Leaderboard

Mastery, and also a little sorcery at work here, surely. 😊 👍 And then there's a few comments below from people who simply don't understand ebb and flow, and nuanced syncopation....... ..."minor timing errors in the bass"........... ......"completely lacking in any pocket".............. 😳 and look out for a lovely bit of bass nonsense at 3.05, even Fagen must have cracked a little smile at that.

Punk gig last night with Emergency Exit in one of our regular venues The Riverside in Dumfries. Pub was fairly busy when we arrived 5pm to set up apparently due to local football team playing there and that meant a lot of very drunk younger guys falling about and being pretty boisterous. Venue has recently been having problems with a neighbour noise complaints so not sure how long it will be able to keep its music licence. Had to start earlier at 7:30 and definite finish at 10:30 without fail. We finished at 10:27 how good was that for planning Gig started off quite busy but the boisterous lads had to be told off by our female singer for getting too close to the band gear while holding beer glasses and spilling a fair bit. They weren't aggressive but just drunken antics you might say. It caused a bit of concern for us tho and was very off-putting as we were constantly having to watch what they were doing. They eventually left for a pub crawl (mmmm that wont last long i was thinking LOL) After that the gig went really well and was a decent sized audience. We had a guest singer for Sheena IS a Punk Rocker from a guy who always attends the Dumfries gigs and he did really well. With the early finish i was home for 12:45 am so that was a nice bonus. Band played well and we had a great laugh thru the set. Audience were bopping away and dancing in the bar so that was good. Few vids appeared on FB but they were taken from one side of the playing area so the bass has a lot of drop outs. The few taken from front of the band sounded good. I decided to give the P bass another try last night and it worked really well on all of the songs, a lot more depth of tone and i think i'll maybe use the P now with the Punk band. There's something about the tone of a P bass that has a warmth about it compared to my other basses. Decided to try what many of the TB Mesa forum guys have suggested by putting my 115 cab on top of the 210 and it doesn't half make a difference to what i hear. I could hear the bass clearly all night. When i have the 210 on top i occasionally get tone low end drop outs because i'm standing directly in front of the cabs. For some odd reason the 115 cab on top doesn't seem to produce that issue. Its an odd one but it works. Dave

My band played with a larger than life dep singer last night. Fantastic gig with a sozzled appreciative audience. Something momentous happened - I started to bop about, bounce on my toes and sing. I've never done this although secretly would love to be a young Sir Horace. I'm hoping to replicate this in the coming gigs, although slightly worried this was a one off.

Coronation celebration in a pub in High Wycombe. We were supposed to be playing in the garden but rain stopped that. Not many punters in but we've been asked back so we must have done something right.

Played at a nice village coronation event on the Yorkshire Wolds yesterday afternoon. Rather boomy sound in the room - high ceiling and shiny flooring, but we managed okay. Plenty of requests though nothing unusual, so an easy couple of hours. Home by 7pm so happy days. Rock and roll……🤣

A good one last night with a very appreciative and engaging crowd. We secured another booking later on this summer and a further booking for another club as one of their bookers was visiting friends. I gigged my Sandberg for the first time and loved it, especially the weight!

All done!

We played on a small stage to a limited audience in Leatherhead town centre last night. Sadly the rain ensured everyone stayed away. The stage was originally facing the high street (which would have been excellent with a crowd and some sun) but they had to flip it so the bands we playing into the shopping centre to allow any audience to have some cover from the wet. This proved challenging for the (fantastic) soundmen from the local theatre. We had to put bin bags ovet the back of the amps to stop them getting wet. Ended up feeling like an exclusive, invite only event 🙂. I'm sure the passers by on their way to the pub or restaurants enjoyed the background music. It was an event organised by the local community and it was great to support that. Some great bands on too - we were fortunate to be the closing act so it felt a bit more atmospheric as the evening went on and, all in all, after a bite to eat and a couple of pints we all agreed a good evening was had by all! Certainly a new and positive experience.

60th birthday bash for our percussionist in the Hulla band last night. We played in a marquee of a sports club to around 100 people and had a great night. I was struggling with bursitis in my right knee so the guys brought a high stool for me. I went through FOH as is usual with this line up but had a small cab and TCE BAM200 for the drummer and used my in ears. Ironically, I'd just got a wireless system for the bass to allow me to move around, and I was stuck at the back for the whole gig. 😃

Not a gig but an open bluegrass jam at a campground that hosts a couple of bluegrass festivals in the summer. I'm primarily a jazz player on DB but a mandolin player saw me at a jazz gig last year and wondered if I would like to play some bluegrass. We got together to jam a few times before he left to spend the winter in Florida and have jammed a few times since he returned but this was my first big jam and it was a good experience. My little 70"s Czech ply bass was overwhelmed at times by as many as 4 mandolins, four guitars, a banjo and singers but it went well. Another bass player was there with an absolute cannon of a bass and we took turns playing since two basses just won't work in this situation. There were about 15 musicians and they just dropped in and played and then took a break, very informal. I knew some of the songs and since I play guitar I could follow the guitar players and didn't mess up too badly. The hardest part was to just keep things simple and keep the tempo steady, when the other instruments get a solo they often speed up and I had to apply the brakes a few times. Good fun and I'll do this again.😊

Friday night at The Old Star, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, with Night Shift the covers band. The pub has a nicely set-up stage with plenty of power sockets and lights in-situ. The disadvantage is that it’s in an outside courtyard area which means it can get chilly plus there’s a 10.30 noise curfew to keep the neighbours sweet. We went down well, with plenty of good feedback even though the hard-drinking audience were slow to get going. On the photo you can’t see the left-side guitarist’s instrument. He has a lovely Vigier that he’s totally obsessed with keeping in mint condition. The only time it comes out if its hard case is when he’s going to play. Between sets - back in the case. I dread to think what he’s going to be like when it gets the, inevitable, first ding.

