Leaderboard

I think you’ll find the vast majority of Brits here on Basschat (as well as most of the rest of the world) are utterly appalled with the results of the recent election in the US. And, as a Brit currently living in the US, I’ll add my name to that list. As well as the names of pretty much everyone I know here (all of whom are “normal” Americans).

Saturday was the last ever gig for In Isolation. Singer Ryan is calling it a day after 20 years, and with my other band being much more active I have been struggling to find the time to be in more than one. We were able to persuade the organisers of the Spellbound Goth Night at The Salutation in Nottingham to let us perform before the main event, so we had an early start of 7.15 in order to play an extra long set and be packed up before the normal club night opening time of 9.00pm. Probably the longest single set I have ever played in 45 years of gigging with 17 songs. I was more than a little relieved to find that all the songs were ones we've been playing for the last 18 months and that they had decided against dusting off some from before my time, I've been with the band almost 8 years but I am to a certain extent still the FNG. Based on the ticket sales and door takings there must have been close to 100 people in to see us, which was very nice, but it would have been nicer if they had all been regulars at all our previous local gigs (we played this time last year to just over a third of that number). There were several down the front who I had never seen at one of our gigs before but who seemed to know most of the songs! Played all three songs from the new EP which seemed to go down well and all 5 of the covers that we occasional add to the set including our version if "I Believe In Father Christmas". I'll miss playing our version of the Bauhaus classic "She's In Parties" because we really made that our own. I heard the original the other day and was pleasantly surprised by how different our version is! Here's a couple of gig photos and a short video of the closing moments of the set... I Isolation.mp4

This. @Bass4real I’m glad you’ve got that off your chest but you might like to consider that we have rules too.

Oh dear.

A varied weekend. Gigged at the Flying Circus in Newark with the Andy Wales Band on Saturday night. Our dep drummer did a sterling job despite not having had a chance to rehearse together. Then on Sunday I did the sound and lighting for the local kids guitar club Christmas concert at the village hall. Encouraging to see schoolchildren taking such an interest in playing instruments, and having been involved with a few of these events over the years you can see their abilities developing. Nicely done.

We have recently got a few gigs in Retirement Villages around the Southeast. We had the first on Sat. We didnt know what to expect but it was pretty obvious what not to play for these places. Only 2 x 45 mins sets and finished by 10pm. Decent money and a few free drinks at their onsite bar afterwards. Made a change from sweaty pubs and having to contend with drunks wanting to talk as we are packing up. We went down really well, and although it was a struggle to play a bit quieter than we normally do, it was quite fun and we all commented how much we enjoyed it. Of course i was at the back with full IEM's so to me the gig wasn't any different to any other, sound wise, but the others said playing quieter made them play with a bit more precision. I still have to wipe a few asses as far as setting up etc, but after having a bit of an outburst on WhatsApp recently I think some of it has sunk in. We are using a Dep singer at the moment, as my wife is taking a break, meaning I have to take the PA, lights, and my gear, and set it all up and break it al down without help. Got a bit fed up with this and made a few comments about it. Looking forward to to the very well paid NYE one. First time out on NYE with this band, and we are getting my wife to dep for the dep, which should be interesting. As we live right in the centre of London we have no idea how we will get home as the roads are shut until 6am.

Years ago I built a 2x6" cabinet with a pair of Faital 6FE100s, exactly the size of my largest pannier bag so I could cycle to gigs with it. It turned out, mostly by accident, to be a success, and more recently I've been using it a bunch for double bass gigs. However at ~8kg or so it's still quite a lot of stuff to carry alongside a big bass, and I'm often playing drumless so I never turn it up past halfway anyway. So after stumbling across @Phil Starr's micro cab design I thought I'd have a go at that to see if I could reduce the schlep even more - ideally for these gigs I could wheel the double bass in front of me with a normal-looking backpack with a cab in. However I've had to modify the design slightly as not many bags are actually cuboid shaped. Here's what I've got so far after a trip to Huws Gray for some of their 9mm poplar ply and a day in the garage: Next step - a baffle.

