stewblack

I put Stop Making Sense on the other day (learning their version of Take Me To The River) and ended up just jamming along with Tina to the whole thing. She is the absolute epitome of getting into a groove and staying there. Bass playing means so many different things but one of the fundamental joys of the instrument is sitting in a big fat repeating groove. I love it.

We had a DJ collective played our bar calling themselves Cheesy Listening, went down a storm.

@basstone did it. He can fill you in I'm sure.

No. I've the Ashdown approved upgrade and they do a bit more. But this simple set up brings the power of those buttons into play

While everyone is getting their knickers in a twist about Ashdown and their foray into the bass guitar market these nifty little combos seem to have slipped under the radar. The specs say the 15" 300w model is lighter than their current lightweight 1 x15 cab. Which got me thinking, I wonder if there are any plans to release a cab only version. I could certainly be tempted after watching MG lift the combo with one finger at Namm. If it's 500 quid with an amp built in I'm guessing a cab could go for 300. Seriously lightweight tiny cabs, and apparently you can fling them off the roof and they bounce. What's not to like?

Pretty clean yes. I suspect if I turned up a bit more it would have had more than a little hair on it, bit I couldn't turn it up. Would have been too loud.

By the way, this is not a joke post. I really do set it like this and use the buttons to fine tune it. It's brilliant.

Bah.

I refuse to move from Swagism until I've at least attempted the tricky bit. And not just because I don't really like Jamirouquoiea (nor any other band I can't spell). I am learning to be able to switch off from songs I don't like and just try to focus on the bass part. Trouble is the bass is so vital to the song it's hard.

I think we're all getting a bit bogged down here. Can't we just talk about how pretty my configuratored orange flowery P-Bass is? Much more satisfying than all this John Craven's newsround stuff.

I'm still playing the main groove to Swagism, it's totally addictive, has it really been a week. No wonder i'm hungry

like you Sweet bridged pop and rock for me. Their b-sides especially

This thought was provoked by @binky_bass 's Show us yer age thread. Back when I ran a bar a customer once told me that the history of British popular music could be summed up in three bands. The Beatles The Sex Pistols The Smiths I kind of got what he was trying to say (understanding drunks is a learnable skill) and I thought, we all have our own musical journey which three bands might sum yours up? Three milestones on the road that got you to where you are now. I'll start: T Rex - first love The Specials - introduced me to ska Elvis Costello - lyric writing & Bruce Thomas

Fascinating to look through these and pick out the Basschatters I know I could happily share a long car journey with, content that the music would be great. Edit: also it shows just how many struggle to count to three! 😅

1. Hellraiser by Sweet. First tune to send me. I must have been about 10. Played it as loud as I could, came round on the sofa after leaping about the room, possessed. The music literally reached inside me and threw me around. It's the same high I still look for now onstage. 2. Johnny The Fox by Thin Lizzy. The lyrics fascinated me, the bass grabbed me, the voice and guitars had me. I clearly remember listening to it for the first time. Still love it. 3. Going Underground by The Jam. Heard it in the car bring driven to a family wedding by my parents. Radio 1 round table. From the very first chords I knew I was in love. Spent that weekend just counting down the time before I could go buy it at our local record shop. Still thrills me.

They look good, interesting to see how they feel and sound. Wish Ashdown nothing but the best with this venture. Those of you who prefer different shapes have plenty of other options from other manufacturers. For me, the budget doesn't stretch to 1K basses, but in a while there might be a second hand one I can afford. Looking forward to a review from a Basschatter.

Just realised I'm sharing pictures when we can just share the patch itself DURRRR Here is my Double Wah so called because, well, it's obvious really. Double Wah.zb1f

SH = short headstock when you choose fingerboard

Have to say, if you'd had this made but then decided to sell it for say 750 I'd be tempted

Been playing around with a bunch of different wah options on the B1 Four. Thought I'd start to share. The Bass A-Wah on this series of Zoom pedals is definitely an upgrade on previous iterations. More liquid, very simple to set. I used the HPF set at 50 and then a compressor as the first 2 in line - set those up how you prefer or leave them it doesn't matter, then the Ba Octave, Bass A-Wah and the PEQ at the end as the sound was thinner than the bypassed signal so I fattened the very bottom.

I learned it note for note and the low harmony. Band decided they didn't want to play it. Still, it was fun to learn.