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I think I've seen the light and have been converted.... I've been very happy with the sound, playability and feel of my Musicman SR5. It has been my main bass for sometime now being used every weekend at church and while rehearsing for a new band. Now that I'm gigging again with 20 shows until the end of year I wanted to lighten the load on my back and maybe at the same time try a generally smaller bass. Sam a fellow Basschatter who lives near me has an Acinonyx bass strung with Labella low tension flats. He very kindly hosted me one afternoon while I had a go on his bass to see if I liked it. Well to say I was impressed was an understatement. The smile on my face was ear to ear. It is small, very light weight, packs a punch and the 17mm string spacing made it so easy to play. The next day I put an order in with the most excellent guys at Bass Direct and the next day arrived a fantastic Acinonyx bass in Lake Placid Blue. I've also ordered a set of Newtone Shorties strings to see if they suit the Acinonyx. Has anyone tried them? Two gigs, church and 2 rehearsals later I'm a convert. So much so the SR5 has gone to Bass Bros and I'm looking around for more shorties. 🤠

It may well come to that. Whether the finger heals or not I'm not taking this lying down; I will play my bass again.

It felt like a contractual obligation but the other half of my goth duo wanted us to play his street party. All the questions that one might have from that sentence ran around my head, and the bar was set low in my mind. I made the online promo very self mocking and tongue-in-cheek BUT as is often the way with these things, it was actually much better than anyone could have anticipated. I played bass, mandolin, mandocello, sang and played guitar. Having taken a back step from live work to write / record, it was nice just to be out in public again. And the weather was lovely... not at all phased when we burst into our rendition of The Cult's "Rain" towards the end.

A very warm July evening on Sat and no air con! But had a really enjoyable wedding gig with our 'dep crew' - first time with our new drummer and he did a great job! Al Krow (@al_krow) • Instagram photos and videos

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.

Satdy was a Private Do booked via an agency. Company Summer Party, early start (6:30), early finish (2x45s), we got there to catering, bouncy castle, face painting for the plethora of kids still there when we arrived, etc, etc. What the agent had neglected to mention was the 150yd schlep of all the gear from the car park (in some faceless industrial estate Stockport way) at the front of the buildings all the way round and down to the bottom of the grounds. BL didn't bring anything with wheels on it (other than the van), so it was a PITA just getting the gear to the stage. Mostly indifferent crowd, more focused on hitting the free bar (cans and bottles, mostly lukewarm) and getting their kids back home, plus the rain about half time didn't help. Despite the lack of crowd enthusiasm or engagment, the organiser said 'You're the best band we've ever had', so I told the BL to take note and put the price up for next time. Small stage under an awning (didn't leak, a plus), but my inear mix was inexplicably awful and I couldn't get near the desk to adjust it. Two 45s, one encore and we buggered off - home for half nine, but the schlep ruined it. Plus point was I'd had that cheapo Sonic P to a good tech (Matt Ryan) local to me, and the final touch of a fret dress and good setup finished off a promising bass into a go-to one. Stomp and inears is the rest of the rig...

My new simple but effective board, I previously had a larger Pedaltrain Jr but decided to strip back to the bare essentials as I didn't make use of half of it anymore. Polytune --- Diamond Comp ---Fat Rat --- Bassrig Black Panel Black Panel DI to FOH, amp output into my Bassman 100T. The Fat Rat is a new addition potentially replacing my modded Rat2. Been really happy with it in a few rehearsals, first show using it this Sunday.

Final gig done in a busy weekend. Tortworth Hall, Gloucestershire. Massive hotel, very nice. The family are repeat clients and have booked us before for other weddings/ birthdays. The function room there is pretty large and has just enough room on stage for an 8 piece band. The event definitely felt like a Sunday gig, and it took a while for everyone to swop modes from lounging around the gardens with nice food into party time- we played their first (Bless The Broken Road) and most people headed for the fresh air immediately after. Had the first choice lineup though and by the time the second half started we had them partying. So glad this is the first day of the holiday for me, knackered this morning but just love playing. Incidentally, a very nice Dino in the car park, as well as us muppets.

Another picture for good measure, with it's big sister.

