tauzero

I left one band amicably nearly 20 years ago as we weren't getting any gigs and I'd got the offer of a quite busy club band. The band got a replacement, but some time later they couldn't get in touch with him for a gig and they asked me to dep, which I did. Subsequently they found that he'd died.

So he never achieved nirvana?

I'm looking to get a reasonable approximation to the Stingray sound from a Ray5. I'm installing a Musikding classic bass preamp which is the 2EQ Musicman circuit (same as the Retrovibe Stinger). Being curious, I checked out the resistance of the Ray5 pickup, and it's 7k or so. This made me wonder if there was a pickup which would match the circuit a bit better and also not cost more than the bass. It so happens that I picked up a Squier Vintage Modified Modified Jazz with a Warman MM pickup in the bridge position which had Ray5 pole spacing, which I replaced with an Aguilar with better spacing for the poles, so I have a Warman MM pickup with the right spacing and two 7k coils which I could switch as series/parallel/single. So should I keep the original pickup or replace it with a switched Warman pickup? Alternatives involving spending more than £25 will not be countenanced.

Don't forget, in a double blind test you could be getting the placebo cake.

At one point I was in a couple of bands, very different, both of which I enjoyed, but one was quite busy and it was very difficult to find slots for gigs with the other band, so I told the other band I felt I couldn't commit properly to it and I didn't want to let them down, so I was leaving. All very amicable.

I've had excellent cables from custom-lynx on Ebay. kenable_ltd on Ebay also do a wide range of cables at assorted quality levels - I've always gone for the higher quality ones and not been disappointed, and it's where I get my phono and 3.5mm jack leads. I also make my own (Van Damme cable and Neutrik/Rean connectors).

I've had several Lekato and M-Vave products (they seem to be the same company under two badges, and there's an M-Vave ANNBlack Box that bears a distinct resemblance to this) and they've all been good.

After charging up, I've done a short test. Same audio quality as the Lekato, and indeed the transmitters and receivers will cross-connect if set to the appropriate channels. For under £30, an absolute bargain.

Have just arrived - that was quick. Externally identical to the Lekato WS-90, just charging them up now. Will report further in a bit.

Or Focus.

Arrived an hour ago, so just four days from order to delivery. It's a bit short on power to do Wembley stadium, but should add a bit of je ne sais quoi to the average pub gig. Definitely worth a tenner.

Both seem perfectly rational to me.

I did that on Saturday (as ususal). The landlord gave me a free pint.

And there's a thread specially for that too, isn't there?

I thought I'd get a better photo of the rig at last night's gig as it was a bit less cramped. Lekato wireless dongles are visible on top of the amp and the cab.

Last night was at the pub closest to my house - the Gamecock in Birchmoor, about a ten minute walk over the M42 footbridge (but about a five minute drive as you have to go the long way round). We got a whole room with a goodly amount of space but not a very big audience - scraped into double figures. However, they were very very enthusiastic and the landlord wants us back, and a farmer who was there said he'd like to get us in to play in his barn.

Yes. Drums weren't bad, our drummer is quite restrained. And our front man is guitar and vocals - originally we were supposed to be a five-piece with him just doing vocals, but the other other guitarist was crap and never learnt any songs so we had to get rid of him and Dean went back to playing guitar too. Just as well, we'd never have fitted five of us in there.

Barcus basses. Greg Barcus has built a few, don't know if he's packed it in as there hasn't been any activity on his Facebook page since 2019.

You never said you were Roger Waters.

You're determined to see the positive side of the accidental Sei.

Ashdown do. I've only encountered one bass (an Ibanez, don't know the model) where the active input with its attenuation was the one to use - all of my active basses have outputs on a par with passive basses.

In case a certain customiser should decide to add two more tuners at jaunty angles, add two bridge saddles, and ram a couple of Strat pickups into the pickup routs.

First time at the Crown in Rugeley last night. Car parking was rather random, there's a sort of car park at the back but it doesn't have any markings (or, indeed, tarmac) so cars just get dumped there in a haphazard way. The space was distinctly petite and bijou, so when the second guitarist arrived fashionably late there was nowhere for his cab so he went through the PA. TBH I'd prefer it if both guitars went through the PA but the singer/guitarist wants to use his cab. While we were setting up, before guitar 2 got there, one lad started chatting to the singer/guitarist - he'd got various guitars so they were comparing notes. A bit later, after I'd rigged the PA, a rather more elderly bassist came over to chat to me. Which was nice. Took until about halfway through the first set for more than very faint ripples of polite applause but once things started going, we got a much more positive reaction.

My perpetual rig of choice - Tecamp Puma 900, GR Bass AT212, and as I also do the PA, Behringer XR18 with a cheeky peek of the Zoom MS-60B+ on top of it, with external router and BCF2000 and Nokia T20 tablet for handy control.