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Bit of a low end joke somewhere here...

PMT have been really good and our sending me out another unit.

Those of you with very long memories may recall the extensive build thread for my custom Perception neck-through 5 string build by Martin at Overwater Basses some years ago. 2013 to be precise. This was to be my 'bass for life' given that I specced the whole thing from a completely blank sheet of paper, as a once in a lifetime opportunity. This bass is the one I always reach for, despite having two other Overwaters. I also have an 07 Perception bolt-on 5 string, and a 4 string Scott Devine Jazz bass, strung BEAD. Despite this, the custom Perception gets the most use, and is plugged in for every gig I play. The bass is Walnut, with a Ziricote facing wood, a Wedge/Walnut neck, OW pickups and Hipshot hardware. It is therefore somewhat weighty, to say the least, but has tone and grunt to spare. The sound is awesome. I am also lucky enough to have a full Vanderkley rig to play it through. Go me! And now, for your viewing pleasure, here's a picture of the bass and rig: However, into every life a little rain must fall, and a few years ago I was unfortunate enough to suffer a major Heart Attack. I was whizzed into hospital, had a stent fitted, and began my recovery and rehabilitation. I have since had a further 7 (yes seven) smaller heart attacks over the intervening period, which means that my chest is permanently weakened. Initially this was apparent when moving my Vanderkley 215MNT cabinet, to the extent that I commissioned Marc to make me a pair of 115 Lightcore cabinets and I sold the 210 on to a good friend. As time went on, I began to struggle with the weight of the bass over the course of a full gig or practice session, both around 3 hours. It got to the point where I was facing the possibility of not using this fabulous instrument any more. I also count myself very lucky in that Martin Lee at Overwater has become a great friend (and mentor/teacher) over the years. I happened to be in the OW workshop one day recently, and Martin showed me two basses in construction. Both were at the 'finished woodwork' stage, but one was standard and one was chambered. I picked up each bass separately, and the weight difference was simply astonishing! The seed was sown, as they say, and I started to chat with Martin about getting my custom Perception chambered. This may seem fanciful, but please bear in mind that I was facing the prospect of not being able to use this bass for much longer. Martin, however, burst my bubble rather quickly, by pointing out that the chambering process is done during construction, but had never been done on a built bass, particularly one with the price tag that mine had! Undeterred, I began a process of grinding the poor man down, and a short while later ended up back at the workshop with the bass on the bench between us, to have a serious look at how the job could be done. This is the benefit of having a friend like Martin! Martin then took my issue to Chris and Kirstie, to get their views. Again, there was a reluctance to take on such a task, but after explaining my problem to them, Martin got their agreement to take the request further, and serious talks began. This is one of the greatest benefits of being part of the Overwater 'family', as the support available from them is without equal, long after instruments have been bought and paid for. So this post, readers, will describe the process of chambering a completer, high value bass. Thanks for reading this far! More to come RK7

1974 Jazz !

Expression pedal, lots more knobs, bigger display, 2 x the DSP and no artificial limits, and it makes you look generally cooler, more attractive to women and much more of a rock star. There may be some bias in that answer somewhere

Dear Friends, the flashy green EVO-FX5 is almost finished... setup should be done & test drive ...

Sorry to hear this La Bam, I was going to offer to get this sorted for you but sounds like PMT are looking after you? Keep us in the loop and let me know if there's any help needed, sounds like its been launched by a courier in all fairness...

I bet it's great for slap...

Clamps are off. Couldn't resist doing a quick mock-up One of the good things about lockdown is that you know exactly what you are doing the next few weeks. So I know that tomorrow, I'm going to be carving the neck

Here's the only thing I've done with yew - we had a tree cut down in our garden, and this slice was too good to waste....

Been a while - these are the neck and body blanks being glued up. Using Tite Bond rather than normal PVA here. Also, the neck blank is due to be split down the middle, to allow me to make 2 necks side by side (just in case the first one goes a bit awry.........) Time to get on with the next set of jigs for gluing the scarf joint and putting the radius onto the fingerboard.

