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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/02/20 in all areas
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Hey gang! A couple of years ago I played two shows at Newcastle Arena, as part of the house band for Sunday for Sammy. It was lots of fun - two sell out shows of 5,000 each, and I got to play with the likes of Trevor Horn and Ralph McTell. Here's the last diary thread if you're interested. With it being a biennial thing, the time has come around again: 23rd February is the date - afternoon and evening shows, and a slightly larger crowd (7,000 at each show, I think). The shows have basically become a Tyneside equivalent of the Royal Command Performance, with music and comedy lots of local slebs (the Auf Wiedershehen Pet cast, etc.), visits from AC/DC's Brian Johnson, Mark Knopfler amongst others, and more 'national' faces (hence Trevor Horn, Ralph McTell). This is the 10th show in 20 years, and the second to be held at the Arena after 16 years at Newcastle City Hall. It's a HUGE production, which is also shot for DVD release. By nature of the show, plans can be a bit liquid which means it can get interesting, so I'm going to post a diary sort-of thing here as it all unfolds. To complicate things, the line-up is top secret until the last minute so I can't post any details of the show, songs, or names of guests. Apologies in advance. The core band for 2020 is largely the same as 2018 - Bass, drums, guitar (John Ashton, who worked with Arctic Monkeys and The Last Shadow Puppets), 3x female BVs (Including Lorraine Crosby, who duetted with Meat Loaf on 'I'd Do Anything for Love', brass section (headed up by John Waugh from The 1975). One change to the line-up is that Jamie, the usual keys player and MD, isn't available so Alan Clark (Dire Straits) is taking the reins. The band don't exist outside of these shows - I play with the drummer and other sax player occasionally, but that's it. With 3 weeks to go, I'm aware of 13 songs that are in the frame, in keys that are subject to change. I've familiarised myself with them already - some I knew, some I didn't. No nightmares so far. One of the tunes might even need a bit of slap on it. I'd better remind myself how to do that. What I don't know is any specific arrangements... yet. We've got a solid week of band rehearsals before the show, so I'll post more updates & pics etc. when it begins to happen. In the meantime, here's little video from the last gig, and a photo of my little bit of the stage.11 points
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Super rare Fender Japan Hollow Boby Jazz Bass. Very good condition. Plays and sounds awesome. Very lightweight (3,7kg)! Would trade for a Strandberg Boden Prog 4- String or a Wal MK II 4 String + Cash Price Update £16995 points -
New Bass Ukulele Day!!! 😎 For my birthday this year (which was actually the 2nd of January delivery from China combined with hold ups at customs has delayed this a bit) my lovely wife has generously bought me this wee beasty. It's a Musoo MiNi 5 string solid body electric bass ukulele that she purchased through Amazon. She actually ordered the bolt on version but they had run out of stock so the supplier offered a free upgrade to the neck through model (about £50 difference) - thank you very much! I'm having a lot of fun with it so far. I even took it to work with me this morning to play in the car on my lunch break (with a headphone amp plugged into the car stereo). It's not without its flaws as you might expect from a budget, Chinese made instrument (the fret ends were literally like razor blades before I filed them down - five minutes of playing after I first unpacked it and my left hand was like raw hamburger 😣). After sorting that though I'm actually very impressed. Lovely smooth satin finish on the neck, a comfortable profile and the intonation is surprisingly spot on too. It's very quiet acoustically (which is actually an advantage as it doesn't annoy my wife too much) but sounds really good plugged in and there's a decent range of tones to be had from the 3 band eq.5 points
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Played a gig in Saaaaaaafend a few years back and the venue had a drum riser that wasn't quite big enough for our drummers kit, during the first song one of his cymbal stands fell and the cymbal edge guillotined straight through the master stage power cable and shorted out the entire venue! The power running through said cable must have been pretty immense as the edge of his cymbal (A fairly thick Sabian AAX I seem to remember) looked like someone had taken an arc-welder to it. Proper smelted!5 points
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I recently traded this lovely beast but cant afford to keep it, which is a real shame as I have a build in progress and need funds and parts. This is a superb example of the ibanez blazer, serial number gives it a birthday of March 1982 at the Terada factory in Japan. Build quality is excellent and is one of the best sounding and playing p basses that i have ever played. For a 38 year old bass condition its excellent. Bridge/truss rod are fully working, the bridge and controls are tarnished as you would expect. Around the body there are a few little marks but basically its in amazing condition. Fret wear is all but non existent. lacquer on all parts of the neck is excellent. There is a little bit of scratchplate lift but nothing out of the oridinary bearing in mind its vintage. A rare colour to. I cant recall ever seeing a blazer in sea foam green. Previous owner did some shielding, no noise at all, so good job well done there. Recently restrung, its a plug and play bass. Beautiful. Kicks butt to, very powerful. Happy to post to the UK, insured at buyers expense. Or meet up to exchange in the home counties sort of area. may PX (although cash needs to be involved somewhere). small portable bass cab (15"), I have a build in progress so decent five string bridge, a decent pre amp (aguilar, john east, glockenklang, Delano).5 points -
