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Hello Just thought I'd share my experience from this weekend when I was lucky enough to perform at the World David Bowie Fan Convention in Liverpool and meet two of my musical heroes, George Murray and Carlos Alomar. They also guested on two songs with our band, The Bowie Contingent, with George playing my 71 P bass which was an incredible honour. George is a lovely man and was kind enough to sit with me for an hour and let me ask him anything I wanted about his time with Bowie, and about bass playing in general. A wonderful, gracious human being! Lee

It's finished! Mug for scale. It's 42 cm high, 30 cm wide and 34 cm deep. Weight is 11 kg, though I think about a kilo of that is the weight of the (removable) luggage handle and the heavy-duty flightcase wheels. I don't drive, so my aim was to make a speaker cab that's small enough to be wheeled around like a carry-on suitcase on public transit, and light enough to not cause me grief when going up stairs. I've covered it with some luxurious brown faux-leather (left over from reupholstering some dining chairs), but I'll probably make a weatherproof cover once I've had more practice with my wife's sewing machine. The main speaker is a Faital Pro 10PR320 (300 watts RMS), while the mid-ish tweeter is a Faital Pro 4FE42. It's got a hand-wired 4th order crossover that splits the signal at about 1.8 khz. It sounds really great to my ears, though I admit I'm not the most experienced judge of these things. The response seems pretty even, sounding like a DI'ed bass when everything's set flat on the amp, but it responds well to any adjustments to the eq or pickup balance changes. It's also noticeably louder than my old cab, and reaches "shaking the walls and annoying the neighbors" levels with my amp's gain and volume at about 3 out of 10. Considering I only use a Little Mark 250, and this is an 8 ohm cab, that's impressive, I think. Many thanks to @Bill Fitzmaurice and @Phil Starr for answering questions about the elements of the design I got stuck on, and for generally dispensing wisdom essential to this build in various threads.

After waiting over 3 yrs for this amp i can safely say it was worth the wait. It arrived around 12:30 today from Andertons. Its superbly built and the tone from both channels is just amazing. Obviously i'm still getting used to it but having read the manual a few times since originally ordering Apr 2021 and again April 2024 i feel i already know it. Ch 1 is the Boogie Channel and has a more rounded valve type tone but using the manuals suggested classic rock settings i think i have just found "my tone" its exactly what i would set an amp to. Ch 2 is the Subway channel and has a more modern feel to it with faster attack. Setting it almost flat with a slight boost of bass and i love it. On both these settings i have the HPF at 9 o'clock position. Can't really say i can hear a difference at house volumes but that seems to be where most people set it based on TB forum. The thing that really jumps out at me from the word go is how clear every note sounds across the strings no matter where you set the EQ, no "dead spots" like i've experienced with most other amps when you adjust the EQ. Its so well balanced and every note just seems to sing. As i got more used to it in the first hour i tweaked the SW channel treble to get a slightly Ric sound (still experimenting here so don't slate me at this stage) as i like to go from a more "P based tone" to a "Ric based tone" and in between depending on what song i'm playing and saves changing basses every other song. I have to admit at 64 yrs old i never dreamed i'd be this excited about a new bass amp but its like getting your first real bass rig all over again. I'm so excited its like Xmas as a kid. Here's some pics. Excuse the mess as i had to squeeze the lightweight rig next to the Mesa home practice rig in the Bass Cave. Dave

A two-gigger last weekend, first on Friday at the monthly residency-type pub in Swinton, it's a late one, we don't start till ten, I was ordering a drink at the bar at nine when there was an unholy kerfuffle across the bar in the pool room, a full-on catfight (or rather an assault). Cue everyone in the pub restraining a younger woman who'd gone for a lady older than her. Ten minutes later as we're still setting up the 5-0 are in the pub, the victim had (it turned out) a fractured skull, cheekbone and broken jaw. Lovely. We went on a little late, played to an indifferent crowd (another of those 'Why do they put bands on?' pubs), and as I was leaving about midnight there was another police car outside and a couple of officers hanging about. I went home... Satdy was a teatime gig at a friend of the BL's (a bassist himself) house, in his big garden. Supposed to go on at 5:30, I shortened the day at home to be there, but there was another lot on before us (the birthday chap and his friend) needless to say we went on at about seven. Bah. Dep drummer, supplied electronic kit, different PA, it was a bit of a mishmash, but it sounded OK in my inears straight from the desk. The BL stayed and there was a jam session that went on for hours, but I was home for half nine. Modded Squier Sonic P (still pretty much perfect for the gigs I'm doing right now), Stomp, inears...some nights it pays to travel light...

