Rich

Turd Stone From The Sun - Hendrix

Back in 1986 some scumbag(s) stole everything apart from my bass and amp while I was loading out from rehearsal at South Hill Park in Bracknell. Leads (cheap and nasty), AKG mic, mic stand, Arion tuner, shiny new MXR Phase 100, the lot. I sincerely hope the MXR exploded in their face. I doubt it though. I bought replacements for most of it, amongst which were the two Klotz cables that I still use at every rehearsal and many gigs to this day. I suppose it's an ill wind and all that.

Strangely, I don't like it on their basses, or their solid body guitars. But it's absolutely perfect on their jazz guitars, as they have so many other little art deco cues too. If I was rolling in dough, I'd buy one just to hang on the wall.

That save is superb. You wouldn't know it was a mend. And the finish is going to look awesome.

Ok, so it's not a bass... but I absolutely adore the art-deco headstocks on the D'Angelico jazz boxes.

Sadly, there are some properly low-life thieving scumbag W⚓s around. Commiserations.

I played fives pretty much exclusively throughout the 2000s and 2010s, and still do with the soul band. I started playing a 4 for my ska gigs just after lockdown because I just didn't need the 5th string, and still do. So I now play roughly 50/50 fours and fives. I love them both. At the end of the day they are tools, and as with all tools you use the right one for the job. You wouldn't use a screwdriver to hammer in a nail, and you wouldn't use a hammer to insert a screw unless you are my ex-wife. Anyone who will argue that fives/fours are totally superior to fours/fives is completely missing the point.

A knackered jack socket? Well, it's obviously a scrapper then. I'm going to the tip tomorrow, if you give it to me I'll get rid of it for you... 😁

And a lovely little thing of squelchy gorgeousness it is too. It's in near-mint condition and has some retro-fitted solid oak end cheeks in place of the stock plastic ones, which are very nice. I might treat them to some smooth satin lacquer at some point, or maybe some Danish oil. I've only really gone through the basic bass sounds so far, but already I've found some absolute peaches (and that's before I get anywhere near modifying them). There's one called 'TaurusBass' that has made me very happy indeed Yes they are mini keys, but that doesn't bother me in the slightest. If I feel the need to move on (i.e. if I actually learn to play it properly) then I can get something with bigger keys. This will keep me happy for some considerable time though. I might even have a guff about with the vocoder at some point Please don't laugh at my 'training wheels' stickers on the lower keys Like I said, I've never learned to play keys and I need the help for the moment.

👆 what Ped said.

12th October, 2025 The Memorial Hall, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Rowford, TAUNTON, TA2 8JY

Any chance of this splendid beast making an appearance at next year's South West Bass Bash? The bass, that is, not Dolly.

Bestie @Witters shared this with me this morning, an interesting insight into the various synth noises the Gedster used on 'Subdivisions', from the Signals album. I hadn't realised the bass sound(s) in particular was so multilayered. https://youtu.be/eQfxdwVHe5g?si=XUX2b63dMqdOW1aQ

Definitely better news than the return of the Manc knuckledraggers, that's for certain.

Managed to pick up a boxed barely-touched Novation Mininova for an excellent price. They're smaller keys, but more of them, and it's polyphonic just in case I fancy doing something daring, like learn to play keys properly

Dead From The Waist Down - Catatonia

Dov65

OK, another to add to the list. Novation Mininova. Just been listening to a youtube video of all the bass sound patches and there are some monster sounds in there.

Yup, I remember the 101 (and the 09 I used before it) being pretty basic. I mean, it did the job I needed it to do, but only just really. Me neither, all these do though. I made sure of that before adding them to the wishlist. A good point. I know the K has all its controls to hand rather than on external menus/editor -- I can't speak for the Korgs but they look fairly plug & play. The Roland has downloadable models etc but it also has its own sound shaping stuff, so it doesn't need external gear.

Yup, price. All things being equal I'd have one, but their secondhand values are huge. Twice the cost of the Korgs.

Following on from my earlier NSD post and my new-old Novation Bass Station 1, it's proven to be enough fun that I've decided to treat myself to a newer and more able unit. I've looked at what's out there (i.e. frequently on ebay) and have compiled a shopping list of those units that seem to be realistically affordable. As per the pic, they are: Roland Aira System-1 Korg Monologue Korg Minilogue Behringer MS-1 (Roland SH-101 clone) Novation K-Station Novation Mininova Of these, the K-Station is the only one I have experience of (I used a real SH-101 back in the day, so I suppose I have sort-of experience of the Behringer too) and I know the K to be a superb thing, but alas it is also the generally most expensive of these five. I'm quite taken by the Roland, but have no experience of it. I've seen youtube videos of them all and they all make the most gorgeous bass noises, so any one will probably do, but if anyone has real world experience of any/all of them I'd love to hear your opinions. Ta in advance!