Leaderboard

I switched on eBay on Sunday night to check my saved searches...... and I couldn't believe my luck..... A mint condition, 2024 Epiphone Grabber, with it's soft case, had just been listed at £499 Buy It Now with free shipping! An 'excellent feedback' seller too! I really wanted one of these when they were released, but there was no way I was gonna spend £900+ on an Epiphone so, when I saw this, it was a no-brainer! It arrived today, exactly as described..... and I'm thrilled 😎

No he’s right, they’re only permitted in Oxfordshire. I tried to play one in Sussex but was arrested for wearing a suede waistcoat in a built up area. Shame really.

I picked this up yesterday after having discussed the build with the luthier around 10 weeks ago. Walnut / maple / shedua body Maple / mahogany / cherry neck and board Herrick multicoil pickups Lusithand Double NFP Sandberg bridge. look close and you’ll see many differences compared to the bass it was inspired by.

Our first gig this year at The Lookout on the Pier in Scarborough harbour. The weather had improved so apart from some patchy fog the journey was fine. Usual full house of diners with plenty of requests, some of which I’d not played for ages. These included ‘Waterloo’, ‘Moonlight in Vermont’, ‘Losing you’, ‘Starman’ and ‘Ever fallen in love’. ( We couldn’t manage ’Peaches’ but swapped it for ‘Golden Brown’ !!). We are there again at the end of the month and it’s always a pleasure to do.

A luthier is a person who is professional trained and highly skilled in the art of wallet emptying.

The first boutique bass I've ever played was a Pedulla-like fretless by Dutch luthier André van der End. Every since then, I've wanted to own a bass by him, particularly with a walnut top and maple fretboard. A few years back, I bought a blue fiver by him. Didn't really get on with the sound, so I sold it. And then last week, just as I was selling two other basses, this walnut top, maple fretboard fiver turned up on a second hand website in Belgium. I had to have it. So yesterday I drove to Belgium and took it home. It's not light, but it's pretty darn awesome. Ash body, pickups and preamp by André himself, birdseye maple neck.

Artisan Tap in Newcastle-under-Lyme on Saturday night. Basically a home town gig for us. The local following seems to have really built over the last couple of years. For the first 10 years of the band we were more popular in Nottingham than we were in Stoke/Newcastle! Anyway, 120 tickets sold plus guest list and the place was dangerously full. We had 20 songs on the set list but our front man kept calling out random numbers. I reckon we played 30 in the end. Still struggling with my injury but what an ace night!

Played at The Palm Court Hotel in Scarborough last night for a NYE dinner dance. Despite horrendous weather warnings we made it there okay, the 50 mile journey affected mainly by high winds. Got set up in the hotel lounge whilst the guests were dining - took my usual Rumble 100 combo to use with a Squier SS Jag bass which has been given to me on permanent loan by a friend. Sounded fine and easy to play for the three long sets we did, starting around 8pm through to 12.30am. We were well looked after by the hotel manager - we took our partners and they were given lots of bubbly and stuff, and we had a few drinks too although as I was driving I stuck to water and coffee. 🙁 Playing wise it went okay. Had a keyboard player with us ( old mate Steve ) as well as singer guitarist Doug who is well known in the Scarborough area. Songs requested and played were the usual dance standards ( Sinatra etc) right through to slightly more recent stuff. I got a request to sing ‘Dead Flowers’ by the Stones - slightly unusual choice for a NYE do - so duly obliged , along with some other 60’s and 70’s stuff and of course ‘Auld Lang Syne’ at midnight. Got packed very quickly and then had a dreadful journey home - roads were virtually rivers in places, with biblical amounts of rainfall. My trusty Skoda didn’t miss a beat though, so back around 2.30am, absolutely knackered! Not the best of gigs I’ve done recently, (made worse by wearing dinner suit and bow tie which I despise!) but a lovely venue and being well paid made up for it. Mrs CP had great fun too, and after the terrible few years she’s endured health wise it felt like we were celebrating the start of better times. Here’s hoping. 😃 A very Happy New Year to all BC people, may 2025 be a great one for you.

Just wanted to say a very happy new year to everyone, have a great evening whatever you are getting up to! Look forward to speaking to some of you in 2025

Just got back from a gig. This was a party in honour of a local jazz musician who died just before Christmas (made it to 90, and this would have been his birthday). He was a friend of our BL, so we volunteered to entertain. Good gig - the audience were very appreciative and enjoyed the material (inc. dancing at the end). The highlight for me was some recitation over musical accompaniment of prose reflecting the deceased's other hobby of ancient archaeology. The result resembled an extended jazz version of the Spinal Tap Stonehenge intro, with soprano sax noodling. Nice!

