Leaderboard

Yep, just got home after having attended both days. Arrived quite late yesterday and missed all the workshops/seminars but got in a couple of hours worth of gear-drooling. Spent some time with Alan Cringean of ACG who was an absolute gent and had some glorious basses on display. I had the pleasure of playing a lovely red P-Retro 5 string which I fell a little bit in love with. Just before closing time I got chatting to Scott Devine who asked if I was coming to the pub afterwards. The answer, obviously, was yes. So off we all went (many of the show’s exhibitors, SBL faculty as well as ordinary folk like myself) to The Albion. On arrival it transpired that the pub were hosting a LBGS jam night, kicked off by Dave Marks who had to promptly leave for a gig after playing the opening number. Before long one of the guys I’d gotten chatting to earlier in the day started spreading a rumour that I wanted to sing. I soon had a small rabble of folk peer-pressuring me to get on stage! To be fair there was a distinct shortage of vocalists so after putting it off a bit I obliged. Got to close the evening with a bit of Never Too Much followed by a blagged rendition of Superstition. It was great fun and I got to meet some great musicians! When the pub kicked us out many of us trawled to the Hilton for another bevvy. Got chatting to Thomas Eich who was happy to talk shop, clearing up a few questions I had re: the Tecamp/Eich split. I didn’t stay long though as I wanted to get to the show a bit earlier today so as to sit in on a couple of workshops. So today I saw the Scott Devine workshop followed by Rich Brown who was incredible. Wanted to stay for Henrik Linder but got caught up in a wild goose chase looking for John East! In the end I never did find him, much to my dismay. Spent some time at the Aguilar stand, wincing at the prices of their pedals. Also, wincing at their ludicrous signal path: Filter Twin > Chorusaurus > Octamizer > Agro > TLC Compressor > Grape Phaser. I was gagging to tear their board apart and reorder the whole lot . To be honest I was mainly there to try the new Grape Phaser but it was borderline impossible to tell if it was any good or not because there was too much ambient noise and I felt like the TH500/SL112x2 setup wasn’t able to cut through it with any real clarity. It may have been wise for Aguilar to do what many of the other exhibitors were doing and provide a couple of Phil Jones headphone amps. Towards the end of today I had a chat with Nick Smith (haven’t seen him in about 10 years) with whom I lamented the absence of several British companies. The likes of Barefaced and Alpher Instruments, amongst others. Bit of a shame not to see them at LBGS to be honest. All in all though, a great weekend was had. I met some lovely people and saw some great playing. I was a first-timer and it wasn’t the mad slap fest I had anticipated, though of course there were moments of it. I’d happily go again next year.

Mwaaaahahaha....😌

Enjoyed today, although didn't manage to bump into many of you unfortunately! Bobby Vega on the main stage was brilliant. Steve Lawson was okay but didn't really connect with the room at all, lots of people leaving quite quickly which was a shame. Gear wise, I come away GAS free really, nothing tearing me away from Warwick any more, although I was thoroughly impressed with the Tuli basses! Amazing craftsmanship. Eich stand was annoying, far too loud, especially the guy with the ridiculous quad neck bass, noone at the Bass Direct/Darkglass/Earthquaker/Flately stands could hear themselves think when he was playing that thing. Its funny, everyone I spoke to thought the same, Im sure they must have done more damage to their brand than good over the course of the two days.

final (and much simpler) version of the REAN connector retaining block. no screws & no clips this time - just a one-piece printed part attached with 30mm wide velcro

If you want that dull thumpy flats thing just buy normal Roto rounds and play one gig, job done

I’m almost back in Amsterdam, and I enjoyed the show a lot The lay-out was better than two years ago (I wasn’t there last year) and although I hung around at the Eich stand mainly (who tried the Bass Board?). Sorry about the noise now and then. We try to keep it down whenever possible but some people love to crank up the amp when we’re not watching. We sometimes had some problems talking when someone was trying out the Darkglass pedals or a Vanderkley amp, so I hooe we can find a better solution for that next year. Testing amps is always a hard thing at a show like this. Personally, the four-neck bass wasn’t my fsvourite either and I’ve turned down the amp multiple times there. But as I said yesterday, please please ask us about the volume next time. We rarely got comments from the lady with the decibel meter, and especially today the guys from Bass Direct didn’t complain either. It’s hard to hear how loud you are on the other side of the room when you’re standing next to an amp I occasionally walked into the luthier’s room or the hallway to have a chat with Sander de Gier, Andrew (of Anaconda basses) or other great folks. Absolute peak for me was the Dingwall Combustion 5, the trans white one. It fit my hands perfectly and it’s an amazing match with the Eich amps. Might save up some cash to buy one soon. Another plus for me is always the city, I’ve visited London many times already and it just feels like home somehow. I already saw some photos on Facebook, looking forward to seeing more shots!

