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Charity Ball at the Midland in the city centre last night, about 350 posh frocks and black ties...5:30pm soundcheck, 10pm start time (I went home and came back), which then overran (if there are two things in this world stone cold guaranteed to overrun, it's wedding speeches and charity raffles), pushing us out to 10:30pm and then 10:45pm start, luckily the organisers took the last 15 off our running time, so we only played an hour for the full fee...the downside was that GMP had decided to keep the parking suspension for the Tory party conference there (which had all finished on Weds) running till 9pm tonight (why?), so you couldn't park within at least a 1/4 mile of the place. I spent 30 minutes driving round and round in ever-increasing circles until I eventually found somewhere, at £12.50 for 4 hours... House/3rd party PA and engineer, but his monitors were tiny, good job I'd bunged the Rumble 12 in the boot, so I used that to monitor. All good, even better the load-out was fire doors 10ft behind us, we fetched the cars and were out in 10 minutes...

Thursday night wedding done. Mad thrash getting set up and the organisers had some flash mob dance tracks as surprise for the happy couple we had to play over the PA, but all was good. Dep guitarist put in some work since Tuesdays rehearsal and was ok. No horns so the trimmings were on tracks but crowd didn’t seem to mind, in fact they were really up for it especially considering it was a mid week do. And we had to stop by 10:30 so home before midnight, result! Human mirror ball singer included in photo for some variation.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (otherwise known as A1 Music in Preston), I spied hanging on the wall a newly-released Fender Classic '50s Precision in Honey Blonde with a gold anodized scratchplate and maple neck, and fell in love with the look. At the time, it was way too spendy for me, plus I didn't think my small hands and stumpy fingers would be able to cope with the 44.45mm nut width anyway, so I left it where it was, but never forgot that look. Fast forward to September 2023, and *that* thread about Thomann and the Squier 40th Anniversary P's. The Vintage Blonde version obviously caught my eye, but after umming and aahing for a while, I decided to hold off ordering one until after we'd got back from our week away in Norfolk. Of course, they'd all gone by then, but a quick bit of online research revealed one in stock at GAK - more expensive than Thomann, but available - so I bunged my order in immediately. Then of course, I came across all the horror stories (mainly over on The Other Place) about dodgy QC on some of these, so was equally excited and worried about what might actually turn up. Turns out I needn't have worried - the body is decent enough (there are slight differences in colour / graining visible through the finish, but this is mainly on the back, and more apparent in photos than it is to the naked eye), the nut and fretwork is all neat and tidy, no loose / stripped screws, the pots are smooth (as has been noted elsewhere, the tone control is way more progressive than that on any of my other basses), the neck joint is tight, weight is nice at exactly 8lbs, setup was spot-on from the factory (though I have raised the action a bit to taste), the satin neck is a delight, she really rings out acoustically, and sustains for days (almost). I had originally intended going for the full '57 vintage look with threaded saddles, bridge cover and G-side tugbar, but I think I'm going to leave her as she is, a lean, mean, rockin' machine (or whatever the Kewl Kidz say these days) - all I've done is swap the strings for my preferred TI Jazz Flats. Unfortunately as the band is currently taking a complete break for four weeks, I'll not have chance to give her a full workout just yet, but she's definitely a keeper. And so, onto the obligatory pictures...

I'm very lucky to have found this at the right time and right price. It's exceptional. (a fair bit posher than I am used too, ideally the house project we're doing lets me keep it)

Oh to be in love. - Kate Bush (O2)

1st board in a long while! Purely for fun synth goodness. Next week I'll be able to play the C4 and the Future Compact in parallel courtesy of an incoming morningstar loop switcher. 👌

I've bought more and more gear in my search for "that sound" Every time I think i'm sorted, I then see something else and GAS creeps back in. I even decided to go rack mount a while ago and have never used it out of the house..... I can't bear to sell any of it either. Don't get me wrong, its mostly all "middle of the road" or secondhand kit, but i've got it squirrelled away all over the place. And don't get me started on the cabs that i've built! There's at least 10 cabs in the loft at the mo with more in the spare bedroom, garage and shed. I have issues that's for sure..... 😂 I'm even hovering over a "buy now" button today for a pre amp I really don't need..... but it'll scratch an itch for a while... Does Bassplayers With Excessive Kit Issues Anonymous exist?

