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Tonight: Maiden voyage for a new band! Technically the same band but with an added female singer and a new (and very different) setlist. Went really well, considering we were playing Beyonce, Britney, Dua Lipa, Rhianna, Whitney type stuff to a pub mostly full of drunken blokes that had come to watch Rugby and then some Boxing. Couple of rough edges that we'll sort with a couple more gigs, but we had a lot of fun and sounded great. I was ampless (the ONE TIME you don't check the spare Bass amp is in the van...) which wasn't ideal, but the IEMs did OK. On a personal note - I played a 5 String in public for the first time in about 25 years and... the homework paid off. Can't say I didn't drop a note, but I did pretty well IMHO. As we were packing up, the drummer said (out of nowhere) "You're an absolute dude, I f***ing love gigging with you" and the Boss said words to the effect of "well. you're always on it", so I'm happy with that!

Tonight was... interesting. We were second to last on a bill after a GNR tribute act, whose bassist was the musical organiser for the event and whose equipment we were all sharing. The bass rig in question was a Darkglass Alpha-Omega and Barefaced Four10. Except the poor guy was rushed to hospital on Friday night so wasn't around to give the lowdown as his band pulled out. I watched one of the earlier acts, an Oasis tribute, and their bass sound through the Darkglass/Barefaced was immense, with a Fender Ultra Jazz being their bassist's weapon of choice – things are good in the Oasis tribute band game it seems! The band before us was a last minute replacement Blink-182 tribute, whose bassist brought his own amp. I'm not sure what happened between them packing up and us setting up, but I could barely hear myself through the rig. Even crouched in front of the speaker and with the master volume maxed I should have been deafened, but not even close. So I was largely relying on muscle memory – again – to get me through where I didn't have a clear run without being buried under our guitarist in the mix. To be fair she and our keyboardist, who were on the other side of the stage to me, also said the mix was rubbish, so at least it wasn't just me that got shafted. Still, apparently we went down a storm and have been asked to play the same event next year. Which is nice. It was also the first time my little boy (he's at the front wearing a Power Rangers costume in the top photo) has seen me play and he really enjoyed it – he even asked for my autograph when we got home!

I had some foreboding about tonight’s gig, the communications between the band leader and venue had been vague and it didn’t appear that much promotion had been done by the venue. Just before leaving, I received a message saying ‘small stage’, which didn’t help my expectations. However, it was rather good, only enough room on stage for the drums and backline, but not really an issue and the load in was really easy. We had hoped for more bums on seats, but it wasn’t too bad really, we played well and there was a fair bit of jigging around by the punters and some nice comments. I took my fairly new Squier 40th Anniversary P bass for its first gig outing and it excelled! The pickups seem quite rude and raunchy, which I like and it sat in the mix perfectly, it’s a keeper (we’ve heard that before ), I took a backup bass, given the new P was an untested quantity, but it was not required. All in all, rather splendid.

Played a smallish venue at Withernsea last night...pain in the derrière to get to as you can’t avoid going through Hull and the never ending roadworks are, well, never ending. Strange layout, long and thin with rooms off to the side. Couldn’t crank it up too loud as you’d deafen the punters at the front which meant the back of the place was a bit quiet. Despite it being ‘off season’ the place was packed and up and dancing from the off. The Landy was well chuffed and even made between spot sarnies. It’s a bit of a trek but worth it with this kind of reaction so hopefully we’ll be back there sometime in the new year. One thing, another one of them small stages which was a challenge but apparently the previous week’s band had been a 5pc with keys...god knows how they managed it 🤪......smallness demonstrated with pre first spot pic of drummer waiting out the ubiquitous bingo.

