neepheid

I'd probably just report it for not as described then buy some Hercules ones from a more reputable source.

Well, I had been ill since Thursday, nothing major - just a lurgy but ill enough to mean I didn't get around to sorting out the tuners until today. I won't bore you with a complete step by step - the results of polishing are great but the process isn't exactly a spectator sport. But to give you an idea of the amount of difference I was making... Anyway, very long story short - all tuner parts rinsed of cola, dried, polished, reassembled and greased. Frets polished. Fretboard and headstock polished. Tuners reinstalled - had to put some cocktail stick and wood glue in a few of the holes as the screws were just spinning. String tree polished. Doesn't look that shiny now, but it looks a damn sight better than when it got here. And I don't have to wash my hands after tuning it up, so that's a bonus!

Well FWIW, I can do 25/26 April and any of those days in May. Before/after that, gigs be getting in the way - not that I should complain!

Back at it after a weekend off, with Nine Lives at The Railway Club in Keith. A weird one - I wasn't feeling 100%, had been fighting a lurgy for the past few days but had got myself to the "you'd be well enough to go to work" type state so I decided to go for it. Unfortunately, it wasn't very busy - probably an effect of the Greece vs. Scotland game being live on the Beeb. Things got a bit better in the second half, we had people sporadically come through from the bar area to see us for a few songs then bog off back to the bar. Yet we were still treated to some chair dancing and acrobatics/tumbling. How odd! It was more interesting from the gear point of view, as this was the first time I had taken my Jack Casady out to a gig since I finally got a replacement coil and fitted it. Happy to report that it is back to its normal self - capable of generating feedback, but in a controlled way (instead of reacting simply to being in the same room as a not very loud amp, as was when the dodgy coil was in there). There was a sustained note for 4 bars during one song during which the JC did a lovely slow feedback buildup - became noticeable around bar 2 and built up gracefully (and quite musically) but never to annoying levels. Chopped it dead at the next bar. Loved it. My JC is back doing its JC thing. Gear was the Epiphone gang (Jack Casady then Thunderbird) into the cubist wasps.

Additional - I've just bought a third set - we've got a gig coming up which is a right PITA to PA - wide open space, speakers nowhere near the desk, punters entrance/exit to the main door and the bogs is on the cable paths - spend most of the time sticking cables down with gaffer tape - F that! So we're going to use these doodads to connect the speakers to the desk, leaving a set spare for me to continue to do walkabouts and terrorise/amaze the punters. I've bought these from eBay and Amazon before, but this time I went straight to Lekato - https://lekatodeal.com/en-uk/products/lekato-ws-70-wireless-guitar-audio-system-transmitter-receiver-70-channels-40m and right now they're having some Black Friday nonsense - got 25% off so an already very reasonable £41 became an even more agreeable £30.75. Free shipping. Coming from abroad though, so perhaps the taxman will wipe the grin off my face and take that discount right back off of me, but you never know!

I've been using a Lekato WS-70 UHF system for a year and a half now (well, two really, safety net if I forget to charge a set during a double gig weekend as I'm bound to do now and again). They have never let me down, the only time I've ever had dropouts is when I've pushed the range a bit too much (usually because I've gone round a corner on a walkabout or something daft). They're compact, sound good to my cloth ears and I've never felt the need to look around for anything better.

It takes all kinds... unfortunately.

So, are we all agreed that the UK plug/socket design is the best on the planet? Good.

Yup, no blend knob. Embrace the determinism...

It's a DeArmond Jet Star, with added Peavey T-40 pickup.

Wil bought an SGC Nanyo bass from me. Came to mine to collect. Lovely chap, great to meet you. Hope you enjoy the bass!

B - in the process of being restored, PSU caps done, but mucho funny business being displayed ATM.

Well, I have (admittedly this example is at the device side, not the plug side) But if this had been at the plug end, I would not have been happy to find a soldered plug. Might have chucked it in the bin and got another one if that was the case. To be honest, in this day and age of moulded plugs, it's getting pretty rare to have to wire a plug. But I stand ready to do so. As for screws coming loose - you can always tighten them up. Not that I've ever experienced a screw come loose at a plug prong through basic usage. The cable grip, aye, occasionally. Never hacked apart a moulded plug, hmm - might do that one day if I'm at a loose end

No, I've never done it and I've never even thought about doing it until you mentioned it the now. Nope, still not doing it. I don't see what value it brings - the UK plug is already over engineered to the nth degree (which is why it's the best plug design on the planet - fight me). Reason why not? Apart from it being completely unnecessary, it would make replacing a worn cable a bigger job than it needs to be.

I don't know, but props to you for asking instead of just going ahead.

Heh, nice - a professional player still using their old TU-2. I'll only replace mine if it dies.

I think I've bought a bass from the guy before - the Burny LP shaped confection which I put lipstick pickups in. He's a sound bloke, got a pretty nifty collection of instruments, had a fine yap with him when I was picking up the Burny. Should have just bought his one (as it looks minty fresh if I recall correctly), but then what fun would that have been?

So, I've made a start at restoring this bass (or at least minimising my chances of catching ebola from it ). The pickup is with an electrical technician at work to see if it the coil can simply be reconnected, we got talking about it and it turned into a "give it here" type situation. This suits me - he's got much better equipment than me (much finer and temperature controlled soldering iron, magnifier light thingy) and well, it's his job so he's less likely to make an arris of it than me. As for me, I've dismantled the tuners and put them in a cola bath to try to clean them up, remove tarnishing etc. I've made a start at polishing up the tuner bushings (E string done in the photo). Going to do them in situ rather than pop them out - I dislike press fit bushings at the best of times and these old things are in there nice and tight. If I pop them out then there's no guarantee they'll go back in as nicely, so they're just getting polished as best I can where they are.

Wishaw, aye?

Now, I know I popped off ad nauseum at the price of the Grabber. Because it was effing ridiculous. But I'm not so outraged about this one. Why? Because they seem to have done a better job of this one in the following ways: Functionality identical to the OG bass (in terms of pickups, controls etc.) Strung through the body like the OG bass Bridge is WAY better than the OG bass The pickguard is still wonky, but the silverburst kinda hides it - I think because the pickguard follows the shape of the burst, giving it some context instead of it just floating there I think I'd like to get one, because it ticks all the G-3 boxes which a former (and very regretful) Gibson G-3 owner would be looking for, and while it may well still be a tad overpriced for what it is, it'll be a damn sight cheaper than trying to procure a Gibson G-3 now, or commissioning the likes of Decibel or Baard to make me one.

Yay!

Well, I'm a plum. I wrote a "I got home for reals this time" message yesterday, then forgot to hit the submit button. D'oh! TL:DR I got home safe

Well, that's me half way home in one piece. Thanks to our wonderful organising committee for putting together an excellent bash. Great to put some faces to names, and I played some fun basses which made me smile, in particular the 12 string Hamer and the teeny tiny Harley Benton micro Jazz. If I'm not gigging - see you next year! Cheers Matt

I stopped playing during the COVID lockdowns. I don't get much joy from playing bass on my tod, so I didn't. Honestly, it was 50/50 whether or not I would go back. Then I gave my head a wobble, treated myself to a royal purple G&L CLF L-1000 and got back on the horse.