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I think I may have been a bit hasty in deciding to spray it so I've sanded it down and given it a couple of coats of tinted Danish oil, it will probably end up a bit darker by the time I've finished?? 😀

Saturday featured a planned trip to BassDirect following the tedious and late completion of my house sale. Many months of chasing and hassle had to have some type of reward I decided. I set myself a budget and took my good lady along who was oddly keen to help me in my latest GAS relapse (it'd been a whole 4 months since getting my Dingwall NG3) There were a couple of basses i'd eyed up in the 2nd hand section to try out, but upon entry a gleaming apparition appeared before me. A glorious sunburst MM Jazz, beckoning me. It had just come in on p/x and was about to be posted online. I think not. I'd wanted a Miller since I first started playing in 2004, and this was not to be a missed opportunity, having missed out on not one, but three MM's in that time. Plugged in, it did all the right things. I knew it was meant to be. I did however try out a few others just to say I compared it (Dingwall ABZ4, Combustion 4) but it was a one horse race.

Finished! These pictures don’t really show the full effect, but a couple of coats of paint make the grill look so much better! Not bad for a £90 cab?!

... or tune down a semi-tone and use a first-fret capo for the stuff in standard tuning..? Lazy, yes, but it's an option.

There’s quite a bit of confusion and mix up in this thread. Let’s separate out some points for clarity. TRS & XLR - different connectors, same job. TRS stands for tip/ring/shield and means there are two signal wires and one ground - this allows for a balanced connection which (keeping it simple) allows much longer cable runs that can have any noise picked up along the way cancelled out at the other end. XLR is the same - two signal, one ground and thus balanced. A standard bass cable is one signal one ground and thus unbalanced - long cable runs will pick up noise. Now, the key bit is the impedance & voltage of the signal you are trying to send. From lowest to highest - mic, instrument, line. Depending on the equipment you are plugging in to, you are trying to find an input that will deal with your signal properly. A mic input on a mixer will have a mic Preamp that deals with its low output levels - a line input may not work well, but some pro stuff will be able to. The desk may have a separate line input, either xlr or TRS. A DI box that a soundman asks you to plug in to will convert instrument level to mic level and will have a balanced output for a long cable length. The key bit here is that the Stomp has a balanced output for long cable runs - so long as the soundman knows its line level then they can do what they need to do at the other end and not worry about cable run length. If you present it as TRS or XLR it’s actally sort of irrelevant.

......and.......... relax 🤭 Good to see normal service has been resumed 😂 We'll pretend that blue period never happened 😇

If you think that's dodgy, I suggest you have a look at TC Electronic!

And just for clarity - DI (direct injection/interface) comes from replacing a microphone in the signal chain (mic’ing an amp or instrument) with a direct connection

I'm quite surprised by the amount of vitriol directed at Yoko Ono and this version of Imagine It has a kind of delicate frailty, like it's just holding together. It's not technically great of course, but that's the whole point isn't it? - Human frailty, old age (she's 85), a world going down the tubes where the sentiment in the song seems further away than ever, a message to her dead husband on his birthday, the pop melody of a multi million selling song reduced to bare bones, etc. I thought it was quite strange and touching. I must be getting old

I guess for the "pub band" situation, the key is make the bass solo part of the entertainment. My Generation is a great example of how to do it, where the bass solos are snappy, two-bar breaks which work as a call-and-response between the bass and the rest of the band. If you changed that out for a full 32-bar break for the bass player to go through his/her whole book of chops, then you'd lose that pace and the queue for the bar would probably grow quite quickly. (So at least the landlord would be happy...)

1) if you have really small hands or arms, such as you are a child or have a medical issue, there is less of a stretch. 2) Getting strings is hard, getting a decent deep bass sound is much harder (if not impossible), intonation is harder. 3) No. Start out with the normal and then if you have a problem, seek out something to fix the issue

I just figured it out! These are bass players, aren't they? Examples of various types of Bass Face! As a public service, perhaps we can codify and classify the Six Main Bass Faces prevalent in todays music scene. Then we can just look into the guitarists' beady little eyes and show them one of these cards from the pack rather than get into a long winded discussion about how bass should be played. We need a 52 card deck, but these six are a great start. 1. Mad Max! "Is this guitard actually telling me how to play?" 2. Pained and P*ssed Peter! "Well, that guitard needed to be replaced, anyway, see?" 3. Happy D*ck! "The guitard's fiancé was a little late for work this morning." 4. Doubting Tommy! "So, you call yourself a guitar playah...really?" 5. Vincent the Visionary! "With a 10 string bass, who needs guitards, anyway?" 6. Freddy the Fixer! "Yeah... we had a guitarist... but... it didn't end well..." If you ain't got a Bass Face, you ain't really playing that bass...

