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Hi everyone I just picked this beast of a guy up from JayDee yesterday....he wanted to say hello... Cheers!

I thought I'd share this pic as I like it so much. My band did a little video shoot last week, and the guitarist is a keen amateur photographer. After we'd finished filming I asked him to take some pics of the basses I'd taken. A brace of '73's. Rob

I’m going to write to the government or the police. That when there is film of a live band - there must be, by law, at least a 5 second shot of the bass including headstock close up. im not unreasonable I don’t expect a caption of what make and year it is, just a proper shot of the bass the amount of time I’ve seen some interesting bass on a video but not seen all of it is criminal yours faithfully Seymour Bass

Just a few hours rest from my Zurich adventure, before a 450 mile round-trip to North Wales to do an Eagles tribute show at the beautiful Rhyl Pavilion. A bit stressful 'cos there was a problem with he house PA.. thankfully - and by pure chance - we had ours in the van. Lucky escape. We had a great night. The show is really coming together after a year of hard work. I can start to relax a bit now. After a crazy few days I could do with a couple of days off to recover, but... back to work tomorrow. Ah well.

Another day, another NBD! First, a bit of back story... I'm Paul, and I'm a GASoholic. I've been playing for around 22 years now, and in this time can only think of two times I've truly been happy with a bass... First was an Aerodyne P around '07, which I let go for peanuts as I was convinced I needed a jazz bass in '16, and second was an EBMM Sterling 5 which developed a faulty pickup, but PMT would only refund (both pictured below) Other than this I've had premium, budget, mid range, headless, short scale, fan fret, four string, five strings from Ibanez, Yamaha, Rickenbacker, LTD, Spector, SBMM, Nordstrand, Sire, Squier, Sandberg, Fender, Charvel, Harley Benton... you name it! Every time, I find something I'm not fussed on, and either move on at a loss, or modify past the point of no return - whether it be neck profile, knob placement, active pickups, inherent mid scoop, perceived low end loss or ergonomic issues and so forth... Most recently it's been a Sire Z7 which I was convinced would push me through the mix, but I struggle with the weight and preamp and the cycle resumes... After weighing up my options I decided I'd like to try a P, but that it was time to grow up and a Sunburt P would be the way to go... no luck in the local stores (as usual) but then I spotted Greeneking's P on the FS section... After a couple of messages and an impulsive post xmas cross country drive, I arrived at Peter's house raring to give it a try. It didn't take long to decide it was for me, and off I went 1 bass heavier... And here she is! A fender Player II P... nothing fancy, and couldn't be any more opposite to the basses I've had in the past (P's are so boring, right?) But it totally clicked, and I'm in love! It plays like a dream, the neck isn't as fat as I remember Ps being, and it's light but it still roars and has that P weight to the sound. Ive played this bass EVERY night since I got it, (often into the early hours before remembering I have work tomorrow 😬). It's just so good in every way! I had a Mex Fender P back in 2010 and it was a DOG and put me off both Ps and Fender, but I've gigged this now around 6 times and each time I've been so excited to play it... For now at least, it feels like a forever bass! If you made it this far... thanks for reading!

Found this gem. The previous owner was the first owner who bought it new in 1973 and took pretty good care of it. The frets are fine, the finish has one bad spot where it hit a nail in the case it was kept in, otherwise in very good nick. The hardware is super clean, the color has aged very nicely and it sounds and plays great. Really like this.

