Leaderboard

Two shows over the weekend. The first was in Bridgwater at The Cobblestones, supporting The LA Maybe from South Carolina. It was a 2hr drive each way and the roads weren't great but the show was good fun. Then my 80s Goth duo played in Bath at the St. James Wine Vaults as part of a Back to the Alternative 80s night with some friends' band. We road tested a 50/50 set of originals and covers, ahead of a studio session immediately after Xmas. That really was a contender for my favourite show of 2022. An old guitarist friend I worked with came down and I think it was the first time he'd seen me play since the mid 90s. A lovely surprise and he's normally very critical - his assesment was simply "that was much more enjoyable than I thought it'd be". We nailed each song and it all bodes well for the EP getting finished next week. One show left of 2022. It's been great to be back out there so much more than 2021 and 2020.

Saw Band of Friends last week. Bass player Gerry McAvoy is one of my heroes and probably the biggest influence on my blues-rock playing style. He was listing places he'd played in Wales with Rory Gallagher and I shouted out that I saw them in Aberystwyth on my 19th birthday. Then this happened!

Played a private party on Saturday in a barn in Somerset. They had somehow created enough heat in there to keep us from freezing and despite a coughing singer and flu ridden drummer we kept them up and dancing. Then last night had a Bandeoke in Wantage which was loud, fun and occasionally hilarious with some excruciating 'singers' who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket nor could they remain in time. At present I only have three more gigs this year but so many bands are cancelling due to the lurgy we may get lucky and pick up some more.

Help Me Rhondda - The Beach Boys

Just got back home from the last show for us this year. Great gig. Really enjoyed it. Brilliant way to round off the year. Very much looking forward to 2023. Bring it on.

Final gig of the year for us and could have been a wipeout due to technical issues with the mixer, which meant the band started very stripped back and, in particular, without any bass - as we've always played this small, somewhat cramped, venue without backline putting everything through the PA. But we managed to fix the problem and my bandmates were then very much more appreciative of having a bass in the mix, after experiencing the sound of a full band without one for the first time! https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmTuWIlDjvN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link We got a couple of birthday party invitations off the back of the gig, so I guess all's well that ends well! Happy Christmas all!

Hasn't arrived yet but here's a taster...

Hurtsfall played on Sunday in Sheffield on the final day of the "In The Black Midwint2r" festival. We were on first in the evening after a short break from the afternoon bands, which mean that we got a proper sound check which definitely helped with getting the mix right. Second outing for our new and improved backing control which allows me to run everything from a foot pedal which is used to start each song and then run a macro which closes the current song and loads the next one in the set. Now I'm satisfied that it works as intended we'll probably shift the computer to a less obtrusive place on stage for subsequent gigs. Also I've now got all my Helix Preset and Snapshot changes controlled by the backing track which means I can concentrate on playing without needing to worry about hitting the correct footswitch at the correct time in order to change sounds, which has resulted in a significant improvement in my on-stage performance. There was a proper photographer in attendance so there should be some decent photos up later on, but in the mean time here's something taken by an audience member...

My year-end board iteration

I'm sure I'm not the only one....

The BlondiPop was packed last night. Allot of engaged young folks which was great. The 21 year olds are not usually into live blues / rock. We even played " Rockin Around The Christmas Tree" completely off the cuff. Fun night. Next gig is New Years Eve at The Barley Pop in Germantown. Happy Holidays guys. Blue

True, financially, but spiritually rich beyond belief. I read somewhere recently about a guy complaining to his mentor or mate that he wasn't very good at his hobbies/pastimes. Playing an instrument, art, sport etc. His mate countered "You dont need to be great at something you love, the fact you do these things, and the experiences they have given you, make you rounder as a human and make you more interesting." I will settle for that.

I picked up this rather nice Peavey USA made TL-Six today. For a 30ish year old bass, it's in immaculate condition - no marks anywhere except a teeny tiny little scuff on the very tip of the headstock, other than that, you could pass it off a new. It needed a near full 360 turn of the truss to take out the relief in the neck and the Kahler bridge wasn't very well spaced, I've moved it to 17mm spacing. All in, a rather tasty beast in fairly astonishing condition! Came with all the original case candy and the original hard case too.

Saturday night at a pub in Staffordshire, upstairs dedicated to live music. We'd sold 75 tickets in advance so that was decent. Tight stage but big enough, took the full rig and needed it as monitor sound was devoid of any bottom end through DI so needed something to flap my trousers. Note the wall near to my headstock, managed to whack my headstock off it and detune the A string just before I needed it, had to just go silent for a couple of bars and quickly sort 🙄.

