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a ha hahahahaha!

Nice to see Diego Maradona keeping himself busy on BVs!

Getting the drummer to play quieter is like cutting the lawn with a tumble dryer.

From my humble observations and what I hear from people, venues don’t want space taken up with a full band and large speakers/amps, and they don’t want the deafening volume that a large amount of amateur bands seem to want to play at. Sadly in nice bars/clubs a full band is a bit too much for a lot of punters, but they can tolerate a quiet innofensive acoustic duo who just play ‘background noise’. There is a nice bar in the nearest town to me and they have live music a few nights a week. An acquaintance goes there fairly often with work colleagues etc as the food and drink is good, and overheard him say as soon as the local blues/rock/cover band of choice fire up for the night they all get out as soon as possible. I think a lot of the time people just don’t want to hear another band playing the same old dross or murdering modern pop tunes in their local. I’m guilty, I play in a covers band and despite being pretty good (IMO) I would probably avoid a bar with us or anyone else playing 😂

Here's the antidote ...

Thought I'd share this experience in case someone else has the same problem - it might save you some hassle/cash. A while back my MXR M87 died. The level meter was still functioning but there was absolutely no sound coming from the pedal output. I did all the usual quick fixes (contact cleaner on jacks, replaced footswitch etc) but to no avail. After a bit of digging I discovered that the output op-amp in this pedal (TLC2262 in case you were wondering) has a maximum voltage of 16V. Obviously this would normally be OK in a pedal that runs at 9V, except that MXRs "Constant Headroom Technology" feature is essentially a charge pump circuit that doubles the pedal's internal voltage to 18V. It shouldn't take a genius to work out what therefore ensues if, like me, you're unlucky. I replaced the TLC2262 with an AD822 (which has a supply voltage of 18V) and my pedal now lives and breathes again. I believe MXR will fix pedals under warranty for a flat fee of £75, whereas replacing the blown chip cost me less than a tenner and a few minutes fiddling with a soldering iron (the TLC2262 and AD822 chips are both surface mount - soldering these can be tricky unless you're experienced in doing so). It appears that mine is not an isolated issue as a quick Google uncovers many such failures, so I figured I'd pass this info on in case any other BC members' M87s suffer the same fate. Please use or disregard this information as you see fit!

I hadn't heard of Hot Rods so I googled it to see what they were... Found a thread on a drummers discussion board answering an identical question about being too loud for smaller venues, and one of them honestly suggests that to be quieter on stage the offending drummer should mic up his kit because that way they can turn the volume down through the PA

Absolutely this! Our shedbuilder invested in one about 3 months ago - same issues, he's naturally loud so the volumes creep up for everyone blah blah....... We thought we'd only use it on certain gigs where we are scaring the landlord but we've found that our whole sound is miles better with it and now use it almost all the time. As well as limiting the overall drum volume its tightened the whole sound up and i can slot the bass in a lot easier with the kick (which we put thru the pa/sub). Nobody's suffering from cymbal ears any more either. We can get a great controlled beefy sound at lower volumes. Its also a great topic of conversation with the crowd - especially when we tell them we fill it with water in the second set :-) And we're looking for some stick on Garfields to stick on the inside where he cant each them whilst he's playing.

The recommended approach is to position a piece of cord or edge of a cloth under the edge of the knob, (or the remaining insert), then pull the string/cloth upwards. Don't punch yourself in the face when it goes!

I told you at the time that joining a band with John Hall would be a disaster!

...was his solo a spoof..?

