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NEW BASS DAY Just arrived, my Fender Mike Kerr bass in Tiggar Orange. (or is it Trump Orange 🤣) Lovely bass with a JMJ neck , Jag body (better suited to my "portly frame" than a Mustang) enormous Humbuckers and fancy Barbie gold hardware. Really pleased.

While I can't compete with the bling of @JohnDaBass@JohnDaBass, I got this short scale ashdown Jazz Grail this week. Sounded enormous at rehearsal last night.

I bought one Wednesday and debuted it tonight in Camden with my new goth/post punk band, The InSect. Worked a treat!

I read the stuff above about contributing to society. I think the Jam Night I go to does that. Bands and punters all mixed in together having a laugh, a sing, a few drinks a laugh and maybe a dance. The format makes it so easy to do, because if you aren’t playing then you are one of the punters. Everyone seems to have a smile on their face - a proper “feel-good” night. This is us playing basket case.

Today Maple Road Jam Fest @ Rivermoor Waterford WI 3:00

Today's gig - playing as part of a weekend-long fundraiser for Noah’s Ark children’s hospital . I'm loving how (a) I look about 6" taller than everyone else in the band (b) I've been captured in a rare "playing beyond the 4th fret" moment This is likely my last outing in a rock covers band. I've done all the gigs I signed up for, but heading in a more acoustic direction now.

We have the same issue with our singer unfortunately. She's a phenomenal singer and we've won many a gig because on her voice, but her "banter" is almost non-existent and if the gig is quiet in terms of audience feedback she clams up entirely. We've got a double-header this weekend: tonight at a campsite/caravan park bar which is usually very lively (think Mos Eisley with gore tex) and an afternoon slot at a popular pub. It's likely to be a quiet one though with the football and the local County Show on too, but I'm sure we'll make the most of it and I am planning on using my new toy for at least half the set.

For a long time I have been looking for a Washburn XB925, as an upgrade to my existing Washburn pair of Washburn XB500s (the first a green '99 with twin humbuckers and a stuck truss rod ; the second a natural finish '94 that I bought while the truss rod on the green one was being fettled). The 500 series was made in Korea, with the XB925 custom made in the USA. The XB925 rarely comes up in Europe, although there are plenty in the USA. However, back in June, two appeared for sale on a Facebook group for Washburn basses, from a chap in Hungary. One was intact, with a zebrawood cap, and two Bartolini pickups. So, I bought it! The neck feels very thick and the sound is huge - the low B is deep and rich enough to make the Ashdown 12" bass cab fart. The neck feels asymmetric too - thinner on the treble side? It feels like the difference between a small hatchback, and an estate - more solid, more presence. I am pleased with it, very pleased.

I can't believe you are all so negative about these new offerings from Fender CS. I would draw your attention to the fact that one of these basses is genuine Himalayan Cedar, for heavens sake. I am presuming the harvested log was carried to the Fender Custom Shop by a phalanx of sherpas with Buddhist monks chanting and tinkling bells clearing the way in front of them. All those fellas are gonna want paying. And then there is the meditative qualities such a bass will bring to your playing to consider. How do you put a price on that? It's easy to dismiss these basses as a cynical attempt by Fender to exploit half-baked environmentalism and cultural stereotypes. But so many cheap basses end up as landfill, or even worse, as cheap basses. As of right now I am cutting back on my aromatherapy sessions and saving for one of these beauties. For me the question is not how can I afford one so much as how could anybody afford not to.

