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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/12/24 in all areas

  1. Snagged one! It's a Thunderbird, it does Thunderbird-y things (except neck dive, which is apparently a Thunderbird-y thing). Only had a quick razz in the headphones but it sounds good to me! It's a hard so-and-so to photograph for the camera in my mobile, it only shows the true sparkle when it's pulling focus and I catch it in the act thus: Sod it, have a video. 07_thunderbird 64 purple moving.mp4
    22 points
  2. I have some friends that I met through open mic that asked me to play with them. They got excited when I suggest I use my upright bass. I like the singer's voice and they people involved but it's not strictly 'my sort of thing' musically. Still, it gets me out the house and I like playing with different people and learning new stuff. I just need to get some experience playing venues with higher ceilings!
    15 points
  3. Ok, New Bass Day! That last pic I posted was of this bass. I picked it up yesterday for evaluation, and I've done the deal today. I'm pretty excited about this one, it's quite special. 1973 Fender Jazz Bass in original factory black with white guard. Neck, pickup and pots all date to '73. The wiring appears untouched, as do the pickups. I've spent the last hour restringing it, and giving it a setup and intonation. It plays like a dream and sounds fabulous. It is entirely original, but missing the covers and case, hey ho. Needless to say, one went out of the door too today, and I'm quite a bit lighter in cash than I was yesterday, but I think it was worth it. Thanks, Rob
    14 points
  4. Back at the Monarch Bar in Dunfermline with Temptation Waits on Saturday night. Good gig, not much of a crowd for the first set, but got a bit busier and rowdier for the second set when some merry punters arrived. Bar owner had forgotten to order enough stock for the weekend though, so there wasn't much bevvy to go around! We added six new songs for this one, which we got through okay apart from me during Welcome To The Jungle where I went a bar too early to a different section near the end. Oops. From what I can gather, only me and one of the guitarists noticed. Annoyed with myself though. Gear was my Fender Jazz into HX Stomp board, Aguilar Tonehammer 350 head and 2 Markbass NY121 cabs.
    10 points
  5. Did someone mention fretless 70's Jazz bound neck....... Very much not all original of course, but mostly early 70's in origin 👍
    10 points
  6. Now I want a blue one 🙄 Why does it have to become an obsession 😅
    9 points
  7. Dropzone played the Purple Turtle in Reading last night. Much bigger crowd than I was expecting for a cold Monday night in December. Lots of cheering and dancing, and good feedback afterwards. Hopefully will get some more gigs there soon. ( We've played in the rather dingy basement before, but this was our first on the main stage ) I used their house Blackstar bass combo, I managed to make it sound like I wanted fairly quickly, but I'm pretty undemanding in this regard.
    9 points
  8. Have got one of these on the way now, hoping this sorts out my back issues when gigging!
    7 points
  9. 30 year old, lovely old bass,P 60 pickups, a few knocks but nothing even minor major,pics show it with a black scratchplate, but now sports a lovely torte plate and tug bar,lovely rosewood neck,a joy to play, Black scratchplate comes with it. No case, so collection meet only.
    6 points
  10. I'm sure that if I returned in half an hour, every bass ever made with a scratchplate will have been listed here 😀
    6 points
  11. Watts don't matter. If they did one wouldn't be able to gig with an Ampeg B15N. It's the total package that counts. I know that trying before you buy isn't easy, but it's still the best way to find what works for you, well worth investing a day or two.
    5 points
  12. Here are my four little beauties. 1987 Japanese Fender Jazz 62RI with ebony fretless neck and Bartolini's. 2004 Japanese Fender Precision 62RI with rosewood fretless neck and Fender American 62 Vintage pickups. Japanese Fender PJ with Status fretless neck and I believe Nordstrand pickups but I could be wrong. No idea on the date either. 1989 Fender Jazz 6wRI with rosewood fretless neck. They all sound totally different.
    5 points
  13. Yesterday I bought a very nice 6 string Unicorn Artist. This is the third Unicorn for me; the first - a 32" four string - I sold to a friend. The 32" was not for me. My second was, or is, my jolly green giant, the five string in British Racing Green. This one is the most flamboyant of all basses I've ever had. Lots and lots of different wood species. The best thing is, it is solid as a rock, sounds like a HUGE Jazz Bass in my hands, and really demands me to wear a tuxedo... Anyway, I like it!
