casapete

The timing of this thread coincides with recent changes in my gigging schedule. Have spent 15 years on the road doing theatres and the odd festival, during which I always had a spare of EVERYTHING other than a speaker cab. My spare bass was always within reach of me onstage, and it was reassuring to know it’s there. Nowadays most of my gigs are in pubs, and I’m currently only taking one bass and rig with me. Been wrestling with carrying spares but then using a Rumble combo would mean taking another combo as back up - whereas if it was an amp and cab situation then a small amp (TE Elf etc) would be easy to manage. Reading @chris_b’s comments does make me realise how all gigs matter though, so I’ll be taking a spare bass with me from now on and possibly having a rethink about my amp needs too.

Wow, that’s really bad luck. In my many years of playing Stingrays the only problem I ever had with the battery side of things was when I ( once! ) forgot to replace it. Always thought the battery compartments seemed fine, although preferred the earlier ‘steel plate with two screws’ design to the later plastic ones.

Played with blues band ‘The Alligators’ last night at a seaside boozer in East Yorkshire. I say ‘seaside’ as the venue in question ( The Sellwood Arms ) is getting closer to the sea at a perilously alarming rate due to coastal erosion. Talking to the landlady, she says it probably has another 20 years left, which they knew when taking it on. Last night the waves sounded quite near though! Anyway, the gig went well although first impressions were a bit doubtful - small playing area in one large room, one mains socket for the band and some err… colourful locals already well oiled. Quite a few ‘Satan’s Slaves’ members in ( a motorcycle club ) and turned out the landlord is a member too. We did two sets of around 50 minutes, and got some dancers up which helped us out a bit. Played two encores , one of which was me doing ‘You never can tell’ which got some interesting shapes being thrown by the punters. Used my Precision Lyte into a Rumble 500 combo, perfect for the job. The landlord asked if we would do New Years Eve , but I’m already booked - for a gig in Scarborough with my acoustic duo playing dinner / lounge music, which despite only being up the coast in Scarborough couldn’t be musically much further away. 😅

During my Musicman phase I owned a couple of these and (like another person above) shouldn’t have sold them. Actually preferred the sound of the Subs over my other 2 band and 3 band Rays. Only issue I had was their weight, both being quite chunky ( no body contours ) but that may have just me being unlucky. Never felt the need to mess with the EQ, the standard set up worked so well. I didn’t mind the painted neck either. All they needed was a different scratchplate and then were good to go. Like all MM stuff, their prices do seem to have rocketed, but still a great buy compared to a regular US Ray.

Of the 7 venues in Hull listed on the MVT website, I believe 6 of them are independents which will hopefully benefit a great deal from Coldplay’s gesture. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they chose Hull for their two gigs knowing that it’s a part of the UK that is often overlooked and in need of some help.

Apparently the two Hull gigs will have tickets priced between £70 and £100. There will also be some limited tickets available for £20, as well as 50% of all Hull tickets available only being sold to people in nearby postcode regions ( HU, YO, DN and LN). I guess they are trying to avoid the recent Oasis ticket fiasco, and although not my cup of tea think they are to be applauded for taking this stance, along with the 10% donation to the Music Venue Trust. Good on ‘em.

You can find a tidy s/h Fender Rumble 15 watt combo for your £50 budget. They are fine for home use, and when you come to upgrade you’ll probably get your £50 back too.

I’m playing with blues band The Alligators this coming Saturday 21st at The Sellwood Arms in Aldbrough on the East Yorkshire coast. We start at 9pm.

Barefaced cabs are the most likely answer to your predicament. However, whichever brand you end up with then having two light 1x10 or 1x12 cabs makes the most sense for you. No point in carrying more weight in one go than the 10kg limit you specified. For example the BF 2x10 cabs start at 13 kg, whereas the very capable Super Mini and Super Compact 1x12 models are 8.5kgs and 10kgs respectively. You may be able to use just one depending on your gigs. Also the even lighter One10 range start at 7kgs, but am guessing you’d probably need two of these.

Cheers Dave - it’s mainly smoke and mirrors though! My guitarist buddy is truly amazing - he can play anything from 30’s swing/jazz to heavy rock and everything in between and does lead vocals too, all to a very high standard. I just keep the bottom end nailed down and sing harmonies wherever I think appropriate- ‘Don’t fear the reaper’ was interesting, especially without laughing! The audience love us having a go at some stuff that is challenging - if we manage it then great, if we don’t then they laugh along with us. The main thing is to be creative with song keys - for example we did ‘Maggie May’ in ‘A’, ( with the guitar capoed up to play in a D shape) as my mate’s vocal range is nowhere near Rod Stewart’s!