For those of you of a certain vintage that grew up in the UK, then you will remember the Saturday morning kids programme, Swap Shop. Some of you might even possibly remember that the three presenters, Noel Edmonds, Keith Chegwin and Maggie Philbin released a single, I Wanna Be A Winner, under the name, Brown Sauce. It was a top 20 hit in the charts. So my band, Vantage Point has released a cover of it, which meant I had a go at playing the bass line that Maggie put down all those years ago. You can remind yourself on Maggie on her Rickenbacker here - While the cover can be heard on the digital platform of your choice.

Purchased a Yamaha pulser 400 bass from Bassbros this week. The service was amazing. Communication has been second to none and even after I received the bass he contacted me to see how things are. This is the first time I have ever bought a bass online without trying it. Will at Bassbros will most definitely have another customer. Highly recommend the company.

It was time to glue the fretboard to the neck: And then to turn my attention to the bridge. Usually, on an acoustic you fit the bridge once the top and back are both fitted. But to do that, you have a special long-reach clamp that fits through the soundhole. And this soundhole is just too small. And so I will fit the bridge while the back is still off. So to get that ready, I need to cut the saddle slot. On a nylon strung acoustic, you generally don't have the intonation issues to the same degree as steel string and so the bridges on classical guitars are generally square to the centre-line. For good measure, though, I will use a 3mm thick piece of bone to give me at least a modicum of adjustment if my understanding is wrong! I made a small jig out of some scrap wood to use with my Dremel precision router base to cut the slot: Yup - that will do Next task is prepare the surfaces and glue it in place If ever there was a 'measure 15 times and glue once...it's fitting the bridge' I am using a couple of pieces of cocktail stick to use as positioning pegs: And then masking tape over the whole area, bridge positioned with the cocktail sticks, scored round with a scalpel and peeled off where the bridge will go: You can never have too many clamps! : And - here is the voice of experience - a peel off of the tape once all the squeeze out has squeezed out but before it hardens! And on a question of scale - those are my small clamps

And here is my Le Fay Remington Steele 6 RHT CC CAP Big Block bought brand new by my wife and offered to me:

I picked one up as my daughters first bass a couple of weeks ago. She did her research and knew exactly what she wanted - a red one Sounds and plays pretty well for a 35 year old piece of plywood. Stickers and bullet belt strap sounds very on brand for my daughter........

is it giving you a clean sound?

Bad luck, the barbarians are already through the gates! This 'various northerner' has been hiding in Somerset for 12 years now 😊

One of the jobs before I can put the back on is to sort the fit of the neck while I have easy access. It will be a glued joint but I will also use a bolt and insert, for additional security and to ease these next steps. Having got a 'starting' neck angle and fit, I double-sided-taped some emery cloth onto the body to improve the fit by loose-fitting the neck and raising it and lowering it a small distance to sand down any high spots. The sanding marks show you where there is contact and whether all surfaces are level or not: Next job was to fit a bolt hole in the neck block and an insert in the tenon: Then, bolting the neck on, I could work out the neck angle fretboard alignments and fine tune with some 'flossing' strips of emery until: - the neck angle lines the fretboard up OK with the bridge - and the side fit lines up the fretboard dots with the centre line of the body: A final bit of flossing for a decently tight fit:

I've bought a few things that haven't worked out, but I don't regret that. I needed to find out for myself. And it's always stuff I've been able to sell on. All part of the journey.

Never — Eddie Cochran

Too Many C0cks - The Robert Cray Band

HPF frees the bass knob to do exactly that.

Cheers buddy - that's gracious of you. It's so easy to slip into casual sexism [or whatever...ism] without realising we're doing it! Back to HPF. I've actually got a decent ability to HPF on both our desk (100hz cut off) and via patches on my Zoom multifx which has a variable HPF sim, so no real need for something additional, although I had a Thumpinator on my home board for years. There's also the very simple option of cutting the bass EQ on your bass preamp or amp a touch? If I was getting another HPF pedal the Sine HPF mentioned earlier looks very capable and decent value. I guess the trick is to balance eliminating low end crud and getting a tight non-boomy sound without the bass sounding anaemic in the mix.

