Leaderboard

Just starting to revive my BroncoMaster. I'm working on a paint tone to make it cream-yellow with nitrocellulose and I'm currently having a custom split coil made the size of a strat as pickup. The Duncan Hot Stack never really made it.

......because they are unable to do their job or simply deaf. (Finished for you)

An English explorer was trekking through a remote jungle with a local wise man he had hired as a guide. Two days into their journey, far from civilization, they began to hear the faint, slow beating of drums in the distance. Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum. The Englishman said to the wise man, “Is that anything to worry about?” “No,” said the wise man, “Drums not bad. Only bad when drums stop.” As they pushed farther into the jungle, the drumming gradually grew louder and faster. DUM-pum. DUM-pum. DUM-pum. DUM-pum. The Englishman felt uneasy and prodded the guide, “Are you quite sure that's all right?” “Yes,” the wise man assured him, “Drums not bad. But when drums stop...very bad.” Farther in, wading through the thickets and bogs of the deepest, darkest jungle, they could hear the drumming becoming more urgent. BUM-chika-chika. BUM-chika-chika. BUM-chika-chika. Before long the drumming had surrounded them, sounding mere inches away, the deafening rhythm accelerating to a frantic pace. BUM-bakka-chika-chika-BUM-bakka-chika-chika BUM-bakka- Now gripped with mortal fear, the Englishman's wide eyes darted frantically in all directions, his heart racing, his body pouring sweat, when all at once the drumming ceased. ...chika-chika BOOOM. Then silence. Utterly panic-stricken, the Englishman gushed, “My God, what happens now!?” The wise man slumped his shoulders, hung his head sadly , and moaned, “Now...bass solo.”

My Skyline 55-02 which I got from Paddy777 on here. Has quickly become a gigging favourite.

Thank the lord we don't have to listen to sound engineers and band members 💤

Same. If it makes people happy and gets us booked back, it's only 5 minutes out of my life. I've got little time for those who turn up their noses at popular numbers. Aren't we supposed to be entertainers?

Seems appropriate on this day where John Entwistle would have turned 80. Two Brooks Fenderbirds next to each other.

Absolutely loving this lightweight set up, Markbass Pure 4ohm 10Kg, Spector RST under 3Kg and a my super loud Elf safely on the top with Velcro underneath. Keeps up with two loud Guitarses without breaking a sweat. Sounds great.

Well, i ordered one this morning. i was all set to do it years ago but real life in the shape of a stroke took over. its taken 3 years to stop being a couch cabbage and to find the necessary interest to get back to playing. i did find out that the +£100 for a fretless neck is not for a second neck but for the guys at bass centre to defret the one on the bass you order, so ive got a fretted one. never played a fretless apart from my baby bass, so i will leave that for the time being. any other old buggers here who get the brain fart, chin up it can only get better

I've played Mustang Sally many times, in many bands, when its played IME people in the crowd dance sing and enjoy it. Cant recall playing it and having an empty dancefloor. Jonny

Gail Ann Dorsey is one of the nicest people I've ever talked to. She even showed me Marilyn. What an incredible honour to have her on my podcast.

I had to change the output jack, thought I'd share these pictures of how it's aging. I think it's a 1983/4, s/n is an E31****

Hi everyone 😘 Several weeks ago I've been dealing with a very frustrating guy some 500km away from me, who wouldn't sell me the only Yamaha SB500S I've ever seen offered here in Spain (highly cromagnon dude who wouldn't accept any platforms or mail options -all very protective of the selling party-). Left it for impossible. Then some weeks later a very cheap one from Japan showed up on Reverb and I pulled the trigger early last week. All in all little over 500€, shipping and import taxes included. The bass I got is a black body one in great condition. Not only superb for a 43 y/o bass, just superb overall. I was fearful of the neck profile (some reviews said too thick) but it wasn't. After minimal setup (needed to lose some relief, also lowered the bridge saddles) it plays fast and comfortable. And THAN TONE 🤑 I already own an SBV-500 (flying samurai) and I consider this its "sonic brother". Sounds very similar (utterly punchy and aggressive Jazz Bass style) but, unlike the flying samurai, the neck pickup soloed sounds more Precision than Jazz neck. I don't know what it is about these pickups that sounds so awesome, I'd like to have these pickups on all my basses, that's how much I like them. The SuperBass being precursor to the BroadBass (BB) series, I'm indeed disapointed (after owning several Yammie BBs) that they've gone more generic sounding with each new series. Just don't get it. At least they've used standard shape/size pickups, which you can change, for their last genereation. Without further ado, here's some pics... And here's my two loud barking Yamaha "Jazzes"... Doing some sound samples ASAP, will keep you posted. Cheers! 🍺

And one more song, this time full open Jazz tone...