It took a while longer to come together than expected, but today I took delivery of this absolute beauty and I'm pretty happy with it. The idea (inspired by a mate who's done similar tele and strat builds) was to build a really high quality vintage looking P bass but with modern appointments. The same kind of idea as buying a classic car and putting a modern drive train in it. The body came from MJTs eBay store. I had waited for an Aztec gold one to come up for a few months, one finally did but it sold for more than I was willing to pay. Shortly after this ice blue metallic one came up, I'd never heard of it before but after some googling I was pretty sold. I bid, won, paid the import, waited for delivery and finally it arrived in early August. The bridge is a gotoh 203 and the tuners are gotoh resolites. I'm really happy with both, they look classic but are slight functional improvements over the what an actual vintage bass would have, fitting in nicely with the restomod idea. Pickup and electronics are EMG GZR. I agonised over the decision, it's really easy to get analysis paralysis with P bass pick-ups because there are so many available. I considered Kloppmann, Bare knuckle, Di Marzio model P, various Seymour Duncans and probably a few more. Then I played another bass with the GZR in it and enjoyed it, so because I couldn't test any of the others I ordered the GZR. I may change it in the future but for now I'm pretty sold, it does exactly what I want it to, not that I could describe what that is. The strat and tele that inspired the build both have Warmoth necks. I enquired about getting the spec I wanted built and they weren't able to help, I wanted a 16" radius which they apparently don't do on bass necks, so it was back to the drawing board. I ended up contacting Jon Shuker about building a neck and ordered the same spec as he uses for the JJ Burnel Zenith bass, I shipped the body and parts to Jon, he built the neck to fit the pocket and assembled and set the bass up, all for less money that my mate had paid for his Warmoth necks after shipping and tax! Today it finally arrived and I'm over the moon. I'll list the full spec below for those that are interested. Most importantly there are photos. It weighs a shade over 4kg. Neck (Shuker): Roasted flamed maple. Carbon reinforcement. Stainless frets. Brass nut. Luminlay side dots. Black fret board markers. 16" radius. Gentle c carve. 43mm nut. 20.5mm depth at the first fret. 22.5mm at the 12th. Body (MJT): Alder with usual contours. Lightly aged ice blue metallic finish (nitrocellulose). Hardware: Gotoh resolite tuners in nickel. Gotoh 203 brass bridge in nickel. Gotoh aged domed nickel nobs. Gotoh large nickel strap buttons. eBay special anodized scratch plate. Electronics: EMG GZR pick-up and wiring. I think it came together pretty well!

Prof Honig has this to say. Just about sums DT up I think…. “I’m going to get a little wonky and write about Donald Trump and negotiations. For those who don't know, I'm an adjunct professor at Indiana University - Robert H. McKinney School of Law and I teach negotiations. Okay, here goes. Trump, as most of us know, is the credited author of "The Art of the Deal," a book that was actually ghost written by a man named Tony Schwartz, who was given access to Trump and wrote based upon his observations. If you've read The Art of the Deal, or if you've followed Trump lately, you'll know, even if you didn't know the label, that he sees all dealmaking as what we call "distributive bargaining." Distributive bargaining always has a winner and a loser. It happens when there is a fixed quantity of something and two sides are fighting over how it gets distributed. Think of it as a pie and you're fighting over who gets how many pieces. In Trump's world, the bargaining was for a building, or for construction work, or subcontractors. He perceives a successful bargain as one in which there is a winner and a loser, so if he pays less than the seller wants, he wins. The more he saves the more he wins. The other type of bargaining is called integrative bargaining. In integrative bargaining the two sides don't have a complete conflict of interest, and it is possible to reach mutually beneficial agreements. Think of it, not a single pie to be divided by two hungry people, but as a baker and a caterer negotiating over how many pies will be baked at what prices, and the nature of their ongoing relationship after this one gig is over. The problem with Trump is that he sees only distributive bargaining in an international world that requires integrative bargaining. He can raise tariffs, but so can other countries. He can't demand they not respond. There is no defined end to the negotiation and there is no simple winner and loser. There are always more pies to be baked. Further, negotiations aren't binary. China's choices aren't (a) buy soybeans from US farmers, or (b) don't buy soybeans. They can also (c) buy soybeans from Russia, or Argentina, or Brazil, or Canada, etc. That completely strips the distributive bargainer of his power to win or lose, to control the negotiation. One of the risks of distributive bargaining is bad will. In a one-time distributive bargain, e.g. negotiating with the cabinet maker in your casino about whether you're going to pay his whole bill or demand a discount, you don't have to worry about your ongoing credibility or the next deal. If you do that to the cabinet maker, you can bet he won't agree to do the cabinets in your next casino, and you're going to have to find another cabinet maker. There isn't another Canada. So when you approach international negotiation, in a world as complex as ours, with integrated economies and multiple buyers and sellers, you simply must approach them through integrative bargaining. If you attempt distributive bargaining, success is impossible. And we see that already. Trump has raised tariffs on China. China responded, in addition to raising tariffs on US goods, by dropping all its soybean orders from the US and buying them from Russia. The effect is not only to cause tremendous harm to US farmers, but also to increase Russian revenue, making Russia less susceptible to sanctions and boycotts, increasing its economic and political power in the world, and reducing ours. Trump saw steel and aluminum and thought it would be an easy win, BECAUSE HE SAW ONLY STEEL AND ALUMINUM - HE SEES EVERY NEGOTIATION AS DISTRIBUTIVE. China saw it as integrative, and integrated Russia and its soybean purchase orders into a far more complex negotiation ecosystem. Trump has the same weakness politically. For every winner there must be a loser. And that's just not how politics works, not over the long run. For people who study negotiations, this is incredibly basic stuff, negotiations 101, definitions you learn before you even start talking about styles and tactics. And here's another huge problem for us. Trump is utterly convinced that his experience in a closely held real estate company has prepared him to run a nation, and therefore he rejects the advice of people who spent entire careers studying the nuances of international negotiations and diplomacy. But the leaders on the other side of the table have not eschewed expertise, they have embraced it. And that means they look at Trump and, given his very limited tool chest and his blindly distributive understanding of negotiation, they know exactly what he is going to do and exactly how to respond to it. From a professional negotiation point of view, Trump isn't even bringing checkers to a chess match. He's bringing a quarter that he insists of flipping for heads or tails, while everybody else is studying the chess board to decide whether its better to open with Najdorf or Grünfeld.” — David Honig

