Leaderboard

TONIGHT! The Dysfunctionals 3 piece at O'Neill's Solihull. You know it's going to be a good one when you arrive at 7 and the place is packed (many of them drunk and pissed up on booze) and the dancefloor's full. At 7 o'clock! Arse of a load in through the full dancefloor, setup all pretty normal... speedier than usual if anything. The DJ was a bit weird - he kept doing Tony Blackburn style talking along to the tunes which was hilarious. Went on to an excited/feral crowd, dancefloor was packed from the first song, IEM mix was absolutely perfect, Bass sounded great, drummer was smashing it... pretty much a dream set. The 80s numbers (Tainted Love (Yes, I know it's technically a 60s song, but you know what I mean), Don't you want me baby? and another one that I can't remember) seemed to go down the best for some reason - no-one in there looked old enough to remember the 90s, let alone the 80s. Quick vape and Shandy break, got accosted (not physically) in the gents by a bloke telling me how much he loved punk and Nirvana and that we should do Teen Spirit or some X-Ray Spex (?!)... I politely demurred but he really wasn't having it, bless him. Second set was even better than the first, Nirvana man came up midway through (mid song!) waving his phone at me, with Teen Spirit on Youtube... I told him (again) that we don't do that one I'm afraid, he got rather cross and started telling me how easy it is and what a good song it is. 🤪 Two terrifyingly huge, tattoo'd bouncers appeared halfway through the set and stationed themselves on stage, which was worrying and reassuring in equal measure. I think they were just keeping an eye out for any ne'er-do-wells, rapscallions and/or miscreants as there was no trouble. The drummer got propositioned twice (mid set (he is gorgeous TBF)), my wireless dancefloor visit had me surrounded by a gaggle of absolute honeys, the holy trinity of Saturday night pub covers (Dakota, Sex on fire, Brightside) went down an absolute storm (knock 'em all you want, drunk people love them) Nirvana man shouted for Teen Spirit (AGAIN) as an encore (We didn't play it), the singers voice held out (just), the encore (The Oasis one about Sally being able to wait) had the whole place up... an absolutely belting time was had by all. Same setup as last night (Sterling -> Newly expanded small pedalboard -> Amp board (VTDI set to 'Warm compression' or 'Fat Tube'... something like that) -> Mark CMD 121 -> PA) with Leopard print Converse, foot fans! Nirvana man came up AFTER WE'D FINISHED and asked for Teen Spirit again. He really likes that song apparently. Load out was a ton of fun (through a packed dancefloor (many of them drunk and pissed up on booze)), fifteen minutes back to my Dad's place to three cats who swore blind they'd not been fed in weeks (I'd fed them about six hours previously), a pint of Old Pa StingRayBoy's homebrew Whiskey cider (ABV unknown) and a fish finger, smokey bacon and St Agur blue creme sandwich. With chips. Best night I've had in ages.

Played a boozer in Worthing (the Egremont) with our AC/DC tribute’BAD BOY BOOGIE’. Hard to believe that the band’s been going for 30 years! We’re all old mates and it’s such a laugh. Only do about 3/4 gigs a year with it now but it’s always a craic and last night was no exception. Got a lift too so enjoyed having a few beers with it as well. We dress up with the wigs and all that and don’t take ourselves seriously but the audience always love it, who doesn’t like a bit of DC ! Actually got another one nxt Friday at the cavern in new Malden. Rock ‘n roll xx🤣

I keep telling myself to stop acquiring more gear - anybody that knows me also knows that I don't listen!! Beautiful Maruszczyk (I'm going to have to learn how to spell Adrian's surname!!) Mensinger custom 5 with Poplar eye front, Mahogany body 30" neck and matching headstock. Came fitted with flats and plays like a dream...lovely low action and super smooth neck. Hope you fellas like it as much as I do...

