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If its the kind of gig where wives and girlfriends are welcome, always remember its an either/or situation never invite both.

Evening all, So I needed a spare/ cheap bass for our -shall we say - more rough gigs. Around £100. I'd been looking around for a few weeks and nothing that really grabbed me turned up, any that did weren't a bargain as they were far away so diesel costs made them not so much of a bargain. Then today I was luckily enough to see a used SX jazz in perfect condition. Picked it up and just got back, and gees these things are a steal at the price I paid (just over £100). These are the handmade custom vtg basses (which I didnt realise until pick up) and the build quality is absolutely great. The wood is american swamp ash and looks amazing. Real quality. What surprised me for a so called budget bass is theres absolutely no hum or shielding issues. It's absolutely silent. The pickups are good and have a real range to them which is nice. It's quite bright sounding which i like and feels great to play. £100 for a bass I'd gig without hesitation. In fact i may need a really really cheap bass now as a back up for this for our really ropey gigs!

"What's your best price" is also a pet peeve, regardless of whether I've said "offers accepted" or not. It's as if haggling is a dying art form. The best price is the one I advertised it at. If you want to make an offer, then make one. Don't expect me to make an offer against myself for you.

If, like me, you get a bit spooked before gigs try to get there before everyone else and, if possible, while the room's still empty. Just walk around the room for a while and quietly think to yourself 'This is my room. I own it.' Then get on the stage and look out at the room and repeat to yourself: 'This is my room'. It might not work for everyone but it works for me. If you find it a bit scary looking at the audience or making eye contact with them don't turn your back on them or stare at your instrument. Just alternate looking at your band-mates with looking out at the audience; look at a point just above their heads. That way they'll think you're looking at them. Tip: don't tip your head so far back it looks like you're being sniffy; they might think you're Adam Clayton Unless you're a demon dancer, don't throw shapes. A gentle sideways rocking motion will serve for all but the fastest of songs and will help to keep the visual focus on the frontman. The only exception to this rule is if your guitarist(s) stand there like statues. Sidling up to the frontman and giving him a nod looks good and keeps his shaky morale up. If you're going bald, embrace it. Except for Lemmy, hats are for pussies and leather pork pie hats are the work of the devil. If you want to compensate for your thinning or absent hair just shave it all off, grow a long, pointy beard and dye it shocking pink. Be nice to the punters: if someone requests a song and you don't want to play it just offer to dedicate a song to them or someone they're with. "This next one's for Linda, Barry's missus'. If someone tells you that you played a song wrong just smile and say 'Well, you can't beat the original. Are you a big fan of (X)?' Every so often it may be absolutely necessary to punch a punter spark out. Try to keep this to a minimum. Be nice to the landlord / promoter; compliment them on their premises and thank them for the gig. If they ask the band to turn down, comply immediately and without argument. The venue's licence trumps your signature tone. The time to punch them spark out is if they don't pay you. Above all, have fun and let the audience see you're having fun. Happiness is infectious.

Last knockings just got the wiring to do and set it up then its all done! I'm happy with the way it's turned out and I think my lityle boy will love it!!...... 👍🏻

Another tip, again age related, print/write your setlist in a typeface big enough to be read with out kneeling down and squinting between the songs

I think this has already been on this Thread, but here's my beauty! Euro Lx4 in Ultra Amber with an incredible flamed maple top. I got this a few months ago, thanks to the always awesome Andy Travis. Always been a huge fan of Spectors and used to have a Euro CR5FM in Natural with an East pre, which was also amazing.

Be nice to the soundman.

I very briefly played with a Free tribute band. I left after a few weeks, they were simply too loud. First rehearsal they start Alright now, then stop, turn to me and ask: ‘why aren’t you playing?’

I learnt. . . . If you think something is too loud it definitely is. The right time to get moulded ear plugs is when you don't have hearing issues. If you think something is heavy, it's probably too heavy. Heavy does not sound better. Play like every gig is an audition for your favourite band. 100% is the only acceptable number when you are playing. You'll meet a lot of idiots and aholes, so be nice to people, even the ones who don't deserve it. Prove you are better than them. Networking is more important than tone. It doesn't matter how good you sound if you ain't got a gig.

