Leaderboard

I've seen these, as I'm sure many have, on the Internet for years. I've also seen many opinions about them being complete tat. So, one popped up and I snapped it up. It's a 1972. The guy bought it when he was 12 at school and never really used it. One of those purchases that just gets continually moved around the house for years. He'd sold his amp 25 years ago, so couldn't be tested, but I was fine with that. It looks great, surprisingly light, and short scale, but looks cool!! The neck was very nice to be fair, nice size, feel, look and finish. The fret board had age related character and was straight. The tuners just seemed to be loose but I'd take a look at them. The bridge looked crazy, but a tidy and a quick investigation meant I could lower it fine. Still highish, maybe truss rod needs adjusting. As suspected, the electrics didn't work, so I took it apart. Hammered it with switch cleaner and turned everything a million times. Slightly adjusted the jack and hey presto! It was brought back to life!! I've fitted a pair of flats - surprisingly the tuners now feel great under tension - for that authentic early 70s feel. It sounds great! Each pick up has volume and tone. And the switch flicks from top - both - bottom for 3 independent sounds. These definitely are not tat like some say. I'm really happy, and will happily gig it! All in all very happy. Cool looking bass. 52 years old. And brought back to life ready for gigging

As you will see, from my signature, I am fortunate to be a Rotosound endorsee. In anticipation of a new string order, I asked if I could collect the strings from the factory, and have a look around. That request was granted. Accordingly, me and @Rumblefish braved Junction 10 of the M25 and the M25 itself to head to Sevenoaks, to meet up with the artist rep and have a look around. I have to say, we were both fascinated to see the process from wire store to the smoothing of the (flatwound) strings. What was also fascinating was the lervel of a) hand operation, and b) the machines that had been designed by previous members of the Howe family, and that were still in use. Additionally, as well as working on designs for new machines, James is the man to undertake the maintenance of the machines in the factory. Some of them dated back to the very beginnings of the factory, and original machines were still in use today. We were both impressed by the whole process and the sheer skill of the folk who guide the windings onto the core by hand, and by eye. Even the ladies in the packing room were hand coiling the strings to go into the packets. How they produced bundles of strings with the same diameter was astounding to watch. I know not everyone here is a fan, but the sheer amount of manual intervention in the production of the strings was reassuring, and the 'British' ethos of the company was very evident. The core steel of the strings may be sourced externally, but everything else is done in-house, and on machines that had been designed and built in-house. A truly wonderful operation. I didn't want to disturb people by taking pictures, but I promise we did go!!

Further to recent posts about preparing for this week’s run of shows, a quick update. The pit, having dried out for the time being is fully operational but a tad dark. Using the iPad for the part means I’m not getting the same view of the fretboard so have made some rudimentary fret markers…. Meanwhile the md’s tempos continue to be excitable- the indicated bpm for the last song in the first act is 144, the guitarist measured it as 178. The dancers on stage must exhausted.

Big Gig this weekend. Maple Road is headlining The Bend Theatre. That means we get the big catered dressing room. Daryl

In English, 8/64" = 3.175mm, 7/64" = 2.778mm, 6/64" = 2.38mm. CBA with these ludicrous foreign measurements.

Spare parts arrived today, with full and clear step-by-step replacement instructions, cleaning wipes, stickers, screen protector, along with the new screen. Although a little fiddly, it's now back to new. Peterson tuners went above and beyond.

Yep, that would get a “Please return it, upon receipt I’ll refund the postage costs” response.

The band I was in at school had a 3 piece brass section (all jazzers) and parts were provided for all the songs. In amongst the Stax and Chess songs we threw in some Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus. I not only learnt to read music but learnt how to play with other musicians, good technique and playing the groove. I learnt 90% of what I know in that band. The best musical lesson? Play with guys who are better than you.

A new bass day! A gorgeous 1973 Mustang, in cracking condition, from Andy Baxter. I think I'm in looooove (with the bass, not with Andy, although he is indeed a lovely chap 🤣)

And here it is next to its fretted twin. I’ll do an NBD post in due course.. but it’s amazing in the flesh.

