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I'm gigging so much this year, but don't tend to post much on this thread. Had a Saturday night with the function band at a holiday camp, which was pretty good, but Monday Bank Holiday's afternoon gig at a local pub (mini beer festival was great). Do it every year, and weather was perfect, and it was rammed full. A little picture of some ol' middle aged man fumbling away on bass..... ho hum

So much to entertain in this, lovely stuff

Played Victorious Festival in Portsmouth with my rock/indie band WOOED on Saturday just gone. Absolutely bucketed it down from 6am onwards until our set at 3.30pm, and was dreading all my gear getting soaked on stage. 😬 However someone was smiling upon us from above and it started to clear up from 3pm onwards - so much so that I had to wear shades during the set. Felt very sorry for those who played earlier, especially as this fest is right on the seaside - the wind was howling. The festival backline was a lovely 810 powered by a OB1-300, it was very very loud, no problems there at all. Had my trusty anniversary Squier for the event, been with me the last few shows and it sounds absolutely brilliant. I did have the tone knob rolled all the way up by accident and had to turn it down by half during the show, but that's user error...and I've had worse things happen! We clashed with CMAT and Frankie Boyle which meant there weren't too many stragglers, but very grateful to those who did come and see us - and still by far the most amount of people we've played to, on by far the biggest stage! I wish I could do it all again. A few pics from soundcheck...

Whoops... I'm out. After telling three of my nearest and dearest that I'm going to a music shop but I definitely won't buy a bass. But how could I pass on this. Marcus Miller P10. Second hand but as new. £499. Completely different from all my other basses.

I saw this earlier. It’s cool that he seems to be just as excited as the rest of us are when receiving a new bass

My biggest laugh of the day came from Mrs Knob when discussing the reunion her: any interest in all this Oasis business? me: nah, never liked them. no word yet on who's going to be in the band apart from Liam and Noel either. I bet it'll be Noel's current band with Liam singing her: what, Noel and his Low Hanging Fruit?

https://bassguitarrocks.com/bass-amp-eq-for-beginners/ The above article although it's a few years old has proved to me that after playing for 8 years i am very much much still in that learning curve everyone speaks about. Some great info here and if it helps anyone else like it did me then all's good in the Bass world.

Could be worse...could be a bass solo

Thanks! I can help, but be warned: you have just kicked open the door to some paralysingly dull pedantry. This bass is the same thing as the Satellite, and it was made in Korea (possibly by Cort) around 1980-ish. I've seen a few names on these, and I've got an idea there's a Hohner-branded version. Satellite was the budget brand of UK importer/distributor FCN Music, dates are unclear but they seemed to appear mid/late 70s & all appear to be Korean-made - at least, I've never seen an MIJ one. To clear things up, there's no such thing as a 'Teisco Satellite'. Sellers like to call anything a bit old, far-eastern, & cheap/wonky-looking a Teisco, but not many of them are - there were dozens, possibly hundreds of small guitar manufacturers in Japan during the 60s 'guitar boom' (nearly every backstreet wood shop/furniture manufacturer jumped on the bandwagon), most of which were gone by 1970 - including Teisco, which was bought over by Kawai in 1967 & absorbed in to its parent company. Budget guitar manufacture moved to Korea & Taiwan during the 70s, as most of the big Japanese manufacturers focused on better quality & ultimately, original designs. The starter-level Korean stuff coming from Samick & Cort in the 70s & 80s used the designs & hardware types common on 60s MIJ stuff - hence slightly weird crossovers like this Satellite, with its 80s body/headstock but bedecked with tinny, barely functional hardware. If there's a takeaway from this it's that your old 60s Japanese guitar probably isn't Japanese, or anything like as old as you thing it is. Told you, didn't I?

Some FB vids appeared from our last Glam gig. http://www.facebook.com/1443828596/videos/pcb.1859868427855029/523462433512957 http://www.facebook.com/1443828596/videos/pcb.1859868427855029/1025009992445593 Dave

Picked up a new Graft 5 in the Frostbite finish today directly from Alan at ACG HQ. Absolutely loved it from the moment I pulled it out the very nice gig bag. Acoustically felt and played just right and plugged in I was taken aback at the wide spread of tones from a passive bass. Bridge pickup can honk with the best of them and it does the hollow two pickup slap tone supremely well too. Can't wait to start using it with the band! Also had a look at some Retro B Standards with coloured figured tops and East preamps. They were superb and something I will be investigating further. Picking up a used Krell 4 string turned me onto the brand. Glad it did 😍

Just saw this pop up on Instagram and it was counting down. Looks like a new bass amp to me 👀