Burn me.

I made my own playlist to avoid the obvious ones... Some are quite well known like Christmas Rapping, others are classics any time of year, like this:

Overview. I’ve wanted an EBS Fafner 2 since they first came out in 2010, but there was no way I could afford the hefty price back then. I have always kept an eye on the pre owned market in the hope that one would come up at some point however. Earlier this year (2024) a pre owned Fafner 2 became available from Bass Direct here in the UK. Needless to say, I was very keen and was particularly pleased when I found the price to be significantly less than half of what it would have cost new back in 2010. Naturally I bought it and man am I glad I did. Here’s my review of this beast of an amp. Disclaimer: I’m just a dude who plays bass in a few projects and bands, I am by no means an online reviewer. All views are my own and I have not received any payment or other incentives to produce this review. I am only reviewing gear that I actually own and have purchased with my own money or that I have access to due to items being on loan from various friends. Build Quality. The Fafner 2 is sadly no longer produced, in 2020 it was replaced as the EBS flagship model by the EBS 802. When it was being produced however, it was hand built in Sweden to ridiculously high levels of craftsmanship with high quality components. As I mentioned earlier, the amp wasn’t cheap when it was being produced, but I have to say, my example oozes quality and is showing no signs of falling apart. The amp is incredibly well constructed and has nice clear writing for the controls which, for those who can see, is very useful indeed. The aluminium casing is solid and the whole thing is generally built like a tank. The front panel facing is thick aluminium with a beautifully machined air intake for the fan and a stylised dragon head that illuminates red when the amp is on. The amp is rack mountable and even the rack mounts and guard plates that double as handles for manhandling the amp into a rack are beautifully engineered. Dimensions & Power. Width, 48 cm (19”). Depth, 36 cm (14.2”). Height, 13 cm (5.12”). Weight: 16 Kg (36 lbs). Power: 750 watts continuous into 2 ohms, 610 watts continuous into 4 ohms, 310 watts continuous into 8 ohms. Knobs & Switches. The knobs on this amp are solid aluminium with a raised ridge that runs down the centre. There is also a notch at the end of the ridge that indicates which position the control is set at. They feel great under the fingers and it’s incredibly easy for me as a blind player to feel how my controls are set. The push buttons on this amp are nice and chunky and all are of the type that stay in when engaged. This is brilliant for player’s like me with vision loss or indeed for people playing on dark stages as it is immediately obvious whether a button is engaged or not when relying on touch. There are 2 power switches of sorts on this amp, a power switch and a standby switch. They are both rocker style, are good and solid with a positive clunk under the fingertip when engaged. What I particularly like is that the power switch is wider than the standby switch that is located to the left of it. This again is fantastic for me as I can tell by feel which switch is which and because they are next to each other at the bottom right of the front panel, it’s very easy for me to get my bearings before adjusting any controls. Features, layout & ease of use. Front panel, from left to right. 1/4” instrument input jack. High (top) and Low (bottom) character filter push buttons. Pushing these buttons to the in position engages the associated character filter boosting the high or low frequencies respectively. Gain knob: This control has an LED that illuminates red when clipping occurs. EBS recommend setting this control so that the LED illuminates when playing loud notes such as when digging in or slapping. Compressor knob: Turning this knob clockwise increases the amount of compression applied to the incoming signal. This control has an LED that illuminates blue when compression is occurring. Tube mode push button (top): Tube mode is engaged when this button is in the in position. An LED on the button illuminates when this button is engaged. This applies the tube to the clean channel resulting in a gorgeous tube purr. Filter active push button (bottom): The EQ filters of the amp are engaged when this button is in the in position. An LED on the button illuminates when this button is engaged. Disengaging this button removes all filters, EQ and drive, leaving you with the pure tone of your instrument. Drive channel, top row, from left to right. Drive knob: Turning this knob clockwise increases the amount of drive. Mid EQ knob: This is a band pass filter that enables 15db cut or boost at the frequency selected on the Mid Frequency Selection knob. This control has a centre detent. Mid frequency selector knob: Turn this knob to select the frequency you wish to adjust with the Mid EQ knob. - 7 o’clock position is 50Hz. - 10 o’clock position is 200 Hz. - 12 o’clock position is 400Hz. - 2 o’clock position is 