Was expecting a dead pub tonight but was pleasantly surprised how busy it was. Some people actually caught the train to come and see us from the next town We havent played for a few weeks so again I wasn't expecting much but we played pretty well considering. Landlord and I swapped numbers for more gigs after March. I'll be asking for a little more in the fee. Still not sure I'm enjoying flats on my Jazz. They're heavy gauge as well so my hands are aching after a 2 hour gig, may have to go back to Elixr nanowebs.. No backline, bass to pedalboard (Laney Digbeth preamp) then to desk, in ear monitor and Porter and Davies KT Platform. Passed some guy half asleep in a hedge down a country road on the way home. Felt sorry for him and turned around but when I slowed down he suddenly sprang to life and tried to get in the back of the car without saying anything. Freaked me out so I took off. Called the police when I got home, hopefully they will find him and get him home but it felt sketchy at the time. Home for cheese and toast and a glass of vino, 1.20am.

FIrst gig of 2025 last night and it was a cracker! Played with Nine Lives at Wilsons in Aberdeen. Was a little worried that it wouldn't be busy, being the middle of January and right enough when we first arrived to load in it didn't look great. But part way through the first set a big group of ladies came into the bar and they were well up for a dance. Plus a few regulars came along to support us, which was lovely. Not wishing to disappoint (and fearing that our enthusiastic dancers would naff off if we stopped) we decided against taking a break and just plowed on through the entire three hours. Plenty of songs in "the box" to plug in. Played some new stuff too which went well. I was a wireless pest as usual. Great to get back in the saddle. Because we didn't take a break, the second bass didn't make it out of its bag! Got a few weeks off, but we'll be back with a double header at the start of February. Gear was the Reverend Triad into the usual Markbass tone cubes. Footwear was a pair of Vans classic slip on in a teatowel/picnic basket cloth type pattern. Got complimented on them as well - bonus!

The whole live concert is pretty amazing. I always sort of got him but never really musically understood him because I don't like fusion so I got a little bored. But his playing on this and the way he outlines the chords and the notes he plays are just magic. You can hear his musical influences with the notes he chooses imo.. the more I listen the more mind bending his playing gets.

We had an acoustic show case at The Cause in Chippenham. A truly fabulous space. Amazing sound guy who was genuinely interested in the bands, an audience who came to listen and the promoter even made us pizza! We played mainly original material, ending on a token cover. I played mainly mandocello, some guitar and a bit of mandolin at the end (so no bass yet in 2025). The other two acts were a folk singer and a fun time covers band, so a nice mix. The benchmark for which I will base other 2025 shows.

Tonight's gig was brought to you by max-strength paracetamol and sudafed. I guess I must have picked up something from the great unwashed crowd at one of our gigs around NYE. I felt a bit dodgy last Thursday night and by Friday morning felt too bad for work! The cold/virus/manflu has waxed and wained over the last week, ending with an invasion of my sinuses this morning that woke me at 5am in pain. Any sane bass player would have pulled the gig. Not me! We only have a couple this month, so I dosed myself up with (legal) drugs and went for it. Not so much jigging about as normal, a bit "heady" bending down to set up and pack down, but otherwise quite an enjoyable gig. Nice pub, decent crowd, hot & sweaty. Hopefully it might have fried off a few of the unwelcome guests infesting me at the moment. I forgot to take any photos. Usual rig with just the Sire P7-5 this time for some P-bass loveliness. Solovair boots are getting to be quite comfortable now. Let's hope I wake up feeling a bit better after some of Dr Jim Beam's post-gig medicine...

We played at The Palm Court Hotel in Scarborough last night - Milestone duo. It’s a lovely hotel with great staff, and load in is very easy. We set up in the lounge whilst the customers were having their dinner in the restaurant, which made things easy. Used two JBL powered PA speakers which run on batteries! Sounded good too, although I took my Rumble 100 combo so I could monitor my Ibanez acoustic/ electric without overpowering the system and it worked fine. Did our requests thing, and had plenty of the usual tunes asked for, along with some rock stuff - did ‘Stairway…’ ‘Layla’ and ‘Dakota’!! Despite being a more mature audience, they wanted a wide range of songs, including the inevitable ‘Driving home for Christmas’. All in all an easy and relaxed evening. Played 3x40 min sets, and done by 10.30pm. We took our ladies with us, and they got free bubbly, whilst I availed myself of the excellent ‘Neck Oil’ IPA on draught as my buddy was driving. Some nice comments from the punters ( including cricket umpire Dickie Bird ), so hopefully will get the gig next year. Home by midnight which was fine by me as still fighting the tail end of manflu. We’re back there for NYE which is my next gig, so a week to rest up Seasons greetings to everyone on here, and all the best for 2025. Pete. ( Clip on tuner / music stand haters look away now….😆 )