I was a bit concerned as I had previously had a Spector Legend and I really didn't get on with it much.. one of the early pages on here. However, this was an itch I had been wanting to scratcch a long time Recently I wanted one of the fan fret spectors, and I tried one and loved it, but sadly they are crazy prices in shops, and bass direct who had a good price no longer had the green and I couldn't get on with the brown, and there was the other nagging "£1600 for a new korean that would be work at best 1200 if I sold it". So that pushed me to the idea of a euro, as if I didn't get on with it, I could shift it for close to what I got it for. No win no fee. Put a wanted advert, this turned up my way, asked advice, seemed positive. So this turned up, not a colour I would have initial thought of but it is so deep, it looks 3d in the light, and considering it is over 20 years old, it is next to perfect. It feels nice, it sits nice (which the legend didn't do). It has the perfect back cutaway for someone who has worked near the fridge during lockdown! Played it all night, it sounds so good, it sounds different to everything else i have, it has its own sound (I don't have any EMG pickups, maybe it is that), certainly more active sounding which is a great thing, so clear. And the B string, it is something special. I don't actually have any basses with a bad B string as such, but you actually can barely tell the difference between the B at the 5th and the open E. I don't buy into the 35" being a lot better thing due to the physics of it, but if I did, I would use this as evidence! Couldn't be happier with it. Looking forward to its first gig.

Spending lots of time and money in local studIo recently. We rehearse there weekly and have always used his spaces. For a long time he’s had a modern player Fender Jazz on the wall and I recall thinking they were ace (the mk2/satin/switch version…) it’s always bugged me that it looked like it had crappy strings on it and half the pickguard film hanging off. It was basically unused wall art (owner is a vocalist and guitarist). A couple of weeks ago - went to pay for the session and noticed that cool bass was gone. Bah, nicked/sold/in a case? Didn’t ask any more about it. On Sunday we were doing tidy ups on some new tracks and I saw what I thought was a black strat body in amongst some broken gear (stands/drum skins). And then a neck,,,headstock down… so just heel in the air. Its the jazz. pulled the neck out…it’s gone semi Headless.. ”gah, that’s some tumble…bet the body is smashed to bits” pull it out. not a mark on it - just covered in dust. spoke with owner, negotiated a fee for removal of this “trashed bass”. And set about seeing what to do. Neck is bloloxed…chunks missing from the break (looked clean at first) and the lacquer is shattered around the break point like shards of glass. It will go in the bin wonderfully - I clamped and glued it but it’s an ex-neck at this point. A good luthier would charge £100 to make it work, £50/£60 to overspray and it would still bother me. So…UPGRADE TIME! Roasted Maple Fender Player neck on the way… Arrives in the next day or two.

You might mock him, but they're going for £1.55 now, so who's the real winner eh??

Well if you like the stories... For a long time I held on to the special edition fifty p and two pound coins. Last autumn I decided to get rid and sold a load over eBay on 1p seller fees or whatever it was. I sold a fifty p for £1.50 and got full payment including postage but with a note saying "I collect". I had Covid at the time and was quite sick so I dropped the buyer a note saying "let me know when you're coming and I'll put it in an envelope on the doorstep for you because I've got covid." I got a very quick and harshly worded reply "only if you're going to pay my train fare from London, why would I travel to collect a fifty p coin?". I was polite in responding over the misunderstanding and said I'll post when out of isolation. The buyer sent another message but I missed it, this is important later. Time passes and my wife also caught covid extending my isolation period, then it was Christmas with post offices closed. I posted the 50p to the buyer quite late. I got a really snotty message a few days later "I got the coin eventually but you didn't write flat 1 on the envelope. There are three flats in this building it could have gone ANYWHERE!! I am not happy...." Blah blah. I reply politely, but cheekily added, but you did get the coin so I assume all is ok, good day to you. I got more angry messages over the address issue to which I replied "I apologize for having a medical condition that meant I both physically and legally could not leave my house and delayed posting you a fifty p coming you paid £1.50 for. I further apologize for missing off a small detail from your address, while the coin could have gone to one of your two neighbours (anywhere) it did not, did it? You have the coin you paid for even though you said you'd collect it" Then I found the earlier message I had missed from the day of sale: "Show me proof of where I say I collect or I sue you for libel". Now, admittedly I am not a lawyer but I do work with contract law on a daily basis so I cannot let a threat of legal action go without response and I'd love to go to court so I really don't want to turn down the opportunity to do so. I screenshotted the "I collect" message and responded to it, "please furnish your legal team with the attached exhibit as evidence for our forthcoming trial. I look forward to hearing from them". Their response? A screenshot of their address as on the eBay account and the message: IT SAYS FLAT 1! This person must be an absolute joy to be around. As well as a terrible investor, exchanging £1.50 for 50p.

