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As some of you may remember I have joined a U2 tribute band A big shout out to @AndyTravis and @warwickhunt for the heads-up It's immaculate and plays and sounds good. Very precision like

I switched on eBay on Sunday night to check my saved searches...... and I couldn't believe my luck..... A mint condition, 2024 Epiphone Grabber, with it's soft case, had just been listed at £499 Buy It Now with free shipping! An 'excellent feedback' seller too! I really wanted one of these when they were released, but there was no way I was gonna spend £900+ on an Epiphone so, when I saw this, it was a no-brainer! It arrived today, exactly as described..... and I'm thrilled 😎

Last July I bit the bullet and ordered a custom built Alpher bass. Just had the latest pics through of the nearly finished item Behold! My new Hammerhead! Sassafras body Wenge neck and board Nordy pickups John east pre Gone for a roadworn purple finish! Can't wait to play it

You might say you found what you were looking for?

Lot to take in over an hour. Apparently I’m doing everything wrong but we can now make it all right. I’ve started 2025 in the mood for some self improvement and this is a good start.

I call this piece…”with problems like this; who needs solutions…”

A friend of mine told me about a Van Morrison gig that he went to a few years ago... Van Morrison had just released a new album the week before the gig. He came on stage at the begining and said: "We're going to play the new album for the first set, then we'll go off for a little break and then when we come back, we'll play some songs that you've heard before." So they played the new album for the first set... Went for a break... And when they came back... They played the new album for the second set.... And then went home!

My latest big board for my fusion band (i break it down to a smaller one for the rock band) Bright onion input/output box Sadowsky BP2 preamp/DI - for use with my passive basses, adds a nice bit of depth and clarity when set right, it doesnt change the character of the bass. Small tuner plugged into tuner out. Origin effects - Cali76 compact bass, the 1st version, i like the pop and sheen that it adds, its a subtle compressor, but tames the slaps and enhances my tone (especially since i moved to Markbass) Into a Boss LS2 - the most useful pedal in the world, it gives me so many options Channel A MXR Bass Octave Deluxe - its small and sounds great, and tracks really well, its set with more Girth for a deeper "octabass" style tone, with clean added its my standard octave tone. Zvez Mastatron - Gated fuzz that works great with all basses, used for synth tones, with a high gate, and least amount of subs, as usually used with an octave. EBS Bass IQ - envelope filter, v2 ive just got another (theyve shot up in price) as ive tried most and this is my favourite. Very usable Down sweep for Moog sounds, and triggers really well, High Q Is great for funky mutronish tones or part of a synth. Ive set a good amount of clean high end in via the trimpot, adds to note definition. MXR Phase 99 - The classic phase 90 x2 in one box, the two phasers can be used in series or parallel, and set with contrasting speeds, it can get very wild and funky, or set in synch which is very thick and adds gain to the signal, it has the "script" switch, for vintage/modern phase tones, orange sparkle too!! Channel B Boss OC2 - set without the clean signal for the "Jo jo Mayer" sound, i hadnt had one in years, i now remember why every bassist should have one. I add this classic sound in parallel via the LS2 to the Mastatron and Bass IQ as well as the phaser. Frederic effects Bugcrusher - Based on the Bugbrandits an analog sample rate reducer, very funky and percussive sounding pedal, you can almost get clavinet style tones, as well as ring mod like madness, it has a blend to keep some sanity. Ive tried many of these type of effects, and this is a very musical pedal. I use is with the OC2 for the "Baby elephant" tone as well as in parallel with the MXR Octave.

Hi all, I don't know why I've never heard of this, but Vintage, who do the fantastic value V4 have a custom shop! Make your own config, colour, hardware, etc etc https://vintageguitarsrus.com/collections/proshop

Gave my " Leader" 90's bass a cleanup and checkup today. Couldn't find anything on the internet anymore, so "posting time" (well over 30 years old). It is a bass from a Dutch builder, v.d.Hoeven from 's-Hertogenbosch. The small, somewhat "strange" body contains hollow resonance spaces and is therefore very light. While playing, the headstock could feel to tip over a little bit, but nothing serious. Shaller hardware, EMG pickup and preamp. Neck Thru:maple/Boire Body: Boire Fingerboard: Ebony it is not to everyone's taste, but plays easily and has a great sound. The basses where build as i know for a short time (end 80's begin 90's).

Snagged these 3 beauties recently. Modulation, delay and reverb by IK multimedia. They were released a few years ago obviously going after the strymon market share. However they don't seem to have taken off and seem to be on their way to being discontinued if they aren't already. I snagged each one for a tiny fraction of the RRP and no longer have gas for another hx stomp. They sound great and I can tweak super easily on the fly.

We solved the problem by not having a guitarist.

