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I run my own Jazz gig in Felixstowe so get to play with Gods.

Just a updated family photo

Received this from Tom at COG this morning, and it was too good not to share.

Had a BBQ this afternoon, and had Original Musiquarium playing and I will always be amazed by the musicality of him and the musicians on this particular record, The horn section, the rhythm guitars , the backing vocals, his piano playing. The bass playing...Its up there with Willie Week's bass playing on Donny's live album, very different record of course. This spectacular playing from Nate is way up there as is Stevies harmonica playing and vocals. Don't be fooled by the shorter version. The full album version is the best. My ears are saying Andrew , you are at 100% musical enjoyment.

As someone else who also appreciates a good cup of the Earl, next time you cross la manche, I would recommend tracking down a bottle of Marble Brewery's Earl Grey IPA. It has saved several evenings when I've been caught in the dilemma of whether to have another beer, or a cup of tea!

The weekend before last, my CTM100 chalked up a (very unofficial) victory in the (very unofficial) volume war between our guitarist and me - at an open-air gig I actually had to turn down for a change! Admittedly I was driving two 12" speakers to his one, with 100W to his 15W, but we all know the lengths to which we have to go to keep up with most guitarists. At any rate, the tone was to die for.

A lot of these copies are made in factories where the people making them have probably never seen a real one, they can't help but build them to a better standard which gives the game away! 😁

Mine has to be a favourite place I used to play as I don't gig anymore..... Rock City Nottingham... Iconic Rock venue, just about every famous Band you can mention has played there at some point. The Stereophonics tribute band I was in has played the main stage there 5 times. It was an all day charity event ( I'm far from famous 😉) but the crowd loved us. it was always a sell out (2450 capacity) raising thousands of pounds for the relevant charity but the best bit was the on stage sound. There was a front of house soundman AND at the side of the stage, a sound man that just gave you a monitor mix ...he was BRILLIANT ….anything you wanted in your monitor at sound check was delivered in seconds. I know the combination of Tribute band and Charity gig is an anathema to many on here but they were the gigs of my life and I would do them again, at the drop of a hat , If only I was well enough.

Francis Hylton played bass on this record. He told me via FaceBook and he is my new best friend. 😂

Curious indeed. I thought there was only one owner, unless things have changed in the past few years. Very odd marketing indeed.

Fixed.

I got the bass back from Laurence Dixon (The Bass Place, Herne Hill) today. He installed a Realist pickup (at my request, and in addition to the existing one), replaced the bridge with an adjustable (again at my request), shaved & profiled the fingerboard to match the new bridge, sorted out the twin soundposts so that they are correctly positioned and work properly, and did some corrective work on the end-pin structure. His work was every bit as good as Clarky told me it would be, and the bass is instantly far more playable and more comfortable to play. It also sounds noticeably better. I wanted the Realist since the existing pickup arrangement did a great job of picking up the sounds of the strings and of the slapping, but disguised (almost completely) the sound of the oil-drum. The Realist picks up far more of its sound from the resonating body and that means that you can actually hear the aluminium. All I need now is to run the two outputs through a blender and I will be able to control how much oil-drum the audience hears. The adjustable bridge allows me to switch between a rockabilly setup and a blues/jazz setup at will. The rest of the work was, frankly, remedial. As I mentioned before, Dave Gartland is not a professional DB luthier and he doesn't claim to be one. The bass as delivered had a few flaws which were easily fixed (well, "easily" by someone like Laurence), plus one which it is stuck with. As far as I'm concerned, it is now fully giggable and I'm looking forward to doing exactly that. I'm also expecting a fair bit of trepidation from any sound engineers who have to deal with it ...

My offer was accepted. Personalised orange bass on its way for mr orange.......

Jamie, when I read your OP the first thought in my head was 'Oh No, not another bass solo post'. So having scanned your playing I am glad I did. Your playing is fine but you fall into the trap of projecting the bass (guitar) as a solo instrument. The bass is so much more important than that. As everyone here knows, the bass links up with the drummer to create the foundation for the singer and other musicians (guitarist?) to perform. A solid foundation or groove is what gets people off their seats and onto the dance floor - it makes them want to dance. In a band situation, each musician has a role to play. It might be hard for a bassist or a guitarist to accept but their function is to support and make the singer look good. Of the two mentioned, the bass is the more critical for the reasons listed above. Queen (the band) are a typical example. The band supported Freddie - even the guitar and bass solos and playing were only used to put further emphasis on the front man Freddie. The band were and are fine musicians in their own right but they knew that they could help make the sum of their efforts to be greater than their individual playing. Take a young child's jigsaw puzzle for example. Four parts to assemble the picture, but the picture is only fully revealed when each piece is in the correct position. Take away one piece and the picture collapses. Likewise take one piece and emphasize the colours using a painting set, and the picture has lost its wholeness, its balance as one quarter is now brighter and more vivid than the other three pieces. Just because a musician learns a technique, does not mean that he has to use it unless the song requires it. And searching for a song to use this technique results in the other band members learning the song to accommodate the other musician. Which is not conducive to a good or great overall performance by the band. We have all heard examples of this - the guitarist learns a song because it has his new solo in it.......... Please don't read this post in a negative fashion. I am not criticizing your playing. Rather the idea that the bass is or could become a lead instrument. If the song requires three root notes plus octave, nobody will sack you for playing those notes. It might be boring as hell but TBH a lot of playing is repetition. Repetition can become boring but the boredom is reduced if the dance floor is full of people swaying and dancing to the music. People hear the singer and the overall band sound and react accordingly. They may not pick up on the subtleties of bass playing but they will feel the groove. And they will want to dance. What more is there to ask for?

