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Time for a story, sorry Many years ago lighting was expensive and I was broke. For our band I kibbled some lighting together, ahem health and what? Anyway I had two kitchen spotlight units with three different coloured halogen spots in each, a strobe attached to each and a smoke machine. It was all wired through a homemade footswitch to turn it all on and off. The smoke machine was tucked behind my massively over the top bass rig consisting of a bi-amped pair of 15's and a pair of 12's, aiming behind the drummer. When we did Motorheads Overkill I would stomp on the switch turning off the coloured lights and turning the smoke and strobes on when it got to all the false endings, if you know the song you'll know when I mean. At one gig I stomped enthusiastically on the switch at the correct moment which immediately fell to pieces leaving the smoke machine and strobe permanently on only able to be turned off at the wall. The drummer slowly disappeared from sight, then the guitarist and I and it stayed on for the remainder of the song until the stage area and crowd were completely lost in the fog and blinded by massive white strobes bouncing off the cloud. Oh how we all laughed, well apart from the drummer who was having some sort of epileptic asthma attack

Sounds a fun project, if you give us a call and chat to Dave Green(who designed the LB30)he will more than likely give you some advice(he normally does even when not asked...) on how to tie everything up... I’m fairly sure he won’t mind you being ‘inspired’ by his output stage... but sometimes he can be a tad grumpy so you takes your chances 😉

I had a Kay EB100 (tulip bass). It did go on the bonfire 😃

Kays are getting harder and harder to find these days, as anyone with any sense who had one would have spent an enjoyable afternoon pouring petrol on it and watching it burn!

A bunch of Indie halfwits, who are so talentless they are unable to join in with the opening theme, and instead just stand there with their arms folded. A proponent of world music, never heard of before or since, producing some unintelligible atonal drivel, which nevertheless is lapped up by the audience less they be accused of racism for not liking it. A former boy/girl band member trying to gain some real muso credibility to kickstart a solo career, but obviously finding live vocals a bit tough. A former legend living on past glories, much loved by the audience who are obviously saddened that the legend is past their best and the voice is not what it was. A re-formed but fatter and balder line up of a band, failing to make anyone interested in their new material. Plus a painful ‘off the cuff’ chat with a ‘friend’ or celebrity in the crowd.

Taken just now from Ebay.co.uk, used, 'BIN', with approximate postage costs. I've not selected on make, just availability, but not damaged, of course... Hi-hat £20 HH Stand £15 2 x Cymbal stands £30 20" Ride £25 16" Crash £25 Total £115 There are also packs of 'beginner' cymbals starting at £20 or so. Is that expensive as a 'get you going' deal..?

Some of that is harsh but true. However for an originals project 4 months to write and release 9 songs isn't unreasonable (depending on the songs of course). For the majority of new originals bands a handful of 25-30 minute support slots would the way to ease into gigging. No one is going to want to see an unknown band band with unfamiliar songs playing for any longer. IME originals bands don't need a PA. The venues they play nearly always have them. In the last 10 years of gigging with originals bands I have done less than a handful of gigs at venues that didn't have an in-house PA and engineer to drive it.

There were several episodes of spontaneous polite applause from the clientele throughout a very pleasant evening with my quartet at a restaurant/bar in Sutton Coldfield.

And don't forget, Bonfire Night is coming up soon... just sayin'...

Quite, Health and Safety. Or do I mean Health & Efficiency..? Anyway, the safest way to dispose of a Kay bass is to bury it (not in your own garden, obvs) or leave it in the boot of your car until you can drive to the coast and hurl it into the sea. If you're pressed for time and really can't stand the damn thing, wait until it's dark and throw it into next door's garden, preferably at that bloody plastic flamingo you don't like. Done!

I think it fits in just fine

His book, Kraftwerk: I Was A Robot is an excellent read.

It is indeed a Kay, as sold by Woolworths in the 70s. Didn't cost a lot then worth even less now although some think they are worth a fortune and collectable.