I had similar experiences when selling high value items on eBay. My favourite was somebody messaging me asking for a discount as he was too far to collect and would need to drive and book a Travelodge. 🤦‍♂️

Most of the stuff I play is dance music; most of what isn't dance music is singalong stuff. For me a really good gig is one where everything goes well technically and musically, AND where there's an enthusiastic audience who 'get' what we're doing and join in. Doesn't have to be a crowd of thousands - I've played gigs that made me very happy in pubs that were no larger than the 1930s semi I live in. Conversely, dull or ropey involves small audiences of ageing punters who have forgotten why they even bother to go out any more, or Club Members sitting lined up on the banquette seating with their arms folded and a grim "Entertain Me" expression on their faces, or a mass brawl breaking out on the dancefloor, or a bunch of pikeys invading the stage so that they can sing inappropriate songs about how everybody wishes they were back in wherever (including the band). The really memorable gigs tend to be either exotic and interesting venues (e.g. playing a national car show with the stage alongside an active airport runway) or utter disasters (e.g. playing to a large, completely empty field during a rainstorm of Biblical proportions).

I'm really enjoying watching this unfold. I've got three single coil P-Basses that I've built similarly to yourself, but I opted for colour finishes (although I've often thought about doing a Paisley finish). I too did the bare wood build, and sprayed the finishes myself in nitrocellulose lacquer at home. On my basses, I too went through various pickups, before settling on the Seymour Duncan "Stinger" as used by Sting (in his old battered P-Bass), and the late Dusty Hill. It's a stacked hum-cancelling pickup, so needs a 500k pot on the volume, as a standard 250k is really muddy and dark with this unit. Also, I was looking at your harware parts - are those rear string ferrules the correct size? If they're not, then I have a spare set of the period-correct large ferrules that I could donate as a freebie (as they, and my spare Stinger pickup, are just in my parts stash doing nothing - seems like a waste).

If only this were a shorty I'd have bought it not posted about it! Solid body with DiMarzio pickup, 2 octave neck, proper bridge, brass nut all sorts of other nice things. Bit scruffy but I bet it is a monster. £290! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135312739262

I took the advice here, thank you all. And this is the result...

My best informal lesson was also from my mum. I had been playing a few months, and was showing her what I could do. Her response? “Can you do it with your mouth closed?” Also +1 with being on time and nice. I think it was Guy Pratt who attributed a lot of his success to being someone that people wanted in the room.

Many thanks chaps. I have messaged a mod. The guy has sold 8 items in the past, all with great feedback. So it is a bit odd. I haven’t left feedback yet in case there’s some sort of crisis going on here. You never know what’s gone on in someone’s life that means a £50 online deal is utterly irrelevant while they try and deal with whatever life has unexpectedly thrown at them.

Just got my Tele bass back from having some badly needed restoration. It had been horrendously stripped and badly re-lacquered in the 70’s, The frets were also practically flush with the fretboard. As it was not playing well It had sat in its case for many years. My good friend recently offered to have a have a go at refretting it. As the job continued he also (after much back and forth on the colour) fancied a bash at refinishing it. We went with a nitro blonde as I wanted to be as faithful as possible to the factory finish, but is asked him to use nitro and keep the wear on the body where your forearm sits and the deeper dinks. We also deliberated for ages on the correct fret wire, which we eventually found. His amazing work has rejuvenated this bass to the very playable and phenomenal looking instrument you see below, I’m over the moon!

I know exactly who you are referring to, however the link doesn't seem to go anywhere. That may be a blessing based on previous listings.

Final version

This is the latest version of my board. I've had the Spectradrive between the tuner and OC-2 for a while but that meant I couldn't access the aux, headphones or DI out on the Spectradrive. I'd prefer the compressor to be at the start of the chain but it sounds fine in this order. I'm quite surprised I've managed to get seven effects on a mini board!

