Norris

I bought a cover for my combo from Roqsolid. It's been excellent and kept the amp in excellent condition over the years. They don't specifically list a cover for the Rumble head as far as I can see, but do offer custom covers with a range of options like extra pockets for leads, pockets to insert stiffener boards, etc. They are a UK company. It might be worth giving them a call

The old one with the "lame" arm stays at home in the music room. Replacing it was a no-brainer

I was away with Mrs Norris last week visiting her brother before he retires from foreign parts. I don't know if I picked up something on the plane back, but have had a worsening cold ever since we set foot back in Blighty. So Saturday I felt like death warmed up. Not quite bad enough to call the gig off, but definitely lacking in energy. It was actually a pretty decent gig. We got them up dancing, which hasn't happened there before. The landlord was very pleased. I had put a new set of D'Addario Pro Steels on my Sire P7-5 for the first time in two years. It sounded great (Boss GT-6B into my Fender Rumble v3 500 combo) - nice to have a bit of twang again. No photos because I felt like cr*p and couldn't wait to get home to bed. So then I woke up this morning feeling a little bit better, but couldn't speak! The cold, phlegm, etc. has moved onto my vocal chords, so all I could do was whisper and squeak. This afternoon was planned to be an "acoustic" gig, as it's a small pub and could easily be far too loud otherwise. With my vocals not working it was an extra stripped-down gig - literally just my Stagg EUB straight into the Rumble and a clip-on tuner. It was actually great fun and we tackled a lot of random requests from the crowd (Hotel California, Ziggy Stardust to name a couple). The EUB is fun to play - lots of silly phrases and slides to put off the guitar/vocalist. Oh, and the landlady booked us because it was her one year anniversary of taking over the pub, even though we only played there a few weeks ago and have another in the book for next month. It's always nice to be the landlady's favourite band 😁

What will a Jaguar Bass do for me.........? Being shorter scale, it will have a slightly smaller turning circle than a standard jazz bass, enabling you to turn around in the road using forward and reverse gears in fewer manoeuvres.

I put a set of Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders in mine and it sounded awesome. Straight fit, no mods

In a previous band we once did a continuous medley for an entire 45 minute set. The dancers were knackered afterwards and we were in stiches with laughing. Obviously called on the fly. The continuous tempo is essential to keep them dancing

Sure? Because it's exactly what I did to mine. New genuine Schaller buttons with the hex drive (Ebay is cheapest I found) and my existing strap fitted just fine

Better you found out before you turned up there at least

Nice. I popped a Retrovibe Stinger preamp in mine, which transformed the sound. Mine's quite light for a 5er too You can buy just the Schaller strap buttons now. The old locks fit new buttons ok, but new locks are a bit tight on old buttons

I think you need to do a YouTube video to show off your technique on this!

I guess there's also... Hang on to the people you've recruited to the band so far by keeping them interested/committed with rehearsals

There's a reason you never see Rumble 500's in the for sale forum. Just saying 😃 Yes, I have one too

Great to hear from you and thanks for your insights. I know that you know a lot more about these basses than your average owner (i.e. me) does 😂 Hope everything is OK with you and that you're well

I don't know if he's still making them, but the most authentic replacement pickups are made by Rautia Guitars - based in Finland. The Armstrong pickups only look the same Ah - I just looked and the website says he's retired http://www.rautiaguitars.net/ I wonder if Aria might start selling spares for the re-issues

Latest handy little purchase. A small USB-powered LED clock, that cost less than a fiver but will be really helpful for knowing when to finish the set. I reckon it should fit neatly on the guitarist's pedal board.

The SB-1000 has some pretty crazy tone circuitry. I don't know of any other non-Aria basses that are similar. You can buy a replacement preamp (or at least you could a few years ago) on Ebay, made by a chap that used to be on here but I've not heard from in ages (Prostheta). As for the 6-position tone switch, there are/were diagrams to be found on the Internet with the cap values. It's quite complicated if you're going to make one up yourself. I have a 1980 "batwing" SB-1000 btw Edit: this might be useful reading, on a site that is my last known hang-out of Prostheta, who is the real expert in these basses https://www.projectguitar.com/forums/topic/49256-aria-pro-2-sb1000/?page=2

Pity your audience. I wouldn't want to linger at a gig in a small venue where the drummer is deafening me by thrashing 7 shades out of the kit - no matter how "good" a drummer they are I've also been there with loud drummers that can't/won't compromise - note the past tense 😀

He played with Showaddywaddy for quite a few years and currently plays with Martin Turner ex-Wishbone Ash. I'm going to guess the later is more likely for the recognition 😁

Some photos from Sunday at the Donkey And FrankenFocus... 1000018351.mp4

Possibly our last gig at the Donkey. It was rammed with a fabulous crowd. Hot and sweaty - fantastic! It really did feel like the end of an era though. There is still a lot of confusion as to whether, what I regard as Leicester’s top live music venue, is going to continue despite the Facebook screen grab I posted the other day. Anyway, the gig. Initially we had quite a lot of boom from the kick drum mic/stage resonance. My amp was quite low level as usual, to give the sound man some headroom to work with. It was a bit of a struggle to hear what notes I was playing at times. I had a word with the sound man in the break, he tweaked some stuff, and it sounded much better on stage in the second set. Sound issues aside, it was a fabulous gig to a very receptive crowd. We don't usually do the standing around on stage the end of the performance taking the applause thing, but this time was different. It did feel a bit final. I didn't take any photos myself because there were a lot of people taking much better photos. I'll post some up when they are forwarded to me. Oh, yes the Stingray-esque Sterling Sub5 sounded great (when I could hear it) and I revelled in the growly twang. The Rumble was on form as usual. Bittersweet.

The Stinger preamp has absolutely transformed the bass. Twang, growl, heft - it's all there. Happy chap 😁

The pub we played at tonight, we were supposed to play at last night, but they asked us to move because of the football match (Leicester lost badly to Nottingham Forest). I'm not sure if we've done a Saturday there before, so whether it's the switch or if it's normally quiet on a Saturday - there were not many people there when we started. The load in is a park up with hazards on, on double yellow lines, on a hump-backed bridge and a quick chuck-in to the tiny playing area before moving the cars. All didn't bode well, especially at it is not even a cash pickup at the end of the night either - invoice and wait! However it was the first opportunity to try out my Sterling Sub5 since I fitted the new Retrovibe Stinger preamp. Wow - it's absolutely transformed the bass! What was a muddy and indistinct bass now has bite, growl, thump and (dare I say it) heft. I had a whale of a time playing it. The B string is lovely. It also is about 2/3 the weight of my usual Sire P7-5. Guess which bass I'll be playing at the Donkey tomorrow... The only slight downside is that my Boss GT-6B seemed to have difficulty tracking the note when it was quite twangy - the octaver and synth patches I use in some songs both had a bit of a funny turn until I plucked a bit nearer the neck to reduce the overtones. I'll just have to remember to do that next time. Anyway the night did seem to pick up a bit as more came in, and we kept them in the pub which is the main thing. It's not a good situation though. The pub music scene seems as fragile as I've ever known it in 40 years of playing. Anyway, obligatory rig shots... And to think I had it up for sale recently. £75 spent on a better preamp has transformed it, and it paid for itself tonight - it owes me nothing now.

Yeah, so are we. We don't yet know if he's going to honour existing bookings. It's been a bit of a surprise. Even Gaz Birtles (the usual sound guy) didn't know Maybe we'll find out some more on Sunday afternoon...