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Drummers 65th party last night playing with both the Glam band and the Punk band. Great night and just good fun night. Glam band went on first mainly because the singer Mikey and guitarist Colin wanted to get it done so they could have a few beers etc after playing. Have to say the Handbox WB-100 with the Godin Shifter bass is a perfect match. The depth of tone was simply incredible and worked so well in both bands. Guitarist and singer from the Glam band told me after the punk band played that the bass tone was the best they had ever heard and reminded the guitarist of Roger Glover's Deep Purple tone. He had never heard me playing like that with so much energy and aggression. I don't particularly play that way with the Glam band because its not needed when you are copying the Glam era from studio recordings rather than a live sound. Its more controlled and a bit more mellow. So many compliments from our guitarist about my punk band style and tone and the fact he had no idea i even played like that. He reckoned it was the best punk band he had ever seen. I have to add that by the time we finished at 1am they were a wee bit oiled and i think the comments were fuelled with alcohol a bit but a compliment is still a compliment is still a compliment. The punk band is all about energy and that amp and bass gave it in buckets full. It had so much depth and from what they told me carried right thru the guitarists Marshall stack with so much power and clarity. Singer said the high notes at the dusty end were so clear and sharp where he was standing at the back of the hall. For the more Ric style tones i engaged the "bright" button just to give it that little kick edge. Loved it. Particular punk favs for me last night from a tone point of view were Do Anything you Wanna do and In To the Valley with its de-D tuning for one song but the depth remained but that bright button just meant it carried so much further. Another thing i found using the Godin bass was that the pick ups being so hot meant the amp was nowhere near the same master volume as with my Sandberg basses meaning that amp has a lot more headroom than i thought. I am now keeping that bass and amp. Guitarist said it ws THE best bass tone he had ever heard from any band The Handbox is staying and hoping the Mesa TT800 when it arrives will also give me that Mesa "heft" as so many have commented on the TB site i follow. If anyone gets a chance to play one of those Godin Shifter classic basses then try them they are so well made, not heavy and some of the nicest sounding pick ups i've tried over many many years. Not a hugely expensive bass either on 2nd hand market. If you like a P bass with some extras its a wonderful buy. It has a V & T control and 4 way switch for P, J, Series or Parallel. I had it on Parallel last night and cant fault it. Many thanks to our very own Stevie @theplumber for finally selling me the Godin. If you're reading this Stevie i'll take the other Godin if you decide to move it on. No pics as yet but if any appear i'll post later. Short drive home too at 25mins altho the road to Wanlockhead is very pot-holed at the moment and a bit of care was required in the dark. Just got to head back there today at mid-day to pack up the gear and return home again. Bit long winded post but it just shows how excited i am with that HB and Godin combination. Sometimes things just fall into place by accident and this was that night. Dave

I settled on an Aria STB Jazz for a modding platform. It's cheap, made in china or indonesia, and, did I say it was cheap? I first checked fret level, and it was spot-on, no work needed. I rolled the board edges and polished the fret ends, set up the nut for 21 thou string height, and added a set of Hipshot USA tuners. The body got Dunlop straplocks, an Allparts vintage bridge, a pair of DiMarzio Area J pickups, Alpha concentric pots, a series/parallel switch and Switchcraft socket, and I knocked up a pickguard from a sheet of mother of toilet seat pickguard material. A new set of TI Jazz Flats and we're off. At just under 8lbs (3.6kg) it is a great weight and balances absolutely perfectly on the strap. It's one of the most comfortable basses I've ever had. Soundwise, in parallel mode it sounds just like a quality Jazz, in series mode it rawks! I had most of the mod parts in my stash drawer, so it's been a cheap build. Yes, this one is definitely a keeper!

