FinnDave

I sold the Gibson T bird last year, still have an Epiphone through neck with gibson pick ups and a Babicz bridge which is a better bass than the Gibson! Having a bit of thinning of the basses at the moment due to buying the Alembic a few weeks ago.

Second weekend gig with the Wirebirds yesterday, when we were the final band of the 3 day Follyfest in Faringdon (market town between Swindon and Oxford). The rain managed to hold off, and we had a blast playing there (again - our 6th year). I would have taken the Alembic, but as the weather looked rather dodgy, I took the Gibson instead, its second gig in the year I've owned it, and to be fair, it deserves to be taken out more often, it acquitted itself very well. No idea what the backline was, it was supplied by the organisers and I just plugged in, tweaked the EQ and played. Someone who was there (obviously!) sent us this pic:

I didn't know he worked in a zoo.

While you're listening to Master Builder (assuming the original 'You' album version) you could flip the record over and have a go at 'Isle of Everywhere', some odd timings in there, a personal favourite for the last 40 years!

Played with the Wirebirds last night - first gig with them for three months (we did play at one of the band member's birthdays, but that wasn't really a gig, just a bit of a jam) and no rehearsals for a year or so - just went straight into it and enjoyed ourselves. The first time we played this venue, a bunch of my biker mates showed up, this time it clashed with a local bike rally, but a few turned up and had a good time, as did the locals and the landlord and his staff. Return there in October. Having broken the fast with last night's gig, we 're closing Faringdon Follyfest this afternoon with a set on the main stage at five. Our 6th consecutive year there. Last night I played my Alembic Epic through my Barefaced Super Compact and recently acquired ABM 600 head. Next week I'll be playing with the Grateful Dudes at the Summer of Love party in Kent, but with the Super Twin instead of the Compact.

I'll be playing a favourite venue on Sunday. It's a festival held in the centre of a local small town between here and Swindon. Faringdon has held its annual 3 day Follyfest for some time, the Wirebirds will be making their sixth consecutive appearance there this Sunday, when we bring the festival to a close. We don't get paid to do it, parking is a pain, but the audience is always great, and there's a good PA and a well organised team to run everything. The summer wouldn't feel quite right without our annual pilgrimage to Faringdon.

I think the word 'may' is your get-out clause in that one. May contain nuts. May not.

Had you actually done so, you could have claimed for evermore that you had a cab with real balls. Wasted a good opportunity, there, I reckon

Just back from meeting John in a Layby somewhere near Bath! I returned home with an ABM 600 that wasn't in my boot when I left. Looks absolutely new and unused, I can only hope that it won't get too knocked about too quickly! Thanks for the good coms and quick deal, John. Dave

As I understand it, they were both using standard Starfires until Bear got hold of them and got Ron Wickersham to work on the electrics, a partnership that led to the formation of Alembic

I nearly bought the one advertised on here, but logistical differences prevented it. My main, in fact only, reason for wanting one of these is that both Phil Leah and Jack Casady played them back in the 60s, and their basses were the first to modified by the newly-formed Alembic company. Not too sure about playing a 30" scale though... Only slightly modified...

My Super Compact is seriously loud and bassy. I power it with a Rootmaster 800 head, but into an 8 ohm cab it's about 500 max. Never had it above approx 1/3rd volume. Had I bought a Super Compact originally, I doubt that I'd have bothered with the Super Twin, but on the odd occasions I decide to trot it out, it does sound great, but too loud for most gigs.

OK, I've never played slap so wouldn't know. I'll be playing through a MB head (couldn't tell what model, even though I've used approx once a month this year) and two MB cabs (as above) simply because it's less hassle than taking my own gear 90 miles there and back for a rehearsal, but I doubt that I'll get any better sound than usual. Perfectly useable sound for many people, just not what I need, unfortunately.

I personally don't give a rat's backside about what the gear looks like (even banana yellow) but I must admit that try as I might, I have never been able to get the sort of sound I want from a Mark Bass rig. Even when I just the power amp and speakers by using my DI box into the fx return, it still doesn't get 'my' sound the way my Rootmaster/Barefaced rig does. I suspect that the MB gear may be aimed at a more 'modern' sound for slap, etc. which is not what I look for at all.

Probably just the soundcheck, to be honest

I've never tried. But playing along right now to some 'new' Grateful Dead CDs (21 discs 1971 live) is enough fun for me!

I use Barefaced Super Compact (1 x 12) or Super Twin (2 x 12) with Ashdown Rootmaster 800 heads. The Super Twin is the older of the two (serial #001) and to be honest, had I bought the Super Compact first, I wouldn't have bothered with the bigger cab. The smaller one is easily enough for pub gigs, anything larger and the bass goes DI anyway, so the cab is just a stage monitor. I think it is only sentiment that is stopping me from selling the 2 x 12, I've used it once this year and it was more than I needed on stage. I play Fender, Gibson & Alembic basses through these rigs.

What's wrong with just playing along to records/cds/iTunes tracks etc? That's what I do if I want to learn new material. Just ignore the bass that's already there, once you start paying you won't hear it anyway.

My fav fretless playing is Francis Moze's work on Gong's Flying Teapot album (1973). I don't think I have anything else with fretless on it, other than the obligatory first Jaco album, of course.