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The return of Richard Davies & the Dissidents last night at The Beehive in Swindon. Wonderfully cramped and it felt like a proper rock ‘n’ roll gig. Good to blow off a few cobwebs ahead of tonight’s sold out London show.

I've had a busy 3 or 4 months of buying, selling and trading. Here are the ones that have come in so far in 2025. Very pleased with ALL of them! L-R... Ibanez Soundgear SR800BK (1993), Squier 40th Anniversary Precision (Gold Edt 2021) & Epiphone Grabber (2024) L - R... Spector Coda Pro 4 (2013), Kramer Spector NS2B (late 80s) & Stuart Spector Design (SSD) NS-94 (1994)

Gents, and I assume we're all gents, but obviously I don't know for certain, I've been entertained, educated and enlightened by this thread so lets not let it fall apart because you feel slighted. I'm sure it's naught but a blip, but the past few exchanges have started to look a little testy, stay friendly please?

You're asking this in this thread?

I don’t have a solution. All I can do is read, watch and summarise articles and people who seem to have a very good grasp of what is going on. Personally I think the reasons behind the current Ukraine crisis are as complex as the potential solutions. Given Putin’s track record of breaking agreements, his rhetoric around reclaiming former USSR territory, his invasion of Georgia, paramilitary attacks in Dombas and invasion of Crimea in 2014, a subsequent invasion of Ukraine and an war economy geared up towards re-armament on an unprecedented scale, constant cyber attacks, hybrid warfare etc, none of these actions are a nation looking for peace. He is however a highly intelligent and shrewd politician with decades of experience and a trusted team of highly experienced diplomats, strategists and analysts. His biggest weakness is a low GDP economy with not much capacity for being strangled of investment over the long term. At the other end of the negotiating table is a moron, out for personal gain with a hand picked team of yes men who can’t differentiate between friend and foe and in one month has isolated and upset the UK, the EU, most countries in the middle east, has publicly humiliated the leader of Ukraine, insulted the Irish, threatened to invade Canada and Greenland, gutted NATO, strengthened Russia and provided ample time for China to formulate a strong economic response to the limited tariffs imposed upon them. So I expect the worst and so should Europe.

Mark shared these latest pics with me yesterday. The bass has been glued up and "rough shaped" and next comes all the sanding.... Looking really great!

That is the crock of stuff that Russia is selling. They would have been quite happy absorbing the entire Ukraine as Russian, exterminating Ukrainian culture, and living next door to Nato in Poland. Total bullshit for the ignorant.

Yours, or someone else's? 🤪

Yeah, been playing there for years. Once I played there and came away with a wife… not bad when most people leave a concert with a CD or t-shirt, at best!

EVERY and I mean every major incident I have ever dealt with comes down to an end user clicking links, entering credentials, forwarding on emails etc etc. No matter how much training, how reminders it’s always the same. Personally I loathe email. It kills productivity, increases the threat threshold, thwarts effective communication and if I had my way I would phase out its usage at work as much as possible. Use Teams, Slack or pick up the f•••king phone and actually get things sorted in real time. Ahhh rant over. Feel better now. Edit: I correct myself. Dealt with a DDOS attack twice. Once involved paying for extra protection in AWS, another shifting all DNS records to Cloudflare. So every incident minus 2

Looks like Indonesian built but with US Bart pickups and pre. Given the use of Paulownia body wings (maple neck/core) and a Babicz bridge I'd lean towards Cort making them, my current main bass has Paulownia wings and the same bridge. Tbh I'd rather Cort made them than Gibson buggering things up. The original Tobias company was bought by Gibson many moons ago, the original team carried on building for a short while post buyout (with a Korean import line, dunno who built those but they were well put together) then after that the general consensus is that quality dropped off and the brand disappeared. They were brought back for some super cheap (but perfectly decent) import basses a while ago which bore a superficial resemblance to the original design, think they have the asymmetrical necks as well. Mike Tobias has been making basses under the MTD (Michael Tobias Design) brand for a while now, super high end USA built instruments with matching price tags and a top quality import line (originally Korean, now Chinese) which you can pick up used for around £600. So these are basically the shape and name with no connection to the original company but do retain some design elements like the neck profile (assuming it's the same) and the use of Barts.

I've decided to get back into MIDI. In the 90s I used it a fair bit with player pianos, but not since. Our band varies in size from 2-4, and when there's just two of us I end up playing intros on descant recorder, then switching to mandolin. I'm hoping to set up something with MIDI where I can have my iPad play the intro through MIDI. The first arrivals came today... Roland SPD-6 drum pad. We used one of these last summer - a recording session in a narrowboat, and heading towards 'vintage' now, so I've been looking for a good example. I like the instrument sounds, and as a bonus, it's compatible with the Boss FS-6 pedal I already had, adding high-hat and kick. Behringer UMC204HD to add a 2 channel interface and MIDI ports to my Mac. Early days but it all seems to work as expected. Ah, this takes me back!