She's Having My Baby - Paul Anka

Not too shabby on Saturday. Was a bit of a last minute booking a couple of weeks ago. We were meant to be playing in a different local pub, but it was double booked to due to a change of management, so they found us a slot in another local - better for me, as it was a 5 minute drive from my home, but not as big a venue. The place was rammed when we arrived. Great! But then it was a bit of squeeze of us to fit in our designated space - just enough room for the drum kit in the performance area. I eventually ended up right in front of the drums with roughly 2 square feet to stand in. The two singers had to stand between and in front of the PA speakers, so we was plagued with low end feedback numerous times. Unfortunately there was a pool table in front of us off to one side that wasn't possible for it to be moved, which meant valuable dance floor space was being taken up (not to mention one of the singers nearly the butt end of cue in his face at one point). Me and one of the other singers (dep again*) have been getting over heavy colds since the last gig a couple of weeks ago (or possibly covid, according to the positive test I did). Her voice held out better than mine. I was so congested I could feel the air trying to escape from my ears! Vocalzones and a hip flask full of single malt got me through the night, even though I was ready for bed after the first set. One of the guitarists who doubles on keyboards was on crutches after a foot operation about 10 days ago. This was semi-planned for, so we just had to load in his gear, help him set up and he wedged himself into a corner on a stool and pretty much stayed there all night. Fortunately, he had prepared by figuring out how to control his helix over midi via bandhelper. I think I might explore the same solution. I could potentially tuck my helix away somewhere if I don't need to changes sounds during a song. Overall, we had a good night. The pub is one of those ones that people go to on the way to somewhere else. But we brought a small crowd with us for the night and it stayed busy the whole evening with people singing and dancing most of the evening. *Oh, and we had the same dep singer from 2 weeks ago in place of our usual lady singer who's been hit by a nasty flu virus for a few weeks. This young lady (young enough to be one of our daughters) did a sterling job, and sung the balls off of "All I want for christmas" and "Proud Mary". I really wish at least one of these was filmed. She even got a group of people chanting her name at one point after blasting out 'You've got the love'. Videos on our facebook page. Redonizm. Yeah, it's the usual overplayed cheesy nonsense, but if people dance to it, we'll continue to play it.

Played my final gig before paternity leave this weekend. Very odd feeling to not have any gigs for the next couple of months! Gig was great, venue was packed which was brilliant :). Haven't had more than a few weeks off of gigging since I was about 16 so this will be a very very strange time for me!

Mostly by channelling my inner Scottish frugality - "I'm nae paying that!" and staying the F away from eBay and the sale forums here. Lego also helped pass the time and soothe that need to collect something. That and a very generous wife gifting me a bass in August to assuage the withdrawl symptoms

The old Bull: And the young calf... (snapshot taken from the Status website for comparison - i don't own this bass)

…. so after I nearly bought my 9th Pedaltrain board (yup, I have a few 😳) I had a realisation I probably have too many. The Nano + is around £50 new now, I saw the D’Addario XPND 1 board for £70 and thought (well apart from not coming with a bag) it looks good AND it would mean I could sell my Pedaltrain boards (after also getting the XPND 2 for home use only!) to pay for it. So I took the plunge and it arrived yesterday. Apart from having to use Velcro (and not Dual Lock) the board is very well made (requires some minor assembly) and it expands (or contracts depending 😁) for your pedal whims. I have a fair selection now from my amassed pedal army, so hopefully it’ll be quick change arounds due to: a. Not really caring about being so neat as I always find I change things after 5 mins. b. Having large swathes of Velcro on the board, so no new individual Dual Lock needing to be cut etc, just place, power and patch and you’re away 👍🏼 c. Having the ability to put on pedals I actually want, rather than NEEDING to fill those awkward gaps 🤯. If all goes well in the New Year some Pedaltrain boards will be finding their way to the BC Merry Go Round lol.

The bass is light. It's my heart that is heavy!

Must be heavy, though. His legs are buckling!😂

As you know it Russ, I own a first generation TL-Six in not such an immaculate condition: amazing basses indeed.

Yep I’ve made no serious money from music but the experiences I’ve had through learning how to play a musical instrument are invaluable, wouldn’t trade them at all.

In the salubrious surrounds of Birkenshaw Liberal Club. Set 1 wasn't great, but Set 2 was killer. Got to try out my new (to me) Barefaced Two10S and it's looooovely.

