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Hey gang! A couple of years ago I played two shows at Newcastle Arena, as part of the house band for Sunday for Sammy. It was lots of fun - two sell out shows of 5,000 each, and I got to play with the likes of Trevor Horn and Ralph McTell. Here's the last diary thread if you're interested. With it being a biennial thing, the time has come around again: 23rd February is the date - afternoon and evening shows, and a slightly larger crowd (7,000 at each show, I think). The shows have basically become a Tyneside equivalent of the Royal Command Performance, with music and comedy lots of local slebs (the Auf Wiedershehen Pet cast, etc.), visits from AC/DC's Brian Johnson, Mark Knopfler amongst others, and more 'national' faces (hence Trevor Horn, Ralph McTell). This is the 10th show in 20 years, and the second to be held at the Arena after 16 years at Newcastle City Hall. It's a HUGE production, which is also shot for DVD release. By nature of the show, plans can be a bit liquid which means it can get interesting, so I'm going to post a diary sort-of thing here as it all unfolds. To complicate things, the line-up is top secret until the last minute so I can't post any details of the show, songs, or names of guests. Apologies in advance. The core band for 2020 is largely the same as 2018 - Bass, drums, guitar (John Ashton, who worked with Arctic Monkeys and The Last Shadow Puppets), 3x female BVs (Including Lorraine Crosby, who duetted with Meat Loaf on 'I'd Do Anything for Love', brass section (headed up by John Waugh from The 1975). One change to the line-up is that Jamie, the usual keys player and MD, isn't available so Alan Clark (Dire Straits) is taking the reins. The band don't exist outside of these shows - I play with the drummer and other sax player occasionally, but that's it. With 3 weeks to go, I'm aware of 13 songs that are in the frame, in keys that are subject to change. I've familiarised myself with them already - some I knew, some I didn't. No nightmares so far. One of the tunes might even need a bit of slap on it. I'd better remind myself how to do that. What I don't know is any specific arrangements... yet. We've got a solid week of band rehearsals before the show, so I'll post more updates & pics etc. when it begins to happen. In the meantime, here's little video from the last gig, and a photo of my little bit of the stage.

Just keep buying more expensive bits of kit; you'll become numb to the guilt eventually.

Here's my latest addition, a 2010 Standard in Lake Placid Blue. I was really lucky with this one. It was bought off eBay so you never know what you're going to get, but the body is almost immaculate (just 2 tiny knocks) and the truss rod works perfectly. There was an issue with the jack when it arrived, but the seller refunded me a few quid off so I went ahead and ordered the obligatory KioGon loom 😁 Mods include the aforementioned KioGon Loom, tort guard, rolled fretboard, fine-sanded neck (now glass smooth) and shim to get the action super low. A deep polish, a fretboard soak in lemon oil and she's as good as new. Plays really nice, sounds really good, looks fantastic. Happy days! 😁

I've gone through the same process of having expensive gear but then finding that I'm just as happy with cheap and cheerful gear. 3 years ago my 4 gigging basses would have cost between £1000 and £1500 new, 3 of which were bought new. Then a wrist injury forced me to move exclusively to short scale basses. A few months of chopping and changing later and I now have 4 short scales that I was gigging before leaving my band a few weeks ago. Of these the cheapest was a used Ibanez that I paid £50 for (and it's a cracking bass in its own right too) and the most expensive was around £600. But my favourite bass at the minute, indeed one of my favourite basses I've ever owned in more than 30 years of playing cost less than £150 new. Admittedly it's had some hardware upgrades and new pots, but even they don't add up to more than another £50 on top. The neck just feels right in my hands, the sound is great, it resonates brilliantly and best of all I found that I wasn't precious about it on more rowdy gigs. This is a bass that gives me as much, if not more, of a buzz than basses costing 10 times as much. And there's an additional satisfaction from playing it and getting disapproving looks from the cork sniffing muso brigade! These days with precision machinery and manufacturing techniques there are some truly fantastic inexpensive basses around, stuff that performs as well as basses costing many times more. Obviously there's still some lower quality basses at the bottom end of the market, but over the years I've played a few duffers with 4 figure price tags too. Which leads me to conclude that the price of a bass is only ever indicative of its cost. Nothing more. There's good and bad at all price points.