Last night was a punk gig with Emergency Exit in Graeme Hotel in Falkirk. Not the best night i've had. With us not gigging this band as often as we used to the mistakes are creeping in and there were quite a few last night. Its very annoying for me as we previously made very few mistakes if any so rehearsals will now be booked between gigs. Did a couple of new SLF songs. Gotta Getaway went pretty well and punk fans really appreciated that one. Nobody's Hero by SLF was ok but something went a bit off around 3rd verse. Still not sure what happened but i seemed to lose my way a bit but picked it up again. Audience still thought it was good. This was only the 2nd time we've attempted it without rehearsals but we should be better. Its an odd venue. I always feel like i'm just the jukebox in the corner every time i play there. Its a footie bar and most of the audience are run overs from those watching football all afternoon so they just happen to be there rather than there for you. Singer reckoned it was like pulling teeth trying to get a reaction. Personally i would rather just avoid this venue but a gigs a gig as they say. Dave

The Oxjam Festival in Beeston, Nottingham. Playing with the Daz Kelly Band at the Bendigo Lounge. A large and full bar; not everyone was there for the music but there was enough appreciative folk to make it worthwhile. It was a five minute walk from the car park but we were using the house PA and I’d only got a bass, Elf and a Barefaced 10 to carry. We had a few friends and family turn up and my one drink was bought me by my son-in-law. An over-priced, over-chilled craft ale. 😆

40 minute set as part of the Oxjam Beeston Music Festival, which is held annually in 20 venues in Beeston Nottingham with 100+ bands and artists. Fantastic gig and the crowd really got into our set. Oxjam Beeston, entirely run by volunteers, has raised £150,000 for Oxfam since 2011, not including this year. As you can see from the headgear, we're a Country Band

The gig turned out to be a lot of fun. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=862602832054443&id=100001681941959&mibextid=Nif5oz I'll add another full song clip later tonight. Blue

Still got a fair bit of finishing off and tweaking to do, but the next step was confirming that the neck angle was right - and that meant fitting some strings This is where I'm at: And with big brother: ...with the label giving away the family lineage

Performed for the first time with our new backing tracks to a fairly captive audience of mostly stallholders in a market! Very well received, it was great to look around and see them nearly all having a little boogie almost without realising they were doing it. The sound was great, we were setup super quick and off the stage so quickly afterwards we caught the crew napping.

Solo acoustic guitar and vocal gig at the Organ Grinder real ale pub at Loughborough. Had some gremlins in the first half - one speaker not working and the other one buzzing annoyingly. Got it sorted at half time and the culprit seemed to be a pedal power supply! Nice crowd, some good singing along and made feel very welcome! Update - buzzing traced to the shredded cable on my Boss pedal adaptor. That’ll do it then…

Someone was kind enough to take some photos.

A snippet someone sent us from our 999 support... 388892917_699781945021895_7568735487361311918_n.mp4

Hi 👋🏼

I’d rather go blind - Etta James

Today one flew into my studio...couldn't resist making a test video.