900Hz. - 5 o’clock position is 2KHz. Edge knob: Turn this knob clockwise for more sizzle, turn this knob anti clockwise for warmer tones. This control has a centre detent. Drive channel level knob: Clean channel, bottom row, from left to right. Bass EQ knob: This is a shelving filter that enables 18db cut or boost at 80Hz. This control has a centre detent. High Mid EQ knob: This is a band pass filter that enables 15db cut or boost at the frequency selected on the Mid Frequency Selection knob. This control has a centre detent. High Q push button: When this button is at the in position, a narrowed band of 1.8 that is effected by the High Mid EQ and Mid frequency selection knobs is engaged. When this button is at the out position, the affected band is 0.7. Mid EQ frequency selection knob: Turn this knob to select the frequency you wish to adjust with the High Mid EQ knob. - 7 o’clock position is 100Hz. - 10 o’clock position is 400 Hz. - 12 o’clock position is 800Hz. - 2 o’clock position is 1.8KHz. - 5 o’clock position is 4KHz. Treble EQ knob: This is a shelving filter that enables 15db cut or boost at 10KHz. This control has a centre detent. Clean channel level knob. Boost push button (top): Engaging this button gives a linear boost to the drive channel resulting in more of a fuzz tone. Serial push button (middle): Serial mode is engaged when this button is at the in position. Parallel mode is engaged when this button is at the out position. Drive active push button (bottom): Drive is engaged when this button is in the in position. Master volume knob. Standby switch: Turning this switch on supplies power to the tube section. This switch should only be turned on after a delay of at least 15 seconds after the power switch has been turned on. Power switch: Once this switch has been turned on, wait at least 15 seconds before turning on the standby switch. This allows power to warm up the tube section. Pre EQ DI out (left): This sends your clean unprocessed bass sound to the front of house sound desk or studio recording interface. Post EQ DI out (right): This sends your processed bass sound, including compression, EQ and drive, to the front of house sound desk or studio recording interface. Ground lift push button: Ground lift is engaged when this button is at the in position. Pad push button: Pad is engaged when this button is at the in position. Back panel, from left to right. Power cable socket. Line out 1/4” jack (top). Power amp in 1/4” jack (bottom). Clean channel send 1/4” jack (top). Clean channel return 1/4” jack (bottom). Drive channel send 1/4” jack (top). Drive channel return 1/4” jack (bottom). Standard FX send 1/4” jack (top). Standard FX return 1/4” jack (bottom). Lo-Z input 1/4” jack (top): You can plug the receiver of your wireless system directly into this jack. Tuner output 1/4” jack (bottom). Filters remote 1/4” jack (top): You can engage and disengage the high and low filters as well as the EQ section with a footswitch connected to this jack. Note that the high and low and filter push buttons must be at the in position for this to work. Remote 1/4” jack (bottom): You can engage and disengage the drive and mute the amp with a footswitch connected to this jack. Note that the drive push button must be at the in position for this to work. FX mix mini knob: 7 o’clock position is 0%, 12 o’clock position is 50%, 5 o’clock position is 100%. 2 Speak-on sockets. The RM4 Footswitch. My Fafner 2 came with an EBS RM4 footswitch. The RM4 is incredibly well made, very sturdy and has 4 high quality footswitches running across it. Here’s what they do, running from left to right. Character: Engages and disengages the high and low character filters. Filter: Engages and disengages the EQ filters. Drive: Engages and disengages the drive. Mute: Mutes and unmutes the amp. Sound quality. I said this in my review of the EBS Reidmar 752 but I’m going to have to say it again. EBS have some black magic going on in their amps which apparently maximises the power efficiency to squeeze out every last decibel of volume and tone. Whatever they are doing is very definitely working! The Fafner 2 is rated at 310 watts into an 8 ohm speaker load. I run mine into my Barefaced BigBaby III, which is an 8 ohm cab that can take a maximum amp power of 800 watts and I play in a very loud metal fusion instrumental band but have never taken the master volume above 3. I do not say this lightly, but my Fafner 2 is the loudest thing I have ever heard or played running into a single 12” speaker cab. I cannot imagine ever needing to run it into a 4 or 2 ohm speaker load to get the 610 watts or 750 watts respectively, but it’s good to know that I have the option if I ever need to go truly nuclear. This amp can do pretty much any tone you could ever possibly need. You want warm vintage Motown, no problem. Some 80s pop thin but bright tones, a few tweaks of the EQ and you’re there. Heavy tube saturation for some 70s classic rock, it won’t even break a sweat. Crisp definition for some funk slapping, it’ll give you all you could ever want or need. Gritty punchy clear attack for some modern