Outdoor Bandeoke in a tiny village near Devizes. Well attended, well mannered punters, played a couple of tunes new to me which is always fun/hair raising (delete as applicable). Only real drawback was the mud shod members of the great unwashed tramping over my cables. Absolutely beshitted by the end of the night.

My new gigging rig Works well and sounds amazing

After a few weeks off due to band members illness, covid and what have you it was nice to be back on stage. A nice sized bikers rally just outside Knutsford, first one of the season for us. We were opening on this one, the organisers know we can generally get a crowd up and ready for the night...and we did. Next outdoors one is the Farmyard rally in Helmsley in June, always a laugh that one.

The last time I used this skateboard I fell off it while trying to get a beer from the fridge. On the basis my skateboarding days are long gone (by several decades) I've decided to turn it into a pedalboard instead. Doorstops on the bottom give enough clearance to fix a psu underneath and I love the flamingo art work. Not the flatest board in world and the pedals are a bit wonky as a result, but I quite like the idea of skate/pedalboard. My fav 5 pedals of the moment, the surprise being the grape phaser which is almost on permanently.

The Flint Cottage, just by the train station. They put up an awful sounding clip of us on their Facebook page, so here is something better:

Pretty decent. Played a pub in Braintree last night that we hadn’t been to before. Got a wedding booking plus a gig in France out of it.

😊😊😊😊 👍👍

Exactly. It's all fantasy and my fantasy gig is in Deutschland.

Spot on. Pickups are not microphones. Microphones detect vibration/movement of air molecules and convert that into a minute electrical signal. Magnetic pickups detect movement of a string within a magnetic field and convert that into a minute electrical signal. In both cases, those minute electrical signals are amplified by the, er, amplifier. The difference is that the acoustic tones are not sensed or detected ("heard", if you like) by a pickup. Try shouting at your magnetic bass pickup and see what comes out of the speakers. Unless it has gone microphonic, the answer will be nowt.

What they are doing though is protecting that reputation. If they suddenly turned around & said that wood makes no difference after years of telling people it did, then they’ll be going against what’s been marketed to the masses by just about every other builder & fear that it could damage their reputation. Acoustically, there will most likely be differences, but the pickups on a lekky bass don’t pick up any of the acoustic tones from the wood. On an acoustic instrument, then yes, the body will make a big difference, as it’s basically the pick-up & amp.

I’ve been playing some sly and Robbie today, this is a great album and there’s some nice Basslines on it to play .this too with Linval Thompson

The closer of that Blackheart Man album is quite emotional

Having recently purchased a new TH700 head I played this with my Ampeg SVT212AV cab later adding the SVT112AV to run both ( 2.67ohms ) which the Tonehammer can handle. Gigged it last night and I was very pleased with the result as it was one of the nicest sounding rigs I’ve owned. Very tube like in tone but without the head weight. Powerful deep and warm sound with clarity. This will most likely mean my Ashdown ABM600 will be up for sale soon. It really is that good !

This has probably been posted before (perhaps by me), but this is an absolute classic that can't be listened to too much:

So the wood does make a difference 🫣

There’s loads of cab builders that will tell you that a 4x10 on top of a 1x15 as being the best bass rig. Doesn’t make them right, but it sells to the masses. Financial profits is the main goal for most businesses. Ask 5 different builders what’s important & get ready for 5 different responses. What a premium bass does give you is the higher end electronics as well as an instrument that feels good to play & looks good too.

Get you good headphones out.

Not exactly a Fenderbird like Peter Cook made them. Part II It's my take on the theme of a hybrid between a classic Gibson and a classic 7ender I call it a Thinline Telebird:

Mmm, you don’t think that Sadowsky, as someone who charges premium prices for his products in part on the basis of building using certain woods, might have a horse in this particular race?

Excellent little gig with Clutching at Straws, Ship Inn, Pointon, derrière end of nowhere near Sleaford ish. Played well, small but drunk and appreciative crowd… home before midnight! Lots of gigs 20 mins drive from home this year. Ace. Hate driving. Sucks donkey. Even with my ACS moulded ears a little battered. Time for fresh moulds and more attenuation I think…

First proper outing for my mini rig at a coronation street party gig this afternoon. Nordstrand Acinonyx short scale bass into a GR Mini One amp and matching 2x8 cabinet. Out of shot is a Helix Stomp set up as a pre-amp along with chorus and synth effects.

On the topic of the heading, I once attended a hilarious event in which a load of hifi buffs did a blind test of various eye-wateringly expensive speaker cables. When the results were collated, it turned out that their preferences were entirely random, with no significant patterns at all; not only that but the naughty technician managing it had thrown in two lengths of 1.5mm twin and earth mains cable, which scored just as highly as the £100 per metre ones woven out of unicorn's derrière-hair.

I’ll go & have a look at that, but I disagree with your synth analogy.