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I had seen a few of these lovely little tweed reissues come up and started to investigate. Completely wrong, because I'm trying to reduce gear drastically and raise cash for my upcoming house move but I have no self control. I've had the amp for less than a week and it got two gigs this weekend. My usual rig is an Ashdown ABM600 with two fifteen inch cans but I fancied something more portable and with a distinct character. The TV twelve is an ok one hand lift at 20kg though more modern 12" combos will probably be half the weight. The tweed is a bit worn in and has dulled a bit and got some patches of light wear but is in good condition as is the brown speaker cloth. There are two things I love about this amp: the gain dial, I generally crank it most of the way up which gives a gorgeous, round and full woollyness to the sound, proper valve preamp. It's great with my jazz bass and stingray but comes into it's own with the P bass. The other thing is the volume control. At four or less it's comfortable home practice levels. Above that it's gig levels. Last night on an outdoor stage I had the amp at seven (out of twelve) and could hear it beautifully on stage, even with a full drum kit and stage monitoring. I ran the amp at lower levels the night before for a private party in a small room with electronic drums and a sub for the PA, again really good projection. So, this doesn't replace the ABM but I got a bit sick of going to festivals and having to use some really awful provided bass amps, where there isn't switch around time to bring out the ABM rig I can just bring the TV twelve and everything is fine. It's really got its own character, and sounds as good as it looks. They aren't cheap second hand but they really are a great little noise box.

LAST NIGHT! The Cantina Band's tour of The Vaults in Knowle continued at The Vaults in Knowle. Again. Dep drummer (the chap from my other band) as our usual dep drummer had got his dates wrong and is in the USA (He's from Wisconsin, which he'll mention if you hang around with him for more than about 14 yottoseconds). We had a rehearsal with him (the chap doing the gig, not the chap who's in America) and he'd really done his homework and had nailed 99.9% of the set, so no worries on that front. (In fact, he knew the stuff better than the rest of the band - they/we're not really known for their/our meticulous preperation.) Load in is a good one, parking right behind the stage (I say 'stage'... I mean the corner between the toilets and the fire escape), set up was the usual, bit of good-natured piss-takery, catching up and gossip swapping. Not many in there when we kicked off, the singer and guitarist had brought their partners (both lovely) and a few mates (quality levels: various), so enough to make it worthwhile. I was presented with a (belated) birthday cake, a (belated) birthday badge (which everyone insisted I wear for the whole gig) and a rendition of Happy Birthday (belated) after song 2 (the second song in the set, not Song 2 by Blur, which we don't do (we should, actually)) which was as thoughtful as it was unexpected. First set was good, drummer smashed it. We play more poppy stuff in the other band, so it was nice to hear him giving the heavy rock stuff a good spanking. It was incredibly hot and sweaty, which is sort of what you want at a rock gig in a pub I suppose. Quick vape at half time, back into the second set which was also pretty good - the stuff we play (Ramones, Sex Pistols, Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica, McFly* - all the big names in Rock/Metal) isn't for everyone... those that like it tend to REALLY like it and those that don't tend to sit at the bar and ignore us. A few young people appeared when we finished with Sex on fire and Brightside and filled up the Dancefloor (I say 'Dancefloor'... I mean the bit of sticky carpet next to the the corner between the toilets and the fire escape) so I went and joined them for a wireless boogie, which is always a laugh. They shouted for one more so we punished them with Enter Sandman, a guaranteed Dancefloor-emptier. EBMM Sterling -> Small board (EHX Tuner -> EHX Bass Soul Food -> Hookers Green Bass Machine -> MXR Bass chorus deluxe) -> MB CMD 121 The landlady loves us for some reason, we're back there a few times over the next couple of months. Paid, packed up, loaded out, home about half midnight for cold pizza remnants and a bottle of old father StingRayBoy's whiskey cider (ABV unknown but it certainly packs a decent wallop). * We had to learn a McFly song (Five colours in her hair) for a wedding we did, and we all decided we secretly quite like it, so we kept it in the set.