metal, run the channels in parallel and watch your guitarists weep. The compressor on this amp is superb. It does a fantastic job of smoothing out your tone without squashing the life out of it, even when at its maximum setting. It’s also practically silent. I really love solid state amps, yes they are heavy compared to class D offerings but there is a certain weight and depth of tone that comes with a quality solid state analogue amp that just makes me want to play harder, louder and for longer. The sensitivity of the Fafner 2 is an absolute joy, it responds with immediacy to everything you put into it, whether it be heavy pick attack, galloping finger style, melodic finger picking or harmonics. The amount of tone shaping available on the amp across its 2 channels, not to mention its compressor and character filters make it unbelievably flexible and I haven’t even talked about the FX loop options and duel DIs yet! There are 3 FX loop options on the Fafner 2, clean channel, drive channel and standard. You could just use the standard FX loop like pretty much every other bass amp out there of course and there’s nothing wrong with that. Alternatively, you can split multiple FX between the clean and drive channels to maximise your tonal signature. I particularly like having an octave in my clean channel and will often add chorus to my drive channel. The whole set up is ridiculously flexible. The Fafner 2 has duel DI outputs, one unprocessed (without filters) and one processed (with filters). This makes it incredibly versatile for studio use. You can record both a processed and unprocessed signal at the same time and then mix the 2 together or pick what suits the track best or pretty much whatever you like. There are of course quite a few bass amps that have duel DIs these days, but I’m pretty sure that when the Fafner 2 came out in 2010, there were very few that did. Conclusion. I’ve waited a long time to own a Fafner 2 and I have to say that I’m not disappointed by it. In fact, it has surprised me and pleased me every time I’ve played through it. It’s the best solid state analogue bass amp I’ve ever owned for sure. It’s an absolute tone monster and so flexible I’d find it hard to believe anybody would fail to get exactly what tone they want out of it. It’s responsive, punchy and seems to have head room for days. It is a heavy amp, not as heavy as a full 300 watt tube amp of course, but significantly heavier than modern class D amps. Mine weighs in at 21.3kg in its rack bag with the RM4 footswitch and my cables in the external pocket, so it’s heavy but not unmanageable. Does the weight put me off taking it to rehearsals and gigs? HELL NO! It’s such a joy to play through that it’s worth the extra effort to take it. Obviously I cannot see it, but the first time the guitarist in my band saw it, he said, and I quote, “holly crap man, that thing is a beast. It’s bad ass”. I must admit, I couldn’t agree more. One of the things I enjoy the most about the amp, apart from how it sounds, is how tactile it is to use. The controls are well spaced, are intuitively laid out and all of the buttons are proper mechanical buttons rather than digital style buttons. This makes a huge difference to me, even though I can’t see any of the LEDs, the fact that I know if my character buttons or drive buttons are engaged simply by feeling them is a joy. I believe EBS take the same approach with all of their amps, it is certainly the case on the Reidmar 752 I’ve got for example, and I am a big big fan. Reading the user manual for the EBS 802, which is the Fafner 2s successor, I see that it is roughly the same size and weight as the Fafner 2 with a similar feature set but without the duel channels. I imagine it uses the same style buttons and knobs, but don’t quote me on that because I’ve never actually seen one or felt one in real life, so would hopefully be as tactile as the Fafner 2. As I mentioned earlier, my Fafner 2 was pre owned and although it had clearly been looked after, the tube had either been in it for a long time or the original had never been replaced. EBS recommend that the tube be replaced roughly every year as obviously they do wear out. I must admit that I was a little concerned that replacing the tube was going to be expensive but was delighted to find that even ordering directly through EBS a new tube cost me less than £25 including the shipping from Sweden to the UK. The difference the new tube has made is very very noticeable and I couldn’t be happier with the amp. If you are a blind player then the Fafner 2 or indeed any of the EBS amps I’ve experienced would definitely be worth serious consideration from a tactile and ease of use perspective. They sound fantastic and I’d be very surprised if you couldn’t find an EBS bass amp to meet your sound, size, weight and budget requirements. To find out more about EBS gear, visit their website at https://ebssweden.com/content2/amps/ #EBSFafner2 #EBSFafner2GearReview #BlindMusician #BlindBassPlayer #Blindness #PlayingMusicBlind #MusiciansWithDisabilities #ExperiencesOfTheBlind #BestBassAmpForTheBlind #EBSBassAmps

