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My wife is off to try out (on the bass) a new band next week. She's already got the set list and Pump it up is on it. What great bass playing on this song, I'm sitting in my office trying to learn it (I keep a Precision Lyte in my office) She's going to really enjoy playing this one. She's not gigged for nearly 6 years now

La peche in Montreuil, Paris last night. The smallest venue on the tour so far. They blocked off the road to park Steve Ignorant's bus. I thought they'd be worried about police but apparently the police avoid this neighbourhood. Soundcheck took forever but dinner afterwards was lovely. A huge old topless punk was kicking off during our set, trying to start fights with everyone. The venue staff refused to do anything about him but eventually Steve Ignorant himself came down and dragged the guy out of the venue. This was while we were still playing! Concentration was a challenge

When Lidl are advertising fretless basses…

Starting to look my age now, got away with it for years.

I love this line, it's a lot of fun to play and has some nice little fills in it. When I first learnt it I got all of the little fills down (I think?!) but just add in which ever I fancy playing and don't stick to the recorded version. There are some great lessons and covers on YouTube to help you and your wife out when it comes to learning it. Troy nails it here 😃 (as ever)

This is mine.

His Bruceness in full flight. Pump It Up is an absolute favourite of mine

ACG Mule #1 has arrived, a 5 string fretted. ACG Mule #2, a 4 string fretless should arrive tomorrow. I'll be bringing these along to the bash for you good folks to try out. Make sure and come say hi! Eude

Back on track, I did warn you I like a graph. This next one is probably familiar and I think the 'science' reason behind the 'smiley face' eq so many amps have when the controls are all set to noon. Each curve measures how much energy you need at each frequency to make sounds equally loud. Effectively it draws where you'd need to set the graphic to get a flat sound. You'll notice there isn't watt in sight, sound is measured in decibels. The easiest line to explain is the 'threshold' line. In this case 0db is set at the quietist sound you can hear with all the other decibels set relative to that. Originally the first measurement was taken at 1kHz so that is where zero was set, a bit like setting 0 as the lowest temperature they could get at the time at the bottom of the Fahrenheit scale. So this is why we like a smiley face eq. If you look at all the lines they show a broad dip in the middle with lots of extra volume to get you to hear the bass and treble as loud. And let's face it when you only had two tone controls on the radiogram you only ever boosted you never cut. Looking carefully to hear 40Hz (bottom E) at all you need 50db of bass boost. That's 100,000x the power! If you look at the other extreme at 100Phon (about the level of sound where the drummer sits in a rock band) you only need 20db of boost. The bass sounds 30db louder and only needs 1000x the power. Subjectively it will sound 8x louder relative to that 1kHz mid. So turning up the volume of anything amplified makes it sound like you've boosted the bass and treble and here's the punchline: boosting the bass and treble at any frequency makes an amp sound like a bigger more impressive amp. I wonder why anyone would want to do that in a showroom situation

I did an A/B with my Glockenklang Blue Rock at last night’s band practice. They’re obviously amps with different design goals but they have very similar formats and power outputs so I thought it would be fun. The Glock is clearly much more transparent and “flat” with everything at noon, the Trace has a baked in EQ curve which is very musical and pleasing to my ears. Once I’d tweaked EQs (mainly on the Glock) there wasn’t a huge amount of difference at all. The Glock had a crisper top end but that was about it. In a rock band setting I think the Trace wins out. It was a fun experiment

My gigrig atom is in for an upgrade, so just went with this simple set up at rehearsal tonight instead of fuzzes and delays and verbs.... I've only just recently reacquired the XXL. I absolutely love it. Wonderfully filthy distortion. Don't see many around these days...shame. I love it.

My rig - a pair of Barefaced 2X10s topped off with a Fender Rumble 800

Left the site a few months ago ( don’t ask ) but I’m back and looking forward to great Basschat banter So what’s new …, I sold my GK Legacy 800 and decided to use 100% my Ashdown ABM600 In front of this I’m running the Sansamp Bass Driver v2 which warms things up nicely for pick playing. Nearly tempted to buy a CTM100 but was concerned with lack of power, nearly tempted to buy the ABM750 ! Thank you to Ashdown for their help and offers About to add a Nano big muff pedal and that’s me up to date !!