Addendum to my post above - just received a pic of me being a saxonob again, complete with hat and shades, band's playing 'Geno'. Our gitrist is a teacher, and obviously agrees that 'academic inspiration, I gave him none..."

I don't think they are aware as they're new in town. However in a twist of fate I'm doing the sound for a small open air festival next month and I've been told they are first on. So I'll get the opportunity. Plus I'll make sure I give their sound special attention!

I depped for the 1st time with the fantastic Duran Duran/Spandau Ballet tribute show 'From Gold To Rio' at Market Drayton theatre on Saturday night. Great band, soooooooo much fun and basslines that kept me concentrating for the full 2 hours! Looking forward to my next dep with them in December now!

Very rare dep gig for me on Saturday; a private birthday party at a village hall, playing a drummer-less acoustic-ish mix of covers and the band's originals. The audience seemed mostly disinterested, and somebody had brought along a pogo stick to entertain the children so the entire set was accompanied by a sound not dissimilar to an industrial stapler... sadly not in time with the music. In any case, I was happy with how I played and kinda enjoyed the novelty and general stupidity of the whole situation, plus I was ferried door to door and given a big block of chocolate as a thank you. One of their singers seemed quite keen to do some more acoustic stuff and said she'd be in touch, which would be fantastic if it actually happened as she's got a great voice.

Stockton on Friday night. This is a fair old drive from Stoke. I'm not sure if I've fully ranted about our van #vantanamo on here before but it is absolute torture. Any other 6ft members here forced to endure a Transit Custom? Anyway this was a killer journey. We went straight to a premier inn to get keys and drop off bags. When we parked up the roadie flipped out. Apparently no-one told him we were staying over in Stockton so he'd not brought any toiletries or clothes! 🤣 The gig was at NE Volume Music Bar which is pretty cool. Stockton looked a little dire (and I'm from Stoke) so I didn't wander around town. A lovely rider of home made veg curry and an assortment of snacks and beers. The room was pretty full when we went on and they seemed to know all the words. Such a great feeling to be able to do this so far away from home! We played 1hr 30. It was incredibly warm on stage and I was fully soaked. I drank 2 litres of water and 660ml of Punk IPA on stage. I had a pint of beer after the set, then another after the load out. Too much information perhaps but I didn't need the bathroom until we got to the hotel! I was starting to get very worried but I guess I sweated all that out! One for The Road festival at Fulford Arms in York on Saturday night. A shorter 45 minute set at this one. I was cajoled into using the house drum kit again. I need to remember why I usually refuse. The hi-hat stand was basically broken and the bass drum wouldn't stay still. Terrible sound after a rushed line check. This is all stuff that would ruin my night years ago but we're so used to it now. We smashed the set and went down really well, although I don't think there was anyone there who wasn't already a fan. Long drive back to Stoke got me to bed at 2AM Sunday morning

A largely unheeded double over the weekend, which always tends towards a slump of the shoulders, but hey, we got paid. Friday night was in one of those increasingly rare pubs which are focused on live music (decent in-house PA, lights, small stage), which meant the load-in and -out was a Personal Gear Only delight, especially for me with just a rucksack full of Stomp/leads and my Mono. Sadly the crowd hadn't got the message (tho it was a grim and dreich night up in Darwen; even I didn't want to leave the house, and I was getting paid) and we played to a handful in the music side of the pub, while another handful of punters lurked around the bar side. The place was apparently open till 2:30am, so it may well have gone bonkers at 12:30, but by that time I was back on the road home. That evening's Pisht Mitherer was an older bloke who very very much wanted In The Ghetto, and seemed to think that by asking every ten minutes we'd suddenly all learn it by some kind of osmosis... The landlord (also a sound engineer, apparently) liked us enough to re-book us, and offered us a spot in next year's festival, so there's that. Saturday was a chi-chi bar in a converted mill, up two flights of stairs, this one with the D drummer, so I had a multi-tasking shift on playing, singing and keeping him on tempo, task, and starting and stopping within a bar or so of the rest of us. Bloody draining, is what it is. It's one of those transitional places (we were packing up by half eleven, most people had moved on) where people come in (notably gangs of half a dozen ladies) to meet for a drink or two and then go somewhere else so there's very little chance of any engagement with the crowd - I say crowd, but it's a very big room with lots of booths, so the 25-30 average of people were very widely spaced. Then there's the stairs to be tackled at the end of the night, too...again, though, we got paid, and it wasn't a super-late one. Next weekend is the Monthly Mither of the very lairy place on Friday (just for once I'd like to do a gig there without the 5-0 making an appearance; it's been three on the trot now), but then a private gig with the old trio on the Saturday, so that'll be a nice change.