My 2022 4003CB WG high gloss Walnutglo & old 4001 Burgadyglo, just love em!

Drunken small hours ebay poker is how I ended up with a 1953 BSA B31 350. I not only honoured the purchase, but I nearly crippled myself riding it home from Lincoln.

Here she is

New images just in! Does this post get bumped when I reply again or should it be a new post? Im assuming people will still see it here. Enjoy!

Having had another look at all your photographs and descriptions, I would say the problem with the intonation is directly related to the very high action and that is most likely due to the neck being at the wrong angle in relation to the body. Remember that the intonation is there to compensate for the stretching of the string as you push down to fret it. The higher your action is the more you have to push down and the more you have to compensate by moving back the saddle. Follow my instructions and first get the neck angle right, then the action and relief and hopefully the intonation will sort itself out.

@Dankology I've just got my Squier Bass VI out of storage and comparing it to your photographs there is something very wrong going on with you bass. I've shimmed the neck on mine (a piece of 400gsm business card that sits in the end of the neck pocket closest to the neck pickup and extends back as far as the closest screw holes, so roughly 25mm x the width of the neck) and I have a more noticeable tilt in than is than is evident in you second photograph of the neck where it joins the body. The result of this is that my bridge is much higher than yours. I'm measuring 17mm from the top of the scratch plate to the bottom of the E strings. The whole point of shimming the neck is to get a much greater break angle over the saddles to reduce the compliance of the strings and therefore tighten up the feel of the low E and A strings in particular. Yours still looks like my Bass VI did when it was new out of the box before I'd added the shim. I have the LaBella Bass VI rounds on mine (I'd already stopped using it in favour of the Burns Barracuda before I got my first set of Newtone Axions) but the low E is only a 95 as opposed to 100 of the Newtone and fits perfectly in the nut without modification. and I doubt that an extra 5 thousands of an inch will make any noticeable difference. Action on mine is 4mm at the 12th fret and it would got down at least 1mm if I adjust the truss rod as there is slightly more bow in the neck then most people would find comfortable. Your bass looks so far out I would stop whatever adjustments you are doing and start again from scratch. Also that way you won't be making the wrong adjustments for the wrong problem. Firstly take off the strings and remove the neck. Check that your shim hasn't moved and if it is in the correct place maybe replace it with a slightly smaller one that doesn't fill quite so much of the length of the pocket - as I said mine fits between the body end and the next set of screw holes. Having done that replace the neck and without fitting the strings adjust the truss rod so that the neck is perfectly flat and straight. Then using a long straight edge along the frets to the bridge, raise the bridge until the saddles touch the bottom of the straight edge. Without any relief to the neck I would say you want the tops of the E string saddles 15mm from the top of the scratch plate. If you can't raise the bridge that far without lifting the straight edge off the frets at the top end of the neck, then you need a fatter shim. Once you have get this right, wind the bridge up another 1-2 mm. Now you can restring, tune to the correct pitch, and then leave the bass for a day. The next day come back, and check that the strings are sitting at the bottom of the nut slots (as I said on mine, out of the box, the slots were wide enough for heavier strings). If not widen them slightly without making them any deeper until the strings sit properly. Then, and only then, slowly adjust the truss rod until you have just enough space the slide a business card between the strings and the 12th fret while holding the string down at the 1st and 21st frets (if you are very hard player [like me] you might want a little more relief than this). Do not worry about the intonation at this point, if you are using the truss rod to get the intonation right you are doing it wrong. You might need to adjust the bridge up or down slightly to compensate for the change in relief. Only once you have got the relief and the string height right should you start to adjust the intonation. The bridge on mine is straight to within 1mm between the highest and lowest strings, so therefore when you you set the intonation you should get each saddle going slightly further back as the strings get thicker. On mine with the original Squier Bass VI bridge to high E string saddle is about 2.5mm from the front of the bridge and the low E string saddle is 3.5mm from the back (I had to remove the spring on this saddle to get it far enough back). That's about 6mm difference between the position of the high and low E saddles. I haven't checked the intonation recently, but when I was using it as my main Bass VI, I was playing plenty of things high up on the neck on all strings without any noticeable tuning issues. The only other tuned instrument in the band where I use this bass is synthesiser, and person who plays that has very good ears when it comes to tuning and notices problems I never hear. Once you have made all those adjustments, if you still can't get the bass in tune (and have tried another set of strings to rule out the possibility of a faulty string in your current set), please come back with the following photos: 1. Strings in the nut slots 2. Relief at 12th fret while holding the string down at the 1st and 21st frets (you may need someone to either hold the string or take the photo for you) 3. Bridge height 4. photo of the top of the bridge showing the saddle positions. HTH, and good luck!