Last night we played a 'night club', basically a big room with a bar at the back of a pub. We were to do 3 sets and somehow stretch thus from 8:30 to 'as near to one as you can get'. Thus was first time for me using my brother's old PA. Plenty of room to set up. I got quite stressed by issues like a non-functional speakon on a PA cab and a monitor that had its power lead unplugged. Managed to set up four vocal mics with kick, snare and two overheads on the kit. Sound was rough we thought but was ok at front. We negotiated a start at 9:10 and final set to start at 12:00. Place was weird with only 3 stools and a few tables. Had a modest number of people in by the time we started, say 35-40, and unashamedly went straight into Dakota which filled the dancefloor. Followed by White Room which still kept people going! That said as we went on some people left and others came in. What is and what should never be killed the atmosphere a bit... but we recovered. We ended up doing 50 minutes and audience seemed happy. By the time we took a 35 minute break, we left with a fair number of people danving to a playlist through the pa, but came back in and the room was empty. Totally! Apparently the pub half had emptied too. We played a half a dozen songs to six people who came back in from outside, but no-one was coming in at all. Barman said this was only second time they had opened the back bar and the same thing had happened before. Also, their other pub, expected to empty about 11 and people move across - was virtually empty too. Basically it seems like there was hardly anyone about, although I think that not having any seating is a challenge if you want people to hang round for 4 ½ hours... I think they really need a dj if they are going to spread band sets out so much. And let the band go on much later. We cut the second set, got paid and packed up just over two hours early. Only three punters wandered in while we were packing up and the streets were virtually empty. On the plus side we got a paid rehearsaland learned an awful lot about our kit, some songs to lose and some things to work on, and I got home by just after 1 instead of nearly 3. But still not a great experience.

Hurtsfall were in London at the New Cross Inn supporting Ghost Dance on Saturday. There were good and bad bits... I've never played a gig south of the river and I won't be in a hurry to do it again. The last 5 miles took about three and half hours to drive, although much of this time we were completely stationary. I've seen heavy traffic in London before but this was ridiculous! Instead of turning up just before load-in we arrived 10 minutes before our advertised playing time, just as the first band were finishing. No time to do anything except load the gear in set it up , a quick line check and then straight into the set. No time to get changed or relax for a moment, although Sam, or singer, managed to sneak off and get into his spangly trousers while were sorting out DIs with the PA engineer. However as a result of all the delays and the real possibility that we might arrive too late to play the energy on stage was electric and we stormed through the set. The song we'd chosen to open with at this gig, the somewhat prophetic "Lost Souls (Driving At Night)" which can be a bit hit and miss live just came alive in a way that it hasn't really before, and the new song which we'd stumbled through on Wednesday was played with the sort of authority that normally only comes after a lot of gigs. Apart from a few friends of our singer (he's originally from London) none of the audience knew who we were, but there were plenty of nice things being said afterwards and we sold a lot of merch and fended off questions about when the album will be out (later this year - honest). The drive home despite a large section of the M11 being closed was a piece of cake in comparison to our journey in... Obligatory gig photo, apologies for my appearance, but there was no time to get changed so I'm still wearing my comfortable travelling clothes rather than my gigging clothes.

Hey All, Picked up my first Sandberg this weekend. 2008 California Heavy aged VS4.

Bit of an update! Pedals listed in signal chain order for those that care… Input > Boss OC-5 Octave > Montreal Assembly PURPLL > Fuzzrocious Li’l Fella > Fuzzrocious M.O.T.H > Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler v2 > WMD Geiger Counter Pro > Dr. Scientist Dusk (w/ Moog EP-3 Expression Pedal) > GFI System Synesthesia (w/ Triple Switch) > Hologram Electronics Microcosm > Source Audio Collider > Keeley Bassist Limiting Amplifier > TC Electronics Polytune Mini > Output Everything is cables with EBS gold flat patch cables, powered with a CIOKS DC7 + 8 Expander, and mounted to a PedalTrain Jr Max. The back row is all raised with PT Pedal Boosters and I added an OCD pedalboard input/output unit for ease of set up. I also use another two Moog EP-3's beside the board for recording purposes.

