tony_m

And literally a "John Paul Jones Signature" bass if my eyes don't deceive me! 😎

Glenn Hughes, particularly on "Made In Europe". That said, it was about 20 years after that LP came out that I actually got my first bass and started playing, and I've never learnt how to play with a pick so can hardly call him a direct influence on my particular playing style.

It's how I started. Everybody else attending the NWOBHM gigs at Blackpool Norbreck Castle was playing air guitar, so I chose bass instead. Seemed like a good career move...

Oops, I knew there was another Trace fan I forgot to tag - sorry @Deedee! Yeah, they're odd wee beasties. All I can really say is they're 8ohm, rated at 150W, and some have a horn while others don't. From the pictures I've seen, the speaker can either be located centrally (like the two currently on eBay), or offset to the side like the two in these links... https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/trace-elliot-blx-110-speaker-745211227 https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/trace-elliot-blx-110-bass-cab-473138345 Mine's one of the hornless / offset speaker variety, and for some reason the TE badge is in the diagonally opposite corner to all the others! And yes, the head may be familiar to you... 😉

We actually drove past Gillingham this morning heading home along the M2, so could have made a detour to pick the other one up, but The Boss was driving and wouldn't do it. Oh well, it wasn't a perfect match for the one I've got anyway...

Paging @TheGreek and @stewblack Just like buses, you don't see any BLX-110s for ages, then two turn up at once! Unfortunately I won't be bidding on either as I've just bought another bicycle instead... 🙄 This one's in St Neots... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303249036897?ul_noapp=true This one's in Gillingham... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202753989485?ul_noapp=true

*cough* 😉 https://www.gak.co.uk/en/ashdown-ctm-30-ltd-20th-anniversary-30w-valve-head-tweed/919533

Sad news, my condolences to his family and friends. RIP.

Just to add my twopenn'orth, my S8 doesn't have springs between the pickup and the pickguard, it has a couple of rubber grommets which go from squished to not-squished depending on how you have the pup adjusted...

Nice selection of pickguards, though it looks like they've opted for the earlier "straight across the neck heel + extra screw" style rather than the later "shaped around the neck heel + truss road access" version which would be correct for an S8 serial bass.

Ha ha, photos can be deceptive! To be honest, it probably isn't as bad as I've made out, it's just that the finish hasn't gone that lovely rich creamy yellow that might be considered "vintage cool", but is a bit nondescript. That said, I guess it's in reasonable condition overall, and I'm intending to take it out for a blast at our next rehearsal (if we ever have one, given our apparent inability to attract or retain guitarists... 🙄 ). Good luck with your restoration, look forward to seeing how it goes. 👍

You're very welcome! That looks quite cool stripped / natural like that - mine's white, or at least I presume it was when it was new. It's now gone a rather manky creamy colour, which for some reason the camera simply refuses to capture, and insists on making it look a lot better than it really is! 😂

Okey-dokey @cgg199, here you go. I've done a trace and a scan of the actual thing in case that's useful, in both pdf and jpg form. Hopefully you can download them from here, if not PM me your email and I'll send them to you. As an aside, while I had the thing apart, I had a look at the pickup. After Bassist mag did an article about restoring / upgrading a Musicmaster and mentioned installing a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pup, I decided to do the same. In fact, I can remember exactly when I did it - it was during the Euro '96 match between England and Holland! Fast forward to today and at some point between then and now, I obviously must have had a change of heart and replaced the Hot Rails with the original Strat pickup - how odd, I don't remember doing that!!! Sounds remarkably good all the same... 🤣 Right, files... Musicmaster pickguard actual pdf.pdf Musicmaster pickguard pdf.pdf

"I tolerate your Roman nose Your features aquiline" Brain Donor - Get Off Your Pretty Face

I'm away at the mo, but will do you a copy of my S8 serial Musicmaster p/g when I get home in a couple of days. Give me a nudge at the weekend in case I forget! 👍

I just aim to play a song to the best of my ability, as close to the original as I can manage. I will try to get it note-for-note perfect, but I'm not ashamed to miss out an occasional note here and there as long as the crucial tones, timing, rhythm and feel are all there. For example, in my last band we used to do A Whiter Shade of Pale, and at the same point every time the keyboard player tried to fit in a particular six note run, but never quite managed it with the result being the timing always fell apart. If it had been me, I'd have made sure I hit the first and last notes of the run, then fitted in as many of the passing notes as I could comfortably manage so that the overall effect was right, but the timing didn't suffer. That's how I tend to approach learning and playing new bass lines, rightly or wrongly - start with a cut-down / simplified version if necessary, then the more I practice it, the more stuff I'll add in and the closer I'll try to get it until it is correct, but always with the caveat that ultimately it's always going to be *our* version, and that some things are just never meant to be!

It varies depending on the bass, and the tone I want. With my split-coil CV60s P, I usually anchor my thumb on the pup, and pluck directly over it. With my Jazz, I either anchor on the neck pup and pluck over it, or rest my thumb against the body and pluck halfway between the pups to give a slight variation to the tone. With the single coil '51 P , anchoring on the pup isn't an option due to the pickup cover, so I rest my thumb against the body and pluck either in front of the cover for a deep, bassy sound, or behind the cover for a bit more twang - I also tweak the tone control a bit, tending to have it slightly more open if I'm plucking in front of the cover than if I'm plucking behind it.

Just sharing this from the Waterloo Music Bar FB page...

I voted for "Other", specifically an early Single-coil Precision type (i.e. single pole pieces rather than double pole pieces a la Jazz pickup). Picky? Moi? Nope, just fingers...

Never had the pleasure of meeting Colin / Barney, but he sounds like a helluva chap. My condolences to all his family and friends. RIP.

There are a couple of suggestions in this thread here... The "genuine article" from British Audio in the US appear to be £5.35 for a pack of six, but then shipping is more than twice as much again ($15.96, or about £12.24)! https://britishaudio.com/collections/trace-elliot-parts/products/trace-elliot-sm-smx-acoustic-slider-cap#

Have to confess, I've only used the AH200GP7 + BLX-110 for rehearsals so far. With the current band, it definitely punches its weight, but was a tad lost at times with the last bunch where we had a volume-control-less drummer + keyboards going through the PA. With them, I added an Ashdown 2x10 cab to make a 3x10 stack, and just played along with the mayhem... 🙄

Yes, I wasn't impressed with the look of the Laurel in the Squier photos either. The fingerboard on my CV '60s P (Fiesta red) is nice and dark, while that on my old CV '60s Jazz was even darker - in fact it was so dark and the position dots were such a dark cream that in certain lights my poor old eyes struggled to make them out clearly. 😳

At the risk of derailing this into a "Show me your BLX-110" thread, here's mine. Just need that second one...