BassBod

Jon at Orchid Electronics, on the edge of Exeter.

Yep, it was one of those sets....not exactly a complicated line up, but the sound never really got sorted. We did an unplugged tune for the Songs From the Shed guy afterwards and it was a pleasure to just play acoustically. Still can't hear the bas much, but its there.

I'm getting too close to 50, but I find the early set up and long wait on function gigs is the worst. By the time you start playing at 10pm its hard to feel too enthusiastic when you left home at 4pm... Your GP will tell you you've got high blood pressure, early Type II diabetes and the end is nigh. Just look after yourself, use a light amp and keep gigging!

General fitness will help - as it helps with everything. One thing you can do is don't sit around for hours before you play in that sort of situation...get out for a bit, have walk about, have something decent to eat etc. Also a drink of orange juice half way in the set can give you a bit of a sugar boost, but I wouldn't go for any of the sports/energy stuff.

Yep, that was it. Although it was more a bass/violin duet where I was standing....

Edgar Meyer and Christian McBride, St Georges Bristol. Stunning. Two acoustic basses, and a bit of piano (played by a bass player).

You probably just missed me busking jazz in the foyer....

One thing I did miss from shows years ago was seeing Pete the Fish of WAL. I nearly always had a chat with him, bought some strings etc. He was always happy to talk, whoever you were - Would be nice if WAL made an appearance sometime, even though I'm sure they don't need to.

They were on their distributor's stand...Westside?

Hey, timmo....do have a go, whenever you feel like it. A lot of us have been playing for a long time, and frankly should be better by now! I've seen some very well known pros play surprisingly badly over the years. Bassists are the most forgiving audience and are usually far more interested in your strings anyway. Having fun is what matters.

Really...what Geoff said (nice to meet you on Sat!). I've used the Realist for ages on EUB and acoustic and liked its darker warmer and slightly thumps tone. But I got a new/old bass last year with a Fishman Full Circle already fitted, and I do prefer the more articulate and balanced sound. I've now got a Realist fitted as a spare, and I can easily swap. The downside is the fitting is more complicated, it needs to go into an adjustable bridge...but it also limits the bridge setting, as the wire coming out needs to be protected and facing upwards. Before you give up on the Realist, make sure it is fitted closely, there are no gaps and that the bridge is properly upright, not leaning. The sound can be compromised if it isn't well seated under the bridge foot. Mics can be great out front - but don't really work for backline monitoring best of luck

[quote name='Chownybass' timestamp='1457943684' post='3003109'] Whew! Finally got back to Bristol last night at 22:30 after another very long day at the London Bass Guitar Show. It was great to see some bass chatters (both the lanyard wearing ones, and those that were incognito). It was amazing the positive feedback we received from pretty much everybody. Even those that thought it wasn't "their thing" still had nice things to say. For those that came and tried one of our basses - Thanks. Hope you enjoyed the show. Biggest thanks however goes to Basschatter "Romeo2" who volunteered to help me and covered the stand when I couldn't. Thanks a million dude! [/quote] I said hello (another Bristol bassist), although I didn't try the basses - we should have some sort of BassChat handshake, shouldn't we? If you need help in the future do PM me...always happy to help a bass player building a business.

Its usually the Distributor that sets the UK price...

As for photo's - why stop at Dave when we've got Cordez too...I know I will...

Yes, got me too, I thought about it....but I went Luddite and opted for the eticket..hoping I could print. Didn't get any email or receipt, which I find a bit odd.

I did it just now - it popped up and I printed it...but I didn't get an email or any receipt. There was an option for ticket or mobile earlier in the process - which did you go for?

Look or the Sigma basses - cheaper versions of Martins (GuitarGuitar stock them)

Last minute decision making - anyone driving in from the Bristol/Bath area with a spare seat? (on Saturday?)

Those are Kent Armstrong hand made pickups..as used by Manson and many others in the 80's (including Ken Smith) I had an Alligator 2x8" combo in the early 90's..in fact, I think someone still has it for sale on evilbay. Nice amp, but very heavy.

Bag End S15-D very nicely voiced all rounder - small but a bit of a lump by modern standards.

I put a Bareknuckle version (single coil) into a bass recently...a really nice pickup. Plenty of grunt, but also very natural...I'll just have to deal with the hum.

I got an Allparts neck (one piece maple) for a 51 style Pbass recently. I'm very pleased with the quality, has correct construction (walnut stripe, square heel, cross head truss rod in the right place) and fretting is great - no levelling needed. I also got a good discount, so its always worth calling for advice and having a chat. I've also had good quality necks from WD music in the past. Brandoni are worth a call - they may have good NOS fender style necks, but can't display them due to Fender licensing issues. Generally you can expect to do some minor work on the tuner holes to get a good fit, and maybe some slight fret levelling. But fitting the nut well makes the biggest difference to overall playability. The hard bit is the nitro finish - I'd get the body and headstock face sprayed professionally and oil the back of the neck. Most of the replacement bodies are polyester and you can tell the difference, however well done.

I would applaud the use of the word Heft....quite appropriate for describing the indescribable essence of a big old heavyweight amp, valve or otherwise. For me there is only one real disadvantage to these modern lightweights - getting them fixed. While in production most manufactures seem pretty happy to replace circuit cards/most internal modules - but after those parts are no longer current stock, most likely your amp is heading to the tip. I've got 25 year old amps that are still mostly fixable..even if some components are harder to source or relatively costly. The thought of an expensive five year old amp being written off as unfixable due to its construction concerns me. Especially as they do all appear to be pretty similar. Having said that, I'm very happy with the Aguilar TH500 and TKS S112 and its a joy to gig with, given the usual awkward load ins/ car sharing / crap parking situations I often work with.

Also look for Edifier H850's - they make the PJB branded ones, and can be found on-line significantly cheaper. No way of knowing if they are very different....but worth a look.