Paul S

I use the TC Spectradrive. This is an EQ (with adjustable high and low mids), DI, compressor and drive all in one unit. I use the 'clean boost' patch on the drive which is apparently the equivalent of the Spark Boost pedal. The amount of drive and the amount of gain have an interesting interplay. Works for me, anyway. I'm hoping one day they will do a pedal with all those things plus a tuner so I can lose something else off my board, such as it is. They could call it the TC Spectrapolytunedrive.

They must be rarer than I thought if no-one has added anything!

Is that it then, Pete, or are you carrying on into next year?

Just to say - I have just started on this. Just 5 days in and I'm seeing a MASSIVE improvement. I probably wouldn't have bothered had I not read your post so THANK YOU.

My guess is that if you go to see any band a level or two up from playing dad rock covers in the Grease and Elbow they are already playing to backing tracks, you just wouldn't necessarily be aware of it. If a band has a co-ordinated light to music show and/or back projections they are of necessity programmed into a click track and if you are programmed into a click track then almost certainly there are going to be layers of vocals/keys/extra instruments etc as backing tracks. From a personal persepctive, I was in a Bon Jovi tribute for a few years and we used backing tracks and back projections - the value they added to the performance was immense.

Spot on. I had a Gibson in the past. Sold it, missed it, bought the Epiphone Classic IV Pro and - hand on heart - it was a better bass. Roughly £800-£1K cheaper secondhand.

Sold a bass to Simon, nice easy deal. Thanks Simon!

Sold a bass to Mike, all went well. Good comms, an easy deal. Thanks Mike!

Yamaha BB425 would be my choice if I could still handle a 9lb bass.

I play in a blues/rock band - lots of Hendrix/Cream/ZZ Top etc - and TI Flats work for me. EQ is set with a clean boost and a little push from the gain. They have more bite than any other flats I have tried. They are low tension, which is a deal breaker for many, but I prefer that feel. They are also very expensive but once fitted last forever.

Nothing has been arranged, it is still here if you are interested.

I think I've read before that these had 32" scale. I asked him to confirm and he said it did. I think short scale like the Gibson would be better tbh. The more I think about it the less appealing it becomes, really. It would need a very powerful mudbucker for the Jack Bruce/Felix Papalardi sound and I don't think anything off the peg comes close.

Last night, saw Australian Pink Floyd at the Cliff's Pavilion, Westcliff-on-sea. They are touring a 50th anniversary DSOTM thing. 4th time I've seen them and I think this was the best performance. Just superb in every respect. OK, if I were nit-pickingly hypercritical, maybe the bass was a bit honky at times for my preference. Didn't affect my enjoyment. Unlike the group of lads behind me who thought every quiet passage was arranged especially for them to share their thoughts, loudly. They talked all the way through then cheered at the end of the songs. Why? They weren't listening. 'Wish You Were Here' was greeted with 'Oh, I f*&*ing love this' and the, rather than actually shutting the flip up, the first couple of rows of the balcony were treated to a slightly offkey, full volume acapella. Thanks guys.

There is one of these just popped up on eBay. Don't see them very often. MIK 1998. Does anyone have any experience of them? I'd hazard a guess they have the same pickup as their EB-0 and EB-3, which has never really done it for me. 32" scale, apparently, and 3.4kg (I asked). Did the Epiphone version have the retractable end-pin as per Gibson? Couldn't find a reference to one.

Possibly but it depends when you have in mind. I'd prefer a pick up, tbh.

Mad isn't it. To my mind, when it is apparent that acts are running over they should pull them off early (ooh matron etc) so that the lost time is absorbed evenly. In this particular case it was pure bloody-mindedness on the part of the dad-rock band who, despite being way over time, still did an encore which included a 5 minute drum solo. The organisers should have been all over them. Hey ho.

I'm in Benfleet, which is kind of between Southend and Basildon.

This. I matched one with a Tecamp Puma 300 and it sounded huge, even at low volume. But don't expect it to sound like the Compact - they are different beasts. 12" BF cabs are generally very hi-fi, 10" BF cabs have a baked in tone - usually described as 'Old School' or 'vintage'. Both types of drivers have their place, it depends upon what you want. As an aside and a big user of BF since they started, I have to say the LYSys ones have got my interest.

The Sterling Stingray shortie has a jazz width neck, too, if you fancy a MM flavour.

Yes. And the organisers were extremely apologetic. Would have been better had the organisers been organised but there you are

I remember a few years ago my Bon Jovi tribute were part of a multi-band event in Cleethorpes - a 4 hour drive away from southeast Essex where we were based. I believe it was some big local company putting on a family fun day for the employees - funfare, eateries, marquee for the bands. The weather was hideous - horizontal rain. By the time the bands started most of the punters had gone home. Everybody over-ran. First band was a Little Mix tribute, who went 30 mins over. Next a local dad rock band who were, by all accounts, whizzed off at not headlining. They went 30 mins over and the drummer, who had one of the biggest kits I have ever seen, including an array of small clear perspex toms, was being particualrly obstructive when dismantling it - laying out his cases and packing materials all over the stage so we couldn't get going until he was done. We were left with just 20 mins to play our 90 minute set - to around 80 of the promised 1000 punters Eight hours travelling to play 20 mins! Not a great night, although we got paid quite well and just laughed it off.

Stop it, please.

That's got to be the perfect rig, right there. I went down the FRFR route 3 years ago but can't stop looking at this combination.

It is totally scary that this was 54 years ago. The only one I don't remember -as a song - is the last one