You’re making me feel guilty now 😂

One of the worst for me was when I was doing a session on drums for an indie/dance crossover band that were playing the dance tent at Glastonbury, in the late 90’s. I won’t name the band because they were all gakked up arśèhölés and just a nightmare to put up with. One of those “only doing it for the money” gigs. Everybody’s done them. Anyhow, one of the vocalists had the bright idea to let off a distress flare inside the tent about 10 minutes into our set. Visually the first 10 seconds were amazing but then there was thick, choking smoke everywhere. The audience and bar staff evacuated pretty quickly and security escorted us off the site. I had to plead and beg to go back in and get my drums out first. No way was I leaving a 1968 Ludwig kit and rare cymbals behind. I was furious. The tour manager (ex-army) clumped the idiot singer and quit there and then. The band had 3 days booked in a hotel in Castle Cary, but I f***ed them off and got the train back to London the next morning. With my drums, traps case and cymbals case and everything. Stuck my invoice to the management agency in the post on the Monday and that was that. Lesson learned? Take your B-team gear out on gigs you’re not sure of, and don’t gig with arśèhölés.

Oh no, I know where this is going. Now everyone will try to locate your former bass. Someone will eventually find it in some obscure part of the world. With the help of several other Basschatters you will be re-united with your 97 Jazz. You will be be super happy with it until..., well...., you sell it again after a few months 🙂

Agreed, Paul @walshy bought a Modulus Flea from me a while back, sold it on and had the extraordinary decency to not only tell me he was going to do so but to send me, in cash, the difference. Walshy also plays a very act role in the community and has on many occasions helped me and other out with purchases etc, in fact he was only last week hunting down a very specific instrument for me, you'll never guess what......... There's a few others on here I won't name who do not work that way sadly I was tempted a while back to start a thread listing basses sold on BC that are a) now for sale at an inflated price and b) not for sale on BC, the main issue for me being less the inflated price-tag but the fact that the new owner is often trying to hide the mark-up by not selling it on BC and thereby opening themselves up to comment in the thread. I thought better of it as I imagine it would have been locked within days, but as Lawrie @Burns-bass says above, all that happens in price inflation which does no-one but the dealers any favours. Still, it would have been fun to point out some of the bullshit, the 'my trusty old Precision' bollocks about an instrument they've owned for less than a week and possibly never even played

When it comes down to it, Oasis (and the bands that they influenced coming just after) were the last to come through and get record deals on the back of playing live, selling out clubs and building a big following. If nothing else, I think that it is great that the whole country is talking about a band from a working class background who play guitars and wrote songs that mean a lot to people of a certain age. Also, those songs were massive hits but didn't have autotune, five producers and seven people getting songwriting credits. It's a lot different to most of the stuff dominating the charts today and that's all good in my opinion.

A bit short notice (although to be honest, does it really matter - how many BCers are there in/around Fraserburgh? ) Playing with Nine Lives at the Balaclava on Friday 30th August.

IMHO you can't go wrong with Harley Benton ' s PB-20.

Does "Mustang-shaped" count? My Atelier Z Baby Z has Mustang dimensions and the narrow Musicmaster string spacing, but with JJ pickups and active electronics so it's more of a shortscale powerjazz.

Yes good. First rehearsals and added bite, clarity and punch. Really happy - turned an already good bass into a great bass. They definitely have sauce as the kids say. Kinda like paying £200 for a pedal but that’s always on. Well balanced and not overly aggressive, kinda mix between modern punch with vintage warmth well done Tim Shaw

After wanting one for some time , I finally landed an Elf.

I know what you mean. I've been a member of Bass Chat so long I feel like I do know some of you. The gig stories are fantastic. Most of the stories I can say " been there, done that". But nobody can top my Baraboo Blues Fest story when I forgot to bring my bass. Lol Daryl

Saturday saw us playing at a wedding, the bride is our drummer George's cousin so it was a pro bono job. It went well and we had lots of compliments. We had Danny, George's Uncle sit in on vocals for a song called 'I loved her first' which is a family favourite and was performed in memory of the brides' father. There were a few moist eyes after that one and we were chuffed we didn't farp it up. The nosh was decent.... especially the corned beef salad sarnies, which me and our 6-string maestro Phil (yep, 2 Phil's in our band) wolfed down with aplomb post performance. Sunday we were at O'Neill's in Leicester to a middle-sized crowd who seemed to enjoy our sets. Here's the pre-gig pic with the atmospheric images on the TVs... Used my go to gig set up of Mike Lull P4 through the Handbox R400 with matching cab. 2 gigs this coming weekend too, so no rest for this weekend warrior

