Leaderboard

We’ve had a busy week with 3 gigs in Southend, Retford and Chesterfield. Southend was a blast - around 1100 people in and well up for a good night. The Cliffs Pavilion is a big theatre with a good sounding room and great staff, so a good night had by all. Managed a drink or two afterwards, although we went to the wrong hotel at first - apparently there are 2 Premier Inns in Southend, and very close to each other! Next up was Retford Majestic, a much smaller venue but sold out. Again, a great sounding room and and not our usual PA, but it sounded great nevertheless. ( I’m the only person on stage who doesn’t use IEM’s, so the only person who can hear any changes in the FOH sound. ) Then last night we were at The Winding Wheel in Chesterfield. Near capacity crowd and another good one. Local gig for some of our band and crew as well, and I was home for midnight too.

Here for the music festival in Devon on Friday night. Only 45 minutes on drums but I've never sweated that much in my life! I must have drank 5 litres of water and still got dehydrated!

Have been hankering after another Precision for a while now so I went to Guitar Guitar in Birmingham a few weeks ago. Tried a few different basses and then tried this one out. Fit and finish is impeccable with the best neck joint that I have seen on a Fender. It weighs in at 3.7kg and resonates like crazy as you play. Was originally looking for Oly White/Rosewood but am absolutely smitten with the black maple. The VMOD ii pickup is really quite nice much to my surprise, it will probably get replaced with a Nord or a Fralin at some point but no hurry on that!

Earlier this year, at the S.E. Bass Bash I tried several of @cetera's Spectors. I was particularly impressed by his NS Pulse 2. One came up on Ebay last week and I bid higher than the others and 'won'. I played around with it a bit last night and had a look at the wiring and pre amp. The seller told me the top pot was a 'mids' pot and I couldn't really get my head around it. The Spector website says this would be a volume volume bass treble set up. It isn't, but it isn't 'mids' either. Anyway, on further inspection I have a 'Tonepump Jr' pre amp and the 4 knobs are: Volume, blend, bass, treble. The blend knob is the only knob where you can feel a middle indent. And I'm very impressed by the tones I can get out of these pups and the Tonepump Jr pre amp. I'm a fan. It isn't as versatile as the John East pre amps in my Charvels but it isn't too hot and not having an indent on the bass or treble is, to a degree, liberating. I will admit my default for bass and treble is usually the middle indent and I add a bit of mid. With the Tonepump Jr I've been leaving the treble at: bright enough to make the G string sing but not hiss badly. The bass knob I've been fiddling with along with the blend to get a good mix of growl and low end. It's a light bass and there is a bit of neck dive without a strap but none with my strap on. I prefer the feel and the necks of my Charvels but I will admit, this Spector sounds better. It's a keeper, I believe.

Back at the Two Brewers on Saturday. Pub that likes it blues rock. Numbers were down with the heat and competition from Man City, but a great reception and much praise from punters although we felt we were a bit ragged. One fun bit where Alex ended radar love early just before the various runs... so I ended up doing them as a mini solo 🤣 and then the guys (thankfully) came back in.

I am very blessed to be part of a thriving and active church. Each Sunday morning we have over 100 people in our cramped building (we are looking for larger premises) with dozens of children, students and young adults. At 72 years of age I am old enough to be most of the congregations granddad! There are many activities during the week for all age groups and this weekend we had our Weekend Away. The church decamped to a facility run by the Scouts/Guides just out of town and what a time we had! The weather was hot and sunny and some people camped while others used the on-site dormitories. My wife and I live ten minutes away so we slept in our own beds! We were playing in the small band made up of semi-acoustic guitar, keyboard, Cajon, bass guitar (me) and vocal (my wife). What a response we had from our members who sang the choice of songs with gusto. You don't need a big band when the congregation don't hold back. Friday night started with a ceilidh which was preceded by a meal. Saturday morning brought two meetings with good Bible teaching and singing and the youngsters had their own Bible themed activities out in the sun. After lunch the afternoon was full of fun with adventure games (water was involved) and a chance to explore the vast fields and woodland paths. Another early evening meeting was followed by another meal! We returned to our church building for the Sunday morning service before returning to the site for a lunchtime picnic. The whole event was a great way to get to know the wider church family and enjoy good Christian fellowship. The weather could not have been better! Playing in the church band is a great privilege and it certainly keeps me on my toes and makes me pick up the bass every day. Much of what I play is pretty simple because that is all the songs need but I do slip in the odd riff now and again. I would recommend anyone here who attends church to join the music group. I only play about once every three weeks as we have a rota but I practise the songs for the weeks I am not scheduled for just in case I get called in at the last minute. Roll on the next event!

