NancyJohnson

After some distinctly odd weeks, I left my current band at the weekend. By way of background, while there was a handful of high-points, although some ten months in and I don't honestly believe we'd progressed that much from our first rehearsal. Tired of being a backing musician to a singer that wasn't a musician. Detest playing covers (even if those were part of the singer's pro-career). Got zero credit, reprimanded for having the wrong attitude because I hadn't learnt Suffragette City, moaned at if I played something wrong, the endless repetition at rehearsals (running through of the same twelve or thirteen songs a couple of times), the constant vetoing of ideas and new material (which also sucked out any desire I may have had for songwriting as well). Jamming was actively discouraged. Little band chemistry. Being told what to wear at gigs and being told which bass I should be using from a front man that doesn't actually play an instrument, were many of the straws that broke the camel's back. Right now I'm genuinely untroubled at not being in a band; I couldn't feel any less inclined to travel three hours to play 45 minutes to an uninterested group of ten people and then do the return journey home. I'm not on cusp of giving up as such, but I'm certainly giving some thought to having a Grande Sell Off at some point. I don't know if I'm actually bothered about being in a band any more.

I think the standout thing from your post is the idea of going through an EQ pedal first. I'm not a fan of stomps per se; it was fine when my old Sansamp BDDI or RBI were just being jacked into a power amp, but beyond that, they just get in the way. Of the main instruments I use regularly (I tend to rotate basses), three have John East circuits retro fitted and the other is a Spector with a stock Tone Pump. These circuits should (in theory) give me enough front end tonal options. At the end of the day, still feel the AO900 is an amp that you need to curate; it's a very fine line between all or nothing tonally.

I'd forgotten these three completely. I was at the Hammersmith for shows that became CD3 of Rush's Different Stages set (Feb '78), Blackfoot's Highway Song Live and Whitesnake's Live At Hammersmith. As my brother dropped out of the Rush gig at the last minutes, I went with the 'hardened gig-goer' who was my brother's girlfriend's brother. I remember the opening riff to Bastille Day and everyone standing up. He remained seated, shouting to me, 'Everyone will sit down in a minute.'

My best mate is on Human Punk by The Ruts. You can clearly hear it's him shouting along and he's the one who goes, 'Aaaaaaw, Hooman punk' on the fade out.

Back on OP, a couple of Fender Jazzes.

On the OP, my thing was Thunderbirds. Nobody (at that time) was particularly interested in them, so you could pick them up for £750-£800. So I did. Lots of them. When time came to start moving them on, more of a demand, so it was easily possible to turn a profit. Playing the long game. Do your diligence. There's several resources out there (Reverb/Talkbass/eBay/here) where you should be able to ascertain the current market price even if the instrument is a short run model. Thing is, the market shifts. Look at what you can pick up a used Warwick for nowadays. Bonkers. There's too many basses/guitars being made and my gut feeling is that less and less musicians (those darn kids) are particularly interested in the nuances in more expensive/special edition kit. A Jazz Bass is a Jazz Bass, irrespective of how much Fender try and sex them up.

Rehearsed this afternoon with Eddie Roxy & The Adjacent Kings. We're going to get another one in next Friday (13th), then we're at The Night Owl, Finsbury that night (https://www.fatsoma.com/e/v35rh1z0/lost-kitten-presents-desperate-fun-eddie-roxy-and-the-adjacent-kings-high-functioning) and doing a punk lunch upstairs at The Prince Alfred, Brighton from 2.15pm Sunday afternoon (15th).

Today I'm working and listening to Frankie Goes To Hollywood. A while back, I bought the deluxe editions of both albums and painstakingly removed all the chuff they put inbetween the songs. It flows excellently without these distractions.

I haven't read this stuff in a long time. Enjoying this. It's a little trip down memory lane during an otherwise terrible afternoon.

When I set up the first Nancy Johnson site (2006), it was more a treatment to test rudimentary .html, css, embedding Flash content, graphics and creative writing. It was very basic stuff but reading it now makes me smile. There's pages and pages of ridiculously stupid overblown content. Of course it's all fluff. We played with a band from Basingstoke one time and their manager had clearly read the site and actually asked how our dates went in Uzbekistan. I've never been further east than Cyprus. +

I saw her at Wembley Arena around this time. It wasn't a particularly enthralling gig; it was very low on content and high on padding out. Every song ending was about five minutes long, with her just going, 'Oooooooohwahwahwahwaaaaaaaaah,' and she bought her mum out for another five minutes of the same. That said, her voice was incredible. What a waste. Just say no, kids.

