Leaderboard

Friday night saw Rascallion providing the entertainment at a 30th Anniversary party for one of the committee members and his wife at a local village hall we've played a few times before. The evening didn't get off to a particularly good start when my trusty Ashdown Five Fifteen minirig started buzzing horribly, and nothing we tried would get rid of it completely. When I realised it was at its worst and most obvious when I rolled the tone above about 20% (or added treble on the Ampeg Scrambler), we decided to just crack on, and I'd keep the tone rolled back. Then we realised it wasn't just my amp that was buzzing, Mr Lead Guitar's was too, particularly when he kicked in his boost pedal. We've had buzzing amp issues at this venue before, but we always just put it down to Mr Singer's crappy old amp playing up as that seemed to be the only one affected. Long story slightly shorter, another local muso who runs an open mic at the same hall and was attending the event confirmed that he had the same problem here all the time, so we came to the conclusion it must be an issue with the mains - oddly, neither Mr Singer's nor Mr Rhythm Guitar's amps seemed to be affected on this occasion, nor were Mr Drums's electronic kit or the powered main PA speakers, so... 🤷‍♂️ Anyway, we fired up at 8pm, trying to forget about the odd buzz here and there. First set went well, and neatly on the dot of 45 minutes (with four tunes still left to do - we really must sort our set timings out!), Mr Anniversary came up to say the buffet was now being served, so we took a break for food (very nice it was too). Once everyone had finished troughing, we kicked off again at 9:30pm, running through the remaining four numbers from the first set, then continuing through the second, dropping a couple of numbers here and there. Think we may have inadvertently hit upon a new closing number for the first set / opening four numbers for the second set going forward, as it seemed to work really well this way! After we reached the end of the planned set, we got Mr Anniversary up to join us on the Kenny Rogers cover he'd requested (well, sort of - he'd wanted to do "Lady", but we'd decided it was too orchestrated for our meagre talents so opted for "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" instead), which went OK apart from Mr Singer (and thus also Mr Anniversary who was following him) getting the phrasing wrong in verse 3 (yet again). Mr Anniversary then treated us all to an a capella, solo version of "Lady", despite the fact his beloved lady had already gone home as she wasn't feeling well (nothing to do with us, apparently). After we'd churned out "Bad Moon Rising" in response to loud requests for one more song, Mr Anniversary then came forward again, this time asking for just one more, possibly romantic number - I'd already suggested we should perhaps play "You Do Something To Me" given the nature of the event, so despite not having played it for months (even in rehearsal) we did something to them, and then rounded things off with a final "Stand By Me" to send everybody singing and swaying into the night. After a near-as-dammit faultless first set, there were few miscues in the second set (my major flamingo-up being total brain- and finger-freeze on the opening run in "Long Train Running", though I did nail it the second time round!), but on the plus side, the two numbers getting their first public airings ("Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "Listen To The Music") both went well and were well-received. We only had a couple of our regular friends from another village hall up and dancing, but then we didn't really think it was likely to be that sort of a do anyway given our previous experiences at this hall, with this crowd. So, that was that. Our final planned gig for this year, the intention being to now take four weeks off completely (mainly to prevent Mr Drums properly losing his temper with Mr Lead Guitar during yet another disagreement about timings, particularly on intros - Mr Drums can actually count well, Mr Lead Guitar apparently less so... ), then spend the rest of the year re-jigging the sets and nailing down a few new numbers, plus some we've dabbled with in the past, but which have never made it to gig-ready. At least, that was the plan. Then last night's parting shot from Mr Anniversary and his colleague on the hall committee was...... could we do New Year's Eve at the hall? And would twice our usual rate be OK? Well, it's sort of next year really, isn't it... 🙃

Cheers all. I should’ve checked it properly before parting with £900. Anyways 3 hour trip later. I got my money back and very apologetic dude. He might’ve been playing me but felt genuine- I think he got ripped off first thanks everyone- kebab and wine waiting. Now on look out for genuine RW or might go 60th anniversary but don’t like pau ferro if anyone has a bass like this - talk to me I’ve got some cash!! love BCers are the best

I'll just leave this here:

