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Awesome gig, one to remember. Our regular 4th Friday of the month at The Shamrock in Ipswich. Holiday traffic on the A12 north was horrendous on the way out but then the evening just got better and better. Stephen 'Foz' Foster came long and introduced us, which was a nice touch. One of those gigs where everything felt good - we definiately had the electricity on last night! Not busy at first but packed out by the second set. At half time one of our regulars wandered over to say how good the bass was sounding. 3 encores, lots of new fans, CDs sold And only an hour to get home. Pic from Foz's Facebook

Finally, after weeks of getting parts, painting, paying too much, i finally have my dream P bass! This is i guess a bitsa, but just about every bit is fender. I went with an allparts bridge as i wanted nickel and the body isnt a fender because i hate those crazy swimming pool routs they do! I also did schaller tuners as they were reversible. Tugbar ordered but not here yet. I think it sounds perfect! So pleased! I guess I'll try and get some recordings, but i freeze up when i try and record myself! I do have a build thread here if you want to see what went into this

Finished my build today bar the tugbar which should be here on Monday.

I wish you luck with it, it’s a wicked little festival!

New pick guard on my 83

Read the room.

The 77’s played at the Chislet Colliery Welfare Club in Hersden, near Canterbury last night. it was our 3rd gig together and went pretty well. Our singer and guitarist tried using IEMs, but didn’t get on too well with them. I think more time setting them up and testing them is required. I hired the Ampeg SVT3 pro again, I also tried an Ashdown RM 220, but could hardly get any sound out of it. I have had so many amp problems recently, I am starting to think my cab might be the problem. It’s an Orange Sp212 and rated at 8ohms/500 watts. I never had any issues when using it with my terror bass but nothing else seems to work that well with it since. we have our next gig in a couple of weeks so will have to sort something better for that, as it’s a big one in a popular town centre pub in Maidstone

My current Precision bass sunny Saturday family picture 💙🤘

It was a polite way of saying be humble, just like the real top guys on here are to everyone else.

I tried making my own mute once following instructions I found on the internet. I cut a good piece of sponge and put it under the strings but it sounded terrible. Also the jam & buttercream ruined my strings.

Maybe he should consider releasing a live album? 😉

I know, I see it at the top of 'Unread Content' and I have a huge sinking feeling. We lost a member a few years back who although I'd never met in person I'd spoken to on the phone many times, and I sat absolutely stunned when I read it, and it seemed so odd given I didn't even know what he looked like. I guess one of the downsides of the huge number of people you meet via the internet compared to the old days of only knowing the people who lived in your street

Awesome. Just played the main stage at Buckle and Boots festival near Manchester. Wicked fun, great feedback from the crowd. Can’t wait to see some of the photos and footage! www.katyhurt.com

It’s clear that the legal route is not going anywhere. How many of you would be willing to make a claim in civil court? For small amounts it’s not too expensive: https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money He has never scammed me but individuals like Mr Mason should not get away with this for years on end. If this is occurring on a national level apply for the civil court to order Mr Mason to appear in person to state his financial situation. He may find himself travelling to and fro quite a bit based on the number of cases reported here.

I like when big manufacturers build something out of the ordinary for an artist, rather than just make a version of a bog standard model that just has a different finish or some subtle difference. For example, the Fender Roscoe Beck or the first Stu Hamm Urge (when it was still medium-scale) are really cool and unique twists that are familiarly Fender-shaped enough, but still the RB is not quite a Jazz and the Urge is not quite a Precision 😎. That said, I really like some more conventional models too that were based on the artist's actual favourite, like the JMJ or the Miller Jazz.

.............. I'll just call troll .............. 😎

Just waiting for the tugbar! Done-zo!

I’m a newcomer to bass playing and if any of the IEM evangelists hate their big amps so much send them my way. Seems people want to get rid of them but won’t sell them cheaply. Hmmmm. Anyway, I’ve had my fair share of manual jobs over the years and the weight doesn’t bother me if someone wants to give me a valve SVT head and matching 8x10. I’ll give it a good home. 😂😂

You don’t say where you’re based, which will make a difference to opportunities. But, my advice is to go out and network in the physical world. Go to gigs, jam nights, local festivals etc. Talk to people, make yourself known. Work your ‘black book’ of contacts if you have one. My experience is that good slots with bands that are already gigging and/or recording rarely make it to adverts. Places are filled on word-of-mouth or personally known players.

I'll be watching this thread with interest. My last 2x12 was an old TC Electronic BC cab with a pair of Eminence Beta 12A2 drivers. It was a very capable cab and reasonably easy to move around. And a fair bit of an upgrade from the original 250w handling. Coincidentally I was also interested in a wider sized 2x12 as bass amp overhang on narrow 2x12's was an issue for me. I've been working on a test project after acquiring a display Marshall 1960B cab for £50. These are the ones used by bands to make fake wall of sound stage vistas and apparently a legit sale item made by marhsall uk and normally retail for £200-£300. They come with a blank uncut baffle and no speakers so in effect it was a blank canvas. In all other departments they are proper legit Marshall cabs made from high quality blonde voidless 15mm poplar ply. I couldn't have bought the timber for the cab cost so it seemed a good way to experiment with a wide 2x12. The cabs are just over 5 cu ft empty so a bit less when the drivers are loaded. I've used the pair of Eminence Beta 12A2's that used to be in the TC cab and did a little bit of science to work out porting rather than have a sealed cab as most Marhsall's usually are. If my math stands up the cab should be tuned somewhere between 45-50hz which will hopefully suit the Beta 12A2's. I'm currently at the audio testing stage and so far it is all good. The cab is hugely loud at even low amp volume settings and the low end appears to be massive, much more than the TC cab ever was able to deliver. It's clear and defined with no hint of chuffing or farting out and no unusual cab vibrations to speak of. Its also substantially lighter than the average 4x12 and with a set of better lightweight drivers could be even lighter. The cab is also braced front to back to stiffen it up which seems to help. The project has moved on a little from the photo below as damping is now installed. It just needs a bit more testing and despite its physical size, its easy enougfh for me to lift. I like it a lot and hope to use it next gig in a few weeks time. semi finished 2x12 4x12. Speakers are rear mounted in typical Marshall cab fashion. it also runs at multiple impedances eg 4 or 16 ohm 500W, and 2x250W stereo @ 8 ohms a channel. No tweeters as thats not my thing. It was intended to be a loud rock cab from the outset and I will probably experiment a bit more with port tube lengths to see how the cab performs with different sizes using the Beta 12A2's.