Its finally arrived after 3+ yrs. My Mesa TT800 and its incredible. Won't go into detail as i've posted a NAD here on BC but here's some pics as evidence i now have it. Trust me this amp is amazing. I love it. Dave

I liked different things about each, but I think the one I was most happy with was the Celinder - it just absolutely nailed that 70s jazz bass slap sound. In terms of 'dreams' it absolutely was the exact sound I had in my head for that particular style. But I was never particularly keen on the jazz body shape. The Smith 5 was amazing and sounded perfect, but I din't find 5 strings as natural as 4s. Both these two were a bit tricky in a band situation, where each got a bit lost in the mix. Possibly something I could have addressed with amplification but I felt they were excellent studio instruments. The Alembic 6 was way too heavy and I am even less comfortable on a 6 than a 5. Plus you whit that out and people think you're going to be absolutely shit hot, so it was writing cheques my body couldn't cash. The Vigiers - had many, but the faves were the Excess and the 1988 passion, which was my number one for a looong time, having seen off everything else I have had in between. But I feel like it doesn't suit what I do now, my tastes and style have changed and I no longer feel like it's 'me'. The Smith 4 was fantastic but I couldn't get the setup as nailed as I would have liked (I used to obsess over that more than I tend to now). Stingrays are great but I found them hard to develop a 'voice' with - they sound lovely but somehow I never find them very expressive, no idea why. I keep thinking I'll try again. The first two 'high end' basses I owned were a Pedulla MVP and a shell pink 57 reissue P bass. I certainly hadn't developed my tastes enough to appreciate them at the time, especially the P bass which I wish I still had. The Pedulla was amazing and sounded great, but I never 100% loved the shape. I think I sold that for a Marleaux. Looking back, though, I don't think I've ever really lost much money along the way. Apart from that initial purchase of the Fender and Pedulla, I think I've generally traded my way through different things and loved the process. Probably lots more to come, but I've arrived in a happy place! I think it's true what you say about sounding like you no matter what you play, but the bass makes you play a certain way, too.

For 'fiddly' bass lines, use a Hofner 'violin' bass. ...

Yeah, it's a Tuesday...but it's not too early to look forward to the weekend and a Maple Road double-header! Sat. 8/3: Maple Road LIVE @ Wisconsin State Fair; Major Goolsby's Stage! 3:45pm-6:45pm. Fried stuff on a stick, a giant slide, unmatched people watching, and a whole lot of live rockin' blues! Sun. 8/4: Maple Road LIVE @ Kettle Moraine Supper Club! 2pm-5pm. Happy to be making our debut performance here! Come on out for some Sunday Funday action and we'll show 'em how we do things!

IME the success of any method to join a band very much depends what sort of music you want to play, what sort of commitment you want from your band mates, where you live, and how far you are prepared to travel. However a lot of the time it comes down to networking and not being a dick. If the band you want to join know who you are from previous musical ventures, know that you are going to be ok to get on with and can perhaps bring something on top of your bass playing abilities to the band you are more likely to be offered the place over someone they have less idea about. I currently play in two bands. One of them was a band who I was a fan of and was following on Facebook (see it is useful for something), so I saw their post when they were looking for a new bass player. The other found me through my JMB ad. I had been very specific about the sort of music I wanted to play and what sort of ambitions and commitment I was looking for in a band. However when it came to the actual auditions, the fact that both bands knew who I was from my previous musical activities (my last band had shared the bill at various times with both bands I was hoping to join) gave me the edge over the other candidates.

I have ACS PRO17's and PRO26's for a stupidly loud band I play in. You don't like muffled? Well that's what your hearing is heading towards without protection. IMO ACS are good value at twice the price.

Yes. Still going. Although have had to scale operations WAY back and are building back up again.

