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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.

And (if my Russian is at all reliable, which it may not be, because I studied it for only six months in 1969) the bass guitar was built in the Sverdlovsk factory of the Ural Musical Instrument company.

Damn! I just knew that I'd paid over the odds for this ...

Haha! Maybe, because "Santa Baby" got the best reception and the most people up dancing!

Black Lace. They just started taking themselves too seriously after Agadoo.

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.

Wharfdale is far from an obscure brand. Although granted they're not really known for producing guitar and bass amps. But having looked into these a bit more it would appear they they are actually Albion amps / cabs probably rebadged or built under licence by Wharfdale. The guy who actually designed them, Steve Grindrod (I think that must be his stripper name) is an absolute legend in amp building terms, having designed and build pretty much everything that came out of the Marshall factory for 20 years from 1980 then everything from the Vox relaunch including all their Valvetronic range, before going it alone with Albion. So forget the name badge, those cabs come with a surprising amount of pedigree. Here's an interesting article about Steve. He's had quite an illustrious career. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.guitarplayer.com/.amp/gear/meet-your-maker-amp-designer-steve-grindrod

Thought I might as well update this here. We did one rehearsal (without the singer) and it went quite well. Got a decent sound. Vibraslap on the go and everything. Currently half time at the gig and it's going ok so far. We've still got a totally unrehearsed "Santa Baby" to come though so it's all to play for! Surprised how good the congas sound for the songs we're doing, which we're playing quite laid back. Although I can't hear them too well from behind the PA.

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 🙂 🙂

That's a great band name regardless of anything ...

hiya new to this site i have 5 basses i have a 6 string bass which i love .an acoustic bass. p bass. jazz bass. and a stingray bass. i love the blues and classic rock been playing 40 years or so. so a big hello to everyone

Sorry, I’m with the seller, I’d always expect payment in advance to ensure I’m not waiting in all day for a no-show buyer.

That is a thing of great beauty. Frank.

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

Nope. Just bought a new USA three band. Big, full bottom end. Loads of punch and clarity. Particularly enjoy boasting the mids with the bass and treble flat. I played a Ray34 on a shop a few yrs back and didn't see/ hear anything distinctive about it, but the real thing is excellent IMO.

£1300 ?? Crikey. I daren’t tell you how much I paid....

Just seen this on Northwest Bands and Gigs Facebook. James Beedham shared a post. Yesterday at 09:46 Stolen in Warrington. Please keep an eye out x James Beedham Yesterday at 09:41 STOLEN: Overwater Progress Deluxe 6-String bass. Please keep an eye out for my beautiful bass that was stolen from a property in Warrington yesterday. She’s a Walnut and Maple, through neck beast. Distinctive extended range fretboard with jack & xlr sockets. Please get in touch with the police if you spot it anywhere. Thank you! Merry Christmas!

You "Do The A-Frame" Dave, the new sensation that's sweeping the nation ...

I found giggle translate said it translated “laughably bad”

I'm ok-ish the day after but on the rare occasion we gig on consecutive nights I'm totally fooked the day after the second one. I don't mind at all, especially after the gigs that go really well....last night was one of those, we've just added Under Pressure to the set (we're a Bowie trib band) and when I started the famous bass line, the crowd went nuts. We nailed the song, the crowd were singing along...briliant...almost an out of body experience! Something to remember at 1 in the morning loading gear after a 'so-so' gig with a 2 hour drive home I'll be 16 next birthday....oops, I mean 61

In West, you play bass guitar. In Soviet Russia, bass plays you !

Jam nights are, in my experience, just self indulgent boredom. Endless guitar solos, sax solos, piano solos etc etc. Most of it seems to be 12 bar, some 8 bar if someone's feeling adventurous. Other than that if anyone tries anything outside that it all starts to fall apart because no one knows what the hell is going on. EDIT: even supposedly well known songs get completely smashed to bits. Someone, I think, suggested Stormy Monday. I don't know it, but the number of people who think it's a 12 bar. It does make for some funny moments when the one person who knows and probably suggested it is playing it right and everyone else is 12 barring it.

Two things... So I succumbed in the end. And delighted I did so!

How about what bluesgrass players call the "G run"? It (or slight variations thereof) fits everywhere. Examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDxhugRKZ8g at 1:43 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sIjSNTS7Fs at 1:10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKxodgpyGec at 2:56

12 bar in A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G G# - sorted.

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

The octaver that’s based on the EBS Octabass is surprisingly decent, although it won’t be replacing my analogue octavers. As for the filters, the best one IMO is “Autofilter” which isn’t modelled on an existing pedal (it’s a Line 6 Original) but the level of adjustability is quite impressive. There are loads of parameters to satisfy the keenest filter tweaker (I’m thinking of you @Quatschmacher) The other day I managed to get quite a nasty gated fuzz-driven synthy filter patch with a Clawthorn overdrive going into the Autofilter and the noise gate on the input block set fairly tight. Chucked a chorus/phaser on the end and had a blast playing some dirty synth lines. Then I forgot to save the patch and lost it all

Because we are converting a 4 string to a 5 string which happens to have a rosewood bridge (that, once again, isn't an off the shelf buy), Simon had to make a new bridge. He just happened to have a block of left over rosewood that was the exact right size. Because we couldn't find a piece of plastic/graphtech or bone long enough for the saddle, brass was used.

Personally looking forward to Hell Toupee.