    4 points
  14. I have owned this bass practically from new (long story!), but I haven't played it for a few years as I've only played 5-string now for many years. It has always been well looked after with the battery removed when not in use. It comes with the Warwick Rock Case and original folder/tools and paperwork Collection only from the Hants/Wilts border, 7 miles west of Andover - although I will be travelling up to North Manchester for 10 days from about 17th December. I'm not looking for any trades as I own too many guitars and I'm down-sizing - I also need the money for other bills! From the Warwick website: Serial number: H 127933-06 Article number: 1324361301CDAFHOWW produced: 24.08.2006 Description: Corvette FNA, 4-string Nirvana Black Stain Highpolish finish, Swamp Ash/AA Flamed Maple top body, Ovangkol neck, Chrome hardware Made in Germany Soundcloud clip from 10 years ago: https://soundcloud.com/dee-mischka/who-knows-where-the-time-goes-by-sandy-denny?si=023015b6d20a4cbd9102d38e9ef4b380&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
    4 points
  15. Reworked around the hx stomp just in time for a run of Xmas gigs and also the first for me since welcoming my daughter into the world!
    4 points
  16. Pretty rare old beast this. Bought recently elsewhere as I love the look of the DanElectro Lonhorns but can’t get on with short scale. This baby has lived a life and it came to me with plenty of dings and scratches, but nothing terrible, but don’t expect immaculate. The electrics were scratchy and itchy with intermittent cutting out. However, that’s all sorted now. The pickup is a Dimarzio with switching from big P to huge P (series/parallel?) and the tone control has a wide range. It’s got new set of D’Addario nickel 45-105’s and is set up nicely now with a low action and bob on intonation. The colour looks brown, but it’s a kind of purple brown sparkle which is very subtle. Happy to put up some sound clips. Weighs about 9lbs It was a purchase based on “that looks cool” before trying (I know, shallow right?) plus I do like a Dimarzio P. Well it didn’t disappoint on either of those criteria and I’ve recorded with it and gigged this Saturday gone. And that’s where I’ve come unstuck. The same reason that I’ve bought and sold Spectors, I love the tone and playability but I can’t get over the top horn placement. It needs to be over the 12th fret for me, like boring old Fs. Its balance is fairly horizontal as opposed to headstock pointing to floor. But even with my extra wide and grippy strap it won’t stay where I want and the headstock seems far away. I have rotator cuff problems with both shoulders, but particularly my left one, so it’s uncomfortable and not helping my physio recovery. I’m disappointed, but it’s back to my Fs for me. At some point someone has attempted to reposition the strap pins. Once to the rear of the upper horn and one about 2 inches above the rear pin, presumably to try re balancing? So if you want something that will destroy brick walls and gets lots of “oooh that’s an interesting bass” and “is it a harp”, or “man alive you’re a SMF playing that baby” then this is for you. Had a lot of queries about condition and dings etc. So have uploaded more pictures circling. I cleaned the neck when I got it and it’s in lovely condition (see pics). It’s an old bass that’s seen action. But plays great all the way up the 24 frets. I have a box and material to post for £25 on top. Otherwise pick up from my gaff in Bath or meet up within reasonable agreed distance.
    4 points
  17. I have made the decision to focus solely on playing bass in church and, to step back from playing acoustic guitar, and singing. Bass is my passion, it's my forte and I know it's where I can best serve the Lord and my church. I only ever played guitar and sang in my last church because the Worship Leader left and I fell into the position, I did it for 3-4 years but never really enjoyed it. I know that I've made the right decision because I genuinely feel like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
    4 points
  18. My 1979 fretless Music Man Stingray, a delight to play and stare at. I'm waiting for a transparent pickguard as the wood grain on the body is just wonderful.
