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We did a fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis at a large pub in Hereford yesterday... Turned out the pub's PA was knacked, so we took our own - which doesn't half add to the effort needed especially as we took a 24 channel desk, plus monitors, subs etc all for 3 mics and one on the bass drum! Still, it was good practice for setting up for larger gigs. But it was nice to be in charge of sound - we didn't overdo it and as a result everything was very clear. Anyway, support was Hereford boys The Deadbeats; they were excellent, did punk/new wave covers and got the reasonable crowd nicely lubricated for us... And we'd thought it might be a 2 bass/no guitar gig, but somehow he got his act together and we were a 5 piece. Not only that, but we played very well indeed - usual pink torpedo ups by drummer; one song has a bass intro which is straight 4:4, somehow he always has to do a fill when I'm 2 beats from the end of the intro, and that fill always lasts 4 beats and interrupts the flow. Next time I shall bring a baseball bat... We even did 2 covers - Rage's "Bullet to the Head" and Penetration's "Don't Dictate" (or own mashed up version with "Word Up"!), and had to do a song we hadn't played in a year after more encores were demanded. We managed to raise a few hundred notes for MS and got expenses paid (which we weren't expecting, we'd agreed a freebie for new pub music venture and good charitable cause), one bloke said we sounded like Faith No More (his favourite band!), and another staggered over and said we were like The Prodigy (!), then asked if we had any ketamine... (We didn't). Used my Sandberg for the first time in ages (and realised why I'd bought it), into Helix, BBE pre and DBX rack compressor, Crown bridged power amp and Markbass 4x10. As there was so little room on stage Helix sat on top of the amp case, which meant I couldn't do my squealy lead guitar octave stuff but probably nobody noticed.

My gig last weekend was a little different. Local radio station sponsored/ promoted event, Tom Petty Birthday Party - at a fairly large outside venue. Several local bands hired to each play a set of TPetty, we were one of the bands (even though we are an original band). It was sold-out, about 850 people. We went on around 9:30 PM (really the best time slot) and we had a blast. I played my 1966 Fender P-bass and the provided backline was a newer GK head with an 8x8” cab. The rig really sounded good, the overall stage volume was a little loud, but the floor monitors did an okay job of keeping the vocals on top. We dressed for the show and hammed it up on stage. We knew the songs very well and the crowd was mostly familiar with our band and way into it (into their cups too). Overall a successful night and we sold a lot of our band merch. Backstage there was a keg and a ton of pizza. The radio station has been supporting our band for years, so we had a good playful time with the DJs and management running the show. Good gig top to bottom.

Just home from a Blockbustarz Glam rock covers show at Longstone Hearts Club in Edinburgh. Not a big venue and we were told we could use the house PA so that was good altho it wasn't the best of gear but we managed to sort it out enough that we could carry on with the show. Originally we had terrible feedback and the tone was weak and thin. Its at this point i wish we had just brought our own rather than faffing about with strange PA's Anyway it turned out to be a fantastic night. Sold Out too plus we are back early December. Fair bit of dancing thru the evening and exceptionally good feedback. My fav from a fellow bassist telling me he plays bass in a 3 piece band but "i was absolutely fecking brilliant and the star of the show for him" That made me happy but general feedback is that everyone is now booking tickets for the Dec Xmas show at the venue. Stage was small and we weren't able to move about much. Changing room was a managers office where security cameras are fed to. We were on TV They were that impressed the organiser said they would add another £100 onto our Dec fee because they were so impressed. Now you don't get that very often. No pics or vids as yet Using my Sandberg VM4 into Ampeg SVT7 Pro and my Mesa cabs. Shure wireless and an EBS envelope filter for Virginia Plain mid section. Dave

Seems unneccessarily difficult at best and downright argumentative at worst. Not keen on hearing them try to dissuade you from learning to read proper notation if that's what you want to do. No spare bass amp? It's just lessons, a 30W combo would be enough. 5 guitar amps and 1 bass amp, I think that in itself suggests that bass is an afterthought for this guy. I hear alarm bells ringing, but maybe I'm being paranoid.