Maybe I'm doing it wrong? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235994143550?_skw=reverend+bass&itmmeta=01JPW450QZ52DKN9DGG517X52A&hash=item36f258db3e:g:swMAAeSwgypnyyuB&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eZJMpzIElWf8DoCNFMUATKqwTrSY7cCdvmf%2BnAwAaItvab1W2HBTcQ9sIGTEit4x0fsqjK%2FDvYMdPKJmzTzjC9I36qc4njJP8wdpux1gsfhWcHEVY6QSL8CIofjg%2FAZ24AFiwB%2BgIotq%2FZ9K4sR0xmVqhh7g8uXZns0tQf9f9vAQqXxqaFkURp8w6bDFrbx4JGdSXZgCLpNWqDsw%2BUMs5ADjfNqA7T%2BD%2FTlhxWGeCVph4F8VZDq6YmTD6ZxDgemDE%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5iMlIS3ZQ

For the next few hours at least

If you can identify inefficiencies then make cuts to jobs, and still perform the same service then that's one thing (and good thing). What Trump/Musk are doing is simply closing departments & firing people Willy Nilly, and then waiting to see what happens. Randomly getting rid of people does not improve efficiency. Trump/Musk don't seem to have the nounce to realise this, or simply don't care (probably the latter)

Aren't we better off sticking to the (vague) topic, rather than widen the discussion? This could lead to the thread being shut down, which would be a shame. Maybe leave UK politics out of it?

In another gratuitous display of self-injurious behaviour, I have transcribed all 19:12 of Side One of Mike Oldfield's 'Platinum' album (1979). The track 'Platimum' is one track on the original vinyl LP but it is divided into 4 on the CD/mp3s. It just sounds great! I have put them all on one page on the website. That's 550 tracks now! The bass players are Francsico Centeno (Ashford and Simpson), Hansford Rowe (Gong) and Neil Jason (The Brecker Brothers) but I can't tell who plays which bits. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/platinum-mike-oldfield/

Well, this bloke clearly doesn't know what he's doing. His bass is the wrong way round and everything!

I never expect a bass to have a perfect set-up out of the box, regardless of value. The only time I would expect that is purchased directly from a luthier.

Most of the stuff that is rejected by our firewall is stuff with a CVE date of years ago, as you say it's script kiddies or automated systems just trying it on. The big stuff is now in Social Engineering and more and more phishing emails are looking legitimate. I'm waiting for our first fake invoice to come in with the "wrong" bank details and a company not to get paid because we transferred the money, in expectation of the bill coming in, to the thieves.

Spector ? Check. Capo ? Check Badass muthafocker ? Check

To get back to Tariffs briefly. China. It’s hitting terminal velocity in terms of demographics and debt. Is President Clownshoe going for the jugular and hitting them when they are most vulnerable.No. Instead he has turned his attention to destroying his allies by a combination of economic sabotage and military weakness. To take on China and turn the USA into a manufacturing powerhouse the combined strength of NAFTA would be essential. Mexico has the cheap manufacturing capacity, the cheap labour and Canada has the essential raw materials. But no. Trump is working against them and simultaneously deporting the cheap labour essential for construction and creating an economic climate where investors pause and wait for the storm clouds to settle. Muppet. And a dangerous one.

What's happening is that the low frequencies from the subs are not directionally locatable, as their wavelengths are too long compared to the distance between your ears. Really. Binaural hearing allows us to triangulate sound source locations only when the wavelengths are short enough so that the ear/brain can detect the difference in the arrival times at the left versus the right ear. That occurs on average above 100Hz. Since we can't tell where the low frequencies are coming from we take the directional cues from their harmonics, which are coming from the tops. This is what allows us to place subwoofers away from the tops, in both live sound and home theater. My HT folded horn sub sits 30cm to my side in my living room, where it does double duty as a table. My mains are 3 meters in front of me. I cannot tell that the sub is next to me, the bass seems to be coming from the mains, even when movie low frequency sound effects are reaching 120dB.

So would I. My 2 A series (A6 and A5 Ultra Ash) are flipping great, and for the price, way beyond great. Cough, Steinberger, cough, though the Woodbergers are perfectly fine - I own a couple of basses and guitars. But they're obviously not a patch on the original Newburgh composite ones. I hope Cort do make the new Tobias basses and they're everything the people lusting after the originals hope for. But even better if they're at, or closer to Cort prices (and QC) than overinflated Gibson ones. Though I stated it poorly, that was what I meant with my posting in this thread as I have no interest in a Tobias, and I doubt I'll see one locally (I live in the sticks).

