casapete

Probably best do this while I can still remember them - okay, most of them…. Selmer TnB croc skin 50 watt head & matching 1x18 cab ( mate of mine’s really). Fender Bassman 135 head and matching 2x15 cab ( disappointing ) Peavey 400B mk3 and then a MK4 - great amps. Can’t remember which cab. Acoustic 120 head into a 2x15 EV cab ( big improvement on the Bassman) Ampeg early 80’s SVT 300 watt valve head and matching 8x10 cab - huge sound, but huge. Trace AH500 into a Peavey 410TX - great amp and surprisingly great cab. Both hefty though. Trace AH250 ( because the AH500 weighed a ton) Early-ish Ashdown ABM500 into an Ashdown ABM410. Used this for quite a while, ok. Ampeg SVT 3PRO head. GK 800RB into a Loud Inc 410. Wonderful amp into a very underrated cab. Still got both! GK 700RB into an early Barefaced Compact, bought after trying the demo cab that toured the UK. Mark Bass LM2 - handy little amp but a bit ‘meh’. Size appealed more than the noise it made. GK MB800 - my current small rig, into the BF Compact. Used for all my function/pub gigs. GK 1001RB into a GK Neo 410 ( my current main big rig for theatres etc, with a GK Backline 600 as a spare - never used!) Fender Rumble 100 V3. Brilliant sounding lightweight combo for acoustic / quiet-ish duo gigs. Those are the ones I kept and used for a reasonable length of time. Notable mentions must also go to one or two Hartke HA3500s (which I liked a lot but for strange reasons traded for some of the above) along with a Delta ( Carlsbro) 600, and some others that elude me so can’t have liked them. Been happy with my GK stuff for 20 odd years now, and probably won’t stop using them. Always keep an eye on what’s around though, fancied an Aguilar for a long time along with maybe a newer Barefaced cab. The BF stuff came out just at the right time for me, and has enabled me to carry on working when I thought I might have had to slow down. Great cabs from a great company.

Having to chase someone for the money at the end of the night is a bummer, but over here it happens all too often. New methods of payment like Event UK do prevent this. but then involves a wait until the payment is transferred. We do a couple of regular gigs in a pub and café restaurant and they always pay us promptly, often when we arrive. Saves all that hassle when packing down, and is much more civilised. In my old band, wedding gigs were the worst. For some reason, people didn’t seem to like paying the band until the end of the evening, as if they were waiting to see how we went down with the audience before releasing the cash. Really annoying as most folk were usually pretty drunk by this time -once had to go and wake up the best man in a hotel to get paid! (Made even more annoying by the fact that everyone else involved in the wedding - venue, caterers, cake makers etc had been paid months before.) If we do weddings now we insist on payment two weeks prior to the event. Not had anyone question it yet so happy days.

I have two of everything that I use, except speaker cab. If I had to I could manage with just my monitor, so all bases covered ( see what I did there?). Years of working with guitarists who have trouble with pedals and their leads have made me minimise my signal chain to keep things simple and hassle free. Clip on tuner helps with this ( with a spare too).

I’ve been with my band now for over 12 years and they’ve all been great. That extends to our tech guys too, always pleased to see everyone. I’ve been playing with my pal in our acoustic duo nearly 30 years without ever a crossed word. Not only is he a diamond bloke but an amazing guitar player too - every gig is a pleasure. So lucky. 🙂

Another +1 for the Fender Rumble. Lightweight but sound great too.

Forgot to post this from a couple of weeks ago - I went to see ‘The Magic of Motown’ in Huddersfield. Been meaning to see this show for a while now, mainly out of curiosity to see how it catches the Motown vibe. Turned out to be a pleasant surprise, with a 7 piece band making a good job of recreating the sound, along with 4 male and 3 female vocalists covering the main Motown acts. Wasn’t sure about the bass player when I saw he was using a Stingray 5 string, but he did really well covering all the classic lines. The PA sound upstairs was pretty naff, but improved as the evening progressed. Plenty of prosecco fuelled ladies dancing throughout which made for an entertaining sideshow.

People have commented a few times on BC that speaker diameter alone doesn’t define a particular sound. Back in the day (60’s/70’s) bands used 15 and 18 inch speaker cabs probably due to the lack of choice. Marshall 4x12 stacks changed this somewhat, but I think it was Ampeg’s use of multiple 10 inch drivers that really altered the game. If you’ve ever experienced an Ampeg SVT 810 the you’ll know that tens can be a thing of beauty. I used fifteens when first starting out, my favourite cab for years containing two EV 15 speakers. However, once I’d tried my first 410 cab I realised that 10’s would work for me too. Abandon your preconceptions if you can and give other cabs a try, you may well be pleasantly surprised. 😊

I guess gear4music will soon be all that’s left in the area. 😕

The York branch is destined for closure. Banks Musicroom is believed to be the oldest music shop in the UK, having opened in 1756. A sad sign of the times.

Could you maybe get another bass with a shorter scale that would do the job okay? If you bought wisely it would maybe be a cheaper option than the roof box too - I’m thinking Squier Jaguar etc in a gig bag on top of your luggage in the boot. Certainly more of a fun purchase too…..

I wish Mick! Think I've seen the odd pic of Kelly with a Precision (and even a Hofner violin bass!) but not a Jazz. Top fella.

Got to love a Jetstar. Always fancied the set neck/short scale job, but have only managed to own a couple of Spel versions so far. I said, so far......

My band* played at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool at the weekend. Another of my favouritevenues, always think about standing on the same stage that has graced The Beatles etc. Crowd are great there too, we had around 1,800 in. Had a good soundcheck, with top guy Sam on monitors getting a good stage sound for me - used two monitors as it's such a large room, which made for a loud but comfortable balance. Anyway, the gig went okay, but only just - our singer Andy was struggling with a cold / flu kind of thing and his voice was not as strong as usual. I tried my best to cover some of his higher parts and we managed to get through it, largely down to the crowd being so supportive. We unfortunately couldn't do our gig in Stoke on Trent the following night though, and have had to cancel Sunderland Empire theatre this Thursday too. There's just nothing you can do when illness hits so hard, and we feel bad at having to let our audiences down. Hopefully he'll be right for next week's gigs. Our brill sound engineer Paul is a nifty bass player so we've been bringing basses along to gigs to show each other. This week he brought a nice early 80's Tokai Jazz, pictured below. Tried it out and it is really fine - good job it's a bit on the heavy side for me or there would have to be a serious discussion to be had. *The ELO Experience

My daughter in law has become a massive Beatles fan, and our grandkids subsequently know all of the back catalogue, including the album cuts - they are 9 and 5! She went to see a tribute recently, Beatlemania, and said they were very good. www.beatlemania.com

Years ago I was playing in a resident band at a large cabaret venue. Whilst playing, a member of the audience tried to catch my attention, and thinking he was a drunk wanting a request I ignored him. He got more animated so I bent down to hear him shout ‘your PA cabs are on fire’ !! Turned out the Ohm cabinets had the bulbs fitted and were glowing a lot.

I’ve seen The Bootleg Beatles twice, really good both visually and musically. Took my son in law who’s a massive Beatles fan and he was really impressed with their authenticity and presentation. Probably the best / certainly the best known tribute to the Fab Four

That is one of the main factors that will limit the appeal to potential buyers I’m afraid. The RBX weighs around 91lbs, whereas my GK Neo 410 is 64 lbs. Quite a difference. Couple that with the move away from big cabs and more people using alternatives to backline, big old stuff (however good) is now hard to shift/ cheap to buy s/h.