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Gig on a school night with Hurtsfall, supporting goth icon Aurelio Voltaire. There was weird stuff going on with the backing that supplies our drums and second synth and we ended up having to mute the left channel in the PA. That means my job later today will be taking the rack apart to try and track down the problem. Despite that the gig was absolutely fantastic! Sold out several weeks in advance (nothing to do with us, Voltaire is extremely popular and this is his first UK tour since COVID - there were people who had travelled a long way to come and see him), the audience were queueing to get in a good 20 minutes before the doors opened. All this meant that despite playing first at 7.30 the room was packed when we went on and the audience were most appreciative even though most of them were seeing us for the first time. Played well although I lost the plot at the end of our latest single the whole set went down brilliantly. There were obviously some people who know us because several were singing along and a couple of songs got cheers when we announced them. Afterwards there was another massive queue of people to buy merch and have selfies taken with Voltaire, which the promoter had arranged so that everyone had to file past both support bands' merch tables so we sold a load of new T-shirts and CD copies of the single (my mistakes can't have been that obvious). Voltaire is a throughly nice person and insisted in paying for a copy of our CD as well as giving us some contacts should we want to go to the US to play. Also picked up a couple of excellent UK gigs for 2025 which I can't say any more about yet. Didn't get home until 1.30 despite it being a local gig with pub hours! For @Mickeyboro as usual I played my Eastwood Hooky 6-string bass through my Line6 Helix going direct into the PA. No photos of us yet, but my girlfriend took some of the audience during "Calling Out"...

Another Sunday night acoustic duo gig at one of my favourite venues, The Lookout Cafe in Scarborough. We were the first to use their new PA set up, which consists of a pair Turbosound Milan powered cabs. A definite improvement on their previous Alto cabs, with a crisper high end. Sound man Bob was well pleased with them, and one or two customers noticed the difference too. Anyway, a busy night with requests, including quite a few we’ve rarely or never done before - ‘Summertime’, ‘Blackbird’, ‘New York state of mind’ and ‘Downtown’. ( Some of these made even more difficult for me due to a very attractive & slightly inebriated lady dancing nearby ). We are next there at the end of November, and then also at their Christmas party in December. and here for @Mickeyboro Milestone Acoustic Duo Ibanez PCBE12MH bass into Fender Rumble 100 combo / DI into house PA. The Lookout on The Pier, 18, West Pier Scarborough.

A lateish recap, but only a single gig last weekend, and we had the ex-main drummer call it the day before, so a quick reconfiguration back to a trio and we could afford the A Drummer (who I play with in the other band). Always good to play with the very best, and his small triggered kit and skill with sound production always means less kit and better sound overall. Quite wasted on the pub to start with, really, but it warmed up later, and we even did a couple of requests we didn't know/don't play (via some iPad-peering) at the end, which always goes down well with the punters if it's a small crowd. Less kit means quicker packup, so back on the road and home in decent time. Cheapo P, Stomp, inears. Trio again Satdy night, more local and a reasonable crowd in the offing, so it'll be a run of decent gigs over the last three weeks...and I've got the next weekend off for a jaunt with the lads*, which will also be a nice break. * And when I say 'lads', I mean 'five 50-somethings, but we've all known each other 40 years and we'll be away from the families for the weekend, so 'lads' it is...'

I'm a bit of a fraud really. My board carries just my switcher (choosing between a passive fretted and active fretless - though not on this gig) and the tuner. No effects I'm afraid.

@BassAdder60 When you know, you know. Enjoy your ‘retirement’ 👍🏻

I've got an SB-600 which I happened across when I wandered into a shop.

Amazon are currently doing the twin packs of D'Addario EXL165TP for £24.00!!! Two sets of nickel wound bass strings, long scale, 45-105 Grab em while they're hot!! https://amzn.eu/d/3uqt9Ua

Decision made bands and gigging are over and I’m quitting for good Gear up for sale and I will be adding two mint condition White Fender PBass guitars on here soon American Performer USA Player Series II With Rosewood neck both with shipping possible Feel happier I’ve made that decision

Well tbh I picked this up a while back from ebay but just now getting around to posting it. It's a 1988-1990 Guild Pilot bass, I dont really know a lot about them and doesn't seemed to be to much information out there from my limited research. I'll post the photos from the ad as they will be far better quality then my own. Its SUPER light weight for a five string, really punchy and for some reason has Les Paul knobs on it.... which I have grown to really like, being able to know exactly what number to dial in is pretty cool. This thing was pretty beat up when I got it but to me that added to the appeal. You can see how they has really dug into those EMG's. Clearly someone has played this thing a lot or just left it behind a door. Hope its not the latter. Also gets my vote for one of the cooler pointer headstocks So yh thats it. Made in USA, Grover Tuners, High mass brass bridge, 80's EMGs. Love the offset body shape. Love that its all black and evil. Plays like a truck and im super happy with it.