Well technically NBD was last Saturday when I collected it but here she is and I haven't stopped smiling since.

First gig of 2025 last night was a 40th at Studley Social Club in Redditch. Considering the state of the building on the outside, it was actually a really nice room with a cool stage and friendly staff. I’m really wanting to love my Mustang as I think it’s gorgeous and plays so nice. I played the first set with the intention of playing it all night. But, I swapped it out for the second set as it just doesn’t sound as good as my Gretsch to my ears. Both went through my B3 into the PA and monitored using 64Audio A4t in-ears. All round, a good night and enjoyed blowing off the cobwebs after a few weeks off!

I'm now 73 and my back problems started when I was twenty, I was in and out of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, Middx during that time, surgery was suggested but I was warned that it was risky and if it went wrong, then I could spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, so I decided against it, and over the years I had various procedures on my back which were all extremely painful, and all of them only temporary fixes, this resulted in lots of time off work, and eventually early retirement. Five months ago, the pain really kicked in again and because I couldn't get an appointment to see a doctor, the surgery advised me to call 111 who in turn advised me to go to A&E which I did, I was kept in overnight and then transferred to an Orthopaedic Hospital the next day, I was told that surgery was needed and this time I decided to agree to it, the following morning I was in the operating theatre. When I came round I was pain free, and three weeks later I'm still feeling great, so because I don't want to risk injuring my back again, I've now decided to stop gigging and just play and record at home because if I gig, I will have to lift heavy equipment which will put my back at risk. I've enjoyed gigging over the years but as I've struggled to find a suitable band in recent times, I think it won't be too hard for me to get used to not gigging any more. I'm not going to sell off everything, but I've put a couple of my higher end basses up for sale, I will keep a couple for home use and anything else I might need, but I will gradually shift all the gear that is no longer needed. I'm now looking forward to enjoying what time I have left pain free (hopefully). 🙂

Just scored an Epiphone shorty. Picked it up yesterday afternoon from FB marketplace, gigged it last night. It's this one and it felt so tiny! But it sounded and played really well. Glad I went for the short scale, there was a little bit of neck dive so I imagine the full length would be, for me, unplayable.

