Woodwind

SUNN0))) at the Barbican last week. Completely Phenomenal show. The cohesion between the sound and lighting was remarkable. I last saw them 21 years ago at the Underworld in Camden and that ended up being a (musically) life changing experience - I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now if I hadn't gone to that show. While I don't think the Barbican show will have such a profound impact on my music, it left me feeling very charged to perform live.

This is what I want to hear. Excellent run of shows! People I know in my neck of the woods (various types of music) seem to be having the same issues as me so it's great to see people gigging regularly.

I wanted to see how originals acts around the UK are finding the live scene this year. I'm based in London which skews my view slightly as there have been closures of some great venues. I'm in the process of booking a few shows around the UK to tie in with my next release and frankly I'm finding it harder than ever before. From 2022 onwards I realised there would be fewer shows, but there had been a considerable step up in quality in what was on offer which was a fantastic boost, but this is not the case so far this year. I'm not finding many shows I want to go to as an audience member either. Interested in experiences, opinions and hopefully some optimism.

Very lucky your cab made it out unscathed. Things go wrong, things break etc etc as annoying as that is, it's how people/companies deal with sorting things out that customers remember. Your experience with GSS is terrible and I wouldn't buy one of their amps as a result. Sorry you had to go through that

Very interested to hear what you think of it.

Not that I played the same status bass as you, but on my 5 string status my preference was 135 B, 100 -40 E -G (I'd just buy a 4 string set and add the 135 B) this was with Elites stainless. The tension matched well and had a wonderful low B. I always found the 125 that was bundled with 100-40 gauge as way too light and this is coming from someone who prefers light gauge strings (most of my playing previously was on 35-95 with 130 for the B). I think if you're used to a 37" scale with a 150 gauge string there isn't really going to be something that will immediately match the tone and feel on 34". Going up to 175 may get you close, but I suspect the string will play like crap once you're heading up the neck. Have you got some old or surplus 150's from your dingwall? May be worth getting one in your status as a rough starting point - I'm aware it will be too long, but chopping some length at the tuning head and then devising some way to add length to the silk/ball end (using a washer and the tube from an old metal ball point pen for example). This will let you know just how far out the feel and sound is and what you want to aim for. Let us know how you get on as I'd be keen to hear the results

🤣🤣 Sadly most of the businesses I frequent with any regularity no longer take cash at all so I can't even have the fun of this

Admittedly I play solo, but just use my current account for all Sumup transactions. Don't worry about a business account

Good info, thank you. Touch wood I've never needed their support.

I'm a long time sumup user, but they are all much of a muchness really. I think Izettle has a feature that's good for buskers where you can have a preset tap function ie you set it at 2quid and the machine will automatically do a transaction for £2 when a punter taps their card. Exactly as BigRedX says the 2.5% or whatever it is now that sumup take becomes moot when you sell merch you wouldn't have otherwise. That said when I played in Edinburgh last year more people had cash than any other show I've played in the last few years. I still have a load of Scottish £10 and £20 notes that I haven't been able to get to a bank to pay in yet 🤣

These are UK based factories: The Vinyl Factory https://thevinylfactory.com/plant/ Press On https://pressonvinyl.com/ Seabass Vinyl https://seabassvinyl.com/ Vinyl Press https://vinylpressuk.com/ I think there are a couple of other small outfits as well. I would do extensive research into any of these if you do go for a UK based company. Think hard about the mastering as well. The advantage of using a UK based pressing plant is it makes it far easier to have your lacquers or DMM cut by a UK mastering engineer. Getting a vinyl release together is very costly. Don't rush. Have a plan about what you want to achieve with the record, but also enjoy how exciting it is to have such a large physical product. All the very best with it!

Did Trevor Horn play the fretted parts? I'd always thought that was the case, but not really based on much.

I'm in the process of booking dates around the UK to tie in with my next album release, due in late April. It was tricky booking shows last year and it's proving even harder now. The loss over the last few years of many venues that catered for the music I'm involved with has certainly had a big effect. Getting back into EU countries to play some shows is now a complete pipe dream as well. However I not overly pessimistic about this. I've just had to accept the reality of playing live less. I had mused with the idea of joining a band or ensemble to satisfy my desire to play live as much as possible, but realised I'd rather concentrate even more on my own music and make those fewer shows even better.

I've been at a few auctions at Christie's and they are testosterone fuelled pugnacious affairs. Big male egos behind the hammer and swaggering in the room. Horrible environment. (I'm well aware not all auctions and auctioneers are like this though) This is very refreshing. As you say a charismatic auctioneer. A relaxed vibe, where everyone seems to be enjoying proceedings and blimey aren't the prices soaring! Over half a million after fees for that one a few minutes back!

It looks so great and I can only imagine how brilliant it sounds. What sort of bands are you/have you used it in?

Strangely compelling viewing I have to say.

Need some videos or sound clips of this amazing bass!

Maybe not quite what was intended by the OP, but the band Dream Themes strike me as a concept group. "Pub covers" band who only play TV theme tunes. Seen them a couple of times over the years and the crowd always goes bonkers.

Good start, nice one! JazzyJ! I don't want 2024 to be a complete repetition of 2023, which although not bad per se, very much had the feeling of a "new normal", so different types of gigs and different ways to present my music. I will have to do everything I can to build on the successes and progress to feel like things have a momentum again, as they did pre-pandemic.

Thanks for all the pointers. I'll be fitting Gotoh 350s as They are only 40grams each. I'll machine some delrin bushings at work . I Won't be maintaining the old school tuner look, but not worried about that. However this is now a slow burn project as I have the mastering for my next release to pay for. I'll update the thread with pictures as and when it all comes together.

First edition Sterling Ray34. I'm sure Musicman tuners from the same period will be a little bit lighter, but the newer special ones are definitely lighter.

Well I couldn't wait until I have access to decent scales at the weekend so used the kitchen scales just now. Current tuners are 84grams each, so a total of 336grams. The bass balances better with only 3 tuners on so at a minimum I need a saving of at least 84 grams. A set of Gotoh 640s would come in at 248grams (from their published weight), which is 88grams lighter. I might have a look at ways to get some extra weight off the headstock as well...

It's something I've been meaning to do for years. Glad to hear you really benefitted from it. Ultralights are definitely on my radar as well.

My goodness me! Thanks for the heads up on the CBT01 itu! 35.3 grams each for those. £200plus a set Gotoh 640 61.8g each £105+10 from Thomman. I'll pull out one of my existing tuners at the weekend and see how much it weighs to gauge whether going the carbon route is necessary.