It's been an amazing 7 days for my little gothic duo Deadlight Dance. The album came out a week ago and we had some surprise radio play in France ("un groupe darkwave d'Angleterre" - or as my partner rechristened us - "The Sisters of Merci" 😂 We have our biggest show to date tomorrow so decided to venture down to the open mic night. Armed with two massive effects pedal boards and two mandocellos, we seem to be accepted by the locals like the strange teenage kid of the friends who is going through a phase. Nick's vocal is so strong that people can't help but watch us - I am not convinced that means they are all liking it but we certainly seem able to captivate. That appeals to my punk rock spirit. We recently opened with Joy Division's New Dawn Fades which kinda bombed recently in a rival village pub. The decision at the time was we shouldn't open with it again - a couple of weeks had passed and we totally ignored our own advice to much more success! We then did our current single "Infectious" where audience members were shouting about Spotify and YouTube - "our Bentley is outside" I replied! Finally ending on The Cult's Revolution, it was just a very brief but fun outing. My one grumble about open mic is the musicians who arrive late, expecting to play and those who play early and disappear. I'll add those who outstay their welcome onstage. I appreciate that people have busy lives and there can be legitimate reasons for having to go but some people here are posting on their own social media about friends not supporting local venues and then not really walking the talk. Minor rant.

I couldn’t play music as a teenager (though I loved going to gigs). Hit my 40’s and I learned guitar and could hold a reasonable backing vocal… a pub covers band is pretty much the pinnacle of my abilities… during covid, I did write, record, produce and release a song and I have written a few others but more as a vanity/self-challenge project than any serious attempt at hitting “The slightly bigger time”… I’m now learning bass for a new covers band (first gig tomorrow) I can honestly say, I had great evenings in the audience at stadiums and festivals; I’ve discovered great original bands I’ve never heard of… And I have sung my heart out and danced to pub covers bands too! it really doesn’t matter, as long as the music has some passion and connects with the audience. You are the sound track to their well earned time off… You want to get them foot tapping, hand clapping, stood up and dancing, closed-eyed-hands-raised singing at the top of their voices… I don’t hugely care if Adele wrote the song originally, or who played/produced/released it for her… just that the lads who build houses, girls that teach in schools, carers in hospitals, postmen etc can stand together in groups having an awesome night! How am I being the parasite?

Mission accomplished! Only played through a practice amp so far but it sounds great. Can't wait to get to band practice!

I started playing in my early-mid teens. Originals only, because that was what music was about. Making your own material and putting it out there. Hoping to make it. I put my heart and soul into a couple of bands in the hope of being the next big thing. That generally took the form of playing gigs to anywhere between a dozen and two hundred people, for barely any money, and a lot of sunk hours in writing and rehearsal, not to mention studio time and money. Now I’m a lot older (43) and accept that I’m never going to tour round the world and have platinum albums. So what can I do to enjoy my music? Play in a covers band. The crowds are bigger, the money is better, and the gigs are more fun and far less stress.

Now that you ask, I'd say that Covers bands are following on in the honourable tradition of the dance bands dating back at least to the last century (in an organised way), obtaining and playing from sheet music of the then-latest 78 releases, and well-prior to Hardy's time, with village bands providing the musical entertainment and accompaniment to social occasions I've felt honoured to be a small part of it, tbh

I think they're a welcome part of the live experience. Not everyone can write songs and/or be a recording artist, so cover bands give amateur musicians a chance to experience the thrill of playing live. Similarly not everyone can afford to pay to see a live band every week, so it provides inexpensive entertainment for punters down the Dog and Duck. The way I see it it's a win/win. I think if an established artist wants to release a cover of someone else's song then have at it; the original artist/label can always stop the release of the cover if they don't like it.

Is there ever a valid reason to remove a serial number from a bass? I doubt it— The only reasons I can think of to do so are both dishonest: 1— to mask that the bass has been stolen, or 2 — To deceive a buyer into believing it is a different model from what it actually is. This is a prime example of the latter. You could attach the swing tag to a piece of cheese, but it won't turn it into a roadworn Fender bass.

To which you replied "Of course, provided you get an electrician in to look at the wiring as I think you have an earthing problem, which could be dangerous"

Something I did with all my old photos was put together a photobook with a section for each band. Bonusprint has a great program that you can download and let's you import your photos and has lots of superb effects and editing tools. Once you have created it, you then ping the order off and they will print it up. You can choose book size, hardback/softback, glossy how many pages and all manner of effects. It's up to you on how creative you want to be but it's super easy to use and a book of about 140 pages was about £120. As I've played for 37 years, I cant get all the bands in one book, so book 1 is from 1987 to 2012, book 2 which I am working on now is 2017 - 2020 and book 3 is from 2020 onwards. Maybe they'll be a book 4 depending on how much longer I keep playing for.

