Leaderboard

Well I never thought I'd get one of these - However, I had a noodle on one recently, and was rather taken by it. I was never fussed on the shape / design of these, but one of my bands supported the brilliant Wigan folk band "Merry Hell" at Acapela Studios in Cardiff in December. Their bassist had one of these and it sounded great. Chatting afterwards (he spoke very generously of my upright playing, which was really nice of him) anyhow, he was an interesting guy, and he handed me his bass, for a noodle. I was absolutely amazed at how little it weighed, and how nice it felt to play. Now I know some BC folk will wonder why so many of us on here obsess about the weight of an instrument - but trust me, it can become an issue as you get older and / or injure a joint / muscle / ligament. Also, I often double-up, playing upright for half a gig and Bass guitar the other half - and anything that helps reduce the weight of "stuff" I need to lug about is a blessing. Given how good Merry Hell's bassist sounded - I thought I'd get one and give it a whirl. So far, so good - in fact, I'm pretty blown away by how comfortable it is to play. Balances nicely, the neck is slim, but doesn't feel as slim as a Hofner. The fret ends are all nicely finished. Due to the body shape, it's easy to reach the high end of the neck. 24 frets too btw - if you're inclined to reach that far! Lol. I really like the sound too. BTW - anyone got any tips for short scale, low tension flatwounds that will wrap around the tiny guitar tuners?

Charity event with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam covers last night organised by Falkirk Football Club at a venue we sold out last year. Was busy but not quite full last night but ended up a great night. The organiser asked us if we would play the clubs song Amarillo just for a laugh and because we know him we agreed. Boy did that go down a storm. I think everyone was crammed onto the floor bouncing about singing. Altho i was apprehensive about doing the song i have to say i actually enjoyed playing it and the reaction from the audience was such a buzz. They also do specific actions at parts of the song. It was so much fun we got asked to play it again as the encore. Home for 2:30am, little or no traffic on roads, coffee and a couple of jaffa cakes and off to bed. Something my wife and i do on journeys home now is munch a bag of peanut M&M's. They seem to help keep me awake on the drive and certainly take away the after gig munches. No pics or vids as yet but plenty of folks with their mobiles out so will see what appears. We even got paid at soundcheck so that's always a good sign. Finished playing at midnight but staff were clock watching us to get packed up and out so they could get home but in a fun way and were brilliant with us all night. We were out before 1am. Great staff at Camelon Social Club in Falkirk. Dave

First of two nights depping with a band I did a holiday camp dep for last summer. Couldn’t seem to connect to their XAir so didn’t use my IEM’s and went commando for the first time in a while. Everything from Beyoncé through Kool and the Gang to the Pretenders, Bon Jovi and Van Halen (Jump). One run through on Wednesday, a couple of run through to a Spotify and set up the sets as a playlist in iReal but didn’t really need it. Couple of flubs but of course the punters weren’t aware of my ‘jazz’ moments and were dancing all night so all good, and onwards to tomorrow night (well tonight now).

Board with the Valco Dist pedal. Super happy with this setup. Underneath - MXR comp, warm audio DI, Broughton HPF, Cioks DC5

Board really quickly thrown together for tomorrow… think my Jack lead is faulty though!

I've been playing since 1987 and gigging since 1993 and I quit my band last weekend. I don't miss it yet. Unless I had songs to learn for a gig then I never picked my bass up at home and I haven't done so far but then this is the quiet time for a wedding band so I wouldn't normally have been playing much at this time of year. It's funny but I remember reading an interview with Jack Bruce many years ago when he said that he never played at home, only when gigging and remember thinking that I couldn't imagine not playing every day (I was about 14 at the time and still driving my neighbours crazy with my playing) I plan to keep a hold of all of my gear, I don't need the money for anything else and anything I own has a good chance of being worth more the longer I keep a hold of it. To be honest I have been thinking about quitting gigging for about 18 months now but something that happened during last year made my mind up so I decided to keep going to the end of the year as our singer had just qualified as a teacher and was leaving so I wanted us all to see out the year together. My wife thinks I'll miss it but to be honest I haven't enjoyed gigging for a long time now. the best part of gigging is having a laugh on the way to the gig and socialising with my band mates before the gig and at the break. The playing element became a chore. I have lots of plans to do stuff at the weekends that I haven't been able to do before. No more missing friend's weddings, family events, celebrations, my wife having to go to everything on her own. I can finally make plans to do things and not have to worry about bookings coming in at the last minute. No more using annual leave to take half and full day holidays to go to gigs half way across the country, I can actually use them to go on holiday. The other thing was that during the Christmas run I was working Monday to Friday, taking a half day on a Friday, driving up to Aberdeen, gigging on the Friday and Saturday, back down the road at 4am on the Sunday and then back into work on the Monday. That was for the whole of December. I had a Lethal Weapon moment when I realised that I'm getting too old for this sh!t. Gone are the days when the gigs were on my doorstep, at least two thirds of the gigs in the diary were at least 2 hour's drive away and I just don't want to do it anymore. For the first time in 30 years I can do what I want at the weekend, get to my bed at a reasonable hour and go back into work on a Monday having had a proper sleep at the weekend ready for the week ahead and not fall asleep at my desk. No more arguments, band politics, crappy WhatsApp messages when I am on holiday, no more stress