Starr Sports, Canvey Island, on Saturday night. Load-in and set-up went quickly and smoothly. Everyone (well, nearly everyone) knew their roles and what to set up now. It was also somewhat aided by both singers now migrating to the Xvive U4 system the two guitarists and I have been using, meaning less trailing leads for P2 IEM packs. A bit of a challenging audience in the first set, apart from a group of young drunk booked going nuts over the heavier stuff, and getting way too close and knocked the singer's sample pad over - he managed to grab it before it hit the deck. The bouncers turfed them out shortly after. It didn't help that the bar has a new pool table in the middle of the room that is way too close to where bands play, leaving not enough room for dancing - and it can't be moved... at all. (Honestly, this is one thing that really pees me off in some venues). Oh, and shortly before we started, I came out of the loo to see the female singer walking away from chatting to the drummer and catch her flares on my guitar stand, and watched in horror as my Ibanez EHB fell face down on the deck! Luckily, it appears to have survived its fall unscathed apart from a small ding in its headstock. The second set was much better. More party tunes in this set and more lubricated people ready to sing and dance (at the space next to said pool table rather than right in front of it). Obligatory encores and we were done by midnight. By this point, I was running on fumes (and Red Bull) due to a late night the night before and a very early start (cruise ship dinner party with family - get to bed at 1am and didn't realise until I was awakened by my uncle phoning our cabin that we had to be out of the cabins by 7.30am!) So yeah, I was rather tired by this point, but we all mucked in (well, nearly all) and was tucked up in bed by 1.30am. Next stop, The Sarah Moore in Leigh. Earlier start than usual due to them showing the boxing after (🙄). It's usually a good one for us, but sadly our last one there as it's closing in the new year as the building owner want to build flats!

Saturday night we ( The Alligators ) were playing at a pub in Bridlington’s old town. Audience varied in size from the start, at one point we played to 4 people and then later around 40! Had a hen night party in for a while which was quite interesting - they all danced to one or two songs and then gradually moved on to other pubs down the high street. Overall an okay night, until two of the ladies started being a pain by harassing an audience member so we stopped playing and finished early which was a shame. Such a pain when this happens, but as there was nobody able to deal with them I felt it was our only course of action. We got paid and the staff apologised, hopefully we’ll return there in 2025 but must admit I’m personally not that bothered which is a shame.

. . . and the bass is painted, a turquoise-to-blue-burst finish. Even the headstock has the same 'burst. Although it is ready to ship back to my luthier to be rebuilt, we all agreed to wait until the start of January 2025, once everyone is back at work after the holidays. That allows the finish to rest and cure a little more, and ensures that the item is not stuck in transit over the Christmas holidays. Right now, it looks like someone else's bass, or something out of a custom-shop catalogue - certainly, it doesn't feel like I can possibly own this! I rather like it. @AndyTravis - that colour was inspired by the image of the 8-string that you shared. Woof, indeed! Edit - the colours are Candy Blue, and Candy Royal Blue. Not the Feibing’s leather dye used by the Washburn custom shop. But I am very happy with the finish.

I was in a band a log time ago with a guitarist and bass player both using wireless. We used to play at the Roadhouse in Covent Garden quite a lot as the guitarist was also the house sound guy on the nights we weren't playing. I remember one gig where both of them went out in to the crowd (this was a sat night so it was packed). All of a sudden the guitar stopped and the bass player started doing a solo. Next thing I see is the guitarist coming back on stage carrying a try with drinks on it for us. Classic!!!

When the bass player isn't being sawn in half by a table... He's gone bloody walkabout, again! 20241214 Tolbooth walkabout.mp4 Bloody wireless pest!

I bought this 1986 Westone Spectrum GT earlier this year, which was a nice find. They don't turn up for sale very often but this one was on Ebay quite cheaply so I snapped it up. It's in a particular shade of red that my phone camera can't capture very well. Initially I wasn't sure about it as the bridge pickup sounded very thin and it has a quite odd volume/tone/tone arrangement with a push/pull phase reverse on the volume control. However, after taking it apart and doing a bit of work to raise the pickup height, it's turned into a very giggable bass.