It turns out that Darkglass merch is not as expensive as darkglass gear is: https://darkglass.myshopify.com/ Just got some in the post today, some of the T shirts are crew neck and they dont have stock of all sizes in all of them. Here's my fave, glows in the dark as well: (and yes, I am sucking it in)

If you can get a tune from a harmonica, then you're doing better than most of the harmonica players I know!

Ida - oh I love some Ida, the Prince influence will stay with her forever I expect. Talking of... this is one of the stankiest faces ever pulled.... that crowd, that gig... that bassline... one can only imagine the level of satisfaction Rhonda Smith had playing this... if it doesn't start at the right point, jump to 6m 50s and wait for it. Ooof.

Comes complete with its own custom stand.

Haha, yeah, we heard the 11th time lol.

Bergantino BAmp.... just saying. 😊

I SAID I CANT HELP BUT NOTICE... THAT I’VE NOT GOT THE JIST.

I am trying to get them all to calm down so I can just get on with playing

I'd never compromise the biscuit aisle. It happened in the bakery section once though, poor lady left with a pair of floury baps.

Yes Andy! I can’t mount the module vertically as it’s slightly too tall. The wires do bend ok so it fits no problem. But 24 gauge wire would have worked better!

All work on the body is complete so time to start the wiring. As the pickup I'm using has an associated pull switch to change from MM to J type I needed to make up a new connector block as the hole for the cable would not allow for the connector. Not a problem, just a bit time consuming. I made a complete new connector cable so I still have the original should I decide to change pickups at any point. The terminals were crimped on and fitted into the housings then connected to the volume control and preamp. I do quite like the EMG connector stuff - it is quick if you don't need to make your own cables!! I fitted the control knobs and did a quick test of the wiring just by connecting to an am and tapping the pickup gently with a washer. Everything seems to work fine so I'm now itching to get the neck completed!!

these are the acoustics From Left to right - McIlroy AS25, bought exactly 12 years ago today, Handbuilt cedar/walnut acoustic, retrofitted with an AER Pickup/mic system. the best acoustic i have ever played, all solid woods and just the most glorious sounding guitar, quite folky sounding but just an all round wonderful instrument strung up with Newtone Heritage 12's which are the only strings i will use on this guitar. this is the most expensive instrument i have ever bought and on the day i bought it the most money i had ever paid for a single item but one of the best purchases i have ever made. Yamaha DW105c my first acoustic, has a pickup/preamp and a solid spruce top, currently fitted with nashville strings and tuned a whole step low (d-d) for use with my band. Gretsch Jim Dandy, 24" scale all laminate small body guitar, bought to get a good bluesy sound for playing in the band, it's got 13's on it and is tuned d-d to compensate, this is a great bluesy sounding guitar and was really cheap from a local facebook group. Matt

It’s allowed if they live with you. Though you might get complaints if your amorous activities result in crushing a shelf full of hobnobs.

I think the 1967 thing is a campaign promoting the fact Rotosound have been around since 1967, they have heritage, and an association with Abbey Road. No other string manufacturers can claim these things, making these a strong selling or marketing point.

How about quickly snogging someone as you go past? Although I did promise the judge I'd stop doing that.

And about time they corrected the spelling mistake on the back of their packets: "Designed and built in the companies (sic) R & D department."

Apparently, someone bought him a cheese grater and he said it was the most violent book he'd ever read.

Time to dust off the old soldering iron! Got a load of pcbs left over from 2010/11 that I never finished because my iron broke. With all the time on our hands now I’ve decided to get back into it full pelt. I’ve ordered all the components for: 3x Klon Centaur 2x Woolly Mammoth 1x Fuzz Factory 2x DAM Sonic Titan 1x Catalinbread SFT 1x Fulltone OCD 1x Analogman King of Tone I’ve always wanted to have a proper go after building a couple kits 10 years ago. So i’m going to be doing it all from scratch (besides etching the boards), ie, waterslide graphics, drilling the enclosures etc. Will post updates as I go.

