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Since the demise of my regular slot in the rock band, I've been dabbling in a bit of mainstream jazz and latin stuff - trying to get a handle on walking bass but not finding anyone to give it a go with me. Actually, I did, but after saying they wanted me to play with them, they then wrote back and said they had no drummer so it was a no go. Hmmm. Anyway I went along to play bass at the local jazz jam. Very low key, low stakes stuff. Turns out that night there was nobody else on bass, so I had to cover the whole evening straight from the chord charts. On the strength of that I got asked to be the 'house band' the following month, do a dep on a gig last Sunday, to be the bass at the next jam and to join a jazz band as bassist. Shows you can fool a lot of the people some of the time. To be fair, I know the repertoire inside out - but as a listener, or a saxophonist. I'm less secure with all the walking bass patterns - I'm sure the low riders in the audience are cringing. But the drummer at the dep gig said how much he enjoyed playing with me - so there's that. I think the point of this is that I got over the imposter syndrome for a moment and made myself just do it.

If you think Kind of Blue is just noodling and 'guys showing off', you really aren't getting it, are you? It is the least noodling Jazz album of all time.

Last night, Tom Harrell at Ronnie Scott's (or as one of the graduates at my work asked, "Who's Rodney Scott?" No-one laughed, honest..... Anyway, the Tom Harrell Quartet. Spoiler - no massive bass content, though Ugonna Okegwo played some fine upright bass, stationed between the piano and drums. No, this was a truly great concert for very different reasons from the usual. Tom Harrell plays trumpet & flugelhorn (not at the same time, obviously). He is a soloist of rare talent. He has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia since his University days. He's now 73 and has, against all odds, carved a career in playing jazz. Without his medication, he can start to hear voices that tell him anything from "You suck, you shouldn't be in the music business", right up to instructing him to walk through window. When he goes on stage, he shuffles on, with his head held low and face to the floor so as not to make eye contact with the audience. When onstage, but not actually playing, he stands off to the side, eyes tightly closed, counting, awaiting his cue. He hardly talks to the audience, except to announce the band members after they've played, struggling to speak. Oh, and he counts off the tunes. That's about it as far as verbal communication goes. But when he's playing....he stands upright, close to the mike-stand, with the bell of his horn right up to the microphone, as though to ensure that every single note of what he's playing flows through to the audience. You hear 100% of what he's doing. There's no Cat Anderson-style upper register acrobatics to his playing; he finds the horn's sweet spot and sticks there, like a boxer delivering punch after punch. Faster tunes have a fierce beauty to them; slow ballads resonate with a tender warmth. You won't hear any comfortable entertainment clichés going on. Even when he duets with just the bass on "Embraceable You", he picks apart the melody of this old warhorse of a standard and tiptoes his way through the changes, improvising with a watchmaker's delicate touch. And the tone of the trumpet isn't harsh and bright, like so many jazz guys have. No, it's full and round and warm; that of the flugelhorn even more so. And yet, Harrell looks so fragile, as though a gentle breeze might blow him over, as if his instrumental link to the audience is all that's holding him up. The band are smartly dressed, sharp even, just like you'd expect from cool jazz dudes. Harrell looks like he's just stepped in off the street. He managed to spellbind a pretty much full house at Ronnie's for two sets. Many of us left at the end with our jaws still dropped, overwhelmed by the music he produced and probably even more by the struggle that's he'd overcome just to be there.

For anyone who was here ten years ago, you may remember me and my blog. Under the old forum format and with the original Photobucket, there was a fair amount of content that was put up on here and I kept in touch with many of the members via PMs but with the change over, mine and everyone else's didn't make the transition and I sort of lost touch with those who were around at the time, along with all the information that went with it. The blog carried on but due to my personal circumstances, less content was posted but as of yesterday, the beginnings of my ramblings are now ten years old, with 250 posts. So, Hi and thank you to all those who have visited the blog over the years - I am now hoping to get it back into gear and put up more content. Bass and Guitar Collection Blog Anyone from days of yore, would be great to hear from you. Cheers.

