martin8708

My mother is my major influence , early Stones , Beach Boys , Neil Diamond , Dave Brubeck , Gerry Mulligan . My Dad , James Last . My brother : Status Quo. Apparently my Grandad was a saxophone player in a trad jazz band that gigged around the Cider festivals , but he came home inebriated one night and Grandma took a hammer to his sax .

Been through this numerous times , especially with the current band . We all agree to learn song X and Y for next week , and when I arrive at the next rehearsal the singer and guitarist ( who are an item ) throw song A and B at me . I now just learn the basic song structure , if the song stays with the band , I will invest more time in it .

Bought some TI flats off Tom ,strings promptly sent and a perfect fit for my CV Mustang . As above , great seller , buy with confidence . Many thanks .

I cut my bass teeth on Yamaha BB1200’s , it was my first bass ( going cheap in a Yamahamusicland in South Africa , bargain price ) This was my mainstay for 20years of gigging /rehearsals , got me into numerous bands / gigs / deps / party’s , a great bass . A slightly drunken evening bid on eBay for a early Fender AVRI 57 bass resulted in said P bass arriving on my doorstep in the next few days . That P bass has been my go-to bass for the last 18 plus years , had numerous offers from other bass players desperate to buy it from me . ( Shuker / Wal owners ] , but you will have to prise it out of my cold blue fingers before I part with it . The neck is a Herbie Gastelum neck , and it’s got that glorious P bass maple neck growl . I have another 6 precisions ( two 63 ‘s ) but the AVRI is the king of the hill . I have also had MM stingrays , golden era Warwick streamers , an Alleva Coppola , Steinberger XL , so the Fender has had some stiff competition, all sold apart from the AVRI .

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Bought Tim’s Markbass 802 , Tim’s an absolute gentleman, paid Monday night , the combo was sitting in my office Thursday morning , and was kept informed at every step of the delivery . 100% recommended seller , just like all the previous feedbacks . Many thanks again , Tim .

I have not played in a tribute band , but as a resident of the IoW and frequent goer to the Isle of Wight festival , one of the best bands I saw was the Australian Pink Floyd show , I was too young to see the original line up ( on my own ) so this is the closest I got to a Floyd gig and it was bloody brilliant . Nick Mason thinks their great too .

Turning up for the occasional rehearsal . Turning up for gigs . Not being in hundreds of other bands as well . Plus , all of the above .

Bought some TI flats from Martyn , arrived promptly despite a Royal Mail strike . Many thanks Martin .

The demise of vintage guitar values has been predicted for a number of years now , possibly by those who don’t own one , or those who dont agree with the rather lofty values attributed to what is basically a bit of wood /plastic /steel cobbled together in a factory in the late 50’s / 60’s . I have one or two pre CBS instruments that are used weekly ( rehearsals and gigged ) , I would love to get another , but for some inexplicable reason , their prices just keep going up , so they are well and truly out of my reach . Trying to predict the market is probably similar to predicting the stock market , just when you think something going to nosedive , it’s shoots through the roof .

Beer goes straight through me , so any pints before gigging means an emergency bathroom visit at some point in the first set . I just take a small bottle of water with me to gigs , I’m always the driver , so I’m used to gigging with zero alcohol.

Bought some Tapewound strings from Johannes , good communication and promptly sent . Thanks again , Johannes . cheers , Martin .

Squeeze - Is that Love . beat me up with your lettuce, your walk out notes .

I have always found having a regular day job ( no shift work ) seems to be a barrier or obstacle to some other musicians when auditioning for a band . Some start up bands are already planning their world tour , even before doing their first gig down the local boozer . I do work weekends , so no Sunday lunch time gigs for me ( thank goodness ) but I happily commit to any evening gigs . I am always upfront about my job taking priority , the mortgage and bills need to be paid . The best bands I’ve been in are with fellow musicians who also work , at least we all understand the demands of work on day to day life .

This sort of thing restores my faith in humanity , with all the nasty stuff going on in the world , there are still some good human beings out there .

Seen 2 episodes , it’s almost as if they are setting the bands up to fail on purpose , choosing musicians more to do with age or their background story , rather than their ability to play rock or reggae. The two guitarists are probably the most credible musicians for a rock band , I hope they do well out of the series .

I use as many platforms as I can when selling gear , BC is good , but not 100% free of low-ball offers, people who agree to buy , then go radio silent , and people who change their mind . I have made some great sales on the bay , but their exorbitant charges are putting me off. As some-one who works with the public , I don’t pull my hair out anymore ( there’s none left , anyway ) , I just accept that there are lots of people who will take their chances ( to put it politely ) Playing devils advocate , I live on the Isle of Wight ( which is pretty far South ) and all the gear that I like seems to come up for sale in the North , so yes , I will politely message sellers who are doing collection -only to bear me in mind , or re-consider postage options . I’m OK with a polite “no” , but sometimes I have won them over and made the purchase.

This is my contribution to the short scale society, I bought the CV Mustang just at the beginning of first lockdown , I did not really get on with the narrow neck at first , but it’s growing on me the more I play it . Put some ground-wound strings for a bit more thump , makes a nice mini-rig with the Ashdown and the EA whizzy .

Probably not . When you turn up to gigs / auditions / jam nights with posh basses , people expect you to be some brilliant virtuoso . If you take a cheap bass , you tend to exceed their expectations .

My weakness is classical guitars , I originally learnt guitar on my sisters neglected guitar , my parents would not buy me a guitar and I learnt from books or mates who happened to know a few chords . Second weakness is Precision’s .