Be good to see you Mart, our next gig there is Sunday 13th October - we play from around 5pm to approx 8pm. It’s a great pub! Sorry I missed your band again at Withernsea this weekend - I was just up the coast in Scarborough so couldn’t make it. Will hopefully get to see you soon though.

https://www.facebook.com/MilestoneDuo

But is it? Waiting online for tickets originally advertised at £135 to find they’ve risen to a massive £355 or more by the time they got to the front of the queue can’t be right, even if it’s still technically supply and demand. Imagine seeing a bass advertised for say £500, then going to the shop to find they are now £1200 because a few more people have bought one too.

We returned to our favourite gig at The Sun Inn Beverley with our acoustic duo ‘Milestone’. Just for a change I thought I’d try using an electric bass instead of an electro acoustic, and was very pleased with the results. Took along my Precision-a-like ( no name replica with Japanese Fender pickup) into my Rumble 100 combo with a touch of level into the PA too via the DI on the amp. Sounded massive, with a few regulars commenting on it. As usual we took requests for the whole 3 sets, and did some great tunes - ‘Don’t fear the reaper’ ‘Whole lotta Rosie’ and ‘Stayin alive’ ( yes really!) amongst many others. The pub was rammed, and we did a couple of encores too. Next gig there is October 13th, so can’t wait! ( Pic below shows we have finally made it into the pub’s ‘window of fame’. ) 😆

To be fair, I thought the weakest vocalist was the first guy on, in the red jacket ( sorry, didn’t catch his name) - sounded a bit too musical theatre for me, and as you say a bit pitchy. The others were good to amazing, especially the lady who sang at the Northern Soul Orchestrated Prom last year. The backing vocalists were okay, but had one or two moments where it sounded like one of them was actually singing some wrong notes. Overall though, I really enjoyed it and just love hearing a big band / orchestra doing such great stuff.

Played on the same bill as them in the 80’s, very cabaret!

Just started watching it - band sound fabulous to me, not sure about the singers though? Just wondering who is in the bass chair? Nailed the Chic stuff on a Stingray, now using a Squier Precision. Trombonist was excellent on ‘I’m coming out’ too, and the drummer is absolutely spot on. Shame that both some lead and backing vocals sound a bit off.

Played at a pub in Scarborough last night with The Alligators. The Tap and Spile is an old pub with two rooms, neither that large but probably around 30 or 40 punters in each. Set up at the end of the lounge with our small PA which was more than adequate. Unusually 3 sets is what they wanted so we obliged, playing around 30 to 40 mins per set. Used my passive P-Lyte into the wonderful Rumble 500 which is my ‘go to’ set up with this band. I’m still new to the band so a few missed turnarounds etc but definitely getting better each gig. We’ve even talked of organising my first rehearsal soon! Finished around 11.30, 50 mile drive on deserted country roads so home around 1pm.

Now there’s a question - which would you rather go to see, Eurovision final or Oasis. Only one way to sort it out - FIGHT!!!!

Absolute daylight robbery. I’m guessing they would argue it’s the same as flights and hotels where demand determines how high the prices go, but why should that be the case? Ticket prices should be set, as the sellers must already know/ expect what the demand is - if not, why try to lure people in to buy at a lower price only to raise them when they try to purchase? I’m also really disappointed that the artists concerned seem to think this business model is fair to their fans - and I’m looking at you Mr Springsteen - I had expected better. 🤨

Tonight at 8.25pm on BBC2 - Disco at the Proms. Should be good, thank goodness for iPlayer as I’m gigging tonight. 😊

In my last band ( playing mainly theatres) I hardly ever needed to touch my amp’s settings from gig to gig. GK1001RB into a GK Neo 410 cab sounded pretty much how I wanted it to sound with no faffing. I think it’s a luxury to be able to have your bass sound in the PA though - this means you don’t have to compromise on your onstage eq to suit the room / band / audience! I’ve recently found a new solution though - it’s the ‘Vintage’ button on my Fender Rumble 500. Once engaged it makes my bass sound exactly how I like it, job done. It’s not usually through the PA, but does fit the 3 piece blues band I’m currently playing with really well. For years I’ve worked with musicians who disappear down various rabbit holes looking for ‘their’ sound, and it has to be said it’s been mainly guitarists! That’s not to say I haven’t been interested in changing my set up, but never got into pedals apart from a Sansamp used for DI duties. For me it’s just finding that magic combination of bass and amplifier and enjoying it.