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Hi this is my Purple Burst Anaconda UltraJ5E incoming shortly. Always been a strict J man myself but with the material I'm playing I needed a wider range in one instrument. So intro the Purple PJ. Swamp ash body, figured maple top & head, Roasted Maple board, Delano PUPS, Aquilar OPB3 prom and gold hardware.

So this has turned into a NBD, thread title changed accordingly... I’ve been after a Precision bass for the new Britpop covers band I’ve joined and this 2005 Mexican model came up locally at a good price. I managed to get the girl selling it down to a very good price so I was happy. Turns out she’d bought it new in 2005 when she was a teenager, but after a while she’d lost interest and had put it in its gig bag where it remained for fifteen years... As you’d imagine it was very clean, but showing signs of inactivity. First thing to do was remove the old strings which were utterly dead and give it a good clean. Lake Placid Blue isn’t my favourite colour on a guitar but this actually looks pretty nice. My first thought was to change the white scratchplate for a black one, but over the years this one has aged to a nice faded white which looks kind of vintage, so it’ll stay for now. I sanded down the glossy neck so it’s a bit smoother, and the rosewood fretboard was very dry so I treated it with some lemon oil fretboard conditioner. I changed the strap buttons to Schaller strap locks which I do to all my basses. The neck was bowed considerably so a bit of truss rod adjustment was necessary to get it playable. The bridge was in bad shape, particularly the grub screws which were stripped. I had a spare bridge so I changed it, and will change it again to a hi-mass bridge later. It was fortuitous that I removed the bridge as the earthing wire had slipped back into it’s hole so I was able to pull it out and get it back in contact with the bridge. I did a quick set up on the new Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings that I fitted and gave it a final rub down. It sounds great, exactly how a P Bass should. I may well change the pickup later but for now it’s fine. Nice slim neck, very playable and 4.1kg in weight so it should be good for a long gig. I’m pretty pleased with it, especially for the price. Result!

Don't forget his bass equipment of choice..... Carls Berg - probably the best cab in the world. .....its been a long day.

For me, the most important thing about gigging is the benefit to me as a musician. Yes, I enjoy an enthusiastic audience, being with my band mates, using my gear and earning money - ultimately though, improving my musical ability and gaining as much live experience as I can, are the real reasons I continue to do it. Therefore, I always see a benefit to a 'bad night' and I would always rather be out playing somewhere regardless of the 'quality' of the gig, than not be playing. I've found that band mates through the years have often not shared this view and would rather avoid certain gigs, or even offer to pack up and home if it's going to be a quiet night. I have a long list of all the gigs I've done and if I removed all the 'bad' ones, I'd have about a third of the live experience that I do have. It's all valuable to me and adds to a long body of work. Does anyone else on Basschat think in a similar way?

Ah - since you mentioned Rics...

I love this record... Its a great record on its own. His bass playing and singing are just fabulous. Paul must have listened to James Jamerson for the way he played those lines maybe.?

Agreed I tried a bit harder....

Four, seems a bit low?

Sounds like you've got a great deal, congratulations! Not sure it's LPB though, looks more like either Imperial Blue or Metallic Blue? The only reason I mention it is, funnily enough the bass I bought I mentioned researching above is LPB, and it's quite a bit different to yours. Here's a link to the Fender colour chart in case you're interested. 👍🏻

You have to play left handed. I guess that might, for some, be Bad News

I just picked this up from a very sound gent from Kerry. It is, I believe, a 1991 SB311. I remember seeing these in the shops when I started playing in the late 80’s but, up until today, had never actually played one. First impressions? This is a really nice bass. The neck is quite similar to the early Ibanez SRs but with a wider nut. The pickups have balls to spare and I cannot imagine why they thought the EQ needed a bass boost. I am very impressed.

Some more progress on my cabs.... Two cabs now built and ready to have edges sanded and rolled. The bottom cab is going to only have the 12" driver in - though I will fit a horn with a blanking plate over the mouth, so if at some point in the future I want to turn it into a full range cab it can be done without getting the jigsaw out. Decided to "hand" the front baffles. Edges sanded and square Roll over cutter selected and height set Rolling the edges Edges rolled and ready to be covered in Marshall black levant tolex

Having seen many people invest a fortune in the 'right tools' just for many of them to never be used again, my advice is that, aside from the obvious basics, see what needs to be done THEN identify a cost effective solution and build your collection of tools as you need them.

A drummer with two fans pointed at him.

Band members without their own gear or without transport.

Going a bit ABBA is bad enough, wait til it all goes a bit Fleetwood Mac and you’ve got real problems 😉

Just found this. didnt know i had it. Worse part of the gig was having to walk the gear on to the bridge, and then fight with the caterers etc to get gear up in a lift that you cant call with a button, but have to phone someone to bring it down to ready level.

I thought most of his bass parts were actually played by Vim Fuego?