More gigs from Hereford! Friday was a trio gig for the local hospice, so on acoustic guitar. Went well, we were on after a music quiz, before we played our first set we were thinking they really needed something like a full band but they danced and got into it. Saturday afternoon we had more acoustic work in the town centre this time joined by our regular guitarist. Didn’t play my best as I basically beat the hell out of my Taylor to fill the spaces and hadn’t really had chance to rehearse, so my hands were sore from the night before and couldn’t get my head in the game. Plus as we played out front there were fire jugglers performing, some of very dubious personal hygiene, making close proximity challenging- one flaming stick did make its way my way at one point, and at one point a lady in a rather skimpy outfit was angle grinding her crotch in front of the assembled crowd of children, which raised my singed eyebrows over it’s appropriateness. Then on to a bass gig at last, after show week party for the cast of 9-5 who I played for last week. So good to have the trusty ASAT back out, the work on the backing tracks for the Halloween numbers really payed off and the band were on it, (play Thriller to a theatre company and the dancing is spectacular) plus we all looked like complete idiots which was fun. I’m in the day of the dead outfit at the back.

I popped into Andertons today with my son as he was buying a new digital piano. Whilst there, I had a play of the Vintera ii Telecaster bass and I absolutely loved it. The sound was super clean and punchy and it wasn't deep or muddy as I was expecting from the humbucker pickup. It didn't sound like a Precision but just a really nice balanced punchy tone. As I was playing, my son asked me to play some Jazz so I dialled the tone off and it was nice and warm and deep but still a bit clanky, so I cut the treble on the amp as well. So its not muddy, bassy or boomy at all. The neck is mega chunky though but easy to play but some of that also came from the 105 gauge strings so a lighter set would help with feeling even more comfortable for me. As for the colour, I initially really liked the green but under certain lights it looks blue. My son says it's more turquoise so I think I'd buy it in the vintage blonde but it was still nice, but not green enough for my eyes. I also played it through an Orange Combo which had a 15" speaker and it sounded amazing. If the combo wasn't so damn heavy I'd buy one as it sounded unbelievable and the tonal options was brilliant. Super impressive and very much considering trying more Orange gear in the future, especially a Little Bass Thing. Anyway, loved the bass and the Orange combo and together they sounded brilliant. I want both 😂 A quick photo before plugging in and playing through the combo.

Tiny snippet of audience reaction from last night! ChokedPlough.mp4

I think the bass, perhaps more than any other instrument, is a tool of collaboration. It exists to be played with other people. So for me, being 'good' as a bassist is about how good you are at supporting, lifting, driving, underpinning a group of musicians, rather than about your pure technical ability as a solo musician.

If he’s got 5 guitar amps he’s a guitarist who’s pretending to understand bass. Find a genuine bass teacher and you’ll be ok.

Thanks, folks Last but one job was intonation: And then back in its case to wait another week before giving it a final polish: I also did a short sound file demonstration. My hope is that you agree that this does not sound like a ukulele

100% of replies, over 2 pages giving you exactly the same advice. I don't think I've ever seen so many people agreeing with each other on Basschat!!

Agreed, this merchant sounds like a chancer looking for a bit of easy extra dosh, if you're serious about teaching, you have all the right equipment ready and waiting, including a few different basses for students / potential students to try if needs be. "bring yer own amp".....? a clown imho🤔

Halloween night at the Two Brewers pub in Shaftesbury, also it was the farewell event for the landlords who have been forced out by unaffordable increases in rental and utility costs - so far no-one is prepared to take it on, which is sad. It's a venue for alternative types (LBGTQ+) as well as music enthusiasts so somewhere we've always looked forward to playing - as it was Halloween there were some amazing costumes and makeup... and that was just the band It's a pretty cramped stage area there for a 6-piece but as usual we crammed ourselves in somehow or other- it was another milestone being the last gig for the six-piece as it was the end of the handover period between our departing rhythm guitar/vox and incoming keys/vox. So how did it go? The place was rammed all evening! We played from 9-midnight+10 with a short break, and it was crowd-pleaser time all night. I know Mr Balderdash metaphorically spits on us low-lives who want to, and are paid to, keep the crowds happy, but I get a real buzz from a positive audience reaction, even if it's to see them going mental to Sweet Caroline! I used the passive HB shorty with the Aguilar booster, but its PSU started glitching near midnight (overheating?) so it was time to crank up the AG700. Our new Bose PA system really does the business, but I must get some iems sorted for my sax set - so hard to pick up what I'm playing out of the general mix. A couple of pix mainly featuring our lead guitarist dressed for the occasion, with our singiste Georgie!

