JPJ

So first lesson was this morning, and I loved it! Lots to learn, and I need to work on my left hand technique, but great fun. Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks 😎

Well after 40 years of playing, Mrs JPJ bought me a beginners book of reading the dots and an introductory lesson with a local music school. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years, especially as I’m working with ‘proper’ musicians these days. So yes, this 54 year old is going back to school and I couldn’t be more excited 😎

There is almost something sinister in the way you phrase this, like a Bond villain stroking his chin whilst luring poor Andy into a false sense of security before WHAM! hitting him with plans for a double neck project with full midi that must come in under 5lbs weight 😂

If you go for the J-Retro, the whole thing comes pre wired and assembled on the chrome (or black, or gold) bell plate.

Squire Vintage Moderns and Classic Vibes get a lot of love too, but as they are factory passives the battery will have to go under the preamp (the way John designed it)

The Sires are amazing value, and even more so secondhand, plus they’re already active and have battery boxes.

Thanks Si that’s made me feel better 😎

So I’m in the fortunate position of owning three beautiful Overwater basses. I really felt I had all bases (intentional pun) covered until last night. o2 Academy, Newcastle, Friday 2nd November, one of my favourite bands, Blackberry Smoke, bassist Richard Turner playing a ‘51 style P bass. OMG what a tone! Now gassing for a butterscotch blonde ‘51 P bass.

By way of contrast, last nights gig, large hotel type venue. Band set up on lower level, on hardwood floor area no curtains or soft furnishings, audience up six steps in a carpeted lounge area. Acoustic drums were peaking at 105-107dB at the top of the steps, dropping to 80dB five metres back. As the PA was also setup on the lower level I had a weird mix pointing the subs at the wall behind the band to get any bottom end up onto the upper level. After much tweaking I managed to get the mix sounding good where the ‘audience’ were, but I was still well over 100dB at the steps. An example of how much environment can impact on volume and your mix.

There is no excuse for being too loud these days. We used to be stupidly loud, but having bought our own basic PA have slowly brought the stage levels down to were I can speak to the drummer without shouting, and the FoH is at a comfortable 90-92db. Both guitarists use Marshall 50w heads into 2x12 cabs, I use either an SWR or an Aguilar AG500 through a 4x10. How do I know 90-92db is comfortable ? I have a cheap app on my phone. Go out front, turn your back to the band and listen. You’ll soon know what needs turning down (as against up). Many good sound engineers have taught me its better to subtract than add. The drums are in the PA but only to give the kick drum a chance to project. The guitars and bass are in the PA because it’s easier to get a balanced sound that way. We have a fiddle player who shares the vocal monitor to hear herself, so again keeping the on stage levels down helps her pitch. Finally, use the channel eq’s to create a space for each instrument or drum. One of my best weapons is a channel compressor on the two guitar channels. Both guitarists invariably tweak their amp settings (‘turn up’) after the first couple of numbers. My friendly compressors mean the FoH stays exactly as I set it despite their knob twiddling.

Genius!

Sweet Jesus Mary & Joseph, that there is the bass I didn’t know I needed until now 😮😜😜

Nice to meet a fellow addict 😎

Just a little update, and a picture of her in the real world. I had Martin at Stoneham Amplification give her the once over and then gave her her first run out at our gig last week at a local bike rally. Sounded lush to my old ears 😎

Fair point we’ll made 😉 You can achieve pro-level finish with rattle cans, it just takes time. I did this telecaster for a friend and whilst the materials only cost £30, there was about 100 hours of prepping, painting, flatting, painting, buffing & polishing to get to this.

So your the one that nabbed the Kent Armstrong’s 😤 Seriously though, if you want a pro bass paint job in the North East, there’s only one place to go. Mr Dave Wilson who is out Hexham way. He’s the local go to guy.😎

Lovely work, that veneer has me hankering for a mint humbug 😜

Last weekend I played through a SVT4 in combination with the famous 8*10 ‘fridge in our local rehearsal room. Took me a while to dial in a tone I was happy with, and I still felt like one or two notes were dropping out, but the possibilities with the 4 are pretty endless so I’m sure that with more time I’d have dialled in a fully working tone. One thing the rig had was heft, and I mean real man sized heft. I’ve used a 3pro in the past and found it easier to dial in, but if you’re going ampeg, then you really need to try one of the all valve versions. Sure, your back will disown you, but your ears will love you for ever 😂

I have almost the same bass, but mine is the active version. Yes, she’s a little on the heavy side but then again so am I😉 Probably the nicest neck of any bass I’ve ever played. Oh and did I mention the fretless tone, mwah’tastic.

I need a little dirt for one passage in one song and I have very minimal space available on my board. Years ago I used to use a TS808 for dirt and I seem to recall it worked ok. Has/does anyone on here use the mini Tubescreamer for bass duties?

I’d start here, as I had a similar problem in the past and this was the cause