We did a wedding gig last night - nothing fancy, mostly playing background music as the guests arrived. No pay, as the BL had signed us up as a favour for the bride. One requirement was that at the end of our set, before a ceilidh band came on, the bride's father was to join us on stage to play some blues harmonica. As it happens he was clearly sober and pretty good at it.

Played a 50th birthday for our singers other half last night at a pub in Kempston. Glad the road over was reopened after the recent flooding. Good lively evening and took the opportunity to play some newly learned songs.

Last night was third time out with my recently acquired Fender TB600 head, via my BF Super Twin. Bass was my AVRI 63 Precision strung with Chromes. Venue was a gopping estate pub outside Bristol but the staff and punters were friendly enough, despite medically inadvisable levels of inebriation among some of the latter. Suffice to say that I enjoyed the gig, thanks to (1) the sound coming out of my rig, (2) the playing of the lead guitarist.

Enjoyment is imminent…

Played the Brit club here last night, a surprisingly excellent gig. Not for any other reason than we weren’t sure how well a blues band was going down, but as it turns out very well. This is the first outing where it’s been a full evening of just us, we advertised it as an ‘evening of blues’ and an appreciative audience turned up. The guitarist introduced us with ‘if you don’t like psychedelic blues you’ve come to the wrong place’! Also first outing for the Marshall stack and sounded awesome. Went old school for this one, back line and only vocals thru the PA.

Hi This isn't so much a build diary as its dead easy and quick, but it might help other people thinking of making their own pedalboard. I stumbled on this modular pedalboard. I think @SamIAm might have suggested it in another thread. https://github.com/indifferentengine/ModularPedalboard/blob/main/STL/Components/Handles/3 Rail Handle/Handle.stl I liked it and downloaded the STL and Fusion 360 and put a new roll of eSun Fire Engine Red PLA+ and printed it up. It took nearly 30 hours as the printed elements need to be strong and so had an infill of 60%. However I just left it on the printer for a day or so. I got some cheap aluminium 2040 (that's 20mm x 40mm) V-slot extrusion off Amazon and simply assembled it together using T-Nuts (supplied with the 2040 pieces) and some M5 8mm bolts. Top tip, 8mm bolts are not long enough despite what the website says. M5 10mm bolts are needed as you can only get perhaps half a turn on the T-nuts. I had M5 8mm on the shelf and stupidly assumed that the designers knew what they were talking about. I also printed two handles, they come in halves and need to be glued together, that's why there is a slight gap in the picture below as I hadn't glued them. That's a job for later today. It measures 400mm x 300mm so will fit into any number of 3rd party bags on Fleabay. This is what it looks like from the side. I have ordered some plastic end stops in black. I did print some but they were a nightmare to fit so decided to buy some to cover the ends up. This is it with the pedals I have. A Peterson tuner into a Mod Dwarf and then into a Tonex amp sim.I deliberately keep this minimal otherwise I'd end up with loads of pedals that I liked but don't really use. I have space for 2-3 more pedals (if I took the handles off). Not sure if I'm keeping the handles or not yet. # As the whole design is modular, I can change this as needed into something else.I could split the four rails into two small pedal boards. There are lots of other options on the website so I can't take any credit for any work here at all. The next problem I do have and would welcome input, is the PSU for this lot. There's quite a lot of space under the top and there are designs for a PSU. However the Mod Dwarf needs at least 1.5A at 12V and preferably 2A at 12V. I can't find a single pedalboard PSU that can put anything like this out. I was hoping if I mentioned @LukeFRC @LukeFRC @LukeFRC three times, he'd come in with some clever electric ideas Thanks Rob