My tribute to one of the greatest bass players of all time in one of his most beautiful and technical basslines. Hope you like it! https://youtu.be/vouzfGzXaOw4 points
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4 points
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Slade dummer Don Powell departs Dave Hill's Slade, starts Don Powell's Slade https://www.loudersound.com/news/slade-dummer-don-powell-departs-dave-hills-slade-starts-don-powells-slade4 points
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Just a quick pic of my new (2016) VM4. Loving it!4 points
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Amps....? Cabs.....? Nah can't remember them.4 points
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I would also pop a screengrab of the email on the Ibanez UK page - that's a big claim to make regarding Ibanez' QC and would be interesting to see what they make of it https://www.facebook.com/ibanezuk/4 points
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3 pages and not mention of Bootsy Collins ! Have we been taking too much sugar ? Fixed !4 points
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Bit more progress on my build.... Ready for the edges to be sanded flush and then rounded over. Rebated handle with backing/damping behind. Ditto for the back connection panel4 points
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4 points
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Sting, obviously. One of the most irritating people on the entire planet.4 points
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The almighty Lemmy, of course. No need for a picture. If you don't know him, you know nothing about bass. Period.4 points
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I love that this was edited by one of the mods As a flag waving, T-shirt wearing techy I'll bite. Mic that rig up and pump it through a really good Class D, Neo speakered, festival sized PA rig and it'd sound just as good. So it isn't class D or lightweight neo speakers, it is something else. I'll tell you my theory, in the olden days speakers and amps were designed to enhance your bass sound (guitar sound even more so but this is Basschat) They didn't need to be clean and undistorted they just had to sound good. People built cabs and tried them out with bass and the ones that sounded best or most popular got made and sold. Theory wasn't really worked out until the 70's and didn't get through to instrument amp design until much later. The truth is we don't much like uncoloured sound for bass and most of us aren't very good at finding the eq to achieve it so a nice old Trace that gives us the Trace sound sounds better to us than our own attempts to recreate it. The second thing is that we like things that are loud, too loud to be sensible but there is joy in just cranking up an old monolith of a speaker with an amp with the frequency response curve of the Cairngorms. Sensibly we'd scrap the backline, use in-ears or at least floor monitors and let the PA do it's job but for some that's no fun. There's also a lot of self delusion, I used to have fun in my old rear wheel drive cars with cross ply tyres sliding round bends double declutching because the synchromesh was rubbish but I can't really pretend those cars were 'better' than those I drive now. One day soon the computer modelling will be so good we won't be able to tell the difference but that is still a little way away. Until then if you love an old Peavey stack and don't mind shifting it then the important thing isn't technical perfection so go for it and enjoy.4 points
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I must have done this one on these pages before but I once spent a frantic five minutes at the start of a set with no sound coming from my amp or the PA. Frontman had to make awkward banter whilst I checked everything. Amp on, bass on full, everything connected up, sound man on stage, he checks everything, still nothing..., drummer comes over and investigates too, still nothing... guy at the front of the crowd enquires as to whether a cable is required between my bass and amp... 🤦♂️4 points
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I'll try this again. £750 including UK shipping. I nearly sold it twice, it is absolutely straight and mint '97 USA, just the celly colour change courtesy the highly respected David Hughes. It's a stunner and set up really nicely with D'Addario nickel rounds on. Not up for shipping outside UK unless buyer covers insurance or takes the risk. Here's the original info: A minter. Bought new in early '98 (GAK, Brighton), sold to me (second owner) about 3 years ago. Never messed with, modded or banged around. I've owned a good few Ps over the years and I really rate the 90s basses for build, sound and value (a 23 year old USA bass with no 'vintage' premium). The previous owner played this bass in pub bands for many years so it's nicely played in but still really good, no noticeable fret wear etc. Was originally black poly, and I had David Wilson refinish it in LPB nitro a few months ago. He was recommended to me by a number of forum members and his work is really impeccable - so