Thought I'd start a thread on my next builds, a pair of Les Paul like basses or my take on them. They will be made entirely from quarter sawn African Mahogany (FSC sourced) painted black nitro and both using Rocklite finger boards, one in Ebano and the other in Sunadri or ebony and Indian Rosewood substitutes. Other items to be used will be Mojo Thunderbird pickups for at least one of them, dual action truss rods, Warwick 2 piece bridge and Hipshot ultralite tuners. There will be mother of pearl inlays on the fingerboard and headstock along with Rocklite Ebano veneers. I'm not in any great hurry to finish these so i may take a while but so far other than buy some bits I have started wood preparation. The neck laminates have been ripped and stacked and will be left for a while to relieve stresses, the body timbers have been rough planed to an oversize dimension again to allow it to settle a little before planing to size and gluing together. So they are currently sat resting on top of my bench until I'm ready to plane the neck laminates and glue them. As that seems a very poor start let me introduce you to my tiny workshop and a basic list of what's in it Most importantly my bench, 10" Saw bench, 14" band saw, 10" planer thicknesser, router table, drill press, 12" disc sander, oscillating bobbin sander. Beyond that there are power tools, loads of hand tools hidden away and a dedicated sharpening station tucked away in the corner behind the bench. Being so small it's very difficult to keep clean and tidy so I apologise for the dust and the mess

I took out the passive circuit from my Super P today and installed a Stellartone Tonstyler. I got hold of an old 16 click bass model; they are not made anymore. Just: WOW! This is how it should be... - First position is straight to the output jack, bypassing the filter. Crisp and crunchy! - Second position is like a regular tone pot fully open. - All others have a steep roll-off, leaving much meat and potato all the way up to where it cuts. No wet blanket syndrome... - The last position is all about the dub, but with a nice full and warm low mid, giving body to the tone. Here is a nice YouTube clip demoing... No going back!

Anybody seen this? Looks amazing. ATB Guitars in Cheltenham do sell some choice vintage stuff. They also have a mint 1980 MM Stingray in at the moment. https://www.atbguitars.com/store/product/1965-fender-jazz-bass-sonic-blue-ohsc-nr-mint-1965fjbsb/

Very much hoping someone bites - I have one of these in 99.9% new condition & with original case - I quite like the idea it's worth £400+ ! BTW it's a Roadster, not a Studio.

Gibson Thunderbird, bridge pickup full on, neck at 3-5 depending on venue, then Spectracomp on standard patch at 9 o’clock, into 1000w terrorbass amp, bass 9 o’clock, mids all way on, treble 12 o’clock (gets twiddled for different venues if needed), low on gain. Then soul food for added grit if needed and a TC chorus. The AX7s are being swapped for AT7s to tone down the TB a little. It gives the low punchy sound I want with being ‘twangy’. Usually works well but was muddy at the gig on Friday but that was in a quadrangle under a marquee roof with serious issues of sound bouncing back off the wall opposite (we played across the narrow sides of a rectangle if that makes sense). The worst bit was that the onstage sound was the best I have ever had, just not as great out front, Sod’s law. The bass player in the other band didn’t suffer as badly but they were a much gentler band than us, we are fairly heavy and full on.

It's important to try and listen to your sound in the context of the rest of the band, which is hard to do effectively at high volume rehearsals. I like to play along to studio recordings with different combinations of basses and preamp pedals into headphones to figure out what works best. The last couple of bands I've been in have had a very thick distorted guitar tone (e.g. Les Paul into a cranked Orange tube head). Here I've found it best to use a scooped tone to provide a pillow of low end to underpin the sound, but with a bit of crispy gain up top to add clarity and fill out that upper midrange where the guitarist and vocalist don't often tread. I used a BB1025X with both pickups on which is naturally scooped and growly anyway, into a Darkglass B3K, although the Tech21 DP-3X is my weapon of choice for this tone now. If I'm playing at the jam night down my local, totally different ball game. Often more then one guitar, but usually thinner sounding, and often a higher pitched female vocalist. To slot in here I stay out of the upper mids, go easy on the deep low end and fill out the lower mids with a P-Bass or my Sandberg Basic (a bit like a Stingray), both of which are wearing TI flats. Either straight into the amp or via a low gain drive pedal of a totally different flavour to the other setup. Full range OD with no clean blend is the order of the day here, something that produces a guttural roar from below rather than grind from up top when you dig in, e.g. SFT, BB Preamp, Beta, Agro.

