casapete

I did a duo gig in Leeds Town Hall a few years ago, and actually left the PA amp we both played through at my house. Dashed out to a s/h shop on The Headrow and bought an old Peavey mixer amp to do the job. Gig went well, and I took the amp back to the shop where he gave me £20 less than what I'd bought it for a few hours earlier, which I thought was fair enough TBH. Funny thing was when we were setting the amp up at the gig, I moved a grand piano to find a similar amp underneath it which we could have used!! Ever since then, I have a checklist on the reverse of my sun visor in the car to prevent it occurring again. Handy to use after the gig too. I've found that when people give you a hand out with your gear is when you're most likely to forget something. Though well intentioned it can disrupt your own routine of loading that makes you forget what goes where and the risk of possible items going astray. ( Tell me this isn't just an older bassist's thing please?!!)

In my first proper band (when I was a guitarist) our bass player left his 7O's Precision in a rough working men's club in Wakefield one Saturday night. I went back for it next day fearing the worst and fortunately it was still there. Same guy left the same bass on the pavement outside his house when I dropped him off after another gig in winter. Next morning it was still there, covered in frost. Bass was okay, thanks to a good case. He did like a drink as I remember....

I went to Christies for the Clapton guitar auction, and the guide prices were mostly a long way out as you might expect. This one will no doubt go the same way.

Am guessing the black Strat has had a new neck, as surely a 69 would have had a different headstock / logo? Would have put in a bid otherwise....😄

Cheers, will get back to you if I can shift one or two bits of kit first.

Always felt a bit miffed that most of the pub rock scene seemed to be very London / SE based. Can't remember much similar stuff oop North? How about Eddie and the Hot Rods - r'n'b / punk / new wave? More blurring.

Mmm, nearly in the zone for me. Cheers.

Also anyone remember The Count Bishops, later just The Bishops? High octane r'n'b like the Feelgoods and 9 Below Zero IMO.

Just watched it, and agree with your comments. The programme seemed to deal mainly with guitar sounds, to the detriment of the players maybe. I found it entertaining enough but unlike the drum programme I didn't learn anything new. Bit more of how different guitar brands sounded may have been good before we got into the long section on FX? Lenny Kaye seems a nice feller but didn't find him particularly engaging either, at least not as much as Mr Copeland and Ms Weymouth. Still, good to see the BBC covering subjects like these, so more please.

Another bass I need to prise from your hands then Paul!! Actually thought after I'd posted earlier - are the Hohner B2V basses light?

But 5 string basses lighter than my 4 string? Unlikely I think, but welcome any suggestions. ( For reference, my 4 string Fender weighs a tad under 7lbs, my Dano probably around 6lbs)

Never had any real GAS for a 5 string, although in one band I was in the singer’s lack of vocal range meant we had to transpose a lot of stuff down,so a fiver would have been useful - however, we gave him the boot which saved me the bother! Nowadays any 5 GAS would be quickly stopped by the extra weight inevitably involved, my poor old back and shoulder just wouldn’t allow it.

Last night was in Scarborough with our acoustic duo. Lovely venue called The Watermark, a café/bar situated on the north bay end of Marine Drive. Despite dreadful weather the place was full, everybody dining when we arrived to set up. Just took my bass and Sansamp, straight into their PA. Bit worried at first as our monitoring was some Alto compact speakers with a few tiny drivers, but after taking a while to get accustomed it worked fine. The gig went really well, plenty of requests from the audience and lots of nice comments afterwards. One of those rare venues where everything was spot on, really well run by the organiser Bob (also a bassist!) and so unusual these days. Even a free beer for the band too, c/o sponsors Wold Top Brewery. Finished a bit early due to the weather / rough sea - the coastguard was amazed there were people at the venue when he came in to advise us the safest way to leave! I nearly got caught by monster waves crashing over the road when I was putting our stuff in my car, bit scary but wonderful at the same time. All in all a great gig, and one of those places that deserves to be supported and do well.

We had two great gigs this weekend, including one of my favourite venues - Buxton Opera House. Great audience and staff there, we had a blast.

Gives me goosebumps everytime I hear Larry Carlton starting that solo. 😮

Danelectros are great, but please don’t tell everyone....... Squier Jaguar basses are a great way to dip your toe into the short scale pool. There are two though so be careful which one to try - the active ones are full scale, but the passive ones are 30” scale, PJ pickup arrangement and a great little bass. Weren’t that expensive too, and s/h ones often crop up for around £120. Most common colours are black and red, although there were some silver ones as well.

