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Biker club in Dagenham on saturday afternoon. We were a singer down and a dep drummer (Kelly, one of my oldest friends from school with whom we formed our first band when I was 16 and he was 14 - he later turned pro for while as a session drummer). Pretty easy gig. Classic rock covers and I got to sing lead on a couple of songs to give Jenny a break. But the weather was temperamental - it started raining whilst we were setting up under the marquee, and got a little chilly during our set. Unfortunately, we had to cut the second set shorts. We were asked at very late notice if we could start earlier as the band on after us had another gig in the evening ("Dennis and Dave" - Dennis being Dennis Stratton of Iron Maiden fame). We thought we were ready to go around 15mins early, but we had a problem with the desk. It took 15mins to work out it was a dodgy aux lead feeding the IEM. Still, we started as soon as possible, with a quick wee break in the middle and carried on till 3pm with no problems and we played well. We packed down in record time and the sun came out just as Dennis And Dave started playing, so they had a bigger audience than us. Oh well.

Friday Night The Jazz & Blues Crawl was a success. This is the 19th year of the event. We had a great crowd closing the event at 9:00 at Wild Shots Pub & Grill. We had a dep drummer who was struggling. Pics 1. Strange load in 2. Band pics Saturday Afternoon Cancer Benefit outside at The Stillery with a 3:00 start. When I arrived all our gear was set up on stage covered with tarps as rain looked like a sure thing. The rain never came. Great sound on stage. Very cool crowd and we had our old drummer Tim who was brilliant. Jenny was great interacting with the crowd. We had a few fans that showed up for both shows. No pics. Blue Nice pay day gig.

A double header on Saturday just gone for Turnette Doone aka my lot; outdoors at the Chard Rocks Festival at 1:20pm, then indoors at the Black Horse in Taunton in the evening. Chard Rocks was beset by intermittent rain, but at least it got rid of the wasps. We started playing just after the rain had stopped, and thought all was well, until the wind lifted the waterproof stage covering and a waterfall-esque torrent of rainwater that had been sitting on the covering plunged down onto the front six feet of the stage, fortunately missing us and the pedalboards. Think Duran Duran and The Reflex video, but without the glamour. We promptly moved further back, and managed to stay dry, and also alive, for the rest of the set. We didn't really make use of the 'semi-personalised mobile green room', pictured below. The Black Horse gig that evening was cracking, and drier, bar the perspiration that was flying around. The crowd were well up for it, and all the big choons worked well. All things considered, a great day, and a green room experience we can reflect on, in our old age.

We played the New Foresters in Blackwood, Gwent last night - a good crowd and a good night although the space for the band is really cramped. However, the flagstone floor seemed to be a black hole for bass so I spent an hour or two in the shed this morning making a 36mm thick plywood platform which sits on a strong plastic beer crate that will lift my pair of 1x12s more than a foot off the floor. It seems to be stable so I'm planning a test flight when we play the Eye of Ra motorcycle club annual festival this coming Friday.

Still enjoying my Flea bass as we (Otis Jay Blues Band) celebrated ten years of Southbourne Ales, the beer brewed at Poole Hill brewery in Bournemouth this Sunday afternoon. The Trace Elf/Barefaced One10 combination really seems to sing with this particular instrument - drummer and guitarist have expressed a preference over other passive Fenders and active Sandberg. So better keep them satisfied. 😀 The singer is in his own world…and as you can see from my expression I am not impressed by the music stand!

This is a CNC machined bass and it's an amazing instrument!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with using CNC, gear snobbery beyond any kind of sense. What if a luthier used a drill to screw parts in and instead of using a screwdriver? Time for a boycott? I think people do get this mixed up with mass produced production line, which of course use CNC but its not the CNC bit that cheapens or otherwise reduces quality of the final product.

Played at the Old Vaults in Faversham last night, which was a new venue for us. It was our first gig for a month or so after a break over summer. It went very well, and hopefully we will be back there again. Someone asked us if we would play at their wedding next year! A nice compliment to get, hopefully he still feels the same when the beer has worn off. It was my first time using IEMs as well which was a positive experience. I have just had my bass professionally set up, and that sounded great as well. Some tensions are arising in the band around commitments to upcoming gigs. A member is experiencing grief on the domestic front so is pushing to cancel some upcoming gigs, and scale down the amount of gigs we do going forward, which the rest of us are not keen to do, especially cancelling gigs which is not cool. So will have to see how the situation pans out.