Nice review from the Dreadnought's resident band critic Alex Hastings. Unfortunately no pics or vids have surfaced yet. Dave "A packed Dreadnought Rock was the place to be on Saturday for lovers of music with an 'early 70's' vibe... Namely Glam Rock.!! Blockbustarz were back in the place that rocks to follow up their fabulous Christmas party gig of last year.... Mike, Colin, David, Lynn and Barry 'Bazza' Haywood were glammed up to the max, in their sparkly, shiny and very colourful costumes, not forgetting platform shoes akin to small step ladders.. ... For nigh on 3 hours, they blasted out hit after hit, leading to a few 'missed buses home'... That's rock n roll.. ..... It just happened to be Brian Chizzmeister Chisholm's 58th Birthday and Bruce Henderson's big 6-oh..! And they both had the happiest of Birthdays.. .... Bazza on drums was wearing a glittery pork pie hat, and silver shoulder pads an NFL quarter back would be proud of... It didn't stop him from rattling the skins though... Lynn didn't need to cheat in the 'long haired wig department' as she blasted out shared vocals with Micky Blitz. . The anti hooligan safety fence was in operation tonight following Lynns unfortunate black eye incident of last year... . Just as well going by the frantic, frolicking, footwork of the group of Glamtastic lasses in front of me... ......... . We had Sweet, Mud, Alvin Stardust, The Rollers ,Bryan Ferry and many more. The crowd were into it big time. "Ballroom Blitz" they roared as I looked behind me for any 'Attack from the back..'.... ... "That's neat, that's neat" they yelled as all and sundry tried the 'Mud' dance.....The fence was being tested as they swayed along to the Rollers and rocked along to Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting from Elton... "Schools Out" sang Micky Blitz as the crowd chanted with him. Chizzy was in the zone now and I wasn't far behind him... .... T-Rex, Sailor, Showaddywaddy, Bowie, the tunes kept coming, and the fence huggers were still 'Giving it laldy' as George Thom would've said.."'Under the moon of Love! " sang the faithful... Another favourite from Mud, The Cat Crept in, Crept Out Again ( lyrics of genius!) led to more step over your feet dancing. Brilliant.... Sometime during the mayhem my name was heard being shouted by Lynn followed by the words" Tell Him! "... Cue some lunacy from yours truly ably assisted by the Birthday boy himself, Chizzy, as we bounced around to" Tell Him' from Hello... What a song, a song I've been jumping around to since 1984 in the Twig (Eh Billy Haggarty ?)....... The chaos kept being chaotic as the band gave us Hell Raiser, Elected, Waterloo, the Jean Genie, Virginia Plain, Can the Can and yet more...... Magnificent effort.. (I'm feeling burnt out just reading this )... I'm sure the Time Warp was in there somewhere.. It was now getting a bit hazy as the Belhaven Best was starting to kick in... .... The punters were having a ball, as expected and Micky Blitz and the band cranked it up some more for the final push. A rousing Loch Lomond came up as a mid song medley to the delight of the crowd. Teenage Rampage, Devil Gate Drive, and the song the band take their name from, Blockbuster were all played for the punters, who by now must have been on their last legs.. None more so than a 'doon the fronter' who'd just came home from Benidorm in the afternoon.. Respect.. ... As the time approached 11.30pm or thereabouts, the band took their well deserved leave from the stage. What a gig, what a night and what a crowd. Another top night in the Dreadnought had been had. Once again top marks to all concerned.... Big Hastie over and out from the Goth , Armadale... (I just made it home in time for one last beer)..... Elton got his song wrong, Saturday Night's All Right For Drinking...... If you see him, "Tell Him".....

My advice, always define what you're looking for in a band before you start looking. Daryl

That sounds great. Fancy doing Bridlington...?

Agreed - there are independent audiologists who do this sort of thing without needing a Boots. Any hearing aid specialist should certainly know about this stuff - go in and ask.

I'm really glad someone from the Basschat collective managed to attend and meet him, we were on holiday. I'd have to say he's my favourite living bass player. To me, the era of Bowie's music he played on, prior to the 'Let's Dance' star and a backing band dynamic ( to my ears anyway) was a team effort where everyone from Tony Visconti, the musicians and Bowie himself interacted so well. From a recent interview where he mentioned the BC Rich, was that the bass on 'Ashes to ashes' I wonder? There's an interview I once read where Andy Newmark was discussing playing on 'Double Fantasy ' and he mentioned that there was an awareness that whatever went to tape was going to be heard by a lot of people for a long time, but also you were playing with an artist that worked very quickly. I can imagine the late '70s Bowie band must have felt like that. Trying to be creative, to put your art and identity across but within the confines of popular music. That's as good as it gets for me. I hope he stays in the public eye more, he's a greatly appreciated musician.

Another vote for ACS here - I've worn mine at every gig and musical event for the last 15 years. I already had very bad tinnitus when I bought my first pair and I won't pretend they've "cured" that, but they've certainly slowed down the deterioration and they make gigs far more pleasant places to be. Bonus if you sing (lead or BVs) because you can hear your own voice inside your head far more clearly, helping greatly with pitching.

ACS are your friends. They’re moulded earplugs to your own ear-canals (I got mine done at Boots). I’ve got their PRO17s which apparently give the flattest most neutral sound, no particular frequencies dropped over others. In the band I use them for the music drops from intolerably loud to that of the sort of volume you’d listen to music at home, every instrument crystal clear - in fact it’s a better sound than without them as being quieter it’s far easier to focus on the rest of the band. Not cheap - about £150 - but what price is our hearing. Not IEMs by the way, just regular plugs.

