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We had a great day at church today. We have been having two services on a morning to ensure "social distancing" but this had meant that some people chose to go to the same service each week and lost touch with people who attended the other service. With the relaxation of covid rules we returned to having one meeting and today was the day! It coincided with many of our youth groups coming back from a short Youth Camp. We have many groups and activities for youngsters from birth to young adults during the week but not all of them will turn up on Sunday mornings - until today. Our church is blessed with lots of secondary school and university students as well as toddlers and junior school children. I am old enough (71) to be a grandfather to most of our church! They all piled in this morning bringing with them their parents and siblings who would not usually attend on Sundays. Our small hall was packed. There were 155 chairs laid out and only a handful were not occupied. I was playing bass guitar in the band and when everyone began to sing it was inspiring. We started with "How Great Thou Art". Everyone seems to know it. When we repeated the chorus at the end - acapella - I choked up. It has been so long since we were able to really let our praises ring out. We have out grown our building and are looking for new premises. Not so much a problem as a blessing!

Say hello to Lionel.

Acquired this from my friend who was selling it in favour of the big version. I’ve not long got into compressors after 30+ years of managing perfectly well without, but I’m doing more theatre-type gigs with IEMs etc and there was room for improvement in my sound. I was quite daunted to be honest by all the parameters you can alter, and hated the idea of being mister “all the gear - no idea” However I’ve quickly realised that a) the parameters are all useful things to tweak to really refine how your compression is working for you, and b) it sounds absolutely stellar live. A proper pedal I can just leave on the entire time now. The acid test for me has been the last song of our set where I go all 80s slap bass and chorus pedal, which prior to the Cali76 tended to vary between horribly piercing thru IEMs or just completely neutered by my attempts to rein it it a bit. But the last two gigs this weekend the sound has been sparkling, punchy and bright, but tamed and controlled and just frankly excellent sounding. It’s not cheap but it’s added a whole extra dimension to my onstage sound. Love it.

Last Saturdays gig was in a wonderful saxon church, St Mary's in Higham Ferrers....the acoustics were awesome...over 100 people and we raised ~£1400 for the church roof! audience in the pew's and yes dancing in the aisles

I did work in the aircraft industry for a little while (more boring than you'd think) and got in to a conversation with someone who believed in chemicals. I'd had a few beers at the time so told her my job was installing the chemical spraying system. As the conversation progressed I got more and more ridiculous with it and she believed all of it, even that the planes carry the highly toxic chemical liquid dihydrogen oxide to spray and sometimes even add the banned substance sodium chloride to it.

A reunion gig with my lovely pals in the Peter Donegan Band last night. One or two of you might have seen him on The Voice a few years back singing with Tom Jones. We haven't been in the same room for four years, but it was (mostly) like riding a bike. Full house, loads of fun. I even used a HandBox WB-100 that I managed to borrow for the night from Warwickhunt, too. Win after win after win.

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.

need to do something about my demo licks. Proper pants. anyhow - brand new strings, straight from work. now time for a beer 😄

New (used) bass day… (again) 😎

Touchdown, the gee-tar has landed.

I think there's lot of truth in what you've said there. I've often reconsidered a prospective purchase after reading that parts have been 'upgraded'. Generally, if there is a bass that I'm interested in, it's the original spec I'm expecting, not someone else's idea of what might make it better. There are exceptions of course. I would regard any other bridge on a Gibson bass that came with one of those three point monstrosities as an upgrade. Same goes for earlier Rickenbacker bridges 😂

Of course I have bothered all of Basschat enough that it's not a surprise anymore ...and now I have some pictures 'in the flesh' rather than just studio... I was really after this, crazy enough to make a transatlantic purchase to the US....! I can tell you more about the chase but it has been crazy... this is the actual bass:

I genuinely don't care. I have a mix of active or passive and don't feel biased in either direction. I don't see it as one vs the other. Either the bass works for me and fills a role no other bass I have does, or it doesn't. If it doesn't, it gets eased on out the door. Regarding tone sculpting, the one rule I have is that the bass sounds good with any onboard and/or amp EQ bypassed. It needs to sound good in its raw state, essentially. I enjoy having onboard EQ but my view on it is that it's there for fine tweaking an already good tone, it's not for trying to salvage something usable out of a sow's ear.

Of all the conspiracy theories out there the flat earth bunch are my favourite. Even if there was no scientific way of disproving them, no space travel etc etc why would anyone bother to cover up that we live on a non-spherical planet. Apparently the answer is something to do with at the very edges in the frozen wastes there are secret heavily guarded places where the global elites all hang out. Seems entirely logical to me that rather than enjoy beautiful beaches or alpine scenery the planets rulers would seek some kind of chintzy Siberian exile.

