casapete

Yup, quite possibly! Guess he can't win either way now.

Recent statement from the EC camp updating stuff, just for anyone who may be interested. GERMAN BOOTLEG CASE: STATEMENT Published // 22.DEC.21 Given the widespread and often misleading press reports about a recent bootleg case involving a woman in Germany, the following provides clarification to set the record straight. Germany is one of several countries where sales of unauthorized and usually poor-quality illegal bootleg CDs are rife, which harms both the industry and purchasers of inferior product. Over a period of more than 10 years the German lawyers appointed by Eric Clapton, and a significant number of other well-known artists and record companies, have successfully pursued thousands of bootleg cases under routine copyright procedures. It is not the intention to target individuals selling isolated CDs from their own collection, but rather the active bootleggers manufacturing unauthorised copies for sale. In the case of an individual selling unauthorised items from a personal collection, if following receipt of a “cease and desist” letter the offending items are withdrawn, any costs would be minimal, or might be waived. Eric Clapton’s lawyers and management team (rather than Eric personally) identifies if an item offered for sale is illegal, and a declaration confirming that is signed, but thereafter Eric Clapton is not involved in any individual cases, and 95% of the cases are resolved before going to Court. This case could have been disposed of quickly at minimal cost, but unfortunately in response to the German lawyers’ first standard letter, the individual’s reply included the line (translation): “feel free to file a lawsuit if you insist on the demands”. This triggered the next step in the standard legal procedures, and the Court then made the initial injunction order. If the individual had complied with the initial letter the costs would have been minimal. Had she explained at the outset the full facts in a simple phone call or letter to the lawyers, any claim might, have been waived, and costs avoided. However, the individual appointed a lawyer who appealed the injunction decision. The Judge encouraged the individual to withdraw the appeal to save costs, but she proceeded. The appeal failed and she was ordered to pay the costs of the Court and all of the parties. However, when the full facts of this particular case came to light and it was clear the individual is not the type of person Eric Clapton, or his record company, wish to target, Eric Clapton decided not to take any further action and does not intend to collect the costs awarded to him by the Court. Also, he hopes the individual will not herself incur any further costs. Eric Clapton Management 22nd December 2021

Me too Chris. My regular gigging bass is a Fender Precision Lyte, a PJ small bodied thing with a very slim neck and weighing less than 7lbs. Great for long gigs and easy on my old hands. Last Saturday I took my 63 P-bass to a gig and played it all night with no problems. The neck isn’t massively chunky but the change in profile didn’t bother me at all, and made me realise what a great instrument it is. (Of course this doesn’t help the OP with his needs I’m afraid, just sayin....)

My main band lost 10 gigs in October and November due to illness. I got offered some gigs in December playing at a hotel and took them to partly offset my loss of income, and am crossing everything that I get to do at least some of them! Would normally leave my gear at venues like this but will be taking it home every night now in case of any lockdowns. Hoping I’ll be able to do the 23rd, 24th and Boxing Day as a worst case scenario, with the loss of NYE being the biggest financial hit. ☹️

I thoroughly recommend the G4M foam cases. They do a shaped one as well, and have had mine for years with no problems. Lightweight but offering excellent protection too, only case I use for all my gigs. At £49.99 they really are a no brainer.

One of the best bass things I’ve ever bought has been a Gear4Music foam case. A kind of cross between a gig bag and a hard case, with all the advantages of each. Had mine for years & done hundreds of gigs and it still looks and works brilliantly - the only bass case I’ve used in ages. Superb protection yet light as a light thing. Actually bought a spare which has never left the house. When I bought them I think they were £39.99 which is ridiculous for such a great bit of kit. Just checked and they’re now £49.99, which although a 25% increase is still a good deal IMO.

I depped with some friends in their rock band last night at a pub in Beverley. The guitarist/ keys player and the drummer have been friends for nearly 50 years now, and it’s always great to sit in with them. Usual stuff - mainly dad rock with a bit of Slade at the end. Crowd loved it, and the gig made even more enjoyable by some people in fancy dress. I used my 63 P.bass into GKMB800 and Gen 1 BF Compact cab, and had forgotten how good a Precision sounds in these sort of situations ( or any other TBH). Hopefully not my last gig this month!