Played the Queen of Bradgate in Leicester with the country band I've joined. This is the REM photo ( that's me in the corner 🤠). Great gig, lots of boogie-ing in the crowd and we played lots of country cheese, including "Country Roads" and ended up with 9-5, which is a lot of fun....we stayed on the intro for quite a while while the crowd worked out which song was coming. Turns out @Bluewine was not the only one in a cowboy hat 🤠. Oh yeah and there was a punch up half-way through the 2nd set 👍

So there’s been some BB action at Woolf HQ recently…. Regretfully sold my BB3000 in 2019. Got a 414 recently that reignited my BB passion. Then I caved and bought the BB1300 I’d been eyeing up at BassBros for months. And I’ve turned the 414 into a 3000 tribute 😎 I’m still after the proper knobs for the 414…

A little while back I paid @Osiris a visit in order to evaluate some pedals and eat fish finger sandwiches (not a euphonium), as an aside I was going to try out his JMJ Mustang and Sandberg Lionel. Now I have played a Lionel (again, not a euphonium) two or three times previous to this and I have found them dull and without any discernible character, this doesn't go for all Sandbergs, I've had two TT4s, superb basses, just not short scale, it seems I just don't dig the Lionel. I've had a few Fenders over the years, mainly at the beginning of my second bass playing phase as an over 50 man as opposed to phase one in my youth, I have always found Fenders perfectly good if a little dull, so, as @Osiris handed me the Mustang I expected just that, perfectly good if a little dull. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong, perhaps the most comfortable bass I've ever played, I mean I'd have to do a side-by-side with an Acinonyx but, although heavier than an Acinonyx, it did feel extremely comfortable. But, oh man, the playability was off the chart! One of my measures of how much I like a bass is how quickly I start writing new bass lines and that happened immediately. I was truly gobsmacked, i kept playing, it kept being excellent, it was one of those moments when you realise the options are a) knock @Osiris spark out and leggit with said instrument or b) start messaging people on BC who I knew had a JMJM or two (sorry @Lozz196) to see if I could talk them into selling me one. Luckily I hit gold and two days later I had a JMJ in the rack. Now the one I bought was strung with La Bella 760F-MUS stainless steel flats and ooofff that makes a big difference, they sound so good, deep and thumpy but still articulate in a way I find quite difficult to describe. Now to be honest, the Mustang sound, even through my preamp, isn't really the right sound for the music I make with my current duo, most of the bass lines I play are up around the 12th fret and require a @Jabba_the_gut semi-hollow bass wearing light, very bright rounds, but as a writing tool the Mustang is unsurpassed. Over half of the bass lines I play were actually initially written on a knackered old classical guitar, I have no idea why this is the case but there it is, it just seems to have tunes in it, but blimey, the Mustang is actually bursting with bass lines, every time I sit down something new falls out of it, it's mad, so many in fact that I keep forgetting them, I really must invest in a new interface that I have set up all the time, in fact I wonder if I can play through the Grace Design Alix and straight into a DAW... I digress. Anyway, the JMJ Mustang is a stonker. If you are considering going over to short scales but can't bear to put down your big ol' Fender Precision, even though it is giving you serious back or shoulder problems, try a JMJ Mustang. I have often wondered which bass could be a safe bridge, so to speak, into the interesting world of short scales, I think this has to be a top candidate.

I'm also of an age when I often have a nap in the afternoons. Though not usually when playing.

It’s better - in my opinion- to know your notes, scales, chords etc. If I’m practicing a scale I don’t go root then up a tone and then another etc. I’ll play the root note then the 2nd might be an octave away. I’ll play the notes in random areas. This I think helps you know the scale and your way around the instrument.

Number of sharps and flats. Good to know when you're working with a keyboard player, that way you can pick a key for the song that's the most awkward for him/her to play.

I find it less useful on bass, where you use essentially the same patterns moving up, down or sideways depending on mode and root note. More important for wind and keyboard players who don’t have our advantage.

I love playing my bass especially when I'm having a good night. However for me, there's nothing like playing and looking out at a sea of people dancing and having a great time. That's when I feel like I'm contributing to society. Blue

Wonder if his cell mate will say the same ? :🤷‍♂️🤔

Yours looks much better!

