Sean

I understand Fender wanting the Leo stuff but is there any valuable physical IP that will end up on Fender products in the future? MFD pickups is one, I suppose, a good product but hardly a game changer for Fender. The bridge is nice but it's not really different to what I have on my Spectors. The MFD single coil "P90-alike" pickups on the ASAT guitars are amazing but like most G&L things, very niche.

No, I'm not. There are only 3 left before the band folds. 1 is the one where I was told to stand down, then there's the other one and then there's the big final bash with the ex-bassists. It is being billed as "a night with some of the bassists we sacked and some of our favourites." The final gig has been arranged where all previous bassists have been invited to play and 5 or 6 of them have agreed. I was recently told on arrival at a venue that my tone is too "trebley". I said that I can dial in whatever's needed at sound check only to be met with being told that we don't have time for things like that. I also get "told off" if I turn up early. I then get made to feel like I'm in the way. I'm always at least 10 minutes early with everything, I plan ahead, build in contingency and am very rarely late to anything. I was second car to arrive at the SW Bash as an example. I'd rather sit outside on BassChat for 15 minutes than be stressed and rushing to be on time. All of this stuff is like mental abuse and puts you in the wrong state of mind, and it isn't conducive to playing your best. You spend the whole gig wondering/worrying about things you shouldn't be instead of focusing on entertaining punters and enjoying your passion. I'm off. Edit: for context and those that don't know me, I've been in all sorts of bands for 40 years.

The 4-piece covers band I'm playing in is finishing up in December and we have 3 gigs left to play. I've never really been a proper member. I'm excluded from any discussions, am part of a band WhatsApp group that is called "Here we go again..." referring to the large number of bassists they've had but there's little other than logistics in that group. When we turn up to gigs, I'm allocated a spot, rather than defaulting to high hat side of the drummer. It's essentially wherever the guitarist doesn't want to go. This week I received a message from the guitarist, through whom I get all the important comms, saying that I was required to stand down for the next gig as they were using a previous bassist because he needed a gig to cheer him up after having a hard time (bereavement). No discussion, straight out of the blue. I've not been happy for a while, so I responded saying, OK but get him to play the other remaining gigs, and I'm out. He's probably not available for the next ones because he's got commitments with his own band! This isn't normal behaviour within any bands I’ve ever been in before. It was never made clear that I was a "permadep" and it was never agreed that recently the stage "bants" was targeting me with some pretty vile comments, thinly masked as "jokes". I also can't do anything right when it comes to packing up and helping. There's tons of other things I've not been happy with, mostly related to comms (conversations, feedback, ignoring my messages) and being kept out of the loop. The gigs have been good and it's been a learning experience but I'm bailing and with good reason. I would never treat anyone the way I've been treated. Anyway, I'm starting with a new (to me) band and it's all a very different vibe.

A lot of it is sliced off. I can't see it all.

This really chimed with me. This came up last weekend, where I was told that the part I've played in one of the songs needs to be changed. I've played it the same way, as per the record about a dozen or more times, but they've never liked it. We don't rehearse and no one is able to articulate what they'd like me to play instead. This is the sort of thing that could be worked out at rehearsal. Sadly it's not going to happen and I'll be in a different band very soon.

ETS will do one. It’ll be around EUR300. These are what Brooks Bass uses. Also, the nut width on the Dean Rhapsody 12 I had was 54mm and that was a challenge for my medium (Size 9) hands. That 7 string at 62mm would be something else. The Hamer I have is 48mm and is very comfortable, it’s just 2mm up from my Spector Euro5. https://ets-hardware.com/index.php/de/

Master on about 3, Ch 2 volume on 4. Absolutely glorious. What it's like with the taps wide open, we can only guess at the moment. I just need the opportunity. You can hear all the tubey, valvey goodness going on that you just don't get with solid state. It's like there's something alive in there 🤫

Happy clocks-go-back Day I think this might be the first pic of a pair of Monacos out in the wild.

