NancyJohnson

Lee Anderton and Rob Chapman do similar blind tests - I've seen them for variously flavoured Les Pauls and Stratocasters; those who saw last years blind test will bear witness as to how long it took to run through just 15-20 different basses with me hosting and Gary noodling through Carry On Wayward Son. We could certainly set up something with Precisions (or Jazzes) - Fender/Squire/Marysiccysarious/Tokai/Aria etc. - but to ensure we had a level playing field we'd need to ensure hands were kept away from the giveaway stuff (knobs/machines/body condition), entrants limited to 60 seconds per bass (or less). How about another thing. Choosing 'Best In Show'?

Updated Attendance & Gear List: 01. Silverfoxnik - BC Rich Eagle, Ander van der End JB5, RBV5, Ampeg V4BH head and matching cabs. 02. Hamster - Tea, Coffee, Pastries, the Wife - might bring a bass! 03. @Frank Blank's Acoustic Corner - Rob Allen Mouse, Godin A4, FRFR setup (QSC K12.2 and Fishman preamp). 04. RodFunnell - '78 Stingray, Assorted Warwicks, Vanderkley Spartan, Mesa Prodigy 4:88, Barefaced Big Twin T and it's still a few months away so maybe more! 05. obbm - Sadowsky Metros, Handbox WB100, Bergantino cabs. 06. Cetera - Spector NS2, Spector Euro LT, Hamer Impact, Dingwall DBird Standard, Hagstrom Super Swede, Italia Imola GP, Fender FSR PJ, GK800RB, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 07. @NancyJohnson Lull JAXT4 & Lull JAX/NRT5, Darkglass A/O Head, 2xAguilar SL112s Barefaced Big One (the #000) 08. Rumblefish - Rumblefish bass,Wal Bass, MB Mpulse 600,Berg CN212 09. Steve Browning - SVL & Fender Precisions, Mesa Walkabout 15 10. @Stingray5 - MM and Tune basses, Trace Elliot or Eden combos, Boss GT-6B. 11. ChunkyMunky - Builds of mine (P5, J5 etc), SWR SM900, a Greenboy/Fearful build or two and some other assorted goodies. 12. samcrabtree00 - Warwick Streamer Stage II, USA MM Sub, Genzler Magallen 800, Barefaced BB2, Various effects 13. TrevorR - Wal Custom and Pro, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 14. @Graemeross 4 Ps, 3 Js, 2 Aria SBs , Darkglass MT900, 2x Barefaced BB2, HX Effects with Line 6 G75 wireless. 15. prowla - Rics, Warwicks, Statii (whatever I chuck in the car!), Markbass EVO 1 & 1x12. Maybe a Minitaur & 12-step (if I've got 'round to figuring out the 12-step by then). 16. OrangeFriday - Third build - J bass - may contain LEDs...

Oh, well. I'm certainly not paying $4K for one. Maybe next year. Or maybe I could buy one of the cheapo ones and fine a decent luthier to sort it out.

24kg? I knew Gibsons were heavy...

I'm just hoping that there'll be a Les Paul Junior DC guitar in there (and not one of those horrific tribute models).

A while back I started a thread about trying to get Eastwood Custom to build us a Basschat bass...only design criteria was to avoid the usuals (P/J etc) or lifting designs from currently available models available new elsewhere; the ethic was to create something sparkly/odd/different. Eastwood were pretty accommodating; good comms, low build numbers, reasonable pricing etc., but needless to say the chance of doing something original went out the window as members saw this as more of an opportunity to obtain a cheap Serek copy with loads of mods, rather than entering into the spirit of the project and getting behind something that say, looked like it could have been on an episode of The Jetsons, which is pretty much what Eastwood do.

What about side by side?

A 45 minute set would have been 15+ songs with the Johnsons. Singer wasn't big on talking between songs.