When we started our band I really had no idea of the type of sound I wanted - or more importantly that the band needed. My preferred sound is a traditional warm Precision/Ampeg type sound, maybe a touch of high end and compression to stop it being boomy. But that wasn`t what was needed, the guitarist has a very full on, and at the time quite bassy sound, so didn`t want a sludge fest, especially as we play fast. Additionally as we`re a 3-piece I didn`t want the backside of the songs to drop when there was a solo, so added a bit of gain, a fair bit of top end, and some high-mids. I ended up with somewhere between Duff McKagan, Mike Dirnt, JJ Burnell & Bruce Foxton. Which imo isn`t a bad place to be, sound-wise. I also developed a slight different style to suit the music I`m now playing, again to fill out more in lead solos. To get this sound I`ve tried a fair few preamp/DI pedals, Tech 21 Sansamp BDDI, Tech 21 VTDI, Aguilar Tonehammer, and combinations of these, but eventually settled on the Tech 21 Para Driver - it has sweepable mids, so I can get the regular Sansamp type sound, just with boosted upper mids. It`s a great pedal and that piece of kit that I find invaluable, pairs so nicely with the weighty sound of my Ashdown ABM600.

Got plenty of my own dust, thanks anyway!! I've got about a third of my garage as a workshop and I know what you mean about wheeling things around to use them. Looking forward to seeing these builds progress. Cheers

Oh man, this is good... I know there are many who sing the praises of tks on here, but I'm over the moon. All the cliched words apply - punchy, articulate, clarity, reactive, rich, sweet... I have read that these 1x12s can be a bit lacking in bass, but at loud home volumes with rounds on a jazz and flats on a P, it sounds mega full. Flipping loud too - I'm running a Eden 260 through it, and it packs a real wallop. Rear ported, metal grilled front, recessed cable inputs, immaculately finished, very nice, thick soft case. Many happy hours to be had with this - heartily recommended...

Yes - I laughed a lot - ultimately figuring that there was a very plausible yet inexcusable reason why the vocals sounded like they did; at one point I felt sorry for Norm - until he went for it.

No worries @Andyjr1515 glad I can share my wisdom

You sure it isn't one of those superinposed joke vocals over a video thing? Like

I tend to judge them on their ability to know when not to play. ha ha.

I've had many basses over the years including some fairly expensive examples, but my current go-to is a modded HB P-50. Admittedly I upgraded the tuners, electrics, bridge and strings but all you really need to do is buy one and put some decent flats on it. The necks on these are remarkable and very playable. Real old-school vintage thump, for peanuts.

If you're curious and want to listen to it: don't. If you've already 'listened': condolences. Crikey, how one can fall so low..!

I’m using GHS flats branded as Lakland JO flats. Really nice good tension and wonderful feel. I’m a bit gutted that rounds are working better for my current 5’er gig. Still though the GHS are good. I also like ‘Jazz’ flats. Great tension if you’re new to flats they're not as stiff as some of the big names I.e. Jamerson flats and the like.

Helluva intro chap..welcome to the madhouse, post long and often..and keep us smiling

I was in the Green Man in Derby many years ago when the band stopped due to a fight (not that uncommon in there at the time). The bouncers waded in and threw out the two offenders, when the melee had settled we realised that the two chucked out were the lead guitarist and the vocalist. Still no idea what happened but it was proper full on fists everywhere fight. They were playing and in the middle of a song when it all kicked off so I presume one made a comment that set the other off or something like that.

"the first chord in a song isn't always the key, fact or fiction?"

My mate has a Rickenbacker which he’s very proud of. I played it once - felt like a cheap 70’s starter bass. I just didn’t “get” it. So many do though. Strange. I don’t like marmite either.

Another - with a wall - this one taken in Athens

@GisserD there was a Sandberg Appreciation Society all along!