Last nights gig with BLOCKBUSTARZ was at The Dreadnought in Bathgate. Very Busy i think 150 tickets sold so almost full. Great audience as always and just a real fun night of Glam songs. This is now the 3rd year in a row we've played the Sat before Xmas and we were already booked for next year. Ticket deal but we did better than our normal fee so that was a huge bonus at the end of the night. Back there today for a private party so all the gear barriered off and locked away so no load out last night or load in today. I felt like a proper pro musician last night with no packing up to do. Just turn up and play and then walk away at the end of the night. 🤩 Sound guy who is top notch and another bassist came in at break and said i was too loud on stage and nothing going thru PA. At the back where he was it was booming. Turned it down for 2nd set but couldn't really hear myself on stage so i ended up playing harder and getting sore fingers. Not good when i have a gig this afternoon. Going to look at a decent IEM set. I had been playing around with the Mesa TT800 amp during the week as i was finding last few gigs i was bass heavy on my tone so went back to the manuals "instant gratification" setting but didn't get time to set the volume level on stage. Had a slight change of bass during the night. 1st set Sandberg VM4 because it matched the sparkly purple outfit i was wearing that set. 2nd set Sandberg MarloweDK because it looked more Christmassy in red and white for the Xmas songs especially the Wizzard one where i also adorned a nice Santa cape. The things we do for our audiences 🤩 Keeley compressor into Shure wireless then Mesa TT800 and Mesa SW210/115 cabs. No pics as yet but hopefully will get a few up later. Not sure how this afternoon will go as i'm not really a fan of private birthday parties as not everyone there will be into Glam rock and we'll end up getting the numpties asking for Girls Aloud or Ed Sheeran even tho were fully Glammed up. Oh well them's the breaks Dave

Just back from our usual 2 nights at Trading Boundaries Christmas gigs. Lovely intimate atmosphere as always and only just under an hour’s drive away from home. Both nights went very well and I always feel Xmas is here on these occasions. Happy Christmas everyone, my best wishes to you all 😊

Definitely going to be filing this one under "strange". Thursday evening on FB and we were tagged in a 7 bands in 7 hours festival as one of the bands had been forced to cancel. Less than 36hrs notice and they needed a band to open a festival in Calne. It was to raise money for a young man who'd been killed leaving a young family. I messaged the organiser and initially had no response. A few people "liked" that we got tagged so I sent a 2nd, more personal message. No response but just as I gave up, he messaged in the morning saying we could open. Very much an electric set but we've only rehearsed the acoustic set recently so in a head vs heart decision, we decided to stick with an acoustic set. I then got added to a bands Messenger group (normally my pet hate in band life but this one had pretty much sorted out the 100s of messages about high hat stands and 4ohm cabs. Everyone seemed cool, which was nice. Pro sound guy, full backline etc, by all accounts. Playing acoustic versions of original gothic songs on folk instruments was going to be a tough sell, especially in what was effectively a working man's club but I was adamant in our self-belief. We had little more than a line check but the plan was I would play my bass parts on the mandocello, before moving on to guitar (a recent addition) and ending on my mandolin. I'd talked Nick into a smaller, more discreet music stand and we now have a band flag that we hung behind us. We go on and it was immediately apparent that we meant business. The (initially) small crowd were actually fairly intent on listening and gave us a warm reception. I noticed the sound on the mandocello kept completely cutting out and coming back in. That was down to the soundman and not the kit. I figured it was purely onstage as nobody batted an eyelid. And like Nigel Tufnel, I am a professional so I rose above it. We were going great guns until when Nick took the mandocello, it completely died. It rather killed our momentum and the soundman was initially clueless. We had a second mandocello (I refer you back to the Nigel Tufnel comparsion) and we bypassed the pedals to get a signal. Initially nothing but then Nick spotted the error (him, not us) and we finished our set. He checked all the kit at home and there was no problem with our gear. Chalk it up as experience. We stayed for a couple of the bands and mingled a bit. All the musicians we spoke to were super friendly but we left as the young teenagers with the Axl Rose style egos showed up. Some of the audience were absolutely wrecked. We saw one woman turn around and offer to smack some bloke in the face. I don't know what he had done but it seemed very OTT. We also made the mistake of momentarily stopping outside the ladies during load out. As the door opened a very mad (in every sense of the word) lady shouted at us for stopping outside a doorway. We'd only stopped momentarily and it was purely coincidence that she'd opened the door as we stood there. She started screaming about it being an entrance (we'd already immediately moved and apologised) before she added very loudly that she only had one eye. I felt the evening was starting to take a surreal turn so we made our excuses and left. We played well, overcame the technical problems, met some great people and encountered one or two characters. Business as usual in a small Wiltshire town.

