WalMan

I regretted selling/swapping the Hartke LH500 I had a couple of years back. This week I ’fell’ and today a replacement arrived 😁 Nice simple amp for this simple bass player, and sounds great (IMO anyway) I toyed with going for the LH1000 for bridge/biamp options, but I think It would be overkill for majority of my gigs.

The Alibi YouTube channel , which in the last couple of years has gone from live clips to Lockdown videos

CD's have now arrived, so for those that still do it's on Bandcamp - https://thealibi2.bandcamp.com

Last Saturday, but still great fun. Forty years on did a gig with my first real (second actual) band, well guitar, bass & drums with our roadie/manager on vocals. ”You’re all a bunch of punks, so why’s he got a ****** haircut?” Was the cry at a gig in Reading many years ago 😱 Well we were and we weren’t. Spiky new wave three piece (so plenty of scope for me to ‘overplay’ to fill space) but with odd time signatures, and influences from XTC, Joe Jackson & Elvis Costello through to Bebop Deluxe, Wishbone Ash, Yes, Camel, etc.. Started with guitarist and drummer aged 17 in a country band playing WMC’s with an older guitarist and learnt our ‘trade’ then started on our own as a three piece playing originals on the pub circuit. Got together just before lockdown and did a short support set with my main band three days before the world stopped in 2020. Saturday was a longer set with another punky band joint headlining. Great fun, and like slipping on an old glove. Still so easy to get through songs, blag through covers, and get out of odd glitch with a knowing nod. Hopefully we’ll do it all again, it’s just such fun to bash out catchy short power pop originals, though ‘Do The Static’ remained as true now as it was then 🤦‍♂️

Thanks 😊

Depends what level of distortion you are after, but I love the SkarBassOne from Trondheim Audio that Dood demoed for BGM last October (my one from the original Kickstarter 😁) Two levels switchable, so you can set a mild grit and then kick in a bit/lot more. It's a constant for my sound gigging and recording now. Then again for utter filth the fuzz pedal my youngest built me for my birthday last year is pretty mental 🤣

There will be a digipack CD to come or d/l from Bandcamp

New EP launches Friday: The Alibi - Uncovered Pleased with the results for this, helped by mastering by Lewis Johns, but I am also pleased with the bass sound overall. IIRC basses used were as below, and all were recorded to two blended tracks, bass DI'd and a mildly gritty Helix patch Ashly/Pearce model Zon Legacy Elite 5 Wal Status S2S2 5 Wal G&L L2500 fretless Status 5 Just as everyone boycotts Spotify we hope for a 1000th of a penny somewhere in the future 🤣

It is, and that one was mine 😁

Just by way of update, here's Dood's review of the SkarBassOne & video with sounds https://www.bassgearmag.com/bassic-review-trondheim-audio-skarbassone-pedal/ I have to say I ruddy love this pedal and recently have just been using it with the Status > SkarBassOne > D800 & one of my Barefaced stable at gigs. It sounds great and pretty much as in Dood's video. Great solid tone with a nice little bit of grit and high zing

Well it's the one's you least expect that surprise you every time. Small village pub run by the sis of a guy who helps us get gigs (retired, got a bit of tie on his hands and some patience to chase) A shoehorn and industrial tub of vaseline required to squeeze us in, and starting on best behaviour level wise. Only plugged one of the One10's in but it was holding its own pretty well. Weird feedback from the PA after the third song but got that nipped in the bud. First set went well and the crowd were up for it, so the guitars crept up and for the second set I stopped using the second One10 as a stand and plugged it in, also got the Series 2 out of the bag as I hadn't spent the whole of the first set knocking chunks out of the beaten up Series 1 generally used in tight fits as it's had a hard life and I worry less about it (still sounds great and the reason I picked up the S2 and would like another Status at some point). An older crowd to start with, but by the end of the night the youngsters had come in as well (probably to mock the old men making a noise, but they were singing along at the end of the night 😁) Just the one numpty who wandered up mid song, was ignored by the vocalist and so turned his attention to me just as I was stepping up to the mic for BV's and totally oblivious tried to talk to me / shouted in my ear. 99% sure it wasn't "you're ****" but possibly asking if we had a CD. I was a bit busy at the time, and he wandered off, so we'll never really know

Not tried it yet. I should be working (so why am I posting on BC!?🤣) Will give it a blast at rehearsal tonight

First one back last Saturday. Went well in the main. Drummer ended the first song early but we ploughed through. All had the odd alien abduction moments but nothing we couldn’t handle, what’s the odd jazz note amongst friends who can look over and chuckle 😁 Just great to get out again

Works for me, dates permitting.

Slightly delayed by the pandemic and obtaining parts but it’s arrived😁 Tried one at their stand at the last LBGS and liked it. Then saw the Kickstarter for it and jumped on, and this morning DHL arrived with it all shiny and new. Looking forward to rehearsal tonight 😊

When I do try to do this the keys generally go to the PA, but can be mixed through the Helix inputs. When I have loads of time to set up and pack down (so never) and also run an acoustic guitar on a playing stand then I have volume pedals on each of bass, guitar & keys to be able to adjust/mute whatever's not in use and might ring out

On occasion with the proggy band I run Keyboards & a 12Step from soft synths on an iPad, but sometimes it's just too much faff to string it all together and get it running 🤣

Jellyfish and associated, including The Lickerish Quartet

Not that we're getting together sooner, but the studio that we use has been very careful with what it will & will not do, and has taken advice / instruction from the local council.They were told, and have been working with "you are a working band if you are rehearsing for an upcoming gig", so in theory if we had a pub garden gig arranged and were rehearsing for that we were ok to use the studio. I suspect it depends on the region, and also how bothered the studio might be about getting pinged for an illegal gathering, and the local authority's view on what is a 'working musician', which is not necessarily a professional - you can be working as a weekend warrior, but not making a living as a pro. I know our studio were getting pee'd off with following rules and hearing of other places that were just going for it willy nilly.

Jealous! My first isn't until May. Still the benefit of the last year is that the main covers band has been writing / digging previous life originals out & re-recording for our later Lockdown Videos, and after tonight's band Zoom chat the likelihood is that that will continue, along with a newer proggier bunch of songs I've been working on with one of the guitarists to the point that I have so many items on the go I don't know which way to turn. Hopefully I can remember how the covers set goes when we get in the studio last!! 🤣

I have to say I love it 😁 IIRC at the guitar show the solo segued into to Stairway solo

Not if you do it this way 😁 Remember the first time I saw/heard this when he played it at the Guitar Show, and the smiles/looks of horror at the dawning realisation of what we were hearing 🤣 That said I could never get my lot to succumb, even for a joke...and I got overruled on Crazy Horses after two plays at gigs 😫

Magic Pie - Fragments of the 5th Element Bandcamp

You'd be surprised how quick a moaning tweet at a company gets a response, certainly quicker than an email or phone. I don't really use twitter (maybe a fraction more nowadays) but when I started it was to have a moan at a company and it got an almost instant response and fix

Have you tried twitter? That often seems to be the way to get a response nowadays