So just got back from recording our 2nd album (I wasn’t on the 1st). I’ve no tracks to put up hence putting here rather than in the other section. We were fortunate enough to do the recording in Portugal at Boz Boorers (of Polecats/Morrisey fame to name a couple of the many things he’s done). We didn’t take any instruments, just used what he had at the studio - for me a rather nice 1969 Fender Precision which played & sounded great. We set off Monday morning, got there early afternoon after Boz had picked us up and driven us to the studio which is at his place way up in the mountains. We set up the equipment and did one test track Monday evening to get the feel of the place. Work then commenced Tuesday at 11am and went through to 2:30am on Weds to break the back of the tracks, getting bass/drums/1 rhythm guitar down for all 12 songs. From there we completed the 12 songs by midday Friday, then headed to the airport for or flight home. Which was cancelled! So it was rescheduled for today and have just got home, exhausted but buzzing after such a great week. I can’t wait to hear the fully mixed & mastered album.

Years ago, I was a moderator on an air rifle forum (don't worry, I'm fully recovered). There would be howls of genuine rage issued every time someone stated that they preferred the .177 calibre over the .22 or vice-versa; such arguments would be pursued with all the zeal of the Great Schism of 1054, and the combatants would only pause to unite when someone mentioned the existence of .20 and .25 calibres, before battle would be rejoined, insults would be exchanged and I'd have to put grown men on the naughty step. I suspect I may have found the bass-playing equivalent.

That doesn't look like an official roadworn to me, sorry. The ones I've seen certainly don't have "craters" like that where the paint wear is. I'd say that's been (and I'm being polite), f*cked around with by someone at home. Possibly Stevie Wonder?

Small update on this. Drilled for the controls and Jack. Ordered my bridge so when that arrives I will get it positioned. I’ve gone a bit closer to the pickups with the controls as I think it looks better.

To put a capo on and play the 5 frets above that!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...

As a musician: It's not for me. I'd been in one "proper" covers band, and I've got any need to be in a similar band completely and utterly out of my system. In my personal opinion playing in a covers band (compared with the sorts of originals bands I've been in over the last 30 years), for too much effort for too little financial gain and almost no artistic satisfaction. I went in to playing covers having seen the band I ended up joining because one of their guitarists was a very good friend of mine, because I thought it would be great playing songs that I had enjoyed when I was getting into music in the 70s. The reality was that I ended up hating several of the songs we played and quite honestly I would never want to hear them again under any circumstances. I always felt that our audience would have been just as happy and probably better served by an appropriately stocked video jukebox. As an audience member: Not at all for me. In the past the only covers bands I have gone knowingly to see are ones where I knew at least one of the musicians. They tend to play in the sorts of establishments I wouldn't normally frequent, that appear to be mostly filled with the sorts of people I would want to avoid. To me it always seemed as though the music at these gigs was little more that aural wallpaper, or to behave badly under the influence of too much alcohol using the excuse that they were "getting into the music"to justify their actions. I'm probably out of the ordinary as a musician in that I don't see anything special about "live music" per se. So to me most covers bands come across as a random set of musicians playing a random selection of songs to a random audience. I think most of the time the typical covers band could be replaced with a well-chosen playlist and no-one who had come out for the evening would really complain. As a composer: Bring it on! Every time someone covers one of my songs it's going to be money in the bank. So far it has only happened once, and the earnings were meagre, but that doesn't rule out something better in the future. Of course I'd rather it was my version that was successful, but I'll take someone else's version of one of my songs being successful as a very good second best.

Definitely not one of the official Fender Roadworn series - the finish wear on the genuine RW's is very smooth. The genuine models are absolutely superbly made, and sound great. Sorry to hear you were sold something that isn't what it was supposed to be. Hope the guy refunds you.

That’s poly paint, not nitro

The model or the guy who played bass for Marilyn Manson?

I did this too. I had so many bits of paper and printed photos floating around that I decided to digitise them in 2019 - the 30th anniversary of my first gig. I do a lot of trekking and keep diaries, turning them and the photos into journals that I get into photobooks. So I decided to do this with the band memorabilia too. I used 'Blurb' as I like their design options and the quality is good. During lockdown it became a project to write a narrative to link all the photos and posters etc and I ended up with this: I'm actually part way through the updated version now.

A town called Shepton Mallet - the Jam

Excellent, welcome aboard! It's a long and complicated process and Gibson wants to have everything in place. I was at the factory the other day and was impressed with the amount of product destined for Europe. I don't know the scheduling, but now I better understand the reasons for the continuing delays. The guitar side will also be represented in this launch, and there's a proverbial crap-load of amps/cabinets being built for that market too. We are talking about months of production resources currently being dedicated to Europe (and AU/NZ).