Yes they really are. I had one, sold it, regret it. The story of my life. Well, my life since joining Basschat that is...

In May I'll be meeting in Leeds, with a colleague from Scotland. After the meeting I'll be driving home and on to see my customers in the south counties. So, I could drop it into Wal. So as you may not be a tearing hurry, maybe my colleague and I can help?

Thanks everyone for the brilliant replies, much appreciated. I bought a Fusion Urban direct from Fusion. I’m really happy with it. I like the external padded thing that you can move around. I bought the guitar version which is excellent. So nice that I can carry my bass around and not need to worry about bumping it when I walk through doorways or along trains.

My first interest in Fretless bass guitar was Boz Burrell with Bad Company, followed by Jaco and then Pino. I would say that between Bernard Edwards, Louis Johnson and then Pino, my interest in playing Stingrays was born and when an immaculate 1993 example cropped up on You Tube about ten years ago I couldn't resist - actually playing all those bass parts recorded on a Fretless on a Fretless rather than a fretted bass (as I did previously) is great fun - a good, and probably not obvious example is Feel Like Making Love by Bad Company - sounds better on a Fretless 😏 However this should dispel any idea a Fretless can't be aggressive sounding as well - excellent slap sound as well as Fretless sound - along with Pino's ever impeccable groove. Musicman Stingray and Trace Elliot I think.

EBay, by comparison would charge 10% They won't be standing about in the shop, supervising people "testing" out your bass. They won't hang around after hours waiting for another punter to try it on the way home from work. EBay don't get sellers calling 3-4 times a week for a report on who tried it and why they didn't buy. EBay won't offer your buyer a 6month after sales warranty. And for the added 5% you won't have your buyer calling PayPal to say it never arrived/not as advertised... can I have a refund please?

I've put my Suhr J Bass with the Gallery to sell for me and I'm very happy to accept their commission. They get the right sort of customers for this bass through their door and browsing their web site etc, plus they will ship...meaning I don't have to. I could have put it on eBay and suffer the charges from both eBay and potentially PayPal and in all likelyhood have to ship it too (not to mention all the tyre kickers with stupid low ball offers and so on) So all in all I beleive that for a high value bass, like mine, a commission sale at places like the Gallery do represent fair value.

I have attended every show since it began. I visited yesterday and noted the differences. The large hall has been partitioned into zones. The upside of this is the feeling of greater intimacy and less noise spill. Several repeat exhibitors have downsized their stands. To my mind, this did not reduce things from a visitors point of view. As an ex-exhibitor, I know that this reduces the amount of effort involved to load in and out. Consequently, we all gain because it makes the exhibitors more likely to rebook for the next show. I thought the luthier demonstration area near the cafe was a great idea. It gives people a place to sit to eat and drink whilst watching something relevant. Another improvement, albeit a small thing, is the lanyards have been replaced by wristbands and e-ticketing. This is not only more efficient it is also more environmentally friendly. I didn't attend any clinics or shows but I know these have become a real draw for visitors. All in all, in my opinion it is an improved show and that we should be grateful for Future to be putting on and allowing a focal point for the bass community.

MiniMert and I quite enjoyed the Little Stubby. The overdriven tones are sublime and it goes quite loud, I’d say louder than the CTM30 but I’m basing this on fuzzy memory only. The feedback control is very cool, it literally feeds the signal back through the preamp valve (pre EQ) to thicken up the tone and add more “girth”. It also adds more volume too. The drive control seemed quite sensitive, below around 10 o’clock there seemed very little if any signal passing through, then it suddenly burst into life with warm thick valvey goodness. After about 12 o’clock you start dialling in more and more grit and overdrive - this thing is a monster for a hellish dirty tone. It’s not something I use a lot of but I can see myself trying it more, hehehe. Anyhoo, the pic is of MiniMert, sensibly defending his ears from the slapathon, giving my the all clear to buy it 🤓

i just joined the club!!! ive been looking for a tasty P 5er then i came across this.... well happy

This thread from Talkbass might be of some help : https://www.talkbass.com/threads/carpal-tunnel-syndrome-cts-info.922789/

@T-Bay - that's very kind. I do have family in Brum so head up that way from time to time. I'll see if I can get my hands on a second hand Mojomojo ahead of meeting up, bring along my Ibby with its aggressive Nord pups and a pick and show you what a good little sound the MJMJ can deliver. But ALL the Mojomojos seem to have sold from the effects section...I'm sure one will pop up again shortly. You can then take the innards out and use the case for your DIY project. And then you can show me the trick the dannybuoy said you need to do with Orange Amps which is to dial all the EQ back to nil to get it to sound good and then add just a smattering of Orange EQ dust on top. No need to take its innards out after though, I would have thought? I'll bring along my SA Aftershock at the same time so you can hear a truly versatile dirt pedal which will even sound good without a pick. And you can maybe also confirm for me why I decided not to get a BSF. Sounds like a full agenda for our meet up

If it is indeed carpal tunnel syndrome, "muscle strengthening exercises" are not a recognized treatment. CTS should be straightforward enough to diagnose from your symptoms plus some simple tests +/- formal nerve condition studies if there is any doubt. I'd go back to your GP to discuss the Physio's opinion and would be wary of anyone who tells you that you have CTS and then sends you off to figure out some hand exercises...