I've had a good laugh at this thread! On thinking back over an up and down music career spanning about 50 years, there are many Spinal Tap moments. Oddly enough the first three that came into my mind were all drummer related so these are the ones I will tell. First, back to the summer of 75 or 76. Band formed whilst still at school are playing an open air gig. The stage is about six feet off the ground and is set up in a field. There are a couple of bands and a DJ on. We are the first band. Our very cool drummer with the blue octagonal shades and the permed hair is set up at the back of the stage and it turns out his main drum stool foot is perilously "close to the edge". He counts us in with a vocal count and stick clicks - One, Two, Three, Arghh... And just like that, he's not there - nowhere to be seen. Found him slightly dazed and confused lying flat on his back in the grass with his stool on top of him. Number two - different band - different drummer. Social club gig. Second set. Playing away maybe two songs in, drummer is undoing the wing nut at the top of one of his cymbals in the middle of the song. He gets it off and throws it to the ground. Crash, indeed. We finish the song. "Bill, what are you doing? We've got half an hour still." "I don't like these" Counts the next song in and does the same thing with another cymbal. Crash again, not to mention the erratic parts and timing necessitated by this apparently urgent disassembly. "I hate cymbals" Starts muttering. Counts in the next song. Any further enquiries were met with "I can't hear you, I've got a fish in my ear" Last to go were the hi hats. did about the last four or five songs with just the drums and then packed out and left without exchanging a word with any of us. The next night's gig he didn't turn up at all and that was the last we saw of him. His wife contacted us and told us he was having issues and we shouldn't expect him back. I heard he worked his way through it all so I don't mind telling the tale. Number three same band but different drummer. Band has morphed into a seven piece cabaret/ dance band playing all the hits of the day and the day before. We're in a town hall type gig - big stage, slightly sloping forward, four foot drop onto the crowded dance floor. Flashy drummer has a big kit, roto toms, loads of cymbals and just to his right a massive gong hanging on a big tubular chrome stand. Now he's not daft - he doesn't use it all the time- no, no ,no - just for effect, you understand... Anyway towards the end of the night and at the end of some overblown song or another- can't remember which - he gives this thing an almighty wallop. It swings backwards with such gusto that something happens to sever it's connection with it's stand and it crashes literally onto the ground. But somehow it's not done yet. It has managed to land on it's edge and due to the slope is now making it's way forward. It comes off the drum riser in the gap between the kit and my big Acoustic 371 rig, knocks my spare bass off it's stand and keeps going, gaining speed all the time. It was one of those moments when time seems to have slowed down but you seem to be unable to do anything but watch it all unfold. When it reaches the front of the stage, it does a kind of ski jump off the foot of a mic stand and launches itself onto the floor and into the crowd who are now scattering in all directions from it's path which ends with the first table it hits, spilling all the drinks and generally ruining everyone's night. But the sound it made was amazing.

I did my regular Wednesday Bandeoke this week. Usually I take a small, light rig, for convenience as much as anything. However I watched Bass The World's review of the new Orange valve head yesterday, and it gave me a hankering to enjoy a proper amp. So tonight I used this set up and it was an unforgettable experience. A bass you can feel as much as hear, a tone to die for, it was worth every ounce.

If you want to play in bands forget about YOUR tone, it doesn't matter. It's no good having great solo tone if you disappear behind guitars and drums.

Great thread On stage at City Poly early-mid 80s. My hair was somewhere between Mike Peters and Tony James Largely as the result of lot of...... ....that my them GF, a stylist, used to apply for me Anyway, mid gig, I became aware of two things going on at much the same time 1. A weird, sickly, smouldering smell 2. The audience paying an unusual amount of attention to the bass player So, transpires that Andy, the keyboard player, had nonchalantly flicked a cigarette across the stage, by luck it had been caught in my 14-18" high barnet, had apparently smouldered there a while before igniting the spray with the result that my hair had pretty much started to melt. Guitarist helpfully came over and put it out with a few hefty downward pats to my cranium. Frankly I wish we'd had a malfucntioning smoke machine to hide it all, it was not a good look at any level. Had it all cropped off a few days later, nothing to do with health & safety and everything to do with minimising the chance that anyone who'd been at the gig would recognise me 👍

Another dep gig with the Lee Aaron Band last night, this time in Bracknell. First time out with the LFSys demo Monaco cab which performed admirably with my Spector/GK combination. Tight, focused tone and sounded great! Great audience, up and dancing & singing from the off.... great fun 😎👍

First gig with the first wave ska band the Long Shots supporting ska punk band Rudebeard. Pretty decent turn out considering the trains were off after the storm. We played pretty well for a debut, lots of really positive comments. Played my Warwick star bass fretless through the rattly house peavey combo, but the sound guy did a great job. This was my first proper gig for over 12 years so pleased it went so well.

