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A reunion gig with what we call the old Sunday band , one that hosted a jam for about eleven years , and one that is generally ready to try most anything. In the spirit of things we did some requests we’d never done (later period Elvis tunes) , and everything worked out fine. Great Remington Ride , an instrumental take on Goldfinger , some surf , some Dick Dale and a nice mix of blues grooves. We’re in the dead of winter but the weather was mild. Unfortunately a lacrosse game was happening around the corner , parking was a misery. Big appreciative crowd , great night. Big orange Gretsch with Monique , the Forte and Berg cab. Back to the old dive ( well , really the new dive) for the jam tonight. I’ve got a new power amp in the mail that should arrive this week , might be the last run with the Forte for a while. It was an absolute joy hearing the guys play last night.

I ordered an amp to be built in December , should arrive Tuesday. It’s on the way.

that is utter madness

Ouch.

Someday I would love to have one of these fall into my hands.

A friend here has a Jupiter , I was quite surprised when it surfaced.

I made arrangements last year to have an amp built , could be delivered next week. But I plan to thin things this year , and don’t really need anything else. I’m in.

Finding a qualified repairman for Class D amps isn’t always easy. They certainly can be fixed.

ouch

big orange Gretsch , Dano Longhorn , Monique , Forte for power , Berg112 , big fat and warm. edit … tried to add photos , but the file size was too large and the direct links didn’t work

The little GK MB200 has been around for ages , great little amp. It has a fan but it’s nowhere near as loud as the Elf. Two others I’ve also run in that range , Aguilar TH 350 , or Darkglass m200. Both nice little heads that can get surprisingly loud for their size.

It’s funny , I had been using the original Forte , with the compressor rather than the drive . Clean , transparent hifi , I loved the sound. And then picked up a tube preamp and just used the back end of the Forte to power the pre. Complete direction flip. Love the sound. Before the Forte I had been running a GenzBenz Streamliner , which has a 3 tube preamp and a fairly warm , dark coloured sound. Before the Liner various GK heads.

The only audition I’ve ever done was for the first working band I joined. They were touring around the local circuit , power trio with some blues background but leaning into Jeff Beck territory. Lesbian couple. Mostly original material. I was the only one that showed up for the audition , we jammed for about an hour and a half , I got the spot. I had been doing photographic work , traded a Nikon F2 for a 72 Pbass. Still have that old Pbass. Got a Marshall head on time. It was the mid 70’s. I’ve been playing and gigging ever since.

As one that’s most often been in several bands at the same time since the mid 70’s , I know everyone brings something unique to the table , but nobody is irreplaceable. Sometimes it might take two people … if lead vocals are in the equation. Or maybe three if it was Geddy , but we can all be replaced.

I spent some years looking for one (this was before the internet) they simply were rare as heck in NS. Finally found one in a visit to Toronto. It was one of the later 4001 basses with the one inch spacing. The neck is gorgeous , it has that classic thing going on. I fell for it. It has the old style truss rods , they’re incredibly stable. In about 28 years I’ve adjusted them twice. The bridge was a misery , only had to set that once. Now these days I mostly play short scales , but when I pick up the Ric it instantly feels like home. Beautiful thing.

I first think of that warm classic thump McCartney always managed as a Ric tone reference. Never cared much for that prog rock roink. Loved Lemmy , but not my tone.

They’re built differently than other basses. Very unique. People tend to either love them or hate them. I love a nice Ric , heck , I get a little weak in the knees when I see one.

exactly and I know exactly where everything is when I next set it up.

I think it’s mostly guitar players that have been using projector amps and cabs. Some make gorgeous guitar amps , but not sure how they’d handle bass. Welcome.

Welcome , as another seventy something with a pile of stuff that’s accumulated over the years I’d like to trim things down to maybe a dozen this year. And sell several amps.

Welcome !

It’s funny , one day a fan can just drive me nuts , another time don’t even notice it. At gig volume it’s never an issue. Ambient room noise is much louder than the fan is.

I’ve been using a preamp for a while now too , and using my Forte as the back end. I like the simple layout of the Sumo , just having a volume knob appeals to me. I’ve ordered a new power amp that’s based on the Demeter Minnie , but with just 500 watts. Looking forward to the one knob simplicity.

View from the balcony

Last Sunday jam of 24 , lots of good players up. Parking was the usual pain but found a spot around the corner. Played a bit later than usual , all good. The new dive is working out well. The original bar was a bit outside the downtown core , more walk in traffic at the new spot. All in all a great way to finish the year. I’ll be home NYE. Rheo using my bass here , he loves that big orange Gretsch. I’ll have a new power amp under Monique in several weeks. Looking forward to the slight rig change.