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We don't all just stand at the back, y'know!

Apologies for the long post but a little story in recognition of a good gear experience. TLDR: Faulty Speaker replaced, excellent customer service in doing so, one very satisfied customer!: So a few months ago I bought my first 'real' rig. Up till this year I've been using various combos as I've never had the need or ambition for more but I've got a new itch to join a band so I thought I'd get myself a capable head & cab. After much research & consideration I plump for the Laney Nexus SLS head, with the R210 cab (might do a separate NAD post on this if anyone's interested, or even if not). Pleased as punch with this combination, looks great, all the bells and whistles, loads of power, lightweight and doesn't break the budget. Until... Farting noises. Not from me for a change, but coming from the amp while I'm playing. Like most of us when something appears to be wrong with an expensive purchase, I try to ignore it. Convince myself it isn't there. It's not that bad. Isn't it? Yes it is quite bad. I can't ignore it. It is definitely not supposed to sound like that. That is not the sound of a preamp tube, or the tweeter. It sounds like my signal is being fed through a very quiet fuzz pedal alongside my clean signal. But I don't have a fuzz pedal, and if I did, what would be the point of playing one quietly? So I try to eliminate the possible sources of the noise: effects pedals, leads, speaker cables etc. I narrow it down to the cab, or the amp. My first instinct is to contact the retailer, but both items were bought online from foreign based retailers (because apparently its cheaper to ship Laney gear to mainland Europe and back to a UK consumer than to buy from a UK dealer - who knew). So returning would be tricky. So to avoid the tricky conversation with a non-English speaking retailer I contact Laney. I don't know about anyone else but I have had distinctly mixed results contacting companies through websites so I wasn't expecting much from the technical query contact form on their website. But I described the problem and my attempts so far to identify and solve it, not hoping for much, but who knows, its worth a try. Anyway, I receive a reply within a day, asking further questions and suggesting other ways to investigate. A series of messages follows, checking one thing then another, and we locate the fuzz in one of the speakers. Via email I confirm that I'd bought the cab this year, and before I knew it a replacement speaker was on its way. Received within 1 more day, fitted to the cab, and problem solved from inital contact to satisfied customer in less than a week, and without a penny spent. So I am very grateful to Laney, who although I am a mostly bedroom bass playing nobody they didn't have to keep happy, and although they of course should rectify build faults in their products, they have got one very happy customer who took a gamble on their gear and has now become a fan of the company. Much appreciation for excellent service (especially Pete in the Service Department) and a further glow because its a British company who I think are making some genuinely innovative and standout products, both for guitar and bass.

I play bass because I was the least cool out of my group of mates when we formed a band when I was 13. Unfortunately 25 years later I’m still the least cool, so I’m still on the bass 😐

I realise, with a title like that, most of you will say... a) who the f*** is he, or b) didn't even know he'd been away. But here I am! I haven't been on here because I haven't been playing bass... doesn't seem very interesting (to me) when I'm not in a band. The only thing that would tempt me out of retirement now would be to join a proper "old farts" band (I mean that in the nicest possible way). So, yesterday I was perusing ebay to see what prices I may expect on my remaining (modest) gear, when an email pinged on the iPad. A guitarist I had played with over ten years ago wanted to know if I'd be up for joining his band. He is an excellent guitarist and has a great drummer (I've also worked with). They've recruited a singer, but their current bassist has to bow out due to ill health. After a brief exchange of mails, he has described the perfect old farts band. TBH, I left his band the first time round because they weren't doing enough gigs, but it would suit me now. He's also improved the setlist... some great sings in there now. The downside? I used to be buoyed up by a monstrous arrogance and belief in my own abilities... that all seems to have leaked out through the lace holes in me boots. Not sure how the new humble me will cope with all this. Not sure how this will pan out... you will be the first to know... ... but for now... must not get GAS... must not get GAS...

It’s finally out. Months after I’ve quit the band. Very long story with the craziness/hassle with this project but here it is. Me playing music that I would never listen to. My cousin plays guitar and the solo is superb in my opinion. Enjoy!

I've been following Mark Phillips for a while, both here and on eBay; I've always thought of his creations as sharing a heritage of sorts with the stuff his namesake Sid from Toy Story built.

I got a SkankDelvar diatribe in response to one of my posts! I'll die happy!

I played guitar for years before switching to Bass, (never regretted it), but if I had my time again I reckon it would have to be Hammond Organ. There is just something about the Hammond/Leslie combination that really gets to me.

