Leaderboard

Sean's a great player, currently touring with Squeeze. I like this. What a tone.

And of course, coping with the hot-desking fad. Not the electric-heater-under-the-office-tw@'s-paper-trays that was popular around the turn of the century, but the ability to locate a desk among a group of people whose work is entirely different to your own. If you're a software developer, you either work on your own projects or have a wee kip while seemingly concentrating hard on a screen full of code that will just be gobbledegook to the admin people around you - or if you're in PR, you plonk yourself among the geeks and play on YouFaceTwit all day. And of course, you always use the printer that's furthest away from where you are. That lets you master the art of carrying a piece of paper while walking briskly, thus making you seem Big and Important. When it's time for a brew, you pull out that elderly phone stuffed full of MP3s, plug in your earphones and conduct an intense but one-wordy conversation with Iron Maiden. Need to watch the volume, though. For added points, start a detailed reply as you walk out the room. Plus, when printing stuff for home, make sure you submit it in a batch and make the final document something to do with work. Make sure there's no-one near the printer before you send it. Then, as your set lists and charts are printing, if anyone approaches you, you take it off the printer looking really annoyed, make some comment about 'don't some people focus on their business objectives' when your own document finally appears and flounce off with your home stuff while making some comment about reporting misuse of resources. That's so no-one can reasonably ask you to chuck it straight in the recycling bin. There we are, kids. Laura's Thursday Tips for a more satisfying working day. Tune in next week for tips on how to leave boring meetings and still look good, how to deal with food thieves and how to provide your odious manager with a managed exit. Book and motivational speaking tour coming soon!

I think you’re all being a little harsh. It’s a little known fact that, like 1982’s effort where everyone came back together to bail out Gabriel’s WOMAD (World Of Music And Dance), this reformation is in aid of WOPAP (Wiping Out Phil’s Alimony Payments).

I will only play in keys of C, G and D. If you want me to play in other keys like E, E flat, B Flat it'll cost you extra. I will also charge extra to learn difficult songs with lots of notes. I expect to be paid a minimum of £10 for turning up to rehearsals. If you have any weird key changes in your songs I will just sit out those bits. I have some songs I have written and will expect you to learn and play them at gigs. If I join your band I will suggest songs from my repertoire and expect you to take on quite a few as I'm not prepared to learn all your material. If your guitarist can't play without chorus effect turned on constantly and is stuck in the eighties, I'm not interested. I will only play gigs within the M25. I will want a minimum payment of £100 per gig. Please make sure your gigs are on the H37 or 218 bus routes or you can pick me up from my place. I'm not one for helping out unloading, setting up and loading kit and I will expect someone to help me with my gear. I like to play at full volume for 20 minutes to get warmed up while you are setting up. If you object to the noise I will just walk out. I normally turn up at venue around 25 mins before performance and just play and then I'll expect a lift home before 11pm as I have a curfew. I can't play at certain venues for legal reasons. I get a lot of offers for my services so don't be disappointed if I turn you down. If you are a "60s Band Reforming" take your empty promises of world tours, fame and riches and shove 'em where the Sun don't shine! I will expect to hear you play beforehand as I normally only play with very skilled musicians and I will want to know what you do for a living as I don't approve of some occupations like banking, lawyer, accountant, police etc. If you voted "Remain" don't bother contacting me. If any members of your band are clingy, constantly needing approval and are over familiar and think that they work harder than the rest, forget it...I'm not a social worker. I will be moving house soon and need somewhere to crash. It would only be for a few months. I can't pay any rent but I would expect one of my muso brothers to help out. My gear is at the pawn shop so I'll need an advance to retrieve it. Also, I won't play with anyone called Harry.

Not sure where to post this as it contains amp, fx, wireless and accessories. Finally finished a pedalboard. Fits snuggly on top of my cab with plenty of space round the edges so wont risk falling off. Contains - amp (quilter bb800), wireless (line6 g75), line 6 stomp, 4 way. The idea is so I can just take out of case place on cab, plug one socket in, attach Speakon into cab and I'm good to go. Easy, easy one hand lift. Set up should take 5 minutes max, instead of pfaffing around plugging 3 or 4 different thing in, making sure stuff doesnt fall off etc. Hopefully itll stay in one piece after first gig this weekend.

Well, I took the plunge. £85-ish for seats on the floor at Newcastle, next to FOH.

