Stub Mandrel

The Achievers last Saturday. Anyone who enjoys great songwriting with excellent musicianship delivered with a touch of humour between songs will enjoy this band. At Temperance in Leamington Spa. A tiny basement venue with a capacity not much above thirty.

Just had a decent Bendricks Rock rehearsal. No new stuff tonight, just turd polishing ahead of Saturday. Got a nice tone from the Squier40th Anniversary P. and added a few extra flourishes.

Honesty is the best policy.

Can you smooth tuffcab with a brush to get a flat finish around ports etc.?

Having played with dmx, it should make setup easier... just a couple of long cables to link the t-bars. No messing around setting up individual units as the controller will set them up. I'm aiming for no more than choosing a preset or a bank and a speed between songs which should only take a few moments. I might do one or two chases later.

I bought two reall cheap 'par' lights that just turned out to be non-dmx with an ir controller identical to those used for light bulbs. One set to a warm yellow and the other to a magentaish colour either side of us are useful as some constant illumination. The lasers @Phil Starr mentions are a great idea. A bit hit and miss about what you get, I have three and one is rather more powerful. I always aim them up at the ceiling.

I thought there were a few reggae bassists 😁

Hard to know what icon to put on that. I hope everything goes right and you aren't put through the mill too much on the journey to recovery. Keep gigging and share your stories.

It's purple and sparkly...

For £300 you can get 6-8 LED PAR cans, two mini moving spotlights and a dmx controller (TEMU), xlr cables, and a pair of t-bar stands (CPC). I know you can because I did.

Seriously, I have basses with all levels of jack socket. My experience is that when the single spring returns to that position, it's got many years of useful life in it. I have instruments from the 60s, 70s and 80s with original sockets tgat look just like that. But yes I've seen that type fail and become noisy/intermittent, always a poorly tempered spring that takes a set and doesn’t return to its proper position. My experience suggests it usually happens fairly soon in the life of the instrument.. I happily accept there are good and bad quality examples, and visually they are virtually indistinguishable. YMMV, of course.

Would be posher if I was better at it! But good on Steve who made us try.

That flmsy socket looks a long way from becoming unreliable. Tne contact is virtually aligned with the midline of the socket.

When I saw them I was struck by the minimal communication with the audience. That sounds very different.

Biggest rehearsal room rig I've encountered was an SVT with a 6x10.

Picked up the Thunder 1 a couple of weeks ago. Hadn't played it for a while but the Roto 66s were still fresh. Blew me away. Took it to play four songs at an OM that evening. Lots of comment on the tone even though I was just straightintobthe PA with no DI box.

Gosh we can all be very precious about this. Any programme aimed at bass players would have a pretty small audience. This is a programme aimed at a wider public who have more than a superficial interest in music. The songs mentioned are generally not technical, but are ones someone aware of 'bass' (many 'music lovers' aren't - sorry to shatter your illusions) would appreciate as being part of their success. And, to be fair, a 'great bassline' is one that lifts a song beyond the everyday. Of course MY list would look very different, but this programme doesn't target me. I'm just grateful for a programme that will, hopefully, rause awareness and understanding of the role and potential of my chosen instrument and the people who play it.

2026, even. Get your orders in quick...

"I nearlgy completed the GAS challenge but Thomann were selling a hopeless case for £40..."

Second time at a small local place last Wednesday. Bass rig is a Warwick Gnome through an Orange 1x12 (I think). Sounds fine, I don’t run it very loud but the Gnome gets a little warm. Fine for civilised practice.

Good luck Sponds. About time you got gigging

Good luck!

I must admit, Morrisey the Consumer Monkey is quite entertaining.

It's amazing how much weight you can burn off at a gig!

I had a birthday present for my daughter in a 'basket'. Today I got an email with a 15% discount instead of the 7.5% I'd already found.