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I ventured just 14 miles from my house tonight to play a gig at a pub I didn't even know existed. We arrived around 6.30pm, by which time it was still relatively light. Going inside the pub, it was unusually dark by virtue of lengths of tarpaulin hung by bits of string in front of the windows. Blinds were obviously too much of an extravagance. It was a bit rough and ready, obligatory 'wet floor' triangle in the Gents making the populace aware that the floor was partially flooded around the urinals, as if you could fail to notice. The licensee was very friendly though. Seems he had recently taken over the pub and had reintroduced live music every weekend. He found that managing it was a bit onerous and had scaled it back to just once a month. After loading in, we were asked to set up in an alcove. I didn't have high hopes for what was to come, but the kit was going to be mic'd and my rig was right at the front, so I hoped for the best. Midway through set up, the drummers throne collapsed. Apparently there were three screws holding the base to the seat and it had been living on one screw for a while. The remaining screw sheared off and there was nothing to be done. Cue frantic drive home for him to get his spare throne. Meanwhile, I go to the loo and find this.... ....now looking at this, you could probably be forgiven for thinking we are a Ska band (we're not). The rest of the set is Queen, The Stranglers, Deep Purple, The Who etc. To be fair, we do play one song each from the bands shown (Night Boat to Cairo, Too Much Too Young and Mirror In The Bathroom), but that's it as far as that genre goes. Drummer arrives back two minutes before our start time and we start our set with no sound check. I walk out front during the opening song (Hush) and it sounds unexpectedly good. I turn myself up slightly, but other than that, it's fine. I return to my space and realise I can see nothing of my fretboard. I spent the first few minutes wishing I had optioned Luminlays on my Shuker, then managed to kick one of the LED light units around so I could actually see something. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than nothing. The first set went well, they certainly like their music. Obligatory drunk dancing type persons getting dangerously close to P.A. bits and our guitars, but no damage sustained. During the break we get asked to do Mustang Sally, Sweet Caroline and Geno to which we say no. We could have blagged Geno as 75% of us know it, but we elect not to try. We kick off set two with A Little Respect, which catches them off guard and they're now quite into it. No real issues for the rest of the gig. Someone comes up and asks us to play Dakota again. No, once is enough thank you. We get two encores after the end of the set and then finally get to turn the amps off. Being the incredibly self critical type I am, I feel it was a good gig, but there was room for improvement. This is our first gig with our new keys player and it doesn't feel 100% yet. We then get presented with this which was left by one of the punters.... What a lovely gesture. I wish I could have thanked them personally. All in all, an enjoyable and satisfying night.

Cracking gig with the modern rock covers band (called Wednesday’s Child). It’s always a risk playing songs which nobody knows to a crowded pub but we went down great. I think it’s the best we’ve played yet, even my BVs weren’t horrendous, and we had a blast. Had some lovely feedback during the break and at the end, people commenting on how it was cool to see a band enjoying themselves so much, or how, despite not knowing the songs immediately, the energy and passion brought them across really well and played into bringing the crowd out of their shells. Great fun. And yes, the drummist had spent the week prior to this cleaning his kit 😂

First time at the Jubilee Club in Cirencester last night. Pleasantly surprised by the venue; nice stage, well lighted, friendly staff and punters. They seemed to like it. I got paid. ✔️

I've been in an acoustic duo since 2004, we rehearse regularly, write songs continually. We don't play very often, the odd open mic night here and there, I suppose we are as happy writing songs as we are performing them. It's taken me years to find the right basses but @Jabba_the_gut builds exactly the right instruments for our kind of music and I am very lucky to have two of his basses with a third on the way. What was more difficult was finding the right amplification. I tried all sorts of things over the last forty years in various bands and never really found anything I liked, even before playing in my current duo I disliked the baked in sounds of bass amps, all I ever wanted was the inherent sound of the instrument but just louder, sounds simple, difficult task. Thanks to @Bridgehouse's Interesting FRFR thread I tried out a QSC K12.2 and to my delight discovered it did exactly what I wanted, made my bass louder with as little colouration as possible, great, that's the louder bit solved. Now, although I play in an acoustic duo, our songs are quite diverse and I do need a certain range of tones. This is another great thing about using an FRFR, I think it is very difficult to settle on a tone if you start with equipment that has a baked in sound, with the QSC you can really start from scratch. The Jabba basses, tbh, sound glorious just plugged straight into the QSC, and that sound, with just the variation from the single tone pot on the bass caters for perhaps 75% of our songs but, some need a really bright almost funk tone and some need an almost double bass feel. Now the Jabba basses (fretted and fretless) are both strung with LaBella nylon tapewounds and while that sounds quite tone limiting they can produce bright tones but need a little help. Now, needing a little more tone shaping but requiring that tone shaping to, again, not colour the sound other than the changes I am inputting via the controls turned out to be quite difficult. Retaining the fundamental acoustic vibe of the instruments whilst tweaking EQ turned out to be quite tough, I watched hours of videos and tried out a heap of preamps but I always came back to Grace Design. They are built specifically for acoustic instruments, more for guitar, violin etc. really but I couldn't find anything better so, eventually, I bought a Grace Design Alix. I've had the preamp and compressor for over a week now but the QSC was at another location, this morning I got it back and I had my first chance to put it all together. Man, it sounds good, so quiet noise wise and it has the perfect tonal range, well chuffed.

