Leaderboard

Just scored an Epiphone shorty. Picked it up yesterday afternoon from FB marketplace, gigged it last night. It's this one and it felt so tiny! But it sounded and played really well. Glad I went for the short scale, there was a little bit of neck dive so I imagine the full length would be, for me, unplayable.

Nipped across to not-very-sunny Zurich to play at an Americana festival. Had a great few days. I've worked with Peter for a long time, but this is his other band and I'd never met them before. Just had time to top-and-tail at the soundcheck, and off we go. They're a hugely talented bunch.

Recently joined an originals band - trio of keys/vocals, drums, and bass. The BL got us onto the bill for a showcase at the Arches in Coventry as the opening act. So, after two and a half rehearsals, we did three songs together, then the BL did a couple more solo. We got quite a few compliments. The smoke machine did obscure our drummer somewhat. Photo taken during soundcheck when he was still visible. Videos can be seen here:

When one of our sax players forgot to bring black shoes to a gig, I remember black gaffer tape being used to cover his white trainers, quite well IIRC. Same fella also had a hole in his black dinner suit trouser knee, so we used a Sharpie on his skin to disguise it. Had to do two marks though, one for playing sitting down and one for standing. 😆

Found this gem. The previous owner was the first owner who bought it new in 1973 and took pretty good care of it. The frets are fine, the finish has one bad spot where it hit a nail in the case it was kept in, otherwise in very good nick. The hardware is super clean, the color has aged very nicely and it sounds and plays great. Really like this.

While it may sound bass heavy the reality of reggae is it's midbass heavy. This is an RTA of The Wailers, through a no holds barred million quid system, taken in the FOH, the best seat in the house. Most of the energy is between 60 and 180Hz.

Not quite a gig, but was in Germany with students at a jazz festival. I was the Rhythm Section Instructor for the top jazz band Long days but good fun with a bunch of great young musicians.

My Bandeoke board from last night.

Couple of quick pics of the makeshift tool for finishing the bevel

Right then, enough of these lovely basses, let's have something pretty much universally hated. The kind of bass a lot of folks had as their first bass, and ceremoniously destroyed when they got their first 'proper' bass. A Kay KJB-1B. I was bored so bought this little survivor and treated it to a refinish inspired by those terrible plastic fan operated organs of the 70's. A lesson in just because you can, doesn't mean you should. All the above is in jest, this Kay is now a funky little bass that plays well (after some intense adjustments) and sounds surprisingly good.

I played in a show band for most of 1985. It was a relatively short period of time, but so rich for incidents. The time that the band leader sacked 3 of us for being late back from a break - it was only a 5-piece band and we were the ones who could actually play. The Butlin's camp manager had kept us talking. There was a slight climb down the next, sober morning: "take as much notice as you need" The time I turned up for a posh do without my bow tie. My efforts to craft one from the vinyl cut out of the back of the driver's seat of the band Transit van and gaffer tape were not appreciated. I ended up wearing a horrendous giant vampire moth tie borrowed from one of the guests The time the band leader quaffed an amount of brandy and accidentally tipped his keyboard synth off the front of the stage. It laid there on the floor screaming away for several minutes until someone could cut the power

They got the label wrong on this one.

Cor… the 80s eh? British pop music at its absolute zenith, bass high in the mix (and high on the strap…) total masters of the instrument at work - Mark King, Nick Beggs, Pino Palladino, Mick Karn, Martin Glover, Guy Pratt, John Taylor, proper players…. Trace Elliot everywhere, JayDees, Status, Wals as far as the eye could see… Silly hair…. Jumpers for goalposts…. Cor….! 😁

I've successfully improvised an emergency belt from black gaffa several times. The trick is to pull a length long enough to wrap round your waist and fold it over onto itself so the sticky sides are inside, repeat with two more lengths on both sides for sturdiness, and then create a 'buckle' connecting the two lengths BUT ONLY AFTER YOU PUT IT ON. You do have to cut yourself out of it afterwards unfortunately and it's not a particularly load bearing band so not worth it if you have slim hips and heavy trousers - I haven't got a solution for that yet but I imagine a similar set of improvised braces could work. Careful not to get it on your chest hair.