My dear old love, PR people - like the rest of the meeja - don't go to wine bars these days, even if wine bars existed. Christ, they don't even do Charlie anymore and that used to be a sine qua non, believe me. No, they're all 23 year-olds stuck at their desks from six in the morning till eleven at night, frantically tweeting corporate bollocks in between messaging their little friends and whimpering 'Oh, I'm so depressed, I'm working all the hours that God sends and I haven't got a life and I'll never be able to afford a place of my own because fascist baby-boomers, obvs, do you think Zoe likes me?'. Then they go home and lie awake all night sobbing into their Greta Thunberg pillowcases and cursing mankind for burning the planet. They're all stressed out of their tiny minds so no wonder they're doing weird shít like mocking up fake synths and pedals to annoy some dweeb 'journalist' who shouldn't even be on their radar and even if he was, just pay a couple of guys to break his fingers. If only they'd just relax and go down the pub at lunchtime and slope off early at half-four and throw sickies so they can spend the day in bed with an extensively tattooed hooker they'd be far happier and probably much more efficient.

I have had a GK MB150 amp and an SWR Baby Blue speaker cab stolen from the back of my car at Aust Services near Bristol. Has anyone seen them? It was in 1993 but I am still hopeful.

I'm subscribing to 'Laura's Thursday Tips'

Quite so. Are the worlds of PR and Meeja any more productive, efficient or 'ground-breaking' since a bunch of po-faced puritans took over, insisting that they are 'passionate' about doing things even though 'passion' is about the last thing you'd associate with these bloodless, rule-making bean-counters? No, they are not. My poor niece works for a global PR behemoth and her life (and that of her colleagues) is pretty much as I describe above. When I outlined the 'spare jacket on the back of the chair' ruse to her she reacted as if I'd suggested robbing the poor box, so inculcated is she with the corporate BS. I hold out little hope of bringing her over to the Dark Side just yet. For all their so-called freedom and open-mindedness many young people today are little more than bowing, scraping sararimen which is why I am launching an outreach mentoring project where old industry hands such as myself and @FinnDave teach our shining-faced youth such valuable lessons as how to successfully function in the workplace after a lunch comprising four pints, two bottles of wine, a large brandy and a pork pie.

Not my usual taste in basses, but once brought to my attention by Andy and John, I couldn't resist, especially given that it - or an instrument very very similar to it - was responsible for the bass parts on my fave album of all time, parts that I have been learning for about 10 years! What do I love? The nut is close to 45mm, the board is pretty much flat, the PUPs are light years apart, and it's bloody light. What do I not like? The colour Should be strung through, so a Badass III is going on at the weekend. The board is going to receive a damn good oiling at the same time. At some point in the future the finish may come off also. But in the meantime, I'm going to Graceland

OK, Tom's preference is Prototype 1. So this is the final version, ready to fit: The base plate will be sunk the 2-3mm flush with the body and be securely held in place with a fixing screw in the centre of each curved wing. I know the angle and broad positioning that Tom would prefer but - before I cut the chamber - am going to pop a couple of strap buttons on (it will eventually have the Dunlop insert straplocks so when those are fitted, I will just use the screwholes as my drilling pilot holes) and strap it up to make sure that the jack is going to end up in the right place an inch or so right of the player's right hip. But tomorrow's main job is probably going to be making a start with carving the neck profile

Here you go!

The LM2 / LM3 is going to be perfect for what you're doing (as you already know!). The EQ gap between upper mids at 800Hz and treble at 10 kHz (which is way too high) effectively gives a pointless treble control, is the key issue for me. But nothing that a half decent EQ pedal can't sort. I'd also personally prefer the low EQ at 40 Hz to be centred at 65 Hz to 80 Hz MB have completely sorted these points with some of their current line up.

WTF are we expected to do with our time now that the major drama of our lives is gone Andy. Can you fire your drummer perhaps?

Short scale Series 2 from 1982.

I think they cancel out each other's weight right?

Rickenringer or Behrenbacker

Greetings guys Can you help!! I own a Wal Pro 2 active fretless - bought it 2nd hand in a music shop in Fulham, London for £350 in '83 (my how time flies!!!) it is a beauty, original signature brown ' gold fur case with leather handle. all intact, had to get one of the pots rebuilt, but serviced etc and sounds like a dream - not selling!! I have had a lot of trouble identifying / valuing this bass!!The serial number is W1112. It has the pick attack switches under the pickups, and the XLR balanced out. any ideas - from my search the serial number implies it may be a bit special / early model... or? Thanks in advance!! Gavin.

I have never gotten a decent sound out of a Trace head or combo but that could just be me Having owned a few Ashdowns and used rig supplied gigs, I would go with the big A.

It arrived and it's really nice. The rubber strings will take some getting used to but through my Ashdown LB it shakes the house. £288 well spent !