Just been told that the venue i played Sat night which had us booked for later in year and had sold 80 tickets was now sold out after our visit on Sat. Holds 130. Quite chuffed with that. Dave

Generally, go with the singer (IMHO) if they make a mistake, otherwise plough on and let the miscreant find their way back (or stop playing!!). I wouldn't do the 'pointed look' as it will apparent to them that they've sphered it up and it alerts the audience to the fact. We might say that we played the jazz version when the number has finished.

Played with The 77s last night at Drakes Cork & Cask in Maidstone which went really well. Wasn’t as busy as we, or the venue were expecting but I think a combination of the heat and champions league kept people away. Used my new terror bass head which sounded great, it wasn’t as loud as the Mk 1 version so I am looking at getting another cab to get more volume out if it. I had some problems with bass last night in that anything on the A string was a lot quieter than the other stings which was very annoying. The venue wanted to book us again so that was a good sign!

I played my first orchestra gig yesterday! I've been gigging on guitar, banjo and bass for about 60 years and went to upright bass in 2015 and finally started taking DB lessons last October to learn to play with the bow properly. My teacher is a virtuoso bassist and has been very patient and I have made a lot of progress since my first weekly lesson last fall and all of my DB playing(mostly jazz) has improved. A few weeks ago I was astounded when he asked if I would like to join several of his adult students to fill out the low end of his youth orchestra for a concert. There are about 30 members of the orchestra up to about age 18 with a few very young ones who sit in for two pieces, all the members are his students. The 4 adults, two basses and two cellos, would only play on the last three selections, all of them are "bass heavy" and needed more than the single bass that he usually has. The last piece was an intermediate junior orchestra composition called "Fire in the Forge" and since I am a blacksmith I just had to get in on it so I agreed to work on the material and go to rehearsals. It was a wonderful concert and we adults did fine but the real stars were the kids, the youngest player was 6 years old...71 years younger than I am.🙄 It was probably the most interesting, challenging and memorable of the many gigs I have played over the years and as the last booming bass notes died at the end the last song I just stood there loving it with big stupid grin on my face. I hope he asks us again, my last lesson before summer break is on June 23 but I will be back for more in September, can't wait.😊 The extra basses and cellos were beside the bassist in the long shot, fantastic acoustics in the church, I have been to concerts there but never played in it before yesterday.

Interesting conversation in the band the other day (no rows or fallings-out, but differing opinions). Thought I'd ask you lot. What should the policy be if someone makes a mistake whilst playing? It's inevitable that mistakes happen from time to time - the question is how to cope with/minimise them. In this case, our singer started another verse, rather than a chorus. I went with her, but a couple of the guys tried to stick to the arrangement. We rescued the situation, but had a discussion afterwards about what to do if it happened again. My thinking is that if one of the musicians makes a clam, the band should plough on and let them realise and correct (with a few pointed looks, etc to make them aware). Very few people in an audience are going to think "That bass player dropped a clanger" or "That guitar player got it wrong". Most aren't likely to be musicians and, crucially, the main focus is on the singer. However, if the singer makes a mistake and the band doesn't go with it and leaves him/her high and dry, people will think "the entire band screwed up". It makes sense to me that one should adapt on the fly in order to escape the situation gracefully and as unnoticeably as possible. Others felt the arrangement should be adhered to no matter what. What are your thoughts?

I finally took the advice everyone is given and started DB lessons, of course I should have done that in 2015 when I went upright. After weekly lessons since last October I actually got to play my first orchestra gig on Saturday and I am still just floating...what an experience, and it was only being one of several adults filling out the low end of a youth orchestra. I loved it! 😊 Over the years I have played in many groups including large concert bands but never just strings and this is THE BEST. I posted details and photos in the "How Was Your Gig Last Night?" thread in the General Discussion forum. Main point: take the lessons they will improve your playing and you never know where it might lead.