Back in the day, a load of bands I played with had notebooks full of people who would happily put bands up overnight. Let 'em in free, buy them a beer, sleep on their sofa. It wasnt something I adhere to, I prefer my own bed to be honest, but in those dreamy pre-internet days, there's a certain charm now to this being a thing.

While I don't know these were big names in the true sense, I believe that the US and Canada largely passed on Lewisham/Catford's own Japan and Swindon's XTC. Japan did 'less than a dozen' dates in the US and Canada, apparently they were being courted by Bill Aucoin (Kiss management) at one point; apparently UK management favoured Europe and the far east as easier markets to sell the band into. XTC toured the US & Canada extensively, but musically they seemed to be college radio darlings rather than breaking it big. Clearly two factors that didn't help seemed to be Andy Partridge's on stage breakdown in Paris (and their subsequent withdrawal from touring) along with the anti-religious content of the single Dear God couldn't have helped. Coincidentally, as a vanity thing, I asked whether Dear God could be played at my mother's funeral, just as a personal dig against religion. The vicar, clearly ahead of the curve, said he didn't feel it would be appropriate.

Media Human works fantastically. So easy to use. Thanks to @BassBunny and @Jean-Luc Pickguard for the heads up. I am in NIN - The Fragile; Deviations 1 heaven. Maaaaaarvelous!

On the subject of three pickup basses, the Deimel Firestar has three and a piezo. It's a slab of Germanic loveliness. Just for good measure and the lols, Frank also builds them with a whammy bar.

I have an age-old version of Winamp (go me!) that I use; I'm just comfortable with everything about it. Amazingly, it seems to play just about everything and I doubt it's had any kind of plug-in update for a decade! Ripping used to be Audiograbber, but I needed to update tags all the time (MP3Tag), now I use Windows Media Player. Can't actually remember the last time I actually ripped a CD to be honest.

I was wondering whether any of my learned friends would be able to help me out with an audio conversion problem. Recently, I was given a drive containing audio files encoded in FLAC format at 24 bit/96khz, while I can listen to these on my PC without issue, I'd love to shoot them around my house and listen on my assorted Sonos units, but Sonos only supports 24 bit/48khz maximum. Any idea how to downconvert; MP3/320kbps is fine. I have dropped the files into my DAW but while I can batch convert/output/save to MP3, the maximum bitrate I can save to is 128kbps, despite forcing the DAW to encode at a CBR of 320kbps. Curiously, I can save the FLAC to a WAV, but the files are unplayable on the Sonos system (despite other WAVs playing fine). Anyone got any ideas?

When I bought my Gibson NR Thunderbird, the scratchplate was whiter than white and just looked wrong. I resisted the temptation to rub it down first - I think I did a test area on the back of the plate - but I did try the coffee/tea soaking route. It didn't work; any residue just rubbed off. Eventually I just had a new plate made up in an off-white colour and added a Thunderbird graphic from a guy that was selling them on eBay.

While my dalliances with the MusicMan company is limited to a Bongo 5HH, the Stingray is probably the only bass which would fall into the mainstream category that I've never owned; I see these family reserve and specials come up periodically and my heart does this little flutter when I see these black 4H/4HH models with their toasted/roasted necks, but I never feel the desire to own one. I really can't quantify why this is the case. Perhaps I'm just content with what I have for the first time ever.

The DP3X sounds peachy through the return. Definitely preferable than going in through the front. Bring on the YYZ stomp.

I don't know I'm fully done with pedals just yet; while I'm sure this amp will do me fine for the time being, I'm still a whore for Tech21 and still have my dUg. I may swing for a Sansamp YYZ at some point for a bit more variety and to prove that I'm not done with the company just yet. While I haven't tried it yet, I'm assuming I can utilise the Darkglass poweramp side by just plugging the dUg into the return on the effects loop?

From the manual - there's no inference that this setting is exclusive to DI or cans: CAB SELECT: Switches between 3 different cabinet impulses and bypass this section for a rawer sound.