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After many years of owning precision basses and churning through them I think I’ve finally found one that might be a keeper…. Its a Fender American Vintage ii Precision Bass, it just hits the mark of what I’ve always been yearning for sound wise but struggled to obtain previously - to say I’m very pleased is an understatement 🙂

I've been trying to get the idea of a tribute to Cheap Trick off the ground for years (who?). Absolutely it is a niche market but Cheap Trick have been MY band for almost 46 years and I had to create this tribute as they were never going to call me! Long story short (it started 12 years ago LOL), I finalised the line up of CHEAT TRICK this year with 3 other guys who were massive CT fans... and it fell apart again within 2 months due to issues with the guitarist. In stepped the guitarist from my other covers band who is a technically brilliant player and he got us off the ground, mainly due to the fact he could write out and read the main song structures and was ready for a debut gig in 4 weeks. Sadly he wasn't a fan of the band we were trying to recreate and after a year of waiting for him to actually cop the style of Rick Nielsen, we had to let him go as he just couldn't understand that a tribute should at least be playing in a similar style (he's more Paul Gilbert/Steve Vai), a 1000 notes a minute isn't Cheap Trick! This week, we organised to audition a guy who we knew to be a Cheap Trick fan... BOOM! He walked into the studio and proceeded to run through 30 songs with us, emulating Rick Nielsen's style and chord/note choice to a 'T'. Not only that but songs we hadn't even asked him to look at, that he'd never tried to play, were handled like he wrote them. I have to say that I left the studio space with a grin a mile wide and buzzing to be chasing gigs this year to get out and about. Has anyone else had that Eureka moment or conversely that dread that someone in the band just wasn't the right person and you can't progress?

Fun gig in East Grinstead and a lovely outing for my glorious ACG Finn 5 which I keep mulling over selling then taking to a gig and going “fxxk me this is great”. Usual story with Matt starting off with good intentions following the set list only to get distracted and wander off playing songs either I or the guitarist didn’t know 😆 But we busked it and it seems no-one noticed or cared. Until the bar staff had to come and tell us to shut up at 11.30 because we should have stopped at 11…. Knackered 🤣 Edit for a pic:

Wixams retirement Village theatre

An evening out in Chester with Fine Lines, playing at Telford's Warehouse. Almost had a major disaster, as I went on stage without my hat, fortunately our eagle-eyed sometime tour manager noticed it. Positioning himself at the side of the stage with said head-gear, I was able to wander over allowing him to return it to its rightful location. It makes using a wireless all the more worthwhile! I was really pleased with how we played and we didn't get bottled off, which is always nice. Had a very pleasant brief chat with @lurksalot of the parish, who kindly turned up to support us. Obligatory photo's below. *edit to add, my jeans aren't too long, my legs are too short!

Drove to limerick to play a show last night. 10 minutes before the first band started, the place was empty. I thought it was going to be a bust, but ince the first band started the room packed out. Smallest stage ive ever seen. Had to do a lot of Bill Wyman style playing. Great reception, great feedback.

I'm out. My oldest bestie came down to stay yesterday for his annual visit. I don't usually drink at all, but to mark the special occasion we went out for a swift Guinness. Several not so swift hours later we concocted a plan to get an online conga/bass thing happening (he has a studio). Checking my email this morning, Thomann confirms that last night I did indeed buy a Hofner violin bass (SE Ignition) and a set of pyramid flats. I'm sure it sounded like a great idea at the time, and you know what? It still does! 😂 Maybe next year...

Short notice acoustic gig and I'll take it. "Hi Mr.Daryl! Are you available next Sunday for an acoustic gig? 2-5, outside of kewaskum " I responded with a "yes" and a " thank you" within seconds of receiving the text. My point, I bet some of you guys that book gigs have to wait awhile before you get a response . Daryl

Yes I have. People say that about me all the time. It’s gets a bit dull TBH in a parallel universe somewhere

Until I wrote all that down, I hadn't realised just how bitter I still am about it, 36 years later.

we didn't start the fire ...

I bet he can only gig on a Tuesday lunchtime.

