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We (Deadlight Dance) played one of our local pubs last night. Nick (my professional other half) has been committed with family stuff for the last couple of weeks or so, so it was brilliant to regroup. We worked up Revolution (The Cult), Science Fiction Double Feature (Rocky Horror) and New Dawn Fades (Joy Division) as mandocello / mandolin arrangements. We also reworked our album acoustically. My absolute highlight was my 16yr old stepson (he has Down Syndrome and Nick is also his teacher at school) dancing away to our acoustic originals that he's seen on YouTube. Sadly, I fear I'm his second favourite member of the duo (!) but I think I still make the grade.

A long-standing weakness that I must try to overcome is my excessive modesty, without which I'd be perfect.

I'm sorry that the pop up caused some members to feel alarmed. I'd also like to clarify some misunderstandings too. Firstly BC isn't tracking your browsing history of other websites. We can't, even if we could we wouldn't be interested because its not relevant to management of the forum. We are definitely NOT selling your information to anyone and if it became clear that Ezoic was doing it on the sly then I would oppose it. Lets put notions about tracking in context. Any website you access that features third party advertising - news sites, social media, any sites accessed using Google Chrome when you are signed into Google, any site that uses Google Analytics will track what demand there is from users of a site and where in the site that demand is greatest. Google also shares very broad demographic information (age, country, gender, OS, browser) that those users have already agreed to provide to Google. Mobile apps are arguably a grey area for privacy but BC doesn't have an app so it's less relevant to this thread. Because a few members have lumped what BC does with the pop up message that came from Ezoic, I'm going to address what information we have access to next. Like nearly every popular website out there, we run Google Analytics because it provides more context about how BC is being used. If some of you have Google accounts and weren't aware of this, it may be an idea to review what information you have agreed to share with Google. Google won't identify individual users from the information that it gathers. In fact in July Google Chrome no longer permits third party cookies, which has put the online advertising industry into a bit of a spin. So the main point here is that BC doesn't and won't breach your privacy, or as stated above, sell your information, and neither does Google Hopefully that will provide some reassurance that your privacy is still protected and respected by us. Lastly...any member who still has concerns despite the above can use an ad blocker. It's a simple solution and you stay in control regardless of where your concerns lie. Yeah, me neither. I'm suspending the trial until further reassurances are provided. If anyone has any remaining concerns about Ezoic breaching privacy, drop me a pm to ensure it doesn't get lost amongst other responses and I'll get you an answer from them. They're already on notice over this slip up as it is and if I'm not satisfied that their responses are transparent enough then the trial may end. I have invited a representative from Ezoic to sign up and we can discuss concerns with them directly. They say this pop up wasn't generated by them so it seems there is some investigation to do on who was responsible for it and why.

Another voice for the crowd. I have today taken delivery of a mint (still has scratchplate plastic on!) 2 yr old Gibson SG standard bass in ebony that weighs just 3.2kg/7lbs. Original hardcase, tags and case candy. Marvellous thing. Will is a super helpful and accomodating guy.

My bass has to be the loudest thing in the room

His third version was no better - a tribute to Mother Theresa, who died shortly after Diana - "Sandals in the Bin"

Finally replaced the tort pickguard on my Tribute LB-100 with a white pearl one, copied expertly from the original by Brian Pillans (earlpilanz on eBay). As Baga Chipz would say - "MUCH BETTAAAH!"

I think it's a stunning guitar. I think having high standards is great, and it's a credit to you that you want to work to those levels. However don't pull yourself down on that work of art though. I have no idea what the costs of the parts are, but stribgly suspect that the hours you have put into it easily exceed those costs. I'd put it up for sale and see if you can get more for the guitar than the cost of parts. If you have a figure in mind PM me (I make no promises). I can't play a five string, never tried, can't really play a four string either, if I'm being honest but it would such a shame for something like that to get broken up for basically scrap value. All the best Rob

Yeh, I hate it when the ABM decides to shift my whole playing down by 1 semitone like I started in the wrong place