So mine arrived from @fretmeister the other day and I’ve played through it quite a bit. I think it’s very different from the beta. I don’t think I’d easily be able to get one to sound like the other. Overall with all the gigs, studio and buying and selling of gear I’ve done the past few weeks I’m a bit fatigued. Off the bat it’s a very nice pedal, I was able to dial in what I’d consider a very amp like tone very quickly. Running the gain from 9 o clock or lower is really pleasing. At higher gain settings it feels far more like an always on preamp than an on/off overdrive. I got some fabulous sounds running it into a 6x10 ir. So currently, I don’t know where this sits in my setup. It’s doesn’t stack particularly nicely with the mk1, but the cream pie makes either of them sound phenomenal as does the element with the right ir/eq settings but it’s all rauchier than how I’m running my main rig with the punchline. Between the punchline and the element, I don’t know when I’d use it, vs the combo of the cream pie and mk1 just works great slamming either of them as if they were an amp. Its definitely nicer out of the box than the quad cortex though 😅

Deeks Unionist - Logical.mp3

The vast majority of pictures here are of the top of the pedalboard (understandably), but I recently did some work under the hood - changed my PSU to a Cioks Sol and made a power pass through to a side mounted power socket.

The latest addition to my main board. The daschund adds a bit of low-down character and helps to initiate conversations with women.

I would say it’s time for an intervention, but that’s not really what we do here! 😂

I think I've finally found a early live version, just audio, starts just before the 39 minute mark, It doesn't sound a lot different from his modern sound as in the last post

Missed a trick - should have called it the By-Taur.

So sovereign Russia can deploy foreign troops, but sovereign Ukraine may not..? Hmm... The definition of 'sovereign' takes a bashing , it seems. It's a bit late, now (spilt milk..?); the time for unity was 2014, when Crimea was overrun. I rate myself as a pacifist, and am far too old (and far too poorly...) to take up arms now, in any case, but I think that this can only end 'well' if 'willing' neighbours and allies joined forces with sovereign Ukraine to repel the invaders. One could hope that the much-vaunted air defences ('Iron Dome'-style...) could intercept any missiles coming from Russia, and that, in any case, retaliation would put a stop to it all pretty darned sharpish. Not pretty, but the ending of the Pacific conflicts of WWII came about using big weapons. Not pretty, but it worked. Would I press the button, if attacked with nuclear arms..? Yes, I would, if they were aimed at the culprits, and not the innocent. Just my tuppence-worth.

Nice. I just got one and had a quick go on it and is as good as I was hoping. The only slight downside is that I want two! I'd like to use it as an 'always on' with EQ/Preamp mode, and also the OD is good (and goes from edge of breakup right up to almost fuzz territory) - but I need to turn OD on/off for a few specific parts of songs.....perhaps a bit of string around the EQ/OD switch attached to my foot?! 😀

Im not Kissenger or Ghandi. I can summarise my rather excessive reading though. If you want to read it do so. If you want to ignore it do so. Simply reducing highly complex issues to just don’t buy gas and oil is futile though. Maybe you could write Erdogan a nice letter on behalf of the EU. He might invite you over for mint tea.

First up - have you read the opening posts. You need to get your head around how this stuff works first. Happy to help, but your question at the moment is not at all what you want to be doing as your EQing to hear yourself better is a) going to make your bass not sound how it should to the audience b) is effectively just turning up the volume and defeating the point of what your ear plugs are meant to be doing! If you are not wanting to plug into anything and have a standalone solution (e.g. volume controllable ear plugs), I refer you to this section in the opening post - If you haven't got a desk or aux available to you, you can try using the above with a field recorder (e.g. a Zoom recorder - others are available). See section 3.4.

I really enjoy playing there - great venue!

Very sensible. A large part of my job involves cybersecurity…

And they are...

Why on earth would you do that and not 4th on B to 6th on A?

Just got my recently acquired spitfire 5 back from a general make over, new nut, fret dress etc. Absolutely chuffed! A lovely few hours spent with Bernie and Jim down at the Brighton basement. Great guys! X

What is the problem? Simple and proven solution is a 5-string bass. If You want to stick with a 4-stringer, just play E flats an octave higher and try to imagine how much easier life could be with a 5-string bass. No pun intented, it’s just how I see it.

Friday and Saturday was QuoVention, a gathering of Status Quo aficionados in Bilston's Robin 2 venue. Seven tribute bands over two evenings including guest appearances from Quo drummers Jeff Rich and Leon Cave and Rick Parfitt's replacement, Ritchie Malone. All the bands were excellent and gave the punters what they had come for. The backline and drum kit provided for us did the job perfectly and the sound engineer put in a sterling shift over the piece. The event took 18 months to organise and was a great success. Bands and fans came from England, Sweden, Belgium. Germany and Scotland. Back to publand for our next gig to bring us back down to earth. Ha ha.

Another Bootleg Eagles show, this time in Saltburn, North Yorkshire. 18 months of prep is finally paying off... lots of dates in the diary now. Great tunes, great bunch of lads.