First coat of Tuff Cab on remaining 4 sides. The high quality of the cab kit is really paying dividends as the panel joins are not visible at all! I put the paint on with an ordinary paint brush to give an even coat then use the roller to give an even textured finish. I will do 3 coats in all.

This is broadly correct, at least insofar as if your song is in E, you'll get the most convincing results out of an A harp. It's a bit different from the idea that you transpose for the instrument, like you would with brass or woodwind - rather, you buy the harp at conert pitch, but play it modally. A diatonic Blues harp in A major will give you the notes of the "standard" A major scale, or Ionian mode. But if you try playing the E major scale on the same harp, the closest you can get (without bending notes) is the Mixolydian mode of E. This mode lends itself better to Blues and Americana more generally, but also puts the notes you're most likely to want to bend (3rd, 5th) into inhale positions, which - believe me - are far easier to bend than the exhale. (You can also get a Dorian mode of B out of an A harp, should you want to play a minor-key Blues with it)

Loads been said already about these so I won’t take up your time but thought I’d gloat my NAD, still yet to try it out though. Cab wise I was thinking either the Trace 1x10” or the Barefaced OneTen but a 4ohm Eden EX10 came up at a third the price and thought that’ll do me for what I need right now - hopefully the cab will be here sometime soon. So more tiny Elf 😘

Anyone checked out the new custom shop G&L model? Double split pick-ups with series/parallel on the neck and vintage G&L style Seems like a neat set of controls to me - plenty of different tones and not too much fuss over loads of switches/knobs First saw them on their Instagram, but there's also a couple of videos up now:

I had a get together with a band planned for tomorrow, the guitarist sent through a couple of original tunes and asked me to learn a cover. All done, excited. Got a message from the guitarist this morning to say that it's off, the drummer's had to cancel, and that's the final straw as he's been unreliable recently. No band, no get-together. As far as I know this is the third time this has happened - I reply to an ad and the band breaks up Anyone know any bands they don't like that need a bass player ? Maybe another covers band is nicking your regular slot at the Dog & Duck ? Ex-spouse getting somewhere with their Nu-Klezmer band ? Sick of that residency at the Filmore and you want a change ? Email me the band ad, I'll reply with my schedule of services and we can get to work....

Definitely need frets then 😈

TIs have been the lowest tension flats I've tried, and I love them. I've got them on my Hofner violin and they sound great. A few years ago I also bought a 5-string set with the intention of putting them on - I think - that same Fortress 5 that now has the Labellas. However, the low B did not fit in the hole in the one-piece bridge, not even if I had tried to mangle it, so I had to get a set of Chromes (Labellas low tension didn't exist at the time). I installed the Thomastiks on one of my 4-string Corvettes and kept them there for a long time. I must still have the low B somewhere, unused! Having said all that, the TIs do have the tendency to be floppy, especially the B and E, so in my experience they are slightly more limited in their use than the Labellas or Chromes. In terms of tone, they have their own recognisable sound, so it's a matter of taste whether or not they suit the music you play.

Cab 003 is now finished the first stage of the build (passive). Weighed at 13.2Kg using digital bathroom scales. I hope to do some comparison testing with my Gallien Krueger MB500 and 210MBE cab tomorrow 🙂

Connector panel fitted, just with a single speakon for initial testing. Crossover fitted behind port to leave room behind the horn for addition of power amp later. All drivers fitted. Getting close!

@Silvia Bluejay aye. Tbh, I don't mind the tension too much, they are medium tension though so may have been different to yours? I really just wanted to see how I felt about the difference from rw's and I quite like them, hense now thinking about them on my Sandberg.

I like that idea though. Maybe a bit on the heavy side but you could then play wearing a nice smoking jacket and slippers.

