MichaelDean

I found it quite a struggle trying to find somewhere to have my ear impressions taken. After 10 minutes on the phone to Boots to find an appointment, I had to have it done in Keynsham and take a morning off work to do it. Bit of a faff! Still, I had the impressions done yesterday and I've just had an email to confirm that they've got them already.

Hey, I can count to at least 5! I've got.... Checks strings.... 5! 5 strings!

It has frets! Not a very neat job, but it's a small amount of progress. I did tidy up the side dots a while ago and didn't post about it. I also attempted to remove the ramp up to the old fretboard with a chisel that wasn't sharp enough. That needs tidying! I'm tempted to not entirely hide it and make a feature of it though, maybe with some metallic grain filler? Like a history of the mistakes I've made. So, still on the list is: Tidy up frets a bit Lower pickup cavities a few mm Make a rear cavity cover and recess it, nicely if possible Sand everything, including making the bit at the front look good Oil it Put it together Make a nut Setup Not loads, but not, not loads 😅

Looks like a great solution Stew!

Just going to leave this here... https://www.laney.co.uk/amps/bass/digbeth/dbv410-4

Especially if they're in a difficult to reach spot. Mr Wolfs in Bristol is a pain in the backside to play. It's on a road that has been pedestrianised, and there's steps up from the pavement so you can't wheel something all the way in. And, in my experience, the punters don't move when you want to get out!

I kinda like the look of these more than the HB one. Seems to be trying to be a bit different with not using the big bridge and the MM style pickups. The spec says it has a 38mm nut width, opposed to the HB's 43.6 mm width too.

We've got our first gig at Moor Beer on Saturday the 12th, really looking forward to this one! https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/moor-beer-co/sat-12-oct-motorik-road-trip-hora-invisible-eyes-tharsis-115010#e115010

A good one last night. a bit of a technical rehersal. Everyone was trying out a few different things gear wise. The singer/guitarist is very much an 80s metal fan. Also loves the theatrical stuff like power metal. Not very doom. We've now got him away from a purely digital setup, using an amp and we're encouraging him to try different sounds on his pedalboard, which he is now more on board with than previously. It's all coming together.

A proper flightcase is almost indestructible too. I've had my Spider (it was? Is? A brand of ready made cases from Flightcase Warehouse) one for over 15 years now. I replaced the spring/plastic handle about 5 years ago, but the case itself is as solid as the day I received it. I'd say go for it. Mine has a wooden board in it that I could lift out, but I don't bother. I just lift the lid off and go.

Whichever you like, but for longevity of your cable, I'd recommend whatever puts less strain on it. On a front or traditionally side mounted jack, I'd go for right angled on the bass. On my Dingwall or on a strat/angled Ibanez, I'd go straight. I prefer having a cable with both so I can swap it round based on my choice of instrument.

Don't know what you're going to need that bag for! It's not going anywhere!

You can try mine at the SWBB! 😁

Here it is at Anderton's... https://www.andertons.co.uk/sire-z7-bass-4-string-3-tone-sunburst/

I've been very tempted by the Blackheath too. From the demos it sounds right up my street. The 85 sounds like an excellent pedal too. I feel a bit like Laney are on a good streak. My Digbeth head is so good.

My Zilla 212 is a lovely "traditional" style cab, but it does a lot of things well. 25ish kg, neo speakers, no tweeter. I've had mine made as purely vertical, so it has two heavy duty handles either side. I'm not a slap bassist, but I've used it in a function band and my current doom band. It handles everything with ease. Sounds great with loads of drive. Sounds great without. Really nice balanced bass sound. My current head is a Laney DB-500H, but I've also had an ABM-600 and a PF-500. It worked well with all of them.

As far as I'm aware, they aren't currently being made. Your best bet is to try buying second hand. There's a couple on the marketplace here.

I love my GX-100. The new update gives you all of the preamps from the ME-90B, but it's so easy to configure and add multiple instances of things if you desire. I've added an overdrive going into a fuzz in the fx loop, plus I've got an FV-500H acting as a second expression pedal. All probably unnecessary. There aren't any synth sounds in it though if that's what you need. I'm using it into an amp, so no DI from it directly. I tend to use it as a pedalboard rather than as presets for things. My current chain for my doom band is: Compressor Volume Wah EQ (used as a shaping boost) Always on dirt Dirt level 1 Dirt level 2 Effects loop → Mojo Mojo→ Bass Big Muff Noise gate Harmoniser: -1 octave is always on with switchable +1 octave EQ to filter out the really high content and add a LPF at around 30/40Hz Delay Reverb The internal foot pedal controls the wah when you press the toe switch down, or does all sorts of crazy stuff with the delay if that's on. The FV-500 is controlling the volume block as I prefer the taper on it.

Reach out to somewhere like Flightcase Warehouse who make cases. I imagine they'd be able to custom make something. Or Zilla if you like a nice tolexed option.

The TU3 has an always on buffer built in. Shouldn't need another. Have a play with Stompenberg on Thomann's website. It tweaks the pedals as you play with the knobs. You can also upload a recording of your bass, connect your audio interface to it to play live or use their backing tracks to see what sounds good. Don't forget to try some guitar pedals too. I've got a Mojo Mojo on my board at the moment and I've had the Joyo Ultimate Drive in the past (a Fulltone OCD clone). https://www.thomann.co.uk/stompenberg_devices.html

I know. I just don't quite understand where those opinions come from. Possibly went a bit overboard...

Just have a look at her Wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu_DeTiger?wprov=sfla1 She's been playing since she was 7, was touring with bands before COVID, during which she's exploded on social media and has now made a solo career out of singing and playing bass. Why is anyone getting upset about it? She's currently popular with millions of streams on Spotify and has great chops. No-one should be surprised someone reached out about a signature model. If it inspires people to start playing bass, that's super cool. Bass lines also need to fit the music. Maybe she's got mad jazz skills, but doesn't need to use them day to day in what she wants to do. Has Mikey Way from My Chemical Romance set the world on fire with his playing style, or is he in a popular band? A signature bass is a popularity contest. My niece is starting rock school next week at 6 years old and has been allocated bass. I really hope she doesn't come under fire like this if she ever becomes a well known player.

Played at The Gryphon in Bristol last night as a part of Gryphest. After battling Bristol traffic to get to the other side and being a bit late, it actually went very well. Sound checked quickly, but it sounded great. I was running my Combustion and pedalboard into my new Digbeth and an old Trace 410 that is the venues and I'm really confident that my new head was the right move. Just looks and sounds the part a bit more. We've also finally managed to convince the guitarist/singer to use an amp instead of going direct with his Valeton unit. It just sounds better like this. We have a more cohesive sound. Also, it's doom. Amps are expected. We (Hora) opened up the evening. Godless Suns were after us, telling tales of how the gods have betrayed us with crushing riffs. Battalions then tore the house down. Wasn't entirely keen on the vocals, but they were tight AF. Witchsorrow then finished the night with a very polished set of face melters.

Pete was a gent! And he said you're such a nice guy that he'd happily have sex with you, so it looks like you're in 😜 That guitar of his is a lovely made thing. They played a great set too. I really like the storytelling over the course of the set. Back to the amp, it did a very good job indeed. Looks the part better than the ABM too. I'm very pleased with my latest acquisition!

A Joyo Ultimate drive could do the job nicely, or a TC Electronic Mojo Mojo. Both have worked nicely for me. You can get them to go into a very overdriven/distortion territory, but they also do a nice breakup tone too. I'd also take a look at the Laney Black Country Customs Blackheath. Different modes to try and sounds great on demos.