“Ponk”! I really like that! I’m a big fan of Wilton Felder and his newly-coined ‘sound of ponk’. His playing and sound on Joni’s ‘Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow’ and ‘Hissing of the Summer Lawns’ tracks from the album of the same name are perfect for me. Beautifully fluid bass lines, with a little woodiness of tone and a splash of ponk... what’s not to like!

Due to the current situation one of my covers bands decided it'd be a nice idea to try and remotely record an original track to keep busy. Work started a week or so ago, and after a bit of tinkering it's more or less done. As it's our first foray into original music and home recording, I'd love to get some feedback from you guys. I'm sure the lyrical content will strike a chord at least! If anyone's interested I used a custom Fender Jaguar with flats, an EBS Octabass and a TC Spectradrive, straight into Garage Band. Here's the track

Anyone been watching ‘Devs’ on BBC2? It’s a stylish sci-fi thriller set in San Francisco...quite riveting to watch. I was quite taken aback to hear ‘Oh I Wept’ by Free used in its entirety, in episode 5, for one sequence and then again later in the show. This song and band are one of my all time favs. It just seemed such an odd choice for a futuristic cutting edge film though the track did sit rather well with the imagery.

Excellent series, well worth watching. Beautiful to look at and great music choices throughout.

Just got my enhanced series bass. First impressions are good. made in Indonesia. I’ve had only good experiences with Indonesian basses, always seem good quality. This thing is really well made and looks amazing. It’s got a lot of very nice features. Stainless steel frets are all level, the edges are not as good as my Musicman but not bad. You can feel the edges when you run your finger down the edge but it’s more than acceptable. Zeroth fret set up perfectly and works as it should. Tuners and high mass bridge are excellent. The ebony fretboard and block inlays are superb. The white binding on the neck looks great next to the ebony but the binding has several dirty marks in it. I took a few minutes to roll the edges on the fretboard as the edge was a bit severe. Feels much better now. The neck is really thin and has a very premium feeling oiled finish. Plays great. The body is perfect, no flaws, even the neck heel is done absolutely perfectly. There was an annoying fret buzz I couldn’t put my finger on which I eventually worked out... The neck needed a shim. I popped the neck off and shimmer it, plays perfectly afterwards. No buzz and lovely low action. The neck heel is really tight, holds the neck very snugly. Both pickups are a fraction off centre but only a tiny fraction. I’m quite picky about such things and it’s well within acceptable. I popped the scratch plate off to have a peek inside and the electronics are very neatly done. Only complaint is that a bit of wood in the cavity where one of the screws for the pick guard goes in had broken off. Not a problem as it’s only a tiny bit and under the pickguard. Little dab of glue and problem solved. Plugged in to my studio and gigging rig it sounds excellent once you get it set right. pull the volume pot for passive mode, it all sounds dark and a bit muddy to me, no tone controls in passive mode and I really don’t like the sound. I do like my bass tone bright, those of us who love 5 year old strings might be happier . no matter how I adjust the blend in passive I can’t get a sound I like, all too dark and muddy. it sounds like a tone pot turned all the way down. Push the pot back in for active mode and it’s a lot better. At full volume it is far too loud and kicks in far too much distortion but ease the volume off to about half and it’s perfect. In active mode, eq flat the tone is far less dark and muddy. The 2 band eq makes a lot of difference, big adjustments affect the volume and distortion a lot so a little goes a long way. I find adding a little treble is all it needs, then all tonal adjustments I need can be done with the blend pot, which makes a wide range of tones. All neck pickup is bassy and has a real kick to it, all neck is nasal and gets funky. inbetween are a wonderful variety of sweet spots. Around the mid point the blend of the two pickups sounds really sweet, and I do t stray too far. slight tweak to the bridge to ease off the bass and add definition, tweet to the neck to add bass and thump and ease off the treble. Really happy with the sound in active mode. At home I play through my line 6 firehawk or my Orange Bass Butler. Get the right settings and it sounds really good and records well through my Focusrite Scarlett interface. Overall, it’s a very well made, great looking and great playing bass. Sound wise don’t want to commit till I can try it at my studio. My home set up isn’t as good. For the £261 price tag it’s a whole lot of bass with a whole lot of features. Whilst it doesn’t feel premium compared to my Musicman it does feel premium compared to the PB50 and JB75 I have owned. A serious amount of features and nothing in the price range will come near it. maybe the Sire Marcus Miller v3 I used to have would give it a run for its money, less features but played and sounded as good. The sire has been my go to recommendation for a budget bass but this is alongside it. Plays, looks and feels great, stunningly well made for the price point. Recommended.