The notion of some basses being a "one trick pony" is nonsense, get creative instead of constrained. Several years back I sent a couple of bass parts to a Danish guitar player, asking which he preferred. Response was "2nd one with the fresh set of rounds." Thing is there had been no new strings nor a change in settings; both parts had been recorded on a Westone Concord with no Vol or Tone pots. His "new strings" was me shifting my right hand position to nearer the bridge 😃

100% agree with this, always seems poor when people can't seem to wait to get out the door. I know a baschatter who may feel a bit sheepish if I mention one band that started their three songs with Dark Star 🤣

I’ve been in many covers bands, to me they’re part of the entertainment business, if people didn’t want them they’d soon dry out.

Ooooh, you're so inflammatory!

Having been in several originals bands over the years and currently being in the only covers band I've ever been part of I can say this: People like local covers bands more than local originals bands, at least in terms of Friday night activities. My band doesn't do what you'd call standards, either, but the fact that at least a few people in the audience will know each song at the very least seems to make a big difference.

Music - composing - arranging - performing - learning - enjoying ... Whatever you do, what's not to like?

Well, it fits! I think I have a plan for the Markbass cab too. Then cover it all in a blanket and hopefully it'll all be fine. Also done some road trip prep work on the car - unclogged my rear washer nozzle, emptied the water out of one of my rear light clusters (bloody condensation), fitted new front wipers as the old ones weren't clearing so well. Two weeks to go...

If you remove the scratch plate it might have road worn stamped into the body. The Nate Mendel certainly has this and as it`s part of the road worn series, I would imagine this should be the same. But apart from that, the finish doesn`t look right. It even looks like a sander job and no serial number? I wonder why Looks like a Mexican Classic 60`s model to me.

And I doubt they could ship worldwide as they are based in Russia, but maybe Russia is worldwide according to Putin's idea of the world...

The current situation down there suggests that you turn your head to that direction only after Vladimir has left the building.

Leo was a repair man and made things so they could be easily adjusted and fixed. This is evident in his amp design , and right down to his bridges. A masterpiece of form and function. He did not do fancy binding , carved tops , or elaborate inlays , but I would not say his work was inferior. His slab body , bolt on neck aesthetic was functional. There was a practical reason behind every design decision. I see genius in his simplicity.

I like the SE Electronics V7. Amazing bang for the buck. https://seelectronics.com/products/v7/

That reminds me of this that I read the other day, 'Have you ever thought about this? In 100 years like in 2123 we will all be buried with our relatives and friends. Strangers will live in our homes we fought so hard to build, and they will own everything we have today. All our possessions will be unknown and unborn, including the car we spent a fortune on, and will probably be scrap, preferably in the hands of an unknown collector. Our descendants will hardly or hardly know who we were, nor will they remember us. How many of us know our grandfather's father? After we die, we will be remembered for a few more years, then we are just a portrait on someone's bookshelf, and a few years later our history, photos and deeds disappear in history's oblivion. We won't even be memories. If we paused one day to analyze these questions, perhaps we would understand how ignorant and weak the dream to achieve it all was. If we could only think about this, surely our approaches, our thoughts would change, we would be different people. Always having more, no time for what's really valuable in this life. I'd change all this to live and enjoy the walks I've never taken, these hugs I didn't give, these kisses for our children and our loved ones, these jokes we didn't have time for. Those would certainly be the most beautiful moments to remember, after all they would fill our lives with joy. And we waste it day after day with greed, greed and intolerance.' Anon

I'm sure Ged is willing.

Ah how I love the look of ric’s. I had one for a couple of years. I was so scared of damaging it, I sold it. How ridiculous. I didn’t think I got on with the sound, but I listen to a track on an album I did with it and it’s instant regret each time.

Newly put together bass day Enfield Fusion I bought around a year back, to which I've added a Badass, J-Retro, and Status Graphite unlined Precision neck. It just works in a way that no bass I've owned before can claim to do. OK, it was a great bass with the original neck, but the recent addition of the Status has taken it to another level in terms of intonation, clarity, and tone. I feel rather lucky to have this one!

So the Guitarguitar price is £1079, discounted from £1149, which it 'was' beforehand. As this has been on sale for less than 24 hours, how many minutes was it priced at £1149 I wonder?