A friend is selling his bass gear, it’s in excellent condition and is only a few months old.  It’s never been gigged as the guy is a guitarist who tried bass and didn’t really get into it.

I have not played the bass myself so can’t comment on it apart from his assurance that it’s all in excellent condition.  there are plenty of reviews of the Mike Dirnt model online so check them out and see if you might have a home for this.

The seller’s name is Steve Thomas and you scan e-mail him at ste-thomas@live.co.uk or call his mobile on 07557 349 271

He would prefer a local collection sale so you need to be fairly local or willing to travel up to collect it.

Here’s the spec, lots of pics at the bottom of the post

Squier by Fender Mike Dirnt P Bass, White w Black Star

The Squier Mike Dirnt Precision Bass guitar represents the Green Day bassist’s take on an early ’50s Precision Bass with a unique look and a sound that can cut through the thickest wall of guitar sound. Features separate volume and tone controls, chrome hardware and a solid agathis body. Unique features include a star graphic on body, the ’51 headstock shape, ’51 slab-style body with ’55-style front arm contour and pickguard, and a side-mounted jack plate. The Perfect P Bass for the Green Day fan and for players looking for a versatile electric bass guitar with a killer vibe.

Squier by Fender Mike Dirnt P Bass Features:

Solid-body electric bass
Agathis body with star graphic
Maple neck
Rosewood fingerboard
20 medium jumbo frets
34″ scale
1.6″ width at nut
Chrome hardware
Standard open-gear tuners
Standard four-saddle bridge
Single-ply ’55 style pickguard, (few light scratches on guard)
Split, single-coil pickup
One volume, one tone control

CUBE-20XL BASS: Bass Amplifier

XL Power for Bassists!

XL Power for Bassists!
Just as the CUBE guitar-amp family received an XL upgrade, now it’s time for the CUBE BASS line to reach XL status. The new CUBE XL BASS amplifiers remain portable and travel friendly, a CUBE tradition, but they benefit from new-generation XL performance enhancements. These new amps deliver a knock-out punch with custom FFP and COSM technology. FFP is one of Roland’s core technologies in which each component — amp, cabinet, and speaker — achieves maximum efficiency and performance for incredible power from a compact body.
The most portable of the family, the CUBE-20XL BASS, features 20 watts of power, an 8-inch custom speaker, six COSM amp models, pro-quality effects (Reverb, Delay, Chorus, Solo, Poly Octave, Compression, and Overdrive), Power Squeezer for big sound at low volume, and 3-band EQ.

• Ultra-compact 20-watt bass amp with custom-designed 8-inch speaker
• Six COSM amp models on-board
• Seven effects, including the new DRIVE and POLY OCTAVE
• POWER SQUEEZER for big, rich sound at low volumes; great for home practise and other volume sensitive environments
• Three-band EQ for fine-tuning your sound
• Built-in bass tuner

The hard case is an official Fender case and can be seen in the pics below.

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Andy Long – Patches Of Coloured Light (solo bass)

self released, 2011, DD or CD album, 35m 27s

£name your price (DD)/ £5 (CD)

http://andylong.bandcamp.com/album/patches-of-coloured-light

http://andylongbass.wordpress.com/

Most recordings featuring a single instrument, and particularly solo bass recordings, feature a certain amount of showing off. It’s not necessarily the main feature, it’s not necessarily in any way a drawback, but an element of conspicuous virtuosity is often present. It’s as though bass players need to justify putting themselves forward, as though they are saying ‘look, bass is a proper instrument, you can play hard stuff on it’. Andy Long seems content to let others do the proof of concept; he’s released a gentle and unassuming album of simple melody, open texture and limpid atmospheres, under a title that describes his sound as well as anything I could hope to write. Most of the material consists of simple chordal patterns, and delicate traceries of delay effects, although there’s a nice two part piece by Couperin and a lovely arrangement of ‘Morning Has Broken’. Everything is realised with precision and restraint, and the simplicity of the few elements in each arrangement allowsLong’s musical thoughts to come through distinctly; the sound of his bass guitar is a consistent one, full range and bright, enhanced sometimes with modulation effects, but never disguised. It’s hard (impossible) to say whether he uses studio multitracking or live looping techniques, but it honestly hardly matters. His own material is rarely discursive, or even narrative in a conventional sense, but seems to be more focussed on atmosphere. This is not music that grabs you by the throat and demands your attention, but it’s a very relaxing and involving listen, and betrays a great deal of thought and care.

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You can read this and other reviews in Oli’s online blog

Enjoy!

Andy

‘Ymddiheuro Am Yr Oedi‘ is the track in question, an appalling Welsh language pun.  Any railway workers out there will certainly have heard this phrase whilst going about their daily duties, but I’ll leave you to find the translation yourself. ;0)

To access the podcast scroll down the page until you reach PCP#384, subtitled ‘Say No To Mr Smith’.

Pete’s podcast brings together some excellent independent music from around the world and this episode includes Memoryhouse from Ontario, Cinema Red And blue, from New York, UHT from Paris and many others, well with a listen.

You can catch up with Pete on Twitter or Facebook too.

I’m grateful to Pete for the inclusion in the podcast. Independent artists should certainly get in touch.

Enjoy!

Andy.