I feel so sorry about all this. I do love everything about BassChat. The sense of community, the general good manners and positive contributions everyone has made over the years. I'm trying very hard not to have a knee jerk reaction to this but I am not happy to be part of this world where everything I do is tracked and ultimately to have no control over where data about me ends up. I have read through each and every post on this thread and it seems quite clear to me that Ezoic is not a morally responsible partner. The idea that because we have left the EU this is legal and somehow therefore acceptable is not one I subscribe to. To date Bass Chat has held higher standards than the general population not lower ones. I'm not prepared either to spend my days trying to outwit tech companies by installing extra software or ticking and unticking boxes or clearing cookies, the whole reason I am here rather than on social media is because this is a community, a safe space, somewhere I can trust. I don't know how deep the financial need is, it would help if this were shared with us. My greatest hope is that it is accepted that this is not the way to go, that Ezoic is not a suitable partner and that it's practices have no place in this sort of forum. I hope that the community spirit of BassChat will be able to continue. That this partnership with Ezoic will be ended and other solutions to a problem that has not fully been explained can be found. I hope that those who run BassChat will think again and recognise that this is just a mistake. It would be a shame to see Bass Chat end this way.

What have you done with the real TimR..? Is he OK..? Is this a ransom job..? ...

I understand that if you stand on Portsmouth Guildhall steps and rattle some keys, it will find you.

I Picked up a 90s Korean made ATK300 recently on marketplace, always liked Kyuss bassist Scott Reader who used them in the 90s. Really impressed with this instrument and build quality. It needed a real good clean, new battery and strings and now it’s sounding and feeling very good. Massive bridge with through body stringing and a satin feel wide neck. It also came with a decent Levys orginal gigbag. Pickup, electronics/EQ and three way switching seem very versatile, I wonder if any other manufactures apart from Ibanez do this method with the dummy centre coil? I have a Stingray and P bass to compare and the Trad (single coil) and Attack (Humbucker) come pretty close to these with the versality of being on a single bass. As widely mentioned, these are heavy, but with a wide strap this doesn’t bother me much (so far) . If you see one of these in the used market I’d really give them a go, you may be surprised...if you can take the weight. Neil

And the winner is... @Doctor J Here, then, is your Winner's Certificate (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2023_08.pdf ... which looks like this (but bigger, of course..!)...

U2 - Under A Blood Red Sky. Totally blew me away the energy and rawness that the studio albums lacked although I still loved the studio albums.

The studio version of I Want You To Want Me is startlingly twee isn't it? For me the absolute pinnacle of the live album is Live At Leeds which is, as was already mentioned, miles beyond their studio output of the time in both production and musicianship. It's a ferocious album. I'd also throw in a mention of Slade Alive, the sound of a band unleashed.

That's the meteorological summer done with, and done with style by DoctorJ, who took the honours in the August challenge. So on to September it is then, with the image chosen as below... The Doc adds .."this looks ambiguous enough to allow lots of interesting interpretations" Simple rules ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and the deadline. ✖️ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ✖️ Bagpipes. please no bagpipes, there were no truces on offer worth noting this month, shame! ✖️ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you.. Deadline wise , we will go for Lunchtime on the 24th but I will probably be doing the voting thread in the evening to allow a little extra rolling in glitter A line or two of blurb as well for the vote thread will be lovely. Have fun

Me too! I have this constant internal conflict of being a perfectionist but not being especially good. This leads to my being hypercritical about my own performance/abilities but, unfortunately, it can sneak into my expectations of band mates, too. And not just playing but commitment to rehearsals etc. I can be a Royal pain in the backside, sometimes. This is one of the things I love about my current band, though - we high the high spots most of the time and are getting better.

I shall also bring my acrylic bass, so we can all have a laugh

I’m a closet perfectionist and this trait “comes out to play” in many situations and also in bands. Some guys have an understandable “80% will do attitude”. I have struggled in the past with that and need to use all my coping skills to just let some things go and enjoy what - for me - is a hobby! Still working on taming it - as a perfectionist always tries to.

