Paul S

I prefer CD wrap myself.

I went through a phase of always swapping my bridge from BBOT to a high mass one of some description. I tried them all, pretty much. Not for any improvement in tone - my hearing is so knackered that I couldn't detect anything even if it was there - but just because I found the BBOT uncomfortable on my hand when resting it there, especially when the saddle height adjustment scews poke up. Plus the aesthetics - particularly liked the Hipshot A style and Schaller 3D, nicely engineered bits of kit. But these days I stick with the BBOT and just replace the saddle scews with shorter ones - much cheaper!

I was in a band with a Detective Sergeant on drums for a couple of years. It isn't the shifts that is the problem, you can plan around those. It is the unforeseen, totally unpredictable, last minute 'having to stay on duty' stuff where the officer gets sent to a job towards the end of the shift and can't be relieved. Unless you are unlucky it doesn't happen very often but when it does happen there is nothing that can be done about it. Having deps lined up that can manage last minute availability would be the only way forward. In our case she quit the band because she felt she was holding us back, which was a shame as she was a good drummer and a great laugh.

My worst purchase was a totally pointless passive DI pedal that I can't in all honesty see me ever using. There is most likely nothing wrong with it and I am sure it would do it's job perfectly well. I just don't have a use for it - got swept away on a tide of GAS after reading about it on here. Will I ever learn? Probably not My best purchase has been a mid-70s Antoria Precision bass that I bought on eBay for not a lot of money. It transpires that someone at some stage had fitted a '75 Fender P pup into it, which kind of explains why it sounds so good. One of those rare occasions where I have come out ahead of the game financially - the pup on it's own is probably worth as much as I paid for the whole thing. Pictured below next to my trusty JV Squier, the Antoria is on the right. The JV edges the tape in terms of tone and build quality, plus it is lighter and the neck is beautifully figured with a rich caramel patina. However, the neck of the Antoria is very slightly narrower and very slightly deeper and feels more comfortable for my hand. Both are cracking basses. Toss of the coin which one I play these days.

More blues! My lot Tore down playing at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket last Thursday supporting british blues guitarist Danny Bryant. We were squeezed into whatever space the main band had left us, which wasn't much I keep looking at the drummer because I couldn't actually hear the drums and was missing some cues. Plus a link to our vids page if you fancy to listening to some more https://www.toredownband.co.uk/video We went down very well and the organiser reckoned he was going to get us back for one night of our own, which would be brilliant.

My little blues rock trio splashed out on a pair of RCF EVOX 8 V2 , if that qualifies as a tower? They are brilliant. We use these for bass, vocals and, on occasion, drums - not so much for vlume but to get a good depth of tone. Crystal clear and plenty loud. You can place them behind you as, for some strange juju, they don't feed back and hence to some extent eliminate the need for monitors. Not cheap - ours were £900 each B stock from Thomann.

Australian Pink Floyd this coming Monday at the Cliff's Pavilion. Really looking forward to it - saw them once before and they were amazing. Best gig of the year that year.

I believe it was McDonald. I read an interview with him where he said he played all the bass on all the studio recordings.

Looks like a bargain to me! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224670978317?hash=item344f6f110d%3Ag%3AWwYAAOSw44dhf9Ls&LH_ItemCondition=3000

Terrific write up from Stephen 'Foz' Foster about our slot on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10226580431319347&set=a.10200849071571435 😎

[contrived joke alert] They were selling underpants on the merch part of their website but I was talked out of getting some. Apparently you only have to wear them for half an hour before Chernobyl fall out.

I just hope they don't fall out once the project has finished.

That's perfect, thanks

I start by saying I have a basic lack of understanding as to how signal paths work. There, that's done. For my blues band I go from bass > Spectradrive > pa via the XLR output. Next week I will be playing somewhere new and going into their pa. I don't know what the score is with regard to onstage monitors etc so intend to take my RCF 732-A as on stage monitoring/back line. Would the XLR out at the back of the RCF unit work as the DI for the pa?

Or Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

There are no words to describe this. Must be his most extreme mod yet. Palm muting could be interesting.

I like all aspects of making music. I enjoy recording, I enjoy gigging. And I enjoy rehearsing, always have done. I really like it when the band decides on a song, we all learn our bit at home then put it together in a rehearsal. Particularly with my blues rock trio, we will usually put our own touches to a song. More of an interpretation than a cover, if you like, and one of the joys of the genre imo. We'll decide on a new song, listen to and learn a particular version so we know the structure then work out our own arrangement at rehearsal. But, personally, if I am going off piste with stuff I need to either rehearse it regularly to keep the changes in my mind or be gigging lots, which we aren't. My memory isn't what it used to be

I think it was the downscale-ness that I liked Simple one pup, vol, tone. Had a marvellous voice.

They did - Yamaha SB-35. I had one, should never EVER have sold it. 32" scale. Sigh.

I had a Sterling 5er that was around 8.5lbs. Nice thing. Long gone now.

I mentioned this on another thread and it seems to fit here - a Peavey Fury. You could buy three with that budget, maybe four Great 90s USA built basses that are unaccountably cheap to buy. Slim necks.

Another Precision bass with a slim neck is the Peavey Fury. For some reason these quality USA built old basses can still be bought for next to nothing. Stock pickups are on the aggressive side, which is either a good thing or not depending on the sound you are looking for.

I had TI Flats on my 70s faker and they felt and sounded perfect to my fingers and ears

Gosh. I saw them at Chinnerys in Southend on 8th and came out floating on air. Great band. Seen them a couple of times and they empty the tank every time. I am actually in Norwich that day but need to be back home for the evening otherwise I'd leap on this. The High Points were the support and they were a damned good young 3 piece jazz funk band. Someone will be very happy!