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Finally got my hands on this P-Bass I found on eBay a little while ago, one 6-hour trip to Gloucester and back and it’s sitting pretty in my house. Plays wonderfully, and the build quality is superb from what I can tell. The rosewood board is very rich and easy to play, which I was a little worried about having mostly played maple boards. It’s come with custom shop 62’ pickups pre-installed and a new set of Fender pots, so I’m unable to check the exact serial numbers, but it’s from around 97-00’ from what other BC’s have said in my previous thread. Only modification I’ve made is to switch out the black pickguard for this red tort one, which I rather like. I’m considering getting the pickup cover and ashtray but I’m still undecided… Overall, very very happy!

No not yet! I decided to make it a 5er in the end, I've got the neck for it now just waiting for the pickup which is on a slow boat from china!........ 👍🏻

Spontaneous eBay purchase arrived this afternoon which will hopefully help with body shaping.

All the heaters are wired up now. Those pink and purple wires sit well above the audio connections to the valve sockets. I have elevated the heater centre tap by connecting it to the cathodes of the output valves - as I understand it (see Blencowe 3.17), this creates a DC leakage current that is saturated, and consequently unaffected by any AC component from the heaters. All the other bits are now fitted. Time to fire up and plug in - NOT. I'll put this aside and come back to it tomorrow, when I'll check all my connections against the schematic and layout, both visually and with a meter, before running through a staged start-up sequence. I may change my mind about the knobs - I've already done so several times!

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I'm surprised that there's all this fuss anyway, since the clap became a unit of currency a year or so ago. The number of rounds of applause you get should provide an excellent income, at the rate of exchange of one round of applause per 1% of a nurse's pay.

To be fair though, you said it was BS that people earn from day one, which is clearly not the case. Yes, I did a couple of freebies when I was 18 but I was still earning from all my other gigs. I also realised very quickly that playing for nothing gets you a reputation as someone who will play for nothing.

Ive got quite a few hobbies that don’t pay. Ive never got the ‘spent loads of money learning to play and now i expect to get it all back, and then some’. If your doing it as a career this sort of gig won’t even be on your radar, its not a big deal. People can make their own mind up and be happy with that choice. I did one once for free and got 7 bookings from it. I loved playing in front of 1000+ people and made loads of money I probably wouldn’t have done had these people in the crowd not seen me. Yeah, that old ‘exposure’ thing. If you’re good it can work, if you’re dross of course its not going to get you more work. So when all these young bands are taking these gigs, it’s because they just want gigs and to play live, and hopefully get the experience they might not otherwise get. Isnt that something we have all wanted or gone through? Some people make out every gig they have ever played, from day one, has been an earner. Thats just BS IMO, we all started somewhere. Having been to many local festivals, I’ve often come away thinking ‘I hope that lot weren’t getting paid’

This thread has just turned into pointless bickering now. Ridiculous really. Some bands play for free. Some don't. End of It's been fun. I'm out.

Essential accessories pictured doing their stuff and set up on stage with my Bugera on top as a spare. Very pleased with the amp so far after the first gig!

Definitely two distinct camps on this thread: those that prefer the 424 over the 1024 and those that don't! For me the biggest and key difference is tone: the 424 is a flatter thump; the 1024 more harmonically rich and tonally complex. I've had the 5 string version of them both and rate them both highly. I've seen quite a few basses come and go over the past few years, in fact all 4 that were in the first pic have departed. The 1025, however, has been a constant with me for several years. I love it!

Just put my BB1024X up for sale in the appropriate forum if anyone is interested.

If someone's out to make money out of me, I'll take my cut. All the best bands I've been in (some had pro musicians in) and the best bands in my area all charge.

Honestly I have no idea why anyone is even questioning whether he played on the track, if you have every heard him playing live you will know that he is a very capable musician and has been for a long time

Here's my three - got flats on the SWB pro and rounds on the ACG which is just an absolute masterpiece. The baby in the middle is an RMI Boomslang nano which is strung piccolo and great fun to play.