I bought the CQ-20B, and it arrived yesterday. I own a Midas MR18 and a Korg MW1608, and I regularly run live sound with a Midas M32 and have a fair amount of experience with other "prosumer" and pro-grade mixers too (Midas/Behringer, A&H, Yamaha, PreSonus, Soundcraft, etc.). I primarily bought the Midas for use when I was doing the sound and playing, but I now tend to use it exclusively for when I'm purely running sound. I bought the Korg with the intention of its being a permanent installation in my practice room, but it's the mixer I tend to choose when I'm both playing and doing sound now. I used to play and mix relatively large events at relatively large venues, but since Covid I've been keeping far closer to home and have been consciously trying to put together a system that can approximate the features I grew used to on larger gigs but fits in the boot of my car and at a less eye-watering price point. An outsized frustration of mine with the Midas is the poor implementation of WiFi on the mixer. Having to carry a dedicated router, find space for it and power it definitely detracts from the appeal of the MR18. Another niggle with a stage-box mixer is the responsibility falls solely to me as the only person with an iPad, and I end up making endless monitor mix changes for others. Despite the form factor of the MW1608, it's been a more convenient mixer for use whilst playing with a band whilst mixing, with people able to take ownership of their own monitor mixes, and, with the sub-group faders (somewhat rare in this form factor), people taking some ownership of the master mix too. My final niggle with both mixers, which has only been a reality for me since upgrading both my phone and iPad last year, is the lack of Bluetooth support. Neither my phone nor my iPad has a 3.5mm out, so I end up running either a Bluetooth dongle (unreliable and poor battery-life) or a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter into a 3.5mm extension cable (ungainly and a trip/tangle hazard) in order to play music between sets. I was sold on the CQ-20B purely on the improved native WiFi, the Bluetooth implementation and the monitor mix features. (Also, the mic-gain summing appeals for the rare occasions I mix speaking engagements.) The 18T appealed, but with my usage, I imagine the built-in screen would've ended up being somewhat redundant; the extra stereo in on the 20B, the form-factor and lower price point made the decision easier. I wouldn't have bought this were I not confident I can shift the MR18 fairly easily, and I've recently sold a Shure Dante system with mics with the justification of rationalising some of my audio gear. I'll not be gigging with it for a few weeks, but I took it through its paces in my practice room yesterday and my first impressions are all really positive. The UI, in my opinion, is an improvement over the Midas/Behringer app. Everything is very intuitive and I found every feature or parameter I was looking for in seconds. No matter how hard I tried (distance, interfering devices on the same frequencies/channels), I couldn't get my tablet or phone to disconnect from the unit's WiFi and there was no discernible lag whilst mixing. It's built like a tank, the MR18/XR18 is a well put together unit, but this looks and feels far sturdier. I bought the soft case too, an impulse purchase. Most of my gear is in flight cases, but I was conscious that I'd be gigging this before one was offered by Swan/Thon/etc. It's well put together and protects the unit really well. I'd argue it's a little overpriced for what it is, but I had some credit with Andertons which lessened the blow. I can't see myself replacing it with a flight case anytime soon. I'll post again when I've had a chance to play with the FBA, the auto gain setting and the inbuilt FX, but I'll keep an eye on this thread if anybody has any specific questions or requests.

I want to be in a band to make music, I don’t want to be booking things, sorting things out, doing this & that, just want to play & holler. This probably would come across as lazy and a lazy band member to me would set off alarm bells but in my defence I’m never late for gigs or rehearsals, always prepared on the material, gear & transport always works and am good with communication. But I seem lazy because I don’t want to do anything other than play & sing.

I think one of your imperfections is timing 😆

In case anyone's interested,my band Gévaudan, have a small slither of new music out by way of a preview....full album due in October. We decided rather than create a few songs on an album, we'd just do one over 43 mins. ✌️

So excited that I forgot to upload some pics! As well as the mute and decals, I also asked Mark if it was possible to supply an extra scratch plate that just covered the control cavity. He came back with the genius idea of cutting the regular scratch plate so all I have to do is undo a couple of screws and then the bulk of the plate will lift off. Will show what that looks like when it arrives!

Alexandra Burke's awful, awful version of "Hallelujah" which completely ripped the soul out of it. Simon Cowell is partly to blame for this utter travesty. In a similar vein to William Shatner but nowhere near as entertaining, there's Telly Savalas's version of "If" where apparently loads of reverb was deemed sufficient to conceal a complete inability to sing. "Don't sing, Theo" as someone said in the spoof version of it.

