Twigman

My EBMM USA Sterling has a 'normal' oiled neck and never needs tweaking. I only ever need to adjust the tuning when I change the strings!

Can't beat a Boss CE-2B I had one once - I have no clue what happened to it - but now have a Cog clone

For those looking at a strap pouch for the transmitter I can highly recommend the Heistercamp. https://www.heistercamp.co.uk/product/transmitter-pouch/ I had them make one to fit my Minotaur wide padded straps. I've been using mine for nearly a year now. It's great!

We seem to get lumped in with 'darkwave' (recently played gigs with Sisters of Mercy, the Mission, Lebanon Hanover, She Past Away, etc ) but we're not. The greek crowd, well you can see from the audience shot, look sort of goth/darkwave - I don't get the connection. Check out our Spotify and you tell me

It seems we're quite popular in Athens. This was our ninth gig there. We played Gagarin for the first time back in 2009 - we've also played at The Rodeo Club twice, Six d.o.g.s once, The AN Club three times and played the Death Disco festival in 2023, headlining the second stage. There have been two promoters fighting over the right to put us on for several years. The Death Disco festival was the first with the current promoter - he seems to be able to do a better job so we'll stick with this guy.

On Saturday we played at Gagarin205 in Athens - the venue looked fantastic lit up at night. Sadly I only have a daytime pic: and an aerial view of the soundcheck in moody black and white: and a view of the audience from the stage: We sold 1200 tickets. The venue was full. Punters were being turned away! We had a few technical gremlins but overall it was a successful (and profitable) adventure. My kit for the night: EBMM Sterling 4HH> Shure GLXD16+ wireless> Empress compressor> Cog CE-2B clone(some songs)> DHA EQ >DI Box (split off to PA) > locally Ampeg B5R > Ampeg 4x10 PS - Athens was full of Scotsmen attending the football:

Never been asked for a carnet. As I understand it carnets are normally only required for unaccompanied freight. Travelling with one's own instrument does not require a carnet.

Athens - Gagarin205 November 15th

Year Started Playing: 1979 - I learned the riff from Black Dog - that was probably a bit ambitious for a total beginner - managed it though. Number of basses: 5 electric, 1 acoustic Music theory: 3? I can't read dots (a stave ?) - I know if I'm playing in a major or minor key...I know what a pentatonic scale is. I struggle with remembering the intervals associated with modes Technique: 2? I can only play with my fingers but I think I manage OK with that, muting with both hands - I used to use a pick some of the time but not anymore - I have nerve damage in my neck and right arm and hand which severely limits the grip strength in my right hand - I can no longer hold onto a plectrum for more than a few seconds. I have never been able (nor wanted) to slap. Groove: 3 - I don't think groove is particularly relevant to the music I play. Yes I can keep time and get tight with the musicians around me but to groove needs some swing, doesn't it? My drummer doesn't groove at all, never gets funky. I suspect with a different drummer I might groove more but it's not really our style. I can lock in with him though but I wouldn't call it grooving. I suffer from imposter syndrome big time.

Many people I know went to Wembley that day. I remember sitting at a table on the pavement outside a pub with a bottle of pils, wondering where everyone had gone.

I paid £1675 for my new EBMM Sterling 4HH with matching headstock in late 2016 delivered April 2017. I recently asked EBMM to quote me for an identical bass - they quoted me $2,899 ex works + shipping + VAT and duty with a 4 month lead time. That's too rich for me but might hold up the secondhand market.

I like my Empress Bass Compressor It's another set and forget compressor with the bonus of lots of flashing LEDs to meter the signal.

I play in Sad Lovers and Giants We're based in Watford. None of us live there anymore but that's where we rehearse. We've been going since about 1980 although I've only been in the band since 1985 and even then not for the whole of that time. This is our discogs page where all our records are listed. Here's our Spotify page where you can hear them! And here is our merch shop - it seems only 1 of our albums, an EP and a 7" are currently available but hey why not buy a tee shirt or a fridge magnet or even some old skool button badges? We play almost all our gigs overseas but we don't play very often. Our next booking is at Gagarin205 in Athens Nov 15th. Last summer we played a large outdoor festival in Murcia with The Mission and The Charlatans which sort of felt like we were going up in the world. The Dutch film makers who made a documentary about Adrian Borland of The Sound [Walking In The Opposite Direction] are currently making a documentary about us! It's taken them over 2 years so far but they have sponsored 3 gigs in Rotterdam and den Haag (The Hague) in that time so they can secure live footage of us for the documentary. I have no idea when that might get released. We are inundated with requests to play gigs through our Facebook page but many don't make financial sense. We have regular booking agents in Spain, Greece, Italy and The Netherlands. We have toured USA once in 2016 and there's a thread here where I told the story. We are currently working on a new album - it's nearing completion but currenly doesn't have a name or a firm release date. Our guitarist is 1/3 of Above & Beyond who have a new album out next week. This is the main reason our output is sporadic and we take up so few offers to gig. He just doesn't have the time. I have posted many vids of us live over the years. The first 30 minutes or so of this shows clips from our early evening set at Visorfest in Murcia Spain last September: and this was the video for our last single (made in lockdown) - It's about time we made another one!

No - I'm divorced - but I gave up buying basses in 2017.

Yes - My EBMM USA Sterling 4HH is my do everything bass at the moment. I do have others that have, in the past, also been my do everything bass. It goes to all my gigs where ever they are. It gets checked in as hold luggage on crappy airlines. It gets left unattended at venues for hours while we're off doing other things. They don't make them anymore and they seem very rare on the secondhand market, particularly with matching headstock. It is insured. Luckily I haven't needed to test that insurance yet.