Nope , another company . It just has a similar feature set as the Noble - apart from the lack of pedal power . Also a fair bit cheaper too .

Not being funny but why hasn`t the physio recommended the relevant exercises, surely that`s part of the treatment.

iReal Pro works for me.

Played a new venue in Corby last night - St Jame/Breakers bar. Huge venue on an industrial estate - two large pool rooms, snug and bar area with a stage/dancefloor one end. Good crowd though the format means they are seated stage left and in front of you you have 8 pool tables with players playing all evening. Large screen sky sports going as well. We're a loud funky soul band so that's not an issue and from the get go we had them up and dancing in the dance floor in front of us. What was significant was the green room/dressing room!! - The owners clearly haven't read the manual about band facilities i.e if they really insist - stick em in the meter cupboard and they can change in the gents - standing on one leg trying to keep your stage gear out of the fosters on the floor. No this was deeelooouxe - easy chairs, practice amps, sky tv, fridge full of softs and beer - optics on the wall with Vodka, Jaegermeister and Jack Daniels. Had we not been driving we would have given that lot a bit of damage!! Anyway - we had a good night despite the snow - happy crowd, happy bar manager, happy band.

I fell in love with the sound of fretless many years before playing bass. I also fell in love with trumpet, oboe, cello, guitar, piano... I just never began playing those lovely instruments. Once I began playing electric (fretted) bass, fretless sound was there haunting me every time I listened to a song with that sound. Many many great songs I can't even recall were played with fretless bass or double bass. It wasn't who played fretless (that came later), it's the sound and the expressiveness and subtlety in playing that you get from a fretless that I love.

The GAS kicked in big style today; if I hadn't left when I did, I would now be annoying every flat in the building with a Cort Bertolini playing through the Ampeg Rig of Doom. I was supposed to be seeing my kids this weekend but the weather scuppered that, so I decided to go along today. I hope I'll make both days next year, and feel less like a rabbit caught in the headlights!

And in a strange twist of fate, a jamman came up on the facebook group just round the corner from the today, so I went and bought it!

you tube?

When I first picked up the bass in the 80s I swapped my Yammy BB300 for a Thunder lll. I didn't have it long when I ripped out the frets. Shortly after that I one t back to guitar exclusively, but since returning to the bass at the turn of the century, I've pretty much always had a fretless (or 2) and wouldn't be without one now. If I was only allowed one bass, it would be a fretless. I blame Pino.

That really is beautiful work, @Bastav . Lovely.

I got my Yamaha BB424x for silly low money and I can happily confirm that the label "precision killer" is completely justified. Sounds absolutely lovely with flats or rounds, then you've got the added benefit of having a J pup and a PJ scooped sound.

@Cuzzie are you on commission from: a) YouTube b) dUg Pinnick c) Tech 21? d) All of the above? As that's the third posting of the above clip in the space of a morning. Love the enthusiasm bro. Well here's the thing: I've just got my Sandberg TM4 with flats, full bridge humbucker, active mode with treble notched up and bass EQ notched down a touch to deliver that 50s / 60s retro sound I associate with semi-hollow basses of the period. Do you know what, I don't care if my band-mates or the pub audience don't notice it - I bloo*dy love it!! And it's definitely adding zest to me wanting to pick up the bass and work through 2 hours+ of material for the band. I think no-one disagrees we should do everything we can to avoid a sh*t tone (get the EQ right, stop the bass sounding boomy etc) for the sake of the audience, but I'm completely on board with getting a great bass tone, which maybe only we as bass players may notice, 'cos it's our passion and it makes picking up the bass that little bit more rewarding.

I learned on a fretted, but quickly switched to fretless. Fretted didn't get used so sold it. 15 years on, still only play fretless. So much more expressive.

Started working on the headpiece/nut And did the last bit of routing plus drilled for two strap buttons. Will need to add one at the top aswell

That would have been 22+ Rolls of film in the old days!

Yeah sorry about that. It wasn’t me but I was at the stand and the guy was turning up the amp every time we turned it down. We’ll pay more attention to that tomorrow. Please ask us tomorrow or have somebody ask if you’re bothered by it First day was pretty cool! More people than I expected and I was really blown away by the Marleaux and Dingwall basses. Can’t wait for tomorrow, but first, beer!