Surprised this hasn't had a mention yet! This is the original version, and the bass always got my interest even at an early age. Apparently the tune was originally called 'Lancashire Blues' and composed by Eric Spear, for which he was paid £6 according to Wiki !!

You're right Kev. The band was originally named 'Rockaria', and then morphed into The ELO Experience. Andy (our 'Jeff'!) was probably singing then too. Thank you! We're not as 'rock n roll' as a lot of bands, but then don't think the original ELO were either?!! ( Shameless plug - we're playing at Guildford G-Live on 24th July this year ) 🙂

I play in ‘The ELO Experience’, mainly in theatres and the occasional festival / outdoor event. Been doing it now for around 10 years. Wasn’t my first taste of tribute bands, having previously played for a Neil Diamond act. Prior to that I had no working knowledge of tribute bands, and at first found it more than a little strange. Still surprises me that people will buy cds and merchandise for a tribute act, but there you go. Downsides for me - playing mostly the same set everywhere, as the punters obviously want to hear most of the big songs. Also the theatre environment can be a bit lacking in gig vibe, which we do our best to overcome. However, the upsides far outweigh this - our audiences come to the gigs knowing and loving the songs, and their response to us doing them is genuinely heartwarming. We have quite a few who come to many of our gigs up and down the UK, and their dedication is much appreciated. Most of the theatres and venues usually have decent crew, dressing rooms and sometimes PA systems for us to utilise, and when I do gigs with other bands in venues without these it can be a bit of a reminder how nice theatres are. Also doing theatre gigs, we are usually done by 10pm! I haven’t seen many other tribute acts, the first being a Stones band (either The Counterfeit Stones or the Rolling Clones ?) many years ago who were excellent, and The Bootleg Beatles who were fantastic. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the emergence and acceptance of tribute bands, as a bassist in my 60’s now I’d probably be struggling to be still playing for a living so long may it continue! 🙂

From the BBC website - Lenny Kaye, Patti Smith’s guitarist, explains how the quest for new guitar sounds has driven the history of popular music, from Les Paul’s first guitar to Bo Diddley’s tremolo, Duane Eddy’s whammy bar, Keith Richards’s fuzz pedal, The Who’s feedback, The Byrds’ 12-string, Hendrix’s wah-wah pedal, Uli Roth and Van Halen’s shredding, The Edge’s digital delay, Ry Cooder’s slide, and KT Tunstall and Ed Sheeran’s looper pedals. With Duane Eddy, Roger McGuinn, The Edge, Bonnie Raitt, Seasick Steve, KT Tunstall, Joe Bonamassa, Uli Roth, Vernon Reid, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, The Runaways’ Lita Ford and producer Shel Talmy.

Just listening to this as I do my end of year tax return! Don't think there's much love for Bruce on here but for me he's still one of my all time great artists.

Afraid my days of heavy gear are over now. Consider myself fortunate to be able to take advantage of lighter stuff now (I'm 61), so better late than never for me! When I think of what I used to carry (mainly on my own) into all sorts of venues over the last 40 odd years, I'm amazed my back has held up as reasonably as it has really. Lots of my peers haven't been so lucky. The newer stuff has changed my working life - in particular Barefaced cabs - so I can carry on gigging regularly with no immediate health worries.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002700

Know what you mean, but it's just the modern way now. TV's, domestic appliances, Hi-Fi, phones - they all have become more disposable. Even if you can find someone to repair stuff, chances are it's borderline whether it is economically viable to do so, or whether the parts are available. I remember a few years ago a guy walking into my mate's car lot and buying a big Citroen without even driving it for around 2 grand. He was buying it for the on-board computer system to fit into his own model, and it was cheaper to buy a 'donor' car than get it repaired at the dealership. I knew then this was the start of a long and very slippery slope.....

TE build quality/construction is rarely questioned, one of the reasons for their success. My tech guy rarely compliments any amps, but did concede the AH500 was very well designed/made. Such a shame few other manufacturers couldn’t / can’t attain that level of quality and consistency. I’ve been using GK heads for nearly 20 years now, and have been impressed with their reliability and great sound. Weight was a big factor in changing from TE, and I found the GK 700/1000 RB amps to be the perfect compromise of portability and sound quality, with my amp head weighing less than 10kgs.