Band: Pop Rock Riot Gear: G&L SB2. Shure Wireless, HX Stomp. Senneheiser EW and Shure SE215. We played a gig in Sunderland on Friday (so I'm a day late, sorry) that was a mixed bag. It transpired that the venue never puts bands on on a Friday, Friday is karaoke night. But the karaoke person had cancelled so they shoved a band on anyway. All the locals showed up expecting the karaoke, and then most of them left again when they realised the bait and switch. This, mixed with the fact that Sunderland had Cubix festival last weekend and Monument Festival this weekend, meant that revelers were in very, very short supply. Oh dear. Anyway, those that were there loved us and we got a chance to try out some new songs live for the first time in a safe space. Video from Jack Elliott.mp4

Played the marvellous festival at Wokingham last night, with the Phil Collins tribute , Second to last band slot which suited us i thought. Fantastic atmosphere and audience, very well organised do. Bit hectic changeovers but aren’t they always at this type of gig. Very enjoyable. We’ve played it before and apparently are already booked for 2026. The weather threatened to get really quite bad by thankfully held off generally. Great stuff indeed! X

Last night Nine Lives played for the first time at The Tolbooth in Ellon. It was an interesting setup in the conservatory needing some creative ways of getting electricity to the left hand side of the "stage" (ie. area of floor we occupy). Nevertheless, we got set up and got going and after a bit of level tweaking had a great night. Decent crowd, had some dancers up for a fair few songs - held them there for three with Shut Up And Dance -> Bad Moon Rising -> then an impromptu set list change to Waterloo. Was pleased with the band doing that on the fly, especially as it wasn't me making the suggestion. We heard afterwards from the staff that even the shy folk up at the bar were singing along and enjoying it too - couldn't really see them as we were downstairs a bit. Got some great feedback, most importantly from the lady who paid us, so hopefully this will lead to repeat bookings at this venue. Very happy with how it went. Gear used - my G4M rat bass followed by the Sire D5 into the usual Markbass modular shenanigans.

After last weekend’s fun with the originals band it was back to the covers band, Top Deck. This time at The Gate Inn, Loscoe In Derbyshire. We were expecting to start at 9pm but the pub was very quiet. So, with the agreement of the landlady we delayed the start time until 9.30. This paid off, as the place eventually filled up.

50th birthday party last night, 80s theme, so everyone in good spirits despite being outside and the weather being on the cusp of disaster most of the evening. First obstacle however was getting to the place- in the middle of a woods up a very long and bumpy track. A few band members who hadn’t heard of what3words struggled… Next up was setting up on some decking outside the house with only a sail for shelter from the elements, a few gusts of wind almost drenched the drummer setting up but during the gig there were no issues. But apart from that, dep guitar and trumpet were acceptable if not spectacular but the audience were up for a party. Got everyone trained up for a super quick pack down, one more gig tonight with a complete band of first call players.

Wee punk gig with Emergency Exit in one of our fav venues in The Riverside in Dumfries. We were asked to play in the large conservatory area instead of in the bar area. There were noise complaints about bands in the venue and it went to court so its a delicate situation. Ann that runs it has unfortunately decided to retire and said by the time the court case comes round she'll be gone and doesn't care anymore about noise complaints. Fairly busy, not packed out but a good party feel and altho a lot of rather intoxicated people they were all generally well behaved. We have one more gig in this venue before the current owner leaves so reckon that will be the end of the bands because of the noise complaints. Shame as bands have been playing there for a lot of years and way before the complainers arrived. Embarrassing moment when bringing the car along the private road near the river to load up and as i pulled up at the bar there was a rather drunk couple "having fun". I reckon she played the trumpet in a band but hey ho that's life when young and drunk. An hrs drive home so that is always good plus my bag of M&M's for the drive to keep me focused Used the MarloweDK for the first half but decided to use the Godin the 2nd half and what a difference that Godin makes. Its such a deep warm tone with a nice edge when you need it. I do love playing the Marlowe TBH honest but like most Jazz basses i find they can get a bit lost in the mix. The Godin has the Precision depth with the J pick up at the bridge just giving it that little bit more clarity. Have to say when you flick it onto P pick up on its own it does sound like any decent P bass. I prefer the switch to the pan or twin volume set up. I never use the pan on a bass its always dead centre. Handbox WB-100 amp into my Mesa SW210/115 cabs with my Shure Wireless. The Handbox and Godin bass are a perfect match IMO. Dave

We were at our favorite venue last night, The Coach House in Paignton. I used my recently purchased Squire Precision which I bought of Andybassdoyle here. It performed well and sounded great. Thumbs up from our drummer too. As usual it went through my RM 500-Evo II and BF 210, with a DI to the PA. We played well and sounded good. Plenty of dancing by some very appreciative people. One of our regulars only just noticed, after years of watching us, the bass line in War Pigs, particularly behind the guitar solo and was suitably impressed. Bit if a break until the next gig, but that gives us time to work on the set as we need a few new songs and our drummer, our son who rejoined us last gig, to learn some some more recent songs of our too.

