bassbiscuits

I've depped with I think five different cover/function bands over the last few years and I reckon there's a good 60% of songs which are common to all of those bands - the floor fillers you can't get away without playing.

If it's a decent payer, why not?

I ended up playing Chris de Burgh’s “A Spaceman Came Travelling” with my eldest lad for his guitar concert last night (I wasn’t the only parent to get up and play with their child luckily). It worked surprisingly well and lent itself to some nice harmonies in the chorus. Shakin’ Steven’s “merry Christmas everyone” and Wizard’s “I wish it could be Christmas every day” also made appearances via the other performers - both top tunes.

Best I would say are my second Yamaha BB604 - since buying it at the end of the summer, the two Yamahas have come to every gig I’ve done. Also my Markbass traveller 1x12 cab (so much so that I panicked and bought two!). And a TGI Extreme gig bag (for aforementioned Yamaha). It’s nice isn’t it when you buy stuff that immediately fits and becomes your go-to kit. Worst? Nothing really. It’s all been decent stuff.

Dare I say it but I've boiled all my bass need down to two identical active Yamaha BB604 basses - they sound like a four-string jazz on steroids and cover everything from thump to rasp stopping at all points in between. Stick a fork in me, I'm done.

I suppose it depends what bass it is @ricksterphil, and whether you'd buy it back as an investment or just for sentimental reasons. I've seen a few of my old basses around over the years, but I sold them back then and haven't missed them, so I doubt I'd use them again once the initial novelty of having them back had worn off.

I’ve gone full circle with this and currently have one of the 1x12s up for sale. The two together sound awesome but I find a 1x12 paired with a 2x10 is my perfect combination.

I've never felt the need to tilt a bass cab. Whether its quasi science or backed up by fact, I prefer mine to be sitting flat on the floor as there seems to be more low end. Not sure if that's due to the amount of contact with the ground/stage/floorboards etc, or if it just sounds less trebly because it's not pointing at my ears. Either way, un-tilted is where they will stay for now.

Spending money for my summer holidays. Or some better IEMs. I suspect the holiday will bring better memories than the IEMs so I’ll stick with my first choice.

Stayin Alive by the Bee Gees. Awesome tune but zero chance I could sing it.

I hear you on that one. Nowt wrong with a BBOT, plus I don’t actually like the big hefty hi-mass jobbies.

Not a fan of super fancy wood tops - I appreciate they are a work of art but I don’t like the look at all. I wish I liked Thunderbirds - cool on the eye but awfully uncomfortable for me to play. And anything with more than five strings just isn’t for me.

I found this all felt very strange over the weekend, but maybe that's just me. Having grown up listening to Kiss, and seeing them on their final UK dates in the summer, I found myself thinking a lot about their final ever gig, and feeling fairly sad and reflective about it, but also understanding that all things have to end etc. But then literally finding out at the same moment that they were going to continue as avatars kind of threw me - sort of took away the moment of saying goodbye, if that makes sense. Anyway, I'm glad I got to see the real band. I doubt I'd pay big bucks to see a virtual version.

Solo acoustic gig at the Organ Grinder in Loughborough. Surprised to find it was really busy despite the weather. People came and went throughout the evening but all up for a sing along. Then just towards the end of my second set an influx of about 50 students in antlers and Christmas jumpers piled in so I did the decent thing and launched into non-stop singalong cheesy tunes and the place erupted. It was brilliant, and slightly deafening. Had a great night of it. Voice is a bit of a mess this morning and fingertips are killing but it’s all for a good cause.

Summer 2018 - Aguilar GS410, Markbass Little Mark III and a P bass with roundwounds and a pick, turned up very loud at an outdoor gig in Bedfordshire. Perfect mix for me of grunt and thump plus clarity. Proper trouser-flapping stuff. Nice.

I’m guessing they’d say “he’s a good fretless player…”

I had the same problem with a Markbass cab - took it to the local repair guy who couldn't find anything wrong with the cab or the connectors themselves. The cable in question was decent quality too, worked with my other cabs, and indeed even in the other connector on the same cab, but it didn't like something. I've since swapped the cable for a Rockwire OBBM one and all seems ok again, so never really got to the bottom of that one.