Disappointment waits for you.

As there are many threads around this topic (and some very recently) here, it would be a bit insulting to rehash any of those arguments here. If your decision is made and you're happy with it then I can only wish you well, and hope I can resist the basses when they turn up!!

Superb. So proud of our BC family. Dave

Hey all. Apologies for being late to the game, and hey over there @Norris, @Hellzero, etc! Yes, I am still selling upgrade preamps for SB-1000s both on eBay and Reverb however it is cheaper to deal direct since that way I am not forced to have to use an expensive tracked shipping option. Reissues. Well, there are multiple issues with those. First and foremost, the hardware is not the same. The Gotoh bridge is way more adjustable and sane than the original, but isn't the same sort of "the mass of brass" by comparison. The fingerboard is now Ebony, whereas originally they were Jacaranda....which is a vague name for many woods, and without trying or wanting to stir controversy....I've heard Braz Rosewood called that multiple times before today. The pickups are not the same, but are more or less similar. My big issue comes with the electronics. When whoever owns the IP took the design back to manufacture, they started using a big open PCB-based preamp with a Mitsubishi alarm SIL IC for the battery blinker. What they did not do is maintain any of the quality of the parts. The resistors and caps are literally the cheapest ceramics and carbon comps, and inexplicably they retained the JRC4558 op-amp which is just insane. It's literally an iteration of the uA741 which was 60s grade tech. Current hungry, noisy and just not an efficient design. They also made it incompatible with the originals without significant rewiring and decisions needing to be made on how the LED works. So yes, as far as calling it a "re-issue" is concerned, that's stretching it. Talking of Armstrong and stretching things, Kent Armstrong in the US makes some very well-regarded repros. Aaron Armstrong in the UK apparently, not so much. It's been a good ten plus years since I've known anybody order one from Aaron, but that disappointment and poor experience stuck in my mind. Several people I know to be credible rate Kent's copies. Interesting that somebody else is making them here in the EU. I'll have to check out bassculture. @Jack The six-way varitone is an active LPF with a different decade characteristic to a passive LPF like a tone control. It also has a distinctive mid-bump which provides the character of each position. It's a very to-taste filter, but is another part of why the SB-1000 was a definingly 80s-sounding bass. It picks its way through a mix with that "honk", especially in the positions around the fifth fret. This is another area where they cheaped out on the re-issues, because they bought in the cheapest open-frame rotary switch and banged on the cheapest components for the RC array around it. For a nice demo on the woody honky tonality of the SB-1000, check out my good friend Zuma's channel. His recent re-do of Duran Duran's "New Moon On Monday" showcases wonderfully just how this bass pushes through a mix in a very specific way....

Wassssupp bass fam, I recently dragged my 400+ outta the loft after a number of years and remembered I'm missing a SINGLE EQ slider knob, is there any chance, out there in the wild, one of you lot have one in a draw just incase haha Or if anyone knows any good alternatives to replace the whole set let me know Here is a picture of the beast for all you who like looking at amps (i know i do)

Absolutely random flashback…the bass player from Cradle Of Filth used them…

On the 30th of November we're doing a charity fundraiser for Amicii Dog Rescue that our singer does work for. It's at Tirley, fairly near Gloucester and Cheltenham.

The next two Hurtsfall gigs open to the general public are: In The Bl4ck Midwinter Festival at Shakespeare's in Sheffield on Saturday 23rd November and Rock Against Racism 2024 at Saltbox In Nottingham on Sunday 24th November I don't have timings for either of these yet but I believe that for 23rd we're first on in the evening so starting around 7.30 and for the 24th we're on in the afternoon. More details when I get them.

Good luck Bassadder60. I hope things work out well.

A new venue for us on Saturday - Nine Lives at The Railway Club in Keith, Aberdeenshire

Affordaboard are taking pre orders for this now. Due in next week.