This is my 1974 Jazz Bass - it belonged to my friend Jimmy Davidson. Jimmy bought the bass used in late '74. This was the first bass guitar I ever played when I took an interest in the instrument. Jimmy showed me the basics on this very instrument. He gigged it solidly, but sold it in the late 80s, which he really regretted. His wife actually tracked it down a few years later, and managed to buy it back as a surprise gift for Jimmy's 40th birthday. He continued to use it thereafter. Late 1999 he felt rather run down. Tests at the docs revealed that he had cancer. Within a few short months he passed away in February 2000, leaving his wife, and two daughters, Emma and Laura. Carol, Jimmy's wife, called me to say that Jimmy had wanted me to get his bass when he passed away. I treasure the instrument, but even now, 13 years after his passing, I can't play the bass without thinking, "this is Jimmy's bass". It's still too raw. so, in order to ensure that the bass is being used, it has been loaned out to various musician friends, such as Paul Turner (Jamiroquai, Annie Lennox, etc), Brinsley Forde (Aswad), Pino., etc. Its currently om loan to Rob Harris (Jamiroquai) You can see / hear Rob using the bass here:

Tomorrow is our fifth gig since Wednesday. We played two Friday. A blend of Bars and Festivals. Exhausted. Next week is a little better. I think there's just three. Taylor Swift is playing the last of three shows tonight so traffic sucked. Had to pass the stadium area yesterday and today. But home for now. Last festival tomorrow. Out at 6am for another 100-mile drive. One way. The whole year is booked like this. Estimating that the band should clear 300K usd this year.

That’s what we do. We play what we like rather churning out the pub rock band standards. We should share set lists.

So, just got in from rehearsal with my other band and again this little bass has both impressed and delivered. Sounded great in the mix (tho it’s still taking a bit of getting used to not hearing a Precision sound coming from my hands) and again much less fatigue on my back & shoulders afterwards. My only concern is how long I can hold out only having just one……..

If it's Will from Bass Bros for sure I'd 100% trust him. He's sold a number of basses from me (as well as sold me a number of them) and he's a decent genuine guy.

Excellent evening at Friars Inn in Hemel Hempsted. Clint has thrown everything possible to turn this pub into a venue - and it shows's. Backline is provided, so I just plugged in my bass and bass butler into venues amp and was good to go. Stage sound was best I've ever had - could hear absolutely everything. We were paid the second we walked through door, each given a generous amount of drink vouchers and we were also fed - we've never been looked after so well. We were support to XSLF (who were brilliant). We went down very well, didn't sell a huge amount of merch, but signed a few set lists and event posters which was a compliment to be asked, but signing things for people weirds me out!

Brilliant gig in Hereford last night, always a great venue with a great crowd. Paid well, played well and even had a couple of pints 16313BAB-3F94-4E88-B4D4-DDF3B7C11EA7.MOV

Cracking gig last night in a new venue for us, The Leathan in Portlethen, just south of Aberdeen. Everything went great - easy load in, big area for us to set up in, a good sized crowd who were well up for the gig and I think we played really well too. Went down really well and impressed the proprietors so there's talk of being asked back for more gigs. A very successful night all round!

My Basschat name is a portmanteau contraction of my real fist name, Horatio, and then the obvious subjunctive clause that ties in with Horatio, i.e. Nelson, not to be confused with the half-Nelson wrestling move although that connection is suggested in the seventh syllable of the second word of my forum name ng as that is the Icelandic Braille symbol for 0.5. People have commented on the (possibly subconscious) self-negation inherent in my username although if it is expressed in characters from the periodic table it is actually commensurate with the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph.. 𓀍 ...seated man holding the table lamp of authority and royal aerial which (obviously) conveys a sense of friendship combined with the faint whiff of ironic pathos. Frank Blank in a nutshell, there.

