meterman

Not a bass, but my old 1963 Hammond C3 organ + Leslie speaker. Absolutely glorious sound in full throttle. It was the first thing that sold when I got rid of my studio. Regretted it at the time although I knew I didn’t really have any other choice. I probably wouldn’t have time to play it every day now or even every week but on the occasions it might be possible... phwoar! 😅

I’m probably something of an anomaly (well, more like definitely, both my parents were fairly odd) in that I’ve not been asked for download codes when I’ve sold vinyl and CDs at gigs, ever. When physical copies of albums and singles have sold on Bandcamp then buyers receive WAVs of the items at point of purchase but that’s as close as I’ve got. I’d love to do some with previously unreleased stuff and give them away with T-shirts or something.

A guy I did some session work for used https://www.cramduplication.co.uk/ to do his CDs, I think he’s done 3 or 4 different albums and EPs with them now.

I’ve always made a profit from CDs, never made anything much from streaming though, and that’s even with being in a signed band that had records out, plus tunes on TV and soundtracks and radio etc. Just depends on the type of genre probably?

3 hours ago, Rich said:

Current bands:

Soul Destroyers -- soul covers plus much more, with lots of silliness. Name was already in place when I joined and after nearly 30 years is unlikely to change.

 

Woah, hang on - these Soul Destroyers? With Malcolm Catto on drums? Same band?

I used to have the vinyl of this 😎

Los Altos - a fairly loose Catalan folk outfit who play acoustic covers of The Ramones, 999, The Damned, Stooges, The Saints, Wire, Soft Boys, etc, sung in Spanish. Just doing it for laughs as and when we get time to play, which isn’t as often as we should as it’s always a laugh when we do. Sometimes we play acoustic Spanish folk tunes and stuff as well.

Lords Of Superglue - a gonzo ‘77 style punk rock outfit whose songs are all around 70 seconds long and the lyrics are always about something daft, like your mum wearing pyjamas to go to the shops, or when you glued falafels on your girlfriend’s car. Or when you snorted crushed up Ricicles for a bet, or about gabions, or reality TV contestants or Thai green curry or whatever. We make Splodgenessabounds look like King Crimson, but somebody has to. They were called something not especially PC before I joined, so I’m glad they changed it.

I didn’t choose either name but they’re alright for what they are I guess.

35 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

There's something about the Bronco bass that I always found very attractive, something about the simplistic low-key basic-ness of them that i find extremely charming and appealing, and the only thing that I didn't like in fact being the two saddle bridge, which this version though does fixe, and otherwise being a relatively easy and cheap fix anyway, and then it having a few frets too few for my taste, and those last couple of the ones it does have being rather hardly accessible, which still is an issue with this new version and an absolute deal breaker for me.

 

A shame, cause I love just about every other aspect of this design.

 

As is though I will probably end up getting one of those new Mustang, might I said improved Mustang, like basses Harley Benton offers instead.

 

When that is said I think these new updated Bronco basses are cool, and if it just had had easier up frets access I would likely had gotten one at some point.

 

The salmon one especially looks really cool.

 

For me the Bronco would probably do everything I need a bass to do, the lack of top end access and even a two-saddle bridge wouldn’t make any difference to what I do, but there must be a short scale bass out there that has 24 frets?
 

I fully admit I’m a proper duffer who sounds he wears boxing gloves when playing bass, mind.
 

7 hours ago, pbasspecial said:

I wondered what everyone’s thoughts are on how bands split the money they make from gigs and jam nights, etc?

I recently walked away from one band that I played with for the last 6 years when I realised that he singer/guitarist had been creaming off the top for quite a while. We weren't even gigging all the time and he had a full time job so it’s not like he desperately needed an extra £50 every 3 months! He lost a decent bass player over it. 

So, I just discovered last night that the jam night I’ve been playing at for the last 3-4 years haven’t been splitting it equally either. The singer and guitarist (2 people) have each been getting £75 whilst myself and the drummer have been given £50 each. I’ve recently been picking up and dropping off the singer and his gear in my car too!
The drummer and I play for 80% of the evening, we are really good musicians, backing any and every type of musician, doing songs we don’t always know  whilst the other 2 open the jam and close the jam with 3 songs per set, drinking beer and smoking fags outside.   They aren’t as strong as us musically either.  Without sounding arrogant, they are lucky to have us in the house band. 
Am I wrong to be annoyed by this?!

I enjoy the evening and thought of myself as friends with the other 2 but it now feels very sneaky. I’m naturally very fair and transparent as a person and believe in financially splitting things equally. I’m guessing this is not the case with all musicians!
I don’t want to walk away but it sticks in my throat and feels like people are taking the P. 
What do you guys/gals think?