I just bought myself one of the Fender Vintera Mustang basses to add to my selection. It's the first short scale instrument I've owned, and it's fun to use. I find myself playing more "busily" than I would on a standard scale length bass. When I got the bass, the Pau Ferro fingerboard looked pretty dry and anaemic. So, Ioosened off the strings and set about dressing the fingerboard. I scraped the board with a single edged razor blade to smooth off any raised grain in the wood, then buffed the board with super fine steel wool. The next stage was to apply lemon oil. This was left on the wood overnight to really soak in to the pores. In the morning I wiped off any excess left over. The end result is a board which now looks dark and lustrous, and feels super smooth to the touch. I've also received a set of medium scale La Bella flatwound strings to use (I got medium scale as short scale strings would only be usable on top loading short scale basses. The Vintera has the traditional "through body" stringing, so needs a slightly longer string length to accommodate this). I've also got a Nordstrand NM4 to use if I want (I mat also fit a couple of solid shaft CTS pots too, and a switch craft jack - just because I have a few unused ones in my "bass bits" stash at home. Oh, and the Hipshot lollipop tuners that come with the Bass are very cool!! Fingerboard - before, and after.

I found back a photo of my original Rybski fretless totally handmade in Poland and dated on the 4th of August 1987...

What kind of attitude is that? This place'd be a wilderness within a week if we all thought like that... 😀

Twerp

Have you thought of setting up a "go fund me " page ? They are very trendy I believe ;you might be able to afford a decent practice amp then. I'd send in a couple of bottle tops and a pack of 51 playing cards to help raise funds......I lost the 7 of clubs down the back of the sofa

'Might have been you'??? F^*£ me, you fold easily under cross examination! 😄 You could ask for a second opinion from @skankdelvar 's lawyer -- but be careful. He sued my mum's bungalow (and contents) off me for 'looking at him in a funny way'. 😬

Flea’s line on ‘sir psycho sexy’ is a tone to chase: and also an honorary mention to the wah solo on ‘Coffee Shop’: and I’ve always been partial to Sleeper’s ‘Sale of the century’

A bad gig is a paid rehearsal at the very least, and if you're part of a band, then a night out with your mates. A good gig is a cool experience as a musician, and if its a paid gig so much the better. Both are better than not doing it.

I started off on the cheap stuff as you do, and as I got older and had more disposable income I acquired expensive gear. All of that’s now gone, and I’m currently using Squier, MIM and self built / modded basses, which I gig regularly. My view is that they’re tools to do a job, and a £300-400 bass will do that job perfectly adequately for me, so that’s all I need.

Carrrrrrrrllllllll.....

The plan was to visit Mark and the boys at Bass Direct to try and buy a US Lakland Jazz they have advertised. That was the plan. What happened was, well, basically my head got turned by a spotless 2011 4003 in my favourite colour scheme and once I plugged it in and heard that Ric "fizz" it was only ever going to finish up one way. The Lakland was lovely but left me feeling completely underwhelmed. It was a gorgeous piece of work and the build quality was superb, but I just didn't feel anything from it. It was (as they say) me, not the Lakland. I need to change the strings but it's a real beauty and fills a gap I didn't know needed filling in my collection. All in all, a worthwhile trip.

Volute anyone?

Dr Mondeaux > Teebs

My blues rock trio are playing at the Bull in Colchester this Friday - first time there. Why not treat 'The Wife' to a romantic night of wailing guitar solos?!

It's been done!

I still think a toilet seat would be nice.

I can't understand this hair shirt mentality of feeling guilty that you have nice things that you actually use. I admit that I have occasionally rolled my eyes when hearing about certain guys who used to be on here who had tens of thousands of pounds of gear, but have only ever played three gigs or so. However, if you are doing two paid gigs a month, then you are certainly justified in owning a few expensive / genuinely nice basses, etc. A bass player who plays with some friends of mine paid nearly £4k for a 4 string Alembic 25 years or so ago. He has gigged it pretty much every month since then, so it certainly doesn't owe him anything. It sounds great and has the added bonus of people like me remembering him as 'the guy with the Alembic', even before I had ever met him! He could have bought something much cheaper, but why should he? He knew that he was always going to get his money's worth from it. If you are going to worry about such things, then don't fall victim of GAS and spend money on gear you are not going to use. But for me, its always worth investing in the best gear you can afford if you are going to use it regularly...