this is like a new one, just needs the years to pass by as the nitro mellows. Has been my main gigging bass (through a GB 900 and GB 8812 cab) with EB Cobalts. I'm using the Jazz these days and will be acquiring a 60s Original soon so this fine example is up for sale. Original Fender 'chainsaw' case in excellent condition, original truss tool. I have pics from David of the refinish stages - the black body had a heavy coat of poly on with a 3TSB underneath (all definitely factory original, so a Corona colour-swap to sort their production mix) - the new nitro has a deep rich clear laquer but is still surely much thinner than the original 2 coats of poly and I'm sure the bass is more lively and vibrant now. Best thing is come and play it. Or I can drive a reasonable way carefully (9 points and rising). Will pack really well for shipping - own courier. SALE ONLY now, sorry no trades.3 points -
I thought I'd start a thread for people to admit their, hopefully humorous, bass face-palm moments. This is inspired by what I did last night. I got my acoustic bass guitar out of its bag ready for a rehearsal today - prior to an unplugged gig we've got in March. The strings felt like they needed a bit of a clean. So, I said to the wife, "Have we any isopropyl alcohol anywhere?" She replied, "No, but you can use some of my vodka if you want". Five minutes later I go back to the room where she's watching television. "The good news is; it doesn't leave a stain and evoporates quickly". I'd only gone and knocked the open bottle over and most of it poured over the table and on to the floor. An extra Norman Wisdom touch was that next doors' dog was with me. I give her respite from their teething toddler. Being part Laborador she moves like stinky poo off a shovel if there's any hint of food or drink. I reckon she got a couple of generous doubles before I restrained her. Problem is, she'll expect that every time now and sit by the booze cupboard howling. The bass strings now feel much better though.3 points
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It's the different factories that made them. MIJ Fenders & Squiers were originally made by Fujigen Gakki, who, as I understand it, have exclusive use of "Made In Japan" on their Fender products. CIJs were sourced from at least two other factories, Dyna Gakki and Tokai Gakki. I think MIJs largely stopped in the late 90s, so most recent Japanese Fenders will have been CIJ, with as far as I know, an occasional MIJ/Fujigen batch from time to time. There's not any quality differentiation between the factories. This was the case while Fender Japan was operated by Kanda Shokai/Yamano Gakki, I know that relationship came to an end a few years ago, but I don't know who's responsible for current Japanese Fenders.3 points
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I hope you will let them know that.3 points
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Are you sure you wouldn't rather be having beer spilt on you at a half full Dog & Duck while pished up punters fall into the PA speakers?3 points
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I think you should call them. Ibanez are distributed in the Uk by Headstock distribution and their contact number is: 0121 508 66663 points
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I went from HH guitar head to Cobra 90, because I could not afford a Trace Elliot and Carlsbro had a good reputation for bass gear back in the day. Put it through a Laney 4x10 and was very happy. To be honest I didn't know or care about the gearhead side of things until Basstalk or whatever this place was called then. Now I know exactly why the basses I like are crap, the amps and cabs I love are rubbush, the strings I prefer are garbage and my taste in effects is risible. Which is nice.3 points
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Ms E Spalding3 points
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Taxi... Just some proud dad photos of #16 finished. Big thanks to Stevie, Phil, Chienmortbb and all involved in the design. Also thanks to funkle and all the other posters on this thread enabling me to actually have some idea how to build it! My build was pretty much as described. Finished with 4 coats of Tuffcab pro, Grille background is 3 coats of Fascinating Finishes Aerosol Grey Acid Etch primer. Final weight came out at 14.5kg per the bathroom scales. Artwork for the grille courtesy of my 11 year old daughter.3 points
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Offered for sale is my Squier Vintage Modified Precision Bass Fretless in 3-Colour Sunburst that is essentially a very nice lined fretless. I bought it last year for a recording project that never happened and it's not left the house. These look to be discontinued but were retailing at £350, a lot of bass for the money. Mine only got played at home a few times before being retired to a case and I have been uber lazy in terms of shifting it on. Looking for £275. It'll be collection only as I don't have a case for shipping but I am easily accessible along the M4 / can potentially be around the A34 too. The only difference is I put flats on this but I can restring if it isn't to your tastes.. The spec from Squier is as follows: Vintage Modified Precision Bass Fretless Key Features: Fender Designed Precision Bass Pickup Modern “C” Shaped Neck with Vintage-Tint Vintage Style Chrome Hardware Fretless Ebonol Fingerboard Tortoiseshell Pickguard Vintage Modified Precision Bass Fretless Specs: Body Body Material: Agathis Body Finish: Gloss Polyester Body Shape: Precision Bass Neck Neck Material: Maple Neck Finish: Gloss Polyurethane Neck Shape: Modern “C” Scale Length: 34" (864 mm) Fingerboard Material: Ebonol Fingerboard Radius: 9.5” (241 mm) Number of Frets: Fretless Fret Size: Fretless Nut Material: Synthetic Bone Nut Width: 1.625" (41.3 mm) Position Inlays: Side Dot Truss Rod: Standard Electronics Pickup: Fender-Designed Split Single-Coil Precision Bass Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone Configuration: S Hardware Bridge: 4-Saddle Vintage Style with Single Groove Saddles Hardware Finish: Chrome Tuning Machines: Standard Open-Gear Pickguard: Tortoiseshell Control Knobs: Dome Style Neck Plate: 4-Bolt Squier Miscellaneous Strings: Fender USA Bass 7250ML, NPS, (.045 - .100 Gauges) Other Features: Vintage Tint Neck, Knurled Chrome Dome Control Knobs, Single Disk String Tree2 points -