Couple of yrs ago i was asked to join a band doing blues / funk style rock and i told them up front its a style haven't done before but went to the audition and got the job. I subsequently found i really enjoyed doing Doobie Brothers, Tony Joe White, Robert Cray, Little Feat and even John Mayall. Some of them were quite challenging but not so much technically but getting the feel for the song was what i found hardest part. Thoroughly enjoyed it tho. Dave

You mean you have fitted Fender flats to your bass? If they're your first ever flats, be aware that they are the stiffest set of flats I've ever had the misfortune to try on (and almost immediately whip off) a bass of mine. While their tension may be all right for your hands, their tone/sound will almost certainly be different from the very high quality (and rather more expensive) Labellas.

I’ve got the la bella low tension flats on my sandberg TT , I find the sound and the feel is absolutely spot on.

La Bella Low tension are the dogs doo-dahs! Used normal 760FL and then tried these, amazing and now on all my P basses

Most of us use long scale because generally the tone is better and the tuning more accurate. I’ve had both, lots of them. The size of your hands may also be a factor, if they’re small you may get on better with short scale but it will severely limit your choices of instruments. Nearly all the “classic” basses (Fender etc) are long scale. Short scale tend to be for niche markets, but back in the 60s when British bands ruled nearly everyone played short scale, as the only options - Hofners, Epiphones and Gibsons, Fender was not fashionable for a while. But then the circle went round and it seems everyone today wants the P or J bass (or a clone thereof) as you may have noticed watching pro bands or reading this forum.

Could you get in touch with the Kings of Leon. I'm fed up of being asked to learn their boring dirges...

Use a router with a table and roundover bit for sure if you've got one. Or one of those mini router trimmers. First cab now all assembled and dry. Its very solid indeed. But I don't think stain and lacquer (plan 1) will work very well, so I've ordered some moss green Tuff Cab.

It's a 2019 Euro LT. Bartolini pickups, active Darkglass circuit. Reliably informed it's an Alder back, a walnut stripe and flamed maple top. Three piece maple neck, ebony board. Gotoh machines. [Edit: it's my first Spector.] Despite the specs, it did need some work; despite being a couple of months old, the truss rod wasn't doing anything and (to my standards at least), it was unplayable, so I worked on it last night for a few hours. I had some money from my late mum's estate and hadn't used a penny of it for any kind of vanity purchase, saw this last week and pulled the trigger on it. I might put a photo of her on the back of the headstock.

I bought a nice little Oak corner unit for just this purpose. Take an ugly little combo apart and put the parts into the nice bit of furniture - perfect disguise. TBH though, the piece of furniture is still boxed and the combo still in one piece. I have lots of ideas - no "get up and go".

If only these - and the other similar units - could be powered by batteries.

You don't have to bring anything at all other than your good self, bring as much or as little as you like.

Mustang Sally

Limahl was singing certain movie soundtrack in 1984. Might suit this build?

Well done Nancy. Resistance was futile.....

Just used mine again last night at another jazz rehearsal. Punchy and clear tone; I love this cab.

Update: I am now running the open mic night along with a drummer, and things are progressing, but not how I expected! There's varied mix of ages and tastes in the bar, as a result I'm always on my toes as to what we'll end up playing. For example, Sunday night included songs by: Adele, Neil Young, UB40, Christy Moore, Belinda Carlisle, The Levellers, Nirvana, Bob Dylan, Texas, John Holt, Bruce Springsteen, The Pogues, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino The Stone Roses, Bob Marley and a few original songs. It's a very good way for me to discover music I wouldn't previously have countenanced, and learn new styles and meet (some) interesting people. Fab thread @Reggaebass *ps I have banned capos from the building

Out of a morbid desire to remind myself of this I’ve just clicked on the link again, only to see the note 'sorry you missed out on this item' Have to say, I’m not.....

