casapete

Took a year off in the mid 80’s when my daughter was born, then got offered a job in a resident club band and needed the dosh so back I went. Went pro in the early 90’s and apart from the Covid thing have been busy ever since. I think that year off made me realise how much of me still wanted to play music for a living, so in a way it did me good. I’m supposedly ‘semi- retired’ now, but still doing a fair few gigs, just more locally than before. Can’t see that changing for a good while yet either.

I’ve heard some people have had some success using cat litter ( unused, before the comments roll in…)

I’ve been playing short scales for a long time. Started off with Danelectro Longhorns, and still got one. More recently it’s been a Squier Jaguar, Sire U5 ( which I’m going to sell on here soon, plug plug), Fender Kingman v2, as well as really short ones such as Taylor and Ibanez acoustics. I still use long scale basses but must admit I’m finding the shorties that bit more comfortable these days.

I’ve toyed with the idea of getting one of these Neil , do you have one?

Actually no! A friend gifted me the Jaguar, which was very gratefully accepted.

Nice looking bass. How is it regarding not feeding back, any good?

I’ve acquired one of these too this year, mine is in black though. Nice little basses.

Agreed 100%. Let them sweat over finding your replacement, and meanwhile good luck with your new band.

Bought an amp cover from Steve recently. Top fella to deal with, and an easy transaction. Highly recommended, cheers Steve!

Not much better really. East Yorkshire is a little bit out on a limb from the rest of the county, so we tend to be a bit forgotten regarding stuff. North Lincs is only a trip over the Humber Bridge but unfortunately not much better there either.

Apologies for this - I always post using my iPad , and wasn’t aware it even did this until just checking on my phone. 🫢

It’s not only the exorbitant ticket prices / fees that have slowed down my gig going, it’s also the behaviour of crowds - talking all the way through ( even in the quiet bits ), constantly squeezing past to get more pints of dripping beer, phones being held aloft obscuring your view etc etc. These days I choose which gigs to attend by trying to eliminate or at least minimise the chances of this happening, but it’s not always feasible or predictable. We’re lucky to have a few good smaller venues nearby where they do care about this stuff, so they primarily get our custom. As they’re often full, it seems like I’m not alone in this either. When I was in a touring theatre band, we always knew that the venues which kept their bars open throughout the evening would be the ones where we expected grief. People in the middle of long rows of seats who constantly got up to get pints and go to the loo used to often be the start of confrontations where the theatre staff had to intervene, often leading to the rowdy folk getting ejected. One time in Manchester the police were called to sort stuff out, as we watched it unfold during our second set - pretty grim for a decent venue. All this because the theatre wanted to make more money, very sad.

Spot on Andy. The bass is for sale in the Hull area I believe, which may explain why nobody’s been to have a look at it?

I bailed on my band a few years ago. It was a very successful pro function / wedding outfit, and I’d been with them for 15 years. We did a lot of prestige gigs/venues, but there were always issues within it’s members, ranging from conflicting work schedules through to drink and drug problems ( not mine!). Anyway, I was approached by some friends who were in a tribute band who asked me to dep for their bassist who was sadly having major health issues. I stepped in and did quite a few gigs with them, until unfortunately their bassist passed away. I was then asked to join full time, but my loyalties lay with the function band, so I reluctantly declined. I helped them recruit a new player, and I thought that was the end of that. Then around 15 months later I got a call from them again, as the new guy had decided it wasn’t for him. To be honest, I’d regretted turning them down the first time so jumped at the opportunity. My old band by now were falling apart, with fewer gigs and other significant problems, so I bailed - gave them a month’s notice and that was it. The new band were quite the opposite - all lovely people, professional and organised etc and it immediately turned out to be the right decision. The old band finally spluttered to a halt, whilst I had a great 15 years on the road with a fantastic band, all of them memorable. After that I had to (reluctantly) retire from touring, and gave them a year’s notice! We found a great player to replace me, and I still keep in touch with them. Nowadays I still play, just more locally - mainly in an acoustic duo with my best mate, and some dep gigs. Sometimes things do work out for the best. 😊