Bias Alert! I feel that I should clarify this. The context of my remarks is where a band with a rhythm section is performing music for a dancing audience at a wedding, bar, pub... Where patrons or guests are having a good time moving to music of various tempo and the expectation of the patrons or venue operators is to keep the floor moving. This scenario is the norm for most BP's. A concert performance is a different animal. At a concert, the audience is accepting of long soloing sections and even craving many solos. As a BP of the former, I cringe at the thought of bass soloing as it destroys the momentum you've worked so hard to achieve. Still, it seems condescending to me, "Oh, it's only fair to let the bass have a solo, too!" As patrons find an opportunity to order, make a phone call or use the facility. Even in jazz, when it's "time" for the BP to take a solo, they seem long winded and unrelated to the music that has just passed. But then, I'm a dance musician. I play danceable jazz. Even in Dixieland, BL's have indicated that I could solo, but I never care to. Maybe four bars at most, a little string slapping, and I'm back into walking. In fact, I feel that as a BP, I'm always soloing within the mix, anyway. That's why I play bass. I realise there are 10 string BP's with FX pedal boards of 36 square feet who would like to kill me, now. And I probably only need two strings to do what I do to keep a floor hopping. In fact, I sometimes view the bass as just a glorified conga drum... But I feel there's a place for both BP types. Perhaps, not the same place.

Applying the ebony demarcation veneer. You will hardly see it, but it makes such a difference when you look at the actual join. Because katalox is an oily wood, I'm taking no chances and am using epoxy rather than wood glue - which doesn't work so well on oily woods. When this is done, I'll be seeing how much weight I can take out of the underside of the top before gluing it on and starting to fit the neck joint...

If the singer is struggling with some tunes, it might be worth running them all down a semitone to see if that gives their voice an easier time over the duration of the gig.

Clearly it's all about personal preference, but a rosewood board would give it nice contrast... And yup, I reckon recessed knobs would look good

Right move! The thing is, this has the vibe of an Aria - ref the wood combinations and style - and the shape of an ultra-modern. Honestly - I think it looks great. The 'piece de resistance' are the two stripes at the back. The whole thing is a lovely looking combination - quite unique.

Why am I even asking anyone else about GAS related matters when I am constantly floating in a cloud of it?

Friday night we played a festival in north wales. The organiser told us there'd be a drum kit there, mine is a bit of a PITA to move at the moment, and it was called a festival with more bands on after us so I thought it was a safe bet. When we got there we realised that this festival was just a Friday night in the clubhouse/pub at a campsite. Every other act was a rock tribute, and we're playing original folk-punk. So I was starting to feel a bit un-easy when the organiser walked up and said "I've been told you want some drums". "I was told there was a kit I could use" I said. He had me follow him to his car to collect the smallest bass drum I've ever seen. Maybe 18 x 14" at the most. I'm a fairly big guy and usually play a big 24" kick. Anyway, no matter, I loaded it in and then saw the skin on the bass drum. Some sort of ancient brittle glossy white plastic. I was convinced I'd break it on the first hit. Next I tap the toms which are horribly out of tune, but they don't have standard lugs so my drum key won't work. Obviously I just have to make do but the set was an hour and a half of gently tapping the bass drum while asking the sound guy to turn up my monitor Apparently we were really good and the rest of the band had a great night. I've learned my lesson. I'll never go to a gig without my kit again Saturday night was local at The Rigger and I got to use my own kit. Matt on the sound is always awesome and it just puts you at ease. We played well, went down well, and apparently they raised over £700 for charity which is a lot more than I was expecting considering the turnout. Brilliant! I don't know if this will work but this is a photo of me standing behind the tiny kit, our singer put it on Instagram:

Why would anyone pay £2k or over for a bass where they couldn’t even be bothered to glue the neck on properly and had to use woodscrews to hold it on instead?

I can't comment on the D800/D800+ as I haven't tried one, however I currently own a MPulse 600 and previously owned a Walkabout. IMO, though there is a family resemblance, with similar "faces" and controls, tonally they're not that similar. Nobody doubts the versatility of the Mesa range - lots available which means there is something for most needs and I'm sure that with patience and perseverance you going to get pretty close to what you want from either...The MPulse gives you old school valves versus the Walkabout's more modern solid state tonal package. They are not the same beast. Not currently gigging so I rarely move my gear...I much prefer the MPulse over the Walkabout - if I was hauling it about weekly I may have a different opinion but personally, I found it to be much warmer and phatter sounding - easier to access those more soulful and funky tones - whereas the Walkabout, which I wasn't overly impressed with TBH, is probably more suited to a rockier, more driven tonal palette. Having said that, I do know it's very popular here - many say one of the best amps they've played. If you like a good solid rock amp it probably is...Horses for courses I suppose. I also have the Powerhouse 1x15 cab. They may not be light by modern standards - i.e. compared to BF/Vanderkleys and the like, but they are not in the same weight category as your vintage Marshall/ Ampeg classics. I think Mesa, being aware of the weight factor fitted them with castors as standard....a bit of a Godsend...They must know about my back.. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the Powerhouse 1x15 however it recently inexplicably developed an "overdriven/distorted" sound for no apparent reason or cause. I suspect a simple wiring problem which is undiagnosable by your typical numpty (me). I bet an "expert" at shaking wires will be able to resolve the "problem" in seconds. Neither the MPulse nor the Walkabout are lightweights by today's standards. If you're not unhappy with the additional weight (over a Class D head) I'm pretty sure that you'll be happy with either.