TBH this raises more questions than it answers 😄

This took a little longer than I anticipated! I thought i'd record a few sound examples for those pondering between the two... not trying to match them, but finding settings at low, medium and high gain that appealed to me on each. I've also put in examples of the 2 cab sims and the straight DI with the pedal bypassed. I've really enjoyed playing with these, and I do feel they give me something that other amp sims/preamps haven't in the past. Going in I expected to like the Super Vintage more, as I am SVT biased (and I'd say that my Super Bassman is more SVTish than anything vintage fender). This initially was the case as it felt very familiar, but as I spent more time with them I really fell in love with the Black Panel. It has so much character and some wonderful settings that I really loved playing with. However, I would say that 1. The cab sim with the pedal bypassed is pretty much unusable for me (but pretty accurate to a 2x15 there really!), whereas the 810 sim in the SV is a useable sound. 2. All my favourite sounds required quite dramatically different settings. If one of them was really appropriate for particular gig it'd be great, but the SV has alot on tap with very small changes. So with that, I took the SV out on a gig on Friday, to a local venue with an in house engineer. SV and IEMs in the gigbag, that's it! Engineer is used to me bringing my pedalboard with Noble DI and big Cali76 so I was interested in his opinion. The SV was really fun in the IEMs, but my previous cab sim experience led me to worry that the tone might be too rounded to really work in the PA. The reports however were good! I didn't even really miss my Cali76, as there is an element of amp-like compression. Later in the gig i upped the drive a little and pulled back the master to compensate. Again great fun and positive feedback. It's certainly different from my usual setup, but i can't see owning this little Ampeg in a box as being anything but another great tool in the armoury. Whether it goes on my board or not I'm not sure yet, it may be that it's more useful as a standalone unit. Happy to answer any questions, and I hope you find the examples above useful!

There is photographic evidence that the moon landings were faked:

I think the word ‘Upgrade’ has been overused by people who really mean ‘modified’… Modifications of course are fine, some improve things and others don’t, I have no problem with experimenting and trying new things. But ‘upgrade is subjective. My son is currently trying out different pickups on a cheap (£80) Squier affinity strat for example… just for fun and he’s learning about maintaining and repairing his guitar along the way (which is great) but any changes he makes will be a subjective change. For example.. adding a set of £300 pickups to a £250 bass is probably an improvement (although still subjective and not necessarily so) but adding a £30 eBay high mass bridge to a £600 bass may not be.. neither sonically or visually. Beauty is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder (listener). I think my real issue is when it’s used in a ‘for sale’ ad.. if you change something and you like it that’s great and it’s totally your call to do that to your bass… but to call it an ‘upgrade’ and add to the asking price is questionable. Almost always modifications devalue second hand stuff. Certainly if you start modifying a high end bass significantly and irreversibly you will devalue it. My other passion in life is motorcycles and the secondhand bike market is full of the same… stuff listed in for sale ads as ‘upgraded’ when really it’s been ‘modified’.. not always for the better. Just to be clear.. I’m not anti modification.. trying different stuff and experimenting and making small changes can be cool… but modifying isn’t always upgrading.. often the reverse.

Thank you for all your organising @jebroad . The sports hall in our church halls would do, or one of the smaller carpeted rooms, but the parking and load in/out isn't straightforward. Parking may be getting better with the nearby carpark removing the 3hr limit, I'll investigate.

Thanks Mick! What's more interesting is that this is New Old Stock! The bass is brand new, unplayed - quite a miracle for a discontinued colour! My search has been probably the hardest I've done for a bass: 1. bothering owners in basschat, 2. posting wanted ads in talkbass/basschat/facebook, 3. alerts in reverb, ebay, facebook 4. messaging most of the shops in the UK, 5. Going international - speaking with distributors in Italy and sellers in Singapore, even Ishibashi music Japan, 6. Even searching for #cruzteal #stingrayspecial and similar tags and cold calling owners/posters in case they'd let go of it... Funny enough I did come across my actual original Cruz Teal 5H, but after some talking the current owner realised he's (reasonably!) better off holding on to it and keeping it. After having completed all those steps I decided I had more than done my due dilligence to warrant redemption after my regret having sold the original one. Now that I have the charcoal sparkle 4H, the 5HH made more sense than single pickup to have all tones I may need as we will be popping over to the studio. It has all worked wonderfully as I have seem to sold the two basses I had left from the last cull - the SR Specials should be all I need (don't say it too loud and jinx it...) I will share more but so far my experience with N Stuff Music has been fantastic - speedy responses, lovely to deal with and informative - who would've thunk that a small shop in Pittsburg Pennsylvania would have the answer to my prayers! Now to receive tracking info and the customs/taxes slap... I have to say that the shop has been very kind and accomodating with a discount etc, it'll work pretty much same as the brand new prices from 2018, which I consider very fair (it is brand new after all). Just about same as I bought my 5H for... Not that it's cheap, but brand new prices at 3k+ these days are prohibitive. I had to rub my eyes, literally the only cruz teal bass I've found on sale - the fact that it's brand new is ridiculous!

