BillyBass

Last night's rig. I rested my GK Legacy and tried the Ashdown RM800, along with my Barefaced Super Compact. It was fine and I have no complaints at all. I do prefer the GK though.

It was very hot and humid. We played at the 'Fox & Hounds' in Croxley Heath, which is near Rickmansworth in Herts. The pub is in a street with few other commercial establishments, just houses so regulations dictated that we had to play inside (and have all the doors and windows shut by 9pm) when almost everyone was in the beer garden. The landlady said the pub had been quiet for a couple of days; she thought Glastonbury might have had something to do with it. Anyway, a fan was provided, which blew my long hair into my face for much of the gig and I also had to stand like the Ramones as the drums were slowing shifting forward during the set and I volunteered to keep one foot on the mat they were on, while avoiding the cymbals. We've been asked back though so at least the landlady liked us. Our set up

Having RCDs in a circuit is very good and much safer than not, however, if there is an RCD at the origin of that particular circuit (i.e. in the fuseboard) you shouldn't add another RCD, as 2 RCDs of the same trip rating , e.g. 30mA, can cause nuisance tripping.

At my gig last night we had two double sockets in the 'stage' area and a double just outside. The landlady told me to avoid the socket outside as it was a bit dodgy. From what she told me it appeared to be on a different circuit, though in the same area. Also, the problem is sometimes dodgy wiring in a particular socket, not every socket in a particular circuit. So these testers do give you the option of avoiding problems, sometimes.

Those socket testers are a good idea. Just understand that they are useful for showing you that something is either right or wrong, don't trust them as a diagnostic tool. Generally, the first and second lights will be green (and the third not lit up) when all is ok. When something isn't right you will get a different display of lights and, depending on the make, a different noise. Ignore the display that says, for instance: green-blank-red=lack of earth connection as it may be a completely different fault. They are a useful tool to show you what sockets you shouldn't use. I'm a spark, BTW.

This is my Charvel 5. I bought it from Andertons, after comparing it to a cheaper Sire V. Its not perfect but its pretty good and I doubt I could have found better for the money. I love the look, the neck feels really great, it has luminlay dots on the side of the fretboard/neck and I like the sounds I can get from it. The pre amp it came with wasn't that good, I changed mine but I could have kept the supplied one, or just played it passive, which is an option. The B string could be better, but its a 34" scale. I changed the supplied 125 to a 135 and that improved things. It has a bit of neck dive but this is fine when you use a strap. It cost me £699. They are normally dearer but you can find deals online for Charvels.

I can't remember seeing any gear marketed as a sonic match for other manufacturer's stuff, but perhaps I just haven't seen it. I will concede that, in the mix, differences in the bass sound can be minimal but, as an example, my G&L Kiloton, with its single bridge humbucker will never sound like my P basses. At home, practising without other instruments, the differences are obvious.

I have the Spectradrive pre amp. The tone print beaming thing worked initially but gave up after about 5 or 6 goes. I think the last thing I left on it was the clean boost. As a pre amp its fine; it has a DI, the EQ section works well enough and it has an aux in and a headphone jack, if you need them. The only problem for me with losing the tone print function is the damage to the resale value as I wouldn't use it anyway.

No one could accuse you of that. If you did, well, you picked the wrong instrument! Should have been the lead guitarist! Nice work mate, that was very good!

You really need to check the meanings of English slang words before using them online

Welcome to the forum. Yes its mainly British and Irish here but we have many overseas members too. There are a few Americans, some of whom haven't been banned from talkbass.com

Nice syrup!

Nice colour, congrats!. Nevertheless, I have to disagree with: Yeah, you can. On the other hand, as an excuse to buy a new bass, getting an appropriate coloured bass is valid.

I've recently acquired a Spector and am really blown away by the sound of it through my GK Legacy 800 and Super Midget. Most basses will sound good through the GK and the Super midget but the Spector really does shine through it. I tried @Merton's Trace Elliot 1200 and Barefaced 210 at he SE Bassbash in the Spring and that also sounded like a perfect sonic match. I have a couple of barefaced 110s and my Elf also sounds sublime though them. All subjective of course, one man's meat etc but has anyone else got combinations of kit that really just work perfectly with each other? Gratuitous Spector & GK pic

Our lead guitarist does most of the BVs in my band but I have to do some. I can't do the 'football terraces' style vocals often needed in my (mainly punk) covers band, as my voice is more 'angelic' but I can do harmonies, as long as the bass part during the harmony isn't too complex.

I've bought quite a few things from Andertons over the last few years, the transactions have always gone smoothly. They are often slightly dearer than their competition but the loyalty points take a bit of the extra away. When buying a microphone from them I called up for advice as all I knew about microphones was SM58. I was put onto a knowledgeable lad who was very helpful and I consider this when making future gear purchases.

Welcome to the forum Frankie

Have a look at this and other basses by the same brand currently in stock at Bassdirect https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/MARUSZCZYK_Jake_4P_Nat_32.html

Not many people put serious bids in. Times are tough and the advert wasn't very well written. I put my max bid in at £720 with about 20 seconds to go and got it for £585, so I was very pleased and surprised about that. I might consider the full Tonepump in time but at the moment I'm more than happy with the tones from this...and Spector and Gallien-Krueger seem to be a match made in heaven! Thanks for letting me have a go with all you Spectors at the Bass bash!

Earlier this year, at the S.E. Bass Bash I tried several of @cetera's Spectors. I was particularly impressed by his NS Pulse 2. One came up on Ebay last week and I bid higher than the others and 'won'. I played around with it a bit last night and had a look at the wiring and pre amp. The seller told me the top pot was a 'mids' pot and I couldn't really get my head around it. The Spector website says this would be a volume volume bass treble set up. It isn't, but it isn't 'mids' either. Anyway, on further inspection I have a 'Tonepump Jr' pre amp and the 4 knobs are: Volume, blend, bass, treble. The blend knob is the only knob where you can feel a middle indent. And I'm very impressed by the tones I can get out of these pups and the Tonepump Jr pre amp. I'm a fan. It isn't as versatile as the John East pre amps in my Charvels but it isn't too hot and not having an indent on the bass or treble is, to a degree, liberating. I will admit my default for bass and treble is usually the middle indent and I add a bit of mid. With the Tonepump Jr I've been leaving the treble at: bright enough to make the G string sing but not hiss badly. The bass knob I've been fiddling with along with the blend to get a good mix of growl and low end. It's a light bass and there is a bit of neck dive without a strap but none with my strap on. I prefer the feel and the necks of my Charvels but I will admit, this Spector sounds better. It's a keeper, I believe.

Enjoy your new bass! I'll have to treat myself to an American made bass one day.

You had something stolen in Liverpool? Surely not.

Our previous gig was a bit like that. The landlord of the pub had done pretty much zero advertising and there was a function in the outside area (it was raining quite heavily, so we were inside). The only people watching us were a few regulars that happened to be in the pub on the Saturday afternoon. We came away with a bit of a bad taste in our mouths, however, the landlord has asked us back for a birthday do in December, and we will be paid. so why not. More photos of you wearing the cowboy hat are needed😉

We played the Load of Hay in Watford again last night. We were outside in the beer garden this time, as the weather was glorious. Unfortunately, I had come down with a chest infection the night before and have just started a course of antibiotics. Consequently, I gave up on the backing vocals but I was able to stand and play. The beer garden is quite small but we had an appreciative crowd of about 25; got asked for a few encores and several people complimented us afterwards, which is always nice. Our set up last night

So, let us know what mischief you got up to. Photoshopping the headmaster's face onto a pornstar at work and emailing to around?