I found out this last week that I'd passed my MA in composition. I must obviously be mad, I'm starting my PhD this coming week.

I’ve always refuted that idea. I mean yeah what you actually play will sound like you, but the bass itself will sound different. Said bass might sound different again depending on who plays it. Example, if I play a P bass then a Zon Legacy, you’ll be able to hear a difference. Now if someone else plays them they will still be massively easy to tell apart but they might sound slightly different to when I played them due to technique. Which definitely won’t be a patch in mine. Lol. As far as I know, I’ve always loved graphite basses for their consistency and feel. I’ve also always seen Smith basses as having the ‘ultimate’ slap sound. It’s taken me about 10 years to get one.

Here is the latest incarnation of my big bass rig. BB2 and Dubster 2, Alembic Preamps and Crown XLS1502 in bridge mode. Had it out on a reggae gig last weekend. 🙂

Melanie C's ole bass player, Kim Khahn.. Awesome 'in the pocket' player and sings awesome harmonies at the same time.. GUH! Makes you sick ha ha!! Err, Julz Ruzicka too.. just for playin' with style.. I think she is playing with ex-SikTh Mikey's 'new project'. Used to play with Million Dead, I understand.

Ah that’s cool! Pedro is a gent and was brilliant to deal with, I spent months dithering and selling things to raise the money and he was very patient. Yep the combination just seems to work perfectly. I rather like the sound of the front pickup soloed which is unusual for me but of course 99% of the time it’s both on full, flat and fat!

I think a lot of what you write makes sense but received wisdom is that it is the power section of a valve amp that gives it the character. In that case a hybrid with solid state preamp and valve power amp is the sensible compromise. But of course all the weight is in the power section so they do it the "wrong" way round and sell it on its valve preamp. Of course the preamp valves do alter to the sound. Matrix a,ps have a switch mode power supply (like most Class D amps) and a MOSFET Class A/B power amp.

That looks awesome @Andyjr1515, it's already looking like a REAL bass With regards to carbon, I don't think I've had a 6 string bass without it, bar the one I made, I know that not everyone uses them though, your call. Eude

We had a blinding weekend....... Friday night - a new venue to us in Hounslow. Rock venue with an established crowd and no worries re hazers/smoke alarms so we could use all the lights and lasers to best effect and make a good show of it in front of a healthy amount of punters. We've been on a good run of form for a few months now, playing well and switching the set around to freshen things up a bit and we played really well on the night. And we trotted out some nichey widdley stuff that we cant normally do in regular pubs. They have some very good bands in there so they know their music (and typically stand around at the edges watching rather than jumping around until we got a few ladees dancing at the front and dragging the old man up too ☺️) We went down a storm, loads of people bothering to come up after with compliments, musos checking the gear out and having a chat etc.....a great night. It was a cheapo tryout night but the owner just asked what the usual rate was and coughed up voluntarily so that was a bonus. Rebooks secured for next year and i think we're going to enjoy this one. Saturday night - a regular gig in a Hertford pub. The people that run it are lovely and they have a resident crowd that just start dancing from the first note. We've got to know quite a few of them over the last 2 years and its become like playing to all your mates. Again we played well and the sound was great - big and ballsy but not too loud for them. And again loads of nice comments afterwards - one bloke even insisted on helping cart the gear out afterwards (we've got a ton of stuff so thats a massive bonus). Oh and theres a brill kebab shop 50 yards away thats open late.....

So they say. . . I also get stick from drummers when I question why they all like John Bonham so much!! Don't get me started on Geddy Lee!!! Me too. . . . or I did. I have never been a Pink Floyd fan, until I saw Dave Gilmour's Albert Hall gig on his last tour and I came away loving this song and most of the others he played.

Thank you guys, I am grateful for the help. Gotta wait for my wife to sort the colours out and I am ready to go lol 🙄

I just wish you had left that beta/alpha BS out...

They’ve since been found - hoorah 😃

So hard to say, I've had an old German for nearly 20 years and done very little to it other than a soundpost tweak every few years however old basses can be a nightmare, my mate's bass has a sunken front and sounds like it might be a write off and he's put best part of 2k in repairs into it in the last 5 years Sorry not a very helpful answer I know but I'd say get any potential purchase looked over by someone knowledgeable

Maybe that TV show you were in. They're probably a bit nervous.

There's a thread/article somewhere on the other place with a blind comparison of a chunk of scrap wood (pine, I think? plywood?) with some bits slung together vs a real bass. It's like the Zapruder film in tonewood terms...worth a look, bring your own popcorn... 😕🙂

Alder gets my vote, seems to be more balanced across the tonal spectrum, ash is quite toppy, mahogany nice and rich in the lows. I have a bass made of pine and that`s rather nice too, a bit in the middle of ash and alder (but not the dictionary of course).

old wooden skateboards

Phew! I thought I was going to have to buy new lingerie, send money to Somalia, buy viagra, a new travel iron and subscribe to a wine distribution service just to read what @Al Krow had written about the Helix Stomp.

OOOH

carole kaye. nuff said really. stunning bassist if i ever saw one. right up there with james jamerson