Leaderboard

Well after 40 years of playing, Mrs JPJ bought me a beginners book of reading the dots and an introductory lesson with a local music school. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years, especially as I’m working with ‘proper’ musicians these days. So yes, this 54 year old is going back to school and I couldn’t be more excited 😎

I'm not going to try and work out how much a little piece of rubber would have saved me over the years!

I also think that Rutherford's role in the multi-12 string guitar thing that Genesis made their own was a massive factor in their freshness and originality.

1972 all original Fender Jazz, with the original case, she’s aged beautifully with great looking wear and checking all over, she was Olympic white but is now a gorgeous buttermilk colour with the most beautiful piece of tort I’ve seen, I think my soul was a small price to pay.

A bit weird to see Geddy in the Guardian. Like they've finally allowed in from the cold which is a bit ironic given Neil has stopped drumming. What are your favourites ? https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/dec/24/geddy-lee-on-rush-greatest-songs

A Zon Sonus Standard 4 string bass and 6 Dunlop Ultex 2mm picks :-) I had a pair of lounge pyjama bottoms and a new scratchplate for my Precision on my list but it went a bit wonky........

Not a Morning Person myself... after a quiet day and a sedate couple of G&Ts it's time for a play. I've just started a policy of rotating my (now stable I hope) family of five basses, today it's the fretless, for the first time in a while. It's the smallest and heaviest of the five - I need to do some strength training before I gig it again 😞 Ps half an hour later - I'd forgotten how easy she is to play and how good she sounds! 🙂 🙂

Got nothing bass related today so pulled the trigger on an Orange 4 Stroke 500 as a gift from me to me 😂 Arrives Friday

My luthier friend dropped this in my lap last week. Part gift, part barter for preamp design work I've done for him. Purpleheart fingerboard, custom neo sidewinder pickups optimized for slide bass. The bottom knobs are a temporary set I put on so I could get started on the electronics package. I'll probably go with something blond to complement the pickup covers and headstock.

From my daughter. Main pressie from the wife was the Bassix EUB.

I made it until about 4pm when I heard this and had to whip out my bass

A huge part of Genesis was about having two guitars. Mike's role was just about unique. Something they also did was bring bass pedals to the fore.

This. That era (Permanent Waves in particular) is the point where they stopped being a mishmash of plagiarised influences and defined their own sound, to my ears. Never been one for picking "best" or even "favourite" tracks but if I wanted to play a track that represented Rush to someone who didn't know them, it would be Free Will from PW. Hits every defining Rush feature, for me. Re: the article itself - a bit of a shame that even after Rush being validated by an outrageously successful 40-year career, the Grauniad writer can't get past the sneery put-downs - "widdly-woo music" and the inevitable implication that musicianship & technically complex music are intrinsically valueless. Seems some dismal & dated music hack tropes are destined to never go away...

Stop getting Rush wrong! It's Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures that are the best. Not the bland synth Pop of the latter years.

Now now, what would the Nickelback museum need Geddy's basses for? 😉

How’s about this then, Santa’s only gone and got me tickets from the Friday at the palladium. So it doesn’t matter if I get the call or not, I’ll see you there.

Ah, you’re referring to the 1/4” amp output then, which will be at instrument level. Merry Christmas, Rock & Roll Killers!

As if you could buy eggs at this time of night on a Christmas Eve! 😂

Totally get what you mean Dribble is her middle name. Never got why she is so popular, although its seems she is more ‘hip’ than popular. Bland self indulgent wailing springs to mind.

Agreed, I get concerned when our band leader calls multiple 12 bar blues tunes. Thing is we have so much other material . However it's not my call. Blue PS: I'm in New Jersey over the holidays and had a chance to jam with my close childhood friend Doug. We started our first band when we were both 12 years old.

To be honest, I think you'd be better off contacting Spector customer services directly for availability of what you're after. They'd be able to give you a definite answer and possibly a price range (I'd imagine it won't be cheap though). In terms of price and quality, just going from the one I own and others I've looked at, the level of craftsmanship on the Euro models is superb. Real top notch woods and flawless construction. In terms of pricing, they're slightly cheaper than the USA models and although I've never played a USA model, but looking at some of the woods they use on the USA models, I'd imagine the price difference is purely aesthetics.

Not seen a Euro P/J setup before (I'm happy to be proved wrong here), they're usually twin humbuckers with EMG pickups. I'd imagine if you asked nicely you'd be able to get one made but it wouldn't be cheap. I know that there a USA customs with a PJ setup:

Hope not but he may have had an accident or a family crisis.....

I'm studying for my PhD in electroacoustic composition at the University of Birmingham. As part of the project I've started building a website which will form a part of my final portfolio, the idea (actually my supervisors idea) is that it will connect everything I'm doing together; the blogs of my journeys, photos, descriptions of the places that I visit, maps of sound walks, field-recordings, and compositions. It's still very much in its early stages, I've never done a website before, other than a Bandcamp page. Comments would be most welcome, particularly if you've been to or are planning on visiting the places, even more so if you live there. The only sounds up so far are from a very recent visit to Belgium, I've got some from a trip to Amsterdam to upload later. There's a piece of music that I'm working on from Amsterdam that is up there too. I'm reasonably happy with how the site is starting to look. I managed to find an app that works how I want it to for the maps; it kind of does what I want anyway, I need to experiment with it. I've realised that there's going to be a fair amount of duplication across the pages and the content; I don't want people to have to skip to another page to see some photos, or to listen to something, so I'm putting photos and sounds in the sound walks section that will also appear on the photos and sounds sections. Some will also probably be in the blog section. Some people I guess might just want to look at the photos, or listen to the sounds. I'm using the free site at the moment, you can add photos but sound has to be via a link to Soundcloud, so I'll probably upgrade to a paid version in the next day or so. It's pretty versatile. You can have an image rather than blank behind the text for instance, I thought that looked good, but made reading the text awkward at times. I'd really, really like people to comment on it, and hopefully interact by adding comments to the contents, especially people who've either been, are planning on going or live in any of the places that I'm visiting. https://placesandsound.wordpress.com/sound-walks-and-maps/

most bands have only got a couple of decent albums in them, sometimes not even two, they've got one way of playing and one style and when that's exhausted it's a descent into repetitiveness or, as you say, blandness

I'm claiming my Jack Casady was a three-weeks-early Christmas present to myself and not just another result of random GAS 🙂

Smooth Hound wireless. Not used it at rehearsal/gig yet but after a couple of hours noodling around at home I'm already thinking of getting a second set just for the house!