We rented a big econo line van that day. I remember being halfway to the gig and announcing to the band I left my bass behind. Jenny was driving and and she looked at me and said ; " Well, we're not turning around and going back to get it." Lol Daryl

That right hand one would be remarkably close to one I’d have serious trouble avoiding 😂

Let's see what they'll come up with. Looking forward to it! From BassMagazine: https://bassmagazine.com/spector-welcomes-frank-bello-of-anthrax-to-their-family-of-artists/ "Spector® welcomes Anthrax bass legend, Frank Bello to its artist roster. Anthrax is one of the most influential thrash metal bands of all time and Bello’s brutal bass riffs have been the driving force behind that success for forty years. Spector is currently developing the Frank Bello signature bass and it will be released in 2025. In the meantime, Frank will be exclusively playing Spector basses for rehearsals, recording, and on the upcoming European tour this November during Anthrax’s co-headlining tour with German thrash titans Kreator with Bay Area thrashers, Testament. “I am so psyched to join the Spector family- a place that already feels like home for me! The great people at Spector listened and contributed to every last detail that I was looking for in a bass- and I am truly so excited for everybody to see what we’ve come up with. It was great to have the opportunity to bring some Spector basses on tour to give them a test run, and I can honestly say- they checked all the boxes, and then some… Good times ahead, my friends- Let’s do this!! “Stated Bello. As Taylor McLam, Spector’s Artist Relations says, “We are honored to welcome Frank Bello into the Spector family. Having a NYC thrash metal legend like Frank playing a legendary NYC brand like Spector is truly a match made in heaven—or should I say, hell?” There will be much, much more coming from this monster metal alliance. Spector continues to be the bass that touring musicians love to play. Check out www.spectorbass.com for up-to-the-minute updates on this and all things Spector."

Yeah thanks mate and what a bass! I think it's the done thing tbh, especially on here as everyone is kinda mates. I think paying the difference on that was profit was the right call. I mean I run Vintage Bass Room as more of a business now than a side hustle, although still not full time and hope that I contribute to the forum too. I did also pay the rather large commercial fee last year to sell things on here, which I didn't mind at the time as long as we all did, the fee was quite large but if it goes towards the running of the site then I am all for that. Unfortunately I don't think it was followed up/difficult to police so I guess fell by the wayside this year. I think we are all aware some of the bigger retailer/bass places regularly scoop stuff up on here and it goes online at a much larger fee as you say, I guess thats the way they run their businesses which is par for the course I guess. Ive even talked people down on the commission I would charge if it sells as they're mates 🤣 Maybe im running it all wrong after all 🤣

….Of course if the “right” Lionel appeared second hand I’d be in a lot of trouble

I've been nipping off to have a cheeky play every now and again. It definitley seems like it's going to deliver for me. I'm loving it. It feels really nice to play and use. The switches have a nice click, the pots turn smoothly and all of the EQ and tilt controls have a centre detent. The headphone out is excellent. At 7kg it's still lightweight compared to my ABM-600, but it's not as light as it could be if it didn't have the wooden case. I like the aesthetic though. It looks like a classic amp. Laney chose the visual appeal over it being the lightest thing and I'm pleased they did.

It's only the brothers who are being talked about. No-one seems to care about the rest of the band.

Completely understand and agree. In my experience, I’ve found there to be a real sense of community on here, especially prevalent in the marketplace. Other than one very rare occasion, my experience of buying/selling on BC has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve been genuinely touched over time by people’s generosity and community spirit. It’s a real shame if contributors such as yourself are now reluctant to sell due to the potential that the purchaser’s sole motivation is to make a fast buck, but I completely understand your reluctance. I’m of the view that most people’s intentions are positive, and if not, well, it’s on them… Anyway, not to derail the thread any further… what’s the best/worst vintage Fender you’ve ever played?!

I’d steer clear of that one myself, it will probably end up costing more than it’s worth to replace the truss rod, and it’s got binding which makes it more difficult, just my opinion

Agreed, there doesn`t seem to be any "big star look-at-me" stuff going on with him.

I’ve been perplexed by the price increase on these in the last year or so. I bought two sets for £35 each when they were first released. It’s actually cheaper to buy directly from Amazon in the US. And I’ve bought things directly from Amazon US and always had a smooth transaction. They also offer free international returns which I’ve used before. Even with customs and shipping, the total landed cost for the flats is £62.05!

