casapete

Must admit at our gigs in theatres ( about as much of a polar opposite to S.Mods as humanly possible), I am always amazed by how many times we get people on the front row who don’t seem to be enjoying it much when everyone else around them are going crazy. It’s easy to let their apparent indifference start messing with your head - are we too loud / not playing well / a major disappointment etc. I usually deal with this by trying not to look at them much, and concentrate on others. Even though I’m not the best at ‘joining in’ when I’m in the audience at gigs, I do try to give off a positive vibe to the people I’m watching. Mind you, I don’t go for front row seats either - often not the best sound wise and depending on the stage height can be poor for vision too. ( Also at comedy gigs you’re pretty much guaranteed to be part of the show at some point ). Everyone is different and responds to what’s going on in their own way I guess.

Wowza, what a lineup - it’s easier for me to say who I don’t like than who I do. Also little BillyJoel in there, presumably in a supporting role by the size of his name. Fantastic.

Two. Depending on the size of the stage I either leave the spare in it’s case in the wings of the theatre for smaller places, or have it on a stand behind my amp on bigger stages so its not too much of a trek if the worst happens. Don’t think I’ve had to use it in over 12 years with this band, but an embarrassing incident with battery failure at a flash wedding with my previous band made me vow to always have a spare.

Wow, result. Looks like it should be a great gig, enjoy!

I had the same problem when I got my first P-Lyte, and it was the battery. Some distortion for around 30 seconds and then nothing. Replacement battery sorted mine. However, as you seem to have already ruled that out I can’t figure out what it could be - as you say probably preamp components. A good tech should be able to help. Good luck.

Seen H&O twice, and agree that their band is one of the best ever.

Found this someone posted on FB a while ago. Don’t agree with all of it, but some fair points made.

Sadly used to be the case, but I’ve found these days waving cash doesn’t achieve the same result, in shops anyway. For private sales then cash can be a bargaining tool, but the gradual demise of cash and the upsurge in plastic will maybe soon put an end to this too. 🤬

Echoing the comments above about seeking proper medical advice. I occasionally get a similar thing in my middle finger and sometimes my 3rd one too. Usually happens with me when I’ve not played regularly, so can’t do any harm to exercise your hand as mentioned by others. I’ve had this on and off for a few years, and sometimes wonder if it’s the onset of arthritis - don’t want to end up with hands like Keith Richard’s! I keep a plectrum handy on gigs just in case it occurs - I’m not good with one but it can get you through a song or two till it eases off. Hope you get it sorted.

York Grand Opera House last night. Another of my favourite gigs! Beautiful day in this great city, with Pride festival making it extra busy. Combined with the Derby and the Cup final, plenty of folk enjoying the sun and the beer along the riverside area near the theatre. The gig went really well, another capacity crowd well up for a good night. Our sound guy Paul did well with the old fashioned theatre’s acoustics and the band played great (although I had to take over the lead vocals on ‘Roll over Beethoven’ to give our singer Andy a break). Home by 11.30pm too, result! All in all a great weekend of gigs, and a lot of happy punters.

We finished off our Northern trilogy with gigs in Bridlington and York. The Bridlington gig was at The Spa theatre, a full house and a glorious day. Fairly local gig for me, so home by midnight, with a full moon lighting the way.

Couple of Prince programmes tonight on BBC2 starting at 10.55pm after Later with Jools.

I’m in an occasional country band which also includes my guitarist mate who forms our acoustic duo. He’s one of those amazing musicians who can use any kit and somehow still make it sound great. Recently he’s started using (and collecting) older Peavey combos, including some of the 70’s / 80’s models which had solid state preamps and valve power stages. They sound amazing, and are what are annoyingly now called a ‘good pedal platform’ - in other words a proper design with a quality clean sound. Our local tech guy loves them too, and reckons they will outlast him! For my (very) occasional guitar dalliances I’ve always preferred an amp that will give me the sound in my head with minimal pedal usage. After parting company with my vintage Marshall 18 watt combo, I now have a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb RI, which is far too good for me. Ace reverb and vibrato means only need to use a boost or overdrive and that’s it, job done.

Edit - forgot that I’d had one of their 100 watt bass combos, which sadly wasn’t a patch on the guitar ones. Big graphic EQ and quite heavy although not that loud.

Session did do a valve combo, the 15/30 if IRC. Loud AF with a 12” Celestion. All their other stuff was transistorised I believe. Great gear at good prices. 😊

I only get Sky Arts on Freeview channel 11, so have to watch stuff when they air it. Seen this before though, and it’s deffo worth catching.

Tonight (Saturday) on BBC4 at 10.35pm - ‘Once we were brothers’ , Robbie Robertson and The Band.

Played at Newcastle City Hall last night with my regular rig - GK1001RB into GK Neo410. Got my spare bass out for an airing too - no name P-bass with a Japanese Fender pickup. Sounds just like it should, but need my Precision Lyte for 2 hour gigs.

First of 3 gigs this week for us. Again, one of my favourites last night - Newcastle City Hall, or as it’s now known 02 City Hall. Wonderful venue with great staff, and special for me as have been to many great gigs there in the last few decades. ( One of the crew showed me some of the tickets they’ve had framed, see below. ) We had around 800 people in, and from the massive welcome as we walked onstage they were in good voice. Something about the people in the north which always makes for a memorable gig. We were a touch rusty after a 5 week break but no big c*ck ups, and a great house PA meant the sound was ace. ( band pic at soundcheck ). We have two sold out gigs tonight and tomorrow in Bridlington and York, so hopefully the good northern vibes will continue.

A difficult choice for me - born in the late 50’s so the 1960’s were my formative years. Beatles / Stones / Motown / Soul and probably the best pop music ever. However, the 70’s and in my teens was when I seriously got into music. Springsteen, Faces, Bowie and Stones again, and then the arrival of more great soul stuff, Disco, Punk and New Wave. Such a great decade for me, forming my first band and going to every gig I could on my pittance earned in a record shop. Great times.

Long time user of D’Addario EXL170’s so interested in these. Do you have a link to the place where you got the deal please? Cheers.

Thomann do a good bag - Thomann Accessory Bag Pro, for around £40 IIRC. Also worth checking out Studiospares site, they used to do a decent one too I think. Edit - just Google ‘Cable gig bag’, the above and many more listed.

Sky Arts are showing it again at 12 am on Friday 2nd June. ( which makes it Thursday evening at midnight really 😆) Freeview channel 11 for those of us who don’t subscribe.

Surprised I'm apparently the first in this thread to recommend the Fender Rumble V3 stuff. Both the 200 (1x15) and 500 (2x10) combos are IMO perfect for what you need. Sound great, with excellent DI XLR output and speaker extension sockets if you find you ever need to add another cab (you won't, especially with the 500) and very portable, loud, light and compact. A s/h 500 can be found for around £400/450 ish, new they're circa £629.

Just noticed that Martin have got on the short scale acoustic bass bandwagon, and have also come up with some strings for it which sound very much like the D’Addarios mentioned earlier. Martin M4750 Acoustic Bass Junior Series Phosphor Bronze strings are for 24” scale length instruments, in gauges 45-96. Not sure if they’re on sale here yet, so will be interesting to see how they price them.