I play in a couple of covers/wedding bands. For those, we expect to be paid (especially the weddings), because we're good at what we do. We've done a few favours in terms of free gig slots for people who've helped us in the past, and if the pubs on our circuit reopen for bands with restrictions, we expect the money not to be as much until the pubs can pack em in as before. Anything personal, like benefits for people we know, etc, are a different matter. I also play in an originals band, we're preparing to do a few festival gigs for nowt (tho we'll sell merch), and we'd all kill to play Glasto for nowt...there's exposure and there's Exposure... In terms of the OP's festival organisers, I'd be interested to see how any of their excuses for non-payment for music would go down with the PRS if they were pinged playing records...

Completely with you on that tegs. Zero need for bullying, personal insults etc on BC. We're better than that.

As of last night, all the connections are now made apart form the 6.3V heater supply. The stray white wire is the heater centre tap.

I don’t care if I am right or wrong. If there are venues out there that will give an amateur musician a break I am happy. If an amateur can turn pro and start to earn money even better. If an amateur plays for fun and gets pleasure from doing so again this is fine.

So The Hamsters emerged fully formed as pro musicians paid from the offset with promoters and an audience waiting for them. They were never teenagers with their mum dropping them down the local to play bad AC/DC covers with their college mates? I know some musicians with agents playing original music and some playing covers. They all started playing for free and were thankful of the venues that let them play. How many times do you need this explained to you if your going to be rude?

Have we had no mention of Gazzer and The Tubeways (or Valeriun, Rael and Scarlett as they used to call themselves on their 1st single!)

My possibly over-simplistic view, for what it's worth Somebody says that listening to music makes them feel something really positive and only music does that for them. They're willing to lay down their free time and disposable cash to experience the thing which makes them feel good. The product they expect to receive for the money they pay is a feeling. That seems to be generally accepted and perfectly relatable. Somebody else says that playing music to an audience makes them feel something really positive and only music does that for them. They're willing to lay down their free time and disposable cash to experience the thing which makes them feel good. The payment they expect to receive for the product they provide is a feeling. That seems to be somehow tantamount to robbery and completely reprehensible. The gig needs a clean, safe venue with tables and chairs and beer and food and toilets and staff and a stage etc. so the audience pay their disposable cash to float that. The musicians need lessons and books and instruments and amps and rehearsals and transport etc. so they pay their disposable cash to float that. The door/bar/catering/cleaning staff probably don't get many uniquely positive feelings from playing their respective parts, so they expect their recompense in cash and they get that. As long as everybody involved is happy enough with the arrangement, then I don't see what the problem is. If, as a professional musician, you can offer that venue owner something special that guarantees a bigger take on the door/bar to the point where they can afford to pay you as contract staff and still make more profit than the free alternative, then offer it and I'm confident they'll take you up on it. After all, as a non-professional musician playing original material, I have to accept that I can't get a gig in a decent venue with 'organic' footfall on a Friday/Saturday night - that's firmly covers and tributes territory for a reason.

PLEASE SIR, PLEASE SIR, Can I join So one of the bands I play in does a few songs which needed access to a Low B string. My solution was to add a set of BEAD D'Addario Chromes to one of my P basses. This has always worked fine as I normally take two basses to gigs. For a while now I have had this desire to get a 5-string and after reading the comments of Spector Basses I ordered a 5 string Legend Classic from Bass Direct. I know it's not a "Posh" USA or Euro version but I am extremely pleased with the build quality, finish and performance of the Tone Pump Jr & Bartolini Pups. So please may I be admitted into the regal throng of Spector Bass lovers on Bass Chat? Last year, having sourced a Spector Legend Classic body, I built a 32 ins scale Bitsa which frankly is a knockout bass and encouraged me to acquire a proper Spector. SpectaRayVibe Anyone???? - Build Diaries - Basschat Thank you

16” floor tom - a little rougher, and missing legs, but in good playable shape. Just the kick drum to go now.

