The year of music for me (so far)

[Shaman]

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On reflection, I have done such a huge amount of music and done so much playing out this year - and I plan to do more as I work on retirement, in two groups and working with a recording artist. It's been awesome. I know it's not winter yet but today's gig (and tomorrow's gig!) just hit home with me today, because I was finally able to convince a personal friend to come and fill in for our band this weekend. He's an excellent player but is just simply unsure of himself. As I knew would happen, everyone in my band approves of him. He's filling in because our player of 14 years has got some health problems that will take him out for the rest of 2026 at a minimum.

So this year I have THREE new guitars, a new amplifier, new music cabinets and have put my front-of-house system in my workshop to good use. I detailed the FOH system last year and it remains great for working in the workshop or jamming / practicing music in a relatively isolated area of my property.

So, the new instruments first:

Gretsch Streamliner Jet Single Cut - a 30" short-scale, dual single-coil bass (beside my Warwick Corvette $$) at a gig:



Maruszczyk Headless Frog with Delano XTender pickups + Sonar 3/S preamp:



Dingwall NG3 Adam "Nolly" Edition - brand new this week - made in Canada:



And now my new gear:

Bergantino HP2 Forte Ultra amplifier (2000W @ 4 ohms, 1700W @ 2.67 ohms, 1200W @ 2 ohms, 1000W @ 8 ohms), 8lbs with Bluetooth switchpedal:



Two Mark Bass 58R 104 Energy cabinets (800W, 8 ohms for 1600W; 4 ohm load combined), 36lbs each - on Rockville angled stand in this venue:



My newer pedals and board: MXR Bass Synth (for 80s pop), Bass Clone Chorus (80s pop, colour for some songs), SansAmp Bass DI, Poly Shifter (soon traded):



My current practice setup, biamped to a 15" Behringer combo I've had for nearly 20 years and in front of the front of house setup that will be used tomorrow outdoors (which goes with Yorkville 1000W tops + 1600W 2x15" sub). This setup puts out 980W RMS per side + 1000W with the QSC KW181 sub. I'm using next to nothing from it, it's set to maybe 85db and the mixing board has - I kid you not - 55db of output left to go (actual output of 129db @ one meter). This may look like a crude setup but it really isn't, this setup is clear, defined and in an appropriate place.



Anyway, that's the biggest thing I've been up to in 2026.

I gigged my Dingwall for the first time today, which sounds GREAT in a mix but not nearly as powerful or amazing as my Maruszczyk does in isolation. It's bright and really packs a visual punch. To quote my singer today after I was gigging my new Dingwall with Golden Earring's "Radar Love," he said "Man, I wish I played bass guitar" over a hot mic. I don't really know what he meant, but take from that what you will.

Life is mostly good. Oh, and I've been out on the KTM this year about 5,000km including a week at Deal's Gap. Needs an oil change about 500km ago.

 

[Shaman]

Jim filling in worked out great. This was the stage @ Bath music festival in Finkle Park. We brought a saxophone player in Laura Richards. She did a great job of filling in and soloing 'Born To Run'. I've owned the Dingwall for less than two weeks and did 3 gigs with it. Somehow it's got "the look" because I keep getting comments about it. In the mix is sounds terrific even if it's not my favorite bass or my favorite sound in isolation.

 

[Shaman]

Looks like we have a guitar player that really wants to come onboard with us. And he sings.

My year of music isn't slowing down. I just picked up this TOTAL unicorn in Toronto. The owner thinks it might be the only one in Ontario.



A FRFR (full range, flat response) cab from AccuGroove Speaker Cabinets & Amplifiers which is considered to be one of the rarest of gems in the world of bass guitar. I won't find a great deal of use for it gigging in Kingston but when I do use it out, it should be amazing in combination with my 4x10" cabinet pictured stacked on top. It's a near-perfect fit, but I'll likely use a couple of straps to make sure they're stable.

That makes a 1600W RMS cabinet combination that used in a 4 ohm + 8 ohm stack makes for a 2.67 ohm load which my amplifier can deliver 1700W at. I'll never need this much power, I expect, but a deeply powerful amp through some deeply powerful speakers gives you a tone and overhead that has to be experienced to understand. This thing delivers all the way down to 35hz. The entire stack is 105lbs in three pieces, I can carry two and the third is on wheels, the Behringer combo weighs the same as the Accugroove!

This cabinet has one 15 inch driver, one 12 inch driver, one 6 inch driver and 2 soft dome tweeters. Each of these speakers is controlled by a 4 way crossover, sending the lowest frequencies to the 15 inch speaker, the low mids to the 12 inch speaker, the high mids to the 6 inch speaker etc. Each speaker is within its own enclosure inside the cabinet.

Thanks to Tom Golfetto for listing this unicorn with little use and near-pristine condition. It will have a warm and welcoming home. Soon I'll be putting the Behringer and one of my 102HF (2x10") cabinets up for sale.

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