Will get it out the case later and take some pics.

The P-bass-‘n’-flats crew aren’t going to go for a Dingwall no matter what it looks like. Rock and metal bands tend to be a little less... let’s say “precious” about the aesthetics of the instrument compared to a lot of genres where conservatism has become the uniform.

I have a fernandes apb-90, it was my first 'proper' bass, purchased in Holland in the early 1990's.. wonderful instrument, superb slim neck and it never let me down at the time. I didn't really realise how well made it is for quite a while....

It's what mine might look like if the router slips when I'm sorting the controls

Day 26 - You'll Be In My Heart

NOW IN THE LATE 70s When Tina Turner came to town, my social life went into overdrive. She was such an incendiary performer that it was almost impossible to miss any opportunity to see her. Another thing that made her gigs unmissable was her superlative band, all seasoned American pros, who made the impossible seem effortless. I went to all her London gigs. She was a sweetheart, who wore her superstar status lightly. There were no fits of pique, no temper tantrums and no tearful demands at three o’clock in the morning, just down-to-earth, common sense, wrapped up in grace and humour. And I got to know the band, particularly Lenny Macaluso, the guitar player and musical director, Billy Haynes, the bass-player with a gorgeous basso profundo voice, and Kenny Moore, a keyboard wizard with a stunning tenor voice, who sung the opening song of the set before introducing the star of the show. They knew I was a musician and they knew that Barrie was my manager, so I was accepted as one of the team, inside the bubble that envelopes a touring band. After every show, all the principals went for a slap-up meal in a posh restaurant, and I was always invited. One night I found myself sitting next to Lenny Macaluso. I knew nothing about him, so I gently probed for information. He was an Italian-American from Philadelphia. He’d worked with some of the biggest names in the business – none of which I can now remember – in a variety of roles; sometimes as guitar-player, sometimes as MD, sometimes writing arrangements, sometimes producing the albums. He spent most of his time in the studio and he only went out on the road when he had an offer he couldn’t refuse. “How can you say no to Tina Turner?” he said. “Ever been in a regular band?” I asked. “Only twice,” he said. “Booker T & the MGs and Redbone.” I gulped. Booker T & the MGs, as I’m sure you know, were a seminal band from Memphis. You must have heard ‘Green Onions’, arguably the greatest instrumental of all time, and, if you’re a cricket aficionado, you will be aware that their ‘Soul Limbo’ is the signature tune for BBC Radio’s Test Match Special. And Redbone? I’d begun to think they were a figment of my imagination. They were a Native American band who fused dirty, swamp music with irresistible tribal rhythms, creating a highly-individualistic style that was instantly recognizable. Their big hit was ‘Crazy Cajun Cakewalk Man’, but every track was a corker. “Not a bad CV,” I said. But it was a two-way conversation. He seemed just as interested in my past as I had obviously been about his. Maybe he was just being polite? So I gave him a potted history of the Manband, mentioning a gig we’d played in his home town. What did I think of Philly, he asked? “I can only remember the gig and the hotel,” I said. “Where d’you play?” “I can’t remember the name of the gig.” “Philly made a big impression on you, then?” he said. “Unforgettable,” I said. During the rest of the evening we did some serious muso-bonding. At one point, I mentioned the recent demise of my beloved Manband. I told him that, after a long sabbatical, I intended to resume my solo career. Probably make an album, probably put together another Iceberg, and probably hit the road again. “Well,” he said, “if you need any brass arrangements for the new album just call me.” “Are you serious” I said? “Just call