martin8708

Baffle cut and cab screwed together,( will glue and screw when happy everything fits ) Back panel cut , just need to wait for when the neighbours are out to check for any buzzing or rattles .

Great post , I had a few off-cuts of ply from a 1x15 build . Other bits are lower grade builders plywood, and raiding the spare parts bin produced corners and a handle and a port ( hope it’s not too big ) Speaker is an 8 inch 18Sound 250 watt driver from Lean business.( they were on sale ) I work outside ( no workshop ) ,so rain is a constant pain in the rear .

Rush have announced a small tour with their new drummer Anika Nilles , tickets going for about $350 to $1500 for VIP tickets , most fans are not very happy .Seems most of the money going to the promotors/ tour organisers rather than the band ?

Been there a few times myself . Sacked / replaced from bands . ( too old , too bald ) Watched bands slowly implode. Crazy dictators , deluded musicians . This is when I pack the bass away , blow the dust off my Classical guitar , as long as there is some element of music going on , I live to fight another day .

I occasionally trawl through the Facebook Musicians available page for our part of the country, and it’s filled with duo’s and solo singers who play along to backing tracks . The big advantage is they can fit into the corner of small pubs / eateries and provide background music /entertainment. Bigger bands need bigger venues , generally come with noisy guitarists /power drummers and generally need to be paid more . Payment over here on the Isle of Wight has always been poor , your lucky if you can get £200 for a gig , so going out as a five piece band does not allow you to quit your day job . Having played in two duos , ( No backing tracks ) the whole gig experience is much easier from accepting bookings ( without wondering if the drummer will turn up ) setting up / breaking down and interaction with the audience. Plus you get a bigger share of the gig money .

Why did I start bass ? I was learning acoustic guitar when a mate played me this song on an VHS video , ( over 40 years ago ) and I was hooked . I wanted to be John Taylor ,shame I didn’t have the talent or the looks . Yes , I still enjoy playing , but I enjoy other stuff as well . First bass , Yamaha BB1200 , Yamaha Musikland were selling them off 1/2 price . Current bass , 7 precisions 2 Jazzes and a Wal .

Tell them you have a job . (Full time , long hours ,preferably with HMRC ) Tell them you have a wife . Tell them you have children . When I use all three , it normally allows me an easy exit from a band .

I have had quite a few Markbass cabs and amps ( Markbass 250 / LM11/ LM3 / Momark 250 / Markbass Tube800 ) I have always found the cabs to be “soft “ , and it’s only when I switched to Vanderkley Cabs and suddenly I climbed out of the mud. My small gig rig is Momark 250 pure ( no EQ ) into a EA 12 whizzy . Bigger gigs is Markbass Tube 800 into Vanderkley MNT 210 .

Rice Pudding , looks like you’re eating a bowl of sick . I admit I have not tasted it yet , and probably never will. if I withdraw money from an ATM , I will always match the bank card to the bank I am using . My wife thinks I’m weird on this one until she tried to withdraw £100 from Santander with her HSBC card and the machine did not pay out any money, but debited her account with the withdrawal. We spent a good few hours in HSBC sorting this mess out . People who repeatedly tell me they’ve only payed 30 quid for there guitars / basses , and how those who’ve bought more expensive instruments have been ripped off .

Well , I do live on the Isle of Wight , AKA Gods waiting room . Cheap / free bands are also an issue , especially if the kids from the local music college form bands and offer to play for free to get gig experience. The money over here is very poor ,always has been , I don’t think I’ve ever played in a band that got £300 for a gig . Noise issues and small / quieter venues also make it difficult for full bands , we are considering going out as a trio ( no drummer ) and just using a Beat buddy pedal ( which we’ve used for rehearsal for years ). Smaller band footprint / easy volume control / correct tempo for every song , but you do loose the dynamics of a real drummer

In my experience, Pub Landlords tend to favour particular styles of bands , so if they like Punk /Ska music , they will book those type of bands . If you play more non mainstream music ( as we do ) , you tend to get the “ thanks for playing , here’s the money , goodnight “ treatment . I do sometimes wonder if we’re just cr@p , but we have over 200 years of combined musical experience, and lots of good feedback from the audience in general.

I have been looking at their Chibson SJ200 copies for around the £250 mark . I struggle with dreadnought size guitars and the narrower waist of the SJ200 may make it easier to manage . Far easier to buy a copy ( then sell on ) than dropping £4000 on the real thing .

I saw the Police when they last did the IoW festival , there was a very apparent “tension “ between Sting and Andy , but it was a great show .

I’m a big Sting fan , but I kinda missing Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland on this occasion.