I think Neepheid has it right. I would be a little surprised if someone asked me to bring an amp to a lesson. An instrument and cable, yes, but an amp seems a little odd, especially If he has half a dozen. For low volume lessons, I would have thought you or he could use one of the guitar amps. You aren't going to blow it up at lesson levels. If you have one, take your SVT plus fridge along. It'll be a laugh getting him to help you lug it up the stairs. Also, the assertion that "tab is what is generally being used now" doesn't fill me with confidence. At the reading jobs I do, I am given conventional notation, not tab. I've never been given tab. I wonder whether he might he not be a reader himself.

TLDR: In search of my main recording bass. Dove into five Precisions and made some measurements, charts below. Hey everyone, So, a mate of mine suggested (probably as a tease, knowing him) that I throw my recent obsession onto basschat. Been neck-deep (pun intended) in specs of different P-Basses, and thought, why not. Might be fun to see what others think. I’ve embarked on a quest to find a new bass that I can call my main, especially for recording. I want to downsize, so I’m being quite picky, particularly about the feel. I turned to the specs and made some measurements, focusing mainly on the neck to understand why some of them just click while others are meh. I’ve recently had the chance to compare five models: MIM Deluxe Active Special, MIM Classic 50s, Player, American Performer, and Professional II. What really struck me was discovering that the Player and the Performer have very similar neck specs on paper. However, when I got my hands on the Performer, it surprisingly felt more akin to the Pro II neck. I'm wondering about the consistency between the US models (Performer, Pro II, Ultra even). I know for a fact the neck lottery is a standard "feature" on Gibson guitars... Speaking of the Pro II, it’s a fantastic piece of craftsmanship overall, but the neck is quite chunky. It made me question whether all Pro IIs are like this or if it's a lottery as well. Anyone else have thoughts or experiences with the Pro II specifically? The Deluxe Active Special has a Jazz neck. It’s pretty comfortable, and I tend to prefer slimmer, narrower necks. However, the rolled edges on the Pro II are something else; I wish that Jazz neck was finished like that. Attached some graphs for y'all, hopefully useful for a few of you. Shoot if you have some insights!

Get someone else. TAB is not remotely popular in proper reading scenarios. And proper notation is not “classical” it is just the common language of music. Don’t discount approaching Double bass teachers. You already know how to play, you are looking for specific skills and sometimes someone who plays a slightly different instrument is the right choice. I got some of my best reading lessons from a piano teacher.

Just got in from a 5pm Spacewasters gig at The New Cross Inn, a 3 day psychobilly event. Went really well, good crowd, a few of whom said we’d been the best band of the 2 days so far. Put in a few new ones and also given it’s Halloween weekend did Bad Moon Rising. A def success plus home before 8pm, unheard of!

A P bass is so simple that I'm not entirely sure what you're paying for with a top of the range Fender, (well I do kind of get it, if you can afford it and it makes you happy then go for it, but you know what I mean). I have plenty of basses, cheap and expensive, but genuinely one of my favourites is my charity shop Encore P. I bought it because it just had a look that I liked and the charity were one that I approve of. I cleaned it up, spent a good few hours on the fretwork and put a Tonerider pickup in it. It now owes me £75 and few hours of my time and is one of the nicest playing basses I've played, and it sounds fantastic too.

Not sure why you would go to a music teacher who wasn't teaching you what you wanted to learn in a manner that is convenient to you? Its not like bass is a rare instrument or that you are in the sticks, you must have a huge choice of options (try chapman stick teachers)

Sounds similar to a "teacher" I had many years ago. When I said I wanted to learn bass (or rather, improve. I could already play but knew zero theory.) He said I should start by learning the guitar first because bass is based on (pun intended) what the guitar is playing. Now, there is some logic in this, but it's totally unnecessary to actually be able to play the guitar to understand chord structure. I lasted 3 lessons, learned pretty much nothing then gave him the boot. I think he was basically just a guitarist who thought he knew enough to go out and teach other people. Your guy sounds of the same ilk. As others have said, I'd give this one a swerve.