This evening has been one of fettling and fine adjustments. First off, the tuner holes were 'nearly' 18mm, this makes the new Ultralites a tight fit. Used this rather terrifying looking auger bit to widen them a little. Obviously didn't use a power drill as I wanted to still have a headstock afterwards, so clamped it and turned by hand. Once done the tuners fit nicely with the 18mm adapters I purchased. Really happy with the decision to go for lollipop keys. rt Then to test fit the bridge. Turns out the Fender fit Style A does line up reasonably well with the through body stringing holes from the original, but doesn't cover the mounting screw holes at the front. I decided to move it a mm or two towards the neck since I'm drilling new mounting holes for it any way. To ensure it still lined up ok with the through body holes I reamed them out at the top end with a stepped bit. This brought the top portion of the hole out to 8mm with a bit of a chamfer, giving me wiggle room for placement. Took a lot of time on bridge placement. Not convinced by the accuracy of the spacing of the previous drill holes so I took reference measures from the the last fret at each end. Overall it's coming together nicely, spent a fair bit of time fettling the scratchplate. I cut it by hand and bevelled it with a Stanley blade so it isn't perfect, but I made a simple tooling jig to hold the blade at 45deg so I'm pretty happy with it for now. Tomorrow evening should be wiring and set up, then if all goes to plan I can try it in anger at band practice on Saturday

l-r 55-60 with J Retro,55-02,55-AJ

There’s a hotel just off the M1/A50 roundabout which I was gigging at a couple of years ago. In the dark and the rain I missed the lane to access the hotel and then had to drive most of the way to Derby before I could turn around. Cursing, I eventually got back to the roundabout - and did exactly the same mistake of missing my turning again! By the time I got to the gig I was well cheesed off, late, properly stressed out and having pointlessly driven to Derby and back twice.

I have no guilty pleasures. Good music is good music.....

Meat 'n Greet...

So in answer to your question with regard to filters... I've now been using the GT Core for a week and getting my head around it's various features and possibilities. The EBS IQ filter pedal I've currently got on my board (pictured above) is one of the very best analogue filters I've come across - almost on a par with 3Leaf filters I've had the privelege of owning, and considerably less expensive. I've set up a filter patch on the Core, [using the Touch Wah fx in band-pass filter mode - in case of wider interest] which gives me the choice of up or down filter. I've also included an octaver, but just with the up-filter, to thicken up the sound. Really like what I'm hearing on both up-sweep and down-sweep. And the excellent EBS... well that's just been taken off my board and will likely be appearing in the for-sale section in due course 😊

Arrived!!

It took a while longer to come together than expected, but today I took delivery of this absolute beauty and I'm pretty happy with it. The idea (inspired by a mate who's done similar tele and strat builds) was to build a really high quality vintage looking P bass but with modern appointments. The same kind of idea as buying a classic car and putting a modern drive train in it. The body came from MJTs eBay store. I had waited for an Aztec gold one to come up for a few months, one finally did but it sold for more than I was willing to pay. Shortly after this ice blue metallic one came up, I'd never heard of it before but after some googling I was pretty sold. I bid, won, paid the import, waited for delivery and finally it arrived in early August. The bridge is a gotoh 203 and the tuners are gotoh resolites. I'm really happy with both, they look classic but are slight functional improvements over the what an actual vintage bass would have, fitting in nicely with the restomod idea. Pickup and electronics are EMG GZR. I agonised over the decision, it's really easy to get analysis paralysis with P bass pick-ups because there are so many available. I considered Kloppmann, Bare knuckle, Di Marzio model P, various Seymour Duncans and probably a few more. Then I played another bass with the GZR in it and enjoyed it, so because I couldn't test any of the others I ordered the GZR. I may change it in the future but for now I'm pretty sold, it does exactly what I want it to, not that I could describe what that is. The strat and tele that inspired the build both have Warmoth necks. I enquired about getting the spec I wanted built and they weren't able to help, I wanted a 16" radius which they apparently don't do on bass necks, so it was back to the drawing board. I ended up contacting Jon Shuker about building a neck and ordered the same spec as he uses for the JJ Burnel Zenith bass, I shipped the body and parts to Jon, he built the neck to fit the pocket and assembled and set the bass up, all for less money that my mate had paid for his Warmoth necks after shipping and tax! Today it finally arrived and I'm over the moon. I'll list the full spec below for those that are interested. Most importantly there are photos. It weighs a shade over 4kg. Neck (Shuker): Roasted flamed maple. Carbon reinforcement. Stainless frets. Brass nut. Luminlay side dots. Black fret board markers. 16" radius. Gentle c carve. 43mm nut. 20.5mm depth at the first fret. 22.5mm at the 12th. Body (MJT): Alder with usual contours. Lightly aged ice blue metallic finish (nitrocellulose). Hardware: Gotoh resolite tuners in nickel. Gotoh 203 brass bridge in nickel. Gotoh aged domed nickel nobs. Gotoh large nickel strap buttons. eBay special anodized scratch plate. Electronics: EMG GZR pick-up and wiring. I think it came together pretty well!