Just to be clear... The legal threats only concerned fake Rics, new or second-hand, but it was made clear that pursuit would follow even if the posted ad was of a supposedly genuine Ric that turned out to be bogus, a fake Ric that we (the site...) wouldn't be able to distinguish. 'Good faith' was not, apparently, a protection, so the decision was taken to not take the risk, and forbid any and all Rics. That way, there's no question of its authenticity being questioned, and zero risk of breaking the law. New or second-hand made no difference; any ad for a fake Ric would lead to a legal action.

The tolex will probably fall off fairly soon anyway

[Peals of laughter all round...]

Jaffa suspicion it doesn't?

Those are a rare beast with an excellent electronics package. I've never heard it in a Fender bass but I loved it in my Kubicki basses. Worth hanging onto, I reckon.

... and you're worth it.

I hope nobody is taking the pith?

That works well. I am not fond of chrome dominated schemes but the chrome is certainly not dominated here.

The bridge cover turned up today but I'm in two minds whether to use it on this build, I like it but I'm not sure?

Where did you get that photo of me from my missus said she had deleted it!! But don't you hate it when you put your trousers on the wrong way!?! 😳 Hang on I've just thought of a million dollar idea changeable zip up guitar covers (patent pending)

Yeah I'm wondering what I can chequer so they all match!! 😁 What do you take me for a strap that doesn't match your bass philistines!! I've got three of them they're just not in the photo!!

hehe my guitarist keeps saying bass should be felt not heard. I either reply with "what you FEEL, is the soundwave, which you also hear" or "you'll feel the bass alright, mister...."

I got about 10mm before it started bunching a bit on the horns but I was lucky I used self adhesive vinyl so when it cooled it was still sticky 😀

The ineffable case of the screeching upright ? One for Shelock Homes no doubt !! Its been the most audacious set up in the history of set ups, more leads than Trumps connections to the Russians ! more eq'ing than err....Woodstock ! and more screeching than.......well anyone on Britains got talentless.And that my friends is the common tale of Perfoming with an acoustic instrument night after night. You maybe interested to learn that pointing the mike in the right direction helps....or not

I’m going against the grain and saying nope.....black on black for me! Si

Nice one Dave, that’s what it’s all about!

I've had a bunch of Laney gear over the years and it NEVER let me down. Only just sold a Laney 150 watt combo that was bullet proof and plenty loud enough.

Having just re-strung my 330/12 for the first time, Rickenbacker is certainly a dirty word round here at present. Off-topic, I know - but I had to vent... As nice as the R-tailpiece and 12-way headstock are to look at they are definitely not user friendly. It'll be another 8 years before I attempt that again.

One ... two ... One two three four

Post 'Ric for sale' ads on Gumtree, then.

I don't sweat much and wash my hands before every gig. I can't remember ever cleaning strings. I change my strings every 12 months, whether they need it or not. That's enough maintenance for me. I don't particularly like the "zing" of new rounds. My DR Lo-Riders have been on since last Christmas and are just coming into their prime.

£400 + delivery, as much as I love Barefaced, & these look fantastic, erm, no thanks.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with Ricks: I'm primarily a guitar player ... so I've never had to live with one on a day to day basis for playing. My experience comes from playing one occasionally, and in spending 40 years repairing instruments and six years rewinding numerous Rick pickups. I adore the look, and the mid range growl and clang, but ergonomically as a player I couldn't use one all the time. The Issue I see over and over again are dead Rick pickups, ones that have mysteriously just stopped working. When I rewound my first Rick bass pickup I discovered the design fault that leads to failure. Dead centre of the image is a sawn off brass screw that is driven through the bobbin and .... The super delicate 44awg wire is soldered directly to that screw ... no insolation, no strain relief. If the screw gets loose ... which the original soldering can make it ... it twists and breaks the wire. The simple fix is a short insulated 'pig tail' that has the core wire soldered to that ... a kink is put in the wire to allow for a bit of movement ... and the whole shooting mach is taped before winding. Problem solved ... but why oh why can't Rickenbacker do something about it themselves?

I think you should come off the fence and let us know what you really think about Laney amps? 😂

A friend of mine has suggested we start a tribute to Camel and Toto called.......... yep you've guessed it..... CamelTo(e)