Chris Sharman

It was great to see you yesterday, and to play this bass that I have watched come together through this thread. I look forward to the next one!

It seems my update earlier has disappeared so here goes again; Thanks to the organisers and everyone that attended for making a great afternoon out. It was a pleasure to meet you all and thanks particularly for those that were prepared to let this rank amateur get his hands on your gear. Thanks also for triggering a previously unacknowledged GAS pocket relating to an EUB. I think I have a lot of work to do with the domestic finance committee before that particular itch can be scratched. Mrs S is very grateful for your kind words regarding the cakes and you can be sure that we will be happy to provide some more next time we come and meet up with you all.

The confectionery convertible has left Derby on it's way down.

http://i951.photobucket.com/albums/ad353/stg47/IMAG03701.jpg Clockwise from Top left - Lemon Drizzle Cake, Batch of Rock Buns, Apricot Frangipan Tart, Chocolate Fudge Cake, Farmhouse Orange Sponge Cake. How's that Dad?

Oh Lord! I have seen how much cake Mrs S has made. I hope you lot plan on bringing your hungry trousers!

Don't know if we would fit your bill but we are playing at the Progadelic festival the following week and we are currently on the lookout for some support gigs. If you would be interested in us coming down from Derbyshire to do a set let me know. We have a few of our tracks up on Soundcloud although they need updating, follow the link in my sig to the Water for Dogs website. Feel free to PM me if you need any more.

Just so ya know, Mrs S has been and bought ingredients for making cake. Looks like it may well be her splendid Orange cake and possibly something chocolatey!

Just to confirm what Andy said, it was great to meet up and I look forward to seeing you work your magic on the Westie. More pints of Pedigree to come I think.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1398955077' post='2439395'] In your best Carlsberg advert type voice "Basschat, we don't make beer but if we did... Basschat, probably the best bass players' community in the world" [/quote] Could not agree more.

Afternoon All, I shall answer you in turn; Grangur - The Westone Thunder 3 holds a special place in my heart (used to have one, now having a mid-life crisis) and this one (other than the fretboard) plays like a dream. Howiebass - thanks for that. I would look into that had the posts immediately following yours not triggered an immediate interest.... Andy - Errr....let me think......YES PLEASE! Actually my previous fretless was a Yamaha RBX and I saw this re-finish you did and was seriously impressed. I am indeed in the People's Republic of Belper (my dad used to live in Duffield) I would be more than happy to bring it to you for an examination. Patternmakers arms perhaps? PM to follow.

Hi all, Excuse the long windedness but as some of you may recall I recently purchased a very cheap Westone Thunder 3 fretless that someone on here pointed out. This involved a trip to London and the purchase of some bits from Maplin electronics and a desperately needed re-string. I re-strung with TI Jazz Flats which has highlighted a problem. It would seem that spending 25 years or so under roundwound strings has caused some considerable wear to the fretboard in places, especially below the 5th fret on the D-string so it could really do with a sand down and re-finish at the very least and I assume the nut would need to be re-cut to address the action. Does anyone have any idea how much such a treatment would cost? and would anyone here be able to recommend someone here in the East Midlands (or indeed further afield) that they would trust to do such? I would also like to be able to address a cosmetic issue at the same time. It would seem that a former owner of the bass has sanded the Westone logos off of the pickup covers and begun trying to do so from the headstock (probably until they realised that one was under the lacquer). I would like to get the headstock re-finished and if the logos could be replaced or replacement pickup covers sourced I would prefer to do it all as a single job. So, learned purveyors of the lower frequencies, any suggestions on who I should trust my dearly beloved plank of wood to?

I was actually going to fit one of those Fender ones to the side of my amp! Seems Mrs S has other ideas as usual.

A thunder.

Review of Saturday night at Ryan's Bar in Derby; Well, that went...errr....all right I suppose. The support band were Brilliant. They are called 'Faces for Radio' from Beeston in Notts and were really good. Their bass player is brilliant, a real Joy to watch him play. Very much the antithesis of my playing he seemed effortless and sooo smooth compared to my more 'attacking' style. He also offered to let me use his SWR rig instead of the house as he wanted to use his own anyway, and he and I have identical Fender Jazzes - 'the long lost twins' as they are now known. I have to admit turning round to our guitarist half way through their set and asking why THEY were supporting US and not the other way round? (apparently it has to do with them being new and not having a lot of material yet or something). Then we went on. Playing wise I think it was our best yet. When we did have a problem we just played through it and didn't just stop or do anything noticeably stupid so I was very happy with that. I was less happy with the house PA as the guy just set it up and then went and sat down at the other end of the pub with his mates making no attempt to manage the sound. This became a problem during only our second track when a problem with the PA (I would assume power amp related) suddenly fired up the speaker stack next to me at Double volume costing us balance and sound quality, and unfortunately about a third of the audience who took the opportunity to depart (and are probably now receiving treatment for noise induced deafness). Those who did stick it out thoroughly enjoyed it, as did we, but the sound problems really did put a downer on things....and we got paid which we chose to split evenly with the support act as they really did us a favour in setting those who attended up for a good night. On to the next one.