I reckon you should just have done with it and shoot them, and replace them with musicians who’ll be happy to play for £25 less per gig than you and the drummer.

If that seems a bit harsh to you then you could always pay the replacement musicians £20 less per gig? Just brainstorming here, I’m not actually sure what the right answer is. Or maybe don’t shoot them, just set the dogs on them? Hard to know.

1 minute ago, Obrienp said:

Interesting: no mention of it on the official Fender UK website. It looks like this one would be easier to mod. I wonder what the string spacing is.

Yes, I saw them on an Australian guitar store's site, I have seen them advertised in Europe but no retailer seems to have stocks yet. I have no idea of the string spacing but can't imagine it would be any different to the existing spacing. Mind you, it's Fender so anything's possible!

The Coral and vanilla white options look decent to me. Not that I need one...

I realise these might be old news / not news / not even interesting 😁 to folks here but I hadn't seen any mention of the new Squier Sonic series Bronco basses?

Standard BBOT bridge and upgraded tuners (might still be like cheese though) and a non-maple neck option for the black bass fans among us. Obligatory pic:

I almost bought a s/h Bronco last year and have a Mustang bass now otherwise I'd be looking at these with a keener eye.

Probably the same Strat pickup in there, though...

4 hours ago, Lord Summerisle said:

Everything I’ve seen of Rebellion Festival seems to be male pattern balding, beer bellies and 4 barre chord songs where the chorus is just the title of the song shouted 4 times. 

Phwoar, now you're talking! Sounds exactly like my side project The Lords Of Superglue. Where do I sign up? 😂

On 11/02/2023 at 15:28, discojoe said:

The words "psychedelic funk collective" grabbed my attention and your track certainly didn't dissappoint. It's like The Menahan Street Band meets Martin Denny. 

 

Mint. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you! 🙏  I admit, I do like The Menahan Street Band and Martin Denny, spot on 👍

We just had a couple of 7” singles out on a label in the US last month as well. Flute, vibraphone, zither, electric sitar, Space Echo, analog synths, drums, pick bass etc. Sort of David Axelrod / Gabor Szabo / Can / The Poets Of Rhythm, kind of thing. But done on a 4-track 😂 Funky but not ‘straight’ if you know what I mean?

No pop or rock music round ours. My mother listened to Indian classical music and Bollywood soundtracks, plus a bit of opera, Greek folk, Argentinian folk, maybe an easy listening LP sometimes. But always with the stereo volume on 10. Super loud!
 

My dad had a box of cassettes of jazz and blues, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Thelonius Monk, John Lee Hooker, Bukka White, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee etc.

I still like all of that stuff (ok maybe not Albert Ayler so much) and even though I’m not particularly nostalgic I guess it has stayed with me.

10 minutes ago, DTB said:

There’s a very simple fix to this. You don’t need to bother with shielding anything. Simply earth yourself to the bass. I had a similar problem with a  PRS guitar ( not a cheap instrument) which was fully shielded already. I used an adhesive pad, the sort used on tens machine  for pain relief which I stuck on my arm and used a crocodile clip to run the wire from the pad to the trem springs in the rear cavity. So I was doing no more than “touching the guitar” all the time. Noise gone. 
Problem solved. 
 

I did a session for a producer about 10 years ago who wanted me to use one of his basses (a Japanese Jazz copy that buzzed like crazy) and he had a long wire coming from the bass with a teaspoon attached to the end of it tucked into my sock. I found this pretty weird, but it worked as the playing ended up on a release. 
 

Would prefer a non-teaspoon solution if possible

21 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Bring it to us (we're just up the road from you...) and Our Luthier Eldest will do it for you, and show you how it's done.

 

No..? If in doubt, give us a ring and we'll do it together, here, with a pot of tea and some biscuits. 

 

Cheers  @Dad3353 yeah, it’ll only take me about 15 hours to get over to your place 😂 I’ll have a look at the video and see how I get on 👍

5 minutes ago, rmorris said:

 

Okay. So you can buy a multimeter with continuity test for something aroun £10. Often from Lidl etc or CPC online. Best also check actual resistance with it as continuity may be indicated at anything less than, say 100 Ohms, although in reality that would be fine.

Thank you for the info. I have no idea about continuity or resistance or what I’d be doing with a multimeter, but I appreciate the advice, thank you 🙏 

2 hours ago, Smanth said:

The process is pretty much that simple, just need to ensure it is connected to the guitars ground. I’ve used this tape from Amazon.