Grilles. This is a speaker for taking out and about so I want a bit more protection than just some fabric. Custom made and painted speaker grilles aren't cheap, but I am. Well, I'm trying to keep the budget down for this project anyway. ESR do pre-painted speaker grille material which I could cut to size, but with postage that's still over twenty-five quid. Even a piece of unpainted steel mesh from eBay suppliers is north of twenty. The only really low-cost speaker grilles are the round ones you clamp in front of the speaker, but that doesn't protect the port, and I'm afraid I do think they look a bit amateur. The round grilles though, they do come in sizes all the way up to a whopping 46 cm (eighteen inches if you'd rather). That's quite a large area of grille material. I wonder if… A quick consultation with Mr. Pythagoras showed this plan had legs, and part of the CPC order that went in just before I discovered the handle issue was an eighteen inch round grille for seven pounds eighty-six. A few minutes of sparks-flying fun with the cutting wheel on the Dremel (in the back garden, WITH eye protection) and I have a perfectly proportioned grille. The edges are a bit messy, but happily the plastic trim easily comes off the circumference of the round grille (what's left of it) and should cover all that up if cut into the right lengths and attached to the rectangular one with a bit of superglue. I cut sections of batten as shown in pic which are now getting glued to the baffle to mount the grille but leave the baffle screw holes exposed - I could have made a continuous frame and used long screws but this way seems OK to me. The long horizontal piece in the middle is simply what was left over after cutting the other bits, but I decided to use it like that as it should add some stiffness to the baffle. Meanwhile the new handle arrived, and I cut holes for that and for the connector plate, also bevelled the edges and corners with some more Dremel madness (a bit rough, but I'll try and even them out with the proper sander). And here's the handle in place. I think we can say we're going for an 'oversize' aesthetic here, but it fits, and crucially the actual handle is only a centimetre off the centre-of-mass line for near-optimal carrying. As soon as the grille supports are all glued and dry (I only have four clamps, so be patient) I'll be able to assemble and test it…

There's been another Spector that's come into the collection recently. It's been mentioned in other threads and it's a bass that has changed hands a few times in the last few years. It's a 2003 Euro 4 in Trans Amber. It needs some TLC like a fret polish, fingerboard clean and oil (done) and it needs new pickup screws and strap buttons but that's just cosmetics. I removed the original non-adjustable Tonepump preamp yesterday and replaced it with a Hazlabs LHZ-03 that you can see here. Installation was enjoyable, went to plan and it all worked perfectly first time. I like logging everything, so you can see I've logged the fitting date on the back of the cavity cover. I've also folded up that QA card with the serial number and put it in there. With higher end, older instruments I think it's important for future owners to know some of history of what they've got.

I completed this build last month

...indeed. However ... .... Pythagoras only needed one string...

Let's get the inevitable of the way and never revisit it again: Jaco would have only needed four holes.

I owned this compressor and found it worked best at the end of the chain as a mastering compressor as Steen advises.

This is what I really like about BC - the best of it

Have you got more photos / specs? That looks gorgeous!

I think this press photo speaks volumes as to how much Ozzy punters can expect to see.

As a grown up big boy, I'm beyond the whole my little secret/guilty pleasure thing. If The Carpenters make me feel warm and fuzzy, why keep it to myself? What next for Basschat? What's your favourite colour?

Ozzy struggled badly, vocally, during the last Sabbath tour, as the DVD clearly shows. He's been through multiple serious illnesses and injuries in the meantime, couldn't even perform with his own band. I wouldn't want to see him in his current state for free, never mind pay a fortune to see him get wheeled on stage for a brief cameo amidst an array of guest singers. Let's not forget that, according to the band themselves, Bill wasn't capable of holding a tune together when they were recording 13, 13 years ago. He's not going to have gotten any better in the meantime. This is going to be Iommi, Butler and Bordin, for the most part, with Ozzy and Bill rolled onstage for a brief appearance at the end. Sabbath are one of my all-time favourite bands, seeing them in this state will be depressing and morbid.