Well not a huge audience last night, about 35, but most of them came to see us and quite a few were local musicians. Had some of our best feedback ever 'the dog's bollocks' was one memorable judgement. We were very relaxed and played pretty loosely, Alex changed a few arrangements on the fly and I was in the mood for a bit of improvising. A bass player said 'I liked your solo on Bright Lights' - it wasn’t a solo, I just couldn't remember the (very simple) bass riff...

Squier Mustang project bass! I have been into short scale basses for a good few years now as I am getting older and have a trapped nerve in my shoulder often using them instead of my long scales as they are lighter and give an easier reach to the lower frets, all are active, a Spector Bantam and two Sector Shorty basses so my Squier CV Mustang had remaind virtually unused. It played and sounded really good with a low action and the neck stayed reliable and in tune but I got used to the tonal variety and power that comes with active basses. As I had a pair of EMG HZ pickups and Tone Pump preamp lying around I decided on a bass project. The preamp is in a route under the pickguard, battery box on the back and jack socket moved to a plate on the side to make way for the extra knob position. Routing was done by my excellent friend Terry Goodchild and is a fabulous job, everything fitted great! The wiring is a seriously tight fit under the chome plate but it works really well, I may revisit it at some point. Changed the plastic knobs to Chrome to finish it off, fresh strings and set up properly to my liking with a seriously low action, it is a really powerfull little beast! and it sounds great! All I had to pay for was the battery box and side jack plate so a really cheap project that has given me a bass that suits me better.

Played at our monthly residency with the acoustic duo in Beverley again today, The Sun Inn. Horrible weather when we arrived at 4.30pm, and not very busy. However,by the time we started at 5.30pm it was getting comfortably full, and we started our first of three sets with a good handful of requests. These included ‘Piano man’, ‘Substitute’, ‘Love the one you’re with’ and unusually ‘anything by Boz Scaggs’ so we did ‘We’re all alone’ which I’ve never played before but is a great song. Had a few friends in, including one of The Beautiful South - fortunately no requests for any of their stuff from the audience as could have been rather embarrassing. Finished the last set off with Albert Lee’s ‘Country Boy’ at breakneck speed - don’t know how my guitarist mate can play it like that. Packed down and still heavy rain outside so got wet loading the van, but overall a very pleasant gig ( after our last one there being rather mad just before Christmas.) Nothing now till next weekend in Scarborough, when the bad weather will hopefully have subsided.

First gig of the year last night, it was a late one where we stopped playing at 12.40, new venue to us and thought it might be quiet just after Christmas, it turns out it was very busy and a lot of folk up dancing in our third set. Started loading out about 1am and realised it was snowing heavily, the cars totally covered in snow, the journey home up the A1 was horrendous, hardly any traffic so the snow had covered the dual carriageway so bad it was difficult to navigate what lane you were in, plus the snow coming down at the windscreen always makes your eyes feel funny.

Seven piece swing/jazz band gig yesterday afternoon for a 90th birthday party for a very lively 90 year old lady. Probably 50 in attendance, they drifted in and out and most were of a certain age (three were 90 or older) and a few danced and they all seemed to enjoy our music, mostly big band charts from the lady's birth in 1935 into the '60's. The band has existed for about 8 years and for the first time we used two subs (deps in your part of the world), one to replace the trombonist who was ill and the other to fill in for the drummer who had family commitments. Both are outstanding musicians and excellent readers who sight read the 40 or so songs we played with no problems, and some of the charts are quite challenging. It was a fun gig, basically a wallpaper music gig but we had applause after every song and went home happy with our performance. Unfortunately they had cleared away the buffet of sandwiches and finger food before we finished but at least coffee was available for the ride home. Usual Shen SB100 into our Bose PA with a Schatten Design mini preamp that only has a volume control but is really handy on a gig like this, wireless (NUX C-5RC) into the preamp and EQ on the Bose and great sound. A bit crowded on an 8x12 riser, I was on the riser behind the big music stand on the right, no room for the Hercules bass stand so it stayed on the floor between sets.

Here's my pair of short scale (30") basses - one with Kent Armstrong humbucker, the other one with a Tonerider precision pickup......