Late to the party! Happy JMJ Mustang owner here, photo here from recent jam night which I've had to snip closely as there was some political commentary behind me (surprisingly it's not "I Love Boris"), and the guy with the camera had trouble not getting someone's pointy headstock in the way of me. Also worth pointing out that the bassist in the house band plays a short scale Wilcock. He's often generous to ask if I fancy a go, but I'm worried I'll bosh it on something 😧 that's probably it behind me.

I played unlined fretless for a number of years and always used rounds (Rotosound Swing no less). I found them far more zingy and dynamic. I just don't get the current flatwound trend, especially on fretted basses. Hey ho, that's just me.

Yeah, pretty much! These are tools the luthier used to make my jazz. I even got upset he used a belt sander!

Great gig at the bank vaults Aberystwyth last night. We're a 5 piece band and the stage is very small so i was overspilling into the main path to the toilets. It sounds rough but it's a lovely little bar where the punters go for the music and really listen. we had a great time. Our regular drummer couldn't make it but the stand in did great after just 2 rehearsals and kept us all on our toes with his radically different approach to each song.

"Hand Built" used to mean using a hand saw, hammer and chisel. Even luthiers who don't use CNC machines still use various other machines and tools for the various steps of building an instrument, including preparing/planing wood, cutting the wood (bandsaw), sanding, drilling, routing, etc. A CNC machine is just one more machine. And many of those who do use CNCs only use them to cut out bodies. They still prefer to do neck shaping, etc by hand using planes, rasps, etc.

Here is a beautiful one

They already have done.

Although I actually think you're gonna need two fretless basses

For me, it's La Bella white nylon flats on a fretless, and has been since pretty much they were introduced. They are very versatile, aren't "thumpy" or dull at all, and have plenty of sustain right down to the low E and B. I love them.

Give me all your basses. Give me all your basses. Do it now. Do it now. 🤭

Most of the gigs I’ve done over the last year have been in small pubs or cafes or else on stages in local events where parking is an issue and you often have to walk a few streets to get to the stage through crowds (food festivals and the like). For this the elf/110 has been invaluable. I can usually get away with one trip on foot with no compromises as the elf just gets DI’d and sound great. It looks a little odd on a big stage but most people don’t even notice. One really handy feature is the gain/compression function, one less pedal to carry. Great piece of kit.

You’ve lost that lovin feeling. Righteous Brothers

We Call It Flaccieed ～ D Mob

Well, completely context-free links aren't terribly helpful.

Worth discussing arranging a dep for the gigs he won’t do and going forwards finding a permanent replacement.

I'm going to make my lot sit through Supper's Ready and Awaken. And they'd better pretend to enjoy it.

I love that theyre still using their old 80s turbo tms3s as sidefills after all this time. They're definitely creatures of habit. I took the kids to see them in dublin a couple of weeks back, they were astonishing, especially considering bruce and nicko's health problems.

Radial ProDI secondhand is a good shout.

Everything that's distasteful and unlikeable about the current "music" business right there...... I listened for 30 seconds. 30 seconds of my life I'll never get back....

After last weekend's care home and army barracks weirdness, Saturday night saw a wlecome return to normality for Rascallion with a gig at one of our regular village hall venues. As we soundchecked in front of the folks running the bar and the kitchen, we did wonder how many people might actually turn up as there were a couple of multi-band events plus a 1940's Weekend (a major attraction in these parts) taking place no more than 20 miles away, but fortunately folks started arriving at about 7pm to partake of the food, then stayed on to listen to us when we fired up at 8pm. The first set saw possibly the best onstage sound we've ever had, which was a great confidence booster, and everything went swimmingly. Oddly, it seemed to go to pot two numbers in to the second set, despite nothing being changed on the desk (at least not by human hands... 👻 ), but we muddled through, and overall it turned into probably our best (and definitely sweatiest) show so far. The new numbers getting their first public airing (nothing too adventurous, just Before You Accuse Me, Tush and Sharp Dressed Man) went down well, while the only major off-piste moment was Mr Singer forgetting the second half of verse two in Mary Jane's Last Dance and jumping straight into the chorus, but we all somehow caught up with him before it all went too horribly wrong. Next up in two weeks (August Bank Holiday Sunday) is another return visit, this time outdoors at a local pub we've played at twice before. Apparently they've now got full marquee coverage over the beer garden, so hopefully we'll avoid the weather-driven ebbing and flowing crowd we experienced the last time we played there should it be at all iffy on the day. 🤞

The band are playing it, and they didn't write it... Anyway, it was only posted for fun.