Cheers, we played on Saturday night in London (The Cavendish Arms, nr Vauxhall). Debuted a few new songs including two originals and a couple of covers (Dylan's Dont think twice and Carter family's No Depression) Loving the Mustang still

I sense I'm passed 'peak gear' (famous last words!) helped by being on the Gear Abstinence Challenge 2020! I think gear falls into 2 categories: - stuff we 'use' and that includes both home use or use for gigging; - stuff that we simply enjoy having i.e. 'collectables'; and if these give us pleasure and we can afford it then why not? No different to any other pleasure giving hobbies / pastimes e.g. vinyl records, foreign holidays etc IMO pretty arrogant for gigging bass players, me included, to say that one use, gigging, has more value than another e.g home use, right? I have a couple of collectables that don't get used that much, a Ken Smith and a BBNE2, but I love having them both; and some gear that I have hardly used to date (basically a number of pedals, but a couple of specialist basses in that mix too) with good intentions to get around to using when time permits! Most of my kit I've managed to pick up in very good used condition and should hopefully retain their value. But I know that ALL of my gear gives me immensely more pleasure than cash sitting in a building society account earning virtually no interest. So any guilt? None.

Nope. I've not owned "cheap/beginner/average" gear since I was in my school band and buying gear from the money I made on Saturday and summer jobs. I believe we should always buy the best gear our budget can afford. IMO the price is the least important part of an instrument. Find a good bass, one that feels and sounds better than your current bass, then if the price is right, buy it. I play all my gigs, whatever the money, with a couple of rrp £2500 - £3000 basses and I don't see anything odd or wrong in doing that. If my budget fell off a cliff I'd carry on with a Sire, Squier etc, but there's no bragging points in cheap or expensive basses. You just need to play the best one for you. The one that makes you sound as good as you can be.

For me it's a no. My Shuker's were custom made for me, so when I play anything else it doesn't feel the same or as good. I bought them to play so I gig them regardless of the gig

Very sorry to hear this sad news. I was never particularly a Budgie fan, but well aware of the bands and musicians they influenced. I was playing an open mic night in Cardiff a couple of years back, with a singer-guitarist pal and our mate who's a drummer It went pretty well, and our singer went & sat down next to an old bloke sat watching us, started chatting away. Turns out, it was Burke, and I hadn't recognised him He said "well played lads" "Really enjoyed your mini set". We had a chat, and our guitarist had actually played with him several times before Burke was a really decent sort of guy - not at all a sufferer of "rock star syndrome", no sense of self importance or ego Hope he carries on for as long as possible - really hope he can get chance to record those unheard Budgie songs

If that were James Jamersons Bass there would be a lot of people banging on about how “the gunk makes the funk”.

I have mentioned My love for Budgie and Burke Shelley in particular on here many times over the years. I first saw them in1973 and bought all their albums for many years...lost track a bit in the '90s and didn't keep up with collecting their releases but always loved to hear from them. Good luck Mr Shelley, thank you for the music and more importantly, thank you for inspiring me to play bass..... You will always be my hero.

If i was to use the Fishing Gear analogy here,this also applies to Guitars.With fishing Tackle a large segment of the gear is designed to catch the angler as well as the fish,I think to a certain degree the same could be said about Guitars and music gear in general,but then you knew that already didn't you.

Buy what you like, can afford and what you enjoy. What matters most is that you make music with it.

Was his name Carl ??