Continuing my quest to further stress test the floorboards of my mancave, I got this today. It's lived in a full flight case for most of it's close on thirty years and as a result has fared far better than many of the others I've looked at (the 'rubberised' cases tend to have chunks missing out of them looking like they've been nibbled around the edges). Some of the grey/silver paint has worn where it's been slid in and out of the flight case and there's a very slight nick out of one of the corners but other than that it's in fine fettle. The front and back panels are immaculate with all switches, knobs, lights and sliders present and correct and working. It really is in superb nick and sounds great. No scratchy pots, all switches and sliders operate smoothly and with a quality feel to them. No unwelcome buzzing or hissing and the always on fan just spins away quietly in the background. My MkIV is the quietest running amp I've ever heard and this is just the same. So I've got the MkIV, the Series 6 and an SMX (and an Elf). Just on the lookout for a pristine MkV AH250 now and then I think I'd better call it a day. 😁

I got quite a bit done on the neck today. First up I glued in the MOP position markers. Sounds easy but is actually tricky. Getting them all centred and looking equally spaced between the fret slots takes some practice. It's made more complicated by the fact that they also aren't accurately sized. Some are well over 6mm... Others less.... The smaller ones are spot on. The biggers ones I put to one side. The problem is that a 6mm drill bit isn't actually 6mm in diameter, it's more like 5.9. So if you try and put a 6.1mm dot in a 5.9mm hole you run the risk of either it getting stuck and not all the way in, or cracking it. If anyone knows why drill bits are consistently manufactured small than their nominal size, I'd be interested to know. The next problem is one I should have thought about before it happened, but I'm pretty ditzy most of the time. The fretboard get thinner as you reach the end of the neck because it's radiused and tapered. When I cut the slot for the binding by the time I reached the end of the neck it was almost 7mm deep, a good 1mm deeper than the binding. So I had to make an extra tall piece of binding by gluing two pieces together. It worked out pretty invisibly, but next time I need to remember to cut the binding slot so that it's a consistent depth. This is what I mean: I did the binding mitres on my belt sander then glued them to the fretboard using CA glue. I haven't used this technique before, but I think it worked well. Basically you tape the binding in place then use water-thin CA glue with a mini pipette to wick the glue down into the join. It has the advantage that you can dry cut all the mitres etc and get everything just right, tape it all into place then casually apply the glue. It's certainly a stress free technique. I'd thought about using it for the body, but I was a bit nervous about the CA glue getting into the veneer and causing blotchness under the finishing. Given how easy it was though, next time I may use it for the body as well. Here I'm wicking the glue in: The great thing about CA glue is that it takes almost no time to cure so I started to trim it back flush with a scraper. Nice shavings! Tomorrow I'll get it all scraped back flush, and hopefully finish sanding the fretboard.

Crikey that's a looker! Just like mine 😁

Nope, it just turns out you're a drummer after all

Played with The Fox Hollies Set at Wishaw golf club to diners. Very nice venue. Much polite applause albeit mostly from family and friends in attendance. Back home and in bed well before midnight.

If I could turn back the clock I wouldn't have waited until I was 50+ years old before I took to playing an instrument.

Arrogant mostly

Well the story starts from my Sei. Some might know that I sold it. To Carlsim on BC who is a total gent and a very cool guy. Said bass was posted too Carl. Carl then got in contact with me. I posted in my advert that the preamp was a a UNI Pre. I meant to say it was a U Retro Deluxe but I advertised it wrong. My fault of course. Well after a few PMs back and forth Carl worked out that it wasn't either. It was actually a J Retro Deluxe. BUT the bell plate when it was fitted was not installed, so I presumed it was a U Retro Deluxe. Confusion much so. Anyway it was a pain in the derrière for Carl because he had paid for a bass that wasn't what he expected. So I sent him some money to get the Preamp that he wanted which he wanted being the UNI pre.lets hope it fits we/he said.But all was cool. John East sent him a Uni pre and bless Carl. He un installed the J Retro and then fitted the Uni pre which he is happy with. Carl after a few PMs sent the preamp direct to John I spoke to John East about this situation through numerous emails and on the phone throughout this situation which he always answered. I then spoke to John about getting a new Jazz bell plate for said J Retro. He said on the phone that he had a plate no probs. Now this is where John East is not just one of the greatest designers of possibly one of the best preamps for a bass on the market, but one of the most easy to get hold of nicest guys and one on one its like talking to your next door neighbour . I spoke to him and he said to send him the preamp, he would give me a free plate from his stock that has a slight blemish, he would then rewire the preamp and fit new knobs.! FOR FREE.!! all I have to do is cover the postage.. I don't really need to add much to this. I dont want want to endorse asking John to give away free stuff, but what a guy and what a gesture. For me first off this is what BC is about . Honesty, communication, and wanting other bass players to be happy with what you have sold them. But really its a big up to John East. What a gentleman..