Just saw this and it's such a shame that I cannot play 5 string basses, otherwise I would have "bought" it 😉

Did a bit of an update to sort out some spacing and power issues. Took the opportunity to do a bit of a better job at the cable management too!

Not many people put serious bids in. Times are tough and the advert wasn't very well written. I put my max bid in at £720 with about 20 seconds to go and got it for £585, so I was very pleased and surprised about that. I might consider the full Tonepump in time but at the moment I'm more than happy with the tones from this...and Spector and Gallien-Krueger seem to be a match made in heaven! Thanks for letting me have a go with all you Spectors at the Bass bash!

ORDER DISPATCHED

We've been using the RCF PA for a few years. Small and powerful . Blue

We did an afternoon beer festival in Gillingham (Dorset) on Saturday playing outdoors from 2-4pm. The humidity and temperature were challenging to say the least and I was bl**dy glad to see the end of the gig after three encores and two and a quarter hours non-stop playing! Audience liked us so that was the main thing - not much dancing but a lot of beer and cider was being consumed to our musical accompaniment - still, I was totally cream-crackered by the time I got home and flaked out by 9pm First try-out for our new Bose PA (it's that one with the tall thin tops sat directly on the subs, with computer controlled mixing) - great improvement on the previous rig, which is now relegated to foldback duties.

First coat of Osmo oil/wax today. I noticed I’ve got a mark just at the back of the rear pickup which I did try to remove but got no place….could be a glue mark.

Ok... been chatting to a fellow BC'r whose been rallying bassists in South Wales on Facebook. We plan to meet soon and discuss the practicalities of a Welsh bash.

You only need to be as loud as the drummer at any venue that doesn't have front of house PA. At your next gig/rehearsal, get you drummer to play as loud as they can and if you can still hear yourself then you'll be fine. Any venue that has a front of house PA will put drums and bass through it.

If you can sing in time and in tune it absolutely helps the band sound better. If everyone in the band can sing, then better still.

Always go with the singer. It's annoying, but they are the focal point.

Patrons being as they are, you still can't win - I was at a gig where a guitarist had a malfunction and quickly changed to a backup that was in its bag at the back of the stage. The whole process was very quick and unflustered, but a friend of a friend commented afterwards that "he should have just played one from the start that he knew would be alright - he clearly knew that one was going to stop working or why would he have had the other ready?!"

Guitarist in my first band brough about eight or nine to a gig. One was in non standard tuning for a single song, except his main guitar which he used all gig all the rest were for show I think. Being not such a highbrow establishment some chap walked in during setup and exclaimed: "what's this a fookin guitar convention??!"

Saturday night saw another outing for Rascallion at one of our regular venues, this time for a private function (a 90th birthday party, but fortunately with a range of generations present who seemed to appreciate our brand of country-rock and blues). After a good start and a slightly tentative middle, the first set ended up OK, and we hit the requested 45 minutes bang on the nose (more by good luck than good judgement it has to be said!). The second set then saw a first for us, with people up and dancing right from the opening number. This continued through the more "rocky" part of the set, with "Long Train Running" and (amazingly to us) "Rockin' In The Free World" going down particularly well. Overall, the audience response was probably the best we've ever had, and continued even after an utter trainwreck of a final, unplanned, encore, when Mr Lead Guitar started "Travelin' Band" on completely the wrong chord, then totally failed to catch up while the rest of us who'd actually remembered how the song went just ploughed on regardless. 😇 Next gig is an outdoor charity festival in a months time - suspect we'll not be doing "Travelin' Band" on the day, but reckon we'd probably better brush it up just in case!

Yesterday, my covers band, Night Shift, hosted a charity event at a local pub. We called it The Party In The (Car) Park. We raised over £2k for Prostate Cancer UK. This is a cause very close to our hearts, as Terry, seen next to me, is at stage 4 of the disease. It was a beltin’ day and everyone was following the advice to stay hydrated 😉.

Just acquired a Fender, Made In Japan, Junior Collection, Jazz Bass. Really nice bass.