I've worked with the same production company behind this programme....and they're not interested in making it real. They enjoy manufacturing situations and editing it to stress tensions etc. Sad that that they can't just make something real....

I must have got lucky yesterday, had a very pleasant Polish chap turn up to collect a cheap PA rig I had advertised on FB marketplace. He paid full asking so I chucked in some cables and old stands. He payed by bank transfer but his bank were very slow to clear the payment. He sent me another payment via PayPal trusting me to refund him when the bank transfer cleared (which it did and I have!)

Always check your route. I once arrived for a gig at Blues At The Farm, Billericay when I should have been pulling up at Blues On The Farm, Chichester!! So I was 100 miles and 3 counties away from where I needed to be!! I was 3 hours late for the gig. Fortunately it was a festival and the other bands agreed to change the running order!

I think there are two separate issues at work here. Firstly there is the actual concept and design of the Fender/Squier Bass VI. Out of the box the instrument is perfectly playable if you are a guitarist looking to do some tic-tac bass or doubling up a guitar part on a 60s style recording. However a lot of modern bass players want something that is capable of being used as a stand-alone bass instrument, and unfortunately it's guitar-based heritage does not necessarily offer what a bass player wants. (This is why I have ultimately abandoned mine in favour of first a Burns Barracuda and now the Eastwood copy of the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass, but that's a completely different matter.) Out of the box (IME) there is nothing wrong with the action on these basses, but the fitted E and A strings are a little on the light (and therefore floppy) side and the whole bridge/vibrato mechanism while fine for doing MBV impersonations on a guitar is not really a sensible design feature on a bass. This is why as bass players we fit heavier strings and need to shim the neck. And as the OP has done replace the original wobbly bridge with the StayTrem version. The neck shim is only needed if you want to raise the bridge in order to increase the break angle behind the saddles to reduce the compliance of the strings. However once you have done that and fitted heavier strings there are a whole load of extra adjustments that need to be done to return the instrument to it's playable condition. The second issue is (as Andyjr1515 has already hinted at) that often the wrong things are adjusted to correct the problems that develop. It is important that the adjustments are made in a logical manner and only the right items are adjusted. While adjusting one thing may affect another, it should be sorted with its own adjustment. So in order: 1. The shim is there (on this instrument) to allow the bridge to be raised to increase the break angle over the saddles cure the floppy feeling of the lower strings on the Bass VI. Unfortunately this setting on the Bass VI is entirely subjective, and I get the impression that many people do it having been told it is a requirement without actually realising exactly why they are doing it, or what exactly they are aiming for. I've found that having the tops of the E string saddles approximately 17mm above the top of the scratch plate (combined with LaBella round-wound bass VI strings) gives the right feeling for me. That won't apply to everyone. 2. The truss rod is only there to adjust the straightness/relief of the neck. Any other effect is has is entirely separate and while require a different part of the instrument to be adjusted to compensate. Swapping from the factory fitted strings to either the LaBella or Newtone will almost definitely require the truss rod tightening slightly, but all you should be doing is correcting the change in relief caused by fitting heavier strings. 3. The intonation should only need adjusting because the new string are heavier and therefore the saddles need to be moved back very slightly to compensate. The OP has fitted a StayTrem bridge which I believe has a slightly greater range of adjustment, so there shouldn't be any problems here. Just work through the problems one at a time and use the correct adjustment for the correct part of the instrument and the OP should get be able to get it back to a playable state. If the OP does ultimately decide to get the bass looked at by a professional, they should explain to them the reason for fitting the shim and the higher than usual bridge setting, as I would suspect that a lot of luthiers would not necessarily know this and decide that removing an "unnecessary" shim and lowering the bridge would sort out all the problems and the OP will be back to where they originally started in terms of set-up which is not really what they want.

$175 for a shim is wildly high unless the tech is proposing to hand craft a wooden shim of precise dimensions and angle of slope and, frankly, that's going too far. Shimming a neck is an easy task which involves unscrewing the neck, slipping a bit of card into one end of the neck pocket and screwing the neck back on. If you want to do it yourself come back here and we'll talk you through it. If you want, PM me and we can arrange a Skype call and I'll talk you through it.