There are builds on this forum that make me go WOW! Builds that are SO different, or so challenging, or so intriguing that I remember why it is that my own build journey has often veered towards the 'bet that can't be done' project gauntlets that are occasionally thrown my way. Occasionally, I even get to see these in the flesh - the regional Bassbashes are great for this And now and again I have been flattered to be asked to assess, or tweak, or mod one of these marvels - either for the original owner or to suit a new owner. One such opportunity has come to me in the last few days - and has to rank a bit of a pinnacle in clambering up the learning mountain. Many of you will remember @6feet7 's remarkable Alumibird 5. If you missed it, his build thread is here. It was an awesome project in the literal sense as well as in the vernacular: Well - to cut a long story short, @6feet7 put it up for sale in the marketplace here recently - and @Happy Jack bought it And @Happy Jack has asked me if I would consider doing some of the tweaks on it he was considering to suit his own playing style and gigging needs. Now, with me having immediately bitten his hand off, he'll need to sort out some prosthetic alternative before he will be able to play it - but my answer was, of course, YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't imagine...... 😉

@Happy Jack wanted to change it from a 5 string (it originally had a modified 4-string neck - see original thread above) and so promised to send a couple of possible necks and most of the other related hardware, etc, to me to assess and, if it could be done, to get on and start doing it. So how to send a big lump of aluminium and a couple of necks?? The DPD man, when he arrived at the door, gave me a 'WTF?' look...but then we agreed that this was actually a splendid way of sending a large, heavy parcel. Has its own carrying handle! Protected. Weatherproof. Padded. Tear-proof And here it was! An amazing piece of engineering - have a look at @6feet7's original thread. It is hollow, made up of multiple components, ali-welded together. But you would never know - the grinding off of the main front/back weld line is completely invisible. The swirl finish of the top is very impressive... @Happy Jack sent me his preferred 4 string T-o-M bridge and stoptail and challenge 1 was that the post centres were not the same as the pre-drilled bush holes. I did some googling, based on that a different T-o-M type might be a better option than to mod the one sent - but no joy...the stop tail was going to need a major mod, and the T-o-M bridge a smaller one. The right hand side has a 2mm sliding bolt arrangement, but the mismatch was more like 3mm. But as you can see - the stop tail would need to be a major mod if this was going to be used: So out with the heavy gear...they don't call me Bodgers Rogers for nothing!!!

I used to be in a band where the front man was addicted to the love he got from an audience. He'd make the band go on for ever until the crowd got sick of us. I say, Keep em wanting more. Anything more than a one and a half hour set, or two 45 min sets, is indulgence on behalf of the band. Anything more than that and both the band and the audience start to get weary.

I was sure I rememebr reading a Trace Elliot manual that said as much many years ago (which is interesting as I have never owned a TE 12 band) I have found it on page 8 of a TE manual for the 12 band range:- "Do not use excessive bottom ( 30 to 40Hz ) boost on the graphic unless your speakers can handle it. Very few speaker systems are capable of handling frequencies as low as 30 and 40Hz with any degree of efficiency. N.B. Boosting at 30Hz for instance will not add to the perceived amount of bottom end in the sound, it will only make your speakers flap to no useful effect. In fact boosting at 100Hz or 180Hz will have the apparent effect of adding far more bottom end than boosting at 30, 40 or even 60Hz. Do not use excessive top ( 10 to 15kHz ) boost, this will add mostly hiss to the sound as there is very little signal output at this frequency from a bass. The 30Hz slider has been provided to allow precise tailoring at very low frequencies. This slider should be used to CUT ( not Boost ) the 30Hz to a level that allows the speaker system to work at its maximum efficiency."

Just an added pointer to the comments above (I got this from Ashdown when I had a similar question). The ABM drive works differently to the way I expected so when you select "drive on", the preamp signal is sent through the tube and the Drive control is a blend rather than "how much" drive. So fully off = tube effectively bypassed, fully on = all signal goes via the tube. The Gain is what controls the signal strength to the tube, so actually as you increase Gain (with drive on) the valve will break up more (I had assumed the drive control did this, but I was wrong). Hope that makes sense. What Lozz says above is exactly what I found in practice, a subtle grind/drive that sounds just right at home will be likely lost completely in a live situation. Darren

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…

Hey Jack 8 years ago I was operated on my left (fretting hand) index finger tip to remove a melanoma (skin cancer). They replaced my nail and part of my index finger with skin from my arm. I was very afraid and frustrated, but, while there are some technical things I can't really do with that finger I am still playing bass and drums and enjoying a lot. You'll adapt to find a way around it I'm sure. Sending you peacefulness and positivity 💫 Dave

Lightweights. The band on the Titanic had to play for twice that, outside in the freezing cold, with no tip jar. ...

Nice Yin Yang lines going there. You should organise a big ACG appreciation society meeting to try and achieve some Escher-style regular division of a plane.

Last month's jam had 4 bassists and 0 guitarists. "Aha!" I thought, "this could be a great opportunity to learn the head for a favourite piece on guitar and call it at July's jam, particularly as one of the other bassists likes it." This time, we had 1 bassist (me) and 1 guitarist. Maybe next time... We did just about manage to get through Gichi though, which was nice.

