Muzz

This, but black with the maple board (some figuring would be nice) and no inlays... 🙂

Lots of options covering all of those things here: https://shukerguitars.co.uk/basses/shuker-j-bass/ Again, I'm sure Alan can do all that, but I'm guessing it'll be around one of his Retro-B designs, which may or may not be 'J enough' for you... As far as workmanship and the subsequent quality of bass is concerned, tho, as I said in my first sentence on this thread, you can't go wrong with either...

It kinda depends what level everyone's at and what sort of music it is; my originals bands rehearse when we can (but there's no real impetus behind these; they're more a 'nice to be in it' band), but the pub/function trio band hasn't rehearsed since 2018; we just get a text and a YouTube link for new songs from the BL, learn them and then play them (the drummer reads anyway, so it's only me who can pink torpedo things up). We tend to only rehearse when we change tech (new PA/digital mixer, moving to in-ears, etc, etc). I should add we're not playing particularly testing music; just the standard pub/function fare, really...

Yeah, that's some garage... 😕🙂

I can do nearly all UK: Banbury, Brighton and Castleton for in-ears, cabs and basses, and somewhere Dahn Saath for my cables, but my big amp and FX are California...

Yeah, spec and personal taste are everything - I've got to the point now where I can look at a bass, note the pickups and position, and say 'It looks absolutely lovely, but it'd suit me like a fish suits a bicycle'... Actually, although this complicates things by 50%, another Overwater could be an idea...

Did you spec the Shuker, or buy it secondhand? I only ask because I had the opposite experience, but I spec my Shukers, and the ACG I had was secondhand, and clearly not my sorta bass...to be clear, I had exactly that from an Overwater, too*, but other people love them... * I even emailed Chris and had a chat with him about making it less..polite, but it was a case of 'that's the way the bass is'...a great bass, clearly just a mismatch for me...

Can I just say that's the best casual gig name-drop I've come across in years? I was expecting the Lochboisdale Hotel... 🙂

I'm a total Shuker fanboi, I've got two and a half (long story, but a new neck/rebuild kinda thing is the half) and have had three more, plus I've another on the way, and I've also met Alan and played some ACGs at an event a while ago, and I've owned one. The really good news is you can't go wrong with either, really; it just depends, as other people have said, what you want, and a lot of it (for me, anyway, but then I'm as shallow as a puddle) is down to looks. I don't really get on with the ACG designs, whereas Jon will make anything you want, or work around anything you want, in every detail. Plus I love the Horn (steady) design, too... There's a Shuker Jazz on here at the mo for a song (not my ad, I hasten to add), but Jon will work around any spec you might have for him, and it'll be a great bass. The more 'Jazz' you want it to look, I think the more you're moving away form what Alan does... On that (and there's been plenty of discussion of this elsewhere on here), the best way to avoid CLBBR*, is to be absolutely sure what you want, and why you want it. It's happened before that people have specc'd their dream bass (and been delivered it) only to find that what they thought they wanted didn't actually suit them. Lots of communication before the build starts is the best plan... * Custom Luthier Build Buyer's Remorse...it'll never catch on like GAS, I know...

I played a Fender Roadworn P a while back and really liked it on the playing front (other than the biiiig chunky neck, but that's just me; anything over a toothpick and I'm out), tho I'm not a fan of relicing at all. They seem to hold their value really well, tho, so you'll pay pretty much what they cost when new for one. I suppose dings don't affect their resale value... 🙂

Case in point; I use the Stomp so 'my sound(s)*' comes from that box, and then I pick the amp to suit the gig, from none with inears, to a 112 combo, to a 212&115 Mesa stack. The amps just make 'my sounds' louder in different ways. I always DI, too. I played a festival a week or so ago where the supplied rig was a Markbass LMIII/2 x 410. It wasn't ideal (these sorts of gigs rarely are), but 'my sounds' were there; not as much onstage, but definitely out front. I'd move to an FRFR/PA cab if there was one which could cover all my gigs, but I'd need a pair to cope with the bigger gigs, and that's a big outlay. * Both my core sound, and any more, erm, esoteric ones I use in a covers/wedding band with a wide range of styles to, erm, cover...from Rock Clank to Muse to C&W thump to Marcus Miller zing...I know I could get close with just the bass for some of it, but we got out (mostly) as a trio, so the bass is more evident without keys/2nd guitar in the mix...even the punters might notice... 😕🙂

If you're looking at Gus/Buzzard sort of money, tho, it brings you into luthier territory; if I had a couple of £k, I'd be talking to Jon Shuker about a light, balanced Thunderbird/Fenderbird, built exactly to my requirements... The one on the left started life as an Epiphone (tho there's only the body wood and neckplate left), and is only half a Shuker, but it's not heavy, and balances just fine...the strap button has been moved, tho... We don't mention the upper fret access, tho (it was kind of an accident, involving a 22-fret Lakland neck and a lot of ill-advised giddiness)...not that I ever really venture up into Nosebleed Territory...

I do like that...sums up quite a lot of basses I've owned and played... 😁

I had a ZZB - in fact I've got one at the moment stashed away, because it needs lots of work, but although they're not heavy (they're a 32" scale, too) IIRC there was some neck dive...and that's from a Fenderbird lover... I've played a Buzzard, and (again IIRC) it wasn't light; it had that Warwick Brick Outhouse Build to it, tho...unless you tuck it right up under your right arm a la Entwistle, the nut can get a lonnnng way away... +1 for the Dingwall D-Bird/D-Rocs; not heavy at all, and the body curves and balance are exemplary...