Bit of a dull gig last night. 40th birthday party, again, in an echo-y barn (again again again) and no one listened to us the first set at all. Everyone went outside to watch the rodeo bull shenanigans they put on the same time. Bit of a crowd the second half, but the venue is a cider factory and it was quite clear birthday boy was only interested in getting absolutely plastered, and his speech at the start of the 2nd set clearly indicated he was doing a good job in that respect. Then on to today’s adventure, band call 2 for footloose. Starting to manage to rein in the md and excitable drummer with the tempos. Not playing my finest but too tired from day job. A couple of notable moments, after the rehearsal we head down to the pit, being a former municipal swimming pool is was formerly the deep end. The recent weather meant it was trying to return to its former role. And our beloved md, forever tinkering with the drum part, adding triangle here, cowbell there, (yes we all said it) asked the drummer to do a suspended cymbal roll and a fill at the same time. When the drummer replied he wouldn’t for the same effect with regular sticks the md asked- ‘do you have any double enders?’ Many double entendres followed.

Hiya @Frank Blank - here’s my take on these basses:- If you have £4K - your choices are:- a) A pre EB Stingray in v good condition. b) A brand new 70s retro Stingray (same as an early pre EB but brand new with full warranty etc). They’re available in the EBMM Vault, for international shipping (only in natural) - the other colours have to be ordered via a dealer (say Guitar Guitar).* c) A brand new Stingray Special via the Custom Design Experience - plenty of colours, pick up configurations etc * d) A brand new Stingray Special in a standard colour via a dealer * * dependent on what you get, you’ll get plenty of change from £4k Used, Stingray Specials are up to £2k as are Stingray Classics, much dependent on colour and spec. Standard Stingrays up to 2017 are around £1500 although there’s much variation. Now some user experience - I’ve been using this type of bass since about 1980 and apart from occasionally playing a Musicman Bongo, I generally play a Stingray. My go to is a 2018 Stingray Special HH - the HH can get the standard single pick up (bridge) sound but you have options to mix it with elements from the neck pick up for a slightly broader, 2 pick up sound - also gives an additional wicked scooped slap sound. It’s a Swiss Army knife bass - my sound is really a Bernard Edwards sound or Pino Palladino circa 1981. I don’t favour the 2 band over the 3 band particularly because the 2 band can produce too much low end bass which can be muddy in certain rooms. If you have up to £750 then a US Musicman Sub is a good option. The bass would be about 20 yrs old but effectively a full fat 2 band Musicman with cheaper textured finish and painted back of neck finish. I have a 5 string one which I gig sometimes. Basses I use currently on gigs:- Funky blues/jazz - Stingray Special usually Rock and Roll/Elvis - Stingray Classic or Sabre Classic (both 2 band - I prefer the Sabre owing to two pick ups) Ska - Stingray Tim Commerford passive long scale Pop/disco/funk - Stingray Special I hope this is helpful - I’ve actually got 11 Stingrays including various 5 strings, fretless, 2 band and 3 band. The 3 band versions give far more versatility to deal with ‘difficult’ room sounds and to be switch sounds slightly between numbers. I still love the 2 bands as well though. I haven’t covered the Sterling by Musicman stuff as others have covered these - the Ray 34/35 are the offshore version of the pre 2018 Stingray (about £1.2k new and maybe the same price or less used than a US Sub. Also I haven’t covered copies.

It haz control cavity cover.

There's a rock band that have to have all their gear set up *exactly* the same way at every gig, they're called OC/DC.

I've had a 2 band 1989 Stingray since the early 90s and it has been my main bass and reference for playability and tone since then. For years it was my only bass so always feels like 'home'. I recently picked up a Stingray Special as wanted to try the new 3 band EQ and to not rely too heavily on the 89 as a primary gigging bass. I'm really loving it, but the tone is quite different, especially the treble quality which to me seems 'sweeter' but not as transparent. The midrange character is also subtly different to my ears. It can get very close to the tones I like from my 2 band when bass and treble are cut. Boosted it sounds great, but different. In a band setting it's not huge, but I am already appreciating the bigger range of tones on offer. In summary I'm really glad to have both as they offer similar ground in the things I like about Stingrays, but different enough to justify having both! There's really great choice if you're in the market for a Stingray now, either pre-2018 used, the Sterling ranges etc etc that you're bound to find something you're happy with at a price you're comfortable with. I managed to pick up a new Special for not much more than I see then go for used, so deals are out there if you are flexible about colour and fingerboard material.