I'm the same, I wasn't too keen on my USA Stingray neck. I saw a really good deal on a B stock, Sterling SUB Ray4, with a Jazz style neck (the cheapest model made in Indonesia) and bought it. When I got it I was really pleasantly surprised how much I loved the neck and the classic 2 band EQ. The USA Stingray has now been sold and the Ray4 is a keeper.

latest version of the grab n go. just needs to be rewired. I wish I have space for the Meatbox, but I dont want to increase board size again.

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

Obviously not bass and also a far more comprehensive injury but Django Reinhardt is just dazzling:

FTFY

Sounds like it wasn't a great weekend. All it takes is a good weekend to feel good. Hopefully this coming weekend will be good. Daryl

As a fan of aluminium in guitar and bass construction, I'm definitely looking forward to this...

I just came across this while looking for something else - https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/456374737356084

That looks fantastic- who doesn’t love a big cab booming away behind them 😊 However… I really like Bareface and how they’ve shook things up but the price of their gear is really getting silly and seems to have risen a huge amount in the last couple of years. £2k for a cab 😳

Any Ibanez, Yamaha or Cort in that price bracket. Can't really go wrong.

Three of these are no longer in my possession, but I still included them because I love these pictures so much - especially the glamour shot of the ATK's Ibanez MC924: the left one is a 1983 model which I still own. The right one is a 1981 that I have since traded for an Atelier Z Baby Z-4J. I liked it a lot, but it was prohibitively heavy and had quite a chunky and wide neck so it got little playtime. The 1983 is from my year of birth (but just a month younger than me) and has sentimental value, but doesn't get played much either. I could never bring myself to sell that one though! 1996 Ibanez ATK300 and 1998 ATK305, both made in Japan. I don't own either of these anymore, I sold the 4-string many years ago and sold the 5-string two years ago. Lovely basses, solid workhorses, and very big and heavy. I kinda miss the 4-string, it was stellar. The 5-string sounded slightly harsher and not quite as warm and full-bodied, maybe due to the more rigid neck (because there was simply more wood). 2002 Warwick Streamer LX5 (nirvana black gloss) and 2001 Warwick Streamer LX (burgundy red gloss). The 5-string was my main bass for several years, until my headless Status S2 Classic 5-string replaced it. My duo of Status S2 Classic bolt-ons. The 5-string is my main axe ever since its arrival. It looks all black in this picture, but it's actually more of an anthracite metallic finish. The 4-string is VERY white up close, which contrasts beautifully with the VERY black phenolic fingerboard and the (now aged white) epoxy Roman numerals.

I had the opposite problem, I was turning the gain up really high so the signal was often in the red, and then adding drive. In my case that made the tube break up to the point it was just too gritty for my liking. Turning the gain down and increasing the blend gave a lower level of that tube grit. I found my sound by setting the drive on full and then adjusting the gain up until I heard the right amount of grit/drive. Adjust the master for overall volume. Worked for me anyway. Good luck, the sound you want is very likely to be in there, you’ve just got to find the right settings to get it out. Darren

Bought a couple of cabs from Simon today and the entire transaction was a reminder of why I love Basschat. The price was more than fair, he drove to meet me at a mutually agreed place, the cabs were precisely as described, and the communication throughout was faultless. Absolutely excellent Basschatter - deal with complete confidence.

At a later event while loading the car she looked like she might have been a bass player too as she was using fingerstyle. This sounds like i was watching them but there were others loading their cars too and they were literally in my headlights (not on full beam either) but this was a public walkway along the river and fully street lit. I have to admit i was a bit embarrassed but if anyone wants the pics or vids PM me. Dave

New to me, but a 2011 model. A ‘Ball Family Reserve’ instrument, limited production run. I’ve asked about the actual production numbers, but they are not known. Most Stingrays are 4H, so I’d imagine this is a pretty rare beast in this specification. There is a very subtle copper sparkle in the paint. Invisible in daylight, & just about visible under lights, but that’s where the ‘Black Sugar’ name comes from. Rare for me to want a painted body over exotic wood, but the gorgeous roasted maple neck ticks that box. It was the sound that made me want it anyway - as soon as I played it plugged in, I knew it was coming home with me!!

The bass is now finished I cannot wait to collect it. I would just like to say a big thank you to Chris and everyone involved in making me this bass. A special thank you to Martin who’s been amazing thanks mate. 👏👏

I surprises me how many people blithly ignore the fact that the 'standard p-bass' doesn't have the un-contoured body, single coil pickup or headstock of the 'original p-bass', yet 'Leo got it right first time'.