Have a wee before you start. Buy pink leads. Makes them easy for you to spot and no one will steal them. Often all a heavy bass needs to make it through a gig is a fat strap. Careful where you park. If you and the bandmates park together it minimises the chances of car park damage to big, expensive motors. Check your gear is present and correct before getting in the car. Then check again. An extra bass is easier than faffing about restringing...unless your play a Steinberger. You're not a wuss for wearing ear plugs. Gaffa tape is a useful addition to your gig kit. Always ensure you have on clean underwear and give your old chap a quick splash of cologne in case you get lucky with a groupie.

Always have time for people who enjoyed your gig and come up after for a chat. Too easy to be wrapped up in packing up and not be generous with your time.

Regarding drinks on stage, it was probably in the early 90's, the guitarist in the band I was in was taking his new multi-fx pedal out on its first gig. Sometime during the second set a drunk punter dropped his pint right on top of the new toy and that was the end of that 😟 Since then I've always used a plastic sports type bottle on stage and tried to encourage other band members to do the same. I don't care what other people think, it's a kind of insurance policy. Any drinks placed on the subs or other equipment get moved ASAP too whether the punters like it or not. And as someone has already said, take a spare everything, or at least as many spares as you can, everything from fuses to cables to basses and amps. If you gig long enough something will eventually fail on you. Learn to use your EQ. It's thankfully not so prevalent now but back in the day you'd often see people with their 150 watt combo running at 11 with the smiley face EQ curve wondering why their massive 30Hz boost wasn't shaking the room like an earthquake. It doesn't matter if it's your sound, if you're not audible in the mix then you might as well not be there. EQ a sound that works with the other instruments and works in the room too. It might not sound so sexy on it's own but it's not all about you - unless you're a guitarist, of course 😃

Well , after reading all this about the Zoom B6 , I have pressed the button , and it will be here tomorrow .

Its one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. You dont have to be a musical genius, but playing music with other musicians, in a band, and making it work on stage, feeling the band lock into a groove. Its mesmerising, like magic.

The smell of pie and chips wafting gently from the backline would be a massive distraction. I love pie. And chips.

Idiot check twice. EAR PLUGS.

I have made hundreds (maybe thousands) of cables over the years and in most situations, the standard quality cables from Sommer* and Klotz** are my choice. There are a number of reasons but the main ones are: Better bend radius. The cables like the one under discussion gave a bigger bend radius than the ones with a 6-6.5mm diameter cables. trying to coil a fatter cable is tedious. Connectors. Many connectors, including the Neutrik ones I use do not like thicker cables. Those connectors look like the standard NP2RX from Neutrik and those are designed for up to 7mm cable. So either the chuck has been modified or omitted completely meaning that the rubber exit shroud IS the cable retention. The advantages of the thicker cables only really show up for full range signals, for bass, even slapped bass, a good quality 6-6.5mm cable is more than enough over stage distances. Of course there are other quality cables around and many swear by Van Damme or Mogami. I have had bad experiences with Van Damme cables over the years and Mogami are hard to get in the UK. There is also no real benefit in either brand over the easily available Sommer and Klotz. Finally if you really need to go a long way from an unbalanced source like a bass, use a DI box or buffer. If you have a pedal board, these larger cables may be useful to take the output to the amp/mixer especially if you use true bypass pedals. In this application they don move and that may be a blessing for elf and safety. Or you could go wireless, but remember a cable is always your best backup. They don´t need batteries or charging. *Tricone 2, Tricone XXL or SC Clasique Braided. **AC110

Not sure why they picked a drummer anyway to play a reggae track when he had already said he hates reggae

back in the day, I was gigging in my metal band and wearing suitably clumpy boots. Too clumpy as it happened, as the toe cap was too broad for my multi fx. The first time I tried to change a patch I pressed 2 switches which put me on mute for the tuner 😖

bonus points if it has a 'Keep music live!' sticker 😆

Black Gaffa tape. Multitude of uses, gigbags should never be without.

On the one hand I'm sorry for y'alls tales of woe, but on the other I'm really enjoying this thread!

Claire from work.

Its hard to capture its greenness really - in the sun it really glows Finally getting a chance to play it, it seems rather good!

Hardly, They still used "Tapes" on the USS Enterprise, which I believe is the 23rd century.