BillyBass

Thanks for your replies. I have just booked an appointment with an audiologist in the Boots in Whetstone, following the link in @Happy Jack's post. This is what I seem to be experiencing. It's not that bad and hopefully mine won't get worse but I suppose that depends on how careful I am in future.

Hi all, I always used to have ringing ears after gigs; it would go after a day or so. Unfortunately the ringing now appears to be permanent, so I suppose that means I have tinnitus. I feel like a tart plying her trade without protection and coming down with the pox. I was bound to happen. My ears have always been less than perfect, I had boils in them as a very small child. I went to too many gigs as a teenager, my teeth would sometimes ache afterwards I was told that this was because my filling were rattling due to the high sound levels. I use power tools at work, often without ear protection. And the straw that broke the camel's back was rehearsals two weeks ago; our guitarist loves to hear his guitar through the Marshall all tube head and 4x12 cab backline in our small rehearsal studio. Anyway, I would like to hear of others' experience of this and what I can expect in the future. Checking online (yes, I know, not a good idea for answers to health questions) it appears tinnitus can't be cured, the NHS just help you cope/deal with it emotionally. I have bought some cheap vented earplugs from Amazon and the apologetic guitarist has agreed to turn things down but any advice or tips form the bass chat community would be welcome. I would be happy if it got no worse but I suspect that may not be possible unless I avoid gigs and rehearsals.

If there was one bass gear company that I wouldn't accuse of copying others would be Phil Jones Bass. Nevertheless, this is another Elf-like amp, to add to the Elf, Warwick Gnome, Gr Mini, several TC Electronic amps etc. Rather than just trying to get as small a chassis as possible, the PJB amp has a few improvements over the Elf: Aux in, a speak on jack and pre/post Eq DI. The Eq looks a bit unusual though, Bass is 100hz, treble 10khz and the mid is centred at 1khz but appears to have a wide Q so it affects a broad range from 120hz to 10khz. They will charge US$375 for it, so probably about the same in pounds over here. Most PJB stuff is expensive compared to competitors.

This was Top of the Pops. As far as I know, the artists had to sing but the music was mimed; consequently Bob Geldof manages to produce lifelike sax sounds out of a candelabra but I also remember Rod Stewart (I think it was Rod Stewart) once performing with his lyrics on a piece of paper as he hadn't memorised them. So I'm not sure if the real bass line was slapped, I can't tell from the clip.

I use EXL165 on my BB, mainly because they come in a twin pack which is quite good value. The 165s have a 105 E string, whereas the 170s have a 100. Apart from that I think they are the same; nickel round wounds. I think they are fine, not better than the DR Sunbeams that I have on my other basses but not any worse either. They are a bit zingy when new, more so I believe than the Sunbeams, but new strings are like that aren't they.

Electrician here. RCDs are good, however you do need to check to see whether the consumer unit already has one for that particular socket circuit, whether as an RCD protecting that circuit’s MCB or an RCBO, which is a combination of an RCD and an MCB. Two RCDs in a circuit are a problem, you can get nuisance tripping. those little socket testers are good, I use one for work. They show up faults but you can’t rely on them to tell you the nature of the fault. If you get the two green lights, all is good. Anything else I.e. a red light somewhere then it’s call an electrician time. Surge protection is fine, however, it will rarely be needed/used. Faults from the sub station that would trigger an over voltage are rare and over current is covered by the consumer unit.

I didn't know he was on here. His posts were always welcome on the Gallien Krueger Club page on Talk Bass, always came across as a nice bloke. R.I.P.

I'm sure our paths must have crossed somewhere in 1980, judging by the bands you went to see.

I dossed in a squat in Notting Hill one night after a Killing Joke gig, probably 1980, it was Killing joke's roadies squat and Youth was there too. One of the girls in our group got shagged by Youth that night, her comment afterwards was "I could feel the grime against my body". Youth was not a fan of soap and water was he!

Adam &the Antz Peel session Not strictly post punk but not mainstream punk either. The 2nd song is about Westside Story, the first also has an anti racist element, unfortunately, Nick Kent and other NME journalists labelled them as Nazi, hence Dave Barbe, the drummer attacking a copy of the rag. Adam and the Antz also wrote a song called 'Press Darlings' about music press journalists. I saw them play over 20 times.

I think that's fair. I did go to see them as headliners on occasion but that would only have been if no one else I liked was playing somewhere else. We were spoilt for choice on occasion, they were good years. I remember once having to choose between 999 and Joy Division on a particular night, both bands I had seen. I choose 999 because they always put on a good show and played all their singles.

Oh dear.

I too saw UK Decay loads of times when they were supporting other bands. I thought they were really good though, not that I remember many of their songs. I do remember that during one song their followers would all take off their studded belts and swing them round above their heads, not sure why.

I saw them play a few times, in 1980/1981. Did anyone go to the gig at the Rock Garden in Covent Garden? That was packed and some people didn't get in, that was when they started getting big in London

The bloke who owns Bassics is a very well respected recording engineer, Malcolm Toft. Unfortunately for us bassists, he makes more money out of mixing desks than bass amps, so that is his main area of work. I was told there would be a new A900 power amp out in about three months. They have the chassi (plural of chassis?) ready but some other components are still to be delivered. Quiet? As in isn't able to go very loud or has little hiss or fan noise? Knowing the designer's background, I would bet Bassics stuff would be at its best in a studio.

Awful news. I loved ZZ Top but never got a chance to see them. R.I.P. fella

either that or the man at the back says everyone attack...and we all have a go.

Yes but if you are in a Sweet tribute band you will have to dress up like a plonker anyway so the audience would assume it was part of the show

😀 yeah probably! It would ruin the end of the show..

So basically, having drugs outside is fine, you just have to dump them there if you are going past! Glad that's clear then. You don't say!

We had a Filipino lead singer for a bit, unfortunately her UK visa ran out and she had to go back. Im trying to get hold of one of a bass from a shop in Metro Manila https://ddmusic.ph/product/dd-awingan-4s-bass-black/ I'd never heard of Jason Astete but 11250 Filipino pesos is so cheap that even with import duty and VAT it would be worth taking a punt on it. I'm hoping that as its a signature bass it might be well made. I like the idea of a Humbucker at the bridge and a P pup at the neck. The shop are still sorting out how to export their stuff so I've got to wait.

I heard some gun stories about the Philippines when I was travelling. Though Thailand never had a gun problem, do you remember seeing the signs by the roads when entering the larger towns 'Kaed bPlawd awud' It was mainly to stop farmers bringing in shotguns and the like I thought. You see the nice side of Thais when you are a monk, so maybe my experience is different to others. 'Decent music scene' should be taken in the context of Asia in the 1980s, no punk or metal but lots of cover bands in pubs doing Creedence Clearwater Revival songs etc. Don't compare it to the west but decent by Asian standards.

Slightly edgy, for Thailand at least. "Om Pra" might have upset a few old people but the song is still full of phrases like: 'chan rak ter" which was what all the syrupy pop I heard in the 1980s had every second line. I never went to the Philippines but I heard they had a decent music scene when I was travelling, back in the 1980s.

Things have improved a bit in Thailand then. I lived there for 4 years, from 1986-90, the music I heard was pure shi*te. There were some places in the south that would have music blearing out of loudpeakers after 10pm, I asked my girlfriend why? She said it was to help everyone get to sleep! The last 3 years I was a monk so didn't listen to music anyway and then I went off to live in Burma. I don't remember any music that wasn't pop or traditional.