Woo hoo! The bass is back in one piece and everything is working as it should. The new switch works perfectly with no glitching. After turning down the volume a bit, rolling off the tone no longer drops the volume The puretone socket is positive and doesn't push the jack to one side as it is plugged/unplugged. The copper shielding has silenced the small amount of noise that was there. All in all a perfect result which calls for a huge sigh of relief and a small glass of celebratory Whiskey.

Found this on YouTube yesterday, Fats Domino and his band playing Jambalaya live. Those guys were amazing, I have no idea who any of them were. The bass player never gives up and the sax player is extraordinary. And then there’s the guy dancing about in front. Show business at it’s best. Edit. Lee Allen and Walter Kimble, both amazing sax players

A bit OT, but IMO a plagiarist is someone who copies like for like. Find me a musician that hasn’t been influenced by anything or anyone else. They don’t exist. Stu’s lines and styles were evidently influenced by those the bass community often refer to as the players that pushed bass playing forward, which is all the more impressive considering his few years of learning before writing the lines to these tunes. The most striking attributes for me is how effortless his timing is and with how much ease he navigates the fingerboard. Twenty years of learning and I don’t have it the way he did after two!

I am officially OUT of this years thread. I got myself into a slightly better financial position and bought myself a bass (I literally haven't owned a bass in a couple of years)... I did have to push the boat out with Paypal Pay in 3. I hope I have made a right decision (Historically, I have not been a fan of P-J basses, however watching Vincen Garcia and his Yamaha BB basses have made me reconsider... But then again this is equipped with EMGs and Reverse P...) Custom built by Stas Pokotylo Monarch PJ bass. Ukrainian based Ex-Fodera luthier. It has some loving wear on the body but I am excited to receive it. There is very little on these online outside of Ukraine, but I fell in love with the understated looks. It's a real risk for me especially buying it online, but who knows I might be quite surprised! (I guess I could always trade it out otherwise!)

Decent gig. As you know when we do our acoustic thing we're merely background music. However we had a few people dancing. 5:30-8:00, I was home by 9:30. No pics this time. Daryl

As mentioned James didn't found the label Acid jazz. It was founded by Eddie Piller and Giles, but totally run by Eddie from around 1990. That album was a fair bit before Andy McKinney's time and was recorded in 1995. I played in the band from 1990-2007 and played on that record.

The Pre and Post you mention @Frank Blank is the the Pre Ernie Ball era, so the Leo Fender era starting in 1975, because of the non compete clause after the sale of Fender to CBS in the first days of January 1965. The first instrument, the Stingray, was made in June 1976 with the Radio Knobs, a white pickguard alongside long pole magnets pickup and the last in early in March 1984 when the company was sold to Ernie Ball. The preamp was first black epoxied, so unfixable. Check this website for all the explanations needed: http://www.musicmanbass.global/ Having a 1978 2 EQ and a 1987 rosewood fretboard 3 EQ at home alongside 2 Sterling by Music Man Ray4's (a Sunburst turned into a Radio Knobs with a Nordstrand MM 4.2 pickup coupled to a Nordstrand 2B-MM preamp and a Pueblo Pink fully stock except for the pickup wired in parallel for more tone accuracy), all I can say is that the real tone of the Stingray comes from the pickup wired in parallel coupled to the 2 EQ preamp. The 3 EQ preamp is interesting, but the added midrange changes the overall tone. If you are short money wise, buy a Sterling by Music Man Ray4 and simply wire the pickup in parallel, you'll be amazed by the tone. The maple fingerboard works terrific with flatwounds and the rosewood fingerboard works very well with roundwounds. If you have the money, buy a Pre Ernie Ball, but prefer a model from 1978 on as all the original flaws have been corrected: the mutes won't cut your hands anymore, the saddles are aligned with the strings, the pickup has lost its too strong long pole magnets and the preamp is not black epoxied anymore (so fixable), but still lacks an anti reverse polarity diode and a battery switching output jack (yes the battery is always on even when it's not plugged, but the consumption of the LM4250 chipset is deliriously low and won't empty your battery before years, no kidding), but it takes 2 minutes to solve this.