Well that would be difficult. The flame is an international warning sign. It doesn't belong to anyone really. I've been using it as a logo since I was a teenager, because I used to be a highly flammable little upstart. 😂 I'm more mellow now, but the flame stuck 😉

The first album I ever heard by them - and it remains my favourite Genesis studio album (by a whisker over TOTT) - was And Then There Were Three, so its the same band I fell in love with, in essence. And my favourite album by them is Seconds Out, which is the second Genesis album I ever heard/bought. I love most of the early Gabriel material, but to be honest I tend to prefer the later band playing it, because again, that's how I heard it first. It's strange, I never see anyone slagging off old blues, jazz, classical or folk artists when they trundle out in advancing years. I cant help wondering why it is that pop and rock artists aren't given the same leeway.

Is it the one you sold me for peanuts, you know the one with tippexed serial number ? 🤣

We have a default scene which was created in a large, bright, cavernous hall with a high vaulted ceiling at the loudest monitor and FoH levels we could tolerate - the theory being that if we started a gig with the desk set for the most unfriendly conditions we could think of then we're not starting off the night fighting feedback etc. So far this approach has worked well with monitors rung out, channel EQs sorted and in reality apart from a few gain/EQ adjustments the only real change we make to each gig is the FoH EQ curve which has a significant bass boost to compensate for the bright 'setup' venue. It's worth investing some time and maybe even bringing in a local sound engineer to help steer you in the right direction. We took this approach and it saved us hours of experimentation/head scratching. He also pointed me in the direction of a few tricks that I'd quite likely never have found or thought of myself.

https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-entertainment/genesis-reform-to-play-to-older-brothers-who-like-that-sht-20200304194116

If you play faster lines and don't rake you improve your right hand speed, accuracy and dexterity. I guess we should aim to play either way.

It's like that guy who nicked the bag containing my new trainers and my hi-vis vest ... he can run, but he can't hide.

I'm with you apart from 'responsive tone controls'! Glorious amps. The 500W was benchmarked by BassGearMag and it actually maxed out at around the 900W range! Certainly more poke than any other 500W Class D head I've used. VT500 has an awesome preamp, cos it's basically a VTDI with an added mid shift. But it struggled volume wise for me and lacked that elusive 'heft'!

My GAS has come to an end. I’ve tried a lot and sold a lot. I now go everywhere with a Puma 500 and I have another one for spare which lives under the passenger seat.

Hey John, funny thing is I realised just after posting that the Badass III isn't going to work due to the staggered string alignment. So, I was about to PM you last night! Then, as if by magic, you posted, so I was going to order one from the link you kindly provided. And then as if by magic again, I received a PM from Greg/Shaggy saying he's got a spare of the exact same bridge hanging around which I can have. I love this place. Thanks all And re refin, I don't know why I worry about such things, it's a really silly thing to do, costs a lot of money, takes the bass away for a couple of months, and makes no difference to the quality of the bass at all (unless you believe the nitro/breath versus poly/restrict argument. Which I don't). So rest assured that it's staying as it is; I'm just going to enjoy playing it.

I’ve had a good few, Ampeg, Markbass, GK, TC Electronic, Orange, Aguilar, all been good but the one I’ve liked most and which I’m keeping hold of is my Ashdown RM500 EVOII. I can get pretty much any sound that I want from it, and it has a depth to the sound that the others - well apart from the Orange Terror - didn’t have.

Eich T900 is a great head in an amazing form factor. The character knob is a really quick to get you where you want. Aguilar TH range are my sound. Plenty of warmth in the mids, and always audible in a mix thanks to the added harmonic content from preamp design. It's a DB751 in a smaller package, really. I also really liked the Fender Rumble 800HD, with its great headroom and again very quick to manipulate the tone if needed with the scoop, bright and vintage buttons. Built in foot-switchable overdrive is just the icing on the cake. I personally don't much like the Aguilar AG700, as much as I've tried to (twice!). It doesn't give me that warmth in the low-mids and is a bit overly present in the hi-mids for my ears. I like to notch out 750-1000hz just a smidge and its hi-mid control just doesn't work for me. Overall I'm using the Aguilar TH500 when I am using Class D, and my DB751 at every chance I get!

Text my dad. ”Genesis, £70 - 400” he’s been a fan for years. ”f*ck off, no way - not a chance. You haven’t already bought the tickets have you? They can sod off!”

Behringer’s idea of investing in research and development is buying a new photocopier.

