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It was a total giggle! We were booked for a fancy dress party for some, well fans of the band I guess. The theme was Icons. So apart from 5 George Michaels, 6 Freddie Mercurys, 3 Slashes, 3 Elvis (what's the plural there?) and an equal number of Amy Winehouses (and lots of others of course) I'm happy there was only one me. A bass player? An icon? I had no other option!

Had been a bit anxious about numbers last night. We started a bit late as had to wsit for the first half of Tonga vs Ireland to end. Felt a bit empty but rapidly filled up, one of the rugby fans who went into the lounge abandoned the match and came to see us instead. In the end we had a really good turnout. Really enthusiastic crowd with lots of dancing - we aren't really a dance band but did a few up tempo songs. Good feedback, including from the singer of the new band I've started up who hadn't seen us before. What was really nice is we are starting to get people coming from further afield to gigs just to see us instead of just a random audience.

Saturday with Hurtsfall at the Victoria Biker's Pub in Coalville. Second day of a two day Goth festival. Things were a bit chaotic when we arrived, two bands had dropped out - one cancelling with Covid, the other simply hadn't turned up and hadn't been in touch to say they were going to be late. For a moment it looked as though we were going to bumped to the less impressive looking outdoor stage, but in the end we played inside. After seeing the opening band have a really weedy sound that was all live instruments and almost no audible backing, I told the sound engineer that out backing should be treated like a real drummer and not a rhythm box and they didn't disappoint! Plenty of people dancing from the off and we made a load of new fans and sold CDs and T-shirts. Enjoyed all the bands especially Glass House Museum, She Made Me Do It with ex-Rachel Stamp guitarist Will Crewdson, and finally the mighty Auger. The night ended with a complete power failure on stage - sound and lights - during Auger's final song. Luckily it was "Oxygen" which most of us knew so we did a band and audience A cappella (with drums) version to the end. Obligatory photo of the gig: Next gig is in two week's time at the O2 Academy in Sheffield as part of the HRH Goth weekend.

Otis Jay Blues Band’s second gig at the Ringwood Meeting House outside Bournemouth brought in 30-odd (odd!) people. The venue now has an easy-assemble stage that means those in the pews can see us from knees up rather than the waist! £8 admission shared with the venue, so a good time for a good cause. Playing places like this is a real bonus. As ever recently, my Flea went through an Elf/BF One10 mini rig. Just about sufficient.

Having only owned it for a couple of weeks, I did my first gig on the mandocello! As part of Swindon Shuffle, we played The Beehive in Swindon. I wasn't sure if our brand of original acoustic gothic songs would be played to an audience of nobody or people wouldn't get us but against all odds we won loads of people over. We even sold a CD which opening for a 5 band bill of original acts in a backstreet Swindon pub was never on the cards!

Last night with The Gray Project was at the White Horse in Beyton. A regular for us they’ve been very supportive of the band and it’s always a fun gig, if a bit cramped sometimes. Nice local crowd and the icing for me, in addition the the lovely pre-gig steak pie and chips, was going to the bar at the end and a chap, who’s seen us a couple of times, buying me a pint and both him and his mate shaking my hand telling me I’m a superb bass player. He said he played bass in a blues rock band and couldn’t play the half stuff that I did. Surprisingly neither of them appeared particularly drunk either. Which was nice. I’ve taken to using my rig upright as advised in several posts on here. It definitely sounds better to me and my band mates have also commented positively.

Band played a blinder, ridiculously great reaction from a very hot and sweaty crowd in Hastings. New tracks went down superbly. Old hands who have seen us many times repeatedly told us it was the best gig we had played there and the second set was particularly brilliant. Apparently it highlights all sorts of different variations of funkiness whilst always sounding like us. Got paid well by the venue and the tip jar was stacked as well. All in all an absolute belter of a gig 🤩

We played this afternoon at the Shropshire Tattoo Show. In some ways a tough gig, because the audience were there for the ink, not the music, but we were made to feel very welcome and were well looked after, which is always a huge lift. We played pretty well on a very small stage, despite the room being very hot indeed and the sound was pretty good too. This was our first gig playing a split set, which meant re-ordering the songs to suit, but I think it worked well. We got talking to one of the exhibitors who is organising another tattoo show in Wrexham in November - he and his wife loved our act and he asked us if we'd consider playing there. It's a great feeling getting another booking at a gig, I always feel. I look very grumpy, but that's just a bad case of RBF!