I've been a bit lax in here lately. Fewer gigs and some life stuff getting in the way... The last one of the year was supporting Ferocious Dog at Holfirth Picturedrome which is an awesome venue. I'm on drums and I've badly sprained an intercostal muscle or two, so was very apprehensive as I'd been resting for 2 weeks. The other guys all moved my gear for me which was most appreciated (normally I do most of the loading so the van was a right mess 🤣). I set up on the stage in front of the drum riser, which can often lead to cramped conditions but this is a big stage and my bass drum is very shallow. Sound check was great but I could feel twinges in my chest. It was a 50 minute set which seems very long for a support slot. The first 30 minutes went pretty well, but then the pain really started to kick in. I made quite a few mistakes in the last few songs. Thankfully the rest of the band were very understanding, and of course, no-one in the audience noticed. They were singing along in full voice and cheering at the end of every song.

Hi everyone, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you who have supported the site this year—whether by becoming a Supporting Member or purchasing tokens for the marketplace. Your contributions enable us to keep improving the site, reduce our reliance on advertising, and dedicate time to supporting our community. I mention this now because December typically sees a noticeable drop in revenue, and with the challenges many individuals and businesses are facing right now, I’m especially grateful to those of you who continue to renew your subscriptions. Of course, I also deeply appreciate everyone who visits the site, shares their knowledge, and offers support to others. A site like BC is only as valuable as the knowledge contained within the membership. So, thank you once again. I’ll be taking a bit of a BC break over Christmas and New Year, so I want to wish you all a relaxing, joyful time with your friends, family, and instruments 🎸. Cheers, Ped

Played our final gig for this year at the Sun Inn in Beverley yesterday. Arrived a tad late to find the pub absolutely rammed, with the landlord having to be on the door to restrict capacity - one out one in etc. We got the PA set up as quickly as possible, quick line check and a feed into the house system for the rear of the venue and then got cracking around 5.30pm, playing as many of the dozens of requests that we could. ( Although we’re normally an ‘acoustic duo’ I took my trusty Precision Lyte for this gig, knowing the volumes we needed to play at would probably have me battling feedback with my acoustic basses. Turned out I was right ). Plenty of Xmas stuff as you’d imagine, including ‘Fairy Tale of NY’ which involved some of the ladies in the audience doing Kirsty McColl’s parts, thank goodness! We’d also arranged for a few friends to get up and sing a song with us, something we rarely do. First up was a local guy who sang the Ray Stevens version of ‘Misty’, then a friend who was celebrating his 70th who did ‘Mess of Blues’. During the 2nd set we had a mate do a great version of ‘Sympathy for the devil’ - he's recently left his band and sounded amazing - and then the landlord Paul sang ‘Wild Horses’ brilliantly and to deafening applause. Finally had another friend do Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ ( in the original key too!), and we were done. Although a few hours of mayhem, I still managed to enjoy the gig atmosphere despite having a bad case of man flu. Had lost my voice by the end though, and feel pretty crap today. Just hope I’m gig fit for tomorrow and NYE, playing at a hotel in Scarborough.

Not so much of a "gig last night" but today marks 35 years of playing live! With all the occasional rubbish that life throws at us all, it's been the one constant source of sanity. Across 16+ bands, several countries and several instruments (I reckon 80% of them have been on bass), it's been amazing. I'd be surprised if I manage a 2nd 35yrs and I definitely have reached a stage where I enjoy the small local pubs as much as the ones that sound more impressive. 22nd December 1989 was pretty woeful and I am so grateful we didn't have the internet but it will always be a fond memory because it set the wheels in motion for what was to come.

Late-notice stand-in with Dire Streets at Axminster Guildhall, having spent a day and a half getting back up to speed with a 2-hour set that I hadn’t played in a year (although I had done some more gigs with them on rhythm guitar). Excellent venue with great lighting and PA and a good-sounding room, plus nice green room with refreshments. Not a capacity crowd so the seats were set out to leave room for dancing in front of the stage, which plenty of people made good use of - more during Sultans of Swing than Private Investigations it’s fair to say! Got a compliment from the sound guy on my bass sound: '73 Precision > Origin Effects Cali76 Compact > Origin Effects Bassrig '64 Black Panel > DI to PA. I had been suffering some IEM angst over my Sennheiser XSW setup but it worked brilliantly last night. In the close-up pic I must be playing the solo run from after the last verse of Telegraph Road, as none of the other songs take me so high up the fretboard!

Last night's gig was at the Three Horseshoes in Charlbury. A rather nice pub, but the performance area is barely large enough for the band, no cards are accepted and it's pretty much drinks and crisps only. IIRC the landlord runs it as a hobby. The pub was empty when we started at 8:30 (the rumour was that the 7:30 lecture by the local gardening club had over-run a little) but soon filled up. There were even some Spanish tourists in addition to the locals. As usual, the jazz-adjacent long grooves seemed to go down well. Headroom was a bit of an issue...