That or a 'hot pork lunch', as we were accustomed to say at that time. One afternoon about five o'clock I left the pub and worked my way along the Strand buying and eating a burger from each of the major chains and from a couple of independents. I think I must have had about 6 burgers and after all that salt I needed a drink, so, back to the pub. This is what young people are missing out on. Please give generously to my crowdfunding effort.

Time for my fave Lemmy quote (hey, its nearly bringing it back to bass-related matters) “That was a great time, the summer of '71 - I can't remember it, but I'll never forget it!”

the new layout! went back to my pedal train rather than two layered board

I have a suspicion that the Coronavirus was genetically engineered by Millennial and Gen-Xers specifically to target Baby Boomers... AGE DEATH RATE all cases 80+ years old 14.8% 70-79 years old 8.0% 60-69 years old 3.6% 50-59 years old 1.3% 40-49 years old 0.4% 30-39 years old 0.2% 20-29 years old 0.2% 10-19 years old 0.2% 0-9 years old no fatalities

That would create a black hole and the universe would implode

I’d like them to tell me as I’m clearly not noticing 😂

To date.... the TC RH750. Versatile, light, feature rich, what’s not to like 😃

@LukeFRC @Stub Mandrel Frequency of comments: I am very appreciative of the fact that users of Basschat UK took note of us small builders from Vienna and raised questions, which in turn gives us the opportunity to make our point. Thta said, as much as we are trying our best to stay on top of things happening online, we are only a small team and we've got basses to build, so we don't have the physical resources to monitor and comment on everyhting about us, so please don't be too harsh on us on this count. Also, some posts, such as on Youtube or FB, can be commented on in passing while others would need a quiet weekend morning to consider and respond to. @binky_bass @prowla Union Jack: My sincere apologies. We changed the flag. I hope the one presently on display gives no further cause for complaint. @BigRedX About the headstock: - Is a straight one cheaper to build than an angled one? - Yes. - Is a straight one less prone to snap one day? - Also yes. No leverage working against one's beloved neck. - Is a straight one "better" for sound? - My desire to keep replies short and simple may have gone down the wrong way with some, so here's the long version: We take neck stiffness extremely serious. Our headstock is thicker than the conventional standard (routed at 17 vs. customary 15mm), we leave extra wood under the nut as pictured in my earlier statement above, and we also shifted wood from the neck pocket bottom to the neck heel (neck heel thickness 28 vs. customary 25,4mm) so that the neck screws have some extra stretch to "bite" into the neck (if done properly, the screws are never supposed to "bite" into the neck pocket bottom, otherwise you won't achieve direct coupling). Why all these efforts to make the neck thicker, while leaving the playable stretch as thin and comfortable to play as everyone is used to? A tuned 4-string set exerts a tension of 1000 newton (100kg). The neck spans 2 thirds of the scale length and its cross section measures only a tiny fraction of the body's, so in terms of wood, nothing matters as much as a good, stiff neck. We consider a strong, present, resonating growl the most important sound property in a bass. Others may have other priorities, we don't judge, but strong and well-defined output is ours. That's why we went to great lengths to develop our own pickups which generate 1000mV output (as opposed to an average 300mV of pickups with comparable passive design). Without the support of a solid, stiff neck, a strong pickup is of no use. We found that we could implement OUR sound intentions best in a bolt-on, straight headstock design and that's that. Sceptical anyone? Of course you are, you've never heard of us before. Whoever wants to try our sound and building quality, you can do so in Vienna, New York or the comfort of your home, as we offer a generous return policy, you'll find all info on our front page. @wateroftyne @binky_bass Headstock shape: You may have a point, I have to say interest notched up notably since we introduced the short headstock and even more so its matched version which we offer without extra charge. Generally speaking, it really would have felt wrong to us to be the 100th builder with a 4-left headstock just slightly different from 99 others for trademark reasons. We felt way more comfortable with 2-left-2-right and our distinct bite, but here's a question, how would you go about "offering a more traditional headtsock"? @Skybone Here's our take on custom: in many people's minds it is tantamount to handmade, not in ours. We never pinned "handmade" to our chest. By contrast, we consciously bank on means of digital production (and transparently say so), thus yielding the benefits of consistent quality, cost and time efficiency, and it also enables us to explore new ways of applying artwork to the bass guitar. That body surface together with the pickguard is a big area. We are trying to make something of it in our secret menu for those who want options beyond our configurator. Here's a glimpse on what comes out of it. Quite a number of orders come into being by way of the ASK US A QUESTION button at the bottom of our configurator. People make use of configurator options as much as they are avialable and then hit this button to ask us if this or that can be done beyond their selected configurator choices.

Am I right in thinking all these people have done is design a bass and are selling it ? We seem to have a major issue with that on here 🙄