SUNDAY That's today. Up at 4:45 AM to play Sousaphone for the annual Beorma Morris (the only Morris side with its own safe word) winter solstice sunrise danceout at the Rollright Stones (it's a stone circle near Chipping Norton). You've probably seen Morris dancing... fat, old, bearded, middle class pricks called things like Jeremy and Rupert, dressed all in white, wearing bells, dancing round a maypole, drinking tankards of foaming ale, waving hankies around, right? Well, that's Cotswold Morris - a summer tradition from the Cotswolds (!). Beorma (foisting tradition on the unwary since 2012) are a Border Morris side (that's what we call the teams/gangs/groups) which is a winter tradition from the Welsh borders (!) - a different vibe to Cotswold. Border sides dress mostly in black, wear scruffy tailcoats or tattered rags type outfits, paint their faces (but not black anymore, not after 'the great morris argument' of a few years ago that we won't go into here), wear top hats decorated with feathers, leaves, playing cards, spoons, brass goggles, fairy lighs... whatever you want. Border is a lot scruffier, more rough & ready, very shouty, we clout sticks together and only use hankies for blowing our noses. It's a bit steampunk, a bit goth.... I won't use the word 'cool', because it's still Morris dancing, but you get the idea. There is some crossover (and a jokey 'rivalry') between Cotswold and Border - they share a few dances, some people dance both, we often have danceouts with lots of sides from lots of Morris styles, and to be fair, Border morris has it's fair share of fat, old, bearded middle class pricks drinking lots of ale. Anyway, up before 5 o'clock, kit on (kilt, new rocks, tailcoat, top hat - like I say.. Steampunk vibe), pick up Birmingham's best non-binary, Japanese, Morris dancing, lindy-hopping, Jazz tromboning (not a euphemism) fiddle player (she's they're called Monet, she's they're lovely (How do non-binary people kill each other? They slash them.)), an hour drive to the Rollrights to get there for 7, mill about for a bit, process around the circle three times (no idea why, I think it's a pagan thing?), call the quarters (no idea what or why, pagan thing maybe?), dances, watch the sunrise on the shortest day (ish - we don't do it on the actual solstice, there's too many weirdos about), poems (no idea), a mummers play (like a medieval pantomime), more dances, all utterly ridiculous and good fun, or at least slightly better than not doing it. After that, head to Banbury, do a few dances at Banbury Cross, then off to a *proper* greasy spoon (Jenny's?) for a full on, gut-busting slap up breakfast (sixteen of us, all in full kit, top hats and white face paint), quick stop in Cash Convertors (just the two of us, still in full kit) where I didn't buy a Trevor James Soprano Sax, then back to Brum to drop off Brum's best NBJMDLHJTFP then home, all the while ignoring the funny noise my car has started making. Played the Sousaphone, wore New Rocks. Back about 3PM to empty the car, load up the car for work tomorrow (two keyboards, two guitars, a Bass, a PA speaker, a guitar amp, an electric drunkit, a tabletop electric drumkit, a massive heavy bag of stands, leads, mixer etc and a fold-up trolley), a pint of Henry Weston's Vintage cider (8.2%ABV), mild hallucinations due to sleep deprivation, questions about my life decisions, the Sunday Bass Direct email and that weird nagging feeling that I haven't done my homework for school tomorrow. Last week of term next week - five gigs, three school concerts, two nervous breakdowns, one rehearsal and a partridge in a pear tree. If you've read this far, DM me and recommend a decent sanitorium in the West Midlands, or just call me an idiot.

I went to see Paul McCartney last night at the Co Op Live arena in Manchester. My son in law is a massive Macca fan, and being in a wheelchair asked if I’d accompany him so I was happy to go, despite large venues not being my favourite. He had reserved disabled parking online, but on arrival it was evident that the spaces were already taken up - there was the local derby of Man City vs Man Utd taking place at the Etihad next door, so 53,000 punters there and a further 23,000 at the gig meant it was extremely busy. We eventually found a space that had enough room thanks to the help of the car park staff, and got into the venue quite early. The gig was AMAZING! One of the best concerts I have ever seen. From the opener ‘Can’t buy me love’ it was over two and a half hours of non stop brilliance. The set consisted of material from throughout Paul’s career, and was chosen really well. Quite a few numbers featured very rocky arrangements, with both the guitarists ( Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson ) playing brilliantly. All of the band were truly superb, augmented on some songs by a fantastic 3 piece brass section. Paul was on top form, his vocals really good and his bass playing top notch - used his Hofner all night into Mesa amplification. Brian took over on bass duties ( Fiesta red Precision and Epiphone Jack Casady) when Paul was playing guitar / piano / mandolin / ukulele. Plenty of special effects and poignant video footage on some songs, I was absolutely spellbound throughout. First time seeing a Beatle for me, and an unforgettable evening.