I will just drop this here for your viewing pleasure, decided to build a 5 string 35” scale neck-thru Flea M inspired bass, with 19mm spacing. Walnut, Bubinga, Wenge, Maple, Ash Harry Haeussel M5 Stingray 76 preamp clone Gotoh GB350 Hipshot Vintage bridge Zero fret Oil finish

We played a private party yesterday evening with The Verity Bromham band. Well organized and looked after. I took my Thunderbird but realised Del hadn’t bought his usual ‘guitar garage’ for me to stand it in. He kindly offered to let me use a double hanging stand he had for his guitars. I set up and wandered offstage only to watch Del grab his Les Paul from the stand, which promptly toppled over along with my Thunderbird. It all happened in slo mo - me having visions of a trip to our local luthier for a headstock refit. But no, a stage light broke its fall and it fell on carpet. Not only was the headstock still intact but there wasn’t a mark on the bass . . . . . Phew! Had a good evening, ext stop Cambridge Rock Festival on Friday and Saturday week.

Here’s the new Jet , and me shortly after buying that big orange one. I guess I’m becoming a Gretsch guy , didn’t see that coming. I was originally a Pbass guy and for years that was all I had. Then I got into Rics , and somehow into Danos after that. Then it was Gibson short scales , now Gretsches.

Funky house music from Louis Benedetti with the dopest groove bass player on the planet imo and its what a jazz bass should sound like. His name is Gene Perez.

Played at a private party at a friend of our singer/guitarist, who has a house with a garden that runs down to the Thames and it's own private island. Every year, he has a mini festival over a summer weekend, inviting friends and neighbours , of which he has lots ( inviting the neighbours gets around the noise problems, but the pub next door complains if they play after 11pm, ironically ) "Stage" is on a patio, that normally has a sail cover over it, but as it was a beautiful evening, and we were on first, it hadn't been rigged. Amp was basically in the flowerbed to give me room to stand. Played a hour plus set, split in half by some great homemade curry being served. Lots of dancing and good feedback from the small but lively crowd. Mrs B enjoyed being pampered. I think there are about 6 more bands over 3 nights in total. Lovely, generous people.

I'll never understand how these musicians, with all of their talents, so admired, can bear this stuff with its incessant 'big beat' thump thump thump rendering it unlistenable. It could be heavenly choirs of angles, or Gabriel himself playing the best bass lines ever, but it's nauseous with that infernal beat being drummed into our skulls. No, I didn't leave it to play through; I skipped along, sampling. The few seconds of respite only served as contrast when the concrete-busting power drill started up again. I'm obviously not consuming the right cocktails for this stuff. I keep trying, thinking that, maybe, one day, something I'm able to listen to, or even enjoy and learn from, will come up; it's not for this time. I did try, though.

I'd be all over that, if it was a 2-string. GLWTS.

It's not for everyone, that's for sure. I was 25 when I moved from being in a signed (albeit rubbish) band, to doing session work. But I used to do a couple of night shifts at a bakery as well, just in case there were quiet weeks. Sometimes I'd turn up to a studio session or a dep gig or something, and I'd get the "ooh, look out - here's little bakery boy" chants or get called a master baker or whatever. Wahey! It was usually done in jest so I could have laugh along with the banter, no big deal. But I did start to notice that other musicians I was playing alongside were living in rented rooms or bedsits and living off cup-a-soups, or still with their parents, whereas I had a mortgage on a flat in central London because I had a side hustle and they weren't prepared to do that. I was usually totally knackered - imagine finishing a drumming gig and then heading straight off to do a night shift at a bakery, already sweaty and fit for sleep. But without the bakery side hustle for a couple of years I wouldn't have been able to carry on, I was rarely 'first call' as a player, my skills weren't up to it. I wasn't A-list, more like S-list 😂

This is because the strings have cooled since tuning. When you play, the movement of the strings causes the string to warm up. As the strings warm, they expand and go flat, tune them up and leave them for awhile and tuning will be sharp. You should always tune your bass after playing it for a few minutes. I just strum all four strings like a maniac for five minutes. I learnt this from a tip on the Fender Website.

