bassbiscuits

Yes I wear glasses normally, but contact lenses for gigs. Unfortunately, my prescription is quite weird and mismatched, so I only wear a lens in one eye. It means I can't really see well enough to drive with them, so tend to wear glasses to and from the gig, and pop lenses in for my time onstage. They are daily disposable Boots jobs - decent enough for my needs. They are quite limiting tho and keep me focused on distance vision, unless I then bring a set of reading glasses too. Such is life on the outskirts of 50.

Been using these for a couple of years very happily. Top quality for £40 a go.

Yup. My pedal board is a spare piece of wood meant to be a shelf, which fits perfectly into a luxurious laptop padded bag which cost a fiver from the local Air Ambulance charity shop.

I use the Ear Peace ones that come in a little red metal tube. They are soft and have changeable inserts for different levels of protection. They’re great. https://www.earpeace.co.uk/products/earplugs

P bass. Easiest thing to get to sound good with minimum of fuss and every soundman in the world is familiar with one.

Roll of gaffer tape and a set of earplugs.

The graph of disposable income that has increased as I've got older has been intersected by the graph coming down the other direction, showing the decreasing amount I can be bothered to lug around. Having accepted long ago I'll never own or transport an SVT with an 8x10, I'm very happy with my long-serving old Markbass heads and cabs paired with a P bass, a Mustang bass and two Yamaha BB604 basses. Chuck that lot through a Cali76 and a tuner and I'm good to go. Lots more stuff that I like, but none of it that I need.

I can’t pretend I feel strongly one way or the other! I was just interested in what they were, and conclude they are probably among the many things I can live without. Glad you get work out well for some people tho - that’s cool.

I’ve managed 37 years without one so far…

I literally have no idea what these ramps are - what are they used for? Excuse my ignorance in these matters.

Wedged upright between the horizontal bridge saddle springs and the string itself works for me. Or shoved in the little gap on the cab between the speaker grill and the edge of the woodwork/carpet/tolex.

I upgraded the regular HSBC bank card I used as a shim, for their Advance debit card. The bass sounds more expensive now, and works brilliantly with my Boss Overdraft Pedal.

So last night’s performance at the Musician in Leicester was the easy bit - getting to and from the venue proved a bit more difficult. My route took in a flooded road on the way out of my village (and having to drive slowly along a pavement to get past it), diversions along back routes to avoid traffic from to two separate Bonfire Night displays, then another snarl up blocking my main route into the city, more back street short cuts and eventually driving round and round looking for any remotely plausible available parking spaces near the venue. Trip home was less eventful for me, unlike the occupants of the car which had left the road and ploughed into the centre of the roundabout on the outskirts of my village. Ambulance etc in attendance so fingers crossed everyone is ok. PS gig was lovely though. A fundraiser for a local musician who’s unwell. Lots of familiar faces/old friends etc and some good music from the various bands all taking part.

Headlined the German beer festival and fireworks event at Alexandra Palace with the Joel Coombes’ Elton John tribute on Friday. Almost certainly the biggest audience I’ve played to, and a really lovely party vibe there. View from the stage was magic watching a few thousand people dancing and singing along. What a tremendous night out. Much smaller gig tonight at Leicester’s Musician pub - a fundraiser in aid of a well respected local musician and soundman. Should be a good night too though.

That’s a lovely looking venue!

That’s the thing with Basschat. It’s full of helpful information and advice 😉

I’ve accumulated four Markbass cabinets, all older Italian models from over the years. While my heads have got clear date codes on them, I can’t understand what the code on the speaker cabs refers to. Couldn't see anything obvious online. Anyone in the know? Cheers.

I’ll probably still be gigging when I’m 55. Im nearly 50 now. As long as I tailor what I’m doing to suit my abilities at that point (I’m a singer, bassist and acoustic guitar player) I don’t see why not. If it sounds dreadful, or I can’t be bothered anymore with it, then hopefully I’ll take note and ease off.

Depends - for solo covers work in pubs I’ll try to get £100-£150 a go. The only other pub gigs I’m doing at the moment is a blues trio of originals and covers, and opening for other visiting bands etc, so money isn’t really a thing - if we get a small amount to make it worth our while then brilliant. We’re just glad to be playing and road-testing our songs really. Other gigs are the clubs/functions/weddings etc which are always the better payers, but also the ones involving setting up early, playing after the buffet/bingo/raffle etc.

Quite possibly. I’m thinking Motley Crue, Axl Rose and - much as I love them - even AC/DC are a far cry from the band I fell in love with in the 1980s. No doubt it’s easier to sing like Johnny Cash than it is to sing like Axl Rose when you’re older - and folk, country, blues etc lends itself to some old craggy characters and voices nicely. I went to see both Elton John and Kiss this year - and both did a sterling job despite their age. But for me there are some bands who have definitely used up their resources and maybe should think about calling it a day with their legend still intact. That’s just me tho - I totally appreciate other people have different views.

I think there's truth on both sides of this argument. If you're old but still doing a good job of it, can still play and sing well and put on a good show, then brilliant - crack on. However there are definitely a few bands who just don't seem up to that standard anymore, and seeing them limping on is painful. So it's not the age I have any problem with - its when the ability has gone that's the problem for me.