Update time. Rather than adding to what I've posted before, I thought I'd precis my posts into a new one, with aded, up to date info, so folk don't need to scroll through all the previous posts, if this is their first read (also good for those who may have forgotten the details). Here's the thing, I didn't need another bass, I'd been playing my JMJ Mustang extensively since it arrived in Feb 2021 and that tone is to die for. However, the aesthetics of the Mustang are questionable to my eyes and I've always been a sucker for the P bass look and I've owned a few through the years, including one from 1963, all of which were moved on for reasons that pass understanding. I went P bass shopping in Dundee (my nearest 'local' store) some time back and tried a number of Player Series Ps and, nice as they were, they didn't hold a candle to my JMJ tonally, which I took along for comparison, they were all simply outclassed (or out-Peed if you will). Thinking that this was GAS cured, I returned to my lovely short scales but, surprise, surprise, I was wrong, the P GAS persisted. Then, some bright spark, you know who you are , starts a thread, advertising the great deals Thomann were (are?) doing on the Squier 40th Anniversary basses, colour me hooked. I'd seen a few YouTube videos too with reviewers extolling the virtues of this range, so it wasn't long until I pulled the trigger on the vintage blond version. Having now rehearsed and gigged with it (first outing live, last night), an update is required. As mentioned in my first post, straight out of the box, it was very playable, a very manageable 3.8kg, no complaints. Despite specs to contrary, the nut width on mine is 40mm, which suits me beautifully as this matches my Mustang and is just 1mm narrower than my custom Maruszczyks (these are slimmer front to back, so they feel very similar). The neck is a joy to play, very smooth in the palm, with no drag. There were two frets that seemed a tiny bit high when I had adjusted the action to my preferred settings, but this was rectified with a good polish in the offending area (800, 100, 1200, 1500 grits and micro mesh). I use EB cobalt flats on just about everything, so I ordered a set at the same time. I also had a set of Hipshot, lightweight tuners spare, so, when I changed the strings, I fitted these too, making the finished article lighter than my Mustang and a mere 3.67kg; happy days. Having had anodised pickguards in the past and not liking the scratchy feeling on my fingers, I also ordered a tort pickguard (I like 'em, YMMV). However, the anodised pg on these basses is more of a gloss finish, so that wouldn't have been an issue this time around, other than the sea of yellow (more on this later), but I had bought the tort one, so on it went, together with some shielding (there was none, the pg notwithstanding, and although it wasn't noisy anyway, I like to have it. There was none in my Mustang either, when I bought it and that cost over 3 times as much as this bass. C'mon Fender, get with it!). My only complaint, and it really isn't a complaint as such, is that the Vintage Blond is more a sandy/custard, but I think that the satin finish may wear in a pleasing fashion and the tort breaks it up too. In a live setting, with the band, the best way to describe the pickup tone is rude. It's definitely a P, but with extra bark and bite, not as smooth as the Seymour Duncan in the JMJ Mustang, although certainly in the same ballpark and it sits in the mix really well, making itself known; very suitable for The Jam and other slightly aggressive numbers we do. Add a little dirt (I use a Tech21 VTDI for this) and you're really in Jean-Jacques Burnel territory. If the the Player Series ones I mentioned earlier had sounded like this, I'd have bought one then and been poorer for it, especially as the all maple necks on those are quite bulky. I normally find all maple necks on Fenders to be much bulkier than their rosewood (or whatever) equipped counterparts, that is not the case here, the neck feels just right, a very similar profile to the JMJ as previously mentioned, so another win for waiting a bit. So, is it a keeper? Yes, I think so, but I've said that before . Members of the band were also suitably impressed by its performance and I found myself wanting to keep playing it. In short, feels good, sounds good, all good. Squier have really excelled themselves with these basses it seems and the Mexican Fender plant should take serious note and up their game accordingly. Same image as before, but to save scrolling...

That's because his kit is on fire.

Mentioned these before, but the best case I’ve ever used is the ‘Bass guitar foam case’ by G4M. I bought two of these, and in over 10 years of use on the road all over the UK I’m still just using the first one! Light but very strong, mine originally cost around £30/35. They’re now £49.99 but even at that still very good value for money IMO.

Fleet Petite ～ Jackie Wilson

It was ok, a local ish venue that was new to us. Nice enough folks and warm reception. Some of our lot travelled the 40 mins or so to see us. We used the in house rig and engineer, so I took a Headrush for monitoring rather than trust a stranger with my IEM feed. I’m Still ‘running in’ my new bass. It’s had a few ‘quirks and features’ which have taken some fixing, and at an acoustic gig this afternoon its issues reared their head again, despite it being fine last night. It’s going back to bass hospital for another check up next week. just noticed singer is missing in the bottom pic, which means it must have been taken during ‘figure it out’

