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I have just complete a tremendous experience, ordered a bass for my 50th and it arrived early thanks to Alan. From start to finish Alan has been great. The bass on the other hand is fantastic. Full specs here: https://www.acguitars.co.uk/project/0328urecurve5/

Call me crazy, but I just met a chap in Buxton and did an eBay trade deal. Traded my PDN Musicman Starry Night Stingray for a Euro 5 LX. Couldn’t be happier!!!!

... but almost as good - I've just re-strung my Jazz Aerodyne BEAD. I'll have to play the strings in a bit, of course, but first impressions are excellent. The strings (basic D'Addario medium gauge rounds that I've been carrying around as spares) fit the bridge and nut nicely, the tension and action were fine without any tweaking, and the B string (which is supposed to be E) is better than the one on my Jazz V (which is supposed to be B). This is going to force me to use the B string in my main basslines rather than just for throwing in passing notes under them. I do tend to drift towards the higher end of the range, although I know that means my sound can get a bit lost in the mix - this should keep me away from that. It also gives me a new sound - and a new toy! - for a lot less trouble and money than buying a new bass! 🙂 Happy cat.

A completely unplanned ambush which left me with a fit of the giggles and slightly spoiled the rock'n'roll sneer that this song needs.

Plan is, try and remain cost neutral. If I want something, then I need to sell something to raise the funds. Thats 2019, still got a week of 2018 to shop in first and I’m going out in style. 😂

Merry Xmas Basschatters! Thought I'd share a quick arrangement of "Christmas Time Is Here" by Vince Guaraldi Trio, taken from the incredible "A Charlie Brown Christmas" album. Always loved Guaraldi's contrast of sweet melodies against unusual harmonies so thought I'd have a go at transcribing a piece finally! Have a great Xmas when it comes, all!

I thought I was going to be able to contain myself about this build, but the more pictures Chris sends me the more excited I am getting I can’t wait to get my hands on this thing! I cant recommend Alpher highly enough, anyone looking for a world class instrument should really give them a shout!

Otoh I stepped up at the jam at Carlisle Blues Festival last year and found myself playing with Matt Long from Catfish - possibly the best young blues/rock guitar player in the UK atm - and Connie Lush and Kaz Hawkins, definitely two of the best female singers (both in the loud unsubtle mould - hurricanes if you get anywhere near them on stage). Utterly intimidating (I've told the story in full on another thread) but Matt supported me brilliantly and I got through ok (on the cr@ppy recording on my phone I sound better than I thought I was at the time). Playing with better (in this case off-the-planet better) musicians is imho the best way to raise your game, if you get the chance. And that is now one of my all-time most cherished memories and motivations. If the chance comes again I'll be able to play better. Promise to myself.

I used to go to open nights when I lived in Chelmsford in the late 90's. I had some fun nights there, getting up to play on a few numbers. Then one night, Guthrie Govan turned up and joined in. I hid in the bog for half an hour until he went away.

It just has very serious look that says “I am capable of knocking down buildings”.

He was in Curved Air for a bit so he's alright by me.

It's that orange that I thought they must have used Tango to stain it, I was thinking of leaving it near the window so the sun gets on it and it might lighten up a bit but then I realised I lived in Wales so not much sun so the UV lamp idea sounds like a good idea 😀

It's an illness, it sneaks up on you when you're not looking and causes you to make irrational decisions. It doesn't discriminate, it cares not of wealth, colour, sex, race or age. Be careful folks, it hides around every corner and pounces when your guard is down. I was totally happy with all my gear, even started working out what to sell in order to downsize to what I really need, and this time I really am going to sell stuff. Then in a 24 hour period I'd seen, pondered and spent the most I've ever spent on a bass, without even holding it. As I said be careful out there folks, beware of the classifieds, FB selling pages, instrument shops, even mates of mates who 'have this bass for sale', it's too late for me but if this cautionary tale helps just one person then it's been worth it. Stay wary! 😁

They have the suffix "M" if they have the magnetic pickups, so that would be (but isn't) a CR5M.

Best bass purchase: my NS Design CR5 upright bass - Love it!!!! Worst bass purchase: Dunlop Super Bright bass strings. Dear goodness! At first they're all top and zingy, but without a solid bass fundamental to the tone. Then, as they bed in, they start to settle down. And then one day, overnight, the sound goes from zingy to sounding like someone is kicking a cardboard box down the street. Bloody awful strings!! (in my humble opinion)

In all fairness, you only have to play one note at a time so that's easy, right?

10 o'clock yesterday morning and I was just up and pottering around the flat when I received a phone call.. could I dep with a Rolling Stones trib band, performing that very afternoon? Load in time, 1pm!! I madly said yes. I depped with this band for a few gigs over the summer and really enjoyed it and I got to know the songs really well. However, I hadn't played any of them since the end of August and I didn't really feel 'match fit'. Still, it seems they were desperate. There had been some sort of falling out the night before, leading to the departure of both bass player and drummer. The gig was a 'Rock n Roll Circus' event, featuring a John Lennon trib, a Who trib and the Stones trib 'headlining'. I had in fact intended to go along to watch with a few friends, so I had to let them know I'd be going on ahead and actually playing!! The Who drummer agreed to be both Keith Moon and Charlie Watts for the night 🙂 It was a smashing afternoon. There was an MC all dressed up like a ring master and a very good magician doing conjouring tricks with balls (steady, discreet!) which all added to the rock on roll circus atmosphere. However, I felt very nervous as I was completely unrehearsed and was just hoping that it would all come flooding back. As we were last on, my nerves just grew throughout the afternoon. When I got up to play I decided not to do anything flashy, just concentrate on trying to remember it all, and to stay at the back and not to try to move around much. A pretty good Bill Wyman impression then, haha! 🙂 Afterwards everyone was very complimentary, especially the 'John Lennon' who I know slightly but who hadn't see me play rock n roll before. So I took that as the biggest compliment, as he made a point of coming up to speak to me. However I felt I had only just got through by the skin of my teeth and delivered quite an array of bum notes! Saw some vids of it on line today though, and I didn't sound as bad as I thought, so that was a relief. Looks like I'll be doing another one on Friday!! I'll be better prepared this time though 🙂 I love my life 🙂 🙂

