Kestrel that’s a ‘twin’ woods wise.

It’s all a huge bluff… 🙄

At 16 I got asked by a (then) girlfriend’s brother if I knew any bass players. My brother had a P he didn’t use so said ‘me’ (I’d been noodling on a guitar for a bit) and just joined in with them playing root notes. As a group we used to regularly see a band in a local pub that had John Currie playing bass who was amazing. He agreed to teach me (after much begging (and if he’s on here please do get in touch!)) and this fired me to learn (reasonably) ‘properly’. Moved on to other basses and the P went into my brothers cupboard for over 30 years. Recently he needed to sell it and I couldn’t let it go so bought it off him. It’s a poorly made boat anchor of a late 70s P. But two drummers (yes drummers!) have told me it sounds like the dogs doo dahs so that’s what you usually see round my neck. With my 2017 Status S3 as spare (😂). Had a few years over on the ‘dark side’ playing guitar in a couple of bands but actually sold two guitars recently - the only instruments I’ve ever sold…

He said: Can’t recommend anyone personally but these came up as registered for the Bristol area. (British Acupuncture Council). So they will be 'properly qualified' and know what they are doing. They can't register without the relevant certificates...

I guess it’s not a lot different to private physio but the couple of times I’ve suffered a few sessions of acupuncture has sorted it out. The guy who does me is a guitarist himself and seems to understand the ‘issues’ we face so maybe that’s an extra help. Thoroughly recommend him if you are Bromley/Orpington way at all. Or I can ask if he’s aware of anyone in your neck of the woods.

I’d say the Korg is ‘pretty old tech’ nowadays. All the rage in the 80s & 90s.

I’ve occasionally played with a brass section and it’s way cool. But as mentioned above many seem to be ‘different to us’. Ones I’ve played with ‘read’ so it has to go ‘exactly like that’. No ‘going round the chorus again’ (generally). And quite a lot of eye rolling and tutting with the way I play 😂.

Off topic but what did you move on to the Helix to?

I’m easily replaced! 😂

If I say ‘to the Tuner above the amp’ is the QI klaxon going to go off?

The great thing about IEMs is that you can play several songs in a pub and not know you didn’t put the PA faders up till one of the band not wearing them tentatively says ‘it’s a bit quiet’…

Yup, I’ve always left it as ‘I’m the sound man’ and sometimes I need a little more without tweaking the desk. And the desk is set for me to have the stomp at 12 o’clock generally. Possibly need to rethink that logic…

My HX Stomp ‘died’ during a gig. Lights on but no output. 3 songs left so pulled my cable out and went straight to the desk (small pub, no back line). Spent the rest of the gig wondering how expensive it was going to be, and then how I was going to replace it for the wedding gig we had the following weekend. Got home, had a sleepless night, but in the morning realised I’d pushed the volume down when I put the tuner on! 🤦‍♂️. Did make me realise that a ‘spare would be a good idea!

I’m still not 100% certain I can attend but I was going to bring my Livetrack-12, NUX MG-30 & Stomp so people can have an idea of what ‘no amp’ can sound like. And be able to play as loud as they like without annoying anyone else. I have a few spare earbud tips and wet wipes but remember to stick your own headphones/earbuds in! Also if anyone is thinking of travelling from Bromley/Orpington area I have space in the car!

I ended up using a PC to contact them to start with. Whilst the contact button appeared on my phone and iPad it didn’t do anything. The contact took me to a ‘chat’ and a real person came on quite quickly. But although it suggested I was chatting with the vendor you could tell that it was an ‘Aliexpress’ person. I just said I hadn’t received what I thought I should and they raised a ‘return’ for me but I didn’t have to send anything back and I got emails about a refund that day and the money a couple of days later. There is a return/refund button so you can do it yourself. I just needed to upload a photo. I did this with the packaging in the shot as it was obviously too small to have the pedal in it. For you you have a product that is different to what you (thought you) bought. You can show a screenshot of what you bought. For me the description constantly showed ‘chocolate pedal AND wireless’. I did buy my KZ earbuds from Ali and that went fine. But although I got my money back pretty easily - the chat person said ‘so I can buy the right thing’ - I’m not enthused to buy anything else from there.

Aye, I was trying to buy a M-VAVE chocolate midi foot controller- just to have a bit of (cheap) fun seeing how midi works. But I ended up with just the wireless midi bit! Going back in I saw what they did - give you a pick of the foot controller with several options, with the cheapest being ‘not what you thought you bought’ (the wireless dongle on its own in this case). I did think I was going to have a fight over it and have the hassle of returning it but they just refunded my £10. Turns out if I want the foot pedal that’s another £27. And now I have a wireless midi dongle and no way to use it 🤷‍♀️😂.

We're young but we fart?

The foam has long since rotted and I can’t remember what it sounded like before. This bass has been in my brothers wardrobe for the last 20 odd years 😂. And Headlessbassist made me realise that it WAS Marcus Miller that I saw resting on the pup cover! Saw him at Koko in London last month! 😂

And literally no one has said why we take them off! Are we just sheep? I saw someone recently rest their palm on the pup cover while they slapped. Seemed a neat way to avoid damping the strings accidentally?