    4 points
  19. We were using a new mixing desk on only its third live outing, and the desk upgrade had so far been great on its first two outings. However we initially came unstuck on Saturday night's gig as were using it for the first time with a keyboard, and found that it was only being fed to one of the FoH speakers via the desk. Turned out that the sole output from the (very budget!) keys used by our singer is a headphone out socket and she had a TRS --> TRS lead. However because it's a headphone out, it's therefore a TRS stereo signal, whereas the desk inputs are TRS balanced mono. Anyway we managed to figure out that splitting the stereo signal into two mono and using two of the desk inputs was the workaround, but it meant for a somewhat more stressful sound check than I had anticipated! I suspect that's going to be a relatively unusual set of circumstances as most keys should have more connectivity than just a headphone out socket? The gig turned out ok in the end, though! All's well that ends well, eh? 😊
    4 points
  20. Last Friday saw us back at The Speakeasy Bar in Hinckley. Cracking gig, with many of the crowd saying they'd come to see us play before, which was great. We rattled out our set of good 'ole Country choons, with a sprinkling of Chrimbo songs for good measure. Finished the set with Islands in the Stream followed by MIFLAW. Cheesy I know, but fun to play and lapped up by everyone throwing shapes in front of us. 2nd encore ....Sweet Home Alabama (well you have to really). We did throw in 2 or 3 originals into the set which were very well received. Mike Lull P4 through a Handbox R400 with matching cab, with just a graphics eq and a thumpinator in the effects loop The band is called Southern Frontier Country Band...check us out on Farcebook and give us a like 🤠 Obligatory gig pics some of the excellent crowd
    3 points
  21. These look very nice but there’s very little info about them outside of instagram, does anyone have any experience with this brand? Not cheap, but not insanely priced either, seems to be in line with other builders. Basically a Musicmaster with pickup / colour options, looks great if you’re into this kind of thing. https://www.kitharaguitars.com/samson
    3 points
  22. We did the first set without our drummer. He was stuck on the M25. IMO we sounded pretty good. He arrived just before the second set and only had time to set up the bass drum, snare , hi-hat and 1 cymbal. With fewer things to hit, it was the best gig he played during his time with the band.
    3 points
  23. got the new bassman fuzz and the Rival from Zero fret so put them on for some fun
    3 points
  24. There's a documentary about an old British heavy metal band that's quite good.
    3 points
  25. Around 90 miles away from me, so at my age I would need to purchase one of these first…..
    3 points
  26. Rockfield - The Studio on the Farm It's been on the box, Beeb4, Ch4, Sky Arts, one of those. Good watch.
    3 points
  27. Very much not all original of course, but mostly early 70's in origin
    3 points
  28. Just found this 1964 BBC documentary about ska. Excellent film.
    3 points
  29. Thoroughly in the "what the song needs" camp. Happily though, every song needs a complex line.
    3 points
  30. Sorry... Multiply post was outside my control!
    3 points
  31. In an old band we were playing for a wedding at York Racecourse, nice function suite and quite posh. Seven of the band’s members arrived on time, but the guitarist was notable by his absence. Eventually we got a phone call from him, wondering if the set up time had been put back. When told we were due to start playing soon, he asked if we were in a different part of the venue, and only then did it dawn on him that he was at Beverley Racecourse, over 30 miles away! We did the first set without him, nobody died…
    3 points
  32. I never did an introduction post, but I'll do a farwell post. I am not playing the bass anymore, and it turns out this spoils my enjoyment here unfortunately. I posted here an average of around 18 times per month between March 2022 and this September. I have since only made posts to sell my gear. Slowly, and with no rush, I am going to sell everything apart from my Ibanez Mezzo and the practice amp for the occasional noodling. It has been nice chatting with you these past two years. A physiotheraphist this summer said that I should stop playing the bass while we were working on my back pain. That was quite sad as I was in the process of looking for a band. She also prescribed exercises, and the whole thing pushed me to become more physically active, putting in the hours to get fit. It turned out that, as I am glued to my laptop all day for work, not spending the rest of the time glued to a big wooden object with strings, even if it makes the coolest sound ever created and is amazing to play, is good for my body, my mental health, my family. So that's it. No more time and money spent on gear, no more long hours practicing, no time for a band for the forseable future. I am not the sort of person that can juggle too many things at once unfortunately. I'll be around to sell stuff. Best wishes to you all. Farwell
    2 points
  33. Hi all, Moving on this fantastic 2008 Lakland 55-02 for a couple of different reasons; I’m primarily a 4 string player and I’m looking to order another Lakland US bass. Last in, first out and all that. This bass is stock, so Lakland LH3 pickups/preamp, as well as the more slimmer thickness neck, before they changed to the more recent chunkier necks. The colour is a solid ‘piano’ black, not a black sparkle like more recent 55-02s. The bass is in great condition, no wear to write home about other than the standard swirling you might see on a 17 year old bass. The input jack has a slight intermittent issue which would be a simple fix for anyone with a soldering iron. Typically I would, but only have lead solder and don’t want to have the fumes with a new baby in the house. Weight wise it’s pretty much bang on 9lbs (see photo). Not unusual for Skylines of this era, but fairly rare of the newer ones. These are the only pictures I have of it so far, will grab a few more tomorrow (along with a post-it haha). Cash is king, but might entertain a Yamaha 235 or Sire P5 5 string in part-ex. Don’t really have the means/brain space to ship it at the moment, so pickup/meetup preferred. I’m in Hazlemere, Bucks, basically High Wycombe. £850 inc basic gig bag if needed. Cheers Si
    2 points
  34. If I play the first few songs of the set note perfect , I start to get really nervous . Once I have fluffed a note ( or two ) I can relax and get into the gig , I suppose it’s just the expectation that I’m I’m going to make a mistake at some time or another . Only one major episode of total brain freeze ( David Bowies Space Oddity) , great song , but never played it since . Were all human , it’s how you recover from mistakes that matters .