Well my BB3000s arrived today and i have to say I’m absolutely blown away by the quality of it! 🤩 I had obviously read/heard how good they were but I guess I’m still taken aback somewhat at how nice it is to play, and also how great it sounds - I don’t quite know how to explain it, but the tone is absolutely perfect, it’s like it’s hard to sound bad playing it (but I’m sure I’ll manage to give it a good shot 😂). It has a really lovely neck - it’s not particularly wide but it’s a bit thicker than a jazz front to back, it feels like you just glide your hand where it needs to go and you get this lovely even tone all over the fretboard. I do have a bit of a tendency to get carried away with new basses and then a month or two later after a few gigs I’ll find there’s one or two niggly things I don’t like, the only with this I can see at the mo is that the tuners don’t hold their tune very well at all, in fact the A string is so bad it actually turned back the other way a quarter turn after I’d tuned it, but I just put it down to being 40 years old. I’ll have to sort something out - see if I can find some replacement gold Yamaha ones the same otherwise I may stick some Gotoh’s or something on for now. Anyway, suffice to say I am more than impressed with it - it’s really got some mojo, decent weight too - a few grams over 9lbs Couple more pix 👇

I've got a black, four-way extension cable that has a sticker on it that says, 'The Dags'. My dad got it for me (I suspect he may have swiped it from work). I can date this to 1978.

Nice score! I think this is a good bass for £499. They're frankly taking the piddle at north of £900 new though. It's easy to point at the fixed pickup. If it sounds good to me, I could have overlooked it because if I remember correctly, it was more of a gimmick than anything else on the original Grabber (ie. didn't do a lot to the tone whether it was forward or back). Maybe as a former Gibson G-3 and Ripper owner I'm a bit pickier than some, but for me the main concern for me is the shape of the pickguard. It's less obvious on the black one, but the way it doesn't follow the edge of the body is criminal to me, particularly galling as they've managed to do it better in the past with previous Grabber/G-3/Ripper shaped confections... So they do a bang up job of the body shape and the headstock, then fluff their lines with the pickguard (specifically the area where the controls are)? I just can't see past it, it would irritate the devil out of me at any price point (especially £900+) but like I said, as a former owner of cousins of these basses, I'm perhaps more picky than some. Sounds like you're enjoying your newest acquisition though, so I'm chuffed for you and I don't want to yuck your yum too much. Keep on enjoying it and to hell with what anyone else (especially this grizzled grump) has to say about it!

I wisely gave it a miss, but my parents went to see Dylan at the Albert Hall about 10 years ago when he was in his crooner phase. They told me that you haven’t lived until you’ve heard Animal from the Muppets croak his way through ‘Autumn Leaves’.

First rehearsal of the new year last night. And first one since I announced that I'm leaving the band (have a baby now, just too knackered for it!). Something wasn't working on my pedal board due to it having been left in a cold car for a bit too long, so I ended up going direct into the amp with a single cable and found I actually preferred the sound. Drummer had been in over Xmas and tidied the rehearsal space, which was a lovely surprise. Not tripping over anything anymore. We sounded surprisingly good - dusted off a lot of long neglected songs for an upcoming gig. I've told them I'll stick around until a replacement is found, so if anyone is based in or around Liverpool and fancies joining a chilled but hardworking blues/rock covers trio, give me a shout!

I took the plunge. This arrived this morning Not had a chance to play with it yet. Thanks everyone for your input.

So I have managed to temporarily solve the problem with some shielding tape and kitchen foil wrapped around the damaged/corroded area of the pickup... Bit Heath Robinson, but it works! Did hear back from Rob Allen as well, who are going to source a new pickup for me. Cheers!

Just given it a half hour run out through my rig..... This thing sounds MONSTROUS! Quite a revelation....! I think it just could be my best sounding passive bass 🤯

That must be the most famous bass on Basschat out front

Think I'm finished for now. Spent a bit of time on my gospel board today. Boss TU-3>Cry Baby 105Q Mini Wah>Boss NS-2>LOOP SEND>Boss OD-200>Zoom MS-60b>Caline SP-24>LOOP RETURN>Sonicake Levitate. Large Rockhouse flat board, EBS Solder-free patch cables, Joyo JP-02 power supply. All going into a Sadowsky SBP-1 and GSS Baby Sumo, and 2 x Trace Elliot 110 cabs. When I get paid I might upgrade the power supply but it's quiet, nothing sucks tone, it's neat and I've got plenty of options.

This is great. I was inspired by my kids who enter ever new situation enthusiastically and with no negative feelings or preconceptions. That's how I'm trying to be with this and it was a lot of fun. I volunteer with a charity and some of the evidence they produced is that you should always be open to learning new things and challenging your body and brain – just like you are, and hopefully I am, too. Be great to hear more of your experiences as I hopefully progress.