I have to say the combination of woods you’ve chosen is quite superb. It’s very subtly understated but oozes sheer class and quality. Really love it more each time I look at it. A lot of Alan’s basses do that to me but this is right at the top of the pile

Yes it does, I love the preamp

Absolutely stunning. Bet it sounds glorious too

You did put a battery in didn't you?

Like the hofner you have Cat

Wel Jel bro!....that looks awesome, and I have no doubt it sounds the same1

Rock and roll well and truly rescued. My back, is however, ruined. As are my windows, radiators, furniture and anything else that rattles. I really am now a sad parody of myself

I usually attend blues jams where it's pretty easy. Well, it is except when a/ the lead mumbles "its in *** ee". You're not sure if they said G, B, D or E and by the time you work it out you're getting sour looks, or perhaps the most pretentious putdown I ever had: "I thought you were playing the Myxolydian all the way through" . Or b/ (remember you're at a blues jam) "Do you know X... it's easy? D, B, C, E, F#, then A, C and back to G [or whatever] .... etc. etc. You'll soon pick it up, off we go then."

I am considering making the jump from cab & amp to one of these fellows. I currently have a GK MB500 and Barefaced One10 but my sound comes from a Behringer BDI21. I can't work out whether to go for the QSC K10.2 or K12.2. 14.5kgs v 17.7kgs and £643 v £756 Both are on offer at the moment with carry bags included Would the K10.2 give me the same bottom end and volume that the One10 does or should I go for the 12? I have the money to buy either so that isn't a factor - or given the number of forum members who have recently bought the K12.2 merely wait a couple of months until they start flooding the BC marketplace? 😛 Or would the CP12 be enough? Also to add - I have my cab on a speaker pole and am rarely more than 4 or 5 feet from it

I’ve had one prior, a few years back and loved it, although the colour wasn’t really me, (deep red) it actually dulled the flame on the top which was a shame, you couldn’t really see the figuring. But not with this one! Plus as a bonus the Mrs says “natural wood coloured basses suit you more because you’re a wood nut” Good enough excuse for me!

Yup, wifi router is a must. I repurposed a Mikrotik hap mini. Mixer is buried beside the drum kit with a media player, when the set starts the drummer turns the music down and when the set finishes he rolls the music back up.

In Denbigh? The land of cloud and rain, more chance of the colour being washed out I''d worry about direct sunlight, there's some heat in it and it can do some nasty things to wood. Poly finishes are quite UV resistant. The lamps do work, there was a French guy on Talkbass who used a UV lamp for reptile keeping on a white body to age it, it worked very well too. I like yours as it is, if it were me I'd leave it and enjoy it

Try TouchOSC first, it’s free and pretty powerful (though it has couple of quirks such as toggle buttons sending midi in both press and release with no way to disable one or the other). You could actually get a hardware MIDI controller for it as all parameter are controlled via CCs. There are some products which are just units with a bunch of knobs that can be freely assigned. I really hope Meris refine it too. Angelo seemed to be taking the stance that it was complete as is, which is a little disappointing - admittedly it’s pretty amazing the way it is but surely there’s room for improvement if the hardware and firmware allows. I certainly wouldn’t mind getting one. I wish this had been around when I first started buying pedals as it would have saved me much time and money (though I have enjoyed the journey and have learned a lot on the way).

Tango? What have you put on it? You could take it down to the tanning shop and put it on a sunbed for an hour to help age it, more seriously a UV lamp at a couple of feet distance could work wonders on colour

It’s that thing where we think the more expensive thing is better. Even when it’s probably just different

I definitely recommend people to check out Oysterhead. Copeland, Les Claypool & Trey Anstario (very sure I have spelled his name wrong, the guitarist from phish) what a great power trio!

not wired yet.

Ditto !

I was going to say "westcountry"? Glastonbury's over two hours north from me. Eden is westcountry. (Tongue in cheek disclaimer for the argumentative types) I don't know why anyone gets upset over these Glastonbury bookings, it's a mainstream pop festival and Kylie is a mainstream pop star whose been churning out hits for three decades. I'd have thought that qualified her for 'Legend' status in the eyes of the average Glastonbury goer. I'd be fairly content to have had her longevity and success, as would many more on here I'd imagine. Never mind keep knocking her.

Sounds great! You should film it and post it on here!

This will be awful. If I lived closer I would come along, film you cringing and make a fortune on youtube.

Bongo Fury

No doubt there will be plenty of Pedaltrain recommendations made shortly but be sure to also check out the new Rockboard by Warwick range. They have nice little design feature tweaks from the PT range which really work.