Hey gang! Short version: Got a '71 P. It's in amazing condition*. B neck, 8.8lbs, balanced, resonant. It's a stunner. Long version: It's had one owner before me - an ex-pat Glaswegian, and professional bass player, who bought it new from a shop in Hamilton, Bermuda(!) in 1971. He was the resident bassist in the house band at the Princess Hotel on the island, and gigged it for decades. I suspect he may have used it to back some massive stars over the years, as it was a big venue on the circuit (no provenance of this, unfortunately). He returned to Argyll in his twilight years where it remained in its case, until he sadly passed away last year at a ripe old age after living a remarkable life. His family decided to sell it on, and I'm the lucky recipient. As you can see, it's incredibly clean. From talking to his family, it sounds like it never really left the hotel. Also in the case was a manual (with the purchase date, store name and price - $315 - handwritten on it), some REALLY old guitar cables, his strap and a back of old tortoiseshell picks. There's a mark on the back of the neck from a guitar stand, which I think will come off. There's also a sticker on the back with the hotel details on it.. I think I might leave this on, but I'm not sure. One of the tuner screws has been replaced. In addition to that, it looks like it may have had a refret at some point but I won't know for sure until I've taken it to be looked over by the legend that is Dave Wilson. Dave will also be looking at the mystery of why the bridge appears to have been moved to the 'E' side very slightly - I really can't see a reason why. If there isn't one, I'll ask him to shift it back. He's also going to pop the pickguard off to check the wiring, pots and pickups are original. It's been used so much, maybe something has been replaced, but hopefully nothing major. All-in-all, I'm VERY happy with it. It's getting gigged tomorrow night before it goes to Dave's. 🙂

I was watching LowEndLobster and he installed the Artec QDD2 Quadra Distortion Driver Effects Board(https://www.amazon.com/QDD2-Quadra-Distortion-Driver-Effects) into a Stingray and it gave me an idea to put one in my EBO. It was really very easy. I removed the tone pot completely and put the volume pot where it was and the distortion where the volume was. It's got 5 settings, the first being a true bypass then a clean boost and gradually adding more distortion from there. The fifth setting was WAY too much so I turned the gain pot on the circuit board down almost all the way to make that setting more useable. This made the second setting quieter than the passive setting so it's more of an active volume cut/clean setting now. Then I made a control plate for it(it's not perfect but I think it turned out alright) and got a chicken head knob. Gibson made a EB0F Fuzztone in the 60s that had a built in distortion circuit. This is kind of a modern budget take on that.

Colour change - wasn't happy with the top coat so sanded all back to bare wood. Won't be using it again! The more I looked at it the more I thought the blue was a bit much, so gone for a more subdued green.

Ah, the silly things people think is worth money. I had a guy try to trade me a SUB Stingray (the old US one, which could be had used for less than 500 quid quite comfortably) recently and on which he had placed a value of 1300 quid, on the basis that he had never really played it so, therefore, it was new. It meant that I would have had something just taking up space which would lose 800 quid in perceived value if I ever played it. I enjoyed that one. Just yesterday, I had a guy offer 200 for a bass I have priced reasonably (in my opinion, an 89 Ibanez SR1000e) at 450. He essentially wanted to charge me 250 to cover his time and fuel for the 300 mile round trip. I made a counter offer, that I would incur the time and fuel expenses and deliver it to him for 700. That seemed to upset him.

That'll never catch on

We had a thread, but I can't find it right now, so ... "Tractor" means "player". Etymology: Latin "trahere" ("to pull") to English "to treat", "a treat" and "a treaty". More should be said better here. I'm also the BassTractor coz when working at a farming school I got a call from a farmer whose tractor was stuck in the mud on a bad field. Found the largest, heaviest 4WD tractor I could find, spent time taking off equipment and re-equipping it with snow chains and towing cable and whatnot ... Arrived at the field and was to engage the 4WD and ... no lever! Flabbergasted, and it took time before I understood we had two versions of the same model, and I'd taken the 2WD. No way that thing would pull out the farmer's one. Sigh. Back to the garage, time-consumingly de-equip the 2WD and de-equip and re-equip the 4WD, and back to the field ... Story came out, and one of my pupils drily called me BassTractor as opposed to BaritoneTractor etc. It stuck.

So, @Downunderwonder / @Rich / @dmccombe7 / @moley6knipe / @casapete , I pitched up at rehearsal on Thursday intending to test out your various suggestions as regards the boominess we experienced last Saturday, only to be forestalled by Mr Rhythm Guitar who confessed that the lows on his monitor (a SubZero C12MAE active floor jobbie) had been wound up as high as they'd go for most of the gig - apparently he'd only noticed two songs from the end, and never thought to mention it to the rest of us on the day! 🤦‍♂️ Anyway, after double-checking that everything was set up correctly, we ran through the numbers which had generated the most boominess on Saturday without any problems at all - winding up the lows on the monitor in question immediately took us back to Boom City, so looks like that was indeed the problem on this occasion. 🤷‍♂️

I used the backline bass amp and guitar amp for my stereo rig. I really like the sound of this setup. I got many compliments from patrons.