Fab night out watching Public Service Broadcasting (with EERA) in Kingston tonight.

Not for me it doesn’t sound enough like a Fender or look enough like a Fender. 😉

You want tone and sustain, our Supreme High Impact Technology refector will give you that brown note. The high focus multi-modal beam reflector plate (TM, PAF) removes the need and expense of a high mass bridge when you want a tone mirror plate. Through the use of AI designed sound wave guides the HFBRP concentrates and beam aligns the sound waves into an optimised diffraction pattern that maximises the energy incidence at the bbot antinodes, maximising the in phase resonances. The high tech reflectance results in much greater transmission efficiency compared to regular tone mirror plates, it is the Total Bass Sustain system. Optimal operation may require an 18V supply on your Ebow or using the recyclable graduated multi-layer paper damping system.

I knew someone who, immediately prior to leaving their local, would pop 50p into the jukebox and select 1. Kylie Minogue - The Loco-motion 2. Kylie Minogue - The Loco-motion 3. Kylie Minogue - The Loco-motion 4. Kylie Minogue - The Loco-motion 5. Kylie Minogue - The Loco-motion 6. Kylie Minogue - The Loco-motion 7. Kylie Minogue - The Loco-motion

This gig was fun! Band called "Delorean" who I depend for a short while back - flat out rock. The drummer's a friend and invited me in, and we all had a total blast. Great players and the vocalist has a hell of a range! att.t04Yv-Fv5ALPUeaMd6s6QN5IXCiigh5fRZp7Hv42vNw.mp4

I played Steel Paws at the weekend in Sheffield. I'm over 3wks into a bug that is not shifting and my desire to drive up from Wiltshire and back in a day wasn't great. I brought my trusty Hofner Verythin bass and Blackstar U700 head. I was delighted that the festival cab was a Blackstar 4x10. From the second I plugged in, it sounded great. I'd not met the drummer before but our three piece sounded great. The stage manager afterwards told us we were the most professional band of the night. There were loads of pro photographers there but I am still waiting on the photos. This image is from the previous show but I figured worthy of a share. Pic courtesy of Nick Ashton Photography.

FB Market Place... G4M Acoustic Fretless Bass, already wearing Rotosound Tru Bass Nylons... Bargain at £40

OK I'm so moved my @scrumpymike's emoji-tears that I'm going to try to come for part of the day (by which I mean lunch of course!) but with reduced kit, namely: - BF Super Twin - Some of the heads - 2x Dingwalls If anyone particularly wants to get their hands on something in my sig, shout out and I'll bring it along.

What difference to tone? I’m assuming you used tone-metals? 🙂‍↔️

The linings, scroll, tuners and proportions look a lot like my East German Musima. Loads of them were imported in the 70s as high school level basses, so they're not uncommon. They're good, solid, ply instruments - real workhorses.

