Stub Mandrel

When I left a band 18 months ago, I had a share in the speakers, not huge but a couple of hundred as there were six of us and the bl put in extra. I didn't fret as I wrote it off when I chipped in, not when I left.

Lol... toss up between Tush and Purple Rain. We went for Tush.

Orange Terror. If you just want a basic, perfect overdriven tone, anything else is pointless. One trick pony but does that trick so well...

Just back from the Borough Blues Festival with Bluesfire. Not a huge event, it's basically a club that puts on a dpevial day each year with a couple of pro bands and a handful of local bands. I got stuck for 30 minutes on the M4 and Al was playing another festival with his other band finishing at 5, but we managed to get set up for 6. We got the middle slot of five bands and the place was nicely filled up. I felt I was sloppy after a week of feeling very under the weather, but it all went well and we got lots of positive feedback afterwards. Managed to get back by 8:30, including a McPlant meal, cappuccino, mozzarella bites and apple 'pie'. So now watching very good local soul band (Dansette) down the club. Have switched to Jack as my guts are full...

Cwmbran. It's a relatively modest indoor event, went well.

Cancel that... I've opened the case and realised I brought my Squier Standard Jazz by mistake. It's got mutes so a waste to put on brand new strings. Other bass is Epiphone Embassy... still bright stainless strings. So instead I recutthe nut and tweaked the bridge to improve action at the bottom of the nut and get rid of slight buzzing along the g string.

Got a set of new strings for my AVII precision. Can't believe the originals are still on it after 15 months. Replacing with the same fender nickels as three festivals over next two weekends.

Next video- how to correct neck dive by inserting weights in these handy holes... Seriously if you want to hollow a guitar, he's focused on the wrong end.

As far as I can see, they were identical. I got this in 1980. It has indistinguishable pickups to the mid-60s tulip.

It's not a strict distinction and is often blurred. Broadly brasses are copper/tin alloys, bronzes are alloys of mostly copper with anything else. But expect confusion and misdirection. Warwick frets are referred to as 'bell brass' as often as 'bell bronze' although the two are distinct. You do get brass bells as well as bronze ones (there's an 8" ship's bell downstairs and it's definitely brass). Bell brass is used for some cast snare drum bodies, to make them more expensive 😉

Yep. Known as a Teisco Tulip in the US. I haven't heard of a Woolworths version before. Thin plywood body. Basic pickups. Misaligned bridge. Short scale. Needs more tweaks, but sounds killer... as basic overwound pickups always do (a bit of P90 dna?)

Anyone know what this underused beauty is?

Just lose the high mass and pull the last 5 frets.

The suspect identifies as amorphous.

I've neglected my Embassy. Not sure why

Looks shiftily about for @Frank Blank...

Let's Stick Together (turbo version), Bluesfire, Earl Haig concert room. Sunburst AVII 1960 p-bass. I was shattered, pumpedn took and at one point my fingers invented a new riff that wasn't the same as the one my brain was telling them to play.

There's a joke there about ensuring your g-string is kept clean 😉

Got contacted today and offered first dibs on a 1971 EB0, the first of the 'slot head years'. Offers approaching £2k which seems usual for UK but high for the USA. Wisely, I declined as beyond my bass budget for 2024 (£0.00). Question- am I allowed to buy a ticket for a bass bash raffle? After all it's for charidee. Don't say 'as long as you don't win anything' as 90% of bashers win....

I have a guitar with stainless steel frets and the bass I have now has stainless steel strings on it and I've not had any issues. If I touch anything nickel plated it results in blisters after a day or two. Stainless steels form a surface layer of chromium oxide that effectively insulates the user from the nickel content, or at least helps keep exposure low enough not to cause problems. That's why most people with nickel sensitivity can still eat using stainless steel cutlery.

When you are looking at a Venue's 'upcoming gig' list and discover you've got a gig that's not in your diary... 😧

The Borough Blues Festival next weekend. We are halfway up the running order I've discovered, although poster makes us look like the openers. Which is nice.

A bit different for me last night. Went to see Alex's (our guitarist and bl in Bluesfire) other band for the first time The Rogues. A bunch of youngsters playing rocky britpop. Their new 'Live at Rockfield' ep has a definite Oasis vibe, probably because they had an ex-Oasis producer. On stage they were really good and had a more aggressive sound closer to the 'phonics, kaiser chiefs or manic street preachers. Compensation for not being on stage was being recognised by their bass player's dad 😁 They also announced they are Number 3 in the physical singles chart! 449518951_784893787140517_1242004675697746669_n.mp4

Fire and Water isn't a particularly difficult song to earn the bass for. BUT If anyone is remotely interested... there's an error on (the original) guitar solo for Fire and Water. It's 31 bars long plus a 2 bar drum break. It should be 32 bars, but after bar 17 it goes back to B a bar early. Which is really annoying me, as otherwise all the bass bits are neat figures alternating between two bars on B and two on E.