A very local gig for me last night, only 4 minutes drive (yes I timed it 🤣). Place was a WMC in the next village that’s only just started to have bands back on after a couple years hiatus. It was about 2/3rds full which was nice as it’s a big old place and even 50 people would have made the place look empty. Quite a few people were non regulars who’d seen us at other places in West and South Yorkshire so that was appreciated. One guy brought a small entourage and a selection of wigs and hats in line with our glam theme that he let the masses wear. All in all a decent night, paid more than agreed and promises of more gigs. Next week it’s the middle of Hull….

The plant needs a water, but here’s my wife-friendly living room entry - Peterson combo from the early 80’s.

My new tribute band's 2nd gig last night. A warm-up at The Garrison in Barnsley. We're announcing an Autumn UK tour tomorrow including some pretty bloody good venues for a tribute with only 2 gigs under our belt. Its taken us nearly a year to get everything to the standard we're happy to put out and its paying off. You can't really do a tribute to Post Malone unless you know you can pull it off. We had people last night who came up to us after and said they're Post Malone fans but came to see us thinking that we'd be shit and it'd be a laugh and that instead we blew them away. I take that as a win! The Garrison is a brilliant venue, the only tough part is it's a Sports Bar first and a music venue second, so we had to sound check/load in to a packed building. Other than that, its ace.

Spotted this Retrovibe on FB marketplace and even better, it turned out to be for sale by a BC'er I'd dealt with before. Its a short scale with the stinger pre amp and obviously jazz pickups. I put Labella Mustang flats on it ( as its through body stringing) and its just a dream to play. The quality for the money is phenomenal and I'm seriously tempted to get another and string it piccolo.David has even agreed to do me an edstraker123 truss rod cover. Definitely one of my better buys.

Hey All, So I picked up first Sandberg this weekend. A 2008 California VS4 Heavy Aged.

I'm off to my album launch this afternoon so shared a pic of me outside the pub we're playing - my favourite comment so far "The venue looks very small". 🙈 I'm pretty sure I am not releasing "Dark Side of the Moon"! Over the years I have had some lovely well intentioned fails from friends, including; "I'm surprised you have time for a day job" - yes, thank you, I am friends with two of my bosses! "Dan & I would love to come but Harry is back from Uni" - family first but this also works well as a private message! I'm sure Mick Jagger doesn't get this! "I played there six months ago" (with accompanying picture of them on stage at the venue) - Great, post it on your page! "I must check out your band sometime" - I've mostly posted the playing videos over the last 15yrs just for myself, I appreciate people lead busy lives but perhaps just once over that decade and a half time frame, you could have clicked on one! "It's a shame you are not playing (inserts name of town) / on a different day" - Again, works great as a PM. The whole band is travelling half way across the UK but you can't travel 20 minutes. Oh and constantly liking the posts of friend's bands and getting nothing back. What do you enjoy the least when sharing band stuff on social media?

All Jazz basses can get in the bin. Zero exceptions.

Getting ready to go on. Sitting in with Stevie, Daniel, and the wranglers at the lattice house in Kings Lynn. 24 fret jazz bass with my trace rig.

My Funk, Soul, & Motown covers band played our first wedding reception last night at The Saxon Mill in Warwick. We all played well, Bride and Groom very happy, lots of singing, dancing, applause etc, we got a further gig from it so on that front the gig was fantastic and we were paid an hour after getting home. However... It was the first time I'd mustered the courage to head out with my Ken Smith, It's a bass I like to have in the home to practice more complicated stuff on, but I fancied playing it at this nice venue and at a wedding, however during sound check I just couldn't hear myself, we could feel the bass but It was impossible to hear the notes in the mix, thinking it could just be the fact the ceilings where low, I was tucked in a corner and the room had a carpet floor I switched out to my trusty Squier P (The wife) and soundchecked with that, and... there it was, louder, clearer, present and cutting right through the mix. So I was obviously very put out by that, I want to play the Smith, but it obviously needs a different band / setup to work well. Bum! Next gig this friday at our usual haunt in Leamington Spa where the Squier will do the hard work again.