Superb, what a great player - ‘Breaking glass’ and ‘Yassassin’ are two of my fav basslines by anyone. And seems a lovely bloke too!

It's always heartening to see Basschatters rolling their own. It's surprising how easy it can be to show many commercial boxes a clean pair of heels. Nice job.

The listing is 8 years old, so price may well be north of that by now

I got one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364786830824?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=k2lumud2szy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=hNc7PDPYRJi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY and made a bar to rotate the tool round a bolt in the centre. It's easier to manipulate than a grown-up router.

Possibly because I build more prototypes than finished cabs I deliberately cut my holes slightly loose and use a gasket to seal them (gaffer tape usually) Once I have a finished size I seal it with whatever sealant is in my mastic gun. So far nothing has ever moved but a tight fit would be better. I'm saying this because I want people to know that there is always a solution and it makes it easier to start a build knowing any minor errors are soon sorted

Actually, there's no classical Fender tonestack, but a James one built in a perverse way, so that it's flat when turned all the way down. This particular pedal is also not very power-amp-friendly since it hasn’t got any buffer at the output. Seems like it won’t sell soon Back then, I also built a Particle Accelerator one, which sold very quickly as it’s a very nice one with a classical Fender tonestack. The bloke who bought the latter was as happy as Larry. So, back to topic, there’s Underground Accelerator by Sushi Box FX, which is basically the same as Particle Accelerator, but with one or two features more.

This one has been with me since November 1988 & is my most prized possession. So as we have been together for 36 years and counting, I guess this is my dream bass.

He did mention the BC Rich Eagle to me, and I believe he did use it on Ashes. To be honest he didn't seem to be particular about instruments or gear, he talked about trading away his original P bass for example, the black one he'd used through the Bowie tours with the jazz pickup added near the bridge. If it was me I'd never have traded something like that away! But I think he had no particular attachments to instruments and liked to experiment. Joining the Bowie band I'm in has really upped my respect levels for him. We try to base our versions on live tracks and trying to get the bass parts from Stage down for example was a big challenge for me. The bass is a lead instrument on that album, in my opinion. And on the day after our show he specifically asking around for me by name, and wanted to sit and chat with me, which was incredible really! Such a kind and humble man.

My Sonic Blue Jazz Bass , close replica of the Jazz bass I played in the late '60s, headstock and all , but mine had dots, not blocks !

Fantastic review Dave, Please post any vids or pics when they surface. Daryl

Give ACS a call. They're usually very good at helping out and might have a solution to getting local impressions made. 🤷‍♂️

Great reply! Thanks. I know what you mean about Stingrays. I've had 3 at different times but I've always ended up letting them go. But I still wouldn't mind another. It's complicated! You're right, different basses do make you play differently. I really meant that hearing or seeing someone else playing a particular bass can inspire us to dream of owning one to get that sound, but inevitably we will usually only sound like us playing that bass. I with you though, it's a darn fun journey! Some you win, some you lose but it's always an education. It's an interesting ride for sure!

Absolutely brilliant!

Still using mine on a regular basis Great little monitoring / practice cab.

However, don't spread yourself too thinly or you might end up annoying all your bands if you are constantly juggling your time between them. Any decent band will be out gigging almost every weekend, which leaves little time for anything else serious. I get away with two bands because both are of a similar genre and if we have gigs on the same day it going to be at the same event (something that has happened twice so far). I'm also realistic enough to know that if either band suddenly become more prolific or popular I'm going to have part company with the other one.

Actually i am. The first two were brought just as i got back in to playing bass. I actually did like them but there were other things that i felt i needed to try, so found more fault (or reason) to not like it, and it was a lot of money for something i wasn’t sure i needed. Now ive tried the other pedals, which i actually thought would work as i loved them before, my mind is a bit more settled. I did love the MS-60B+ more, sound wise, but for home use the ability to just plug it in to my ipad and have it powered from that is vey convenient. For this use it’s the best ive tried, BUT (😂), now im enjoying using it ive found im pretty much sticking to one or two presets, with a bit of tweaking. Ive found the sound i was after, and very happy with it, but do i now need a box like this where the MS could also do just as well live. I know i wont use 90% of the other bits, in fact im not even using the BDDI sim which was a must at the start. I ignored the amp sims at first because im going to be using an amp, but now ive spent proper time with it i think ill be using those amps as a tone shaper (rather than to emulate the original). Having the ability to dial back the cab in the MS actually makes more sense now. Bloody hell, it’s never ending 😂

Nothing wrong with using a pick but, if you’d rather not, try 3 finger trills, I go: ring, middle, index, repeat.