"Please continue to wait - your call is important to us."

Weather held off = no jacket required?😂

As an oldie, I don't think it's a case of people not being able to make a living from music "anymore". It never was an option for most. When I started playing as more than just a hobby (slightly north of 50 years ago), the dream was to "turn professional". For the majority, including me, it remained just that. A dream. Occupations that everyone wants to pursue tend not to pay well for the majority. It's a case of supply and demand. If everyone wants to be a musician, actor and similar, the pay offered tends to be low because someone somewhere will bite. For much of my life, music has been a side-line, occasionally a moderately lucrative one. I've enjoyed brief periods during which music was my only source of income, but they were brief. It was always necessary to return to a day job to make ends meet, unless you wanted to live on baked beans, never own your own home, run a car that was on the verge of falling apart and not be able to have a family. Looking back now I'm in my dotage, I'm glad about that. When I hit 40, I realised that I had 25 years to pay off the mortgage and build some kind of provision for my old age, which I managed to do. I quit part-time casual working and got a "proper" job. The funny thing was that, once I had made the decision to keep music strictly as a side-line, I got offered a lot more work. Some I accepted if I could fit it around the job. The rest I politely declined, explaining that the job wouldn't permit (obviously sensible to keep people sweet in case they offered more in the future). It was a luxury being able to turn down offers to play in toilets to a room full of animals who hated me. All in all, I've done OK and can afford to enjoy my twilight years if I'm sensible. With the benefit of hindsight, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Look at your speakers. You can usually set the cut off level higher and you can hear the bottom end rumble disappear. But when it's set to just lose the inaudible rumble you can honestly see the speakers move less. I use an FDeck with doublebass through my PJB Suitcase and without the FDeck my little speakers were pumping back and forwards, switch the FDeck on and the sound is the same but my speakers are barely moving. Therefore my amp is getting a huge rest as well not having to produce all that power to move those speakers. I also find that the entire band sounds cleaner as a result of there being less subsonics in the room.

If I was to know how to use those six (6 !!!!!) narrow strings with my chunky fingers, I´d like to have a Les Paul Junior. Love the unique sound and the look of it.

The recents , I picked up the orange 5123 last December. They are no longer in production and getting hard to find. It’s been my primary bass since … some had suggested getting a 6128 too. Another out of production and not easy to find. So at the moment these two are my main players.

NPD: Broughton JoshWah I’ve had an on-off relationship with envelope filters for a few years now. I always have a sweepable LPF on my board, but have been constantly ‘meh’ about most filters I’ve tried recently, despite previously being a big user of them. My main issue is that I’ve really struggled to find ones that play well with the dirt pedals I currently use. My favourite two filters ever, the SubDecay Prometheus and the WMD Super FatMan, also don’t seem to fit right in the mix of my current pedal chain, which has soured my envelope filter love. For a while, I’ve just made do with the filter in my Synesthesia and found that I don’t really ‘need’ an envelope filter. But, I’ve had an urge, and when this popped up I had to grab it, having heard good things. After 3-4 hours with it today, I’m very impressed. The sound is very close to how my brain remembered the SubDecay, but it sits much better in the mix, and importantly, plays great with my current array of dirt pedals. The drive circuit in it is okay, though unlikely to be used anymore than to give the filter a touch of sparkle. This is definitely finding a home on my board for a while!

There are tons of Longhorns around , sometimes they can be found for a song. These are tiny , and weigh nothing. They have lipstick pickups that can be a bit noisy. You learn to live with that. New prices are getting more expensive , but these really are fun little things to play. So if you see one for a good price I would suggest getting it. Despite playing one for over 25 years now I still can’t decide if they’re butt ugly or cool as heck. This completely changed my concept of just what it is that made a bass good.

Yup, I just finished with it - had it most of last week. Get well soon, y'all.