This is true. If there is a musician in the audience and you are playing like you don't care, you have probably lost networking and gig opportunities. Always give 101% even playing to one man and a dog. . . you never know who's listening in the other bar. I've been asked to join every band I've been in since 1985. I've picked up every gig and band because a band member suggested me or a band leader dropped in and thought I would fit into his band. So how you sound is important but how you play is even more important. Every gig is a potential introduction to more players.

Yer actual leg end, there.

Jeff Lynne's ELO at London O2 Arena last night! Wonderful songs, fantastic musicians and vocals, stunning light show and an atmosphere of smiley, happy people singing along..... oh, and my 'young at heart' Mum by my side enjoying very minute. Precious moments for sure :)

There is a different switch available, maybe thats more for you: I have a mopar purple NG-2, and have experimented with the pickup configurations a lot... as you might know all the recent Combustion and NG models have all three pickup cavitys routed already, so it was easy to switch positions. After all the testing, my ideal NG-3 switching would look like this - if limited to four positions..: middle/bridge in series middle only bridge/neck in parallel d-bird type all three Neck only sounds worse imo to the middle only. Comparable character, just less tone and definition to it. It has a bit more low oomph. neck/bridge in parallel sounds absolutely cool. Mind that the Combustion and NG models have different preamps. I like the gritty Tone Capsule a lot.

Wolfgang Flur, (ex Kraftwerk) last Friday night, in a small club in Cardiff He's now over 70, but still full of energy (more movement / dancing than he did in Kraftwerk) Great songs & accompanying videos, met him afterwards for a signed CD + poster. Nice fella too

Looking for ways to better protect my amplifier when being loaded in the van with everything else... I came across this plastic case for around £22. https://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/17051n-079-gpb/plastic-case-515x415x135-black/dp/SG33316 They come in various other sizes, and colours... I went for the black one. It has two layers of foam inside, and I bought an additional 6cm thick block of foam, with precut squares, to allow perfect fit of anything else you want to put in there. Total £34. It arrived today. First impression is good. Not the sturdiest thing (hinges and catches will not last a lifetime), but considering the light-weight of these amplifiers, I think it's a good match. Very light too. It'll fit the amp, cables... and there'll probably be space for a bit more. Pictures to follow...

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Certainly both would be ideal but if you're going to make a start on your own then Geoffs lessons are the only ones I'd follow just to get going a bit until a tutor can be found.

Fcuk yeah! More = better.

That's excellent advice. And once you decide or figure out your passion and what you want to do, be prepared to make a few compromises. Blue

Do Quorn make strings? I sympathise with your dilema but you know the adage that there is no substitute for gut.

Just had a quick look at that schematic. The PI/driver is a 12AU7, and it will probably be simplest if I keep that in and follow the circuit from the wiper of the volume pot - before that will be my 6SL7-based B15-style pre-amp. Solid state rectifier for the HT - works for me, as I have no 5V secondary on my PT, and there is enough power available on the 6V heater secondary for four EL84s and four 12AX7s. Am I right in thinking that is cathode biased like an AC30? Yes there will, but first there will be a design-based thread in the Repairs & Technical forum, and in the Tube Amp DIY Builders Facebook group to which I subscribe (where you get people like Rob Robinette and Bruce Egnater chipping in with advice!)

Har, you and me both (says he that got another one today!)

It will probably be a good 3 months before you are gigging. So start by booking yourself up some gigs now. In the mean time pop along to some local jam nights as a band. I have done this. Very valuable. Film it too so you can pop it on your website/social media to make yourselves look busier than you actually are. As said before, it will help overcome nerves too and iron out/flag up any weak spots too.

My first 'real' bass was a Kay from Woolworths, with a truly dreadful 15W 'Audition' amp and cab, too. The action was OK if you could afford a taxi from the strings to the fretboard... which I couldn't at the time. Still, it's nice to have these instruments, if only to make you realise just how far we've come with budget basses!