One of Bezos’ Beelzebub’s more out there combination deals...

Compared with the way Metallica approach it - that's positively archaic. But then I guess Iron Maiden have their own tour "air" bus 😆

Here are some sound samples of the different strings on my three different fretless basses. The strings in question are LaBella Deep Talking Black Nylon, LaBella Low Tension Flats and Rotosound 77 Jazz Flats. Please note that this was just something I knocked together very quickly off the top of my head with a Tascam digital recorder stuck in front of the amp so its very crude so apologies for the bum notes and not so exciting bass lines The first samples (A1, A2 and A3) are just a quick generic bass line that I was making up on the spot to show the three different strings. The second samples (B1, B2, B3) are the effects I use which is reverb and chorus and something played higher up the neck. The third samples (C1, C2 and C3) is again something being made up on the spot but using an octave pedal. To be fair, the differences are not huge but are noticeable. One of the basses sounded very smooth, balanced and creamy which was a nice surprise whilst another sounded a lot more Precision like than I was expecting. Anyway, hopefully it all works and you can get an idea on the differences. A3 A3.mp3 A2 A2.mp3 A1 A1.mp3 B1 B1.mp3 B2 B2.mp3 B3 B3.mp3 C1 C1.mp3 C2 C2.mp3 C3 C3.mp3

Aaaarghhh. Another mini festival gig ruined by the hire company. Too much through the subs so overwhelming bass out front and impossibly poor on stage monitoring. We were promised an in ear mix only to be told they only had one lead available and that had been given to the drummer. Not prepared to give me the feed from the floor monitor. We have an electric kit so poor monitoring is a real problem.

At least they added the handbuilt feel with the neck bolt arrangement...

Spend wisely and spend only once. £800-900 is a good budget so you should be aiming for good kit. Of what is suggested RCF and Yamaha are good and pretty much bombproof. QSC too but I’d go for RCF for the best quality for you vocals. RCF have recently discontinued the 300 series which was their base level kit but you may just still find some discounted. The 700 series are really nice and 900 even better. The numbering is fairly simple the 712 is 700 series with a 1” tweeter and 12” bass speaker. So a 935 is a slightly better 15 with a 3” tweeter. You can just about afford an RCF 712 system new but I’d probably look for used. There are three pairs of 712’s on FB Marketplace today for£600 for example. I’d happily gig with 312’s as well which should be cheaper. If you do want to save money then the old passive speakers can be found really cheaply but you’d need to know enough to match the amp and it’s just a little more fuss to set up. A good option if you know enough and money is tight though.

I'm the same but it's also a conscious effort of my part and the band I'm playing in to separate the dynamics. Our singer/guitarist will stay in the high end with his guitar and also adds a lot of vocal harmonies and choir like effects. I play at the other end creating a warm deep rounded bass sound similar to a double bass. I'm a very melodic player but I use a lot of octave to fatten my tone. Our drummer, who only uses brushes then sits in the middle and even has his snare turned off on a lot of tracks and restricts his use of cymbals to stay away from the high end.

I've decided to become immortal, so...

I only play fretless and currently have 3 fretless basses. My fretless Jazz has LaBella Deep Talkin Black Nylon strings on it and they are very expressive with tension that's similar to rounds. It even says on the description that they are ideal for fretless and give long sustain. They are great for something like a Jazz or Stringray that is more articulate and cuts through a lot more. My main gigging fretless Precision has La Bella Low Tension Flats which sound really warm but also punchy and expressive. The tension is similar if not a little more to rounds. They are super smooth and shiny. I was considering changing them but I get so many compliments on the tone that I'm just gonna keep them on. Even the first gig I played with them, I got 3 or 4 comp,moments and even my mother in law was at the gig seeing me play for the first time and said after that she has no idea what I'm doing but my bass sounded so big and amazing. My other fretless Precision has Rotosound Jazz 77 Flats on it and I would probably say has the nicest, most natural tone. Warm round, punchy and can clank with the treble turned up. They do however have the highest tension which is why I just use this bass for recording only. When I recorded an EP last year, I tried all my basses in the studio and this one sounded the best, amazing in fact so everything was recorded with it. On some tracks though, I doubled up using the fretless Jazz with the La Bella Black Nylon strings because as I said earlier, these strings are very expressive so together it made quite an orchestral sound, cello like. When I had my fretless Stingray, I really struggled to get a good tone out of it, that was until I strung it with a set of La Bella Deep Talkin Black Nylon string. The bass then came alive and I never looked back and it sounded wonderful. If I get 5 mins together, I'll try and put together a recording of the 3 basses I do have with the 3 different strings so you can hear for yourself. One thing also to consider is to really boost harmonics, a chorus pedal and reverb pedal makes them sound massive.