Sorry It wasn’t a criticism Bruno , I meant the neck looks nice and slim at the nut for a precision, my P is 41mm , 🙂

While my motivation priorities may be different I kind of agree. When you walk in with a bad attitude you play badly, if you go in with a professional attitude even though the venue may look empty or to have the wrong clientele etc then you can still have a great gig. Case in point, we did a wedding in summer and were a bit surprised to see a very small gathering of people mostly a few decades older than our usual audience. We had prepped well because we would be paid well and didn't want to ruin someone's biggest day of their life, agreed to play the notes, no pissing about at the end of songs etc. And played our best gig ever. The crowd was amazing, father of the bride knew the words to every song and led the singing and dancing, after the first tune loads more guests turned up and we got the place going. I learned loads from it, how to really separate the approach from pub gigs to functions for a start. And we had walked on to stage completely deflated tbh.

^ ^ Duly added to my list of 'reasons I don't gig anymore'............... 😎

I've never had an interest in playing covers, so almost every gig I have played (I have done stints helping out mates' cover bands when their bassist or drummer has flaked out on them) has been for the enjoyment as getting paid playing original music is seldom guaranteed. Some bands, we were deliberately pushing the tolerances of audiences as we didn't want to sound like the other bands around us. I have experienced some properly stinky reactions but I still recall the worst original gigs more fondly than the most lucrative cover gigs so, yeah, gigging for my own enjoyment is what I have always done.

OMG why haven't I done that with my router, such an obvious idea, and your workshop is so clean and tidy compared with mine.

IMO there are three ways to achieve a good gig. So, in my order of importance: you have to put on a good and entertaining show for the audience, work well with the other musicians in the band and you have to feel you played well. You've got to put bums on seats and sell beer, you have to make the guys in the band happy you are there and for you as a player there is the satisfaction that you did a good job, and if it happens, the satisfaction that you played something new or better than last time.

Last night was the third in a series of gigs we've been booked to play at the Fiddler's Elbow in Camden. Lovely to see the place full of Deadheads, and we put on a good show. Played as a full six piece for the first time in several months, which felt good. As always, a new set for every gig, this one included the classic 'Live Dead' package of Dark Star, St Stephen, the Eleven and Lovelight back to back. All packed and ready to leave by about half twelve, home by two, but the drive home was into increasingly rough weather. Woke up this morning to a power cut that has just ended after five hours. My gear last night was my Ashdown Rootmaster 800 into my Barefaced Super Compact, mic'd into the PA. I played my new Sandberg Panther (first proper gig) and it behaved perfectly, quite a few comments (favourable!) on its looks and sound. Next one with the Dudes is the same venue on the Saturday of Easter weekend. I've got a couple of things lined up with other people before that though.

In the studio this weekend with Train To Skaville. 😎😎

Likewise (except for the Wal owning part ) and I agree, it was the right thing to do and what a result. The chaps at The Gallery are really good at what they do.

I'm mostly a fretless player and a Wal fretless owner, but I think it was the right thing to do for the owner!

New one for me last night, first gig on Double, so much fun.

I love reggae music, but really for the music itself. I'm quite happy for it to leave jah and ratafari out because I just can't connect to that. Hence my preference for instrumental reggae, and also for reggae or heavily reggae influenced music from around the world which tends to have different natured lyrics (even if I can't understand them). Here's one from Turkey with Turkish and English lyrics; gets going at about 0:40. Reggae enough for this thread?

Agreed. I think a pinned thread in the Marketplace would be the best place for it. I'm happy to do some donkey work collating names and routes.

Some people just won`t say what they mean...……………...

I think it said “Get the f*ck out of my band” 😂 Open to interpretation really...

This is an Aria SB. A bass I've listed after for ages. It's just been a bit unloved for a good while. It could be knackered, it could just be in need of a clean and a bit of a tweak, but for what I paid to get a 1984 matsumoko through neck bass it's worth it. If I get it going watch out for me John Tayloring it up in a band with a name like Duran Duraren't in a town near you soon!

Frets on and I flippin love it! 🙂 Thank you very much Bass Gallery Martin! Apparently it was fretted to start with anyway.

Bass..? There has to be a bass in there..? Oh my; I'd better think again, then..!

A few years ago I bought an old battered mim fender jazz , I took everything off it , stripped the body and sanded the neck, re stained the fingerboard, and upgraded all the parts and rebuilt it, this was a massive learning curve for me as I learned how the bass was constructed, and with the help of some YouTube videos and playing around I adjusted the truss rod and bridge to set it up to perfection for me, since then I have no fear of setting up or tweaking any of my basses, I’ve just bought a mim p bass and I’m going to do the same with that , it’s a great way to learn 🙂

True. My garage is full of stuff that wasn't quite right for the job! Am looking to bring this bass back to life and in doing so learn to look after my other basses better, so set ups and things I should just do myself instead of paying for.