Bit of a "Meh" gig last night - Cantina band at The Lounge in Boldemere, Sutton Coldfield. Usual story - not that many people there, a few enjoyed it enough to dance, dep drummer (mate of mine, top bloke), we played really well and sounded good, I got paid to hang around with some mates and do what I enjoy, so I can't complain. Played some songs with a pleccy again, which was gratifying... sounds great with the EHX Bass Soul Food on Blitzkrieg Bop and Anarchy in the UK. Punktastic! First outing for the new expanded mini pedalboard - upgraded from a Nano to a Nano+, replaced the Harley Benton ISO 5 with a Cioks DC7 (lovely bit of kit) and added an EBS multidrive and a TCE Sub 'n' up to the Soul Food, Hookers Green Bass Machine and MXR chorus deluxe. The Multidrive sounds great (Tubesim setting for me) and absolutely roars with the Soul Food in front of it. Also used the Sansamp VTDI in Rock mode for the first time - Wow! Played the Sterling -> mini board -> amp board (Thumpinator -> VTDI) -> Markbass 121. O'Neills Solihull tonight with the Saturday night covers band, usually a really good gig... fingers crossed!

A bit of a quiet night - except for the bloke that bellowed FREEEEEEEEEEEEBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRD at regular intervals. Not a busy pub but those that were there seemed to enjoy it. Had some issues with the Xvive IEM’s cutting in and out in the second set, and finding somewhere to put the transmitter that doesn’t wipe out either the router in the desk of my iPad for my mix is becoming a right royal PITA. I rather think I need to search for a better solution. Our sound guy had a new Allen & Heath CQ desk and WOW 😮 the difference between it and the old Behringer xAir was night and day. Everything in my IEM’s was clear and separated and but for the my system cutting in and out I was very happy on that front. Still need to get levels properly set for my mix but it bodes well.

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to move to 5 strings, so I bought a Sterling Sub5 from the for sale forum. However it didn't quite sit right in the band mix, and was supplanted by a new Sire PJ 5-string which suits the band better. So I had the Sub5 kicking around looking lovely but not really being played. I put it up on the forum where it got a couple of likes but no bites and I eventually withdrew it. Wondering what to do with it, I did a bit of searching into maybe getting a new pickup to try to give it a bit more punch. As luck would have it, a lot of search results were for old Basschat threads. In a couple of them I saw that some people recommended a preamp upgrade rather than the pickup. A lot of them recommend the Retrovibe Stinger preamp, being a copy of a 1977 Stingray preamp. Roll forward a couple of weeks and the new preamp arrived and I fitted it this afternoon. Wow - it's transformed the sound. So much nicer, I can't wait to try it out on a gig. I've always loved a Stingray sound but never got on with the fat neck that most of them have. Having since moved to 5 strings and hence changed my technique a bit, I'm a little less fussy about a fatter neck - although the Sub5 is actually narrower string spacing than my Sire. The Stinger preamp sounds great on a 5 stringer. Hopefully I now have more than one 5-string bass of gig-worthiness

End caps and velcro came, I've glued the handles together and put velcro and end caps on and it all looks nice. The end caps are bit cheap, but not to worry. The pictures make the handles look like sh1t. They're not! The velcro blends in fine. I'll look for a PSU to put underneath in slow time. Am trying to find a 12V/500mA PSU with a +ve centre pole. Struggling a bit through old ones. Rob

A half hour of fettling with files and sandpaper and the original pickguard can now fit over the new pickup... I couldn't find my round file so had to improvise in the corners - they're maybe a tad square but TL:DR, it's on.