OK, 2 days in and time for a review of my feelings so far. The neck is a joy to play, just the the right amount of width and chunk. My custom J type is really easy to play, but at the lower registers can be a little wearing if a lot of time is spent there. Not so with the Squier's neck, it is deep enough to alleviate any build of tension in this area and has a profile not dissimilar to my JMJ Mustang, albeit longer. The feel of this neck is way beyond that of the MiM Fender Players I tried out recently. This shouldn't come as a surprise really, as the neck on my Squier CV Telecaster is a complete joy and pretty much all that is original on that skinny stringed beast. Sound wise I am also very pleased. When I embarked on this latest round of P GAS, I went to a local(ish) shop and tried out some Fender Player Series Ps, both maple and rosewood, and I took my JMJ along to make sure I wasn't duplicating the tone. What I found then was that JMJ out P'ed them, if that makes sense, they weren't as articulate as the Mustang. This Squier, however, really barks and growls, with plenty of top end bite, a more aggressive, rude version of the Mustang, whilst adding that piano type quality that you get with the longer scale. Some of this may be down to the new strings (my favoured EB Cobalt Flats), but not all of it. At the money I paid for the Squier, I thought that I'd probably replace the pickup with something more up market but, at the moment, I can't see why I would do this, it's a fine sounding pickup, that adds something to my arsenal that I don't currently have. The tone control has at least 4 separate areas for modifying that inherent sound too, a welcome and surprising addition. It is wonderfully quiet, which must be down to the anodised pickguard to some extent. Talking of which, I don't like the feel of the normal anodised pg, with its fine, sandpaper quality. This one is different, however, as it is glossy and despite already ordering a tort pg (sorry [not sorry] tort haters, I like them), the original might stay; watch this space. There are a couple of tiny, tiny dings around the neck pocket, which I guess happen during the fitting (probably some haste involved), that indicates that the finish may not be particularly ding resistant, but I'm OK with that, given that I rather like some mojo, especially on something that looks like this. As mentioned above, I've already changed out the tuners for Hipshot lightweights. There was nothing wrong the original, pre aged tuners (as is all the hardware and very well done it is too), but the weight saving was significant enough to warrant the swap out (approx 37grams per tuner). The bridge is exactly what you'd expect, a BBOT, although I would have liked to have seen threaded saddles for that vintage vibe. In conclusion, everything seems absolutely fine and dandy, with me looking forward to using it anger with my band, where I think it add something in addition to the Mustang, with it's in your face tone and its less understated looks from a visual perspective (not a reason for buying it, but these things matter from the audience's POV and in photos, etc).

Pub was a tad small for us, but we played reasonably well, and the punters seemed to enjoy it. We even had dancing a couple of times. Landlord was a good chap and fed us liquid refreshments all night F.O.C , as well as our gig money. It beats me though why people always take snaps in portrait mode ? Photos always look shyte - turn the phone to landscape , muppet PS There's nothing like a punter walking past the camera Hiya ... you're on film. Smile for the camera , thanks

Played with The 77s at The Shakespeare in Canterbury on Friday. pub was in the middle of a pedestrianised area so load in and out was a pain. went very well though, lots of dancing and cheering from the crowd etc. A highlight was a guy randomly wearing a Viking helmet and having to ask security to chuck someone out. He was very drunk and very close to spilling his drink over pedal boards, he had a couple of warnings to be careful but he wasn’t listening. As such we had to ask security to remove him. Its 5 weeks till our next gig and I am looking for any dep opportunities, but not having much luck.