I also have an early copy of Led Zep II that is of interest to record collectors. It's got a purple lower label, contains different song names and the sleeve artwork is lighter. I'm not really up on it but a couple of friends have made noises and faces at it over the years.

I have The Police Sixpack coloured vinyl with incorrect labels on some of them. They're just jumbled up. It never really bothered me as a kid as I never played them as I had the songs on the albums and the original singles. The six pack was always treasured.

Carterton tonight. Go big or go home.

I use a an Origin Effects Cali76 and I'm reasonably happy with how I use it but always being in pursuit of refinement and learning more (especially with compressors) I'd be keen to understand what settings players who switch between pick and fingers use. I play about 50:50 pick and fingers depending on the song and use approximately the Parallel Compression setting. Dry 11 o'clock Ratio 10 o'clock (8:1) Att/Rel 10 o'clock HPF 1 o'clock Then balance Out and In

Yamaha quality is very good and there will have been Yamaha QA requirements in the specification for the manufacturer. I've never owned a Made in China Yamaha but this is one of the more highly regarded brands for quality. I guess there are good photos of it? They won't tell us everything but we could have a look, there are some eagle-eyed techy folk on here who can determine a lot from a few photos.

Isopropyl Alcohol is my go to for most cleaning jobs. You can try it neat or what I do to make my own kitchen cleaner spray that cuts through grease is put about 5-10% isopropyl to water and a squirt of washing up liquid in a spray bottle. We've got quartz worktops (not recommended btw) and it does a good job on those. I add a couple of drops of tea tree oil but that's optional. Another thing I use (but not in the kitchen) is TFR (traffic film remover), it's nasty so wear gloves and dilute it. Both are really cheap and will last you ages.

We're in Andover tonight. I feel like I've rocked up at a gunfight with a battleship. This is too much amp for the venue. It's like driving a McLaren around a supermarket car park. It's sounding incredible already and it's only been on 15 minutes. I put the second cab back in the car, it's too much with 4ohms and 2x Monaco. Edit: It took quite a bit of EQing to get the sound right but we got there. We switched to the EQ section and dialled up the low end just over flat and put a bump in the upper mids. I used Channel 2 (of course) and Volume at 4-5, Master at 3 and it was slamming. The signal path was Spector (EMG + HAZ dimed) - Origin DCX - Origin Cali76 - Mesa - Monaco. it's a nasty gritty clank of a tone but it's magic. When we did Dancing in the Dark, all I could think about was that it really really isn't what you'd ever choose for that song but it works. It was the best I've played in a while and I'm sure this beastie had something to do with it. We're in Oxfordshire somewhere tomorrow and it'll be going out again.

Any other basschatters going?

Mesa/Boogie 400+ Update I picked up my 400+ from The Amp Hospital today. It looks fabulous, it's all working perfectly, has a full set of chassis screws and just feels great. It's such a lovely thing to look at, handle, use, feel, smell, hear (it whirs, clicks and buzzes). The conversation covered how these are one of the 3 GOAT Bass Amps, how military spec and robust the 400+ is and that along with the B15 and SVT it's modelled by all the digital effects companies. But most of all that, as long as components are available, these things will last forever. The 400+ is one of my favourite products ever, to me it's up there with the Audi Ur-Quattro or Porsche 959. A lot of products that push the tech to extreme iterations fail, become white elephants but like the 959 and the Ur-Q, the 400+ is an absolute classic and a gem in all respects. Putting my money where my mouth is, the 400+ will be sitting atop a pair of Monaco cabs at two gigs this weekend. The GKs will be on the bench. Warm it up and let it rip is what the manual should say 😉.

Interesting video about Cort. Shows a Space being made. https://youtu.be/-ztqNMaZ9mE?si=3fN75S8BEF4yk069

The 8" future? F1 San Marino? Blueline Thruxton? IYKYK.