For UK deliveries : If anyone would rather have a no hassle bass sale and needs a courier, use https://lenspeedlogistics.com/services/single-guitar-delivery-from-55/ Scroll down to coloured map to see where they deliver in the UK mainland for the 55 quid price. They dont require a hard case. They dont even require a cardboard box. A padded gigbag will do. If you phone up , you get the boss, Len, who's a good bloke. They deal with a lot of antiques as well as bass gear, so are ultra careful with your goods. They are of course fully insured. They may not be quick. This is because they're a small outfit, and to make money, they need to coincide a pickup with other jobs near to you. Its sheer luck if they have gear to deliver or pickup in your area within a day or two, so it's 50-50 if you get a quick pickup or not. I have waited a week before for a collection from me, but i live way down the country compared to Lenspeed. I've already used them several times, and have posted on BC about them before. They did stirlings jobs everytime and Len's courier will keep you updated. A fabulous service

Neck got drilled and fitted. Bridge position, Lady Luck shined on me. Fazley bridge is through body strung so I'd 6 holes and a ground wire in a nice row at the front 😬 Base plate covers them by 3-4mm 🤸‍♂️🤸‍♂️🤸‍♂️ Warman Quad drive replaced the white humbucker, black knob replaced the white one. Hofner light gauge strings will get replaced with Status Hotwire tapes. 2nd time I've tried light gauge strings , yet again I'm struggling to get proper relief.

This 1987 Supernatural arrived this week from France.. A bit of noodling and a more "normal" sound for the Abba song :-)

It was a good gig. It is a really nice venue, although there was trepidation on seeing the stairs. Albert is great. Just as agile around the fingerboard and singing very well too.

Played there with Emergency Exit before lockdown and it was pretty mixed. Great feedback from local punk fans who turned out and punters in the room seemed to enjoy it! I was back in last December and it was as you described...punters in for the football and some stayed. Some others in for a meal and really did not want any music! In fact they got a bit whizzed off when we asked them to move away from the pa! Also folk dropping in for one drink on a pub crawl. I think although it has been one of the music venues in Falkirk from the old day's that still put music on it's trying to be a sports bar,restaurant and music venue and it isn't really working! The volume is an issue because of the layout. We were contacted about getting booked this year but I was a bit late in getting back to them and got hee haw! I think that was maybe for the best! One of my mates bands are playing there very shortly and I know for a fact that they will blow the roof off volume wise!!!

Last night I sorted out my other grumbles with this bass as supplied - the terrible pots and the pointless three way switch. Never rewired a semi-hollow bass before, and with a solid centre block the only access point is the f-hole. No worries! First step - gather supplies - found some pots in my parts bin and ordered a Schaller 3 way rotary Megaswitch - so much easier to wrap one's head around than your typical rotary. Then it's time to take a deep breath and feed the guts out through the f-hole (realising that there's no way back now - even stuffing the innards back in as they are will be a challenge) Desoldered and removed the old pots and the switch, leaving only the bridge wire (taped up so it can't escape inside the bass again!) and the pickup wire. Noting the two hot wires which went to the old switch (white/green) - use multimeter to figure out which grounds go with which hots (white/black, red/green) then wire the Megaswitch using the schematic handily provided by Schaller for this very scenario (single HB, parallel/single/series) Wire up from the switch to the volume and tone pots to the jack socket (remembering to include the bridge earth wire) Test BEFORE beginning to stuff the innards back in the f-hole, then do it in order of (wired) distance from the pickup - jack socket first - easily the worst, fiddliest one - having small hands/fingers I managed to get it in the rough vicinity of the hole then used a large allen key to maneuver it into position and keep it there whilst I got the washer/nut on. Take a breath, then carry on - tone pot, volume pot and finally, three way switch (which went in quite easily - had done some testing beforehand to see what was the easiest way, found an angled approach worked best after first trying other contortions of a more twisting nature which might have stressed the wires) Finally, put the knobs on, and it's done! The chrome knob is temporary - couldn't find a chickenhead in my spares so I've ordered one. Final tests through headphones and amp revealed that it has been a resounding success - real differences between the settings (well, slight difference between single/parallel but the usual big kick going into series). Only wee oopsie (and I'm not fixing it) is that I got my coils mixed up and the single coil is the bridge coil, not the neck one as I had intended. I don't think it makes a lot of difference so I'm going to leave it.