Fun evening playing at one of our regular village hall haunts for somebody's 70th birthday party on Saturday. After the usual rigmarole getting our frontman's crappy pedalboard / mixer thing working properly (one of these days, it *will* be getting accidentally run over in the car park... ), we finally finished soundchecking just in time before folks started to arrive. The onstage sound left a bit to be desired with every B and C seeming to boom out, but this wasn't replicated in the FOH sound so shouldn't really grumble too much. Anyway, the original plan was for us to do 45 minutes after the buffet, then another 45 minutes after the cake-cutting, but we were asked if we could do a few tunes before the buffet as the chips were still cooking, so we ended up doing our first three songs then taking a break while the buffet was served. Post-buffet (and very nice it was too... 😋 ) we picked up where we left off, adding an unplanned song plus the first song from the second set to fill the time until the cake-cutting. Once the cake was cut and the speeches had been made, we then unleashed the rest of the second set and got a few folks up and dancing. Mr Singer went slightly off-piste with one arrangement, while Mr Lead Guitar came up with a couple of *interesting* solos as he was apparently struggling to hear what he was doing, but apart from one table who were giving us snarky looks all night (while still tapping their feet... 🤨 ) everybody seemed to enjoy the evening. Next gig is a wedding bash on Wednesday evening - apparently the groom likes what we do, hence booking us, but quite how a bunch of country-rock songs mostly based around failed love affairs will go down at a wedding remains to be seen. We have already taken the precaution of dropping "Dead Flowers" and "It's All Over Now" from the set... 😁

Last gig of 2022 for us was a Xmas Glamtastic night at The Dreadnought in Bathgate. Place was full with dancers from the word go. Very pleased with the band and the gig was just great fun. Guy that reviews the bands in this venue (Alex Hastings) posted a nice review this morning so i'll leave it at that. The weekend before Christmas in the Dreadnought, Bathgate needed a Christmassy themed band, and it got one in the guise of Blockbustarz, a tremendous in your face Glam Rock classic covers band. From the off you couldn't get moving for big hair, big platforms, sparkly tops and tinsel! We had Sweet, T Rex and The Rollers to get things moving... Before you knew it we had Cats Creeping In , Cans Canning , Little Willies, (oo er missus) and people Getting it On... Let It Snow (the theme song from Die Hard) had me on the lookout for a white vested Bruce Willis lookalike... Mama We're All Crazy Now had the punters bouncing....Alvin Stardust had us Coo ca chooing, and Dynamite from Mud nearly blew the roof off the Dread! Rebel Rebel and Schools Out took us to the last two songs of the first set, The magnificent Crazy Horses from the Osmonds (tune!) and the mighty Hellraiser from Sweet...! As the band, Mike Michaels (singer/guitar/big hair), Colin Whittit (lead guitar/bigger hair), David McCombe (bass/even bigger hair!), Barry Haywood (drums/ no hair comment/very glittering pork pie hat though) and Lynn Ainslie (singer/ her own long hair) took a well earned rest it was good to look around and see an almost full Dreadnought. Waterloo from Abba (sung expertly by Lynn) got set 2 underway.. Next we had Teenagers Rampaging, and my favourite from back in the day Tell Him by Hello which led us into I Love Rock and Roll (who doesn't?). More T-Rex in the form of Children of the Revolution, the terrific Rocket from Mud and the Jean Genie from Bowie kept the 'doon the front' dancers happy. Next up was I Love to Boogie (and most people agreed as they all indeed did boogie!).. The all time classic of all time I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday had the audience in full on singing mode. This magnificent song was followed by Suzi Quatros Devil Gate Drive, T Rexs Hot Love, Spirit in the Sky from Norman Greenbaum and the Time Warp (Where's Brian Chizzmeister Chisholm when you need him?) We now had the last four songs and everyone was a cracker... Tiger Feet had everybody practicing their 'That's Neat ' fancy footwork moves, Blockbuster had us 'not having a clue what to do'.. Merry Christmas Everybody from the magnificent Slade brought the biggest sing along of the night (as you'd expect!) and the tartan was out for the last song of the night, Shang a lang from The Bay City Rollers... A fantastic night of over 30 songs and 2 hours of energy from the tremendous band was at an end... What an effort lads (and lass), take a bow and a well deserved lie down.. Once again it had been great to see so many people in attendance and to personally see some 'well kent' faces... Top marks to everyone involved in putting on such a great night.. Big Hastie over and out from the House of Glam for the night , the Dready...