    2 points
  35. 2 points
  36. Another EBS user here. Had mine for longer than I can remember. Had to resolder the footswitch a while back, but that’s the only thing that has given me a problem over the years (probably, more accurately, decades).
    2 points
  37. Definitely worth checking out the EBS Unichorus. Spent a long time searching for just the right chorus and that one was the favourite. Had mine for years now. There was one up for sale on here last week…
    2 points
  38. You can buy one of Tom Hamilton's B15s for a mere $6k. https://reverb.com/item/68553915-tom-hamilton-s-aerosmith-ampeg-vintage-b-15-flip-top-bass-combo-amp-low-serial-number-early-1960s-6 Maybe it's not the same amp, but we often shared a stage in the 60s where we'd use his B15 and my Bassman. His 30 watt B15 was louder than my 50 watt 2x12 Bassman.
    2 points
  39. Indeed, it's truly appalling how they've made it a constant distance from the edge of the bass all round the curve instead of going drunkenly right to the edge halfway round. What were they thinking?
    2 points
  40. I used to know a band that regularly played up here. The drummer had a tiny bass drum, a snare and a hi hat, with one tom. That was all, and he was excellent.
    2 points
  41. I've done this with a Yamaha Attitude that has 2 outputs automatically and with a Status that I heavily modified to have 2 separate pickup systems. Different outputs on the bass going to different amps. My original rig for this was a Hartke HA3500 head with a Marshall VBC412 cab for the highs / FX, and an Ashdown MAG400H and another Marshall VBC412 cab for the lows. The highs had a wah, drive, phaser, filter, compressor. The lows had an octave and a compressor. With the Yamaha I used the neck pickup woofer to the the lows and the P to the highs. The status was JPJ and the P went to the lows and the J pair to the highs. The lows were EQ'd to be much like a neck pickup sound on an EB0, thick and plummy. The highs had boosted mids and a lot of low end cut so there was less competition for sonic space with the low amp. I later changed the rig to a rack set up. I had an Ampeg SVP-BSP preamp for the highs / drive that was also able to mix clean and dirty, and then a Line 6 Bass Pod XT for the lows, but that could also do a clean sound with whatever else. So effectively I had 4 different tones, blended in pairs. That lot went into a Yamaha P5000S power amp and into a pair of Hartke 2x12 cabs. I loved both versions of it. Being able to control the mix from the bass was brilliant. These days I tend to use just one rig with pedals that have clean blends but they really are not the same thing as getting a multiamp rig set up right. The secret is note decay. All the blended sounds must have the same note decay otherwise it sounds like different sounds rather than 1 complex one. Compression is the key - making the cleans decay as slow as the driven sounds. That needs a lot of fiddling to get right. It was completely awesome. If I had roadies I'd be all over it again.
    2 points
  42. Had a few messages re more Pics and info on this one. Built by the late Paul McNabb it’s a copy of a 1960 precision with nitro neck and body finish. Reverse tuners and hootenanny button. I have the original pick up and wiring, although the Monty’s pickup and loom is far better imho. I’ve been in touch with Paul’s daughter on the Facebook group for these instruments and she’s provided me with a copy of the order book the include this particular instrument. Pauls work is pretty legendary and this is an excellent example that I should probably hang onto!
    2 points
  43. This is one of two basses Andy built for me to the Rascal-based spec with 7-position switching that lets you select all three pickups individually or in any combination. The seven 'voices' are all distinctly different, equally useable and instantly available with the tone pot reserved for that final tweak. This is such a versatile set-up that it beats me why it's not more widely available - and why Fender chose to confine it to that ridiculous Rascal body?! The other Andy Rogers bass I kept is going nowhere - ever. If money had been no object I would have kept this one too. GLWTS Kate!