Here's my pedalboard used for fretless. TC Electronic tuner > Boss OC5 Octave > EHX Bass Clone Chorus > Mooer Bass Sweeper > Zoom MS60B Opto Compressor (Always On) > Mooer A7 Reverb (Always On) > TC Electronic Spark Booster Not sure the compressor is in the best location but I read it's best after Bass Sweeper to stop the spikes. I'm wondering if I should move it last in the chain?

For Science!!!

Definitely wouldn't be like EBMM to use really unclear model names.

If I Had A Stammer — Trini Lopez

Only the Z7 has that. Get a Z3? Cheaper, and no pesky J pickup to distract - less knobs too!

To be honest I feel the opposite, The 'Ray looks all wrong and the elongated top horn on the Sire will place the bass in a more playable position, and help with the balance. In my opinion the Stingray pickup is in an unusable position. However, if you consider the bass a percussion instrument, you may well disagree. I am going as I might have outstayed my welcome here..

Cheap basses are way better than when I started in 1979 Pre Squier etc Only catalogue kay basses etc If you got the right bass in the 80s it's value has risen but it's not across the board . If I was skint I'd happily buy a £250 bass .

With a load of duct tape holding the strap on. On to the body I mean, not holding a... never mind.

How else will they get that "Weak G"? 🙃

That's some super attention to detail in the EBMM aping then

Passive, but with a scratchplate and a tone control. I’m interested!

Local Facebook score. Always loved the Hartke HA heads. This one needs a new valve…but came with a 410XL cab…🥳 needs a service but feck me it’s decent

Both myself and my guitarist have pulled the trigger (mostly out of curiosity) on a pink coral EastCoast super strat and a Cream EastCoast Tele. Both with Roasted Maple necks, both quite reasonable spec, both £99 new delivered... Can these be even half decent?? The reviews suggest so. I'm not 100% convinced, but for £99 we thought we'd take a punt. Will report back when delivered and tested. Could be the steal of the century or a waste of time and money! https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/211119377178025--eastcoast-st2-deluxe-hss-roasted-maple-neck-coral-pink?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8NKtBhBtEiwAq5aX2ERs8fl25B9vQa-RxTkprRaOC_XDZUWhaJCK6eDvJWheC8VHDusEQhoCv34QAvD_BwE

When anyone posts along the lines of "Newbie here. Please recommend a small combo for practice, etc that sounds good", many recommend kit costing between £500 and a grand (Barefaced, Markbass, PJB and similar). Yes, they may be of good quality, but a lot of beginners don't have anything like that kind of budget. I'd go used and get something like the 100w Rumble combo mentioned above. They work well and are easy to sell on when/if you wish to upgrade.

Is it a genuinely roasted neck, or some kind of dye or tint? We demand you chop it in half to see!

If you fancy short-scale, go for it. Ignore the "real men play 34" scale" talk. 34" is only the default because that Fender fellow settled on it. Some 5 and 6 strings are 35" scale or even longer. If you are struggling with the stretch, don't give yourself RSI or make yourself miserable. I'm fortunate in that I have large hands and find 34" no trouble, but we're all different. I also started on the violin when I was very young, so had good hand and wrist flexibility before I even picked up a bass. Head for the shops or the home of a kindly BC member, try a few and see how you get on. It's what you like that counts.

Fender Rumble 100v3 combo. Fabulous sounding amp for home or small gigs, and light as a feather (OK - 22lbs). Has a good XLR DI output too. New currently around £330, s/h circa £200. Had mine a couple of years and love it!

Sorry it's taken 16 years to get back! Ended up building this monster!!!

I have a blueburst one of these, its a great bass that I'd be using a lot more were it not for my three JMJ Mustangs. There's no need to replace the tuners — I use LaBella's danelectro-specific set of flatwounds and they are perfect. https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/la-bella-760-fd-dan-electro-stainless-flats/

Tonight! Come see my band 'Shreds.' play in an 800 year old pub in Nottingham! We hit 'Ye Olde Salutation Inn'... show starts at 7pm!