Ok... A rant. sorry.... I was a member of TalkBass. You're all probably familiar with it. I posted a factual observation and was banned. I attacked no one. I simply relayed the findings of a specific amp. I was playing a gig with backline provided and was given an amp the should by all standards have rocked. It didn't. In fact, it bit the big hairy wet one. An 810! 600 watt stack that just sucked. I had a 212 with a Mesa Subway head in the car that would put this stack to shame. Anyway. Banned. So much for free speech in America. I was sent an email giving me the option to beg to be let back in. I chose to come here. I will endeavor to be respectful. I am a professional Bass player. Gig 3 to 5 shows every week and 2023 is fully booked. I own a "lot" of equipment. And I have gained a lot of experience in the music industry in the last 3 years. I feel sites like TB as well as BC should be open to experiences that we encounter. And if it's a bad one. Especially one that repeats itself, sharing these can help others be better prepared when they find themselves faced with them. Of course, the good should be shared as well. And when we find something that can help others, I feel we should share this. So, I hope I'm welcome here. I am willing to share my experiences. We are currently looking at a national tour next year. My first with a national act. Don't know when it will start or who we will be opening for yet. But mystery gives life flavor. Sorry. Rant over.

Really liking the HB Deluxe though only used it at home as it's a kind of backup for the backup gig bass. The lack of p'up selector switch remains the only thing I can fault but the tone pot gives a good range so perfectly useable as is. Massive value for money and as good as anything else I've tried in the <£500 range. Removed the bottom 'mushroom' strap button in favour of a Dunlop flush strap-lock to make it fit (just) in a nice Gator hard case (Jag IIRC) I already have.

Some years ago @Silvia Bluejay and I did a tour of the Fodera workshop in Brooklyn. Silvie wrote it up afterwards, but I can't remember where it was published. They're lovely people, it's a very nice production facility, they make great basses. I had my choice of them all to noodle on for an uninterrupted hour, which I took full advantage of. I could have bought one had I really wanted it, but none of the ones I played made me think I couldn't live without it, which rather surprised me. I've had basses by Alleva Coppolo and especially by Mike Lull which were far more my cup of tea. My experience has always been that it's individual basses I fall for, rather than brand names or reputations. On that same New York trip I played a Warwick Jack Bruce Custom (and yes, that really did exist) which I confidently expected would be complete pants (I hate Warwicks), and it just blew me away. I also played a Fender Custom Shop Dusty Hill Precision which was just ludicrously overpriced at US$6000 or something, and Silvie had to pry it out of my hands and frogmarch me out of the shop. Don't you know you never can tell ...

They lose a little 'something' tonally, though...

We did it as a encore at our gig on Saturday and it was very well received. When I was learning it I was surprised at how much fun the bassline is to play.

Newly acquired matching Aqua NG3, with optional white pg. Gigged it Saturday and it was 👌. The D-Roc is taking a slight back seat, but they're different enough that having both is totally reasonable and i'm sure they'll rotate evenly. (Orange NG2 sold to pay for this)

I think I've said this at some point in the past - I love the sound of Stingrays but the only way that I can get the Stingray sound live is with a Sterling. I just can't get as much growl and punch with a regular Stingray unless it's a ceramic pickup SR5. I bought this a few weeks ago - Sterling HH with matching headstock

Stig Pedersen has some, er, interesting basses 🤣 Wouldn't want one myself but I do like them, especially the iPhone bass which displays the audience as he's playing 😎

This is my Guild Byrds Starfire - I took recording last weekend and it ended up on 7 out of 8 live recorded tracks - I was expecting to be using the P mostly but the Starfire sounded so good. I absolutely love it. Smooth and deep but cuts through nicely

Double header , Friday and Saturday night at Trading boundaries in East Sussex with No jacket required Phil Collins tribute. Great venue and atmosphere.we do these every year about this time, punters have a sit down meal etc and we come on after the food is done, generally about 9.30pm. Played both my WAL 5,s different one per evening. Really enjoyable. Happy Christmas everyone xx🥰

Here's mine - a 2006.

Last gig of the year last night in the Rusty Nail in Aberdeen. There was a 60th birthday party in and they were very musically open minded, up for dancing to most things and singing along if they were sitting it out. A joy to play for. Cake at half time too which they shared with us - bonus! Had a blast, not one but two "one more tunes" (quick look over at the landlord for the second one, and he nodded his assent), very warm feedback at the end. An excellent end to the year. Home for a dram before bed. Tidy!

This Saturday Night 12/17 Maple Road @The BlondiPop 8:30 West Bend WI I'll let you guys know how it goes. Only a 5 minute commute. We're all set up and we did our sound check early.The BlondiPop is an old very small Church converted into a club. Blue