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.

Getting really sick of ebay. Selling items on there is so much more hassle than it's worth. It's not necessarily eBay, but just some buyers I've had bad experience with. Sold an effects pedal. It's about 20 years old, maybe more. Got loads of snarky emails because one screw was missing for the battery cover, absolutely no effect on the functioning of the pedal. Loads of cagey "what do you suggest to remedy this?" Ummmm I can post you a screw? Now going through something similar but with a different and more expensive item of equipment. Buyer says it has arrived DOA when I know it was in perfect working condition. I have a feeling I might be getting done by having defective parts placed in mine and it sent back for a full refund with me left carrying loads of cost and now some knackered parts. Had a bad experience with DPD (I think??!) losing a parcel when I sold a bass to some bloke who eventually received it and stole the knobs before sending it back!!! The tight g!t should have just bought some knobs online and saved everyone the headache. People eh?

And yet another excuse for...

Great one, I can’t be sure but I think mr Boss man was one of the first tunes I heard by Linval Thompson, would have been around 1980 ish , probably on Rodigan or Tony Williams reggae show

I hit a point in my 30’s where I decided that I was done travelling and was only taking gigs in town. The circuit was a misery. I was tired of the road food and the hours sitting in a van. It was a good call.

That seems completely implausible to me. I just quickly looked up lithium-polymer batteries on CPC and a 2200 mAh 11.1 volt one is 100x34x22 mm which I think is about four times the volume of a PP3.

Clean electrics, neck good. Lovely nitro checking. Pix for those not on FB. EB-0

They were both the same RMS sustained wattage, however, no bass amp runs like that as a bass doesn't produce a sustained signal. The 750 has a bigger power supply so can supply more instantaneous current than the 450 and a higher voltage, so has more transient power.

You can message the mods here as a first step. You could also co text your bank and query the transaction. It’s unlikely you’ll get your money back (you won’t) but you could raise a flag on the account which might help. This has happened to me before and it’s always sad. Less so for the money, and more because you don’t expect it from a forum of (virtual) friends.

Couple of gigs at the weekend. Friday night was playing at a wedding with the blues band - I know, I couldn’t quite get it either. Venue was a nice country hotel that I’ve done many times before in my old function outfit. Arrived in good time to find another band soundchecking, hadn’t realised they were on as well. Good thing though, as it meant we could set up in front of them, play an hour as guests arrived and then quick pack down and out. We played the more commercial stuff in our repertoire and actually got a few up dancing, but it was a bit of a strange situation - the bride and groom are fans of ours so they called the shots on who they wanted I guess. I used my Precision Lyte into the Rumble 500 combo, and it was fine as usual. We got packed down fairly quickly, and then myself and the drummer availed ourselves of the rather nice hot buffet whilst listening to the function band. Home by just gone 10pm so not too shabby. Sunday evening was another of our trips up to Scarborough with the acoustic duo to play at The Lookout cafe bar on the pier in the harbour. Weather was great despite storm warnings, and another full house at the venue including an old friend who sometimes joins us on bigger gigs playing keys. Usual request format , with standout tunes being some jazz standards ( All the way, Moon River and They can’t take that away from me ), our version of ‘Green Onions’ (which I’m unsure that the requestee knew was a Hammond organ feature), and finished up with some Floyd - ‘Wish you were here’ into ‘Another brick in the wall’. Another enjoyable evening, and we return there in a couple of weeks. 😊

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.

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

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!