Always use 2 alternating, I’ve never played anything fast enough to have to use 3

I don't consider myself to be a particularly "good" bass player. My music theory is pretty poor and if you give me a bass clef score, I'll stare vacantly at it for a while and then ask my 11 year old daughter to tell me what the notes are. The thought of going to a bass bash and playing in front of other bass players makes my blood run cold. That said, I like to think I have a fairly musical ear and the ability to not ruin a track. I also practice the songs we play, a lot. The band leader/songwriter likes the parts I play and even the drummer sometimes says they're not cr4p. As an aside and a full-on "humble brag" the drummer invited one of his work colleagues (who also plays bass) to our recent support gig in Manchester. I've mentioned him before, not often by name, but our drummer is Mark Radcliffe and his colleague was the producer on one of his radio shows. Anyway, after we'd played, he said that his producer said (and I quote) "That bass player's pretty handy". Of course, when I asked him to repeat it for the benefit of the tape he said the comment was "The band was really good, but let down by the terrible bass playing". Having that sort of compliment (and the associated disparaging remark) gives you both a confidence boost and keeps you grounded. I suppose the TLDR takeaway is: I'm ok at what I do, but there's always room to do better.

This pic is from a summer 2023 gig. My 1993 G&L ASAT . Daryl

Sounds sub standard already. Find another tutor.

I've never taken a lesson (for my sins) but some years ago I did give a few lessons. I had both a second amp and a spare bass (as well as a few other spare bits and pieces) to make sure if someone turned up with equipment that was, shall we say, below par, then they'd at least have a half decent set up to use during the lesson. I'd also take a guess that the chap you're speaking to probably isn't great at standard notation hence trying to push you into tab. Honestly, I'd say find someone that can give you the kind of lesson you want, it sounds potentially like this chap won't fulfil your learning needs.

Pretty much finished. While I still have to... -wait a couple of weeks before the final polish - intonate the saddle - sort a couple of fret high spots ...nevertheless, I think I may as well post the finished pics. Here are some of the 'pretty much finished' pics: When I've sorted the fret high spots, I'll record a couple of demo pieces so you can judge how it sounds