Having left the last three big stadium-type gigs* mid-concert, you couldn't persuade me to part with the best part of £100 (or more) for the experience any more. I saw the fantastic Robert Jon and the Wreck at Night and Day (250 capacity) for £12 the other week, and I'm going to Cadillac 3 at the Academy for £22, this sort of gig invariably sounds better, looks better, and has a much better atmosphere, for a fraction of the nose-bleeding cost of the stadium stuff. The Ritz is my favourite venue (the O2 Leeds is good, too) for slightly more well-known bands, and I can't recall a bad sound in there, ever. The only big-capacity gig I've enjoyed in the last few years was Ennio Morricone in Dublin, but that, as you can imagine, was a seated affair...and given there were 198 people on the stage, a big venue was pretty much required... *The Foo Fighters at Manchester Cricket Ground, the Hollywood Vampires at the MEN, and Alterbridge at the MEN...all because of truly dreadful, gig-ruining sound...well, the Hollywood Vampires were a joke musically, as well, but the sound was very poor, too...

When I first dipped a toe into these waters (pre-Stomp days), I used my iPad and the Positive Grid preamps/effects into a Markbass F1. I'm not that keen on the LM heads, but I thought the F1 was very 'quick and clean'...plus it's a lot smaller than the LMs... You'd have to find a SH one these days, tho...

A shot from last Friday: 414 with Fender bridge and Hipshot Ultralites (inc D-Tuner)...the perfect 'Don't worry about it' gigging P-Bass... 🙂

Yeah, they must have reformed with younger members; they were the youngest band by a looong way last weekend...Jay's a great drummer, too...

Yep, Jay was running the whole thing, as well as smashing it on drums and guitar - they're a great band, especially since I've got socks older than most of them... 😃 Edit: I've just checked, and Jay's Status Quoing were a much younger lineup than the one I've found online...

I've had better nights, for sure...

A bit of a curate's egg of a weekend at the McVention Quo festival in Glasgow. We (the originals band) played the Friday night, and went down well for the only non-Quo-Trib band on for the weekend. I cocked up badly on the energy front, tho; I got a Greggs at about 8 in the morning on the way up there, and then with all the faffing of a multi-band lineup, I didn't eat before we went on at 8pm. I'm still recovering from the nasty flu&Covid thing I had a couple of weeks ago (though I've been fully negative for more than a week), and just didn't have enough in the tank, so three songs in I went off a cliff in terms of energy; I honestly thought I was gonna collapse, and I don't remember the last three songs. If it'd have been anything other than a gig, I would've gone and laid down, but hey, the show goes on... I felt better after a Maccy D's after I got off stage, but I was in bed in the hotel for eleven... Was OK for the next day - I stuck around to roadie for/watch State Of Quo, the band our drummer and geetarist are in (they were the best band of the weekend, including John Coghlan's bunch), and we went our for a curry after, but it was hardly the Bacchanalian debauchery it could have been... The supplied Markbass rig (LMIII and 2 x 410HFs) reminded me why I sold my MB stuff years ago, but I made the best of it, and apparently it sounded good out front... This is the first number, before I felt like lying down on the stage and expiring...:

Like BRX, my Stomp is now 'my sound in a box' (and yeah, that includes amp/cab sims, compression, etc) which is invaluable for the different varieties of gigs I do, from tiny pubs using minimal gear to big stages with supplied backline. All I do is amplify it differently. I also use it for a pretty wide range of sounds I need in the covers band (and yeah, Muse is part of that), and also for pitch shifting (I have several banks of sounds, each one shifted down, from E to Eb to D to Db to C). So the short answer is, for me, yep.

😁

I do quite a few varieties of gigs, so I have a few setups; for the pub/function trio, we have a small but good quality PA (we use triggered drums) which we take to every gig, so why wouldn't I reduce my load and take the minimum kit and go into the PA? I'll either use IEMs or, for simplicity in small pubs, I have a Rumble 100 which I cut all the bass from and use as a small monitor, and let the PA do the heavy lifting. I also have a bigger rig for use in the 'traditional' Rawk Band, which isn't set up for IEMs, the geetards use Marshall 100s/412s. My sound comes from the Helix Stomp, so my amps are mostly flat; the only time I EQ is for the room. I'm playing a big 'shared backline' gig at the weekend, there's a MarkBass 2x410 rig provided, again I'll just set it flat, use the Stomp in front of it, and let the engineer worry about the FOH. Edit: TLDR, I guess the short answer is 'both'.

Not a gig last night, but the last rehearsal (of two) for Red Sky, the originals band we brought back from the dead for a 30th anniversary gig in 2019 - we're playing the McVention in Glasgow on Friday night. It's a Quo convention, we're the only non-Quo band on, our singer/guitarist and drummer play in State Of Quo, and they're doing the Saturday night, but the organisers are fans of Red Sky, and asked us to play on the Friday. The keyboard player and I will roadie for State of Quo on the Satdy night. Looking forward to a weekend in Glasgow immensely... 😃