Here's MTD Kingston Super 5 I got earlier this year, has been upgraded periodically and now is 10/10. It was perfectly serviceable stock, but I saw a few examples of these mods and they looked so much better. Biggest differences are probably aesthetic (no more easily tarnished chrome), but a few practical ones too (e.g. switching, and passive option). It did cost me a small fortune, but I can't see myself ever selling it. With the 3 way coil taps giving 15 sound options and this preamp, it can pretty much do everything. I am most pleased that I installed all of these myself, too (with only mild swearing). Bartolini DL5CBC Pickups Bartolini HR-5.4AP/918 Preamp (18v) Hipshot B Style bridge Hipshot Ultralite tuners MTD USA Knobs Dunlop Straplocks 2 x 3 way coil taps (Removed series option to have single coil/parallel/single coil) Satin finish polished to semi-gloss.

Last night watched Albert Lee in Kinross and he returns the compliment tonight. Actually drove through Biggar to get here. A very nice town. It was a diversion so no ability to arrange to say hi. Would have been good to meet and shake your hand.

Keep at it. Originals can be difficult in some areas but hopefully once it starts the pace will pick up for you guys. Dave

You seem to be ignoring tonewood. I only play in rooms with oak joists.

Blue Monday (12” version) 😬 - New Order

Katy Hurt and The Jackson Line at Sutton’s Sound Lounge. A wicked little cafe/bar/venue with a great vibe, a great bunch of guys running it and unfortunately last night a dicky PA. One monitor was swapped and then the replacement failed during our set, at least one PA too went as well. Poor sound man Jono was having a night to forget! And I managed to unplug the lead from my bass to pedalboard between tuning and hitting the first note of the first song about 30s later, cue embarrassing scuffling around.. Apart from that, what a fun night. The Jackson Line, much like Gasoline and Matches last week, are a lovely bunch of people and play some great songs with amazing tight vocal harmonies. And despite our technical and idiot bassist gremlins we had a blast. Old and new songs played to die hard and new fans, a really cool vibe onstage and between band and audience. One to remember for a while! The Jackson Line: Katy Hurt and her idiotic bassist:

Hello all Newbie to the forum here. Encouraged to join by an existing member. I have played Bass 28 years but am by no means a Flea, Geddy or Newsted. I am a solid player that experiments with making a song his own whilst not muddying the waters. I have decades of gig and recording, studio and Home, experience playing bass and singing. I look forward to meeting you all.

Thought I'd share my most recent pedal, largely as I'm chuffed with the enclosure. Found the picture of The Mothership, sorry.. Marquess of Anglesey in a magazine and knew it had to go on a fuzz. Lo-tech approach - cut the image out and stick it on the primed enclosure.👍 The fuzz is a Fuzzdog Conkador fed by a Fuzzdog MXR MicroAmp clone, which sounds very nice indeed, or very bad

I've been offered a tilt cab; does the colour matter much..?

It’s a great Bassline to play, Robbie Shakespeare did a lot of work with grace jones, you might find this interesting soulstar

^^ I love the irony of your T shirt.

Fender Custom Shop Jazz in relic blue sparkle. I like the stack knobs mainly with Neck PU vol full on, tone backed off about 10% and bridge vol slightly rolled back, tone up - gives a nice bark. This is a very full sounding Jazz bass.

We played at the Fox and Hounds, nr Watford, last night. Small but appreciative crowd, particularly after the football had finished. Like most of our gigs recently, the crowd gets more enthusiastic as the night goes on, no doubt helped by beer, and for the last few songs people start dancing. This was the first time I had taken the Reverend Decision P out for a gig; I love this bass.