Paul S

My sister was (successfully!) treated for bladder cancer last year and wanted to hold a fundraiser of some sort. She knows a guy called John Bobin who was fairly prominent in the SE Essex music scene in the late 60s/early 70s and he had prostate cancer a while back. So they got together to organise this event, which is a 2 band night of live music. First band is Illegal Tender - my, now folded, covers band going out on our last hoorah for this night playing an eclectic mix of covers largely from the 70s and 80s. The main band is John's band Da Management who play a mix of covers from the late 50s into the 70s. The band are all ex-pros, including members from the Kursaal Flyers. The Ekco Club is a decent venue, loads of seats loads of parking, large bar. So if you are free, the sock drawer it tidy, there is nothing on the tele and fancy a night of gentle entertainment do please support these two very worthy causes and come along

There was a small discussion recently about the possibility of a short scale, headless bodiless bass. The Kramer Duke/Hondo Alien was flagged and Mike @alyctes agreed to sell me his for next to nothing It arrived and I liked the compactness of it , in fact most everything about it was nice, but found the tinny sound it made fairly unagreeable. A couple of weeks ago I found myself with a spare Entwistle P bass style pickup so thought it might be worthy a try getting it fitted into the little Alien. I handed it over to my ever indulgent pal and luthier Leighton Jennings to see what he could come up with and this was the result that I just collected this morning. Leighton did a proper set up, frets needed a levelling etc, new flat strings. The paint finish was a little brittle around the edges so he made a little bezel which works just fine. However, to my astonishment the P pickup sounds totally amazing. The original was weak and still is - I'll not bother using it, just leave it there to fill the hole, but gosh the P pickup has some balls. Gone is the weak tinny sound. There is a richer, darker tone about it yet still a little of the bite that I guess comes from the ali neck. I would gig this, no doubt about it. So - would a headless, bodiless short scale bass work? Yes.

I think they are Seymour Duncan. If you zoom in you can see... And it is spelt Aguilar, I think.... 😉

I remember seeing a bridge - toilet bowl saddles? - like the one on this P Bass in a thread recently but can't for the life of me remember which one it was. Was it indicative of good quality or bad? Anyway, starting at £53, no detail in the text of any use and collection only Birmingham. If it is a good 'un it'll be worth watching. clicky

Possibly. You have different ears, though

Blues/rock, old-school, TI flats on a range of basses. No slappage here.

I put an Elf through a BF One10 and also a Two10 and it sounded fab to me.

I trained as a pharmacist, decided I didn't want to count tablets for the rest of my days, worked in a petrol station filling cars (yes, they had people filling cars then) until I decided what I wanted to do. Couldn't decide so joined the police Served 15 years, was ill for 5 years with ME and was given a medical retirement. Re-trained as a garden designer, ran a small plant nursery and also started to study a particular branch of horticulture that was untested. Retired now but write and give talks on my specialist subject.

Start a sideline as a sex worker? There is always a market for sex - always has been, always will be. If you're young and god looking you'll soon gather funds. If you're old and ugly you'll still gather the funds, just might take longer.

Set it up this morning A/B with one of my pa units, which is an RCF EVOX 8. Much the same gubbins inside, I imagine, aside from the cross over. Sounded just the same. Low-ish volume on 'line' but, set on 'mic', and using the DI pedal, I got plenty of volume. No idea what I was doing wrong yesterday but clearly I am a dimwit. I wonder if I can send me back to Thomann for a refund? Anyway, all's well that ends well and thanks for the help!

I'll have one last fiddle today and see what happens Thanks all.

Paul bought my BF One10 in the simplest of transactions. Good comms, nice easy job. Thanks Paul

For me those 'useless predefined curves' were the beauty of this amp. Made getting your sound intuitive and easy. I've never really got my head around frequencies so a dimwit like me just has to twiddle knobs

Thanks. I wouldn't worry - it very much looks like this is going to have to go back, which is a nuisance. Thanks all for your help.

OK, this is what I've tried so far Bass > RCF via the jack. Bass > drive pedal DI > RCF via the XLR Bass > drive pedal DI > desk master out > RCF (this is how I go through the PA, an RCF EVOX 😎 Tried line, tried mic, no appreciable difference.

Decided to have a daft truss rod decal made, based on my surname Great job by the ScratchIt/Gig Ink people

The Thomann E Bass case is a perfect fit and pretty good value at £55 👍

Just took delivery of said active cab. Finding I can get very little volume out of it. Barely enough for home practice. Plugged straight into jack, via a drive pedal DI on my board, via the pa desk. If I put my little Trace Elliot Elf in the line it can get louder but I am fairly sure i shouldn#t need to do this Before I send it back, is there something fundamental I am doing wrong? A simple button I have omitted to press, somehow?

Great deal with Frank, wh bought by Squier VM Mustang - no-nonsense and straightforward. Great comms, friendly chap, instant payment Thank you, sir.

Sold an amp to Clarky in what must be one of the most no-nonsense, straightforward dealings you could wish for. Happy

That's what I did with mine. Engage preshape 1 AND the eq, then use the eq balance to dial in some more mids from the eq depending upon the room. I have no idea if this is what you are supposed to do - maybe the two cancelled each other out - but it always worked a treat for me for getting the exact tone I wanted that sat nicely in the band.

Keys player in my Bon Jovi tribute is amazing. He is a very accomplished player, can sing like an angel and probably the most musical mind I have met. He kind of does the arrangements. And the loveliest guy. No wonder then that he is in enormous demand and plays in a lot of the better bands locally.

Started at £200 with no bids yet. For some reason, like a lot of the Peaveys, these go for peanuts but they are extremely well made. Good strong low B. Very narrow string spacing, mind - I have one - 43mm at the nut and 16mm spacing at the bridge. 9lbs-ish. Clicky.