A small board I made for a band where I use no effects (!!!), apart from the one bass solo at the end of the set where I wanted a bit of a boost. Any excuse to use the BB preamp.

SATURDAY! That definitely was last night. Cantina Band at some place called Pitchers in Tamworth. Em (you remember her... from the awful shopping centre carol thing we did? She bought me the fingerless gloves? That's the one.) is from thereabouts and reckoned it used to be one of the best places in Tamworth but had recently reopened, so her and a couple of wind band/Jazz orchestra mates came down to see what it was like (and to see us. A bit). When I arrived at the postcode I'd been given, my blood ran cold, my heart sank, my bowels turned to liquid and it was all I could do to stop myself from running screaming back to civilisation, begging forgiveness from the Almighty (other deities are still available). Emblazoned above the door, spewed in neon hatred was most loathsome two-word phrase in the English language (except maybe 'Inoperable tumour' perhaps, or 'Piers Morgan'?)... 'Sports Bar'. You know the sort of place, there's at least one in every town and city (if you have a shred of humanity or the faintest glimmering of a soul, you will have avoided them), horribly bright lights, shiny surfaces, painfully loud thumping dance music (I love loud music, but not to the point of being able to actually physically feel it jolting my sternum with every beat), two hundred and eighty seven enormous TVs all showing boxing (I can't see the appeal of watching two oiled, semi-naked men battering one another into unconsciousness/submission in front of an unruly mob who are goading them on , but I digress)... and we've turned up to play classic rock (and McFly). Still, best foot forward and all that... think of the money. The punters watched us set up with a mixture of horror, amusement, naked hostility and disdain (apart from Em and her mates... they were on side (singer and guitarist's WAGs (both lovely) were there as well, so not a totally barren field)). Stage was nice and big, so setup was decent (we dumped our bags and cases and stuff in the DJ booth (an actual booth this time), then the DJ arrived and asked us to move it all. You'd think I'd have learned (learnt? I'm never sure which is right) by now.) Massive place with a really high ceiling (and a mezzanine floor where you can play pool!) and we don't use PA for backline (apart from the kick drum) so I had to 'go nuclear' and turn the Markbass volume up to four! (It was still too loud so I turned it down to three (and a half). I love that amp.) First set was met with pretty much total indifference (apart from Em's crew and the WAGs, they gave us some encouraging whoops and a bloke in a wheelchair had a dance (in his wheelchair, we're not miracle workers)), second set was slightly better, a couple of people at the bar sang (and air guitared) along to Sweet Child o' mine and Teen Spirit and we even had a few dancers up for the Slade christmas one ("Of course I remember it!" (I started to remember it halfway through verse 1... went OK after that)), went for a wireless wander to join Em at the bar (and encouraged her to pluck my G string) which was a hoot, the DJ made us do an encore that neither audience or band wanted, a couple of blokes said they'd enjoyed it as we were packing up (I think that's what they were saying - the music had progressed from merely sternum-jolting to skull-shatteringly loud... they were smiling, anyway) so not as bad a gig as it could have been. It was nice to have a few mates there and to show off (?) a totally different side of my playing (they're used to hearing me play Duke Ellington, Gershwin and Glenn Miller) and they all enjoyed it (especially the McFly one) so... yeah, I'll take that. If you've read this far, you should DM me and recommend an album I should listen to. Or just call me an idiot. Played the Sterling -> small board -> secret weapons -> MB CMD121, Tiger/leopard print Converse. Finished at a reasonable ish hour, paid, packed up, Beth Orton on the way back to my Birmingham estate (Dad's place) for a pint a Father's homebrew Mango, Pineapple and Spiced Rum cider (ABV unknown) and lovely cats. Bed about 1. Early start tomorrow!