It's a strange world where one can get passionate about such things.

NooooooooOOoo.. Jazz basses are so cool looking.. but you might not find my wife attractive. Thats how much this thread means.

This is where here and Talkbass differ - on TB this thread would descend into a flame war - an interminable bitchfest until it reaches about thirty pages long before some mod finally pulls the plug. Here we rebound gently between the sublime and the ridiculous, deftly and subtly extracting the Michael out of one another using extreme examples of the subject under discussion and obscure pop culture references, then everyone calms down and has a cup of tea. Guess where I prefer to do my bitchin' and moanin'

You tried turning the stool over, flat bit at the top?..

I've gone right off any serious promotion to friends/family on Facebook. Friends I haven't seen for 10 years and my 80 year old auntie aren't gonna go 100 miles to a pub to watch me play ska covers! I feel that hassling them is just a few steps away from selling tupperware to friends and neighbours. Still though, I do a bit of 'playing at the Red Lion of Friday, head along if you're out and about'. There is a band Facebook and Instagram page that people can choose to follow (and mute) which does the more pushy advertising.

The ensuing gentle hiss of rolling tumbleweed. 😆

And Emmett only needed one. Though the River Bottom Nightmare Band trounced them fair and square at the talent contest, so make of that what you will.

Songs don't care how many strings are on any musical instrument. Play what makes you happy and gets the job done. I'm happy that some players prefer 4's. I'm happy that I prefer 5's.

I've been using a Lekato WS-50 (5.8GHz) set for a while now. As I wasn't happy with the way the transmitter would twizzle in the output socket, I've now got a Levy's wireless holder on my strap - the Lekato transmitter sits folded in this, plugged in to the female end of a 75cm male jack to female socket extension cable from Designacable. Works well enough, though I do sometimes wish I'd asked if I could have a right-angle jack on the instrument end of the cable as this would have been even neater. https://www.designacable.com/un-balanced-guitar-extension-lead-van-damme-xke-cable.html

Strangely, I quite like it... And I like Prince Fatty's dub version even more!

Or this one off Leduc...

Always hook up the speaker before powering up the amp. Always power down before unhooking the cab. Having this as your routine is to prevent an occurence of amp on with no speaker attached = death to amp.

stomp upgraded

Quite possibly the worst looking finish any manufacturer has ever come up with. Absolutely the most hideous colour combo burst, and then replicating it on the pickguard is another level of foul. Like watching someone be sick, and then eat it again. It's not for me, if you were wondering. 😁

Deadlight Dance played The Beehive in Swindon on Thursday. A personal one for me as it is where I met my wife, whom I was previously as school with and hadn't seen for 22yrs. We were supporting a Texan songwriter called Tommy Hale and had a half hour set, mainly two mandocellos. Being hyer critical, I thought the volume was just slightly too loud, and not the greatest sound. We used it as an opportunity to test acoustic versions of 3 new songs we had written and played an originals heavy set of dark acoustic music. Incredibly we sold a couple of CDs. The downside was we're both having car trouble so I had to pick the other guy up (he's 45 minutes away and in the wrong direction. We have a similar problem tomorrow at the moment but what goes around comes around... and to double the cliches, the show must go on! We didn't get any pictures of the show but I took this quick snap before we went in.