The good: I sang lead vocals on two songs and the band were full of praise. The bad: We played the first set to ten people, the second set to six and the last three songs to the barmaid. I'm sure the two aren't linked and I still got paid a hundred quid cash, so.... a mixed bag?

Has anyone ever thrown away a set of flats off a bass? No, I thought not. Ergo, every set of flat wound strings ever produced is still in existence. Bass players who use flats are the ultimate eco-warrior... just saying!

Hong Kong Garden ～ y'know? Teggsy! F""K, yeah! A taste of the orient before reality set in 🤦🏼‍♂️

Do you realise how tedious you are? It's like a scratched record.

Please share a link for the live stream! 😉

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Make sure you report it to the police too, so they can sit on their arses and do absolutely nothing about it

He's certainly winning the "hearts and minds" battle...

It`s kind of a Sparctacus thing isn`t it, we`re all right, because we all make the right choices for ourselves - and these may vary from situation to situation as well as from bassist to bassist.

I've never understood people's problems with signature models. They more often than not, tend to offer something quite different from the norm. I couldn't give a monkeys if it's a Flea Bass or a Geddy Lee/Marcus Miller, Ibanez K5, et al. People in the crowd struggle to identify what a bass is, let alone knowing the name on the headstock (another thing - how many signature models have the name on the headstock? Not many I'd wager). I judge an instrument purely on it's individual merits. A great bass is a great bass and I'm not going to deprive myself of it on the basis there might be a Bass player in the audience, and they might know it's a sig model!

My bad. 👹

You mean the one I bought for peanuts just before lunch was yours ? You could have put some new strings on it...

Damn! Just dropped it into a charity shop this morning as well.

I always thought flats were just worn down rounds, bit like racing slicks started life as treaded tyres. No?

I'm happy to take anybody's Mark King Alembic, if they don't want it.

In general i wouldn't, because IMO the whole concept is a little cheesy, and just not very cool. That said, it depends on the execution. E.g. some are just so tailored to the artists spec that they may not be very useful to anyone else unless you're a real fanboi. Off the top of my head and with no experience of either bass i would put the Thundercat and Billy Sheehan sigs in that bucket. On the other hand, the Gary Wills fretless is a great functional bass and i also really liked the Fender Marcus Miller and Victor Bailey jazz basses. So, it depends and to each their own etc

If only the sound guys would accept bass tone similarly instead of insisting on taking a DI off the instrument.

Fun Fact: The Forth suspension bridge is where the term "Suspended Forth" comes from.

+1 for the G&L Fallout.

Played a Bandeoke last night. Second of what I hope will be a long term residency. However not too many turned up so the jury is out.

So for purely ergonomic reasons I decided to part ways with my Guild Starfire I as it just wasn't working for me. I did however, miss the weight as I've got an issue with my hip that (although healing slowly) is still problematic. A few days ago I saw a used Spector Bantam advertised on Bass Direct and decided I'd go and try it out. I've never owned a Spector before but was attracted by the weight (just over 7.5lbs) and wanted to see how the bass would sit, given the top strap button sits a bit further up towards the dusty end than my usual Fenders which are near enough level with the 12th fret. After kindly being lent a strap to try out, I found the placement of the strap button meant the nut and lower frets sit pretty-much in the same place as my 34" scale basses so the Bantam immediately felt familiar and my hands didn't feel cramped at all due to the shorter scale. The bass is immaculate and I loved the EMG electrics so decided to take it home. We have our first proper date tomorrow but the way things are going right now, I think I'm on a promise.

I’ve finally found my perfect bass sound over this weekend’s gigs. (There is a caveat here - I’m not in the position to own/transport anything like an Ampeg SVT, so while I adore their sound and character they aren’t a practical consideration for me.) Having recently swapped back to La Bella flats on my 1970 P bass and my 2013 Mustang bass, I also experimented this weekend with two old Markbass Standard 2x10 cabs stacked (the front ported ones). Running thru a Cali76 compact bass compressor into an old Little Mark 2 head. The result felt like someone was punching me in the back all evening onstage. Lots of thump, smoothness and power. I’ll probably change my mind again in due course, but for this moment in time, I have found my bass nirvana.

Bass The World showed off a pedal recently, a sweet sounding low gain overdrive. I dug around a bit and found three pedals I hadn't seen before. A bass preamp, bass compressor and the OD mentioned. Now I happen to rate Joyo and I'd love to try these but can't find them anywhere beyond those iffy Chinese sites. Anyone got any inside information?

Foam plugs from Boots or any other chemist.