THURSDAY! I know that's not last night, shut up, I've been busy. Dysfunctionals 3 piece at O'Neill's, Broad St Birmingham. It was a private party - works do for Mitchell & Butlers, a local brewery so we weren't really sure what to expect. Parking in the middle of Brum was fun, load in had unfortunately all been done by the time I'd found a parking space (I was LIVID, as you can imagine) setup was a total pain as the stage is tiny and we had to share it with the DJ (We dumped all our bags and cases and stuff on/under/around the DJ booth (table) then found out there was going to be a DJ so we had to cart everything out to the van (which had somehow bagged a parking spot right outside, thankfully)). We were set to go on at 9, then the manager asked us if we could go on at half nine as people would still be arriving at 9, no problem, actually can you go on at 9:45 as there's still not that many here... we went on about 10 to a packed house, all completely pissed, total baying mob who absolutely loved it. We had a mate doing the sound which was nice. First set went down a storm, dancefloor was packed from start to finish, great reception, good stuff! Quick vape break, queued at the bar for about two years to get a pint, back on for the second set, similar reception to the first set but more drunken (them, not us), went for a wireless wander in the last song which went down a treat, two encores before the DJ took over with ear-splitting thumpishite (thank God (other deities are available) for the ACS lugplugs). Played the StingRay (I love that Bass. Daisy (Goddaughter) gets it when I die) -> small board -> secret weapons (VTDI -> Thumpinator) -> MB802 -> PA, Cherry Red/Oxblood DMs. Pack up/load out was horrible as all the cases were in the van and there was no room to load them back in, so we had to empty them out of the van, then take stuff out of the venue *in order*, fill the cases in the street (and they say it's not a glamourous business!) and load them back into the van... nightmare. All done, Ben Folds on the way home, back about 1:30 (ON A SCHOOL NIGHT!), a tiny tot of Diplomatico Rum (40% ABV), bed for 2, up at 7 for work. Worked (I had a school concert (I teach primary school kids to play in rock bands) but that doesn't really count as a gig so I won't bore you with the details (Tiger/leopard print Converse and my work 3/4 size Jackson super pointy Bass if you must know)), then went out with one of my schools work dos, which was lovely but not a gig, so I won't bore you with the details of that either. Running on fumes by the end of the night.

My 2024 Jetglo Ric 4003 has arrived. This was secondhand from (Gasp) Cash Converters. I particularly wanted a 2024 (or 2023?) model for the usable bridge and single truss rod, so when this one appeared at a decent saving over a new one I jumped on it immediately. On inspection it is in near mint condition, the only mark I can find on it is a tiny chip at the tip the headstock. After unboxing, I tested it and initially thought there was an intermittent problem with the bridge pickup as when switching to it the sound was cutting out, however I then found that this only happens when using my ridiculously heavy Fender curly cable with woven covering. It seems the weight of the cable was pulling the plug and doing something to the weird mono switching jack used for the 'normal' output. Once I swapped the cable out for a more normal cable the signal was rock solid. I don't have the correct cable etc to try the rick-o-sound output yet, but I'll be placing a thomann order soon which will include the necessary bits & bobs amongst other things. Over the last few weeks since deciding to buy a 4003 I have accumulated various things to slightly customise it: 'Traditional' Rickenbacker knobs with bass/treble & volume/tone text to replace the jazz bass style knobs Rickysounds clear thumbrest Rickysounds black pickguard (bought when I thought I was going to acquire a Mapleglo 4003) A set of Ernie Ball Cobalt flatwounds 40-60-10-95 (I use these on my Gibson & Epiphone thunderbirds & think they should suit the 4003) A set of Schaller Chrome S-Locks — The 4003 is fitted with strap buttons compatible with S-locks but due to their small size I wouldn't trust them with my usual rubbery grolsch washers. It is not practical to replace the stock strap buttons as they use a machine screw fixing rather than a wood screw. I nicked the black suede strap from one of my guitars and fitted the S-locks. I'm not sure whether I will use the black pickguard but I will put the cobalt flats, knobs and thumbrest on soon. I will probably shield the bass with anti slug tape at some point, however I saw a Youtube video of someone who did this including putting copper tape on the back of the white acrylic pickguard and I'm sure it had a bit of a copper-coloured tinge after he refitted it. Maybe I'll try Aluminium tape on the pickguard or rather than sticking the tape directly to the guard, or make a slightly undersized plate from thin opaque black plastic card stock to go under the pickguard and shield the underside of that to prevent the copper showing through.