Does it bug anyone else when messages are left unanswered? Or someone gets in touch about an item, you reply and then they don't respond, even though you can see they've read the message...... Seems to be happening more and more these days. Just a "no thanks", or "thanks, but that's not what I'm after" would do, a little bit of courtesy.... Guess I'm just a grumpy git today.

No, he can not be a true bassist. A true bassist can NOT play and move at the same time. This has to be fake! Yes, I have heard and even seen that Mark King can play and sing at the same time, but come on, his background is drums!

I’ll bring along my usual big bundle of review CDs and a Q-Tron that I won last year and never found a use for.

Those Strandbergs are incredibly expensive for what they are. But the Tech 21, why not!

PLEASE can people bring unwanted musical related items along for the raffle?! Strings, books, bags, strap pins, you name it.... as long as it's in excellent condition and worthy of being a raffle prize.... Thanks!!

I don't think my legs can physically move like that. If I tried it I'd be face down on the stage before you could say 'River Dance'.

No Rickenbackers!

This, +1

Eden WTDI? I use it & like it.

I once picked up a book "Bass Chords"... I thought... nah! I also played fretless for a while... that's just asking for trouble.

My first good amp was a Laney Pro Bass 4x10 combo like this. I gigged the sheeite out of it for years, never let me down. Sounded great.

If I could turn back time I would do more and do it all a lot better. I'd have bought my Precision when I did. It was the first time I had the cash so I couldn't have bought it any earlier. Musical things I'd change. . . . . . I was "good enough" with little effort and I rested on my laurels too much. Basically lazy! If I had a second time around I'd push myself, everyday, to become a better player. I wish I'd switched to 5 string basses at least 10 years earlier. I never took up double bass, that has always been a big mistake and I should have made the effort to get my vocals together. I sang in my band at school, but stopped when I started playing with much better players. Sadly we can't turn the clock back. All we can do is make the right changes in our own lives now and tell others about what we have learned, so they can build on the experience of others.

The irony is my music teacher said I had the best relative pitch of anyone she;'d ever taught. I could sing a long song unaccompanied and the last note would always be spot on. Last night our guitarist sang a bass riff for me and I played it straight off.

The Bass Centre was a fantastic place. I went to see a Billy Sheehan clinic there in the early 90's, and the amazing @neilmurraybass was stood behind me in the queue! Pics below (Awww, look at his little face!):

Right from the beginnings of heavy metal the lyrics have been macho, vacuous and devoid of relevancy or social comment: Generals gathered in their masses, just like witches at black masses. Evil minds that plot destruction, sorcerer of death's construction. In the fields the bodies burning, as the war machine keeps turning. Death and hatred to mankind, poisoning their brainwashed minds... Oh lord yeah! Politicians hide themselves away They only started the war Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role to the poor Time will tell on their power minds Making war just for fun Treating people just like pawns in chess Wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah! Now in darkness, world stops turning, ashes where the bodies burning. No more war pigs have the power, hand of god has struck the hour. Day of judgement, god is calling, on their knees the war pigs crawling. Begging mercy for their sins, Satan, laughing, spreads his wings... Oh lord, yeah!

I have one of those looms in my Stringray 5!! Man, the hate I got on the EBMM forum...

I'd still have chosen bass, but I might have gone for some lessons and learnt a bit of music theory...

I'm keen to point out that in spite of transcribing a lot of music over the last 10 or so years I'm by no means quick at it - most of the charts that I put up take a few hours of solid work, others much more. One trick that I use when I have a lot of charts to write in a short space of time is to spend my 'first pass' of the song listening to structure only. If you know where the pulse is, then you can create a neat little list of how many bars each section is, which might look like this: Intro 4 V1 8 Chorus 8 V2 10 Solo 16 V3 (breakdown) 8 + 4 Chorus 8 + 8 This gives you a head start when putting things into notation software, and gives you a bird's-eye view of the 'geography' of the song, which can be helpful when it comes to memorising it for a gig. Rhythm is one of the most frustrating aspects of transcription, but all I can say is that over time you'll begin to build up a library of 'patterns' in your brain and instinctively know how to write out what you hear. I'm also a firm believer that better reading = better writing, so keep up the Louis Bellson torture... FWIW, 'I Feel The Earth Move' is a tough one to write out because of all the syncopation, so fair play for not making life easy for yourself!