The mention of nurembergs in a conspiracy discussion reminds me. Last year there were all those people claiming there would be a new nuremberg trial for those who created and distributed and administered the covid vaccines. They claimed the case was being built and it would happen imminently. They also claimed anyone who had the vaccine would be dead within 6 months. I've had three of the buggers, the first nearly a year ago and last time I checked I was still alive.

Haggis eat a special food known as Lego. It makes one leg go longer than the other.

With all due respect, that's easy to say when you don't have to a.) set it up, b.) mod it or c.) admin it. We already get enough things posted for sale in the wrong sections as it is.

AIUI there are two types of Haggis, the Clockwise (short right legs) and Anti-Clockwise (short left). Which are more rare? And do they taste different?

Bark at the moon - Ozzy

Well, we don't stand under Dad, for a start.

Here she is on her debut gig. And without wishing to repeat myself, Wow what a fabulous piece of kit. I’m smitten 😍

Looks like my Laney Digbeth Bass Preamp and Zoom MS60B will be going up for sale , cos I`m loving this B6 . Taking a while to sort things out , but with the help from you guys , recon I`m getting there . There is such a lot of quality in this pedal , the sounds are superb , and the layout is well thought out .

Thinking on this I feel that musicians not being able to buy tubes is a small price to pay to support the Ukrainian people in their time of desperate need. As for the no fly zone that will escalate the situation with a man who has already shown a willingness to start to use nuclear weapons. God help us all if he goes that route. 😖

Dummy build coming together 👍

Oooh! I used to drink in the St Moritz back in the '80s. Ghastly place, I loved it.

Of course it does. The caveat is that humour in any form tends to only work once, unlike beauty which works every time. Probably an over simplification, but a beautifully crafted lyric bears endless repetition whereas a funny lyric tends to wear thin quite quickly. All IMO, of course.

Sooo…yeah. Looks like I’m ordering the hipshot ultralights. Neck holes are pre drilled. A little wax and pre fit screw check…all good. but I’m not getting into pressing the bushes in. Will be a nice bass when it’s done. Needs a good clean still.

less than a neck with no headstock!

Could be worse. Could be "reform", "cut red tape" or "special military operation".

I used to angle my pickups with the Bass one nearer the top strings and the Treble one nearer the lower ones.

I think you should put a strat neck on, and some horseshoes and list it on eBay as a new invention, like he who shall not be named

No, they had a rotary switch that had coil and pickup switching options.

That's gorgeous, and this is the best s-s P bass out there. Recently sold mine and may come to regret it.

Just as an FYI here- The amp has been repaired as it was just the resistor that had blown. The resistor in question cost a total of approx 3p It works perfectly now, and is now in very regular service.

Yes, my fave track on the album, too. A rare talent - in his day to be considered one of the best mdern jazz guitar players AND on of the best singers is quite remarkable. And he can roller skate backwards! Respect.

It's not just wacky theories, there has also been a lot of subtle manipulation which has worked on large swathes of the population. I've yet to be convinced that B****t was anything other than a Russian-financed effort to destabilise Europe. I firmly believe the EU was stronger with Britain and Britain was stronger with the EU, but I appreciate this is verboten so I'll jog on. Carole Cadwalladr had quite a few articles linking many of the protagonists to Russian money at the time, though, and it's becoming clear now just how deep Russian money has infiltrated the government. They also latched onto the Trump presidency effort very quickly and few could argue the USA hasn't been massively destabilised since. They were setting up social media groups to subtly disenfranchise and demotivate black voters while selling Trump as traditional white America's messiah. Gentle sewing of discontent. The right wing resurgence in central Europe is no coincidence either. The west has been under attack since the advent of the smartphone and social media provided an individualised manipulation portal from any interested party into the eyes of almost anyone. A quick read up on Russia's Internet Research Agency and Sam Harris' conversations with Tristan Harris are strongly recommended.

Last night was a 45 minute set supporting the Complete Madness tribute act at Melksham Assembly Hall. We did a blasting greatest-hits set (minus all our Madness songs, obvs) and though I say so myself we played an absolute blinder. Crowd loved it, we got loads of praise afterwards, we'd brought some t-shirts with us and sold the lot. We're getting a whole load of new followers on our Farcebook page this morning. Here's a couple of pics... god I'm really digging into that E..!