Well, that went...errr....all right I suppose. The support band were Brilliant. They are called 'Faces for Radio' from Beeston in Notts and were really good. Their bass player is brilliant, a real Joy to watch him play. Very much the antithesis of my playing he seemed effortless and sooo smooth compared to my more 'attacking' style. I have to admit turning round to our guitarist half way through their set and asking why They were supporting US and not the other way round? (apparently it has to do with them being new and not having a lot of material yet or something). Then we went on. Playing wise I think it was our best yet. When we did have a problem we just played through it and didn't just stop or do anything noticeably stupid so I was very happy with that. I was less happy with the house PA as the guy just set it up and then went and sat down at the other end of the pub with his mates making no attempt to manage the sound. This became a problem during only our second track when a problem with the PA (I would assume power amp related) suddenly fired up the speaker stack next to me at Double volume costing us balance and sound quality, and unfortunately about a third of the audience who took the opportunity to depart (and are probably now receiving treatment for noise induced deafness). Those who did stick it out thoroughly enjoyed it, as did we, but the sound problems really did put a downer on things....and we got paid which we chose to split evenly with the support act as they really did us a favour in setting those who attended up for a good night. On to the next one.

Definitely go for it IF you think the sound will fit with what you are doing. I have a fretless as I bought one purely as it would fit with one of the tracks we wrote. I now use it for about 1/3 of our stuff.....because it fits those particular tracks (the more chilled out and Jazzier tracks we do) rather than my fender. Enjoy! Q. to bh2 - what is the name of your outfit? I like the sound of what you do.

That looks fantastic. Now, how do I broach this one with the 'Domestic Finance Committee'.....?

What about a company that do 3D printing? such as these:[url="http://www.3dprint-uk.co.uk/"]http://www.3dprint-uk.co.uk/[/url]

The true example of "rescued from a skip. After it had been burning for three hours'.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1394902670' post='2396524'] Oh no, who's going to bring the cake? ! :-0 [/quote] I am still bringing cake! That is, in fact, all I am bringing.

Purchased a used Ashdown MAG300 2 x 10 combo as part of my rehabilitation from bass player on extended divorce-enforced sabbatical to gigging bass player. I used to have a MAG300 115 a few years ago and figured a return to the Ashdown fold was overdue. At a price of £120 for one in really good nick I couldn't turn it down and now I have it home I have run it up and am beginning to dial in the right sound to work with my passive Fender Jazz and my active Westone Thunder 3 fretless. It is sounding good! Couple of small things I have noticed though and perhaps m'learned colleagues here my be able to assist/reassure me on them; Firstly, I always remember the Ashdown sub-harmonizer being more noticeable. It is not that it isn't there, more that it is subtler than I remember. This may however be down to the fact that I have been using a Behringer BLX1800A until this arrived and the 'Ultrabass' function on that is so noticeable due to it's 'processed' sound that I stopped using it whereas the Ashdown I find to be more 'organic' sounding and it may be that because of this it sticks out less. Unsurprisingly the Behringer has been immediately dispatched to the Bay from whence it came (one-in-one-out y'all). Secondly, When I tried it at the guys house I didn't notice the fan on the rear being particularly loud but when I fired it up at home I thought Whoa! that background hiss is bad before realising it was coming from the fan on the rear not the speaker. Major difference from up at his place is that I had it up on a chair so the fan was closer to me and it was within a foot of the wall rather than in the middle of the room were it was when I tried it. Still love the noise though!

Evenin' (err mornin') all. Water for Dogs make our first venture into the teeming metropolis of Derby (and our first paid gig - Hurrah!) on 12th April. We will be accompanied by our good friends Faces for Radio who should be taking to the stage at around 9pm with ourselves starting around 10. This is our first city centre gig and it would be good to see as many people there as possible. if you fancy listening to something a bit different come on down. www.waterfordogs.co.uk www.facebook.com/waterfordogs Thanks, Chris

^^^What he said I have been in the same position as a former punk style pick player and now being a finger player and found that the position of the bass sitting was comfortable so now have the strap set at that length. Give that a try. End of the day whatever feels best but that worked for me.