100 Club on Sunday night supporting Ferocious Dog again. It's a very shallow stage but I managed to get my drums set up to the side of theirs. I do love playing here despite the challenging sound. The room is so thin, you get loads of FOH bouncing back off the wall. I am still seriously injured but the others moved all of my gear for me, which was most appreciated. The set went OK but I'm known to our fans as "the smiley drummer" and I was apparently smiling a lot less than usual. Our frontman embarrassed me by demanding sympathy from the crowd... but at least that meant they all knew not to squeeze my ribs right? Nope, two different fans asked for selfies and when I agreed they put their arm around me, grabbing me by the ribs and causing my to cry out in agony. Oh well!!! Here's my bright red kit looking cool AF next to Ferocious Dog's boring effort!

Last night was my second dep with a really good local band that has a guitarist in common with my main band - both power/operatic metal originals, ours a bit heavier with two guitars - theirs a bit lighter with guitar and keyboard. The first dep was an acoustic-ish birthday party set as they were missing drummer and bassist, so got me in to play a 50/50 mix of covers and their lighter originals. This one was another private party, but a full electric gig with only their bassist absent. It all looked like it might not happen as the planned venue had an unforeseeable problem so had to pull out at the last minute, but another nearby venue stepped in to host and it all went ahead just a short walk down the road. Then one of the bands pulled out of the gig as they were travelling in and didn't fancy the idea of getting stuck on the way back due to the weather - again, perfectly reasonable. So we ended up all taking longer sets, which is fine if you know the full back catalogue of the band due to being... well.. in the band, but I'd only learned one spare original so we ended up adding a cover that they recorded and released their version of during lockdown, and which I'd done acoustically at the previous gig so had no problem rocking back up. 45 minutes passed very quickly and I don't actually think I messed anything up. There were a couple of bits where somebody else came in early, and a missed cue for a guitar solo that resulted in another loop through the chords before commencing, both of which I spotted and adjusted accordingly. I wouldn't normally congratulate myself for such basic musicianship but they're original songs that move at a fair pace, so I was quite pleased not to get tripped up. I did forget to put in my earplugs for the first song, which was interesting as it showed me just how much top end detail the Doc's ProPlugs take away, and how I might like to have some of it back to a safe level. I shall have to try some different ones and see if there's something a bit better for me out there. The other bands on the bill were great and I was able to have a few drinks and enjoy them as we were opening the night and I was getting a lift. Got home just in time to see the snow start settling, so I reckon the band that decided it was a bad idea to travel 100 miles each way made the right call. Signal chain for the evening... Ibanez SR1105B -> [G30 wireless -> TU3 tuner -> Thumpinator -> MXR M87 compressor -> SansAmp BDDI v2] -> GK MB500 -> Blackstar house cab - might have been a Unity Elite 115C Tuner operated using a pair of Skechers Industrial Workshire boots - to say they're safety boots they make even moderately damp surfaces feel like well greased glass, but they're black and comfy.

NBD Ashdown Capri SS This is the new Ashdown Capri SS it has a different Pickup from the early promo photos which showed the E & G strings slightly out of alignment with the Pup pole pieces. This Pup is " Hand wound" (?) according to the promo description and it sounds really good. There's plenty of output and a great range of tones throughout the tone control min to max. The Pup is 11 inches from the 12th Fret which makes it at the mid-point between the SS sweet spot of 10 inches and the 12 inches of the SS Stingray. Very well put together, great finish, brass bridge pieces, reasonable tuners, no fret issues and a lovely satin roasted neck. Supplied without gig bag, no neck dive, nicely balanced very similar to my SS Jaguars. Very pleased to add it to the herd!!