Waiting for Death, but checking if there's any bargains to be had on Basschat

It was 1996. I wanted a hotmail address (pre-Microsoft). I wanted a cool, relatively short one with NO number in it. I scratched my head to think of something that no American would ever think of. So I thought - local dialect. Came up with neepheid - neep heid, lit. turnip/swede/rutabaga head ie. idiot, basically. In Scotland there is a long and rich tradition of playful, food based insults - neep, tattie, dumplin' - all synonyms for idiot/imbecile. Anyhoo, neepheid was indeed not taken so I snagged it and it has been my nom de guerre ever since. Managed to keep it on most online platforms. I use neepheid_prime when I've been beaten to it.

Well, feeling much better today so I did another Covid test, clear as a bell, so although just a tiny bit sniffly I am no longer infectious. I will still wait until Wednesday before resuming normal activities and (after a final test) will therefore will be attending the Bash, phew.

Added a hotone soul press II, which will double up as a wah and expression pedal for the Ampero II once the TRS cable arrives. Planning on using the soul pess to control a volume pedal on the ampero II, and do a sort of manual tap tempo tremelo. If it works the source audio tap tempo button will be going; the tap tempo trem on my C4 just doesn't tap in as you'd expect, and we don't use a click so it's a disaster to keep it in time! The octabvre nearly went too, as the C4 does a fantastic impression of it! But I'll end up buying a controller with the proceeds to be able to go to that patch anyways, so may as well keep the 3 leaf!

Cheers, all! Just made a quick murky vid. It sounds exactly like a P with ancient flats should sound.

After the success of my last build, I’m putting another one together. I’m having fun already. This one is a j body blank body that I got with the neck route, bridge location and control pocket only. I think I counted 8 pieces of walnut…hence the name, “Butch” for butcher block. I ordered the custom PU’s already from Tom Brantley. They will be single coil, tapped at ~ 60% and 100% output. There is a lead time of about 6 weeks. The PU locations will be routed to my specs. It will be wired stereo. With two, three way mini switches. On/off/on or about 60% volume/off/100% volume. No knobs. A standard Fender bent plate bridge. Dunlop strap locks. A chrome neckplate. AllParts P Fretless neck, ebony board with no lines. Schaller tuners. Pretty simple but very effective. It roars….punch and crunch!

So, in the spirit of the topic title, right now you are flouncing off-site while keeping an eye out to see if anyone was impressed. Bless. I'll let the ambassador know that you will be having your Ferrero Rochers over at GuitarChat from now on.

'Cause then I could see the audience behind the wall I currently hide behind.

Pon... sorry wrong thread!

I hate to raise this, but... There is a fatal problem with your Icelandic, and I'd refer you to Snorri Sturlusson and the Prose Edda, particularly the Skaldskaparmal.. You're failing to take account of the correct Skadlic meter.. When properly translated your name should in fact appear as Frank Plank ( hth )

You should offer a relicing service on here.

BillyBass, or Big Mouth Billy Bass is the singing fish thing that was on the Sopranos, and other telly programmes. My usual forum name is HillBilly (because I used to live in Muswell Hill). That was taken so I had to think up a new name and this was the first thing to come into my head. Probably not a good idea as when I signed up for TalkBass, it was taken, as was HillBilly, so I thought of a very English name for that site, which the Americans would not have taken: 'Git'. So if you see 'Git' on TalkBass, with Vivian from the Young Ones as the avatar, that's me.

Found that my Sandberg basic strung with flats is an ideal bass for acoustic sessions, always tight and focussed never wooly .

"As new", apart from a great big ding on the body. "upgraded"- I've changed the pickups, bridge, tuning pegs and dicked about with it so much that nobody else will ever want it. "from a pet-free home". It's not a carpet, it's a bass and maybe actually you'd be a bit happier and fulfilled in life if you had a furry friend anyway.

None of it.

Did a Battle of the Bands last night in Hereford... Apart from me being stuck right in front of the guitar amp and being able to hear little but that, it went well! Good crowd and as we went in the van and I wasn't driving I could even have a whole 2 pints of Real Beer! Both basses coming along quite nicely now, with both players sporting proper punky hairdos - with basses from Cort and ACG, my amp being Marshall Jubilee into Markbass 2x10 via Helix. Problem is, us being oldies, we can barely do Facebook and voting for the Battle is over at Instagram where codgers fear to go! So if anyone feels brave and would like to vote for us (Choked), it's here https://www.instagram.com/stories/thejamfac/3080250387046344714/ Here's a snippet featuring punkdisco bass! ChokedKissThisJamFac13-4-23.mp4

A classic from the 70s Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free | David Hood

I apologise in advance btw... .. Now, if you were in a Somerset based Joy Division tribute band it could be.. Klozerr