This is sensible from Fender. No one, least of KR, is under any illusions as to his capabilities as a bassist. What's also clear is how much he loves being a bassist. Here we see him, thanks to his standing in the world, getting a beautiful Fender lovingly-made to his exact desires. And then we get a nice long chunk of Mr Adequate Bassist being dutifully adequate with his band, with his lovely new bass sprinkling its magic onto the experience. Fender Custom Shop: simply waiting for your specs and your wodge. Come on, we won't judge you 🤗

Whenever I see him being interviewed, he just seems like a nice, normal guy, who just happens to be a Hollywood star.

They're certainly going to town... apparently there's a lot of new merch being launched. Including food. The first item to be released will be a soup. It's just soup, but you get a roll with it.

I'm sure Noel and Liam will let you know straight away.

First reaction is it's really nice and might be perfect for my current needs. I still need to try it plugged into a cab and with my pedalboard, but straight in and through the headphones I'm very impressed. The "valve" channel is lovely and squashy. The clean sounds the same as the valve, but clean. You can make it sound really dark but there's a lot of clarity which I think will work well in the band. I'll be able to give it a bit of a blast at home tomorrow as everyone else will be out. It would also look so cool in purple tolex, grey piping and a matching grill cloth to my cab. Might need to see if Zilla will swap my badge to black and silver...

So….. I’m putting this here rather than the build diaries because it’s complete. I found the bass on the bay for peanuts, largely because it had a warped (forward bowed) neck, and the truss rod was maxed out. The previous owner had given up on it, describing it as “f@&£&d and bent like a banana” and “ beyond help”. “The fretboard will need to come off and the truss rod replaced….. it’s f£&!@d mate”. Is it really I thought. First job, will the truss rod loosen and the nut come off….. Yep, it did. So, knowing that the truss rod worked, I knew there was hope. I Ordered some tiny washer/shims to drop onto the end of the loose truss rod, just to give the nut some help when it goes back on. I also found, unbelievably, a period correct truss rod cover to replace the one that was missing, thanks to the awesome Henning at Twang vintage guitars in Sweden…. Next, was to clamp it, over heat (a hot water bottle) to coax the neck straight again. Actually it was clamped slightly more the other way, so that it could be loosened off a bit if needs be. I cooked it for an hour, and tightened the truss rod back up while it was still clamped and hot. The hot water bottle doesn’t get hot enough to worry about melting the glue, but the neck got pretty hot under there. After it came out, the result was absolutely perfect, with a slightly bent backward neck, still under tension from the truss rod. The heat had worked perfectly. The plan was to fit the strings in the morning and loosen the truss rod off a bit if needs be to get the action right. So, all that was yesterday, and today the strings went on, after cleaning and conditioning the beautiful fretboard With sheer blind luck, when fully tuned up, the action was perfect! Lovely low and buzz free, it’s spot on at the first attempt. Needless to say I’m over the moon….. These Korean ones had the US made white top pickups, and are really well made and respected, although the shape isn’t for everyone. They CAN fetch quite a bit on the used market. The plan was to fix it, practice my tech skills then flip it….. but I dunno…. 😆, I really love how this bass turned out… What a cracker of a bass. Another one saved from the parts bin. Delighted indeed. Thanks for reading this far 🤘🏻

An easy job done with around £50k of "right tools"... 🤦

Agreed. They're more likely to say "Hey look. A corpse". Some of the Botox/fillers techniques have their roots in the mortician's trade, where cadavers are prettied up to look good in the casket for the wake/funeral.

Regarding Botox and fillers etc, or any similar "procedures", they aren't going to make you look younger or fool anybody that you are eternally youthful. At best you will just look like another silly middle-aged bloke who has had botox and fillers to try and hold onto the past. Do you really want to pretend that you are eternally in your twenties? It's no more convincing than someone who is going bald having a comb-over. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look good whatever age you are, but the secret to looking your best is to embrace the inevitable changes and make the most of whatever age you are. Self-consciously trying to look younger will just make you look a pillock. Society has changed so much that you don't even need to change your style that much as you age. Fifty years ago an OAP would have looked ridiculous wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Nowadays no one would notice. You don't have to become an old man just because you are over fourty anymore. If you can maintain a healthy weight then that's a big help as you get older, not just to look good but also because of the health benefits. There's nothing like middle-aged spread to make you look middle-aged. Other than that, you can find a personalised style that makes you look fashionable in a classic way, not necessarily following the latest trend. It's true that age is just a number, but it's a number that signifies how old you are, and how old you are makes profound differences to your life whether you acknowledge it or not. Trying too hard to be younger than your years never works, it just makes you look desperate. You can still look great as you get older, but you have to acknowledge the fact that things are changing and make allowances for that.