martthebass

Ding Dong!

One thing I did note when I was selling a bass a little while ago was someone who messaged me through FB Marketplace and made a pretty lowball offer. Now I recognised the name and while he didn't declare it I know he worked for a well known retailer and I concluded that he was looking to procure to put it through the shop. No problem with this but was irked that he didn't declare his affiliation.

Standard clubland this side of the border tends to be first set 45m followed by second 45m +15m. You'd be shot if you eat into bingo time lol

I tend to stick with silver and red-silver-blue sequinned converse Dave, I just haven’t got the head for heights these days.

Gig at a nice local pub for us at the weekend. A new venue that’s only just started up live music so wasnt sure what to expect. Lousy stage area so using the short scale Lionel was a bonus. Audience was initially a bit subdued but we eventually brought them around and had a cracking night. Vox still having issues with his Shure wireless set up (losing contact between set up and start of set…) which meant he had to do his audience participation shenanigans with a long lead….

The first band I was in was not a JD tribute per se (I don't think tribby acts were as yet a 'thing' in the early 80s) but our set was a good 80% JD songs. This wasn't that long after Ian C had departed us. I don't think we had the look; the vox certainly didn't try and copy the mannerisms, but we did try and do justice to the originals. That gave me an appreciation for the effort required to make the songs authentic, the sound was deceptively difficult to reproduce, particularly the 'darkness' on the Unknown Pleasures' tracks. But time moves on and I agree more is now expected of a tribute act, we expect authenticity in sound, actions and looks I guess and for the top end tributes this is required. I don't play in a tribute but being genre specific we do aim for authentic sound, actions and dress. We were once criticised for wearing wigs as opposed to having long 'period correct' hairstyles on one occasion (quite tough for at least one of our number who is follically challenged) so some punters do take this quite seriously.

Threads like this remind me of the silver lining side to my shoulder hating anything approaching 10lb on a guitar strap.......

Another nice local one for Glam Fever at the Milestone in Sheffield last night. It was definitely on the warm side and the fans were run to overdrive….wig wearing is definitely a challenge. An enthusiastic crowd and we had a good sound on and off stage for a change so I could go for the harmonies better than normal. Pleased with how we played - zero defects which was nice and sets us up nicely for a steady run of gigs over the next couple of months. Quick getaway was a bonus as I had two people picking up the mustangs I had for sale first thing. Down to the Lionel and Fallout basses for most gigs now - fortunately I love both of em.

I’m also more of a rosewood/ebony guy but maple with blocks is acceptable. Haven’t had a proper play as yet as I need to set it up - the action needs lowering a fair bit for me so it’ll be the weekend. My MW Mustang sig has served the ‘Glam sparkle’ function for the last few years; I was was going to keep it but it’s having to go on orders from above 🤣

Had a 4003 2010. It had the Vintage push-pull thing - tried it once, it sucked all the body out of the sound, just awful, never used it again. I have played 4001 in the past (though never owned) and did prefer the slimmer neck profile over the 2000s 4003 but ultimately I decided I didn't want the hassle of the older agricultural truss rods. That said I only had to adjust the rods on my 4003 once and it never moved in 8 years....so if the 4001 is the same then maybe not so much hassle. If I had another I'd go with the 4003s....as I prefer a bit of contour and no binding.

Jazz…..it’s a Mex.

I was looking for something understated and unassuming for the 70s Glam band. Something that would allow me to dissolve into the background and not stand out too much. Think I’ve got it about right with this one….

Pic of the Allen key that comes with the bass, as you can see it’s quite a lot longer than a standard key so you can locate it easily

Yep it’s 4mm. As above you have to stick it all the way in to make it latch.

Gary Numan performing Replicas and The Pleasure Principle in Newcastle May 23rd…love these type of gigs

I’ll check when I get in, I do have the key, but didn’t notice it was in the gig bag but did find one in my standard imp/metric sets that fitted ok.

With my JMJ on hold and the Mikey Way in the classifieds I thought I’d take a quick group shot of my shorties before they are reduced from 4 to 2.

I think if you factor in a £70 set up/fret level into this you can't lose!

I used to think I had a quick and easy answer to this and would have said - Jazz. However I think I now need to qualify it by saying, long or shortscale? light or heavy playing? i.e. it's conditional. For lighter playing I prefer a shortscale with a 40mm nut; I also like the 38mm but find my hand gets a bit 'congested' on these at the nut end. When I want to dig in I prefer longscale and Jazz profile. If I had to pick one for all seasons it would be the EBMM Sterling neck.....so I guess still mainly a Jazz.

I’ll check the FB group out. We’re on FB as Glam Fever Live. Also on the webby thing as glamfever.co.uk

I use long scale EB Slinkies on both my string through Mustangs without a problem.

When I joined my Glam Band I was initially wary of the glitter/wigs/flares but 8 years on I've kinda got used to it. Buying 'womens' tops on ebay took some explaining to the missus at first though....

The struggles we have to endure for our 'art'.