That was very un-PC of me there. My apologies for that. Dave

In my opinion,somewhere near the P position. Then you tame it with tapewounds, tone rolled off, a mute, and playing near the neck. I was very happy with the results on a P. For DB you need punch and clarity. I have limited experience of pickups closer to the neck bit yes, so far my impression is thet you lose something

Or not some wee lad in the office, either, eh Dave?😉

This is me too, but many times over with the same things again and again. If the definition of madness is doing the same thing the same way repeatedly and expecting different results then I'm well and truly in the basement of the loony bin.

Gear I regretted buying?.. Well there was this orrible "go faster powder" we bought off someone at some fetish type club somewhere in East London (a popular post-Slimelight destination) , the stuff was rubbish and even looked dodgy, we just laughed and threw it down the toilet.. 😂 That's a tenner I'll never get back...

Probably not one for the purists, but a 35" scale neck through 7 string for just over £500 new. Looks pretty cool, and while the headstock is still a bit clunky looking the string pull looks sensible. https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_bz_7000_ii_nt.htm

May I borrow your DM's and The Gat?

Neepheid has them on Gumtree I believe - can deliver to Rome. 👍🤣

3rd quarter gone and I’m still in. I nearly fell off the waggon as I had a Saturday with no one around and was planning a trip to the Bass Gallery in London. But I didn‘t go. I am enjoying using and experimenting with all the kit I do have. I even had a fretless lesson the other day. So just Christmas to navigate now. Ooh, and the SE Bass Bash. Is anyone else still in?

I'm invading anyway. You'll have to try harder than that to keep me out.

Wow, good job they cancelled HS2. However, that was to keep the Pict,s Scots and various northerners out. Now building Sunak's wall at Watford Gap.

What a fine, upstanding fellow you are. Best wishes to MrsAndyjr1515. There is COVID on both sides of our family, so be careful out there and if possible take a test before stepping onto your private jet or helicopter.

Sorry to hear that @Andyjr1515 - was looking forward to meeting you. Hope you don't succumb and that MrsAndy is feeling better soon.

Ah, I just thought they were very far away.

The SW bash is legendary for the food. Sometimes people talk about basses a bit too. The Midlands Bash concentrates on basses, but we did tell people where the nearest Greggs was. 😁

...does it have cutouts for pointy bits?!?

D̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ I̶t̶ M̶a̶k̶e̶ M̶y̶ B̶r̶o̶w̶n̶ S̶h̶o̶e̶s̶ B̶l̶u̶e̶ ～ C̶a̶r̶l̶o̶ Too late 🙇🏼‍♂️ Hide ～ Juice WRLD

If you were to sell it, how much would you get willing to accept? If you were to buy it, how much would you be willing to pay?

If you want to sound like an upright - get an upright.

As prophesied by @Richard R, an obscure verse, misinterpreted, in order to prove that God plays bass... "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me” (Psalm 42:7). Who needs an Eich baseboard, when one has waterfalls and waves to emphasise the low end!

Dingwall D-Roc and NG basses. Loved the look and the feel was good. Sounded meh.... then I noticed that everyone paired them with Darkglass pedals to get them to sound half decent.... but then they all ended up sounding the same... Sold them and got more Spectors instead

I wouldn’t say I’ve regretted buying anything as such, but I’ve lost count of the amps cabs and basses I’ve had, lots of them were my fault for not doing any research and just buying what I liked the look of, whichever basses I bought I always went back to a fender jazz or precision, so I now know exactly what’s good for me, and of all the amps I’m settled on the Ampeg sound, it’s all a learning experience and if you don’t try these things you’ll never know

We’re celebrating being together 40yrs this year. Rehearsals are going well, my voice (I’m also the frontman, we’re a 3pce) is warming up, and I thought I’d blow the dust of the old Squier Frank Bello jazz instead of the usual Thunderbird. Sounding good, via the Ashdown Mark King combo behind me. Not your normal combination?