Two days later I'm just about recovered from Mustang Sally's NYE gig in South Somerset so here's the report! Due to last-minute illness and domestic problems our usual 5-piece line-up was reduced to just three of us on the day before the gig - drums, bass+BV (me), plus electro-acoustic rhythm guitar+Vox, so no KB nor LG. I'd put a setlist together the week before to cope with having no LG numbers, but that all went in the bin once we found the KB guy wasn't going to be able to play either so no sax numbers, and no second lead vox. All a bit nerve-wracking, but the show had to go on... Luckily our lady singist cut her gigging teeth many years ago as a solo act (G+Vox), although very much in the Country/Irish/MoR pop vein. She sent me a list of the titles from back then she still felt confident in playing, from which I managed somehow to make up 2 x 60 minute sets using some of our standards as well. Many of her numbers had no keys against them - never mind, I said, you'll remember them once we start playing, just make sure I can see your fretting hand (although this involved me mentally transposing on the numbers where she used a capo!) Still, we got through and amazingly enough the punters loved it - maybe there's a takeaway there for us, a complete change of genre from our previous line-up where we played quasi-metal and hard-rock with an ex-stadium-rock gitrist... Oh yes, so what about my debut on BVs with this band? I've studiously managed to avoid doing BVs while playing with three other consecutive bands over the last 8 years, but needs must on the 31st, so I dropped a couple of VocalZone lozenges and went for it - a bit like getting back on a bike after years I suppose, I fell off a couple of times but once I got some decent foldback from our sound guy it went OK. Shame I suppose, as now the singist is thinking about us doing 3-part harmonies when the KB guy comes back! Mrs G came along with me, determined not to let her Parkinson's get in the way of a night out, but leaving home at 19:00, 100-mile round trip, and getting home at 02:30 was a long session especially for her - but she enjoyed herself and thankfully had none of her balance problems, largely thanks to kind people who helped her through the evening. So it's on to 2025 - next gig is near Minehead (North Somerset coast) on 25th January - another 100-mile round trip and new ground for the band, so let's hope for mild weather (the Exmoor area can be a bit wild in Winter) and a full band!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025 everyone. Hogmanay gig for BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam band in Airdrie working mans Club. Sold Out and according to the organiser its the first time they've ever sold out for Hogmanay. Left house 3pm, got there 4pm, doors open 7pm then found out we were not going on until 9:30-10:30pm then back on 11-11:45pm and then 00:15 to 00:30am ish to allow for the DJ to play some traditional old Scottish songs for the bells at midnight. We decided to mix with the audience at midnight rather than sit in changing room which turned out good fun with many wanting hugs and kisses from the band as well as pics. Band played well, no noticeable mistooks. During the 3rd song a woman came up to me and attempted to hand me a note while i was playing the chorus of Cat Crept In so my wee fingers are up and down the neck. Not sure how she expected me to take the note mid song but luckily the singer clocked it and came over and took the note requesting a song by Fleetwood Mac. This was a sold out, fully ticketed night with advertising and posters well in advance with the band on stage in full outrageous Glam gear so why would you make a request for Fleetwood Mac. ? Sometimes there are just moments during a gig where you wonder. We've been booked same gig next Hogmanay since 2023 so that's good. Other surprise was we got paid £100 more than the agreed fee for some odd reason. That was nice. Usual gear Sandberg VM4 into Keeley comp, Shure wireless, Mesa TT800 Boogie channel, Mesa 210/115 cabs. Packed up and on the road by 01:30am and home 02:30am. Quick coffee and biccie and bed. Dave

Not “bass” related as such but as we’re writing a new album for 2025 and I have been in a bit of a writing slump, I picked up this 2015 Gretsch Electromatic G5420T. It’s the first time I have bought myself an Xmas gift in a while but it already seems to be unlocking a bit of my writers block.

I blame Happy Jack for this. Just bagged a Wattplower II. Obligatory sofa pic. It's now wearing La Bella Mustang Flats and sounding huge. 7lb 9oz and effortless to play. Well chuffed.

Well, 2024, it's been a blast! Last gig of the year, playing with Nine Lives at the Kirkie Bar in Elgin. When we arrived we were shown to a rather small alcove which had a dirty big Christmas tree in the corner of it. Didn't throw a diva strop and worked around it - the sort of space that the drummer has to move cymbal stands out of the way in order to extricate themseves from behind the drumkit! Anyway, we managed to squeeze ourselves in and got going. Wasn't super busy but the folk who were there were into it and up for a dance. After the gig, we got a lot of nice comments from people, including wishing we had been the band the night before when it was apparently heaving - "Mad Friday" and all that. Guy behind the bar was very enthusiastic and expressed an interest in booking us again, so it looks like we passed the audition. 4 weeks of nothing now! It's been a good year - new singer has settled in well and we're very happy with both her performance and how she's fit into the band socially. 2025 to-do list - freshen up the set list with new songs! Gear used - the Epiphone gang - the Les Paul (not very) Standard followed by the Thunderbird '64.

Acoustic gig at The Harley Motor, 5:30-8:30. We're basically background music , however this is always a good gig. I'd say attendance was respectable. We had a few good moments. Daryl

Just back from a gig for a small company’s Christmas party in Beverley. Our acoustic duo played for them at a summer party last year, but this time we played as an electric three piece, adding a drummer. The gig was in an upstairs function room of a large pub, so it meant dragging all the gear up two flights of narrow stairs which was a pain, but plenty of space to set up with only 50 guests. Set up by 7pm so we went for a walk up the road to our regular venue The Sun Inn where some friends were playing and had a chat and a drink there. Our duo is playing there tomorrow afternoon, and it seemed to have a completely different feel to it on a Saturday night with lots of people milling around - maybe just the Xmas thing. Back to our venue and there was a Ska band setting up in the main room downstairs, but we didn’t catch them as we had to do our first set. It went well, got a few up dancing with some well chosen tunes. Second set went even better, with most of the guests on the dance floor. I was just winging it, my mate on guitar shouting out the songs, some of which we managed to join together to keep them dancing. Dep drummer was great, not too loud and good tempos. Company boss seemed very pleased with us, so may hopefully get the gig next year! Used a replica P-bass into my Rumble 500 combo. No pics of the gig, just one as we finished soundchecking.