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We've all seen photos of the outrageous Magnum I & II basses with the bizarre body shape and the Jah Wobble connections. Well I have one of those too so I'm finding it hard to justify hanging on to this lesser-known Magnum III. To explain why they reverted to a more 'vanilla' body shape you really need to persuade @FlatEric to put in an appearance, but the two designs share more-or-less exactly the same electrics & sound, not to mention the very significant weight. That bridge gives new meaning to the concept of 'high mass' and was a one-off design by renowned engineer & inventor Charles Kaman ( https://www.kaman.com/our-company/our-founder-charles-kaman ), a man who is well worth reading up on. Not many people design & build helicopters for the U.S. Army and start up a top-notch musical instrument company in their spare time. That black strip up the back of the neck isn't a skunk stripe, it's carbon fibre. Less obvious is that there are another two such strips under the fingerboard. This isn't a neck that needs much truss-rod tweaking. The bass will be 40 years old this year, but is in remarkably fine condition. Very little by way of buckle-rash or random scratching. The hex socket is part of the bridge adjustment. Even the neckplate looks like it was designed to withstand combat in an armoured division. The neck is decidedly more Jazz than Precision, and it's 41mm at the nut. The immaculate decal hints at how well looked-after this bass has been. Shamelessly pinching the specs from another website: - Mahogany body and neck (but reinforced with carbon). - Ebony fretboard. - 34" scale. - Neck pickup: individually output-adjustable coils for each string! - Rubber damper - bridge vol + tone, neck vol + tone - Pickup selector switch Like all my sales here on Basschat this instrument is priced to sell, but the very low asking price also reflects the bass's one flaw - which is very hard to photograph. That very-slightly lilac hue that you think you can see is actually there, and it's more visible than these photos show. In the flesh, it's quite obvious that the finish (on the top only) has suffered some sort of 'bloom' which has stained the lacquer. It's not offensive, it's not in-yer-face, it is quite invisible from a distance or under stage lights ... but it's definitely there. That was factored into the price when I bought the bass, so I'm factoring it into the price now. Quite apart from all the on-going quirkiness, though, what makes these Ovation basses special is their truly astonishing bottom end. That enormous mudbucker at the neck does NOT sound like an uber-muddy Gibson EB0, it sounds like The Humbucker Of Doom and yes, you really can see individual volume adjustments for each string. With the neck p/u only selected and the tone rolled off, even strung with rounds (as it is now - my Magnum II has the flats) you get a magnificent dub tone. Re-string with flats and the dub becomes truly righteous. The long rail across the top of the pickups is an original fitment (even though it looks like an afterthought) and obviously provides a perfect thumbrest in every position. The bass is in Harrow (NW London) and I am perfectly happy to drive or tube a reasonable distance to meet in person. I am always reluctant to entrust high-end basses to a courier, any courier, but I will if I have to. My experience is that you should allow at least £20 for that. In storage I have the original hardcase for at least one of my two Ovations ... but I can't remember which! Hopefully it's for this one but, if not, I'll provide a good-quality semi-rigid gig-bag instead.2 points -
They are great , this is another i really like 🙂2 points
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Gonna nick this one, as well! Thanks for sharing!2 points
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I feel your pain but would let it go, it’s a very long time since eBay feedback meant anything because no matter how dishonest/crap/rude you have been, you can always get a negative feedback removed. As a business eBay want to keep the money moving, and too much negative feedback slows things down and lowers sale prices. There are better ways to spend your time than fighting a losing battle with them.2 points