My advice is listen to several 'bass only' or 'bass and drums' multitracks from your favourite bands on youtube etc. You'll be amazed at how awful (even amateurish) they sound isolated, but brilliant in the mix. For recording a beautiful loud thumping live bass tone isnt always the way to go. I've had best results with quite a messy, over driven, basic sound which picks up all kinds of clank and fret noise.

If it’s any help I’ve just used Eurosender to ship a bass to Itu in Helsinki. Here’s my experience. I found, like others above, it was initially difficult to get a price so that one could quote and charge the buyer beforehand. It’s easy to start an order and get a price for a package with the sizes and the weight, but insurance wasn’t quoted without going through the whole process. However, there is a pop up thingamy offering chat and I got a quote straight away. It’s €12.99 up to €1,000, and €17.99 up to €2,000, which includes VAT of 17%. The package was €56.99 up to 20 kilos again including VAT. Collected from my door and delivered to Helsinki in the three working days they quoted. Tracking information was detailed and accurate throughout. I would have no hesitation in recommending Eurosender, which seems to be a company which uses several different transport agencies, in my case it was an English carrier who collected my bass, tracking information and actual carriage to Finland was provided by GLS Group. The invoice was provided by Eurosender. My only slight gripe was that I could not find anywhere to note the Basschat10 discount key to claim the discount, although I did put it in the comments box. I thought that the price paid was very competitive anyway. Hope this is useful. Graham

I have started learning to read music and it's taking me an awfully long time but I am progressing. I realise that scribbled notes, tab, homemafe e formulas for saving ideas, recordings etc were all attempts to do something better done by writing and reading music. I don't want to relearn a song if I've not played it for yonks. I want to pull up the score and get it down again really fast. Also learning anything is immensely satisfying and rewarding, and anything to do with music doubly so for me.

My concern with Mr Phillips' instrument is that it is possible that beginners are likely to buy one of his creations thinking that they are playable, VFM instruments. Now I have no experience of playing his instruments but I believe that there is a consensus of concern, based on what we can see, about the usability of these. I've no idea of his motivation for turning out poorly constructed instruments - if he has any talent as a luthier he should be producing items of a much higher quality. I don't think I've seen any of his work which constitutes an improvement over what came out of the factory. He may make a few bob from churning these out and selling them to inexperienced players but in doing so he may also be crushing the dreams of those new players (many of who can barely afford their first instrument) who, finding them unplayable, think that it isn't the instrument, it's their lack of talent/ability and give up. If he is offended by comments on forums such as ours he has a number of options, including upping his game and producing usable instruments and giving up making these atrocities. He is accountable for what he's doing, I believe we are well within our rights to hold him, and anybody else producing poorly constructed instruments, to account.

I have 3 band EQ at my fingertips on my bass. That’s nothing like having it on the amp or a pedal. It makes a big difference to be able to control on stage/room sound like that.

Good to see Martin from the bass centre contributing to this thread. I went there in 1991. I had been to Fat Ricks to look at a Hamer Thunderbird that had been owned (wrecked) by the Quireboys. It was £450. It was all I had. The bass was rubbish so I went off to Wapping. Tried loads of basses and found a s/h Status 4000 in a sort of burnt orange at £595. I explained to Martin I only had £450 and the only thing in the shop I liked was the status. He let me have it for £450. I was stoked. Thanks Martin

It's actually got nothing to do with being grumpy, old, or a git ... its a microcosmic reflection upon the rapidly declining standards of acceptible behaviour so evident today in our society. Bad manners, rudeness, selfishness and lack of courtesy are blatantly on show like never before (Trump / Westminster anyone?). It might currently be 'on trend' to act in that way however, it remains appalling nonetheless.

Genuine question - what would you consider to be a good lyric?

Some of you might find this useful/interesting..... When i opened up my future impact pedal out of curiosity to see what was inside, i was shocked to find mostly (continental brand) fresh air! Here you can see that the lower half of the pedal is almost exactly, approximately an MXR BEF worth of space!! So i formulated a plan to Design and 3D print an enclosure, into which i can re-house the innards of the Future impact, to make a much more pedalboard friendly footprint. I began by removing the knobs from the outside and the circuit boards from the inside of the case I then laser scanned the inside of the case to generate an STL that can be used to replicate the Mounting features/holes in the new design. I copied all of the internal/external features from the STL, but moved the foot switches as close to the circuit board as i could on the inside. I didn't put in any small holes for the screws, as i thought these would be better aligned using the actual circuit boards as a template. I printed the 1st Prototype ove night last night and assembled it this morning. Everything went together great and still functioned perfectly. I was able to reduce the length of the enclosure from 155mm to 101mm, and i think there's room for further improvement on that. The finished prototype unit. And here it is re-installed on the board. I plan to tweak the design and print another next week if i get a chance. Some of the changes will include reducing the length of the housing even further, moving the on/off switch more central to get it away from the encoder, adding a feature to recess display protector of some kind, branding/lettering. I'm open to suggestions for additional improvements. For now, its printed in PLA, but once the design is finalises, ill be printing it it Black Nylon which will stand up to pedalboard life a bit better. Once the design is complete, im happy to share the STL so you can print it yourselves, or £ven print a few and ship them out to those interested. *Any FI owners that's capable of cool graphic designs can have one for free if they develop the artwork (2 colors)