Plus a fairly simple and easy fix.

I'll send you the bill 😊

Quick song, on neck pickup...

can’t wait to play this later

I'm in.

IME you'll have longer than you think if you buy the right gear.

thanks bud but pulling the trigger on the triad - GLWTS

I used to change them after about 2-3 months, but since I started using D'Addario NYXL 45105 jobs they last a lot longer - still not feeling a need to change them after a year. They start out a little dull and don't get much duller.

On the bass that I play the least, the strings arent even a year old. My job basses have strings that aren't even a week old and one will be ready to change in the next few gigs. Strings on those basses would be incredibly lucky to remain on for as long as a month when I am gigging them (lots).

I often forget that on here I am in a minority as someone who is first and foremost a composer and not a bassist. For me being able to play instruments is a means to an end (making it easier to compose) and not the end in itself. I'm only a bassist insomuch as it is my preferred instrument when playing live with other musicians. For me technique is irrelevant unless a lack of it gets in the way of being able to perform the songs live. If I come up with something that I don't have the ability to play consistently well there are a number of options available to me that don't involve having to spend hundreds of hours working on my playing technique. If necessary in the studio I can build up my "performance" out of shorter easy to manage/play chunks, or even note by note if that's what is required to get the result I want for the song. For live I use a non-standard tuning on one of my basses because it makes several of our songs much, much easier to play. In a way that's what bothers me about Mr Berthoud because IMO he has made things deliberately difficult for himself, starting with the choice of instrument on which to perform his "feats". It makes for engaging viewing, but without the visual component would it be as impressive? Most of the artists I like are probably fairly average as musicians, but the magic happens when they play together and compose, not showy technical dexterity, and for me the important thing is how memorable I find the song, not how accomplished as musicians the people playing it are.

@Jackroadkill I know exactly what you mean by it being fizzy, I still get moments where the nerves decide to randomly come alive for no reason and my fingers feel like I'm being electrocuted LOL. Hopefully you won't have any lasting nerve damage or numbness as that feels weird. I've accidently cut and burnt my fingers a few times over the years as I can't feel them and, cutting my fingernails is aways an odd experience. The worst part for me is that my hand always feels stiff, it feels like I'm wearing a rubber glove, over a rubber glove, over a rubber glove and then trying to move my hand normally.

Nothing adverse on this bass Graham, you were maybe just unlucky, I am a fussy B if there was an issue it would have been sent back. When I buy a new bass, I go over all the screws nuts etc and tighten them all , amazing how many tuners are slack on any bass and any make, bridge screws , as they have settled since the bass was made and need to be tightened up.

I worked part time in a local supermarket when I was 15, and the music they played in there was truly dreadful. It sounded like even cheaper versions of those ‘Top of the Pops’ compilation albums that were popular in the 70’s. ( For our younger readers, these were cheap albums containing dreadful covers of recent chart hits, nothing to do with the TOTP programme on TV. Usually on crap budget labels like MFP and Hallmark - see pic.) The worst songs were those where they didn’t stand a chance of sounding anything like the original artists / recordings, such as Slade, Rod Stewart and Bowie. Working all day Saturday meant I’d hear every song probably at least 8 times, maybe funny the first time or two and then after that sheer hell.

I feel sorry for anyone working in a shop in December having to hear the same dozen festive songs on repeat all day every day. I detest all forms of xmas music so I wouldn't be able to do it.

In thirty years of gigging I have never played Mustang Sally. I may not be rich and famous but this has to be an achievement.

I remember being in Tesco earlier this year and Kruangbin were being played over the tannoy. I was pleasantly surprised, given the usual dross that is on.

I like Barefaced cabs, had a good few of them but I’ve never found that the “this 1x12 is as good as a 4x10” thing worked for me. Their 1x12s sound like very good 1x12s to me, but averagely priced 4x10s put out much more depth of sound in my experience. As such I’d say you’ll get very good quality sound from a Super Compact but not sure if it will match the depth that you get from your two Bergs. The SC will certainly go loud though, BF cabs handle pretty much anything sent their way.