Presumably you were running the SC on one channel at 300W? Bridged into 8 ohms those things are allegedly rated at 1050W, which I think (could be wrong) is RMS rather than peak, so should be more than enough for a SC?

Not at all, that's fascinating and pretty much how I do it... after quite a bit of trial and error! Another point to consider is the fact you probably won't get a sound you much like playing solo. It all comes together in concert, which is why your tone should be got when you're playing with your band...

Wow, wasn't really aware of FRFR, I was always an old school guy 'No tubes=stinky poo sound'. Maybe I need to get out more and try stuff!

Just outside Shepton, advertises himself as guitar tech but has serviced and repaired amps for me. Highly recommended. http://www.theguitarklinic.co.uk

Just moved over to spector ..got a couple of 5 string legends classics Best bass ive ever owned ..... Would love a euro 5 hence why ive a selection of bass's for sale...

We have one. we use it when we need just a teensy tiny amount of pepper.

I’ve always heard good things about the Focusrite interfaces. I use a Native Instruments KA6 & cannot fault it. I believe that there are some preamps out there that have XLR and usb outs.

The overhead wires might get damaged!

Can you Photoshop my belly to make it smaller please.

Here's my old one: And here's my current one: And the two of them together cost less than he wants for the one in that listing!

For a number of reasons, mainly the fact that I think they sound really good, I've ended up with two 4ohm BF Two10 cabs. They're not quite as nice sounding as the TKS S112 that I *love*, but they're not too far off, and they can handle a lot more power, get a lot louder, and have a stronger bottom end (yet still tight)... The MarkBass LM3 has been my choice of amplifier for a while now. I've tried a bunch of other heads, light and not so light, and while the LM3 is not the absolute best, I really like it and it's extremely easy to get good sounds out of it. You have to try hard to get a bad sound. For that reason, it's been my favourite: a simple, no-nonsense, reliable and relatively cheap amplifier. When I came to the two Two10 cabs I thought I'd try them in series (8ohm) and see first, although my plan was to get a second LM3 and use both together with the two cabs. They're small enough that carrying an extra head is not exactly a hardship, and I like the backup factor of that setup. I used the Two10 in series and it worked pretty well... but I felt that I was going to need a bit more 'oomph' at times, so I set out to get that second LM3. I used to have a Streamliner 900 that I sold and kept the 'gear tokens' towards the new head, so it was a matter of finding it. Then I got distracted. What about a 2ohm capable amplifier? There are a few. One that I tried a while ago was the Mesa D800 (thanks deksawer! ) I borrowed that amp and checked it against my Streamliner 900 and the LM3 through 1, 2 and 4 TKS S112 (that was fun). The main conclusions from that were: - the LM3 should not feel shy just because it's rated at 500W as opposed to 800-900W, it was still very punchy, very loud and great sounding. - The Streamliner just wasn't my thing and should go. - The Mesa D800 was pretty special. It sounded great, and had a certain extra quality about it... it sounded... 'bigger'. Hard to describe. It was a little dark sounding, and the treble was set a little too high for it to bring the 'air' I'd like... but that was a minor niggle. I liked it a lot and could see one of those in my future, I just wasn't ready to spend the cash yet and I didn't really need it when the LM3 was perfectly adequate even if a little less nice. So, now I was naturally after a D800. Used, to save a little bit of cash. The transferable warranty of these amps make buying them used a pretty worry-free matter. Of course I wasn't seeing any... I almost got a Fender Pro800 to try... but then I started thinking about the D800+. What is different between the D800 and the D800+? Well, the D800+ is a bit bigger... but still compact and light. That's not an important difference. There are a number of added functions on the D800+. First, the low mids and high mids have an extra control where you can select the frequency centre. I generally prefer not to have that, as I am going to be tweaking to death over the first few months... I'd rather have an amp with simpler controls that are set the way I like them. In that respect, the LM3 is pretty cool. But, fine, it's a matter of self control and adds usefulness, no doubt. I wish the knobs for the boost/cut and the frequency selector were different, as I find it too easy to turn the wrong one by mistake... I might just change the knob, actually. Anyway... semiparametric 2-band mids, covering from to 150Hz to 5000Hz. That's quite a range. In fact, the treble control is a little high for my liking, but the high mids can easily be turned into a "lower treble" of sorts when needed. However, I don't think I need that... the D800+ adds a "bright" switch, which adds just the right amount of presence I was missing from the D800. Brilliant. This switch just made a great head that was a "little dark" into a great head "full stop". Both D800 and D800+ have the "voicing" control, which is a bit like the VPF control on MarkBass heads... but much more useable in my opinion (so it doesn't work the same way, clearly). All the way off to "flat" position the D800 sounds... not too different from an LM3, in fact... but then once you start turning it clockwise and/or using the EQ it quickly moves away into a different territory. I find that I like this control set at around 9 o'clock... it smoothens and warms up things a bit. Between this and setting the input gain just right (which can add a tiny bit of very nice 'grit' unlike the LM3 which just sounds ugh if you turn it too high), you can get a really nice, fat, defined, delicious sound. That's all great. However, what I'm in love with is the variable HPF control. It's the feature that made me consider this amp in the first place... and it's turned out to work much much much more nicely than I expected. I have used fixed HPF before, but this has been a revelation. It allows you to adjust the bottom end *just so*. You can still get a fat bottom end, but keep it tight and defined without crazy low end... I haven't yet tested it at a gig, as I've just got it... but I can see this is going to be incredibly useful and I think I'm going to be looking for this feature in pedal form and let my trusty Thumpinator go. So... what an amplifier! I love it. I remembered the D800 being very nice... but the extra features in the D800+ just make it superb. The combination of the D800+ with the Two10 cab(s) is fantastic. Very good match. Ok, and to finish, the obligatory picture... (the controls don't reflect my favourite settings or anything as it was taken before I sat down properly to investigate it)...