After many years of recommending the Fender Rumble amps, based upon both the specs but very importantly having heard them in use I’ve finally got one myself. Needed due to back issues, at around 13kg it’s the same weight as one of my Ashdown cabs so in terms of carting stuff about I lose having to carry the my RM500 (only 3kg or so) but also lose having to lean over to plug in speaker leads etc. Additionally as the controls are on the top I’m assuming this makes adjustments when on stage easier. I can put the power lead in my Mono M80 as well so practically it’s winning already, less gear/no of items to carry. Sound - well only been able to use it at home volumes but it’s very easy to get the sound I want. The Drive is very good, with careful setting rather than being full on drive it can really add thickness to the sound which to me is a real benefit, the combo being a 210 being able to thicken the sound up is a real bonus. Overall I’m very pleased with it, some of our gigs will require me to provide a full bass rig, in fact our next one does, so this amp is going to make my life easier. I’d have put up with it irrespective as needs must but it really does sound great so I’m feeling rather chuffed.

How odd, especially when it's summat they basically offer from stock with a minor tweak. This is how the Lekato + cable looks anyway...

What utter rubbish. Like @goonerjoesaid, when is the new cab arriving ? This is basschat, you should have bought one, plus a spare, just on seeing the picture from @M@23 above. Freaking newbies….

I use a Phil Jones Bass Double Four. Ridiculously good sounding in the lounge for such a tiny thing. Aux In and Headphone outs too. Ed Friedland actually gigs his on small intimate gigs, but he does run an Fdeck HPF to wring a little more power out of it. Rob

I'm liking the NUX Flow I picked up on the BC Marketplace a while back. Has three different tuning modes (Chromatic, Guitar, Bass), three different display modes (Strobo, Arrow 1 and Arrow 2), and three different bypass modes (True Bypass, Buffered Bypass, Buffered Bypass Monitor), a large bright display which is great for my ageing eyesight, and is pink. Can't vouch as for its accuracy or whether it's the "best", but it works for me - I've had a Boss TU-2 and Ashdown Bassometer previously, and the NUX is definitely my favourite to use. https://www.nuxaudio.com/flowtune.html

I found time to finish the carving (I'll sort the heal and out when the neck pocket is ready) Side dots in I wasn't sure if I had enough abs rod for the side dots but I did... just

My favourite reggae groove...

I share Johannes view: I started playing 50 years ago and have had a couple of 'career breaks'. Each time I have returned, once I get back up to speed I feel I am playing better than ever - it is as though the experiences of being away from playing inform and improve my approach. I definitely feel more relaxed and more distanced/objective in my view of what I contribute to the band - so all positive. But at the age of 67 I'm not sure I can risk another break!

Take 5 minutes for a story about a very fine chap. Before the start of the pandemic I ordered a Moollon PV having been in Seoul to visit YJ and Andi Roselund at the Moollon workshop a few months before. I was really taken with the PV's tone. So the Pandemic hit and after working in a factory building respirators for the NHS through most of it I then lost my job. Not good karma. Sadly having paid my deposit I wrote to YJ and Andi saying that I could not afford to continue with the purchase and I heard no more. A few weeks later I saw a red PV up for sale and thought no more of it knowing I could not afford another one. 2 1/2 years later I got a message from Andi saying that YJ had not sold the bass it was still there available for me... Jaw dropping moment. They never got the email and YJ hadn't sold it - he kept it for me. What other maker would do something like that? I had in the meantime managed to get myself back on my feet and could complete the sale. Last week I took delivery of the bass I ordered three years ago. Delivered in pristine condition and sounding like a complete beast. I'm overjoyed to have this bass. I thought I had lost it and out of the kindness of YJ I do. What a bloody awesome bloke - unreal. The bass BTW is staggering, the low end is so deep but articulate and the higher register is thick like a short scale. Its ridiculously good, and oh the colour.. Red............ Red...... Red........

Absolutely this - nail on head. I’ve played fivers only for at least 23 years if not more. With my main band there’s a lot of call for low B, C and D and with the other band there’s a LOT that’s easier to finger and sing harmonies over if I’m rooted around the fifth fret. For me too, that’s the main appeal. Nice analysis @lozkerr !