I know I'm playing with fire here, but I thought I'd document my feeble attempts to build a 3d printed guitar. Initially I looked at building a bass guitar but I wasn't sure what I was doing and whether it is even possible to build a 3d printed bass guitar, so I thought I'd try and learn about it and what might and might not work on a six string. Other people have built 3d printed guitars before, probably the most well known is the Pruscaster https://www.printables.com/model/398795-the-prusacaster-a-3d-printable-guitar. You can head onto Thingiverse and see quite a few different models, that are very similar. So why do another one? I downloaded all the files for the Pruscaster and worked out how long it would take to print and how much it would cost. I run a very small business as a sideline doing 3d printing, mainly for astrophotography, and if you think GAS is bad for bass players, I can assure you that we are playing in the fourth division here regarding costs, astrophotography eats up a lot of of money, I know people in the USA who have spent £60K+ on their setups. Anyway, back on track, the costs of printing the Prusacaster is a lot and it uses a lot of filamanent. To do a decent job, it's around 11 days solid printing and uses around £50-£60 of filament. You also have the cost of the Telecaster kit from Thomann. If you priced up each of printing time as well, there's another £100 minimum there. I have two Prusa's so there's less cost but it's not free even to me 1. The telecaster kit is £87 from Thomann. £77 + £10 delivery. 2. The core is approx £20 of filament plus just under 5 days of printing. Yep five days at the right quality level. 3. The piece that holds the control panel is around £10 at 30% infill and 37hrs. 4. The orange middle is 40 hours and £12.50 of filament 5. Odds and sods another 24 hours and £10 of filament I have no idea how they can say its a cheap thing to make as it's not. The amount of printing and filament is ridiculous and I thought it's just designed to sell filament. So I had a long think about this and was prodded by @Owen who is wholly to blame here. After a lot of thought I worked how to significantly reduce the amount of printing and still keep the strength using a 15mm plywood backbone. I also set myself some other objectives: 1. All my own design so nobody can claim I'm stealing their design. 2. No glue. I hate glue, it gets everywhere. 3. As there is no glue, all fittings most be as hidden as possible. 4. Must be modular. I don't know which bridge to use yet, I don't know which pickups I want and, importantly, I might want to change them or add three pickups without having to print everything again. 5. Must be able to take different necks. I don't have a neck I can use yet, so not sure what I'm going to get. I'm looking for a thin telecaster neck but not found one on eBay I trust to buy yet. 6. Must be playable. 7. Must be easy to print and fit on a 220mm x 220mm print bed. The Prusacaster one takes four days to print one part. No doing that 8. Must be able to use different controls as I have no idea what I'm buying, Telecaset and Stratocaster wiring is easily available second hand on eBay so thats a good start. 9. As few as possible supports for 3d printing. This has zero supports needed at the moment. I'm delighted with that So after a lot of scratching my head and thinking about things, I cranked up Fusion 360 (a 3d design package) and started work. Everything is based around a 15mm plywood backbone This is the end result of playing about and once my coping saw turns up from Amazon, I'll be cutting this out. As I wanted to be able to use any neck, this is the neck section I've designed. Its easy to print (3-4 hours) for a wide variety of necks. Here's the module for the neck pickup. This is wide enough for two pickups and has the routing slot cut out on the side. This is the last module and its going to hold the bridge. Currently it's based on a Telecaster Bridge. The holes are not string through, but to bolt the bridge down. The plywood base bolts upwards to these three moduls. We also need something to hold the controls The cable routing is sorted out for the bridge pickup, but I need to work out the cable routing for the neck pickup(s). This is still work in progress and I want to get the amount of printing right down so a good chunk will be honeycomb and it will be in two parts. Of course we now need the rest of the guitar body, so this is where the honeycomb comes in. The honeycomb is in three pieces and is bolted together using fairly hidden bolts. The honeycomb also bolts to the bridge, neck pickup and neck modules And lastly we need a pickguard in place. The pickguard is the largest I can make on my Prusa print bed of around 215mm. It's shaped for Telecaster controls but thats all I have to go on at the moment. The pickups will be suspended from the pickguard. The bridge pickup is suspended by the bridge. Now it's easy to talk about, so here's some of the modules I've printed off to check for fit. Looks OK, so far, but until I can get the bridge in my hands and find a thin neck, I can't go much further. Some various bits have been brought on eBay, an awful lot of countersunk M3 screws, telecaster parts but not a neck at the moment. So if anybody has a thin neck with tuners they wish to donate or sell me, I'd be grateful. Nothing likely to change until the end of next week as things turn up. Rob

More(mon), More(mon). More(mon) - Andrea True Connection

I think you’re all dreadful and all the advice is worthless.😄 There, balance is restored.

^^^^^ This works for me as well.

This coming Sunday we are supporting Susan Santos at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket.

Fretless was everywhere in the 80s. Now it's all boring fretted fenders. Do it! You may start a revival.

Another vote for “sounds not the right tutor for you”. You mentioned “a fair bit of cash “ - before you part with too much cash for a series of lessons, it’s best to have a trial lesson with any tutor, to see whether you get on with each other and their teaching style. I know you mentioned that you are coming from a guitar background but I would be a little wary of any tutor who was a guitar specialist and thinks they can teach bass because of that. It’s a different instrument. Good luck with your search.

Should a bass teacher have an amp for the student to use? Yes, a thousand times yes. Anyone not providing that doesn’t really want to teach bass at all, as @neepheid suggested.

I was built for comfort, not speed...

As a Reverend owner, I see these and I can't help thinking that someone described the Reverend body shape over the phone to someone and this is the result. There's something... off about them that probably wouldn't occur to someone unfamiliar with Reverend basses, but I think would drive me batty. I'm sure they're good basses. Aren't all but the absolute cheapest of cheap basses "good" these days?

Sorry, but I echo the above. A good teacher should have the facilities at his/her place of learning to provide everything the student needs, including an amp. The only reason you would bring a bass, would be because it was comfortable and familiar to you. Most teachers would have more than one bass, amps etc. I bet most of us have, I’ve got 4 amps here including a couple of decent practice amps. I would already be looking elsewhere.

Terrific night last night at the Forum in Darlington with the Zep tribute. Great venue, good sound, decent guy promoting and, above all, a brilliant audience. Second gig with Phil (Didge Digital) on keys and about the sixth with Damian, the new singer, which has taken a good band and lifted it up a level. Great night...