TorturedSaints

I have had 4 credit card replacements in the last 18 months as ‘somehow’ the accounts have been compromised, with people phoning the credit card company and pretending to be me, or fraudulently using them. No money lost by me thankfully. The last 2 cards have never been used and have always been in my possession - the only people that know the card number are me and the credit card company. Go figure!

Bit late (hospital got in the way) but I saw Franck Carducci and the Fantastic Squad at the Innisfree Social Club in Newcastle on 19th August. A great up and coming band from France, they’ve been touring in the UK quite a lot and have supported Sting at festivals. They play an eclectic rock/prog/acoustic set and are visually exciting (Franck in the style of Freddy Mercury, who he freely lists as an influence). They all are thoroughly talented musicians and lovely people. One of the band members has an incredible way of playing the theremin, and does some amazing visual performances while singing as well. Best of all, Franck is the bass player/lead vocalist and plays a double neck for most of the set, supplemented by his Fender with (bizarrely) a Union Jack scratchplate. It was an incredibly enjoyable and entertaining gig. Check them out when they next come back to the UK next year. There are some great YT videos available.

I haven’t gigged my DB (no pickup nor mic) but with my NS Wav EUB I use a Fishman Platinum into Quilter Bass Block 800 (without using all of the 800W) into Barefaced OneTen. People seem to like the sound. Plenty of cut through if required for a 50 player wind band.

For me (with limited experience of different basses) it would have to be: a year of birth Fender P Bass (so pretty vintage 🤣) MM Stingray

Since 2005: Shine 10W practice amp Fender Rumble 100 combo (sent it back and got a refund!) Laney RB5 1x15 165W combo and Warwick WCA410 extension cab Eden WT-405 amp and Peavey 410TVX cab GK MB500 and Barefaced Super Twin Quilter BB800 and Barefaced One10

2022 success. No purchases, just fantasy ones . . . 🤣. In my dreams I bought a couple of new ACGs, a Stingray 5, a backup amp and a pickup for my DB. 😀

It’s been a while. I played my first concert using the EUB and German bow with the Glasgow Community Concert Band on Sunday last. Into a Fishman Platinum, through my Quilter BassBlock and BF One10 it didn’t sound too bad. I can see why everyone says it’s a lifetime of learning though 😀😀

To be honest, the band is now defunct. It’s on DistroKid and we were hoping to release more music. I’ll probably cancel this year, or pay DistroKid the one-off payment to have the music available “forever”. I will check out emubands for the future though.

There was a thread on my FB feed about Spotify. Here’s what I wrote in reply to some well-meaning idiot who said streaming was good for bands and they relied on it: The only bands that rely on streaming (via Spotify) are the bands that get millions of streams. My band pays approximately £35 a year to be on Spotify and other streaming services. The last play of one of our tracks on Spotify earned $0.00273756147. That’s just over one fifth of 1p. We would need 15343 plays of a track just to recoup our hosting costs. We have earned $9.58 in 7 years, including a vanity purchase by me of our EP from iTunes. As they say in the USA, do the math! I refuse to listen to bands on streaming services. If I want to buy music, I buy it direct from bands if I can and definitely buy merch at gigs - that’s where bands make their well-deserved money.

You’re probably right, it was a long time ago 😀.

I still have mine, a white one with rosewood fretboard. It’s the only P bass I own, but doesn’t get played much. It’s still got the plastic on the scratch plate, never got around to taking that off. It does record well though. I think it was well worth the BC ‘hype’ at the time, £90 delivered as far as I can recall. There’s probably a P sized GAS itch to be scratched at some stage, but not now 😀.

It didn’t go down well when I tried that in the Concert Band 🤣

Me. Not sure whether to use a happy or sad emoji though 🤣.

Thanks.

Hi knowledgeable people, My ACG J-type 5 was originally strung by Skelf with SIT Powerwounds. I really like them and they obviously suit the bass. However, I’m having problems finding them in the UK at the moment. Any suggestions for a similar nickel wrap/steel core string please? Or if anyone knows of any in stock anywhere (I’ve looked at most of the usual suspects). I have had Elixirs in the past on my MIJ Fender Geddy Lee and quite liked them. I haven’t really experimented with strings much, hence my question. Thanks, R

Just to update the topic, I'm still waiting for a new string from the distributor, having already sent a hastening email. I have found a post from Talkb**s suggesting there might be a more general problem with the G string on GHS Crossovers https://www.talkbass.com/threads/desperately-need-help-ghs-string-problem-w-ns-design-crossovers-for-over-a-year-now.1276430/ Mrs TS is now requesting a refund via PayPal. Edited to add: my technique has obviously improved as I've taken my NS Wav to rehearsals and been complimented on my sound! (Using the NS Traditional strings). I'll take feedback like that any time.