Is Vicks There? - Department S

At one point i had a 1248H and I think 1524V - a 4x12" and matching square 2x15" with diagonally mounted drivers. they were around 45kgs each. It was fun trying to lift the 1524V on top of the 1248. Actually no it wasn't but the sound was collossal. Not the best sound I've ever had but possibly the mightiest rig I've had This was the small rig with the 1248H & 4052 bright box

It happens, in my first proper band we played at Manchester poly. On the way back, once we were on the M6 I fell asleep and when I woke up we were in this dark lane with Welsh sign posts. Apparently the driver/singer got lost cos I was meant to be navigating. Manchester to Hemel is essentially south on the M6 then M1, that’s it.

To be fair my sense of direction is awful so I can’t say too much. I was driving home from Wales last month when I noticed the surroundings were no longer familiar and realised I’d missed the entire M42 and driven through Birmingham.

I've just finished a build with all gotoh hardware including elephant ear resolites. Really impressed with them. They're stable, feel great and obviously are ridiculously light. Here's a photo of them in situ.

Karen Carpenter had a wonderful magical voice

I'm actually quite touched that quite a few have commented on enjoying my gig posts. That means a lot to me. Loved the "travelogue" comment. I'll always be on BC. Its my 2nd home even before Faceache. Dave

After a lot of recent rejigging, this is my current 'at home'/having fun/do-it-all board. I would probably use less than half of this in most situations. Bass > Peterson Strobostomp tuner > Origin Cali 76 Compact Bass compressor > Boss OC2 > Future Impact synth > Mu-Tron envelope filter > Hamstead Subspace drive > Blue Colander Tremond distortion > Moog MF Chorus > Chase Bliss Dark World reverb > Micro Thumpinator hi-pass (under board) > Aguilar Tone Hammer preamp >

Dear @Bilbo, Your work is super, and sharing it is very generous. Thank you very much.

The BB P35 is a superb passive bass! Great tone and playability. Loved mine - wished it had been a touch lighter for my aging frame and it would have been a keeper!

I played my 1978 BB1200 last night at band rehearsal and it was wonderful, as always. Super punchy, cut through the drums, guitar and vox like a circular saw. I really hope I never have to sell this bass.

Aye, I'm mostly in the same boat here. I did buy a Cali76 and a few other bits, so it's not entirely GAS-free, but every time I switch back to the QC built-in stuff, I'm pretty impressed. My longing for expensive pedals is mainly gone and when I hear something I like, I can usually replicate a sound in the right ballpark via the QC.

If I play with the QC too much and experiment I feel like I’m spending too much time playing with patches rather than playing bass/guitar. If I don’t spend time faffing and just stick to my saved patches I’m talking about getting rid of it because I don’t make the most out of it. It can't win really 🤣

Attended a couple of open-mic things donkey's years ago, not playing, mind. Not much talent on show, quite painful, much heckling and people running to the bar. Credit to the performers and while you have to applaud their tenacity, most of it was just balls. Never been to an open jam session in my life; part of me thinks there'd be this opportunity to unearth some like-minded musicians and find a musical soul mate, but conversely there's the nightmare scenario of being stuck in a pub with a load of old hairy-biker types that took up the guitar when they retired and just want to play Wonderful Tonight. [Rapid edit] Went to a barbeque once while we were staying with some friends in Devon. Word got out that I played bass and would I like to sit in when the guitars came out. (Not really.) There really is nothing worse than being berated by some three-chord Johnny (especially when one's technical ability exceeds theirs by several country miles) for playing the wrong notes in a song that you've never heard before? "It's a standard, mate," he said. "Call yourself a bassist, everyone knows <whatever Eric Clapton song it was>." No mate. No. They don't.

I saw Sabbath in 2017 on the "last" tour. This looks to be a fabulous gig line-up of surviving members of great bands, but I'm not sure if I want to pay an enormous amount to watch from the back of a huge stadium. Most of the bands I love I saw "back in the day". I'm happy for them to stay there, forever at their peak, in my memories.

I'm not out to impress anyone with my musical taste anymore and I fully embrace the cheese