FinnDave

I put one of these together last year, but have never strung it up and tried it - it's quite decorative, though! https://ugearsmodels.com/hurdy-gurdy.html

My Panther special is currently in the for sale section.

The police were polite and friendly, it wasn't the SPG! But they would have had to report the result of the check, and that is probably what triggered the local council to pull the plug. They have said that such events must be ticketed, enclosed by a fence and organised by an 'event organiser'. We were just playing to a few friends, in a local park. One of our guitarists who is active in local events and lives close to the park organised it, in so far as he invited some friends' bands along and announced it on Facebook. I think we managed 5 or 6 weeks, some weeks we had to cancel due to the weather. As one of our drummers said, it's sad they've been stopped, but they were a little bit of magic and won't be forgotten.

We're rehearsing this afternoon, so I'll try to remember to ask him about the inverter. No more outdoor gigs, we've been told to stop by the council (following a police visit last weekend).

I had to start using a pick about five years after an accident left me unable to use the fingers of my right hand properly. I also experimented with different thicknesses of pick, and for a while used home made ones of a generic Gibson shape cut out of credit cards (using a pick punch). The standard credit card is about 0.75mm thick, and I quickly found that they were too thin and flexible for my taste, so I laminated a pair together, and played using 1.5mm for a while. Even that seemed a bit thin (bearing in mind I had limited grip, so really needed something to hold onto). Then I discovered Dunlop big stubbies and tried the 2mm version - even better, so I ditched my home made ones and moved on to them. I visited a music shop while on holiday in Devon and they had a good range of picks on display, so I tried a 3mm Dunlop big stubbie, and that has been my choice ever since. Absolutely no flex, they never seem to wear out, even on steel strings. I have played 2 1/2 hour sets using them with no trouble at all. When I listen to recordings of gigs I've played, I have to check to date to see whether they were from my finger style days or my pick days. It's easier to tell now, as in my opinion, my pick playing is better than my finger playing ever was.

The Cornell May 8th 77 recording is usually regarded as one of the best - certainly gets played a lot in my house! Personally, my choice is anything from 1973-4 and 1976-7. Some of the earlier recordings (I'm only talking about the live stuff, I hardly ever listen to any of the studio albums) have good music but the recordings are often not too great. For my taste, they got a bit too slick from the 80s onwards. Best source is archive.com or relisten

I'll be playing at the Port Mahon in Oxford if the weather holds (outdoor gig, obviously). Same band I played yet another of our 'mini festivals in a field' with yesterday. We thought that was the end of them, as during the second band's set a couple of police arrived. They'd had a report of someone carry amplifiers in the field and thought there was going to be an illegal rave until they saw us! Hopefully, we can do a few more before the weather closes in.

Oh yes, it did!

I played my first gig for six months last Sunday on the terrace of a pub - and it was effectively the first gig (and first rehearsal) of a new three piece. Went well, drummer used electronic kit so sound levels were easily controlled. Landlord used to play bass and was amazed and the sound my Super Compact and TE Elf produced - he remembered lugging a full on Marshall valve head and two 4 x 12s everywhere!

I have owned Super Twin serial number S001 from new - anyone interested in buying it will have to negotiate with my daughters when I've left this life. I must try it with my newly acquired TE Elf - truly a pimple of an amp on a cab like this, but I reckon it'll sound great.

I've played with people that need an occasional reminder to put their teeth back in, but it hasn't come to glass eyes yet!

Hi Ash, welcome to the madness that will drain your wallet! I'm not local to Leicester, but usually rehearse there once a month or so. Been a bit quiet this year!

My Panther's serial number makes it a 2019, which makes sense as I bought it new in early January this year.

If you've got good eyes, you can just about make out the Elf on top of my Super Compact in the second picture - just below the head of the guitarists Telecaster. Today's discovery, in trying to have less to carry (as my bag is falling apart and I won't be able to get a new one until later today) I have discovered that the Elf and a tuner will fit in my the pocket of my Hiscox bass case, so my bag only needs the speaker and guitar cables and a mains lead.

I believe there was sound and video recorded. I'd have to ask the guitarists about the battery packs, but I think they are lithium powered small inverters, though one of the guys had just bought a larger one, about the size of a car battery but lighter and with a greater capacity - that was powering the guitar combos and my Elf yesterday. The PA speakers are apparently powered by internal AA batteries - quite a few, which are often changed.

Played my third gig in four weeks yesterday - another in a series of free shows in a local park. There were four bands, the volume is kept low to avoid disturbing nearby residents. We use battery powered amps and hand percussion. This weeks saw a step forward in sound quality as one of the guitarists in the band I am playing with has bought a larger battery inverter, so we could use guitar & bass amps with decent speakers. I played through my BF Super Compact, powered by my newly acquired TE Elf - sounded great! Couple of pics attached, the band is the Oxford-based Grateful Dead covers band Franklin's Tower.

It certainly is, just took mine off the wall for the first time since its only gig (last February) and sat down to play it - it's still in tune and still sounds wonderful. I am tempted to take it to this afternoon's field gig, but I think I'd rather take something less special (and costly) if it's sitting in the sun at 30 degrees plus. I remember taking my Alembic to the SoL party in Kent in 2018 and was constantly worried about it - that was a scorching hot day as well! Thanks for the string advice, I'll invest in a set and see what they sound like on a regular Jazz bass. Must be decades since I played steels!

Can anyone tell me what the standard strings are on a Sandberg Panther Special? They have a singing like quality to them, even acoustically, that I have never found in any other bass. I suspect it was this that tipped the balance between me trying it and putting it band and trying it and buying it! It's also the only bass I have played that I can get get through 2 1/2 hour plus gig without any cramp or pain in my left hand.

According to Sandberg's website, my Panther special has a pair of Sandberg 'Trapez' pickups. They certainly sound good! I returned to PMT in Oxford a couple of days ago, first time since I wandered in back in early January and wandered out with the Panther and a nearly £2k hole in my credit card. I was there to try an amp, which I bought, but they'd set it up next to a lovely natural body/rosewood (dark wood, anyway) fingerboard active Sandberg Jazz - I had to force myself to ignore it!

Having failed spectacularly with my Jan 3rd purchase of a two grand Sandberg, I have just bought a TE Elf, to make sure that my place as biggest gear abstinence failure is unchallenged! Two other basses have found their way into my collection this year, but both were swaps for Ibanez six strings basses, and one of the swaps has now been sold.