BOURNEMOUTH Mid 80s and our soul/Motown band is expanding, we are looking for a keyboard player. Get a call from bloke in his 40s who tells us of his talented daughter. Our guitarist took call and explained all the relevant stuff. Dad assures him that she can blow through this material - no problem! Family turns up at guitarist’s house with keyboard, stand, armfuls of music scores. Pretty 17 year old sets up behind singer but no amp - keyboard has built in speakers we are told so all will be good. We show her set list and she counters with one of her own including “tie a yellow ribbon” and “viva España”. Smirks are beginning to appear on faces of various personnel but no one seems to have the heart to say anything. Guitarist is just about to when girl cranks up her built-in drum machine and launches into “España” in a hideously tuneless voice. Some band members attempt to tag along musically and both girl plus both parents are grinning enthusiastically as she blazes on oblivious to the suppressed laughter emanating from behind. Trumpet player is overtaken with mirth and just manages to get outside the door before he explodes into laughter. We find him 10 minutes later weeping uncontrollably by the stairs! When song ended it was a difficult moment for all but our ever diplomatic guitarist explained we were perhaps doing the wrong material for her talents. The family seemed very satisfied with the explanation and left the house beaming from ear to ear! To this day I feel guilty for the poor girl but in reality there was little that could be done. We went on to hire the fabulous “Mr Amazed”, but that as they say, is a story for another day.

Quite a lot has happened in the world of Gillett since I last posted, and it’s a bit remiss of me not to have posted for a while. (I’m going to do this in easy instalments, as the forum seems to struggle with long posts made up of imported stuff.) So, where were we? Ah yes, fighting our way through the snow in a desperate bid to reach the London Bass Guitar Show. As many of you will know either from being there or seeing Silvia Bluejay’s excellent coverage on this forum (also in Bass Guitar Magazine), we DID make it – albeit a couple of hours after the show opened, and without all our customised stand-wall panels printed with colourful (and expensive) graphics for the show. This is how it should have looked… http:// …but what we actually got was a plain white shell-scheme hastily cobbled together by the show organisers (for which we were most grateful). No matter, the fact that we made it to the show at all was a great relief and anything over-and-above that was a bonus. So, how was it for us? BRILLIANT! We had a steady stream of interested visitors and, thanks to the fact that we had ace keyboard-player Paul Quinn (a mate of Michael G’s) on hand, our stand was notable as the one from which some very nice music was being made much of the time. The way we worked it was that we had a couple of ‘playing stations’ – one in the main body of the stand and another tucked round the side out of the way. When a visitor started playing in the ‘hot seat’, the versatile Mr. Q would just kind of join in with whatever they were doing. If it appeared to be working, it just took off; if not, then Paul didn’t push it. This plan turned out to be inspired and certainly made life a whole lot more enjoyable for stand personnel and passers-by, who generally stopped for a listen, a look, and usually a go on one of our basses. We had deliberately chosen a pitch just off the main exhibition area at the end of the concourse leading to the Olympia auditoriums (and the loos). In this area, there was not much noise (apart from what we were making), a constant trickle (no pun intended) of people heading for the toilets and, thanks to the packed programme of on-stage events, queues of people in front of our stand waiting for the doors to open swelled by the stream of people coming out of the previous show. One casual passer-by was Yolanda Charles on her way to her headline gig on Sunday afternoon. Like pretty much everybody who sees our Contour basses for the first time, she was struck by the sculpted look and promised to come and have a play after her performance had finished. And, true to her word, that’s exactly what she did, accompanied by a couple of her friends (another bassist and a keyboard player). The resultant half-hour jam session was an absolute joy and Yolanda made it clear that she was very impressed with our basses. http://

Brendon bought a pointy head crackle finish Washburn from me. Very laid back fella and was a pleasure to deal with . Another fella who's a credit to BC.

cool no worries lol.

Eh? was a joke with the (I should’ve explained myself)