A great weekend of dep gigs with the wonderful 'From Gold To Rio' Spandau/Duran tribute show at the lovely Whitby Pavilion and Wakefield Theatre Royal! My 1st time going completely ampless with only my Spector Dimension HP thru my Shure Wireless/Thumpinator/HAZardlAMPs pre pedal and HX Stomp (set to GK800RB/Ampeg 810) between me and the desk....! It all worked great though... compliments from 2 separate sound engineers, audience members afterwards.... and the band members loved what they heard in their IEMS too (as did I!). Result! 😃🎸😎👍 Lovely to meet forum member and ELO Experience bassist @TPJat Wakefield too! Whitby Pavilion: Wakefield Theatre Royal:

Played our monthly residency yesterday afternoon at Beverley’s The Sun Inn (with the duo). Fairly quiet when we arrived, but just before we started our first set loads of people appeared so it was pretty full by the time we got going. Usual request format produced some good stuff - ‘Rehab’, ‘Listen to the music’ & ‘Fire and rain’ , some ok stuff - ‘Summer of 69’, ‘Dakota’ & ‘Hotel California’, and some downright silly stuff - ‘Bring me Sunshine’ & ‘Happiness’. The last two sparked more requests for vintage TV related tunes which we drew the line with after playing ‘Avenues and Alleyways’ ( from the cult early 70’s series ‘The Protectors’ ). Hardest one of the night for me was the Dave Edmund’s tune ‘Girl’s Talk’. A great song written by Elvis Costello that has some strangely timed bits before each chorus, but we managed to get through it okay. Finished late due to the amount of requests but didn’t really notice as it’s one of those gigs where you easily lose track. Used a Sire U5 short scale into my Rumble 100 combo > the PA and was very pleased with the result. May have to start calling the duo ‘partly acoustic’ now though. 😄

The Bush in Cwmbran with Bluesfire. Tight fit in this old pub, lovely customers and staff. As usual had a blast with some dancing (we aren't very danceable). Used my proper rig this time. Quecha aporoach shoes with custom orthopaedic insert to keep my ankle bearable.

City centre pub/brewery. Awful access for cars so took the elf & PJB C2, the sire on my back in a soft case and found cheap safe parking half a mie away. The rig was enough to hear myself but the sound guy was too timid, so my sound lacked guts. Nice big stage area, about 8" high, and big room with good acoustics. We could store gear in the Brewery! With the awful forecast weather was actually decent but we only had twenty or not quite thirty people in at a time... but nice to see a couple of groups walking past and decide to come in when they heard us. The bar actually said it was more people than expected. We went down well, which is what really counts.

Back at the Piv in Nuneaton for another Sunday 4-6 slot. It's one of our favourite gigs, with a nice laid back vibe. They seemed to have the heating turned up to 11 though, so it was darned hot! There again it always seems like a "proper" gig when you're sweating, so I threw a few bass stances for good measure. I'm normally a reasonably tidy player, but this time had a rare melt down in the 2 octave riff in the middle of Frankenstein. Ah well, it gave my bandmates something to laugh at. No photos this time, so you can have another punter photo from Friday which I quite like because it shows how much fun we have playing together 😁

Just back from doing a rare solo acoustic guitar/vocals gig. It turned into a brilliant evening. Was beset by technical gremlins at the start (buzzing power supplies, dodgy wiring and breaking a string on my main guitar in the first intro to the first song…). But just used my backup £40 Yamaha FG512SJ with a Seymour Duncan woody in the sound hole all gig and it sounded great. The venue usually has music on Saturdays, so Sunday afternoons currently seem quiet for passing trade (though a load of my friends and their mates came along and made a racket). Maybe Saturday nights would suit my rowdy loud playing more anyway. I needed a decent gig after a rubbish few weeks in several aspects of life so this one did the job perfectly. Very happy indeed. Edit - added the only photo I can find from the gig

Finally got some pics

It has arrived, great timing too, I'm in the studio this week. It's bloody light, feels amazing and I can't wait to plug it in!