this one? I bought it yesterday with help from Paddy777

Yesterday with the UB40 tribute set:

Macca at the Coop Arena, Manchester... Sorry not snapped with bass. Not bad for 82! Just under a three-hour set and swapping between his Hofner, acoustic, ukulele and piano. Played Beatles, Wings and solo hits. Killer band. Drummer a beast. Great show. Dawning realisation that after listening to 50 years worth of prog rock, the Beatles got there first. Only neg of the night is the venue's unfeasible admission and transport logistics with ~20k people descending on the tram station at 11pm. Plan carefully if you intended to go to this venue.

I aquired this recently! An MXR Phase 99, two phase 90s in one enclosure. They can be run series or parallel (strereo setup needed for parallel) with one amp, it acts as a single phaser in parallel, series can be ran with different speeds, or a handy switch synchs them up, sounds really thick but adds a lot of extra boost. It also has the "script" switch which is labelled vintage on this pedal. Ive yet to try it with my setup, im sure itll sound wild in parallel with an OC2.

that’s a bold statement 😉

Their loss is our gain, I’m sure…

Last gig of 2024 at the Glamping Site in Poole, Dorset that’s supported us (the Otis Jay Blues Band) for the past few years. Singer did his back in so sat, but he and we coped - with a few Val Doonican jokes on the way… Got Cath and Kerry to do backing vocals on Mustang Sally and they did us proud. Flea jazz, Elf, Barefaced One10, Xmas jumper - you can’t go wrong !

Great gig last night with Nine Lives at the Tolbooth in Ellon. It was decently busy, and as a bonus, a couple of the guys from the 'Spoons came down to heckle us also. Always fun to see some familiar faces in the audience. Lots of dancing, a few singalong moments, and a splendid time was had by all. I am also delighted with some new gear which got a first proper run - namely the EHX Battalion preamp and my super sparkly Epiphone Thunderbird, which is an absolute effin' beast. So pleased to be back in Thunderbird land, it's been too long. Gear was the Sire Z7 followed by the Epi T-bird into the usual Markbass tone cubes: Are we still obsessing about footwear? I was wearing these - Vans Calf Hair classic slipons. Is that OK?

Back in 2018, I was playing an Open Day (I think they called it 'Rusties') with the BSO String Section, where amateurs spend the day with the principle string leader, learn about 3-4 pieces, and all come together mid afternoon to perform 'Tutti'. We were a very small section of 4. I can't remember the piece, but we had a long shift to high 'B' that I was struggling with and I thought, I can just play quietly there and then fine tune my position. The conductor singled out the bass section to go through that phrase and I was rightly worried, but decided to go for it with confidence. The other two amateur bass players didn't even play a note when we got to the 'B' which accentuated my poor intonation even more. Luckily, the conductor smiled, looked at me and said "don't worry, the intonation will settle". I've since spent a long time working in the thumb position, but pencil marks are definitely on the cards for some pieces!

I may or may not be waiting for them to be available secondhand in a few years...

I am seriously going to fall out with you lot. Why do you keep telling me about goodies I don’t need? I WANT them but WANT and NEED are from different continents. Signed Angry of Dorset. Xxx

Similar experience - I'd bought at American professional strat for £1000+ at the time which I was really pleased with then a Squier came up locally on ebay for £40 - I bought it as an upgrade project but tonally it just sounded much better than the Fender as it was - cleaned up it was almost mint despite being quite an old one. I do love my Squiers.