My knees keep telling me I’m older than I am, but then my daft kid brain makes them go out and do things so they ache all over again. It’s all very Joseph Heller.

S'manth ... a new look! Wonderfully inexpensive (Apart from the boots which I managed to salvage from the fire and the hat a dear friend gifted me!) ... the stool which is making me smile so was about £10 from a local charity shop ... bargain and great for my back!!! S'manth x

REW is pretty danged good IME and the price is right. I bought the full version of True RTA eons ago and so I mostly just use that because I like the memory storage format for A/B capabilties. One gotcha is that many commodity interfaces have non defeatable HPFs built into some or all of the input channels. Steinberg UR series, I'm looking at you! 😎 As far as your original post, I've been wrestling with this for several decades by now. I used to help out on installs in many different sorts of spaces and in churches I would rather hilariously often get drafted to read from the pulpit because I have a big voice and a decent feel for the behind the mic experience. Dead flat was pretty much never the goal or the end result, but it makes for a uniform reference at least! I happen to be building some new preamp pedals this week and testing various HPF formats. By the time you factor in rolloffs in various amps and onboard preamp stages just spec'ing a net 4th order HPF at 30Hz is a lot less straightforward than one might expect. At some point taking the box to an open mic and letting half a dozen bassists play through it often teaches me more than a zillion RTAs and Spice models do. But of course once we can correlate all those things reliably we're way ahead of the game!

Used to play Pump It Up in a band I was in, so much fun. I even got to play it on one of Bruce Thomas' basses that I bought (he didn't like it as much as his salmon pink one), which was weird and wonderful at the same time.

Bass is where it's at, don't bother with the skinny stringed thing. Buy Apple and Amazon shares! Don't start smoking. Be more self confident, you're better than you think, at everything. Don't buy that first Skoda 101, it's crap! Become an educator sooner.

When it is fluent, you can suggest Costello's wife's version of Devil may care. This live version is fun to play along:

Just a quick update for those interested. No rehearsals or big enough gigs for the thunderbox to be wheeled out yet.... But I've been playing around at home. I use a crown XLS2002 rack mount power amp and TC Spectradrive. Or a TC BH550/800 It's hard to explain, but the bass is really "there", but without being as in your face as other cabs i've tried. Its like the engine room. It's all going on very nicely, but nobody's shouting about it. I'd expect an enclosure of this size to be quite boomy if driven hard, but it isn't. The 2 SM212's just punt out a really nice foundation for the mid and high to work with. The real star of the show for me is that midrange horn (hardest part to make and install - the rest is pretty straightforward) and Alpha 6 CBMR. Turning the low or high mids on the preamp pedal really does sculpt your sound nicely. Increased, it really punches its way through. Cut back gives a really smooth, full, dubby tone. I can't wait to hear this in a decent venue. The bar handles I fitted are a bit poo. Looks like the component parts are possibly lazer cut and folded and there are some gaps. When driving the cab a bit more, I heard air and sure enough there are a few leaks from those darn handles. I plan to remove them and coat the holey areas with some silicon. Not pretty, but you won't see it. I'm glad I fitted bar handles and wheels however. Moving this cab without and alone would be a bit of a chore. Am I glad I built it? Yes. Am I looking forward to transporting it? No (I used to haul a Hammond and Leslie around East Anglia in my 20's, so i'm sure i'll cope) Would I recommend it? Yes - If you are playing the type of gigs that demand a cab of this size and power and you have an understanding/brilliant partner and room to store it 😁 This cab is currently living in our lounge next to my 4 x 10 trace combo..... Yep, Mrs Glambass74 is very tolerant. I'll shut up for now. Will write more once the thunderbox has been unleashed on an unsuspecting band/crowd Jon