Function gig last night and, given that it wasn't an East End pub, I thought it would be a good opportunity to christen the LX5 on its first gig outing. Must admit the 35" scale vs my usual 34" was more of a stretch than I had expected when I first played it a few months back. The 17mm spacing was however fine, sitting as it did between the even narrower 16.5mm of my Ibby SR 5ers and the 18mm of my Yammys. The slightly heavier weight was also a bit of a concern for me over a 2 hour gig (it's just under 10 lbs) whereas my Ibby is sub 9 lbs, although tbf the LX5 is only a little heavier than my Yammy 1025. But it was such a lovely bass otherwise in terms of design and sound that I was determined to persevere. At the gig last night it was difficult to hear how the bass was sounding in the mix as I was going straight to DI with no backline (plus ear plugs of course). The stage monitoring was individually tailored rather than being a full band mix and I had a crap farting monitor, which I asked to be turned right down for the second set! And the venue's mega sub woofer was close to my bit of the stage which obviously also impacted what I was hearing. But the gig went well; the band was in the zone and the punters seemed to really enjoy our sets. The LX5 was surprisingly comfortable to play over 2 hours and the time previously spent getting used to the 35" scale meant it felt natural and very enjoyable to play. The higher frets (17 and 19) were dead easy to access for the one song that needed it. So overall I continue to be delighted by this bass (so much so that I briefly considered putting my Yammy NE2 up for sale - I've been quickly persuaded of the error of my ways on that one!). I'm really looking forward to hearing it with some proper back-line in a band mix. Needless to say, none of my bandmates spotted that I was playing a different bass to the usual. Lol! @M@23

I’m good, I ordered a 4th today... it’s a P/J but some spackle will fill that hole in

OK that's potentially a big budget. The top end of what most pub bands would spend and potentially enough for a great PA. A few more questions: How technical are you? Are you looking for something simple and set and forget or a wide range of options and flexibility? Does the budget have to include mic's, stands, leads and monitors or do you have bits and pieces? How are you going to monitor? are you thinking in-ears, floor monitors or back-line and vocal monitors? How many in the band, what sort of music, what sort of volumes do you operate at?

Band members who are married/partners. If they fall out, it's a problem. If they are on good terms, one will always support the other, regardless of rights and wrongs, so you can't disagree with either of them about anything.

Seven Facts From The Fascinating World Of Carls * Carl is derived from the Old English noun ceorl (a man, freeman, peasant) and encompasses more than one social rank. At least one shonky web site suggests that ceorl means 'bonded man' which is the exact opposite of a free man and therefore complete bollocks and pretty much what you'd expect from something called babynamefinder.com * Carl can be viewed as a shortened form of the name Charles. Alternatively, Charles can be seen as a lengthened form of the name Carl. Two kings of England and ten kings of France have borne the name Charles as well as sundry other European monarchic riff-raff including various Charles's who were kings of Hungary, Naples, Sardinia, and Wüttemberg, shïtholes like that, basically * A house carl (Old Norse: húskarl, Old English: huscarl) was a non-servile manservant or household bodyguard in medieval Northern Europe. The rank was applicable irrespective of the size of the household so a house carl could be a member of the household troops or bodyguard of a Danish or early English king or noble, and therefore something of a big noise around town. * The Germanic form of Carl (Karl) translates as meaning 'strong man', a possible linguistic link to the meaning of the OId English ceorl / huskarl where strength might be a pre-requisite for a household bodyguard, on the basis that the last thing you want between you and your ravening enemies is a mimsying cream-puff quoting romantic verse and dangling a floral pomander from his belt rather than a big f*cking knife. * Other European Carls include Carlos, Carlo, Karl. The name of the Spanish chef in TV's Crossroads was Carlos Raphael (sic). Feminine forms of Carl include Carla and the diminutive Carlita, generally associated with pouting Latina chickies in high heels and halter tops whereas the Russian Karla brings to mind baldy, woke thesp Sir Patrick Stewart in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy rather than a high cheek-boned icy Muscovite beauty with a useful line to people who can supply cut-price consumer electronics and Glock pistols * Carlism is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – on the Spanish throne and therefore of no interest to anyone outside the Iberian peninsula. * Famous musical Carls include drummer Carl Palmer, rock 'n' roll pioneer Carl Perkins, singer Carl Wayne out of Brum Beat band The Move and composer Carl Orff best known for his piece Carmina Burana which is very famous but gets on some peoples' tïts the way it bangs on relentlessly like a f*cking steamroller with a wonky wheel.

If I answered that question it would be because I’d sold one.

I'm resurrecting the Groove Of The Week Series, starting off with a look at a straightforward groove and a challenging lick from MonoNeon: Full analysis/notation here: Groove Of The Week #51: Ghost Note - 'Swagism'