NAD - DG AO900 arrived safely in the post and seems to be working just fine. It's a used one I picked up in the FS for a good price but alas comes without the footswitch! Had a few BC'ers been asking how the new models stack up against the (now discontinued) v1s. I'd say it's a significant evolution rather than a revolution. In particular: The power module delivering 900 very clean watts at 4 ohms and 2 ohms is still the same. The Series 2 models both sport the same clean lines of design and general form factor / size. Key difference between the AO, and the M900 Mk2 and Mk1 AO drive vs B3K and VMT (on both the M900 Mk2 and Mk1) The AO drive follows the feature set available on the Alpha Omicron, including 'bite' and 'growl' switches and the ability to blend the Alpha and Omega drives. The B3K and VMT are independent with no possibility of blending. A consequential impact is that the AO900 can manage just fine with the 'intelligent' footswitch and doesn't need the 'super intelligent' footswitch to fully unlock the amp's features when using a footswitch. So whether the AO is the right one for you should very much be driven (excuse the pun!) by which drive engine you prefer. If you're not into DG drives at all but you just want the excellent 900W clean and flexible EQ that's available from the power module then maybe it might make more sense to pick up a used Mk1. However, this key difference aside, the AO900 and the M900 Mk2 have a lot of the new features in common. The following are all available on the both the AO900 and the M900 Mk2, and are the 'evolution' over the Mk1: Improvements that are 'nice to haves' 6 band EQ vs 4 band, but the 4 band on the Mk1 comes with semi para for both low and high mids. Tied in with 2, sliders rather than dials provides a neater layout, allowing space for the additional two EQ bands. Sliders should also be less prone to being knocked off desired settings accidentally. Aux in and headphone out. The latter has its own vol control which is a nice touch and a choice of 3 cab sims. Built in compressor (apparently based on the Hyperluminal circuit but tbc). Other new features (will likely be less relevant to me in the short term, but maybe the opposite for others) Two cab outputs so no need to daisy chain cabs Both pre and post DI outputs available simultaneously IRs can be loaded USB and midi connectivity I'll shortly be putting my Mk1 up for sale, but in the meantime I've got them set up to A/B and I'll be particularly focusing on the difference between the AO drive vs the B3K/VMT and the 6 band EQ vs 4 band with para mids. Will report back when I've done so.

GAS is a terrible thing, lucky for me Im a strict P or J guy (boring I know) into a full fat valve amp and thats it, saying that there was a rather lovely 65 P for sale at a snip over 5K, Release your inner gas and watch the room clear as you (temporarily) feel much better.

Swapped pedals evenly with Mr. Black, he was very nice and quick, even paid for priority delivery to my surprise. Everything was nicely packed, in prescribed conditions and working top notch.

For headphone use a lot of us are using the Zoom B1 effects pedal. You get a load of effects including some usable out of the box sounds, a tuner and drum machine built in but best of all for me the headphone output is really nice sounding and you can mix it in with audio from anything that'll drive earbuds. I run mine off AA rechargeables and get about 10 hours practice out of them but you can power it with a mains adaptor or USB lead. Looks like they are updating it so they are cheap £45 if you want one now https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoom-B1on-Bass-Effects-Pedal/dp/B00JLEHMG6 Actually have a look at the new one looks like they have kept most of the features of the old B1ON but made it a lot simpler to use. £69

MXR M80, no comp, but some gnarly, blendable distortion. https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/07062712180828--mxr-bass-di-m80

It was Dave Cousins, Chas Cronk and Dave Lambert. Playing acoustically and chatting about the bands history. It was fabulous. I was in awe of Chas Cronks' dexterity, playing twelve string and/or bass, whilst playing foot controlled bass and strings. Singing too ! A very intimate gig, They were happy to chat afterwards with us mere mortals.