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I should really get around to contributing to this thread being a bit of a reggaemon but i have been running on a Jamaican time frame, 😂....better irie than never My old reggae covers band has recently reformed, new singer (female), new horns (forgot how loud trombonists are). Very early days, 4 rehearsals so far and around 10 tunes......oddly mostly ska at this stage. I've played various reggae esq music between 2008-2015 from covers of the usual classics and also not so well known, a bit of 50/60's trad ska with a jazz flavour, bit of two tone ska depping for Too hot, heavy loud UK Roots dub being the live backing band for our friend Daddy Teacha who's worked with Vibronics, Iration Steppas, and Alpha & Omega among many, and also providing billions of classic riddims for our Jamaican friend 'Goldman' and his live Tiger style sets...20 seconds of a riddim, 'pull upppppppp'.... next riddim followed by Sleng Teng for two hours (ad nauseum).....long set list with songs lasting the average length of a Napalm death song! Then had 4 years off doing soul/funktion band stuff and a bit of grunge rock to play a bit of my youth.....but now back to the vibe i love ......the sweet reggae.....here is a nice tune we're nicking for the set, we'll do a version of a version of a version...simple B line but the sum of the parts are very nice:2 points
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2 points
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Yep, as I've mentioned on other threads, I use one every week to DI into the PA so I don't have to lug or risk inebriated idiots punters resting / spilling drinks on top of my amp. As Bilbo says, it's sensitive & takes a little fine-tuning, but sounds ace once you've tweaked it to suit. Also works very well with the Eden Glowplug pedal, which has a 12AX7 valve to 'warm up' the tone. ( @lozkerr has one of these too). Recommended2 points
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Er ... Roger Waters?2 points
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Fernanda Lira from Nervosa 🤘2 points
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First prize in the largest Humbucker in the world competition.2 points
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I was tempted to order, but I really want to try it first. I find it very odd that GAK have them in stock, whereas all the other companies are showing stock not due until the end of Feb or the beginning of March. Very odd, as in I don't believe it.2 points
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Auditions are awkward for everyone Good luck & fingers crossed for the next batch 👍2 points
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I don't know why he does it. 😁2 points
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I beat the profanity filter!2 points
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No, this is what a Jazz sounds like: 🤩2 points
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Jack Bruce, Felix Papparladi, Tim Bogert, Rick Danko, Graham Gouldman. . . . . . . . . . . and Paul McCartney.2 points
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I see dead people... John Wetton, another great bass player and talented lead singer. Just remember King Crimson, Asia, Uriah Heep, U.K., ... He has played with so many people : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wetton2 points
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The late Mark Sandman of Morphine who died as fast as he was living. A great singer and an astouding bass player. Saw them loooooong ago with Moondog Junior opening for them. Fantastic concert, still in my memory. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Sandman2 points
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I bought a bottle a couple of years ago - though I don't use it regularly I still have loads left. You may find a large bottle is a life time supply.2 points
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I saw Buddy Guy at Manchester Bridgewater Hall in 2010 - the man is a consumate showman! Amazing gig - particularly enjoyed the bit where he played in the style of other great guitarists like Clapton & Hendrix, and explained how he taught them everything they knew! (Very tongue in cheek!)2 points
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Been saying it for ages - class D just doesn't compete with your vintage A/B...2 points
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Last week at rehearsal my doublebass fell over, a bit of a story as to how it fell but that's besides the point. It fell face down with the G string touching down first on the rounded edge of an old granite step making a mess of the string and putting about a inch long depression into the fingerboard, about the same depth as the string. It also knocked the bridge across about an inch an chipped the upper bout edge a little. The bridge is easily sorted and I'm not too worried about the chips, a touch of wax will sort them, but the big dent in the fingerboard right under the G string would certainly hamper playing, and we've got a wedding to play in two weeks, so I was a little anxious. I haven't got any pictures of the fingerboard but this is the string so you can imagine the damage to the fingerboard, it didn't scrape, just a direct impact. Anyway the point of this post is that I thought I'd try steaming it out, not knowing if it would work at all with such a sharp dent and it being in very hard ebony. I've never done it before but wetting the dent with warm water and then placing the edge of some wet folded kitchen towel on the dent and working a hot soldering iron slowly over it has worked wonders. It took about half an hour of repeatedly wetting, steaming and cooling but the dent has come out completely. A little rub afterwards with some 2000 grit paper wetted with lemon oil has made the repair completely invisible and to be perfectly honest I'm quite pleased with myself. If you've got any such dents in wood I'd thoroughly recommend giving it a go as it worked a lot better than I though it would and was very easy. 🙂2 points