OMG! The whole gig was total *" Po Dunk". It was nothing like what was presented to us. No spacious grounds, cheap tent, only one food truck and the sound that was provided was awful. And the adult beverage selection was poor. However, we sounded good and gave the a good Maple Road show. Blue * Po Dunk. Low end, low budget. A real cheap scene.

So whilst my beloved was getting her eyes tested yesterday I went for a wander round town and found this hanging up in the local cash converters for the princely sum of £180. Would have been rude not to! Squier 60s classic vibe. Now I know why people bang on about these. Great instrument and finally have a P bass. Just need to find some low tension flats now.

Last night we returned to Wilsons in Aberdeen, and it was a good one. First live outing for the Explorer, and it was a lot of fun - I managed not to silly billy anyone with it plus it sounded good to boot! Once again we had our guest "guitarist" Gordon with us for a bunch of songs, and I managed to get some one-on-one posing time with him during Whole Lotta Rosie. Decent crowd, some familiar faces and some new ones, just what you want to see. When people ask when you're coming back, you must be doing something right. Was supposed to finish at 12.30 but ended up playing until 12.45 due to ONE MOAR CHOON requests. Amp made it to the end of the gig - this was helped by turning on only 5 mins before we were due to start and switching it off at half time, it still felt unnervingly warm at the end (can feel the heat through the front panel) so it will need further investigation.

Packed a couple dozen people into the small room above the Packhorse in Leeds for our originals outfit. There was pretty good sound (apparently), ‘thick bass tone’ got a couple of compliments though non-functional fans meant it got very sweaty. Good clean fun.

Damn you all I just ordered a red P.

For the fretboard, I had found an offcut of some purpleheart that I used for neck splices in the past. I sliced a length off on the bandsaw and radiussed it with a radius block: Then used a 24.75" (I think it was) scale in my fretting mitre jig starting at the 5th fret to give me the 17" scale: Next I added some sawn strips of purpleheart to act as binding, curved to radius and taper using my little block plane:

Dave, It was so Po Dunk, I almost felt bad taking their check. Lol .Daryl

This. You'll have to message the guy fast. Its lightweight, PJ pickups so good variety in tones available, and cheap... only it is active, so will need a battery added to play amplified, but perfect to begin or learn on accoustically.

Last two weeks with The Bridge have been regular bar gigs in three of our regular venues. All perfectly good shows, no major dramas apart from almost running out of petrol on the way home on Friday. Not much to report!

Perhaps I've been lucky to be in four bands in the last fifteen years, having taken a break from playing for family/career. Three of the bands were through JMB auditions, the fourth a group of people at work, every audition I've got. I'm not boasting, as I'm no more than a competent bass player/musician so it wasn't playing that nailed it. I'd say it is being humble and making an effort to get on with strangers, happy to go along with what others are doing and contribute to the fun, be flexible and play anything even if there are songs you don't really like, being 100% reliable, always set up to start on time, good at comms, learn material in advance, don't gossip/drink/ be extreme, and don't moan if you find yourself ahead of others. Once you're established in the group and if you decide it is for you, you can then start to exert your musicianship and personality if you need/want to. Be a safe pair of hands, you're the bass player!

Just finished 2 days of running the PA for the stage at the annual Nailsea 'international' Bike Show (Bristol). Excellent weekend. 12 really good bands of different genres of music. They were all great. All went very smoothly and all the bands were happy with their sounds. We played last on Saturday night. Unfortunately, it didn't start so well for us. Guitar player broke a string 2nd song, singers mic went intermittent and a bit of feedback. But after that, we went down a storm. Great gig. If anyone on here played, thanks for a great time.

Blue Catarrh - Justin Hayfever

Whelkome Home - Peters & Lee

I heard once, that Pink Floyd commented they could leave the venue at the same time as the fans who had seen the show and not be recognised. By that measure, I have made it.