Hey gang! I'll start by saying I've often been a bass brand snob, but life has taught me there's more than gear that I need money for, and recently I've gone around selling lots of stuff and downsizing. For context, it's been rare to see me buy a bass of less than £1k so this is a nice turn of events - and boy I've been missing out...! Recently I came across a Fender Precision MIM in Lake Placid Blue for £450 that I modded for just some bits and trades and now I have a very very very killer/competent bass with the EMG GZR P for about £520 net... After the cull and sorting money for some projects, wife invited me to 'keep the change and buy yourself something nice' - of course, it was gonna be a bass... I've just ordered it this morning so I'm hoping that forum will help me whilst I spend the week looking out the window - the reward? Pictures and a review of the Sire V5R in Mild Green (2nd Gen). It's in budget and didn't want to wait around or drive to collect etc, £399 free shipped via Thomann. I'm a sucker for pastel colours and even if I already have this on my Stingray, I was more interested in this combo rather than Natural/Sunburst. Having a Stingray and a Precision it made sense to get a Jazz for my 3rd wall hanger, and I'm set to myth bust that 'Sire is as good as MIA Fender / Better than MIM Fender' that I've been hearing for so long . Not expecting a miracle, just something to compliment the tones and playability of the Precision on stage whilst the Stingray covers all the recording ground and nice/safe gigs. I've not seen a lot about this particular bass, but rosewood fingerboard with blocks & bound, alongside passive electronics and roasted neck... Yep, way to go. Again, rosewood is the only board of interest I didn't have as the precision is maple and the stingray is ebony... ...I just wanted to invite folk to share their comments on this bass, positives? negatives? Picture for interest:

Good Thames Chic

Covers band I was in. Pub gig. Between sets singist/rhythm says to me (I was newbie): 'You're playing so many wrong notes.' Me (alarmed): 'Which ones? Which songs?' Singist/rhythm: 'Too many to mention.' Second set. Sharp Dressed Man. Crucial chord change mid-solo (which is quite long). Drummer (v experienced) has got into the habit of playing a little fill to warn me of the impending chord change. I've noticed that on this number in the past the singist/rhythm looks to my left hand to see when I change fret so he can change chord under the solo. Drummer plays fill. I turn my back so singist/rhythm can't see. Singist/rhythm completely lost. Train wreck. Band plays on. Lead guitar (excellent player) - still soloing - turns to singist/rhythm and shakes his head slowly and sadly. Made my night! Never criticised by singist/rhythm again.

FWIW I rate the cheaper digital example of the TC Spectracomp over the Keeley and the Cali! Don’t write it off if you haven’t tried one.

Whatever the singer is doing is the song, so follow them. If individual musicians get it wrong then keep to the arrangement and let them catch up.

Multiple options - well it took me multiple attempts to even get this up & running I`m afraid (not the best at techlife)

Hi John, welcome to BassChat. You've probably seen the classifieds here, you have to pay a subscription if you want to sell but anyone can buy of course. You can check people's reputations on the site but as a marketplace it scores pretty highly for trustworthiness. We are all enthusiasts and want others to be enthusiastic so we look after each other and anyone who abuses that trust soon gets the message. I've yet to have a bad experience, most people are more than helpful. If you are new to bass it's worth asking for advice and giving your budget or even asking if something is a good buy. You'll get warnings about anything that is poor value and lots of suggestions what to look out for.

We need to show this to singers we know. If Elvis and the like will be available to record again in the not too distant future they may need to up their game. Maybe they'll start to help load the van at long last.

That was good fun. Private party in a big old shed, a new one with insulation in the walls/celiings so not quite the echo chamber that some sheds I've played in were. The organisers had prepared well - we even had a large, homemade stage to play on! We got fed and watered and it was a good gig - a small but enthusiastic cohort of dancers, a lot of people stayed outside and listened until later on because it was a warm, dry evening but we got lots of nice comments from people and a decent pay too, more than our usual fee. A worthwhile endeavour. Team G&L FTW (CLF L-1000, with Tribute LB-100 lurking in its gigbag behind)

No worries, someone sent me a link of this thread, it must have been someone else if it wasn't you, I have many haters for various reasons, they get a kick out of things like this. You've met me in person before, it's awkward for you to ask people about me, you definitely know more about me than 99.9% on here. For full disclosure I've torn my ACL 22 days ago, I can just about walk now and I need surgery, I'm still trying to work but there are lots of physical challenges, packing/ unpacking guitars, fret-dressing while sitting down is proving to be rather difficult and I simply don't have couple of hours to spare for someone to come and try multiple guitars, sorry.