If the bass playing doesn't work out you could always write prose for a living!

Good point!! Just using an old Laney 1 x 15 combo (160 watts and quite punchy), a Doc Lloyd Photon death ray comp and a combination of a Squier Jazz with custom pups and a Musicman. Around 150 people, didn’t want to be too loud but equally some of the Hendrix numbers can’t be too quiet. Seemed to get the balance about right as we could take the dynamics down to a whisper for things like Worried Life Blues (Robben Ford style) and Little Wing, and push it back up for the likes of Fire and Purple Haze.

I have put together the new loom using a typical p-bass circuit. I'll finish off tomorrow and solder the white wires from the pickups to each side of the switch, and then the black wires from each plus the bridge and body lug grounds to a blob on the shell of the tone pot. If it all works first time I'll celebrate with a small glass of Bushmills 10 year old single malt. if not I'll have some troubleshooting to do. I found that the new iron made it much easier. I didn't have to hold it on the components so long to get the solder to flow. I used the lead free as I need all the brain cells I can keep hold of. Even though the original Korean pots closely resembled CTS pots I had to get out the tapered reamer to open up the holes in the control plate so the CTS ones will fit.

350 to 400 should do well for general use, but it does depend a bit on what you’re soldering and how thick the solder wire is. If you’re working on pots then crank it up (I use 450 or so) and don’t keep it in contact with the pots any longer than needed to do the job.

It’a not aimed at you. The OP seems to think that we’re making fun of his learning DB, but that’s not the case. We all offered polite and friendly advice.

I’d love to be in an AC/DC tribute band - tho for me it would be the Chris Slade on bass version given my shiny scalp.

Yes, adding EQ to the sound, although you could then tune everything to the strengths is not really the point, if anything the opposite of the point, it is to show where you start and how they compare flat.

As others have said there’s no bad years for EBMM stingrays the quality has been top notch all the way through. And I would agree the 2 band eq ones are the most classic stingray sound. The new post 2018 “specials” are actually my favourites nowadays they sound a little less naturally scooped and have a warmer tone, and are lighter which is a big benefit.

I have always found that the easiest way to get old solder to reflow, is to add new solder to it. I have been using the same, 17w Antex iron since 1991, and have never had a problem with it. I have never tried lead free solder.

With lead free solder you need to use way higher temperatures. 300 to 350° Celsius is for old solder with lead. 450 to 500° Celsius is for new lead free solder, which, by the way, is deep shìt.

I’d personally get a used one, the prices now are pretty steep. The post 2018 are called Stingray Special. They have roasted necks, a new 18v preamp which is lovely, a neodymium pickup, lighter hardware, and a much more ergonomic feel. They are typically lighter too. I had one, but prefer my 2 EQ Ray from 1995, 2EQ and alnico pickups being the main reason. Also prefer my old 2015 3EQ, but it’s just subjective, the Special is still very good. Pre 2018 you can have a 2EQ, which is bassier, or a 3EQ which is a bit rockier I suppose as it has a filter in the preamp that takes out some bass. The Stingray Classic was a kind of reissue model, 2EQ with a slab body, and a heavy flamed or birds eye neck. But the vintage style slab body is uncomfortable for some people. Some folk love the 80s EBMM transition basses, others the early to Mid 90s ones, that also can have figured necks. But to be honest, I’ve never seen a ‘bad’ period. Across the range the differences in tone can be nuanced, a good Ray usually sounds like a good Ray! Check out some YT vids for a ‘at your caution’ little idea - like

I find myself reaching for the semi-acoustic and active fretless now... They just make you want to play. What scale is that? I find Warwick profiles/shapes slightly different, so it takes me a month to get used to them - I'd imagine Spector are the same, but it has been so long since I played one. (Love Bart soap bars)

She's Right I'm Left, our acoustic offering is back at The Harley Motor Restaurant tomorrow Saturday 5:30-8:30. Daryl