Copper Foil Tape for Guitar and EMI Shielding, Slug Repellent, Crafts, Electrical Repairs, Grounding - Conductive Adhesive - 2.6 Mil Total Thickness (51mm x 5.5M) https://amzn.eu/d/bmQb3uC

 

It has done the job nicely, nice durable thickness, good adhesive (which is conductive) and cuts well, has great reviews from others and will also keep slugs away from your pups.

 

S’manth x
 

Thank you 🙏 I’ve no idea where the ground is on either of my basses but hopefully they’re not fiendishly tucked away somewhere unobtainable.

2 hours ago, KingBollock said:

It helps if you’ve got a multimeter to make sure that it is all connected and conducting.
 

Sometimes the stuff with conductive adhesive doesn’t always conduct through the adhesive. What I like to do, when it’s all done, is add a strip of tape across the lot with the very edges of the tape folded underneath. Or you can stick down a length of stripped copper wire. If this makes any sense? I’m not sure I’m describing it very well.

I don’t have a multimeter or know anyone near me who has one.

The strip of tape / copper wire thing makes zero sense to me, but then admittedly I do have learning difficulties! 
 

Never had to do this before and I haven’t managed to find a YT tutorial that I can actually make sense of. I only want to do this once, properly, and not balls it up like I usually do with anything maintenance related 😂

2 hours ago, DTB said:

Does the noise you are trying to eliminate stop when you are touching the metal parts on the bass?

Yes, exactly this. Mostly when I’m recording it can be an issue.

Hi everyone, hope you’re all well and warm and doing alright 👍 Just wanted to ask the BC collective hive mind about shielding tape.

I need to add some shielding to my Jazz bass and my Mustang bass, but it’s not something I’ve ever done before. I admit I am very very lo-fi when it comes to maintenance and setups and anything technical so I apologise in advance if this sounds daft but is it really just a case of ‘buy some copper tape / stick it down in the cavities and on the back of the pickguards / screw the pickguards back on / job done’?

And is all shielding tape much of a muchness or is there a best brand to go for? I appreciate any advice anyone’s got on this cause I’ve no idea🙏

Many thanks - Lee 

Just three.

Mustang bass

Jazz bass

Tanglewood mini precision 

Lot of other gear though (3 drum kits, countless guitars and keyboards, etc)

The Mustang gets all the play.

Forgot to mention, a label in the UK has released a limited edition 7” single of “Fools Gold” and “Liquidator”. Again, all done on a cassette machine and using a 25” super short scale Tanglewood EB-18 bass, Hammond organ, melodica, etc. It’s pretty lo-fi though so purists and hi-fi buffs best cover your ears now 😂

https://www.discogs.com/release/25484437-Earl-Natty-Fools-Gold 
 

On 03/01/2023 at 22:08, Woodwind said:

@metermanthis sounds fantastic.

A really nice sound from a cassette 4 track!

 

Where did you get your 5" lathe cuts done?

 

Cheers

Thomas

Hi - sorry for the late reply, I haven’t logged in here for a while, the lathe cuts were done in Cardiff by a company called Lathe To The Grave. I’ve done three different projects with them so far and they have been brilliant and easy to work with. Can recommend 100%
 

https://www.lathetothegrave.com

Very few of my mates shared my tastes in music when I lived in the UK so I’d often go to gigs on my own. It would be the only way to see Brazilian artists I liked, if they ventured over, or South American artists, etc. Trying to get folks to come along to a cumbia or Latin gig was impossible, so things like that were usually solo missions. No point asking when you know you’re going to just get a blank expression. 
 

I rarely had the opportunity to play the exact kinds of music I liked either. Didn’t matter too much, but it probably won’t happen in the future either.
 

Now I’m out in the sticks in rural France I’ve seen just one gig in the two years I’ve been here, and that was by accident 😂 

Isn’t isolation brilliant?!!!

I lived in London for 20 years on and off and only twice had any ‘bother’. Neither times were music related, more a case of wrong time, wrong place. 
 

I tended mostly to gig in central London so even though I’d be doing load ins and outs with high end gear in busy streets, I wasn’t often doing the same thing in areas that were too dodgy. Had more hassle and problems elsewhere in the UK to be honest.

Depends where you’re planning to be, obviously, but I generally found London a lot safer than other places in the UK I lived in, or gigged in. 
 

Caveat: YMMV and all that. Good luck if you make the move though 👍

Have used Bandcamp for about 18 months and can definitely recommend it if you’re selling music or merch. It’s easy to add Bandcamp links to websites or YouTube videos or social media posts etc.

I don’t earn tons of money from it but every release I’ve put on there has covered, say, my medical insurance for the year, or car insurance, or paid for new musical gear etc. 
 

Defo worth a look 👍

I’ve thought about having a website but Bandcamp does everything I’d need anyway so I’ve just stayed with that. YMMV and all that, though.