Muzz

Yup, these. Took me a wee while to get to the point where I'm (almost always) happy with my contribution to a song. It possibly helps that I don't like solo bass, and I long since lost any inclination towards wide-eyed intimidation by virtuosity. There'll always be someone better...than everyone 🙂

I can get my Shukerbird (Thunderbird with a Shuker P-neck - it's a biiiig long bass) into my Mono dual bag with another bass, too, so I'm pretty sure you'd get your Alembic in one of the single ones.

Yep to the Rattus Norvegicus, and most Rush stuff, lots of bass driving the songs. Slightly more subtly, Lizzy's stuff is a favourite, too. Solo bass albums? I've bought a few and got rid: a bass solo'ed is like a comedian explaining comedy: instructional, and occasionally interesting, but not the point.

Walkabout into one (or two) BF cabs (Super Twin and Compact) - warm, valvey, gritty if required, and loud enough to hurt if needs be...

IME, the Big/Super series will, unlike a lot of very voiced cabs (like Bergs, Aggie, etc, etc) put out what you put in, and as such are a different proposition to a lot of cabs in terms of EQ. I've put heads as varied as a MB F1 to my current Walkabout, and the sound I got out was very, very different once I'd realised I wasn't hearing the voicing of a cab - or at least a more neutral voicing - and EQ'd appropriately. Similar thing to FRFR: IME that (at first) sounds verrrry neutral, and one man's 'neutral' is another's 'bland and smooth'... EDIT: When I first got my Berg 112s (bought unseen off t'internet), I hated the sound...until I turned the horns off, and then it was much, much better...which effectively voiced them much more traditionally. Kinda-sorta related, as I could probably have achieved the same with EQ, but back then it didn't occur to me...

I've had several BF cabs (tho none with Tolex), and yep the original Compact handle had an issue...the same issue I saw on one of my Berg 112s, simply down to rubber wearing... They're very light, very solid and sound like whatever you put into them (again, I'm talking about the Super series rather than the clearly-voiced 10s) and I've no need for anything else, and I haven't looked at a cab for several years now, since I sold my Bergs. Which is very unusual for me...I've had to focus the GAS on basses and amps... 😀

Looks like a £150 bitsa with a horrible headstock and nasty-looking pickups. I'll pass.

I'm entranced with the idea of the Norwegian King's Guard getting the stinkeye from a flightless waterfowl who outranks every single one of them...

What with Sweden's nobility having a Royally Appointed Throbmonger, and Norway's knighting penguins*, I'm agog to find out what the crowned heads of the rest of the Nordic countries are doing to redress the balance... * Sir Nils Olav - see below for possibly my all-time favourite Wikipedia picture/title combination... Oh, and it's bassist...like anybody really gives a flyer...

Well, not quite that, but we started with a quick huddle, during which we nixed the Rage Against The Machine and Muse numbers...oddly, though, Dirty Old Town went down like a French kiss at a family reunion...

We were booked the other week by a chap in his 40s who'd been bouncing around Mulligan's Irish Pub in the city centre with his pals, chucking Guinness all over. When we got there. the gig turned out to be for his Mum and Dad's 50th wedding. It was in a room in the posh Lowry Hotel; there were 27 people there, of whom him and his wife were the youngest by some 30 years. It was all very pleasant, we were the quietest we'd ever been, but it was a bit like playing for your Nan...needless to say, we adjusted the setlist. One of those days where a flexible potential setlist from a lot of different genres comes in handy... 😕

A brand new stand turned up in the post this morning - the design of the grip that had failed has changed, so there was clearly a design issue. Nevertheless, exemplary customer service from Hercules/Stringsandthings... 👍

It also depends on how large a neck profile you are comfortable with, plus the additional weight a 5 can bring. Both those are important to me, more important than the need for the low B. As has been mentioned above, a Hipshot Drop D tuner gives me all the flexibility I need; I have one fitted to all my gigging basses (and I play all sorts of music). YMMV, IMHO, etc, etc...however, I'd definitely be going to a music shop and trying some out...

If I was being very, very sensible, I'd sell the ST and the Compact and buy a pair of SCs, but since when has sensible counted for all that much? 🙂

Just spotted a typo I can't correct properly - I meant 'under 4 ohms' rather than 'under 2 ohms'. A ST and a Compact is 2.667 Ohms, so there's a few amps'll do this (a lot of the newer Class D 8/900w modules will) and my Walkabout is fine with it. Yep, it's complete overkill, but a proper bass stack that weighs less than a single 410? Falls into Just Because I Can territory... 🙂 Sadly, the SC doesn't stack properly onto the ST*, otherwise I'd have a SC instead of the Compact... 😕 * Yes, I know: I'm OCD and as shallow as a puddle...

If you're feeling especially epic (and your amp'll go below 2 ohms), you'll find the ST stacks onto the Compact rather pleasingly... 😃

I still think they look fantastic, especially the walnut ones. Having owned and played two, however, nothing would induce me to buy another. That Kay looks poke-your-own-eyes-out awful, tho...

Very quick reply from Strings And Things requesting pics and details, including my shipping address. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for the heads-up: I have done. Let's see what they come back with...

With an odd synchronicity, my 3-holder Hercules stand disintegrated over the weekend; I've not had chance to have a good look at it yet, but it's knocked my confidence in it...

Mulligans Irish pub in Manchester city centre tonight, the Hop & Hazelwood in Tyldesley tomorrow night. Played both before, they're good venues...

2mm is as high as I like to go, I've got a couple of basses that are happy at less than that, but it's all very personal taste...

Shuker Horn x 2 Shukerbird Dingwall ABZ Yamaha BB414 Michael Kelly Acoustic Aria ZZB project HB PB50 project Bitsa PB project Which equals...nine... This means something, I tells ya... 🙂 Although I have a new Shuker incoming in the next coupla months which will ruin the theory, but do I care? 😀

Two pub gigs, both good payers: one Satdy in an Irish pub in the centre of Manchester - it was just loopy hot in there, but the place was jumping, and then last night a pub in t'suburbs, again warm (but nowhere near the over of Satdy) and again jumping - one of the punters paid us a ton for another half hour, so we asked him what he wanted to hear and busked a lot of it... 🙂