So many of the above and Guns'n Roses Sweet child of mine

There is a trick that allows you to paint the whole cab in one go. I did mention it in the parallel thread, I think. You drill the holes for the feet and just screw the screws in (without the feet) leaving them protruding, say, 15 - 20mm. Paint the bottom panel first. Then turn the cabinet over, stand it on the screws and continue to paint the rest of the cab.

3 coats of Tuff Cab on the bottom and feet fitted. 50mm in from the edges seems about right giving clearance for the metal corners. I used the same screws as for the handle (5.0 X 30 black CSK wood screws) with a 3mm pilot hole. The screws do protrude inside slightly but are covered by the 2 layers of felt. I can now stand the cab right way up to paint the rest without damaging the bottom.

I fly a lot. I'd NEVER put my bass in the hold in my M80 - asking for trouble. I always use a SKB iSeries https://www.skbcases.com/music/products/prodlist.php?s=75&c=84&o=&f=sku_is_waterproof-1-75

The loud, crashing chord before the final song 'Her Majesty' makes sense now. It is actually the final chord of 'Mean Mr Mustard.' Well, that's worth waiting 50 years for!! 😉

The endless discussions about what to wear at gigs. But not actually having any gigs. The endless discussions about what new tunes to learn to play at gigs. But not actually having any gigs. Essentially too much inaction. In the end after one practice where no one had bothered even listening to the new tunes, lest alone practicing them, I expressed my dissatisfaction. The next morning an email went round from the drummer to the rest of the band basically a complete character assassination. Obviously he didn’t realise he’d sent it to ‘the band’ instead of everyone in the band apart from me*. I replied immediately to all with my resignation. Best thing I ever did. Stepped straight into 3 bands with gigs lined up and no discussions about what to wear. 😂 *or maybe he did?

Some people should never be in bands . Bands are a team sport

Birmingham "Musical Exchanges" store, June 1986. I'd just joined a very REM-y trio and was desperate for a Rickenbacker bass. I sold my custard yellow BC Rich Warlock, saved up my meager wages and I had £350 - then the going rate for second hand Ricky - burning a hole in my pocket. There were three or four hanging up in the shop, including my dream bass - a black 4001 with chequered binding. I played it. I hated it. I played all the others and hated them, too. I tried so hard to justify buying one, but I just couldn't. I could have cried. On my way out, I spotted an Ibanez 850 Roadstar in burgundy. I played it and fell in love. That bass was my number one gigging instrument for nearly twenty years. The Rickys I could have bought that day would be worth about £2000 now, I guess, but that Ibanez gave me so much pleasure and was so reliable that I don't mind too much. I love the look and sound of a fired up Rickenbacker bass, but they're just not for me.

Tech 21 DP-3X, becuase it's the sound in my head that I've been chasing for 25 years.

Current fun corner. Been contemplating making a sleeve/case/enclosure for the Ampeg PF350 to make it look a little more substantial.

Insurance policies differ from provider to provider - just read the policy booklet (usually downloadable to anyone) to make sure you know what you are buying. Lack of understanding is the primary gripe of most people who say things like “they’re all crooks” etc.

Recently I've been going to a couple of open mic nights - one at my local bar that's just gettting up and running & one at a nearby pub that's well-established. The established one is run by a group of Windrush generation musicians who play all sorts of reggae influenced music. I've heard loads of songs I'd have never come across & leant the bass parts so I can play at the night. The open mic at my local is a bit chaotic at the moment, with people with all different tastes in music wanting to play. As a result, I've told them I'll learn anything as long as they tell me in advance, and it's working quite well so far & I'm listening to & learning all sorts of music. The only problem is in response to the question: Me: "So, you do play it in the key that is was recorded, don't you?" Them (various): "Oh yes! Of course!" Song starts... Me: "What jeffin' key are you playing it in!?!" Them: "Erm...I'm not really sure." Or... Them: "Oh, it's in Am" Me: "Fine, but you're not playing it in Am." Them: "Oh, is this not Am?" Me: "No - that's Em" Them: "Well, I just put the capo on here for a change..." Me: *sighs* "Ok then."