There`s a nice BB 404 second hand in Richtone for £149. https://richtonemusic.co.uk/yamaha-bb-404-bass-wine-red-2nd-hand/

I’m always amazed by this, and no you are not alone. Tune bass, place in case, travel to gig, take bass out of case, tuning is sharp. Retune, play first set, check tuning before second set, tuning is sharp. Happens to me all the time on all of my basses (including the EUB). I put it down to those pesky case gremlins, the same ones that tie your perfectly coiled cables into knots in your gig bag.

I got the neck and bridge more or less sorted, a slight shim on the neck to push it up and that's pretty close. I didn't spend too much time as I know I had to take it all to pieces to get the the aluminium backbone properly sorted out. So, here's the latest picture of the headless bass, somewhat basic, somewhat smaller. Some of the holes are tapped, some are through, some are countersunk. Nightmare to drill I've marked out the bits to cut and smooth out, I remember Mr Black, my woodwork teacher, telling me to mark off the bits I don't want. I just have been 12 years old. Used a Sharpie for that so its nice and clear. I'm unsure if the finger grinder will 'cut' so might have to drill first, then hacksaw and then use the finger grinder to smooth it all out OR it might just cut through things I have some sacrificial aluminium to check. I'll also use the older pieces of printed frame as a guide for the curves on the backbone. Am also now printing the final pieces at the right resolution with the correct filament. So this is at 0.1mm and is the largest piece by far. So 11 hours solid on the Mk4, which is 2.5x quicker than the Mk3 (26 hours!) Dog needs a walk first though. Rob

I think he’s an amazing player but - and this is all on me, it’s not meant to be a personal attack on the guy in any way - but the jazz bass bridge pickup tone has always been too nasal for me to listen to for very long. I lasted about 90 seconds into that first tune before bailing out. It sounds like ‘pages from Ceefax’ background TV music from the early 1990’s or something. Like Dad, drums (well, percussion mainly) are my main instrument. But unlike Dad I absolutely love house music and repetitive beats. Or even just repetition (disco 12”s, dancehall, Velvet Underground, Steve Reich, etc). But that kind of mix of jazz fusion and musak - fusak? - goes straight past me, regardless of how great the players are. The trio recording was more to my taste though, and I liked his muting technique, super clean, and perfect for that setting. Thank you for sharing that 🙏 I just wish someone would rip the bridge pickup off his bass 😂

I’ve watched this a couple of times now and have really enjoyed it so thought I’d share with the BC community! I think Ian Allison really gets the best out of the guests on the channel, and this is no exception. As for Tim Lefebvre, I think he’s all-round fabulous. This interview covers, amongst other things, Knower, Bowie (again), Tedeschi Trucks, and some sound advice (and examples) of what happens, and what to do, when you mess up in the studio/on stage - it happens to the best of them! Well worth a watch…

Or one of these:

I must have missed again I can see where this thread is heading for a short spell now. Dave

I have an Eastwood hollow body that has some features that look very similar to the Harley Bentons. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they are built in the same factory. The Eastwood is not noisy , to be honest I was quite surprised at the build quality. It sounds good , but my hollow body Gretsch is a much , much nicer instrument. There’s simply no comparison. The Eastwood popped up on kijiji for a really great price and I couldn’t resist. Years before I had an Epi Rivoli with a Dimarzio Model 1 humbucker. Sold that and missed it , so I jumped on the Eastwood.

Serial hat (and sunglasses) wearer here, but it’s all part of the band image (honest). Having played in this attire for the last twelve odd years, I feel somewhat naked playing in my other band where such frippery is strictly frowned upon 😂

It looks like a booking nightmare but I am bringing some acoustic goth to the family friendly street party this afternoon…

Just checked the Thunderbird over and there are a couple of dings, but nothing major. It now has history!

Tell him you're in Wick, and can you pop over to try it. I caught out a Martin D45 scam, for sale at £950 in Hatfield. Asked to try it out,but was told guitar actually with relations in Kirkwall. No worries, I said, I'm in Aberdeen and can get next ferry over. Silence.

I get what @Dan Dare means, in my early 20s still thinking/dreaming of becoming a professional musician I met a fair few and saw how they lived. Not my cuppa I have to say.

I just sold all my gear. Where was the international music media interest in my stuff?