I would suggest a Barefaced One10 cabinet and small amp head of your choice. A Trace Elliot Gnome for example will fit in your gig bag pocket. You can tackle anything from a quiet practice to a small gig with this. I use a One10 myself, astonishing loud and capable and smaller and lighter than most small combos. Checkout the second hand gear on here for both items.

I am house bassist for a well attended Jam night, now in 24th year. And many nights I never get back on stage after my opening slot is done. Anyone who tuns up can play. . . . even the people who don't know one end of their instrument from the other. We've had a 10 man drum troupe, Didgeridoo, unaccompanied violin, banjo player and one guy who sang sea shanties and recited poetry. Another regular is a 70+ year old who shouts (like a punk Rex Harrison) his way through 60's pop songs. They all get their slot and if they come back, they can do it all again. If you put restrictions on who can play it's not a jam night.

I'm retiring from my band in April, and must admit that although I still enjoy travelling as much as ever, it is the driving that I won't miss. Traffic / diversions / reduced speed limits for no apparent reason / roadworks / lack of parking / idiotic lunatics driving at speed etc have all contributed to making our gigs all over the UK a massive chore. Definitely all of these factors have increased in the last 4 or 5 years, and I won't miss that aspect of my life one bit.

I eventually had to resign myself to end playing MM Stingrays due to their weight. Lightest one I found still caused me some back problems and I reluctantly gave up on them. This led me to using Fender Precision Lytes, which I’ve done for many years. The one I currently use in ‘The ELO Experience’ weighs 7lbs, and after 3 or 4 consecutive two hour long gigs I don’t feel any shoulder fatigue ( despite badly damaging my left shoulder years ago in an accident ). Once I discovered this I bought a few of them, and still have a couple. Using this model of bass has enabled me to carry on working with no issues, and I will definitely keep one when I retire from the band in April. I’ve also owned a Danelectro Longhorn (or two!) for many years. Weighing just 6lbs they are a joy to play although not everyone’s cup of tea.

Just one. But it's a big one!

Me.

I have one in my Passion. It says: "Made in France"

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe. He said supreme semi.

Hated the original natural alder so I stickerbombed it

Got my model fet back on the board so naturally had to have a play with signal chain order. And here’s the reassembled board getting some QC from the cat. Forever faffing with pedalboards ✊

I do like a bit of out-there 50s/60s Italian design, and have a bit of affection for these. Me being me though - I'd have to go Japanese. And why stop at one neck?

I use a PhilJones C2 cab for practice but it’s really only suitable for low volume practice. It is very good for that. I recently picked up a Barefaced One10 and it will get surprisingly loud. I picked it up for rehearsals , with a moderately loud drummer. And it does that wonderfully. They both are pricey , but good.

So after putting up the bathroom mirror, changing lights, sorting out the clock in my daughters bedroom, taking dog for walk, paying my tax to HMRC, I finally got around to doing some work on the winder. I now have a case for the Arduino, screen and keyboard. I have ordered a mechnical 4x4 keyboard to replace the membrane one but got a 3x4 by mistake so a new one is on it's way. Whilst the membrane keyboard works, it's vile to work with. The gorilla tape just holds it down as I have no idea what the glue would do to it, probably dissolve it. I've attached the lead screw mechanism to the plywood base and am working out how to get the motor that loops the bobbin as square as possible, hence the set square. I would have this all powered up, but the bench power supply came with no cables apart from the mains supply, it needs 4mm banana plugs and do I have any? No! The lead screw mechanism was a little tight as the screws that mount the linear bearing on each arm, were probably out by 0.25mm. Not a lot but thats enough to put friction in the system. So I'm reprinting that with a fraction more leeway in the screw holes to allow it to settle down. This lead screw mechanism is critical and it needs to be as smooth as possible as it moves back and forth as the bobbin rotates. The area at top left is reserved for a dedicated PSU once I work out what the power consumption is. Thanks Rob

(Firstly of adding, the ergonomics of each bass makes a difference to the perception of the bass, eg my Yamaha BB felt much heavier than my Squier P, though they were the same weight: presumably the different ways they hung around me applied the weight in different places) It's what you're used to. I've two G&Ls made from Empress. When I first got them, they seemed incredibly light, and my knackered left shoulder was very grateful. Now, though, as I know nothing else, they both seem normal. The 7.2 lb bass is the heavy one, the 7.0 lb bass is the light one. (I suspect that ergonomics are again affecting my perception, as they have slightly different bodies, despite both being Leo Fender designed P basses.)

Having read this, I've realised that my signature is/was possibly a bijou bit on the, errm shall we say substantial side, so I've truncated it a bit.