We played our first gig of 2025 at a regular haunt of ours, the Old Fox in Felling, Gateshead. This pub has a reputation for live music and it has a knowledgable music loving crowd so it’s always a pleasure to play. We were a fiddle player down which required revisiting a few old tunes and I made more mistakes last night than I have in all last years gigs - at times it felt like I was playing using someone else’s left hand. I also managed to bust the zip on my jeans, but fortunately my trusty Overwater spared my blushes 😅 Rig-wise, I used my Ashdown Neo 400w 1x15 combo which blows me away every time I use it, and my normal pedal board signal chain of Shute GLXD16 wireless, EBS Stanley Clarke pre, SushiboxFX Finally DI, and MicroThumpinator.

Last night was our first round heat in the M2TM competition to play at Bloodstock this year, which always tends to be a fun evening of small gear stores, tight stage turnaround times, punchy set lengths and unceremonious disco load-outs. We're serial semi-finalists so we know the format, but this heat was in a slightly more spacious venue than usual which made everything a bit easier logistically. The only problem was that for a 'heat' it was like a walk-in fridge and my fingers didn't warm up all night, so I made a good few minor mistakes.. but also made a conscious decision to just think sod it and move on, which I'm getting much better at doing. I have one of those Zippo power bank / hand warmer thingies but a] I left it in my other gigging bag, and b] it's not that great at the best of times, so I need to have a look round and see what else is available that isn't gloves. Quite a mixed show within the genre anyway (we're operatic power metal, and the other bands were metalcore, alt-rock and technical death metal) so the voting was probably all over the place, but maybe we were everyone's second choice vote after the band they'd gone to see, because we got through to the semis again and kept the dream alive that maybe this year will be our time. Decided to go back to where it all started and play the same bass I used on our very first gig back in 2009 (sadly not the actual bass, but the same model I re-bought a year or so ago for reasons of nostalgia) along with my newly put-together pedalboard, and it all behaved very well together which is always welcome. So, for the gear-afflicted: Warwick RB Vampyre 5 -> [G30 wireless -> TU3 tuner -> Thumpinator -> Boss BC-1X compressor -> Tech 21 VT Bass v2 -> SansAmp BDDI v2] -> Markbass Nano 2 -> Blackstar Unity Elite house cab (115C?) Tuner once again operated using a pair of Skechers Industrial Workshire boots, and jeans held up (just..) by a Skopes belt that really needs taking in a notch now we're post-xmas.

We're a trio and we've managed to squeeze into some pretty tight places, but this... ... was a challenge... A new venue that has just started up and is still finding its feet. Funnily it's right next door to the Donkey, the great music venue that had an existential crisis back in November (if you remember). Our first time there, and we had been warned earlier in the day apparently, that they ran at a loss last weekend, and might try to reduce the fee or pay us off if it didn't pick up 😮. Well no need to fear - we pretty much filled the place and walked away with the full fee! It always adds a little bit of something when you have another band in the crowd. Well we had two! I'd like to think they came to see us perform and were not just reccying the place because they had bookings too. Well they stayed until the end anyway. The usual Sire etc. I did have to get a bit creative with the lighting though. I don't normally like my amp anywhere but on the floor, but it really wouldn't have fitted! Solovair boots again It actually turned out to be a good gig despite standing on a postage stamp to play. Apparently the curries they were serving were very nice too but I didn't indulge - I'd had my dinner and am trying to shed a few pounds 🤪