Good for you, you will be amazed at how much you don't know and if you're like me you will learn things that will improve all your playing. After about 65 years of playing guitar, banjo, EB, EUB and finally double bass I started weekly lessons 2 1/2 years ago at age 75. I am still struggling with the bow but I'm getting better and have been playing concerts with my teacher's youth orchestra where most of the kids are too small for bass and cello. If you are lucky you might get into a string group, I have played many types of music but being in an orchestra or string ensemble is a totally different experience...go for it and good luck.😊

You've got OUR guit@r1$t in your band as well then......😆😆😆

This is why a bassist should study the specifications of the guitarist tube amp so they know which tubes they can remove to make it quieter but still functional. Or invest in some of those power tube substitutes which only have 1W output :).

Anne Boleyn - Rick Wakeman

Hi everyone this is the first time for me here. Very much a virgin to basschat so be gentle 😁I’m just back into the bass after many years. Life’s priorities have changed and given me the opportunity to play again very much for my own entertainment. I’m pushing on in years with arthritis in my hands but the benefit of practice has done wonders. Not same suppleness or speed but who cares. I don’t have the ambition to perform and is purely self satisfaction for me. So a final shoutout to “songofthewind” for introducing me to this site.

I own this beauty now :))

The tuners' tensions can be adjusted - see those little holes just below the buttons? I'd be amazed if you got the proper tool lumped in with the bass because they always seem to get lost. I'm sure it's been discussed here, but I can't find it so here's a TB thread all about it (as well as ideas for what to do if you don't have the official tool) - https://www.talkbass.com/threads/yamaha-bb-tuner-wrench-anyone-know-where-to-buy.718816/ EDIT - had another search and found it - https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/470267-old-adjustable-machine-heads-tuners/

This should be an interesting watch — if the UK release isn't delayed. https://www.guitarworld.com/music-industry/normans-rare-guitars-documentary-release-date

A NPD that I thought might better suited to this thread. A newish builder based in Australia has released a clone of the Chunk Systems 00Funk and Brown Dog and put them in a single enclosure. https://www.thereallygoodpedalco.com.au/products/the-funky-puppy-50-deposit What really sold me on the pedal was the inclusion of an extra foot switch that allows you to toggle between the link feature without having to plug and unplug the cable in the same way that you needed to with the old Chunk System pedals. When both pedals are linked together, it becomes really touch sensitive and dynamic! Sound sample 1 Sound sample 2 Really enjoying it paired with an OC2 for deep synthy sounds.

Shame it took a bloody righty flipping his bass to finally get a lefty Explorer bass gigbag on the market

Our guitarist never has a backup guitar on stage. Almost all our gigs are fly aways. Our luggage allowance means any more than one instrument each just isn't practical. He's never broken a string during a set but has had a machine head start slipping during the gig.

Our first rehearsal of the year with the acoustic folk rock band went really well. A list of new songs for us to learn ahead of the St. Patrick's day gig in front of us, we managed to busk through at least half a dozen of the 'standards', as we have all played them individually in other bands at some point in the past. What made the evening even better was that the place we use to rehearse is a holiday cottage on a farm, which also has a tearoom on site. Any cake etc that is leftover from the day is put in the kitchen for us to help ourselves to, along with tea and coffee. (Ginger and coconut cake last night). Already looking forward to next Wednesday evening.......🤪

The Celestion Pulse 10 Ashdown recommended is a great little speaker, it's the driver we recommended in the BassChat 110T @stevie designed a couple of years back.

OK, I’ll play, I have a few pairings, here’s a pair of ‘60/‘61 Jazz basses, super clean, with original candy.

Six weeks later... ...so despite saying I was happy with the preamp in my Excess (and I was, there was nothing wrong with it!), that 'but it's not original' devil kept whispering in my ear. So I wrote to Vigier to ask if they might have a spare preamp lying around. They didn't, but they did say they were thinking of making some more in the next couple of months. And a week or so ago I got a message to say they were back in stock. I'm almost positive this isn't the unit that would have been in the bass when it was created in 2002 (the hole for the hum cancelling trim pot doesn't line up), but it is the modern equivalent and dropped straight in. Is it better than what was in there before? Of course - it's a Vigier! As an added bonus, having unpacked the thing and looked at the instructions I saw they were expecting it to be powered by two batteries - and I only have one battery box. So I wrote them a quick email and within the hour had a reply from M. Vigier himself confirming that it would also work on 9v. So he might not be making instruments any more, but he's still out there supporting them - merci!

I can second this. We played a festival in Spain in September 24 on the same stage as The Mission (and The Charlatans) and can confirm they played their 'Best of' - Wasteland, Butterfly On a Wheel, Tower Of Strength, Serpents Kiss, Severina etc etc We also played a festival in Athens in Summer 23 with The Sisters of Mercy who also played their 'Best of' - albeit only Andrew Eldritch survives from any line up of the Sisters I would recognise.

I'm unlikely to die if my bass doesn't work... ...unless I really haven't read the small print for the next gig