Sure, Harley Benton, but one of the special HBs.

I've been going through an experimental stage with my boards recently. The Hulla band has been on it's summer break and I've been working to put together another band for more rock orientated gigs. As a three piece we supported the Hulla at a festival in June and to fill out the sound I added a floor keyboard controller triggering a Korg 05R/W module. I also played acoustic guitar for a couple of numbers, hence the acoustic pre-amp in this 'board'. The clock is there as we only had 45 minutes on stage and time was quite tight. For the subsequent trio rehearsals I put a bigger board together and the 12 Step sat in front of it. This was while we were working on arrangements and I wanted to try out options. Other pedals came and went, swapped places, sat off the board, sulked in the corner etc. My Zoom MS60b played a part, as did various drives and filters not shown here. The trio has now morphed into a quartet and quintet - the intention is to be able to expand to fit the needs of the gig with a keyboard player and vocalist, both of whom have other bands and are happy with the part time arrangement. The board changed once again to allow for the fuller sound (the singer plays acoustic guitar on some songs). There is an annoying (some would say exciting) gap to be filled and it will probably go to the MS60b acting as a pre-amp/filter/synth option. As trio, I will add the 12 Step and I'm currently contemplating a custom board with it attached. And this is the board I will be taking to the Hulla rehearsals which start again tonight. Being a 13 piece with plenty going on, I need a simpler sound and this line up is just right. Please note that this post only remains accurate for about 10 minutes after which more changes may have been made. 😂

this series is great, I think I will buy some vintage 40th jazz to complete the set

I read "non functional fans" wrongly for a while. Got there in the end!

the underneath just have always on cali76bc and my ml5 morningstar which is in the loop of a damnation blooper to give a bit of low end help to the big muff, bdpg and a bongripper(also underneath) oh and a sy-200 controlled by midi which only feed foh but i do run it and my normal signal into the obne to let me monitor it thru my cab if i want. fighting the urge to either go Gig Rig Atom atm one extra loop but would let me access more presets aswell. Also setting up a really small board to go ontop of my amp/amps depending on project and have a dd200 and rv500 in stereo (when i have two amps) to add maddness inbetween songs which the extra presets would help with just purely control them via midi

After being made aware of some special pricing, on a thread here on BC, from those lovely folk at Thomann, I pulled the trigger on 40th Anniversary Squier Precision in trans(ish) blond, at £285 (28.5% off list), it was rude not to. It arrived today and straight out of the box, it screamed keeper. Everything as you’d expect from a well put together P, but at a price that seems impossible for the quality. It weighed in at 3.8kg, but I had a spare set of Hipshot, lightweight tuners, so fitted them straight away and that weight is reduced to a very acceptable 3.67kg (lighter than my Mustang). The 40mm nut width was also most welcome (the same as my Mustang). Matt body, satin neck make it pleasant to handle. The sound: a proper, full on P, with a very usable tone control. The nut was a little rough in places, but a nail file soon put that right. A bit of fret buzz on the G string around the 12th fret area also needed a little polish to the frets to remove that. I’m pleased, very pleased. I’ll update with more pics when I’ve fitted the tort guard I’ve ordered along with more thoughts after a few days of ownership.

Yes - I know, it's a guitar. But it's for a good cause - it's for my two grandchildren for them to pick up and try if and when they are able to or want to, or use as a cricket bat or wall hanging if they don't. And you never know - if they get hooked, they may well turn into bass players when they grow up I'm going tenor-uke size, but definitely a 6 string guitar. Nothing against uke's but this way - if they do take a liking to it - they can progress to larger guitars without having to re-learn all of the chord patterns and tuning. So spec is going to be : 17" scale Ball-end nylons tenor uke body size Sitka Spruce top Mahogany back and sides Mahogany neck Purpleheart fretboard 'Standard' X-brace And, broadly, it is going to look like this: I'm about halfway through - I'll do a few quick posts and then stuff will slow down to actual progress rate (that is, pedestrian! )

Bogie Wonderland - EW&F

A sack truck is your friend .......... 😎

Easy For You To Say - Linda Ronstadt

Feel sorry for anyone trying to sell pretty much any squier / budget bass second hand for the next few months tbh...