I’ve only had one recent dealing with Bass Direct and I’m not a particularly happy customer. Mrs TS (so technically she was the customer) ordered a set of d’Addario GHS Crossover strings as a present for my birthday in July as I needed new strings for my NS Wav EUB. On re-stringing the EUB, the G string snapped round the tuning peg even before it was up to pitch. I sent Bass Direct an email with the photos as evidence. After a slightly snarky set of replies, BD said they would get in contact with the distributors and get them to send me a new string. 6 weeks later, nothing. No contact, no new string. Edited to add: No contact from BD after 2 months. Mrs TS opened a PayPal case asking for a refund. BD ignored the refund request and said there was no stock at the distributor, and sent me another string from stock. String arrived and broke again on fitting at same pitch. (Not a bass problem, the original string, same diameter) has been on and off 3 times and a similar problem with G string reported on Talkbass). Eventually escalated PayPal claim to return strings at our cost for refund.

There’s also one for the Time Machine tour here: https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2010/09/27/2329/Rush-Time-Machine-Tour-house-music-list Thanks for reminding me of these. I don’t have Apple Music etc, so will have to play from my collection 😀

There’s a post on rushisaband blog that gives one for the Snakes and Arrows tour which looks similar to yours but has more songs on it. Tommy Overture - The Who Mojo Pin - Jeff Buckley Trains - Porcupine Tree Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson Fear of a Blank Planet - Porcupine Tree Welcome to the Machine - Pink Floyd Eria Tarka - The Mars Volta Roundabout - Yes Looking for a Place to Happen - The Tragically Hip Aqualung - Jethro Tull Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley Baba O'Reilly - The Who Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd 2112 Overture - String Ensemble The Temples of Syrinx - String Ensemble I Know What I Like - Genesis The Prophet - Yes Hallelujuah - Jeff Buckley 18 People Live in Harmony - Dredg Dazed and Confused - Led Zeppelin Bobcaygeon - The Tragically Hip 21st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson Inertiatic E. S. P. - The Mars Volta The Sound of Muzak - Porcupine Tree Echo - Vertical Horizon Fifty Mission Cap - The Tragically Hip So Real - Jeff Buckley Time - Pink Floyd Good Days, Bad Days - Richard Butler No Opportunity Necessary - Yes Anesthetize - Porcupine Tree Say Hello 2 Heaven - Temple of the Dog Babe I'm Gonna Leave you - Led Zeppelin Open Car - Porcupine Tree Evenflow - Pearl Jam Hells Bells - AC/DC Crosstown Traffic - Jimi Hendrix Kashmir - Led Zeppelin Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull How Many More Times - Led Zeppelin Us and Them - Pink Floyd

I have a CD of Rush songs played by the Vitamin String Quartet. Might this be the one you’re looking for? Do you have Neil’s House Music lists for the later tours? I’m sure he did a different playlist for each tour. I would be interested in seeing those as well.

I can only find them for sale at Wembley Music Centre now. How strange.

Quilter Bass Block 800? Just about in budget new. Solid little amp, works for me. Possibly a bit lacking in high frequency sparkle if you’re into tweeters though - I have a dull set of flats on my fretless and through the Quilter into a BF One10 it still sounds dull!

Well , there’s the “I’m crap and inexperienced (on upright bass)” disclaimer, so it might be different for you. 😀

I’ve just fitted a set. I thought the previous strings on my second-hand NS Wav4 were the original NS Contemporary strings. *** See edit below **** While they were fine for pizz, I wanted to do more arco which didn’t seem to work very well (at least nowhere as well as I can on my DB - it still could be my technique though). I picked the GHS Crossovers based on their blurb on the Gollihur website saying they were like spirocores (and their price!) and Mrs TS bought them from Bass Direct as a birthday present for me. The G string broke round the tuning peg as I was tuning up to pitch (it broke at about a D, so not too much tension). I’m still awaiting a new string from the UK distributors. As far as the sound goes, through a Fishman Platinum preamp the 3 crossover strings played pizz sound like a fretless bass to me with mwah and are brighter than the previous strings. They don’t seem to be any easier/better for arco to me but they might improve with time. They don’t feel as nice as the previous strings, and I think they are higher tension. At the moment I’m not too keen on them and will probably end up playing the Concert Band parts on electric bass rather than taking my NS Wav to rehearsals just because the arco stuff sounds so unmusical - screechy, too many harmonics and thin. I think they sound less like a DB than the previous strings. (Although I can make musical noises from my DB, I don’t have a pickup for it yet and I’m definitely not leaving it in the car all day before rehearsal anyway). So it’s a slightly disappointed from me. To be fair, I’m relatively new to EUB and DB, so probably best to take my thoughts with a pinch of salt. Edited to add: I’ve checked the Gollihur website again for string identification and the previous strings were definitely NS Traditionals. In that case it could well be that the setup needs some tweaking for arco, or my technique is really crap.