We know it's late but we're pleased to finally announce our guest for the day.... Ladies & Gentlemen..... Mr Ian King! @Kingbassist (https://www.iankingbass.com/) Ian has played with, amongst others: Sister Sledge, The Temptations, The Supremes and Odyssey on gigs all around the world. He has also found himself on occasion playing for Paul Young, Huey Lewis, Don Felder from the Eagles, Ronan Keating, and Rick Astley. Currently he is holding down the very challenging bass chair in the West End phenomenon 'Hamilton'. He also gives lessons, so anyone looking to improve their technique have a chat with him after! Ian will be giving us a casual chat about his career and maybe a few bass part demonstrations early in the afternoon on Sunday.

I managed to find a Flying Samurai reissue after a lot of looking around. Oh there were generally several for sale in Japan , and then a couple more scattered around the planet , but I was reluctant to import something into Canada. Finally found one in Toronto, snagged it , and love it ! A friend has suggested that I’m going to need a set of boots like this , if I’m going to use it …

I love a good Yamaha. Here's a family pic from earlier in the year. The BB1024X has been replaced by a coffee burst BB734a, another BEX4 and a fretless BB1100S have joined. L-R Attitude Ltd II, BB1024X, BEX4, BB424X, BBPH. All tonally different but all fantastic.

Dusty Springfield introduces all the Major Motown acts of the time to a British audience.

Hello!! A friend of mine gave me this bass the other day. It has been sitting in his rehearsal room for years. They bought it really cheap and it was in no use. So I asked him if he would sell it and he just gave it to me. I kind of like it. It's short scale. And it feels cheap. The bridge is real garbage, like the tuners. However, it does not sound bad when soloing either pickup. Activating both I think it makes some phase cancellation because it sounds thin. The neck pickup reminds me to some Gibson designs (dark and bassy, but pleasant) and the bridge pickup sounds more like a P-bass. I like the bass and I want to make some upgrades and a nice setup. Anyway, here is a pic

I love my Thunder II v3. Had it since 1990 and it still amazes me. What a choice for as a main instrument still to this day.... https://youtu.be/Exot5ESgqR4 Gotta love a bit of Nova Twins (should maybe have won the Mercury????)

Train to Skaville - The Ethiopians

I’ve owned two of these in the past. You’re right, it’s a great pedal!

Yes …. Those are the words that Stewblack, much like the Knights who say Nii! Must not hear !

I've had quite a few, the Thunder 1a was one of the best starter basses available in the 80's, I did my first ever proper gig at High Hall in Birmingham in front of 2000 people playing a Thunder III fretless, sadly I find them a bit heavy nowadays so have progressed to lighter instruments, for some reason they always seemed to be seen as the poor cousin to the Aria Pro range of the same era although looking at some of the prices being asked for Westone's on eBay at the moment you would think they were rivalling the likes of Alembic and Wal!

I remember watching that program. I believe Dusty was responsible for talking the BBC into putting on that special.

KISS (I'm not being forward here ... Keep It Sweet & Simple) I've not used multi single pedals, but I hear your experience and it will be taken on board! A unit that is as easy to setup/gig with as dedicated physical pedals ... totally possible !! S'manth xx

All good thank you

Could you run a marathon without months of training? How does anyone play fast? They start gently and slowly, then build up speed and duration. You'll get there if you give yourself enough time and focus.

To my teenage me: Don't be such a horrid little **** to your parents, they are fabulous people and are doing their best. Cherish them, respect them, above all be their friend. They aren't immortal. Learn to play the piano in the front room. Work harder at school and stop pi55ing about so much. When John Bosley starts pushing you around, put a stop to it immediately. Otherwise he will make 18 months of your life a misery, and when you reach your fifties you will still hate his guts and want to beat him to within an inch of his life. For god's sake talk Mark out of buying that motorbike. He will be killed on it, and it will devastate you. To young bassist me: Learn to read. Yes, slap is great fun and you'll get quite good at it, but it's not the be all and end all. Work on other things too. What you DON'T play is just as important as what you DO play. Learn. To. Read. You will get an opportunity to do session work in London. GRAB IT. Don't faff about indecisively. Buy the pre-EB Stingray you will see advertised for £250. Also, buy as many all-original vintage Fenders as you can, and keep them safe. They will be a great pension plan. Did I say 'learn to read'?

