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Dread Zeppelin are real. And awesome.

We saw one a few years back called Oasish, they had the whole Schtick down perfect, muddy wall of sound, no charisma between them, gormless looking front man..they were spot on! 😁

Full on - and take care of any EQ from amp or DAW. With a passive bass you really want all the output the pickup has to offer.

Quo?

Just got and fitted a lovely new Electro Harmonix valve from our friends at Watford Valves, as recommended by Derek as an early breakup valve. In short it sounds fantastic in my Trace. With the valve pre set to full, the gain at 9 and the low compression at half, it gives me that tiny bump of breakup at the edge of every plucked note. Been pursuing that tone for so many years and have finally got it.

Paid gigs Unpaid gigs Rehearsing for paid gigs Rehearsing for unpaid gigs Rehearsing without gigs in the diary Playing at jam sessions & open mic nights Washing my hair Just saying ...

John West? Ah come on, someone had to 😆 🤐

For some its Spend a fortune on boutique basses i need, because i cant play on anything other than hand built basses, but never leave the bedroom with them, so spend more money on basses that im happy to take to gigs (and amazingly, i can play them)

Hi guys We've dealt with this character before. He always uses 'Gear' at the beginning of his username and joins from a Nigerian based IP (we've now banned access from all Nigerian IPs) but now he's found out how to use a VPN it seems. I'm going to add a warning about scammers in the wanted forum as it seems this is always how he contacts people. At the weekend Rik and I are doing some work on the forum and one job will be to flush this idiot away once and for all. Sorry about that chaps ped

My latest

If you'd read my post right at the beginning of this thread you'd know that the three bolt micro-tilt system was dropped because Fender's engineering practices and quality control did not allow the mechanism to be installed in such a way that let it to operate as intended without any unwanted side effects. If the neck pocket and heel of the neck have been machined properly a single bolt would be all that is required. It the mating surfaces are flat so that there is 100% contact and the neck is a snug fit in the pocket, the bolt is only there to hold the two parts together when under the tension of the strings and even then much of the force exerted on the joint will be tending to pull the neck tighter into the pocket. The bolt is only there counteract the lifting action of the string pull.

I played guitar for 30 years and have been playing bass for about 15 years and have never got it. I've had lessons. Read books. Gone online. Bought 'better' basses. I'm still a root, 5th octave player who throws in a pentatonic every now and then. I think the understanding music part of the brain is related to language and maths, and I (even though I'm 1/2 'foreign') can hardly speak a word of another language and had extra maths every Saturday morning throughout my school days (I'm not bad now, but I'm not a natural). But, I play in two bands. We get paid gigs and I'm complemented on my playing by the rest of the band (though of course, they could be sh*t too and just don't recognise if I'm good or bad). Learn as much as you can, if you can, but don't let it get in the way of enjoying playing.

1 x volume. Perfect.

I'm trying to get our lot to cover Only You - acoustic, fretless, mandolin

I use the TC Polytune pedal version and it's been the best tuner I have used in 30 years. Just brilliant. I used a Korg Pitchblack before and it was great but I ended up going through two and just didn't find them the most reliable sadly. The TC Polytune is about 6 years old now and still going strong.

It’s because they are all playing fantastic home made bases instead of practicing footy. The Koreans on the other hand, well their guitars are not as good hence they play footy instead

Well for north Wales the weather has been hot these last few weeks but the last two have been baking, I had the day off yesterday but decided to try working outside today and enjoy the sun. It started out lovely but eventually it got too hot and I ended up with a towel draped over my head trying to keep the sun off, I had a magnifying visor on so I couldn't wear a hat. I got some done and now I'm inside cooling off. I set up a makeshift bench outside, literally a saw horse and a metalworking vice clamped to it to hold my saw table. then I took my designs for the headstock inlays and, well confession first, I nearly flamingo'd up (like a pink torpedo up only bigger!) with the name as my written Welsh isn't that good but basically "the dragon" is "Y Ddraig" and plain "Dragon" is "Draig" so disaster averted. So I took my design and with a sharp scalpel cut out some of the sections and glued them with Titebond to a Mother of Pearl blank then cut them out, each time I cut a piece I turned it upside down and glued it to a mirror image of the design so it can then be transferred to the headstock. I'm sure you all get the drift and after 4 hours sawing and filing I ended up with one dragon ready for inlaying into a headstock. Not sure if I want to do the other tomorrow or do one of the Draig inlays for which I have some lovely dark green Abalone

I would expect this if dropping a grand, got to keep that bass in top condition

I have a Polytune clip as well which is also excellent.