I would have said that is very marketable. The headstock and decals is a pro-job and, to a buyer, that is often what they look at first. I stand by what @Richard R quotes me as posting - it's splendid and beautiful job.

This what I've got today after the Ezoic era is, I really hope, over. Check at the right, these are the ads and the trackers blocked since yesterday evening when I activated the ad blocker only for BassChat, where I logged in and out 13 or 14 times to check what was going on, and each time cleaning all the mess to start from scrap. Just check what happened today after Ezoic has been paused: only 3 ads blocked and absolutely no tracker, which is totally standard. Don't tell us there isn't a big issue with Ezoic. Furthermore, not allowing people to have the ability to refuse cookies is a violation of the GDPR (where it applies) and as I already wrote, BassChat is de facto a worldwide website, so even if it's not mandatory in the U.K. anymore, it's elsewhere, like in the EEC. According to all answers, it looks like no moderator, except @Silvia Bluejay really understood that this inability to refuse cookies (ads and trackers) was the real issue.

I saw you video; I find it “almost” unbelievable that there are those who feel they have the right to say you should look a certain way, or play a certain way. I’d have probably told them to F off, although probably better to just ignore them. I felt you had no need to justify yourself. I’d say keep on doing what you do, it’s clear enough people are enjoying your content and even if they weren’t, it wouldn’t matter as long as you are enjoying it!

There's a quote here from Andy: So why on earth would you think it's not good enough to sell as is? Of course the market is very slack and you may find parts easier to sell and get the same total value, but it would be a shame.

"With a little help from my friends" - why did the Beatles ruin it?

Frank, what you choose to do in the privacy of your own home is up to you, but please don’t bring it to the Bash… again! 🍹🛼

I too love live albums, a good one crackles with energy. The odd overdub is acceptable if it covers an absolute howler, the idea is to recreate the energy. So with that: The Grateful Dead. Their studio albums are OK, but almost any of the thousands of live recordings is a million times better. 'Wake up to find out" is my current favourite. "Slade Alive", play it loud. "Pulse" is superb, but I love all the Floyd. There is a really good Rockonteurs interview with Scott Gorman of Thin Lizzy where they discussed Live and Dangerous. There are actually very few overdubs on it, but it is a compilation of recordings from different nights. The story about the overdubs grew and was embellished over the years, including by the producers. The 40th anniversary release includes all the recordings from different nights, so you can trace what came from where. Rockonteurs on Spotify

Iron Maiden’s Live After Death is easily better than most of the studio albums leading up to it. YMMV.

Almost every live album is hugely doctored in the studio. "Frampton Comes Astudio" being the prime example...

Up until they released Two Steps From The Move, All Those Wasted Years by Hanoi Rocks was by far their best album imo.

I love all live albums. I've got them by Steely Dan, Little Feat, the Band, Edgar Winter, Aretha, Keb Mo, Delbert McClinton, The Stones, Otis Redding, Albert King, Allman Brothers, Clapton, BB King and more.

Nadir, Tim?

I’m in. Got something roughed out already. and I’ve got a 40 year old AKG mic sat on a stand 🫣

Well played, that man! Worthy winner indeed.

i love the phaser in combination with the EHX big muff deluxe bass where i have a slight fuzz and crossover at the same time

And then there's the quoted efficiency figures... which are relevant, but only if they're accurate and measured to the same standard. Generally, they're even greater flights of fantasy than power ratings.

Sooooooooo, I've just got some pics from Mark. It just needs a final setup and will be shipped on Monday. To say I'm excited is a massive understatement!

Ma-cavity the Mystery Cat - Cats OST

Although I think I prefer the Robert Palmer version.

Tonight's creation...

The Police don’t solve any crime, so it’s probably quite hard to get caught - and if you do, you can just try again when you’re released with less punishment than if you dare to drive your taxed and insured vehicle you’ve bought with taxed income, and filled with taxed fuel, past a ‘safety’ camera on a road you’re taxed for - a road which has been 30mph since you were born which is now 20mph based on nothing. Good eh!