Wah! Heat... two classic singles and then a dwindle into the gutter of obscurity. Shame!

Second week of July, 2022..?

I have something coming today. Bear with.

I use the instrument level input on the QSC K10.2 from the amp output on the Fishman, works fine for me.

I use Rockboard, EBS and Harley benton flat cables. I need all the space I can get. Too many pedals 😁. They all seem good quality.

Here you go

They may well do but they'd be overlooking the stunning Czech Euro basses. EBMM make a fine product, if a little middle-of-the-road and unexciting. However, the Spector Euro is an entirely different animal but I think, comparable in quality to a Musicman. At least their G string is as loud as the others! I must also commend the quality control at the Czech facility. It's always excellent. This was even more impressive a few years ago, when their basses cost about 60% of what they list for today. I can remember when I first played a Euro Spector, at Sound Control in Newcastle when they got two NT models in for £1000 each. They were really excellent and the novelty of playing an EMG P/J equipped bass was great. I was very much into Victor Wooten's 'A Show of Hands' tone and those Spectors just nailed that.

It's Christmas morning. 4.23am. I'm wide awake, listening to foxes howling somewhere close by. And an owl hooting. Woo-hooooooo. Woo-hooooooooo.

I'm guessing from these comments most if not all of you haven't played a 2018 Stingray Special? The new 3 band is quite different and along with the neo pick ups and 18 volt electronics make for a great experience. What you guys talking about the earlier 3 band compared with the 2 band are hearing is the filter cutting the boomy frequencies plus the way the mid is voiced. If you turn the mid down some way, boost bass and treble a little you'll get closer to the 2 band sound. You can get more bass response by moving the position you pluck the bass towards the neck - rather than over the pick up (such as where you pluck a Precision or even closer to the neck for instance). The Stingray has always had more bass and treble than a Precision - that was part of the point of it in the first place - giving the player more flexibility and ability to control their sound.

Just had a listen ... nice one Andy

Forgot to talk about the merits of this Krampera rig: huge deep clear loud articulate. The cabs are nicely matched/ tuned to work together and it shows. Great quality bass head with practical footswitch. Everything else does seem slightly dull after going through this. Lucky me!

Since I’m trying a few tapewound strings out I thought I’d shield the cavities since I will be losing out on the grounding, once she’s in pieces there some interesting photos of the wear.

Yes - I read an interview with him where he was saying that he’d specifically got a Fender Jazz from each year of production to see if he could hear any difference and see how they had changed, and came to the conclusion that “pre CBS” was a genuine difference in how the basses sound. I’m not a Fender fan either, but it’s a very personal project and it’s interesting to see his opinion. probably more interesting for those with a Fender and Rickenbacker interest tho

To reinforce the point about big amps... I used to use a QSC power amp capable of 400W rms into 8ohms with a Trace 2x10 whose drivers were rated at 80 watts each (160 in total) and which presented an nominal 8ohm load. Went much louder than my Trace head could manage, with the benefit of a low end roll-off filter and much better driver control. Never blew or melted anything. A little amp being run into clipping does far more damage than a big one just coasting along.

Just finished, catch it on iPlayer. Quite the most hilarious thing I’ve seen for ages.

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.

As much as the FRFR solution is (imho) very much about hearing one’s instrument without the colour certain amps and cabs give to it, for me the weight and size issue was hugely important. The K12.2 rattles my house just nicely! I think you are being wise not putting all your eggs in one basket. I looked. It reminds me of a rig I used in a thrash band I was in. There is a hugely heavy Acoustic (as in the make) head and cab at one of the venues I play at that I deeply covet, if I thought they’d sell it to me I’d buy it in a heartbeat, but, I don’t think I’d use it if I got it home, nonetheless, for some reason, I still want it.

I had the opposite. Back in the early 70s I lusted after a Gibson Les Paul, but finances would not allow, so I bought an SG instead. It was a lovely instrument but I never lost the desire for the Holy Grail, the LP. I started playing guitar again in the late 80s and I decided I would have my dream. I was in the local music shop and the guy gave me the LP standard and plugged it in. It was awful, I hated the fat neck, the weight was just silly and access to the top frets was difficult . I put it back with a rueful smile and saved myself a lot of money. Lesson learned, don't put anything or anyone on a pedestal without knowing exactly what you are getting. Or, try and check its for you.

My best, albeit small, purchase was the Electro-Harmonix headphone amp. I often practice in the a.m. when my wife is still sleeping. This amp does nothing but reproduce the sound of your bass. No hiss, no noise, no bells or whistles. Housed in a metal casing. Instrument cord in one end, headphones in the other. Operates for mucho hours on a 9-volt battery. About $45 on this side of the pond. Made in Brooklyn.

What an awesome night! There's are video stills from the camera at the back of the stage behind me. I'm sure there's more to come out of it! The stage is lava... Me: "I promise I'll play the bass part straight, I wont show off or showboat" Also me: Me in crowd - bass solo, drummer on his phone...