@dub_junkie made me do it …

Hands down the best purchase I did this year was my Lakland USA Joe Osborn 5: The best five string Jazz I've ever played, except for maybe the odd Stenback. It outplays Celinders, Sadowskys and every other boutique Jazz. Worst purchase? A couple of XLR-jack cables for my new Adam monitor speakers. Why worst? They were the wrong kind.

£6,135 donated up to now - - 87% of £7K target. Together we can make a change. Well done, BC!

Mad thought - would it be possible to install the preamps into a pedal, thereby giving us humble SB700 players a chance to get those tones?

I was having a laugh, thus the smileys, I also mentioned the geographic bit. No need for insults.

So this year I hit the half century and although I have played electric bass for 36 years. I have never really played upright…my fiancé and I decided this year should be the time. So I made my way to the junkyard bought this beauty of a 4/4 Zeller from @Happy Jack as well as spending a delightful couple of hours hearing great stories and learning the first fledgling steps of upright bass playing. it’s been great so far, totally different instrument with its own feel and approach and I love it. So glad I’ve finally started this journey. jonny

No way, that's crazy talk! Never mix cross-ply and radial, that's what the old 1970s tv ad said and I still stand by it. I might only have two basses but they're both sporting La Bella Deep Talking Flats. And I have D'Addario Chromes flats on all my electric guitars, always same gauge. And my acoustic has Hofner flats on it. (No, I haven't moved on since 1968) 😂

Maybe it's an 'enjoyment' thing Dave, if the Glam band is having more engagement/fun then I guess there's more enthusiasm to learn new numbers and keep it on the boil. As we've gone through 2 drummers in 3 months (though the current one is now a keeper), we've had to go back to a core 'set', fortunately the new guy is so much better that the numbers almost feel like new.

Not on purpose.

I bought a 32” Jazz neck off eBay recently, direct from China. It worked out much better than I had expected. Block inlays and binding. Frets were all good. The nut needed a little work. The heel was actually a little wider than Fender standard, so I needed to ease the neck pocket of the body I was putting it on. Also the profile was more C than D but that might suit some folks. It wasn’t sealed but was pretty well sanded, so it only needed a little prep before applying the finish. The supplier’s name was “car-mall” on eBay. It only cost about £65 all in and took about a month to arrive. Here it is in action.

I'd also add the obvious....reissues do not use the same quality and grade of woods that were available in the 70s/80s. Back then, Matsumoku were pretty unique in that they spent at least a year longer in seasoning their wood stock before use. As a builder and industrial woodworker, I can tell you flat out that this makes a significant difference even though it doesn't make sense that the same wood doesn't seem to achieve that "as an instrument"! I'd use the analogy of whisky aging in a barrel where it doesn't continue to do so in the bottle, but that's just faulty. Anyway, they used super good wood and really discriminated between excellent and "okay" with the SB-1000 and other laminated neck flagships. Originals in good nick are worth hunting down for care and resto.

Roxy Magic played at The Tropic in Ruislip on Friday night. A good time was had by all. Most of the band was travelling down from the Midlands, so it's always fun trying to work out how late everyone will be to the gig after negotiating the M50/rush hour/general Greater London madness. I'd taken the precaution of getting to London the day before, which meant I was able to go the spectacular Big Star "Radio City" gig in Hackney on Thursday night. Incredibly, we were all at the venue bang on time for a 6pm soundcheck. The gig was a stormer - the Tropic was full of ladies and gentlemen of a certain vintage who rocked their socks off. The band came off stage sweaty and satisfied. I could have done without the obligatory motorway closure on the way home, which sent me down county lanes and housing estates somewhere near Oxford. Oh, the joys of being a Weekend Warrior. I used my "B" rig - which is rapidly becoming my "A" rig - TC Electronic BG250 combo, Aria Jazz bass (£40!), Zoom B3 and a Lekato wireless bug system. I did give my faithful PJ Bitsa a run out in the second set though... I was delighted with my onstage sound and if my quick wander out front at the soundcheck was anything to go by, it was great through the PA, too. A nice lady down the front took some lovely pics of the band. Here's our hero modelling his new suit and his old hat. Yes, I am playing with a plectrum, wanna fight about it..?

There’s nowt wrong with saying Bass on a bass forum 😆