The Surround Series edition of XTC's 'The Big Express' arrived yesterday. Been so busy building a wall and doing family shizz, just sitting down for a listen. I don't have an ATMOS system, so just good old Dobly 5.1. Really very good. The more Steven Wilson does of these, the better they get. (The Tears For Fears stuff is sublime.) I know there's been issues locating the masters for the rest of their back catalogue, I'm really hoping this won't be the last one. This one was a very pleasant surprise when it was announced.

Size aside, the tech behind the visuals has been in place for quite a while. In simplistic terms, capture is done digitally or on a large format wet film (ie IMAX) using a single or multiple fish-eye lens(es). The image, when displayed on a spherical canvas plays back without any wide-angle aberration. Simple, but very clever. Pity it's U2.

It's a case of look-at-me syndrome. We're all guilty of it. I suppose it's all about how we're wired; I've never really been the type of person who has any desire to follow the pack insofar as instrument choice goes, but I do like to use well set up instruments that look good. Knowing how you want to sound is the primary thing, a very high percentage of [your] tone comes from amplifier and outboard kit, not the guitar itself.

The colloquial 'we' spend an absolute fortune on 'improvements' on instruments; bridges, machines, pickups, preamps, nonsense about 'tonewoods', neck materials, frets. And so on. We worry about neck profiles and width of nuts. Poly/nitro finishes. Years ago, owned a Mustang bass. To my delight, under the chrome pickup cover was a Stratocaster pickup. It sounded perfectly fine. This my friends was a turning point for me where aftermarket upgrades are concerned. The only reason to replace any hardware is if it's broken, missing or doesn't work properly.

Here comes the voice of reason. For assorted reasons, swapped out a fair few pickups in my time, irrespective of the maker/cost etc, the end result is that all of them sound more or less the same. All this nonsense about growl, vintage warmth/aggression can be dialled in from your amp/outboard gear. Any nuances from pickup to pickup will be lost in a full-band context anyway. Your listening audience don't give a toot about your pickup choice either! Go with the cheapest or the ones that suit your visual aesthetic. Even better, support small makers, like Josi Warman.

This video popped up on my You Tube feed yesterday. I've shown little interest in Harley Benton products (but I suppose at the entry-level price point(s), they're probably a decent option if you're looking to build/customise something). Instrumentwise, I'm no fan of the headstocks, but they do mention a Firebird model, which could look nice if it had the bound Jaguar neck on it with blocks on it (that features in the 25th Anniversary models). Anyhow, bass stuff is from about nine minutes. There's a nice prototype EB2 style thing; the headstock looks decent (no bits missing), don't really like the look of the machines - cloverleafs might look nicer. The travel bass is interesting!

I've got Ged2112 DI and a the Dug Pinnick stomps, have tried both into the effects return (with limited success tbh). I suppose I'm not really interested in throwing ££ at more hardware. Looking for a one box solution.

I think I need some dirt, it's a fundamental factor in the tone I'm chasing. I ran a Sansamp RBI into a poweramp for years, the only reason for downgrading was that I was just sick of the weight of everything! If Tech21 rolled out an RBI head (like the old VT Bass), I'd be in.

I've been running a Darkglass AO900 (into a pair of DG 1x12s) for about two years. Absolutely no issues with headroom, weight, portability, although I would say it took some time to actually form any kind of bond with it and more than any amplifier I've owned previously, it seems to respond very differently to anything I plug into it (which is a bit of a b*llache). It's very aggressive and I'll admit that the Alpha/Omega overdrive voicings are difficult to keep under control. I'll admit I love what Darkglass are doing generally. Now then, questions. Should funds allow, I'm thinking of moving the AO900 and going with a Microtubes X900 or Exponent, from the online content I've watched (although very stylised) probably the X900 may suit me better. I'd appreciate if there's any X900 users here that could offer a bit of honest input. Desired tone for me is kind of Geddy Lee clank; the AO900 isn't delivering that, and I'm wondering whether the X900 will deliver something more controllable. I'd like to do a side-by-side comparison. Anyone?

I used to have a Mustang bass and it fitted a standard (Thomann) guitar gig bag. It fit nice and snug and honestly, there was absolutely zero need for any kind of neck padding.

Jeepers. That website is horrific, any interest in these strings dissipated seconds after opening that link.

We're on a holiday break, rehearsal this Friday afternoon; I've not played a note since the last one, nearly a month ago. To be honest, I prefer not rehearsing every week, losing the desire in that, it's absolutely zero fun. We all know the material backwards and I see little point in it. Frontman uninterested in doing new stuff and pretty much forbids jamming.

Outside of music, most signings have been fun. Jasper Fforde was an absolute hoot, likewise Ben Aaronovitch. Bette Davis mentioned I was very tall, Nancy Reagan asked if I'd come far, Stephen King was thoroughly miserable and didn't even look up, Bill Bryson used to live around the corner from me in Egham recognised me and was very nice. All better than being bitten on the arm by Tommy Lee.