bassbiscuits

Not sure if this is genuine, but I used to do solo acoustic guitar / vocals gigs at a city centre pub, which had double booked acts on a couple of occasions. This time I arrived to set up and found an older guy with a guitar also expecting to play. We tried to establish what was going on and he proudly told me he was called “Guitar George” - as in the guy referred to in Sultans Of Swing. Apparently he’d been working on a visiting market that day nearby, and the landlord had suggested he played. In the end he didn’t take up my invite to both share the gig as he didn’t want to take any of my money. So I never found out if he indeed did know all the chords.

I one did an open mic slot in Swansea with a chap called Peter Singh, a famous local Elvis impersonator.

I gigged a cheap 300-watt Ashdown MAG series head for years, so I wouldn’t dismiss 250w as too quiet. + 1 on the Genz Benz 212tx. Great cabs, lightweight and about £350 secondhand if you can find one. I wouldn’t bother spending money on boutique niche cabs. Plenty of good reasonable kit out there. Good luck with the quest!

I move between a short-scale MiJ Fender Mustang bass, and long scale Yamahas and a P bass. Adjusting between them? Never found it to be an issue. I play guitar as well so used to playing different scale things without any difficulty. Neck dive. Again, never found it to be an issue either. No better or worse than the long scales I play (if anything a shorter neck should give less neck dive if anything?). Unless you’ve only been playing one bass your entire life I wouldn’t imagine there’s any insurmountable issues in moving from long to short.

Can’t say that I’m into any “solo” bassists tbh. I appreciate really tasteful playing, good songwriting and well crafted bass parts within a song much more than I care about fast playing or technical wizardry. Its like someone having brilliant handwriting but no interesting stories to share.

I used a Schroeder 1210 for years. It was a brilliant cab and a great design. Hugely loud as well. The dispersion of sound was glorious. The kind of cab that sounded average by itself but brilliant in a live setting. My only reservation is that they can be a little “DIY” in their build in my experience. But ace cabs for sure.

I’ve got a hiscox liteflite for my P bass for those rare times when I’ve had to fly or chuck it in a van full of other gear. I guess I’ll pad that out with extra foam inside for the few occasions that I need one.

Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere on here, but I was genuinely upset to hear of Justin Currie’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s Disease. He did a piece with the BBC on it today. I love Del Amitri and Justin’s solo work - he’s one of my favourite lyricists and songwriters, and sets a standard of writing to which I consistently aspire, and continually fall short. I wish him all the best in the times ahead. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-68528123

On a slight tangent I’d be interested to see what hard cases there are for Mustangs as they seem rare as chicken lips.

Just back from an Elton John tribute gig at Butlin’s in Skegness. Simple joy of playing a vintage P bass thru an SVT rig for about 1,000+ people (and a blow up dog) enjoying a 70s weekender. An ace day out!

I only had one bass (a P bass) for many years but now I have a couple of spares and I find my tastes vary over time so it’s nice to explore and experiment with new sounds etc. If I’m not using something at all I tend to sell it. No point having something that doesn’t fit in.

Yeah that one sounds like a bit of a mare @skidder652003. I wouldn’t be itching to go back unless there was a very good reason.

For regular rehearsals I’d like it to be within an hour from me (which has always been the case) - if it’s much further I won’t make it regularly so it’ll become an issue. In terms of gigs I don’t mind travelling really far for the right gig. In practical terms almost all my regular gigs are within three hours max of here, but being in the Midlands that does cover a fair chunk of the UK. One-off gigs further afield are accepted on their merit and usually incorporated into a bit of a trip away if need be to make the most of it.

I’ve bought myself a little handbag-esque compact makeup mirror for those joints which don’t even have mirrors in the gents…

Yup. The car is usually my changing room. I’m a dab hand at putting in contact lenses using the wing mirrors.

Abject failure from my end. By the end of February I’d bought an Ashdown ABM head, a comfort strap and a Boss BCB-60. Poor effort really from me. Like a bloke in Orthopaedic shoes, I stand corrected.

I’ve done the obvious thing and run them together….

Have just taken collection of this ABM Evo III head. I’ve been using an old ABM 300 in rehearsals for the last few months and been blown away by it, so I snapped this one up from this very parish. I’ve been using Markbass for years and love the sound I’ve got but this ABM was a bargain so I couldn’t say no to some experimentation. Frankly it sounds absolutely massive!! I’ve not had a chance to gig it yet (and my next gig has an SVT and 8x10 provided anyway) but even noodling at home its excruciatingly loud (apparently you can turn down the volume but where’s the fun in that eh?). I’m interested to see how that valvey growl translates to onstage sound. My Markbass stuff sounds clear and precise - some say boring - on its own, but as part of a band it fits right in. I wonder if the sounds Im liking from the Ashdown now might all be a bit OTT on stage. One way to find out…

Many many times. In fact I don’t get my hopes up too much just in case these days - I just try to enjoy it for what it is instead.

Sounds like being a bassist defines who you are much more so than your job Daryl, so it’s fair enough to tell people that’s what you do.

I’d have loved to be a pro musician for a living, and if I could go back I would even now. Despite all the pitfalls I’d need to experience and find out for myself. But on the flip side, I’ve never had my love of playing music ruined by the business side of it, so maybe the route I’ve taken as a semi-pro muso was actually the right one, albeit unintentional. As Sir Mick of Jagger once said, you can’t always get what you want but you just might get what you need….

I learned by playing along to simple songs I knew and liked, and then as I grew to recognise patterns and techniques, I practiced incorporating them into learning increasingly more complex songs. I suppose in a roundabout way that’s a sort of framework of music theory rather than just total guesswork, but I’ve never found the need for formal theory learning. I don’t mean to disregard theory, but don’t let it be a barrier either - you can play along to songs, jam and gig with mates etc based on using your ears perfectly well. I’ve managed for 38 years and counting…