Good question. I've also come across situations where the PA is set up with a smiley face on the graphic as a starting point. Please don't listen to this advice. I came across it only a few weeks ago when an inexperienced guy hired in a PA where we were playing. We had a BBC engineer on the monitor mix and the hirer on the FOH. Result was the on-stage sound was glorious and FOH a bassy mush throughout the whole day. So you want your PA to sound like what you are feeding in. The graphic is only there to adjust for room acoustics IMO. If you want the bass or kick louder turn them up in the mix. If the bass sounds thin then adjust it with the channel controls so it doesn't. Don't boost both if you only want to affect one of them. The trouble is that a lot of these 'rules of thumb' date from the times when PA and backline were in their infancy. If your PA was composed of underpowered amps and WEM 4x10's and you were mixing with the bass coming through a guitarists 4x12 boosting the bass and treble made some sort of sense, though replacing drivers was routine as a result.

I want an Ikea-style instruction manual with the two blobby assembly guys and no words! I'm actually of two minds about this. On one hand, ashtrays are more authentically vintage - which is no doubt why they are included in the case unmounted - but the fact remains that the vast majority of players since the 1950s have removed theirs because they hinder play - which is also no doubt why they are included unmounted. I like the idea of having the option to install them, but I don't trust myself to drill the holes properly. So I could really mess up the aesthetics of a beautifully finished instrument. And if I ever decided to take the ashtrays off, the screw holes that I added will now be visible. But at the same time, pre-drilled holes would also mess up those same aesthetics if they were never used to install the ash trays. If it were a Doctor Who episode, it would be called "The AV II Paradox".

Look, I've already asked you to stop for the sake of my credit card. Don't make me ban you.

You can also hear him with Kyuss, Masters of Reality, Mondo Generator, Vista Chino, Dwarves, Stöner and more. Not a small body of work by any means.

Oh @Telebass, so sad to hear of your situation. I wonder if you have considered a Ukulele bass, especially the electro acoustic models that are very light weight! Combined with a drummers stool it might perhaps allow you to continue to bash!? S'manth x

It's been a while since I've owned a 7-band Trace but the SM pre-amp is pretty useable, just don't get sucked into putting a 'smily face' on the graphic! The pre-shapes are quite handy for a change in core tone but personally, I find them both a bit too harsh and boomy without help from the graphic so I use it to EQ a bit of the '80s out. 😀 My advice with these (and the twelve band series) is to know your frequencies - set the EQ flat, switch the pre-shapes out and set the amp for a low to moderate volume then play fully boosting (be careful!) and fully cutting each band returning to the zero point before moving to the next slider - listen carefully. Do the same again but with the pre-shapes switched in this time - see what works for you and what doesn't. Be careful with the 50Hz slider as this will eat power and increase driver displacement costing you potential headroom and percieved volume. The setup pictured should be pretty loud and sound great - the 1153 cab is a great sounding single-fifteen. The BLX combo with the ten-inch driver will play reasonably loudly without complaint plus that HF component will give a bit of 'zing' too. It won't be Ampeg 8x10 loud plus I doubt it'd compete with 100w Marshalls and multiple 4x12s on eleven but, still, it should be eneough for most situations. As stated previously, build quality is generally good with tidy wiring and chunky components, decent wood-work and well finished upholstery. Most techs will happily repair them if they do fail as they're reasonably traditional and straight forward inside. The cost of them being oldskool is of course they're pretty heavy by today's standards. Hope that helps. 😀

Here you go @JohnDaBass I wasn't particularly proud of my build. It was a bit messy, but I managed to correct and salvage as I went along. Driver is an old delta 12lf in the pic

This one hasn't been released yet... So there is still hope I might make it to the second week