Aha - interesting. I received the identical PM. Thanks very much for the tip-off @ambient - appreciated. I'll be steering clear.

The Six Pastilles were a funny Pistols tribute back in the day

Yes I did, but I put that down to your style of building...I think that there are a few fans of the convex/concave look.

If you can try out a few different set ups either at a local music shop or rehearsal studios, you will be able to decide if 8x10 or 6x10 or 4x10 or 4x10 + 1x15 or 2x 15 is your favourite configuration. As you'll be playing very loud, anything with 4x10 to retain clarity would work best imho. The Firebass head runs as low as 2 ohms so keep an eye out for what the cabs run at. You can use two 4 ohm cabs or even four 8 ohm cabs (which would be a wall of noise). The 410 cabs would be easier to move about, as they will be not as heavy as a 810. The Firebass head runs crystal clear even at super high volumes, put a svt simulator like a Sansamp bass driver in front of it and you should get very close to your godly sound.

@Art this is truth. i take one thing from this, get a teacher and maybe not stick with the first one you try.

Tribute band from Liverpool, Crowded Scouse.

Well, if we're showing photos, here is one of last Friday's gig, a young photographer caught some good moments from the side of the stage as well as more conventional shots from out front. I like the atmosphere of this shot.

Break Wind and Fire.......seen many years ago north of England ...did they start it all?

Val Doneagain

Just going back to the OP, how does one quantify 'aren't well known'? The motorbike remark was pretty succinct as the marques have disappeared apart from an enthusiast perspective. A few of the names mentioned (Vintage, Tanglewood) are produced in huge numbers aren't they? I love when I gig when I pull a Hamer or a Lull out of it's case. Hardly anyone I've knows these names...I played a place in Kent once and took my £3k Hamer FBIV, I delighted in overhearing this exchange: 'What bass is that bloke playing?' 'It's a Thunderbird thing. It says Hammer on the head.' 'No, look. Hamer. H-A-M-E-R. Sounds like a Chinese guitar. My friend has an Epiphone. It's like that.' Much chortling.

Vary it to suit - it depends on the bass I'm playing, but also on the room I'm playing it in, who I'm playing with, and even what mood I'm in!

Not necessarily, a mate of mine has a Behringer amp head, not sure which one, and through the matching 410 cab it was plenty loud enough, and sounded great with it. Which Hartke 410 is it that you use - that may be a factor on this.

Yes. I'd also consider looking for an Orange Terror Bass 500 if I were you (£300 - £350 used). Along with Ashdown ABMs these are the best amps I've owned. Have a nice grind in the preamp. EQ isn't especially powerful, and some would say they are a one trick pony, but it's a really, REALLY good trick! And they're RIDICULOUSLY loud...

Bought this DE about a year ago, great player...........goes with my other Peaveys...............

Bought a pedal from Gary. Top bloke, but you already knew that didn't you?

Just purchased a Peavey dpc 1400x power amp off Gary, pleasure to deal with good comms and item as described. Thanks chap.

Just sold my SKB shallow rack unit to Gary. Seamless transaction and a pleasure to deal with. Good to meet you Gary, hope it does the job. Cheers!

Sold some hardware to Gary - lightning fast payment, no fuss. Awesome sauce. xx

Just sold Gary a Spector bridge. Great flawless transaction, great comms and speedy payment. Highly recommended. Thank you Dave

Purchased one of Gary's many Spector's (a 2001 NS-2 CRFM to be exact). Thoroughly decent chap to deal with, great comms, bass as described no fuss or hoohar. Would definatley recommend any future dealings with Gary.... Cheers, Mark