(grin) 74 in June and thought I had pretty much had it when our singer died late last year. Then a drummer mate informed me that he had booked me to play a couple of local pubs with another couple of friends... Just got booked for Strawberry Fair festival in Cambridge right around the time of my birthday! And I thought it was all coming to a close

I had Ten by Pearl Jam on loop in my walkman when it came out but my only fretless basses are vertical!

All pedals come down to taste and individual needs and playing styles so it will always be subjective. But the mojomojo was a massive disappointment. I have also had a TC dark matter and that was streets ahead of the mojomojo AND had the benefit of the TonePrint option (a massive omission on the mojomojo). I even sent mine back as I was unsure if there was an issue with it, there wasn’t. Even though it’s cheap I still think it represents a risk and would advise anyone to try one before parting with their money (or buying one second hand perhaps so they could sell on with little loss if needed). I am a great lover of Tc products (three of their pedals are on my board as we speak) so it’s certainly not an issue with TC, except possible profound disappointment. As any review is down to personal opinion, my comments must be seen as my opinion and nothing more, but my opinion is that the mojomojo is awful. And at the risk of going slightly off topic I have found that the valve preamp on my newly acquired Orange Terror 1000 gives the exact sound I have been looking for for ages. The BSF has now been cranked up to provide a more distorted sound to fit in with a couple of songs and made the big bass muff redundant saving space in the bargain.

It's a more expressive instrument, played well.

Can't say enough about my Spector NS5 XL. Bought in 2000. Issue no.18. In that time I've had one pot changed. Had a Warwick Steamer before that. Heard they stole the design from Warwick and sought one out. Can't play anything else now.

Don’t underestimate a good standard USA Precision. I moved to a 2008 Standard (same as the post 2012s, graphite neck, rolled edges, through body stringing but minus the Custom Shop pickup) from a Limelight. Mainly because it was slightly lighter and had low mass tuners which made is easier for my 10yo son to learn on. The tonal variation isn’t as wide as the Limelight, but the fundamental tone is superb. Was minded to try out the Custom Shop pickup but tbh it sounds great as it is. I paid a decent price for it used and won’t lose out should I move it on. Oh and my son loves it...

I messaged the seller and the Maruszczyk is still for sale so I'm going to see it as soon as the bad weather clears up!

testing the prototype now - i need to give it some usual gig abuse to be certain it's OK but i'm pretty confident it'll be fine. It'll probably be a week or so before i can make some more (as my printer is fully booked) and then i'll cost it up (it'll only be a few quid or a bit more with the REAN connector pre-installed. Will let you know.

Bought David's 20th anniversary Musicman Stingray - completely in love with the bass, was in even better condition than described, and the whole process was an absolute breeze. Thanks again, absolute pleasure dealing with you!

Your wife has installed a special browser plugin that marks everything 'Sold'

Home of Sei bass you say..... Oh god that's not helping me keep my money in my pocket at all!!

This was my last experience of the the Bass Gallery. Just after Boogie brought out the Subway series of cabs, I ordered two (15s) from the shop. The first one arrived and the second took a little longer (from the Boogie end). Once I had the pair, I ran them up and there was a clear rattle coming from one of them. I did everything I could to check things over (made sure all the screws were tight etc) to no avail. Eventually, I contacted Boogie (luckily, a good mate is an endorsee) and Boogie conceded that the speaker must be faulty. Through the Bass Gallery they agreed to send over a replacement speaker. As someone who has a 'real' job to keep a roof over the family's head, I couldn't easily get time off to head up to London but the guy who was going to do the swap (I apologise for not remembering the name) actually delayed leaving for his holiday (that day) to meet me at the shop. he didn't rush around but took his time to open up the box and remove the speaker ready to swap out the rattling one. After getting it out the trouble was evident. The guy stapling in the wadding had obviously reloaded his staple gun and a block of 4 staples had dropped in and stuck to the magnet, near the cone. With those gone, the speaker behaved as it should. Having opted to keep the original speaker, I was offered the replacement one free of charge - on the proviso that I would return it if Boogie wanted it back. They never did and so I have a spare speaker in case I ever need it. I doubt I will becaue my diesel 2x15 has lasted for 30 years without fault. Before then, I had only bought a wreck of a Precision from the shop so I was not any kind of regular. I was hugely impressed by the level of service and customer care shown. For that, they will always be my number 1 store.

The Gotoh 201 is a superb bridge, regardless of its great price. Much more user friendly than the BadAss.

Gator ProGo user here and very happy with it...... Great protection, a raincover, tons of storage and not too heavy And it has a one piece handle (i hate the two piece velcro together type ones :-)) https://www.thomann.de/gb/gator_g_pg_bass_guitar_bag.htm