Subdecay Noise Theory https://www.instagram.com/p/C3lvKk9PS7n/?igsh=MW81b3JkZ3YyejFwcQ== https://soundcloud.com/tayste_2000/subdecay-noise-theory

I think your English teacher deserves an honourable mention too.

I replaced you as bassist last Wednesday. 😎

Sky Arts showing parts 1 and 2 Led Zeppelin In the Light tonight at 10.00pm. Interviews and rare recordings of performances apparently.

I have. I was depping in a band that was on its last legs. Two of the band suggested a get together with a keyboard player one of them knew vaguely. Within the first bar of jamming we all hit it off, and it has never been anything less than that since. It was a remarkable moment that has continued. Probably the most fortunate experience of my musical life, I reckon.

My 4003 on tour yesterday. The tone through an Ampeg SVT is 🔥 🔥🔥

Yeah I think they are just getting going on the Bass front Oli so yeah a 5 would be cool... Ive owned 5 Sires now in between the higher end stuff and they are killer. the last one was a 1st gen V7 5 and the pickups sounded so good I only played it passive. But good lord it was heavy. Natural Ash Maple.. When we sell our house this year and are mortgage free and after a really tough 2/3 years, no man nor woman will have witnessed on Basschat the GAS and basses im going to acquire.. 😆

Recent convert to LaBella low tension flats (think they only do the one gauge). Love them on my long scales, but thought they might be a bit floppy on my short scale. Bought a set anyway… Thankfully they feel as great on the short scale as they do in a long scale! Thought I’d mention it just in case anyone else was wondering the same.

NASA. That rejection letter really stung. I wouldn't go into space with them now even if they begged me.

Great gig at 33 bar in Manchester. Despite feeling like death warmed up with a nasty bug, it was a lot of fun. The first outing for the TC rig…. Absolutely delighted with it, awesome sound, very loud (the sound guy made me turn it way down), very happy with it.

A couple of better photos from Friday's O2 Academy gig:

Ha ha, it's a bit of a bass face Dave The extra money helps I call it " Giggy Cash" lol My goal is to take a long weekend vacation this summer and not have to worry about the cost. Daryl

The pedal is great I’m still a little torn between the GR2 and the Mu-Tron. I think the deciding factor will be if I can fit it on my board. I suppose I could always have two boards 👍😂

I played electric guitar a bit in high school. Never went any further as all the guys I jammed with (I'm a woman) were awful, terrible, we all sucked. But it was fun making really loud noise. But, I am a Cheap Trick fan, enough so that I wrote a book about my spiritual journey and awakening with them and their music. The synchronicities that have happened to me over the years are astounding. When you find the right person, things fall into place, but that usually comes after lots of visualization and setting an Intention. If you come to the Denver/Boulder area, let me know. I'll try to come see your tribute band!

You're a scholar and a gent, hope you have a great time in the band. Hopefully I'll be able to pop along to the odd local show and say hi 😀

Cheers @Bill Fitzmaurice & @Phil Starr. I've been doing onstage mixing for small/medium venues for 40 years and I know a lot of the nuances of a fair few venues (shared dimensions). I've rarely used bass bins in the past but then again I generally ran my bass through backline and in 50% of venues didn't use it through the PA; more frequently I'm going ampless and 100% through PA (to monitor or IEM), with a bass bin (or 2) being supplied by another band member. For the last year I've tried to convince the band that 2 bass bins directly under the tops (15" RCF) isn't the best place but I'm battling 3 other opinions with all of their ingrained habits and it isn't easy. The worst situations are the 300-400 seater 'clubs' where subs with poles and tops are placed 7-10m apart at the front of the stage area. I'm trying to show that placing them together off to one side near a wall will improve matters but I don't want to scupper my best informed ideas by making things worse, hence the question re. how close is too close!

Pretty much. A few dates I can’t do (like the one Matt forgot to tell me about tonight 🤣) but will be filling bass shoes for most of them. Shame you can’t commit at the mo; in my opinion if you ever want to come back it’s your gig first and foremost 😎

We practice an acoustically most Fridays so last night was good to get back in a live room with our drummer, prepping for recording our album.