Had our nearest gig to home last night, at the Assembly Rooms in Ludlow with Kidderminster's finest, Humdrum Express... Sound was good, we were above average - nobody even threatened us! It was our drummer's last gig so we were out to have some fun - this was helped by a large Jim Beam on mounting the stage. We also did our longest set for a while, a whole 55 minutes including two covers (our Magazine tinged version of Dead Kennedy's "Moon Over Marin" and the Cameo mash=up of Penetration's classic "Don't Dictate) - there were a few OG punks singing along raucously to these as advancing years had stopped the stage diving... I even did a whole 2 minute reverby bass solo as intro to our first song (mainly cos Mr Guitar had gone for a piddle so had to cover!). gear was ACG Recurve, Helix, BBEPre/DBX compressor, Crown power and Markbass 4x10. Boots were MotoMartin bike boots, trousers by Indian Project, home-time dram was a rather fine Machrie Moor cask strength.

I was very very stressed and needed a serotonin boost so I demolished all of my "rules" and bought a new Grabber in black. I usually buy used, try things and get them in person (mostly building parts basses) but since this time I didn't have any chance of testing and I bought new and online. I know the instrument is controversial (not a "true" Grabber, overly priced etc) but something in it was really calling me and I really needed some sort of twist (been playing mostly P basses for about 15 years). The bass sounds great: the humbucking tone is very full and rich keeping a decent amount of clarity. I like it also because it kinda feels like a super beefed up P bass (the pickup position is almost the same). The coil tap gives a very nice but kinda fine and lower output tone that needs a bit of gain adjustment to be on par with the humbucking mode, it reminded me a lot of the Squier CV 50s P bass. The neck feels very good: I like the shape and the satin finish, also the amber tone is very much of my liking. I had read very good comments about it and I found them to be correct. It's one of the first times I don't need to file the nut to lower strings. The finish is good (seems like a thinner poly compared to Fender and Squier) even tho removing the bridge cover left a significant "print" in the paint. The bridge is good and solid, but I keep strings quite low and I may be swapping the height adjustment screws for shorter ones since they now jump out a bit too much. The price is over the top, we know that, but in a world in which a standard mexican P bass now costs over 900€ and Indonesian Fenders just spawned at around 600 nothing surprises me anymore. I wanted a ready-to-use bass with which I wouldn't need to fiddle around too much (I usually nerd a lot on instruments and small mods, assembling parts P basses) and this bad boi delivered. I was also very surprised to find out it fits in a Gator Transit semirigid bag. The weight is 4.1 kgs. I currently play in D standard so I strung it with Ernie Ball Cobalt flats (45-100) just like my P basses and sounds great. Would I recommend this bass? For the price new only if someone really really really loves the aesthetic/tone, otherwise it would be better to wait for something used to come out. In Italy I guess that would have taken too long as it doesn't seem to be common at all. I may add more detailed pics later.

We (Siren) played at Tuckers Grave Inn near Bath for their annual Wassailing Ceremony. Despite the cold the campsite was booked up around a fortnight ago, suggesting it would be a busy night - it didn’t disappoint! We had people dancing to the soundcheck and to every song we played thereafter. I used my Oly White 70’s reissue P Bass for the first set and My Geddy Lee Jazz for the second, used my TT800 through my Barefaced Big Twin 2 G3 - sounded great to my ears! Loads of positive feedback afterwards which is always nice. Next up for me is a gig with Sarum’s Lot at Qudos in Salisbury - one of my favourite venues to play so really looking forward to this one.

Cracking gig yesterday. It really rocked out for a Sunday 4pm-7pm slot. It is becoming one of my favourite gigs despite the dull trek to Melton Mowbray on a single carriageway stuck behind an old Landrover that couldn't handle the slightest hill at more than 35mph! Great to hear the words "awesome", "bass" and "player" in the same sentence plus loads of compliments on my sound - including from the landlord who is also a bass player. 😁 The usual Sire > GT-6B > Rumble Footwear were my Solovair boots Even the lager shandy tasted lovely