I have to avoid that isle - I am weak and suggestible.

I've become a bit obsessed with the bassline on About Damn Time by Lizzo. It's a pop/disco/funk masterpiece, is what it is. There's some good bass playing in pop at the moment.

RCF is a standard recommendation for reasonably priced PA speakers. You can't go far wrong with them. If you go for larger ones - 12s or 15s, don't cheap out on stands. Avoid lightweight aluminium and go for K&M or similar. Look for something with long legs that opens out to give a wide base. You don't want them falling over when some drunk punter who's dancing a bit too enthusiastically crashes into them. The power stage in a well designed active cab will have been specified to drive the speakers optimally. Modern power modules don't add much weight to a cab. Power amp plus passives often works out cheaper, but that's about the only benefit.

I live quite close to The Swan in West Wickham, a pub with live music you may know. Thanks for the advice. Apologies for the late reply.

We're currently using the LD Systems Icoa 15 (about £400 each). The horn is coaxial loaded which keeps the size down. Can thoroughly recommend, we did a small outdoor gig with them as foh and they were perfect.

Had my first gig with IEMs last night, I was using KZ ZS10 Pro X which I picked up for £40. it was a positive first experience using them, and a revelation to be able to hear our lead guitarist so clearly as he is the opposite side of the stage to me. Vocals were distorting quite a bit, but I think that can be fixed as we get more used to the setup and mixer etc. I hate using cables, and so managed to make myself a DIY wireless kit using a Behringer P2 and a Lekato wireless mic 5.8ghz set. It worked just fine, and I didn’t experience any drop outs or pairing issues. I was also using my Boss WL20 on 2.4 ghz, we have a digital desk on 2.4, one of the guitarists has a 2.4 wireless and a gear for music wireless IEM set, so plenty going on but all worked well. I was keen to try IEMs but didn’t want to spend a fortune if it turned out it wasn’t for me, overall I was happy with everything I had. The P2 and Lekato combo felt quite heavy in my hand, but I didn’t really notice it clipped on my belt, and it was still preferable to a cable. Only downside was the receiver didn’t lock into the P2 XLR but it didn’t ever feel like it would disconnect.

Boy, this has taught me a lesson about getting involved.

Nice wedding gig in Chichester this evening, furthest we’ve been off our usual patch in the three counties. Two deps in, keys and drums, but they really nailed it. Good crowd as well, took a little while to get them warmed up but they went for it in the second set- the only issue was a punter dropping a fart of chemical warfare proportions causing our singers to completely corpse during Angels until they could breathe safely again.

Hello, Matthew – my name is Derek Slade. I was thinking about your dad earlier today and decided to look around the internet for news about him. The first link took me to this thread, and I was shocked and saddened to hear about his illness. I first met Laurence over fifty years ago, when we were students at Lancaster University in the late 60s-early 70s (I was then known as Del). I joined a band with him and Andrew Fry (known as Friz). We were first called Ladder, then Undercarriage. We played at parties on and around the campus, and supported Hawkwind and Al Stewart at the university. Even then your dad seemed to have total command of the bass; he always knew what he was going to play, and why. He was incredibly friendly and had a wickedly dry wit. During our time together we recorded some songs and had them pressed as 45s. Here’s a link to Friz’s recollections of this: https://www.45cat.com/record/ibcep3655. Incidentally, I’m sure Friz would wish to contribute to this thread, though I’m afraid I don’t have contact details for him. He and Laurence left the university for London a year before I came down. They formed another band with a new guitarist; I remember seeing them at a pub in Bromley, the place was packed and it was a great night. Dementia is a terrible disease; I hope your dad is as well as possible, and I wish you both all the very best.

Yes, just like the new Squier Paranormal Rascal Bass (and the old original Fender Rascal Bass for that matter). Which I think might have been the exact point with suggesting the Rapier as being an alternative to the Rascal Bass (beside them both having a similar bridge + neck humbucker pickup configuration, and being in just about the same kind of price class as well). Though the Rapier is 31" scale length, while the Rascal is standard 30" short scale.