me,” he said. “Ooh, I will,” I said. One night after a London show, Tina felt the need to shake a tail feather so Barry made a few phonecalls, booking tables and stuff, and off we went. The assembled company comprised Tina, Barrie and Jenny, me, Eryl (my significant other at the time) and Martin Ace (who just happened to be in town). A photographer snapped us as we arrived at the first club. We were ushered to a suitable table and drinks were ordered. The club was dimly-lit and almost empty and the music wasn’t too loud to preclude civilised conversation, so we decided to have a drink or two before moving on. At one point, Eryl wandered off to find a toilet, but she didn’t come back. While she was away, Barrie suggested it was indeed time to move on, so I went to find her. She was sitting at the bar, deep in conversation with a familiar face – Phil Lynott. He was leaning on the bar, with his face close to hers, talking conspiratorially. Eryl had never met him so I knew they weren’t talking about old times. Lynott was chatting up my bird, so I strolled over to them. “Hello, Phillip,” I said, “What’s shaking?” “Oh, hello, Deke,” he said, flashing me a look that said, “f@ck off, you silly billy, can’t you see I’m on the pull?” I ignored him, and started talking shop. I talked about the old days when Thin Lizzy and the Manband had shared many a stage. I told him I still had the Telecaster that he’d loved so much that he’d tried to buy it off me. I’d refused to sell it, but, to alleviate his disappointment, I allowed him to borrow it every night for ‘Whisky In The Jar’. But he wasn’t listening. He started to shift back and forth on his feet, firing filthy looks in my direction, while Eryl sat in inscrutable silence. I continued to talk shop while Lynott got more and more irritated. Surreptitiously, he started kicking my legs and jerking his head in the general direction of Mars, where, no doubt, he would like me to go. Suddenly, I broke off. “Oh, I’m sorry, Phillip,” I said, nodding in Eryl’s direction. “Are you trying to f@ck this bird?” Surprised by the directness of my question, he got flustered and started to splutter. This was brilliant. I’d never seen Lynott lost for words before. “You’re doing it wrong,” I said. “This is how you do it.” I looked directly at Eryl. “Fancy a f@ck, love?” I asked. She looked me up and down. “OK,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I’ve got nothing better to do.” Lynott looked astounded. His mouth moved but no sound came out. I let him stew for a delicious moment or two, before plunging a metaphorical dagger into his promiscuous heart. “This is my bird,” said, pointing at Eryl. “You’re trying to f@ck my bird.” A look of horror flashed across his face, and he began apologising profusely. Suddenly, he stopped and burst out laughing. “You bastard, Leonard,” he said, and, shaking his head, stalked off looking for his next victim. When Eryl and I got back to our table, a move was in progress. Tina had pointed out that, much as she liked our present location, her tail feather remained unshaken. So we moved on. As we left the club I looked over at the bar, where Lynott was talking conspiratorially to a giggly blonde, obviously successfully negotiating an alternative exchange of bodily fluids. I waved but he ignored me. Phil Lynott died long before his time. Why do they always take the good ones? Why didn’t they take Chris de Burgh instead?. After another club, where nothing of note happened, we decided to call it a day. In due course, the Tina Turner band went back to America, and normal service was resumed. I may have given you the impression that my life was a an endless round of celebrity hobnobbing, but these superstar visits were occasional highlights, only lumped into a single chapter for editorial convenience, rather than consecutive events. Between these seismic events, my life reverted to its default position – doing f@ck all.

I have a LOT of guitars, but these are my faves, all hand built by me. Numero uno is the Strat.