‘This is reasonably adequate’ – Peter Banks

‘I think I’m in an episode of Starsky & Hutch’- Ed Hodge

‘I almost fell asleep driving home’ – TWO! work colleagues!

‘Mummy, don’t play the music’ – Alexander Martell.

Enjoy!

Andy

Today I was able to send off the first cheque from album sales to the charity. Whilst it’s not exactly a world-shattering amount, I’m happy to be able to send something off and I’m grateful to those of you who have contributed to this minor cottage industry of mine.

I will soon be sending some more as there is already another batch of sales building up.

If you have already bought the album, thanks very much.  If you downloaded it for free please consider making a donation directly to Cancer Research UK.

If you haven’t got the album yet, now’s your chance.  Go to andylong.bandcamp.com and follow your nose.

Enjoy!

Andy

Here is a link to her website in which she details the maths behind the design. If you want to know what phyllotaxis spirals re, this is your chance to find out.

Enjoy!

The show features an eclectic mix of music from around the world including great rock tunes from UK’s Argonaut and What Would Jesus Drive, rap from K Solo and other great artists from the USA and Russia.

My track ‘Song For Lucy‘ is included, so I encourage you to listen to the podcast and send Erk some positive feedback

http://echoromeokilo.com/blog/?page_id=20899

Enjoy!

Andy

Erk FM is a series of podcasts produced for weekly release and is available on Monday (Erk FM: Metal Monday), Wednesday (Erk FM: International, this show) & Friday (Erk FM: Australia) of each week. Erk FM: Extra (featuring interviews, live recordings & more) are released on Tuesdays as required.

Each episode runs between 60 – 90 minutes (approx)

The presenter, Erk, is a fellow railwayman working in the Sydney metro area of Australia, currently a train driver, a job which  have now swapped in favour of driving a desk.

His themed podcasts have been running since 2009 and the Wednesday slot is always an international selection.

The featured track will be ‘Song For Lucy‘, the piece I wrote for my great friend Lucy Edwards who we lost to cancer last year.

It was this track and the thinking behind it that led me to donate part of the proceeds from the album sales to Cancer Research UK.

I’ll post a link to the episode once it’s online.

Enjoy!

Andy

Through Bandcamp (and Twitter) I’ve made some great new friends and met some astonishing musicians.  So here, in no particular order, are ten of my favourite recordings from 2011.  Many of these are Pay What You Want downloads, so you could potentially pick up a lot of new music here for next to nothing.

1.  ’Travelling Time” by Everyman Of Parts. The long awaited solo album by a brilliant bassist, Andrew Sheron

http://everymanofparts.bandcamp.com/

2.  ”11 Reasons Why 3 Is Greater Than Everything” by Steve Lawson. Speaking of brilliant bassists, Steve is the top of the tree.

http://music.stevelawson.net/album/11-reasons-why-3-is-greater-than-everything

3.  ”Beautifully Undone” by Lobelia. Meanwhile Mrs Steve has released this gorgeous collection of cover versions of less-well known songs

http://lobelia.bandcamp.com/album/beautifully-undone-songs-i-wish-id-written

4.  ”Relic” by Matt Stevens. Matt’s albums get better and better, he came to play a gig for us this year, loved it.

http://mattstevens.bandcamp.com/album/relic

5.  ”If” by Alun Vaughan. a live set of improvised bass, showing what a talented bloke old Dr. Evil really is.

http://alunvaughan.bandcamp.com/album/if

6.  ”_ism” by Jeff Schmidt. dark ambience from bassist and ‘sound manipulator’ Jeff.

http://jeffschmidt.bandcamp.com/album/ism

7.  ”Baby Steps” by Rhys Anslow. The hairy one just managed to pip me to the post with the release of his solo album.

http://rhysanslow.bandcamp.com/album/baby-steps

8.  ”Disarm:Remixed” by She Makes War & Friends.  An collection of remixes of the original album, raising funds for the homeless shelter Crisis, why not get the original album too?

http://shemakeswar.bandcamp.com/album/disarm-remixed

9.  ”The Quiet In The Land” by Calamateur. Just found this one today, so looking forward to hearing it.  Previous releases have been wonderful.

http://music.calamateur.com/album/the-quiet-in-the-land

10.  ”The Knowledge Of Things To Come” by Simon Little. More chillingly beautiful solo tunes from the Divine Comedy/Duke Special bassist.

http://music.simonlittlebass.com/album/the-knowledge-of-things-to-come

Please check out some of these amazing albums and start your 2012 off well.

Andy

I launched the album yesterday at http://andylong.bandcamp.com/album/patches-of-coloured-light

There are eight tracks for a total of about thirty five minutes. Most of the tracks are loop based improv with lots of layers and effects. There is one classical  piece arranged for two basses and two worship song arrangements.

It’s a Pay What You Want download, so you can even get it for free if you like.  If you decide it’s worth paying something for that would be appreciated and I will be donating 50% of the proceeds to Cancer Research UK.

There will also be a short run of CDs in a card wallet, these are priced at £5.00 plus P&P and if you order one of these I will donate £1.00 to the charity (CDs cost money to make).

If you do have a listen I’d love to hear from you with any feedback.

Meanwhile, have a great Christmas

Andy