neepheid

Well, having been out of the running for many months now, I would just like to say that I am making plans to acquire the parts I need for one last mod project, then I'll intend to go into gear hibernation and have a stab at a successful participation in 2026.

Nah, I don't see the point in limiting oneself to a single brand, no one brand does everything the best or the way I'd want. I use pedalboard size and the fact that I only have one pedalboard to limit pedal purchases. The last time was a straight swap, TC Electronic Brainwaves out (and sold), Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter in. There's no room to keep both, nor is there any point - the Boss does the job I want to do better than the TC, the TC has tonnes of features I never use. Plus the Boss wasn't exactly cheap, so needed to sell the TC to backfill some of the expense. How many pedals is too many? Again, my arbitrary pedalboard size (because I made it myself) dictates this.

I didn't really answer the question. It may be hard to believe but I have no strong opinion about him, despite his best efforts to be edgy and an "acquired taste". Seems to be able to play the bass, probably better than me. Says the word "bass" funny. OK.

Click on the three dots to the right of a video title of his - choose "Don't recommend channel", job's a good 'un.

All the best with it - and do let us know how you're getting on.

No it isn't, it's stripey...

A double report, because I was lazy last weekend. Last Saturday, played with Nine Lives at the Grampian Bar in Torry, Aberdeen. First time playing there. It wasn't very busy - maybe 15 folk in at any one time. Thankfully there was a table of folk who stayed for most of the gig and were well into it, plus my best mate came down for the first half and Mrs. Neepheid joined us later on after an earlier social engagement. Still, it was one of those when you wonder if the pub made any money at all. Gear for that one was Yamaha night - the SB500S (even in its unfinished state having only a bridge pickup) followed by the BB1200 (which I forgot to photograph, oops). Amplification by Mark Bass as per usual. Fast forward to last night, Nine Lives again and back to a favourite haunt, the Balaclava in Fraserburgh. Gig didn't get off to the best of starts - while the drummer and I were loading our gear into the pub he suddenly realised that he'd left the mixing desk at home - he had changed cars in order to service the brakes on his usual motor and left it in there by mistake. Thankfully he only lives half an hour away from the venue, and we were mercifully early, so he bombed it home while we set up everything around the missing mixing desk so it would just be plug in and go, debagged his drums to save a bit of time there etc. Despite all that hoohah, we still somehow managed to be ready 10 mins before kick off. And it was a cracking night! Maybe because it was a pay weekend, the pub was busy and we had plenty of dancers and singers enjoying the tunes. Much better night than last weekend, that's for sure. Played well, some bloops but easily recovered and acknowledged with winks, smiles and funny faces. I played my Epiphone Mike Dirnt signature G-3 the whole night - sorry, backup bass, but I was just having too much fun with my new toy. It's a bloody terrific bass, a joy to play and sounded immense - cut through the mix like a knife in all pickup settings. Had a whale of a time playing it. Usual amplification.

When someone gets around to staring a thread for it. Usually doesn't start until tail end of December.

But then it'd be affa wee!

All the ones Andertons were selling were 9.7lbs-10lbs. Whether or not that means heavy to you is your call, but having owned 12lbs+ monsters in the past, I would class these as "middleweight".

Memories are not reliable when it comes to sound, but I reckon this new one is in the ballpark - it has that knack of being twangy but thick at the same time. What I can tell you is that this Epiphone feels way better screwed together than my old 1978 Gibson G-3. It just feels less fragile - the pickguard doesn't move/warp ever so slightly when you use the selector switch and the bridge is way sturdier. The neck heel area is much more sculpted and rounded off - the OG G-3 neck heel is basically sharp edged sawn off. Now some of this feeling of sturdiness on the Epi may be unfair as my Gibson G-3 was an alder bodied one instead of maple, so it was definitely lighter. But the old bridge was a slightly better BBOT (in that it had side walls to limit side to side movement) but it used slotted grub screws - by the time I got around to owning it two of them had broken and could only be turned by using pliers. The Badass II is a welcome upgrade, and not unsympathetic - pretty sure a bunch of people fitted Badass bridges to their Grabbers and G-3s back in the day. My only regret so far is that I wish they had gone with clear pickup covers instead of black like the pre '79 G-3 (and my old one) because they look way cool. That's a damn good price for a Gibson G-3 these days. No regrets though - I'd have this Epiphone rather than an OG Gibson any day of the week for the reasons I have outlined above.

Correct her and call it "her opinion" - will probably drive her up the wall, lol.

Opinions aren't facts. That's it really.

I did jump into a pretty warm seat one time, and while the before times are none of my concern, the drummer made everything clear to my predecessor and I had a nice, cordial chat with him about it. In all cases where I've been involved already, everything's been above board and talked out. I've had bands be dissolved by the leader, I've left bands, but it's always been face to face. Maybe I've been lucky.

Mine goes straight into pedal one on my pedalboard (Boss TU-2) without issue. Just to throw a spanner in your spanner, or something

"Solderless" doesn't mean easy. And in this case, you'll have to get the soldering iron out anyway. Either that or the drill...

The barrel jack you're holding will be fine, but as has already been explained to you, you need to figure out which of the three terminals is ring, sleeve and tip. If you get a new one, I'm willing to bet that it won't come with a guide - you'll be expected to know how to find out how to wire it correctly anyway.

They are wonderfully overengineered, aren't they?

Wood be woody.

I think you'll have some trouble finding a like for like replacement - they haven't used that style of tuner for a long time now. If you're lucky you'll find someone in the same position as you having already done a complete tuner change and have some spares they're willing to sell. But as usual with these kind of things it'll be a case of "right place, right time". As for replacements, depends how picky you want to be regarding the cosmetic results. I think you will be fortunate to find anything with the same screw pattern - later BBs (such as the BB414) used a simpler mechanical design (no adjustable tension collet thing) but look like they might have a similar footprint/screw pattern, but the buttons are a more traditional elephant ear versus the heart shape.

Classic late 70s, early 80s Yamaha tuners. I have these on my BB1200 and SB500S. Overengineered to the nth degree. I take it the button has completely sheared off?

What kind of tuners are they? Pics?

Sure I don't know what you're talking about...

Around 15 years ago, I did a stupid thing. I sold my 1978 Gibson G-3. In the intervening years, the prices of second hand Gibson G-3s have gone through the roof, beyond where I was willing to go. So, thank you, Epiphone, for issuing this and helping me right a wrong in a more financially palatable way! You can imagine the smile on my face. It is, quite simply, amazing. It is a tastefully modernised G-3 - it frankly speaking feels better put together than my old Gibson G-3. The same oddly twangy but thick at the same time tone is still there, I reckon these pickups are on the level as far as recreations go. I do low level wish they had done clear covers like the 1975-78 G-3s, but these sound as good as I remember the originals sounding. The pickguard? Don't care, mate - the silverburst disguises it as far as I'm concerned. Because Andertons did individual photographs for most of their stock of these, I deliberately picked one where the burst lined up with the bottom edge of the pickguard, giving it context instead of just floating in mid air. I can't wait to take this to band rehearsals this week. Tonight I have mostly been playing songs I played 15 years ago with my first originals band - well, the ones I remember anyway!

Definitely more P than J - 42mm nut width, 12" radius. But not super chunky front to back, maybe a tad shallower than your typical P. It's no half baseball bat, put it that way. Very comfy (to me anyway)