I was home by 6 00. It was -3°. Sunday afternoon bar gig. Dep drummer, a good amount of dancing and lots of mistakes and sketchy endings. Good pay and good tips. My gear was functioning properly. I sat down at a table and spoke to some nice folks. I pretended I was famous.Sad 😔 Daryl

Pics as requested. I'm not the best at photography though I'm afraid. It's hard to capture the sparkle in stills. No neck dive. Tiny headstock and lightweight tuners. I was thinking about moving the strap button to the top horn as a personal preference but it seems to work well where it is for me at the moment. .

SUNDAY! There was a thing in the daytime first, I'll shout when I get to actual Last Night. The first outing was a Morris do (Morris haters (ie: anyone with any sense) close your eyes for a bit now, I'll tell you when you can open your eyes again). We (Beorma Morris (the answer to a question that nobody has ever asked)) had been invited to dance with the Witchmen (who are very well respected in the Morris world (and rightly ridiculed everywhere else)) along with five (?) other sides outside a pub (!) in Isham near Kettering (pronounced "Ket'rin"). Picked up Selly Oak's finest Japanese Trombonist, drove to Ket'rin in glorious sunshine, arrived to freezing cold, grey (gray?) skies and rain, stood round (outside, in the freezing cold and rain) watched idiots dance around, shout and clout sticks together for a bit, did a few dances (I didn't dance, I played Sousaphone but it was SOFJT's first ever public dance (she they dance as well as playing Trombone (and fiddle) but not at the same time)), questioned my sanity and life choices and complained about how cold it was. Quite a few people there, they enjoyed it, we were good (I found this out later, I can't tell), the rain eased off eventually and a good time was had by all (apart from the cold). Played the Sousaphone, wore New Rocks (Reactor 55s I think) and a kilt. All done, packed up, back to the car, heating on full, saw a garden with a full sized sleigh and two ghastly fibreglass Reindeer (I love a hideous christmas tableau), head off to Stratford (-upon-Avon) for the final gig of the weekend and year. Morris haters, open your eyes, we have finally reached actual last night. LAST NIGHT! The Sax Pistols at The Stratford Alehouse, Stratford (-upon-Avon)! Eight piece brass band (Two tenor saxes, alto sax, bari sax, trombone (SOFJT), drums, Sousaphone (me), BL alternates between trumpet and alto sax). Fantastic tiny little micropub, packed to the rafters when we got there, stage about the size of an EHX nano pedal so I had to stand in front of the door (!). I was still wearing my Morris hat and kilt when we arrived, it turns out (some of) the band have a (sort of) steampunk vibe anyway, so I just went with it. Very quick setup (I had to clear the stage to make enough room to get the Sousaphone out), pint of Stout (on the house!), all acoustic so no soundcheck or anything and then we were off. Opened with 'I wanna dance with somebody' and the full house absolutely loved it - it is a pretty impressive sound. We did a few carols in between the usual stuff, the BL was getting the audience involved ("Sing it for the baby Jesus!" sort of thing, hilarious), the drummer was brilliant (first time I've played with him), the BL is a fantastic player and proper lovely bloke, and the Trombone player (SOFJT) is just *superb* and really shines in that sort of lineup (funky pop tunes, do your own thing), harmonies, solos, countermelodies, joining me on Basslines... they're *such* a good musician, a real joy to play with. Went down a storm, I think most of the audience were friends of the band TBH but it was great to play a packed (if tiny) venue, and have a laugh with the audience between songs. (The place was so small and full, there was nowhere for me to park my pint, so I had to ask a woman right in front of me to loook after it and pass it over between songs. Hilarity ensued.) Played Sousy, wore animal print Converse. And a kilt. Highlights were the Trombone in 'Just a closer walk with thee' (Old New Orleans style hymn), the audience singing 'Sir Duke', the breakdown in 'Uptown Funk' and going for a walk into the audience in the last song - turned around to see the BL had joined me. Fantastic night and a really lovely last gig of the year.

Our last gig of the year and traditionally our biggest. That's me on mandolin & vocal, though I feel little shame as we had a very talented friend join us on double bass for the night.