Paul S

Toilets are generally where rehearsal spaces let themselves down. I can usually put up with sticky rugs and a mulch of detritus in the room but to discover there has been a dirty protest in the lavs is just awful. To name and shame one of the worst, in a moment of madness I had a try out with another band at a place called London Road Music Tuition along London Rd in Leigh. Dear God. Set the bar, even more disgusting than a petrol station in the wilds of Mexico that was the previous winner - at least there is a sense of exp[ectation that public toilets in Mexico (should you actually find one) aren't going to be clean. My band are extremely fortunate - drummer is a farmer and on site is a listed 12th century thatched barn. 30ft ceilings, superb acoustics, fitted kitchen, toilets. The family used to use it for weddings but stopped so now it is pretty much a play area for his kids and our rehearsals. We keep the pa set up in there. Mind you it is bloody cold in winter! Here's a promo shot from when they used to hire it out.

So am I! In fact I will just play one but always take a back up, so I don't suppose it counts. I'm pretty much head over heels with my '76 Eros shortscale EB-3 at the moment and don't feel it is a hardship to choose it above everything else. We are recording our next gig for a live CD and I'm looking forward to hearing how that comes out.

I've been looking to get a smaller pedal board as I have virtually nothing on mine. I'd never seen one of these. It is THE perfect size for my stuff. Just ordered one. Ta!

Strange. I've had the Boss WL-50 since it came out, used it at various venues and never had an issue apart from one bass that had a recessed jack socket, which was the fault of the bass not the bug. My guitarist bought an expensive Sennheiser unit but the last two gigs has had to switch to a lead. Funny old things, these wireless.

Here is my mutant Honcore. The uber-light body of a short scale double cut Encore into which has been spliced the gorgeous 32" scale neck of a Hondo II H1015 which seems to fit my hand just perfectly. Needed some routing at the neck pocket and a new bridge shifting back and mounting on a shim but, overall, it has worked a treat. A little neck dive but not as much as you would imagine. Entwistle PBXN pickup, sounds immense - Fender flavoured but a different look. Weighs in at 3.1kg now. There's the old neck sat at the back - it was very slightly twisted otherwise I'd have most likely kept it on there but because of the twist I got it for a song.

Does such a thing exist in the UK? Is it any safer than daisy chaining leads, which I am sure most of us do even if we aren't supposed to. Something like this (but smaller):

Me too, didn't enjoy it. And Plant was ducking out of the high notes even back then. I'm also of the mind that I got into a band because of the studio material I have heard so that is generally what I want to hear live. The very fact that a band can recreate that sound and feel live is, for me, where the magic lies. There seems to be something of a divide with long established bands that I have seen. Those who consider it a privilege to be still playing the songs that made them famous and those that consider the audience to be privileged to be watching them.

Every 5 years or so, I'd estimate, so screws would be just fine Interesting...

That looks elegant - no cable ties or velcro, just held in place by the adjustable clamps?

One of the many beneficiaries of Frank's clearout, I am the new and proud owner of a Hercules mic tablet mount, supplied and delivered gratis by this kind and generous man. Good to meet up, too, after sniggering at his posts for such a long time. Thank you, Sir.

7 years on I still have it, which is kind of surprising given my track record.

I have an HB PB Shorty and like it a lot. Straight out of the box it was fine, if you use an eq and a little drive the stock pickup sounds very vintage P bass to my ears. I gigged with it a couple of times and often take it as back up. More P bass than Mustang. I recently swapped the pup for a Tonerider, which has given it more bite than the stock. Lightweight.

Interesting. What are the comparative weights, please?

First slot head copy I have seen, shame it is long scale otherwise I would have been interested. Not in bad nick, bound neck. Shaftsbury not too bad? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185830968997

My band Toredown's monthly residence at the Shamrock in Ipswich last night but this time on a Saturday instead of a Friday - I was away last week and only came back late Friday. Load in was OK but I had to park 5 mins walk away. Ipswich on a Saturday is much busier than a Friday. A few of our regulars turned out but also a lot of unfamiliar faces. A couple of mistakes in the first set - nice jazz ending to badge, despite having played it a few hundred times before. Second set was storming, think we won over a few of the new folks. My first outing with the Eros EB-3. I'll need to make the side dots more visible, I think, as I was struggling to see where I was some of the time. Nice and comfy to play, though, and sat in the mix nicely. My journey home was incident free for a change - no road closures on the bit of the A12 I have to drive along so just 1 hr 10 mins. But of course the clocks going forward meant I got in at 2:30am. Here's a song from last night that's been uploaded onto Facebook, a Lonnie Mack tune called 'Ride The Blinds' which we've only played a couple of times but went down very well. https://fb.watch/jvSlPb7adn/

Pretty much the same all the way through. Played this in one band, always went down well.

Has anyone tried Richter Springbreak straps?

1970 Yamaha SB-35. Sold it when 'I moved to playing 5 strings' and therefore it went, along with all but one of my 4 strings. Moved back to 4 strings about a year later, of course.🤪 I have finally stopped pestering the guy I sold it to for fear of him getting an injunction. I've seen one for sale since, but it was about 0.5kg heavier

This is a new day of the week for you, Stew? Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, Thomannday, Friday etc. Without wanting to speak out of turn, you do seem to have rather a lot of HB gear

Never mind the hat, I'm diggin' the shirt. What is it?

The Maxon neck pickup isn't a mudbucker but it is certainly fat - with a lovely hollow quality up the neck a bit. The bridge pickup is quite a powerful humbucker - much more presence than one I had in an Antoria EB-3 before, which was a weedy thing. On their own, neither is quite right but the combo of the two in the middle position is fabulous - greater than the sum of the parts. It keeps the hollow-fatness from the neck pup but with some bite and break up from the bridge pup when given a clean boost. Plus I just love the whole beaten up 47 years worth of mojo-ness yet solid where it matters. Yes, guitarist uses a strat mainly but for a few songs now uses a Flying V - we've started to do a couple of Lonnie Mack tunes and he likes to get the sound right for those - and I love it. Not as fat as a LP but the neck pup is still really creamy with the tone rolled off a bit. We dusted off 'Sunshine Of Your Love', which we haven't played for a couple of years, and it sounded spot on with the V paired with the bass.

First rehearsal with the band today since then. I do believe this is going to be my new regular bass for gigging. Of my Gibson flavoured basses I prefer the tone of this to both my Gibson LP Jnr DC and my Epi T-Bird Classic Pro; it is certainly easier to play than the latter. Despite my love of all things Precision, this sits with the band mix in a different way and just sounds perfect for the stuff we play. Both pickups combine to give a tone that is rather special. One of the tuners is a bit stiff but I can live with that. The bridge is not very adjustable but good enough and certainly more comfy on my palm than the 3 pointer. Very happy chappy

That white one is a stunnah!

Me too. Best I've tried.