    2 points
  44. I wish they did but it would probably put an extra grand on the price! I love my Pelham blue and Inverness green non reverse ones but the whole colour range is not that exciting. Something a little more funky would be nice.
    2 points
  45. Son's Vintage... and a Cheapy G4M Acoustic with Roto Ropes!
    2 points
  46. Some bass parts are fun to play, some less so. Whether they are complicated or difficult doesn't really matter. When I started playing I naturally gravitated towards busy players. Also, my bass teacher fancied himself as a jazzer and was dismissive of most electric players who weren't Stanley Clarke or Jaco. Playing with a pick was completely forbidden, for example. However, something I've learnt from my personal journey playing the bass is that I can be very wrong to assume that less busy bass lines are necessarily easy, and some bass players are very crafty in hiding the difficulties of their bass parts. Cliff Williams is a prime example. If you listen carefully he often puts all kinds of subtle variations in his lines that make them work so well. Making that band rock like they do is no mean feat. John McVie is another example of a very crafty bass player whose skills I have learnt to appreciate, not to mention Paul McCartney. I really respect those kinds of players and it's always fun to learn their bass parts. By the same token, I love to learn Norman Watt Roy basslines and he's no slouch. Sometimes he plays simple, sometimes he plays busy, but whatever he plays is always so clever. The individual bits are often straightforward, but the way he puts them together is genius. You could say the same about Robbie Shakespeare. YouTube is full of bright young virtuoso bassists of varying styles, but the thing that most of them have in common is that they cannot find of anything worthwhile to do with their skills. Nothing they play is memorable or particularly interesting. That kind of complex playing doesn't interest me in the slightest. I like bass players who are creative and have a style, then it doesn't matter if the bassline is complex or simple.
    2 points
  47. Oh wow! I have never seen one of those before. That's got to be a pretty rare beast. GLWTS
    2 points
  48. The more highly trained of us can go off-topic within the first post of a thread.
    2 points
  49. I’m relatively new to bass playing, coming from keys/piano. I make mistakes all the time, though they are reducing. I have two observations firstly, I never stay in a band that insists that there is only one right way to play a song. If doing a stones number, the singer doesn’t sound like Mick Jagger and no one complains. So my mantra is get the essence of the song, and success is tapping feet or hands, and singing along, a and in extremis for a pub blues rock band, dancing along Secondly, to me timing is far more important to concentrate on, with a simpler line, rather than chase after a ‘right’ set of notes that are ever so slightly out. combine the two points to say you should do your thing well and be proud and not some one else’s thing not so well finally, although I’m all to aware of my mistakes, the recordings sound surprisingly good, much better than my feelings at the time…
    2 points
  50. BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam covers at The Auld Gambling Hoose in Alloa last night. An old Bingo hall that they are now trying to convert to a decent sized live music venue. Biggest problem last night was their heating system was down and they were using 2off propane space heaters at front of stage facing audience so the stage was freezing cold at the start. Changing room had no heating whatsoever and we didn't hang around too long in there but they are trying hard to make it work and all credit to them. Average audience size at the moment is 80-120 which is smallish in such a large venue but we reckon we had 100 ish in all sitting down front end so it looked ok from stage area. Load in was great from their private car park at rear straight thru to front of stage area and then a lift onto stage from there. We hired a PA for this one because of its size which was a good decision. Kick off 8pm to 10:30 limit due to their licence restrictions to be closed by 11pm. We ran on to 10:45pm due to encore requests. To be fair the female staff were top notch and offered us free drinks, coffee or tea and even offered to help load the cars at night. No pressure to get packed up for 11pm at all Few mistakes on the night which is unusual for us but the cold was having an adverse effect. Good night tho and everyone was shouting for more at the end. They definitely want us back and will contact us again in January to arrange dates. Usual rig of Sandberg VM4 into Shure Wireless, Mesa TT800 and Mesa SW210/115. Sound on stage was generally good altho 2nd set vocals in monitors seemed to get louder and i struggled to hear my on stage amp but struggled on. Guitarist said he noted same. ? Odd one. Anyways a stop at McDonalds on way out of Alloa was a def. Then a wee 1hr and 20min drive home for 1:30am ish. All in all a good night. Dave
    2 points
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