TimR

3 minutes ago, Crusoe said:

40 years and the after effects of the drugs probably haven't helped.

When you're a millionaire sticking it to the man becomes harder to carry off.

Funnily enough I watched an interview of a Bass player by a drummer. Both professional players. The drummer's aim of the series of interviews was to find out what musicians wanted from drummers and various general tips.

The bass player pointed out there was a difference between substance use and substance abuse. And that it's a fine line. He'd never seen anyone fired for not having a beer on stage with them, but seen plenty not hired again for just having a single beer. This was the US though and they can have very puritanical views.

11 minutes ago, Misdee said:

Tony Kanal is such a terrific player. I've been a fan since that first No Doubt record, which must have come out 30 years ago now!!! How is that possible? 

 

Anyhow, I like that he's quite a busy player, but his taste is so impeccable that it always works. I like his tone, too. Everything he does is just right.

1 minute ago, jonno1981 said:

Agreed with the above, Tony is a monster player. One of the rare breed that can find the space for supportive melodies in his playing. Busy but not overplaying. 

It's a Paul Webb bassline, copied note for note by Tony. 

Nice.

I have a hankering after one of these. Not much on the forum about them.

Anyone else have experience of them? 

4 minutes ago, tauzero said:

Like I've just realised that I should have picked up a rechargeable pedal power supply for a little pedalboard before 2026, and now I'm not sure whether to go for the record in failing the test or use a powered power supply. Oh, and whether to buy a little pedalboard or fashion one from bits of wood I have lying around.

I'd be looking at the power supply as an 'allowance' or replacement to existing power supply, although possibly its an 'upgrade'. Batteries are consumables. Grey area. 

Pedalboard - Tier 1 fail. Any paint or screws you buy to fashion one out of scrap wood would be scrutinised. Photos would have to be supplied. 

5 minutes ago, neepheid said:

Happy to hear other people's take on it.

It is not GAS. I think the intention of the thread is to control rampant GAS.

Technically anything that you buy to fix GAS itch should be covered (there's probably some special cream you can buy)

Ok. I'll play.

I have a PA for sale and some bass shaped cash I need to get rid of.

But going on past experience it could take several days (365+) to find the right bass shaped hole to put it in. 

Is lighting mentioned anywhere in the fail tiers? 

I've been itching to buy a new bass all year but may get down halfords next week and buy some emery paper for the frets.  

Although I'm really not impressed with the replacement Active preamp I bought. Sometimes you have to call it a day...

3 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

I was in my last job for almost 14 years but left due to difficulties at home with my mentally unwell son. These have improved a bit but not sure they’ve improved enough for me to be able to get into a day job on time every day. Haven’t written a CV in ten years either. 

I hope 2026 brings some improvement. 

I don't know how old your son is but hope he can get the help he needs. 

19 minutes ago, SimonK said:

So the upshot is that IEMs normally use standard 1/2" or 1/4" jacks and the 4.4mm connectors are just there to catch out the unwary?

Sounds like you might not have the right spec cable. 

On 23/12/2025 at 10:36, BigRedX said:

The poly finish applied to Kramer instruments from the 70s is a complete bastard to remove. Don't ask me how I know.

 

You'll need a good power sander, a LOT of course grit sandpaper, a well ventilated space to work in, and MANY hours of free time before you'll get to see any bare wood.

 

And be very careful removing and replacing the wooden pickup surrounds as they are prone to damage and the ones on your bass still appear to be complete which is a rare thing in itself.

If it is poly, then the recommended removal method is a heat gun and scraper.

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

Good luck with trying to accurately glue together 4 pieces of wood with no straight edges on the non-glue surfaces. I wouldn't want to do that.

There are ways. But ultimately as long as you don't use caustic soda, dipping will be no different to any other method.

41 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

That applies to bass players as well. Full lows and moderate mids sounds great, be it at home or when playing alone on stage. But it's not always that way when the full band kicks in, nor when you go out into the room. 

It applies to all instruments. 

Keyboard players who insist on being in stereo and drummers who expect their kick drum to knock down tall buildings. 

On 18/10/2025 at 12:50, Davy said:

I do realise that I need to put the sound of the band before my own personal tastes. I'll just leave it for the guitarists to be the selfish ones...🤣

Unfortunately this is often the root cause of 'not cutting through'. 

Educating guitarists that 'their tone' which sounds great at home is banjaxing the whole mix. Getting them to roll off slightly on the mids might help.

I played at our local jam on Boxing Night. As the 'only bass player in the village' I get the dubious honor of playing for 4 hours without a 'break'.

Anyway - the pub now has a DJ with a 16 Track PA, subs and tops. So I left my amp and cab at home and dug out my StudioSpares DI (last used before Y2K).

5 minutes fiddling with the PA (bass, parametric mid, and treble) and bingo. I sounded just like me. I still don't know how to describe what that sound is though. 

27 minutes ago, KingBollock said:

Some money, a voucher for my local commercial fishery, and a book about words by Susie Dent.

 

But the stand out has to be: Bryn Terfel: Carols & Christmas Songs on CD…

Susie Dent was on Russell Howard podcast earlier this year. She was Suzie Dent and didn't come across as particularly engaging. But I enjoyed it, it was calm. 

13 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I wonder if they use cheap hardware?

 

I had to trim 1mm off the end of the speaker jack socket on my Elf head as jacks wouldn't engage properly and vibrated out when I played it!

They now 'click' in place.

Sounds familiar. 

It takes a lot of persuasion to get in, and then quite a bit more to get it out.

I've only ever used GEQ to notch out problem frequencies.

Using the PEQ on each mic to tailor the sound of each chanel to sit in the mix. 

If the mics are pre-set to sit in the mix in a neutral (rehearsal) room then there still might be a small amount of tweaking on some mic chanels to reduce problem frequencies due to stage acoustics, especially if backline is being used and set too loudly. 

My Trace Elliot Elf cab is a nightmare. I've not really investigated why, just struggle with it. 

Maybe changing the socket is in order. 

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

Personally I wouldn't take this to a door stripping company even in the UK. The chemicals used are rather too aggressive in order to get the job done with the minimum of fuss and you are likely to end up with 4 separate pieces of wood. Doors mostly survive because they are held together by woodworking joints and nails although it is always best to re-glue them after the stripping process.

They'd glue back together pretty easily.

They'd at least be able to tell you whether it's likely to work.

I'd rather spend £50 on someone with some expertise than two weeks in my back garden and end up with a lung disease and RSI. 

31 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

eg John Entwistle

Entwistle spent years and a fortune on hundreds of bases and never sounded any different. 

7 minutes ago, lozkerr said:

They do indeed. Sometimes it's possible to anticipate them too. Preview shows can be very educational.

It's almost as if the MDs know what they're doing. 🤣

23 hours ago, lozkerr said:

The band will have rehearsed what might go off-script and be able to respond accordingly.

After 1 or 2 shows the 'vamp' bits become pretty obvious. 

Find a local door stripping company. They might dip it in with a batch of doors. They'd also give you a professional opinion on whether it would be easier and quicker to throw it in the skip and buy a donor bass off ebay. 

Edit: my local guys charge £35 a door. 

3 hours ago, TrevorR said:

I always find the “what bass is too expensive to play down the Dog & Duck?” question very hard to answer given that this was my regular wedding, club and pub gig set up in my function/party band days. 

Depends how many weddings, parties and functions you're playing down the Dog and Duck I suppose.