I'd start with a quick look on Gumtree and Faceache... see whats local. I loves it... Ibby GSR200 £60ish... Squier P £80ish... quick haggle 'n £50 and £60... See whats out there and report back with a short list. What sort of music or look do they like... a bass that they want to pick up is better than one they don't That Maison screams Cort/Ibanez to me... PJ, Active Tones, a more compact body than a Squier P and 'prolly a sleeker neck... I'd give that a Serious Consideration...

Something Harley Benton from Thomann if you want new. Or for £259 one of these (appreciate out of intended budget):

I was 50 when i got back into playing after approx 20 yrs away. I found band adverts on JMB that suited my age group but recently when i've looked thru it i have noticed that its more focused on a far younger age group but maybe my age group are no longer with us hence the lack of advertising. I moved towards Bandmix for bands as i thought they were a better fit for what i was looking for. Surprised you can't find other musicians in a city especially London which has the same population as Scotland. You need to be prepared to travel for rehearsals and meet up with other musicians. I live in countryside so i'm usually 40 miles to a rehearsal studio most of which have been Glasgow based bands but i have worked with bands in Borders areas but that's a pain during winter months with snow and ice on roads I tried doing originals bands but found it difficult to get people and decided i now prefer just doing covers or tributes and its made life easier. I mentioned it before but i knew the drummer for 6 yrs before we finally managed to get the Glam covers band of the ground so don't despair when things are instant fix. I can't state enough about staying in touch with people you meet even if its only FB messages. When they get a band started they'll already have you in mind and job done. Glam band did go thru 2-3 keys players that didn't fit and we decided to drop the keys idea and surprisingly enough we brought in a female singer mainly as backing vocals and we got more input and benefit from her than we ever got from a keys player. Our original guitarist left after covid because he was bored with the project. We got a new guitarist almost right away altho he lives in Perth and has to drive 1.5 hrs just for a rehearsal but he's fine with it and loves the band and he's a perfect fit for us. He just loves playing but more important he has the same sense of humour as us and a perfect fit. We are now sorted so it wasn't always perfect from the start. The punk covers band has been going since 1978 with the guitarist being the only original member. Never give up chasing the dream band. Its a bit like trying to get that bass tone in your head or that perfect bass you've been looking for for 45yrs. Dave

At least the band did a proper job and that's the most important part .............. as well as getting paid of course. Dave

I highly recommend the Rumble 800 combo. It’s light powerful and can easily keep up with a couple of guitars and noisy drummer. It's my current goto amp at present from my other Mesa D800, Rumble 800HD , Rumble 500 head, Barefaced SC and BC 1x12 Mk3 Silvertone cabs. PS I agree the 800 Stage has far too much stuff , the simpler 800 Comb is just right with the pedals of your .choice

It's a shame you didn't make it to the next level - Support band for Puppet Shows.**

On Thursday we played a free show at a local gallery where our guitarist has exhibited in his day job as a professional artist. He's been getting into multimedia and projections in particular so this night was promoted as "Sound and Vision" and featured ourselves alongside another local band as well as what turned out to be seven separate projectors. The room was great for the projections with masses of tall, bare walls but the sound was predictably affected. We had a good turnout which made the laborious set-up worthwhile (ever tried negotiating a menu that is both upside down and beamed onto a wall several metres away?) Obligatory self promotion links: https://deadtenantmusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/deadtenant https://soundcloud.com/dead-tenant/sets/dead-tenant-live-demo

"Decent" bands don't advertise. It's all done by word of mouth, recommendation, friends of friends etc. Get into a band (or several) and meet as many musicians as you can. If your face fits you'll meet people who will be interested in working with you.