I spent a few hours noodling in a premium guitar shop on Saturday as it was really quiet and I could just pull things of the hangars and try them at will. The thing that struck me the most was what poor quality some of the new gear was - I was trying Fender's with bent pots grating on the pickguard, guitars with virtually unplayable actions and crackling pots and generally the quality of the instrument in no way reflected the price. The dearest thing I played was a Maybach da vinci bass at £3300 - it looked nice - similar to an orchestral instrument and was custom shop - but the Vintage brand jazz I bought off ebay for £200 was actually set up better. I was expecting to be blown away by it but that just didn't happen - I left empty handed and disappointed. Maybe I'm just not a good enough player to realise the tonal nuances of the instruments , maybe we are just being ripped off or the premium we pay for big name brands is just a guarantee of gettting a reasonable resale price which certainly doesn't happen on the customs.

More pics from McCartney last night, care of my daughter.

Slightly OT, I know, but I've never really understood the thing about avoiding side markers. I can see how playing without them can be achieved relatively easily if you always play the same intrument, but I don't. I routinely move between four upright basses but at least they're all more-or-less the same scale length; on electric I jump around from 30" to 32" to 34" to 35" whilst also moving from fretted to fretless. Side dots make life easier - why wouldn't I use them? On an associated note I once took a DB into a very respected luthier's workshop to have a new bridge fitted. He'd just taken a delivery of DB's for set-up & fettling from one of the big London symphony orchestras and they were laid out on the floor in a long row of side-on DBs. Almost all of them had faint (but clear) pencil marks on the neck where the dots would be ...

I don't see it that way, and it makes me background levels of sad that you appear to. A question was asked, I answered it. Doesn't make me any better or worse than anyone else.

There's Absolutely good people on TB They are BASS PLAYERS after all :?) Free speech is a god given right , at least it was before Biden Harris and their d .e .i cronies did everything they could think of to destroy the U.S.A. our constitution , and everything Normal Americans citizens believe in and love about our country. I know the normal citizens in the u.k. are dealing with the same kind of BS we are . Don't stop pushing back !

No Sh*t Good few years back some bright spark started a thread titled " Opinions on US guitars/basses. Replies from Non-US Citizens only please" Result was 99.9% of replies came from Americans outraged that nobody wanted to hear their opinion🤣 There's small group of decent folk on TB but mostly it's a $ sign pissing contest, " Bedroom player. Which $10k bass should I but ?" or folk seeking validation for their consumer choices .

It's US-based and most of its users are American. There is a decent number of non-US folk on there though, who sometimes have to remind the US-ians of strangely obvious things like how, elsewhere in the world, US Fenders are the foreign imports... little things like that don't occur to them! I'd strongly advise anyone from overseas to stay out of the TB Lounge section of the site if they're a paying member... some of the discussion in there gets ugly, is very US-centric, and some of them don't seem to like hearing from foriegners.

Fun how life turns out isn't it? 30 years of gigging and it turns out one of my absolute favourite things to play is this. Really enjoying our residency at the Green Dragon in Hereford. 5 nights in, dead easy set up, journey home, venue being really friendly and helpful, Christmas Parties well up for some silliness and letting their hair down, A-team playing in the band. Shame the day job comes in between- more coffee please! House Party Clip.mp4

I said I played my Combustion. I'll hopefully be able to update with some pics at a later date. Didn't think to get any myself at the time. It was a rush trying to get people sound checked before doors at 5:30, especially as the first band were very late. Have a picture of my daughter in her skeleton outfit that she demanded to wear on Friday with my rig.

Last gig of 2024, which was also our first gigging year. We organised a 5 band night at Moor Beer in Bristol. Had 50 tickets sold all in all! Doesn't feel bad for a non-central gig with local bands. We should be able to pay everyone something with that turnout. I was on the door for most of the night, but that was just inside where the stage was, so it was fine. Band members were always about when I needed another drink or the loo and I got to see all of the other bands, so I don't mind! The sound guy we had really knows the venue and like last time we played there, he mainly let the amps do the hard work. All of the bands sounded great and meaty. My usual gear is my Combustion, GX-100 with Mojo Mojo and Bass Big Muff in the loop, Digbeth head, Zilla 212. The fact that the Zilla was a 212 didn't seem to hamper it up against two 412s and another 212. Very full and received lots of compliments from the other bassists who all used it. Really pleased with how the gig went. The crowd seemed to be really into it. Sold 4 t-shirts too! Footwear was my brown boots that have been resoled twice and have new inners. I got them at TK Maxx and have no idea of the brand!