I'm in 😄 1. @Frank Blank’s (mostly) Acoustic Corner - Godin A4, fretless Rob Allen Mouse, ACG Harlot SC, Ibanez SRC6. QSC K12.2, Helix Stomp. 2. @jebroad Dingwall, Squire silver jazz, schecter fiver, ashdown 8x10, whatever heads I can dig out 3. @Len_derby . Swift Lite bass. A couple of raffle prizes 4. @Andyjr1515 No idea what I'll be bringing bass-wise, but I'll definitely be bringing me (and maybe @Len_derby and maybe @SpondonBassed ?) 5. y. @Teebs Hinnocent 7. @Stub Mandrel's (Naughty Jama Corner) - Fender Flea bass, Fender performer plus surprise guest bass(es), Trace Elliot GP11 Mk. 11 1110 Combo, Joyo XVI - 8. @Richard R's (cheap bit on the side as all the corners are taken) - Brawley Artemis KB14 with steel strings,, EBS Session 60, possibly a bitsa to get some advice on, scales to weigh basses with, cake, something for the raffle,

I know, and I'm very sorry for you. 😌

I've used Axecaster and North West Guitars for parts, both directly and through Ebay. Good service from both in my experience. Just remember, Asian and US pots have a different number of splines and diameter. So you may need to buy matching knobs as well ....

Nip over the hill to Matamp in Meltham ?, Jeff Lewis owns and runs the place, ring him, maybe ? If you do go, let me know, depending on date and time, i might pop over to meet you.

An interesting theme that’s coming up on this thread is that Yamaha make incredible instruments. I think I may have to try one!

I am going through this right now, and my mind changes on almost an hourly basis. I recently acquired a fantastic custom shop P bass. This thing is incredible. But I also have a VM modifier Squier P bass which I put an Aguilar pick up and Kigon wiring loom in. So the CS is worth more that 10 times the Squier and I’m trying to justify keeping the CS. I love the bass, it is easily the best P bass I have played, but even though it sounds, looks & plays better than the Squier I still have the guilt about keeping it...The struggle continues.

In short, No. I could play any of the material of my current bands on 'entry level' 'budget' gear and no one will know or care - but I enjoy owning nice stuff, it makes going to work worth while.

+1 great idea - I've got a small shop-bought router table but it's too small for this kind of work, this setup looks way more flexible and a better use of space! 👍

Band members who borrow items of your gear once or twice, and then assume thats the norm instead of bringing/fixing/using their own.

That’s is sad, but I commend his decision. Burke is the Welsh Geddy in terms of voice and principal instrument. I do like me some Budgie.

Seven Facts From The Fascinating World Of Carls * Carl is derived from the Old English noun ceorl (a man, freeman, peasant) and encompasses more than one social rank. At least one shonky web site suggests that ceorl means 'bonded man' which is the exact opposite of a free man and therefore complete bollocks and pretty much what you'd expect from something called babynamefinder.com * Carl can be viewed as a shortened form of the name Charles. Alternatively, Charles can be seen as a lengthened form of the name Carl. Two kings of England and ten kings of France have borne the name Charles as well as sundry other European monarchic riff-raff including various Charles's who were kings of Hungary, Naples, Sardinia, and Wüttemberg, shïtholes like that, basically * A house carl (Old Norse: húskarl, Old English: huscarl) was a non-servile manservant or household bodyguard in medieval Northern Europe. The rank was applicable irrespective of the size of the household so a house carl could be a member of the household troops or bodyguard of a Danish or early English king or noble, and therefore something of a big noise around town. * The Germanic form of Carl (Karl) translates as meaning 'strong man', a possible linguistic link to the meaning of the OId English ceorl / huskarl where strength might be a pre-requisite for a household bodyguard, on the basis that the last thing you want between you and your ravening enemies is a mimsying cream-puff quoting romantic verse and dangling a floral pomander from his belt rather than a big f*cking knife. * Other European Carls include Carlos, Carlo, Karl. The name of the Spanish chef in TV's Crossroads was Carlos Raphael (sic). Feminine forms of Carl include Carla and the diminutive Carlita, generally associated with pouting Latina chickies in high heels and halter tops whereas the Russian Karla brings to mind baldy, woke thesp Sir Patrick Stewart in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy rather than a high cheek-boned icy Muscovite beauty with a useful line to people who can supply cut-price consumer electronics and Glock pistols * Carlism is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – on the Spanish throne and therefore of no interest to anyone outside the Iberian peninsula. * Famous musical Carls include drummer Carl Palmer, rock 'n' roll pioneer Carl Perkins, singer Carl Wayne out of Brum Beat band The Move and composer Carl Orff best known for his piece Carmina Burana which is very famous but gets on some peoples' tïts the way it bangs on relentlessly like a f*cking steamroller with a wonky wheel.