First gig for this year (ignoring new years gig going into this year) - light on bookings so far. Playing at a local village pub, not known for music. Found out we needed to move it an hour earlier as they have a noise curfew because of local houses, so 8-11, ok with that, nice to get back earlier, especially as it is 5 mins down the road anyway. We played there once before for a haloween do, in a skittle alley, bad acoustics but good gig, so parked expecting that, but they have a new food area on the side, of the bar (which itself is next to the other bar) so we were there, quite small. easy loadin and setup, not many people, thought this was going to be a paid practice, but we still approach it the same way, these people are paying us. Less volume needed so sound was manageable and pretty good, took my Ric and my old ibanez #1 which had just had new strings. considering no gigs or practices this month first half went really well. The crowd were small, non mobile but appreciative. Had a break, some people left others came in. The second half is less blues, more party so tends to go better, and sure enough, they seemed more up for it the second half. Then we hit 'does your mother know' and loads of women from.. who knows where.. came in dancing, and from there on in it was pretty dancey. towards the end when we had some rock stuff, highway to hell and our ending songs, a load of blokes came in from.. yet another bar I guess, so we ended with Whole lotta love, which always goes down a storm (even though I have no idea why people try to dance to it) - in the end there were quite a load of people dancing in what was quite a small room, so it felt really full. It was a great way to end a quiet month. There was a video someone shared for a change - it was the verse of all right now, and me looking around and checking my pedals!

Great gig at ‘The Brook’ Southampton last night, played there many times, fantastic venue and audience as usual. Never done this before but brought a bass on the way down in Havent, Pompey and decided to use it at the gig two hours later!🤣.Really nice GB Spitfire 5 . Sounded fab but definitely needs some work done to get it up to top notch. Very comfy and light too . Will take it down to Bernie when I get time, being fairly local . 😊x

… what can i say, i’m in love..

I found this beauty on eBay a while back, being sold by a fella in Japan. It’s a 2022 masterbuilt, but it had just been sat doing nothing and never bought or owned by anyone. I wasn’t in the market for a new bass (I am picking up a new Shuker any day now), but the opportunity to get this at about 40% of the list price (yes, Warwick list prices are silly) couldn’t be ignored. I have owned other Warwick basses and other high end basses, but this is something else. My iphone pictures won’t do it justice. It feels stunning, the neck is silky and plays like butter and it’s so beautiful to look at. Hope you all like it!

First gigs of the year for the Zep tribute, up to Kinross in Scotland on Friday then Cullercoats in the Northeast on Saturday. Quite tiring, driving for a 512 mile round trip in two days, setting off at 10:30 on Friday and getting home at 2:30 on Sunday morning. Both gigs were well attended (101 tickets sold in a 120 capacity in Kinross, with a 220 sell out in Cullercoats), which was good as we had just had to cancel a gig in Yorkshire due to poor ticket sales. The first gigs we've played since November, so we were a bit rusty, but we played well enough over the two gigs. A very good crowd reaction on both nights.

There's been a bunch of news stories today about fake bailifs - my plan would be to give them a Trace Elliot cab to guarantee they never came back following whatever back injury they give themselves... 😮 !

Had a singer storm off stage and leave the band halfway through a gig. We carried on, sadly, despite the cold hand of severe acid-tinged paranoia grabbing hard. Had a guitarist too heavily sedated to feel his hands or his feet, play a gig limply slumped over on a stool. Same guitarist, frustrated by his guitar cutting in and out, once flung his guitar hard onto the stage in frustration, then fired it into the crowd. He then realised it was one of only two guitars he owned so dived into the crowd to try to retrieve it. As support, had a singer elbow the singer from the headline band hard in the throat when the guy came on to try and bail us out after an ill-concieved gong solo wasn't the crowd pleaser we hoped it might be. Security were very clear the show was over very quickly that time. We once learned the hard way that mixing accordion and disco doesn't make for a happy crowd. I once slipped in water on the stage and crashed into the amp, a hefty Trace 4x10 combo perched atop a tea chest, and lay sprawled underneath as it teetered back and forth deciding whether or not to fall forward and crush me. Never had a drummer perish but did know one who hid in his shed for two weeks while pretending to be away on holiday.