The Fog on the Tyne - Lindisfarne

Measured at the onset of clipping, so maximum clean power

The Beedster Custom Shop Streetwood body £11,800 reduction on Fender price

How many #s and bs. C - 0 G - 1 D - 2 A - 3 E - 4 B - 5 F#/Gb - 6 Db -5 Ab - 4 Eb - 3 Bb - 2 F - 1

Jelly Jack - The Residents

Definitely prefer Hendrix's version of All Along The Watchtower to the original.

Last night my blues rock trio Toredown played at the Black Bear Harley Davidson dealership in Newmarket. Fabulous place, the largest in Europe apparently, huge swanky showroom filled with bikes and merch. Lots of chrome. Very nicely done. Anyhoo, we set up under the huge front canopy over the entrance. The evening was one of their music nights, free to turn up with a BBQ laid on. Great place to play, load in/out couldn't have been easier. Weather ws amazing, warm with the setting sun in front of us. We played well, sounded good but the crowd - around 40 or 50 I suppose - didn't ever seem to get into it. Must be the first gig we have played where we didn't play an encore. I felt a little bit down as a result until the manager came out, told us how good we were and he'd like us to play at their anniversary event next summer, expecting around 1000 punters. Strange but good! A rare outing for my Epiphone Classic Pro Thunderbird which was growling away nicely - I avoid using it in pubs as I usually hit something with the headstock. Here are a couple of videos - FB I am afraid - a couple of Lonnie Mack songs Cincinnati jail. https://fb.watch/mv0pWb14I_/ Riding the Blinds https://fb.watch/mv0eja7X2t/

Already home from the gig and it was an hour’s drive away. 6:45 start and we were done and dusted at 10:00, proper civilised if you ask me. Great venue in Dundee (Number 57), they have their own PA with remote, tablet control mixer (no being told to turn down here, not our problem). Seemed like a good mix and the customers were in fine form and looking forward to hearing us. I think we gave them a good show, as they were very complimentary. I really enjoyed it, despite the limited space for the band, nice staff (this seems to be a feature of the Dundee gigs I’ve played) and a happy landlord. I’d happily play there again.

Superb! That's a real gig!

Well, vocalists aren’t the only ones who can talk into a microphone! We have the same issue but our keyboard player and backing vocalist are like a double act and it goes down well.

Solo acoustic set in my local for me last night. Went well, no drama, people sang, people danced and nobody knocked the PA over. win.

Love Like Blood - Killing Joke

Fender CS TheGreek Custom build Do you think that I should sue them?

"Timbers hand selected from Basschat's expertly-curated personal reserve of tonewoods: WoodBeGood - Reuse Timber, Reuse Tone"

Remains this classic:

Looking very cool indeed, sir. it seems that half of 1990's Slimelight are in the audience!

Had a go on one of these today at A-Strings in Treforest. Loved it Apparently lead-time for new stock (i.e. what's not currently in circulation in the shops) is something ridiculous like August 2024.

It turned up yesterday in this box. Nothing else in side and no packing paper. You may need to enlarge the photos to see it in the top left corner. After taking the original string holder off I couldn't figure out how to place it in such a way that it stayed on as described above and just started to think that you scamps on BassChat were having me on when I realised its an adapter, and that it fits over the existing string holder. If this isn't the correct way to fit it, it's the only way I can find that works. 😄

Would Dowlais scaffold boards equate to Callifornia Streetwood roasted pine ??🤣

My SR5 is also an early one (1989) which I've had for over 25 years. I can't say I've ever had a problem with the neck radius and, as others have said, I would say the depth of the neck is pretty shallow (though not overly so). It's certainly not uncomfortable (at least not for me). Yes, the G string runs a little close to the edge but I can't say it's ever been a problem for me. As @snorkie635 has said, you could try wearing the bass a tad higher. Or maybe raise the angle of the neck a little? As it happens, I also have the HB SR5 copy (newer type), bought used from Ebay, it's had a couple of mods. The neck is slightly chunkier but not really a problem. But of course, it's all very much personal preference. I hope you're at least able to find an MM SR5 at some point and give it a try.

Just like a good cat litter should.