Here we go. Very nearly, or perhaps actually, there. Just finished wiring it up after using it on Saturday. Can't choose between the MXR and the Fwonkbeta so I'll have both. No compression because the amps do that pretty well. The Behringer OD is simply the best for an always on bit of dirt that I've found, and the Joyo boost kicks it up when I need real filth. Everything is in the loop of the SY-1 so the synth is unaffected by the rest. The Mr Black phaser edged out the competition from Behringer and Fender.

I’m sat here debating with myself about wether or not it’d be a stupid buy. Currently sat at “you don’t need it” - but my inner Wayne Carini “IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CHASE” has gone into overdrive…

I'd say that the problem is not the tambourine. The problem is people have no idea how to play it, but think it must be easy, which it's not.

@Al Krow the tracks were all original. I had no intention of using it as the style of the band is a kind of indie pop / Irish drinking music and synth wouldn't sit well with tin whistles , mandolin and acoustic guitar. But it was on my board and the keys guy didn't show. I told them not to worry, I had it covered, and kicked in an organ sound to run alongside my bass. It was a gag but they were open mouthed in astonishment at how great it sounded. Later I just picked a few sounds at random and mixed them as part of my sound rather than distinct from it and everything sounded excellent.

The pub covers band isn't ready and has to rehearse up a set / learn enough songs to play live. Most of the decent local venues are pretty booked up now, so the earliest we are realistically going to be ready is the back end of the year for any cancellations and start booking gigs for next year. The originals band will only play supports for better known bands of a similar genre, so we have to wait for those types of bands to start doing club tours again and hope that we can pick up some supports. Not sure what is happening with the Magnum tribute - we've been offered a couple of gigs but there has been a lineup change, which means quite a lot of work to rehearse it back up to the standard it was. The idea is that we are putting it on ice until next year to see if it is still viable to carry on.

Nope I am an IT professional though and have a professional electricians qualification so can charge for electrical work if I wanted so in your definition I have to choose? I still don’t understand how any of your personal insults relate to my simple points about amateur musicians not being a threat to professional ones nor the issue that if they are unproven why they should automatically get paid but am tired of this now.. Some people are simply rude.

As an amateur I actually used to find offers of payment a bit of a burden as it meant there'd be certain expectations we'd have to live up to and if we weren't considered much cop there'd be a fair bit of aggro from dissatisfied punters. If they didn't much like us but we were playing for free the worst we'd get is being told to 'p1$$ off, you're shoite'.

Flanger is a variation of chorus so the the C4 doesn’t really do that. However, it does 2-, 4- and 6-stage phasers (though mislabelled in the lists) with ease and these are the same as in their Lunar/Gemini/Mercury.

Not everyone who plays live is relying on gig income to pay the rent. That's just a fact of life that struggling "pro" musicians need to deal with in terms of competition for gigs and pricing. A lot of hobby musicians love playing live because doing so is its own reward. Surely that's totally cool, if that's how they want to spend their free time? And it doesn't mean that bands willing to play for free will be crap either, although you would hope that musicians who are getting paid are bringing something extra to the party compared to those who are playing for free in terms of musicianship and professionalism, but that won't always be the case. I know it must come as an unpleasant shock to some, but making music isn't just about the money for many musicians...did someone say we're going round in circles?

I picked this up on Tuesday from a guy in London. It needs new strings and a setup, which should be done next week. Overall I’m very pleased with it. It’s a Stentor Conservatoire, approximately ten years old. The guy actually sold it as a Stentor Student 2, I noticed the Conservatoire label inside earlier today. The Conservatoire model is quite a lot better than the Student model, and consequently a lot more money. It has a carved front and back - the back is really nicely flamed.

@prowla I went down the route of the C4 and can at least reuse the midi switcher I bought as one of the add ons you mention. The FI makes wonderful sounds but I swapped it out as I wasn't using it. However, I have to say after taking the Boss SY1 with me to rehearsal on Saturday,it is the clear winner for me. The band were open mouthed at how great it sounded and I was able to alter and pull up different sounds on the fly . It's my first choice

Glass half empty... it's an unpaid gig. Glass half full... it's a free rehearsal space.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and feedback. The enthusiasm and positivity the show has been met with here and on social media is amazing, and really encouraging. Thanks again! 🍻