I've just got home from two-and-a-bit weeks on tour, and judging by the way I found the kitchen on my return, I'll be considering myself a dishwasher for a fair portion of the evening 🤣

Thanks @LowB_FTW and @AndyTravis. Guitar building is a solitary sport, so company is always appreciated. Apologies that all this is coming in one go. Daily updates would obviously be better, but come cocoa time I'm shattered.... Anyway, up next is side bending. My experience of guitar building is that it's mostly one bum clenching task after another. Each one perfectly capable of taking your expensive 'tonewood' and turning it into kindling with frightening speed. Side bending is definitely one of those tasks. I'm doing it now because I bollocks it up and have to throw the sides away, it also means any work I do on the back is also wasted (since they have to match). So get the bending done now...... I use a bending iron and do it by hand. Ha! Man do take some sh_t photos. No wonder my Instagram followers all share the same surname as me. Some guitar makers take photos and videos that are so beautiful it makes me weep, grown man or not. Me on the other hand, bam! have a bending iron. Slightly out of focus, teetering on the edge of my table. Random other junk lying round. No context, no action, adding no value, other than using up a tiny amount of the planets finite resources...I blame my cheap android phone. Every time i pick it up it makes me long for my old Canon D40 (or even my Canon AV1).... Anyway, learning to bend sides by hand has been really satisfying. I take it slowly, going back to the guitar mold often to check the fit like this: That's what I call a nice fit And done. One side anyway, sleeping happily in the mold. If I get the chance I'll do the other one over the weekend or monday. The cutaway side. The difficult one......

First job is gluing the back together. To get an invisible glue line the joint has to be pretty perfect. The best way I’ve found is using a hand plane. For any plane nerds out there, up till now I’ve used a number 4. I’ve just bought a number 6 though which is joy to use, and nearly as long as the back itself. You can see it here with a single shaving it’s taken off from the entire length of the board Joining the two boards together I used the ‘tape method’, which is the easiest clamping technique ever - raise one edge of one board off the table and put tape across the join. Add glue, then put both pieces flat and the tape pulls the boards together. Here it is taped, already glued:

Who says FI doesn’t sound like a “proper synth”? Audio-819.mp3

Time for the vomit-inducing rig to have two nights out:

+1. Against the wall is the equivalent of doubling the sub count, in a corner the equivalent of quadrupling it, compared to well out. It also eliminates boundary cancellations that occur when not tight to a wall or corner. But 'adjacent to the drum kit' is a no go. Not only will you have low frequency feedback into the drum mics but you'll also have acoustical coupling of the sub and drums that creates another feedback loop.

Played a Studio 8 session for RTE 2fm today. Got t cplay in the legendary studio 8! Sounded unbelievable. Beautiful EBS Neogorm combo

I'm selling my Dyson, it's only gathering dust.

Tonight’s gig was awesome, and remarkably quiet. Got about 5 mins into my 25 min drive, then got a WhatsApp from the drummer - who was already at the venue - saying “stand down, they haven’t got the booking in their diary” FFS. So I turned around and went to the pub with the guitarist (also my bro in law).

Sounds like you're Dyson with death...

Well at least it's a major road.

Curmudgeons of the world unite!

I’m not quite sure why, but next I made the kerfing. It’s not the obvious next step, but there you go. Making kerfiing is pretty tedious. And mostly pointless. You can buy a guitar’s worth pre-made for about a tenner. You can’t though buy flamed maple kerfing which is why I make my own. Bugger me it’s boring though. I cut the blank using a radial arm saw. Each. slot. Cut. one. At. a time…. I then cut the blank into four strips, then onto the router table where they get tidied up and the round over added till they end up looking like this: Job done! Was it worth it? For something that probably only I will ever see? No clearly not. Just buy the bloody stuff, John, for god's sake. (Kerfing, if you don't know provides more gluing surface for when you glue on the back and top. Here the last one with the kerfing glued in, waiting for the back to be glued:)