I load ours on to a Digitech JamMan and trigger them from the foot switches. Can connect it to the PA In mono or stereo. Simple but it works.

Forgive me father for I have sinned...it’s been 46 days since I purchased any bass gear....until today. Reset the clock. There’s a Status Series 2 incoooommmmmmmmmming 😃😃😃😃😃😃

Whether it's in the fingers, or you have good or indifferent bass gear, one of the main (and overlooked) elements regarding how you sound is how everyone else in your band sounds. It's no good being the world's best bass player if you're in a band with the world's worst drummer or the UK's loudest guitarist. Whether or not you're heard and appreciated is also down to how other people play - do they listen, are they selfish, do they leave space in the music, do they have good timing and groove? Some people (even when playing covers) will fill every nanosecond with noise, so ultimately you can't hear anything much and whether you're a good bass player or not and whether you have good gear or not becomes moot.

Hello everyone, Christine here. I'm still lazing around on the beach. It's raining in Wales, so I'll come back and continue next summer.

Matt Pike releasing a new Sleep and High On Fire record in the same year is quite impressive

I assume my CTM100 would be a class AB, it certainly doesn't run that hot - I was surprised just how unhot it was after a 3 hour gig fairly flat out. I do like the ashdown stuff, apart from the MiBass 220, which just flat out sucks and whatever descriptions you can have, heft, girth, life, almost certainly doesn't have. Sterile, probably. The odd thing is, the CTM100 running at bedroom volumes at home for practicing is fantastic, it is quiet, doesn't lose bass when turned down and just performs really well. Only downside is waiting for it to warm up!

The Wal I waited nearly 2 years to be built. Fits like a glove

To pay for a wedding, if you must know 😉 it’s back now, that picture was taken last year. The 55 was sold as I required a 5 string at the time... so is the wedding ring actually...so, yeah, both linked 😂