Absolutely. I saw the band around the same time at Leicester Granby Hall and they were really good. Think Rod was trying to recreate the Faces vibe he'd been used to, so got Jim Cregan in along with Gary Grainger and Billy Peek on guitar. ( Saw Jim Cregan with his band Cregan & Company a while back, doing mainly Rod stuff - really entertaining if you get chance to catch them.) As you say, Rod's vocals were so much better in those days. I always knew his voice wouldn't age well, and having seen him on Graham Norton's show a couple of weeks ago I couldn't believe how it had changed so much. The current single he performed was pretty dreadful too, I'm sad to say. Also saw this in the news today - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59707192 😮

On BBC4 now ( and also iPlayer) there is The Rod Stewart band recorded live for an OGWTest special in 1976. Featuring the late Phil Chen on bass duties too.

Me too - been a fan for a long time, but his comments over the last couple of years have sadly made me think differently. I do wonder if he’s seriously lost the plot, along with Van Morrison.

I’m the same. Have taken on some gigs at a hotel in December including NYE, and crossing everything that they don’t get cancelled as haven’t been working much at all for a good few weeks. Some of our band’s theatre dates starting in January (some being rescheduled for maybe the 3rd time) are possibly looking doubtful, again. Customer confidence will only stretch so far I think, and it’s getting harder each day to remain optimistic about what will happen next.

I’d like to, and as quickly as I can. 😣

Sorry to hear about your health issues Tom. I broke my shoulder a few years ago and carried on earning a living by using a Roland D10 to play bass in my function band. Did this for a few months with no problems, but obviously keyboard knowledge enabled it to work. Have you tried a bass uke? The playability and different string tension from a regular bass may just be okay for you to manage, and in the right setting they can sound ace. Never tried one with a Trace combo but would imagine it could work well! Mine is a Countryman, cost £149 and is a great little thing, Tried it up against a Kala but didn’t think there was much difference in quality for around £300 more. If you wanted to borrow mine to see how you’d get on, I’d be happy to let you give it a try as am currently not using it. All the best, Pete.

Glad to see they’ve changed the type of plugs to something a bit more robust looking. 😊

My band has suffered from no-shows for the last few months. I completely understand people changing their minds when deciding to venture out, especially our audiences who tend to be shall we say in the upper age group. What does get me though is that when a theatre has sold tickets for us, and the customer then decides not to attend, as well as the option to move their tickets to a rescheduled date for my band, the theatre offer them the chance to attend any alternative show by another act at one of their venues - hence the theatre retain the money which is then redirected to another show. My band has generated that revenue only to see someone else gain from it. Far from ideal, and difficult times for our business.

My first gig last night in a while - illness and Covid has meant my main band hasn't worked for ages. Last night was a regular gig for me with function band 'The Black Suits', an outfit featuring my duo guitarist colleague along with keys and drums. The gig was at the wonderful Kings Hall in Ilkley, one of my favourite parts of the world. Lovely old theatre with a large heavily raked old-style stage. Long haul in with the gear from the front of the building right through the auditorium to the high stage, which fortunately has a hydraulic lift. Resident tech Ollie was incredibly helpful, along with all the other staff - wish all gigs were like this. Event was a Christmas charity fund raiser, always well attended and great crowd. Took along my Jazz bass and couldn't get rid of a really bad interference onstage during soundcheck - only became manageable when I turned 90 degrees to the audience! Tried everything to sort it, and eventually succeeded by using the guitarist's spare wireless system. After that the gig went really well, two sets of mainly upbeat dance stuff as well as a final Christmas tune. Was knackered when we'd finished though - set off at 2pm, back home at 3 am! Am getting a bit old for this malarkey, although probably down to not being match fit due to getting out of the habit I think / hope!

Definitely the room. When you think of all the variables concerned - size, shape, reflective & non reflective surfaces, size of the crowd, room on stage to position your rig etc etc - it’s no surprise really. Am sure we’ve all done gigs where it’s always sounded great, and likewise some that no matter what you’ve tried still sound sh*t.

The first bass (or guitar for that matter) I remember seeing with moving pickups were the Dan Armstrong 'London' series. Always wanted one when they were quite common, but now of course they're like hens teeth it would seem. More info here http://www.danarmstrong.org/londonbass.html

I had a similar problem with my spare bass, a vintage style Precision. After tightening everything I could, it turned out one of the metal tuner buttons was rattling in the split shaft. Bit of superglue sorted it. 😊

Absolutely this. For most of my time in bands, the drummer has been the level that others play to. The problem is that people perceive very different levels they need to achieve this ‘balance’, the main culprits for some reason in my experience being guitarists and singers who want to hear themselves way above everybody else. In reality, there shouldn’t really be the need to wear earplugs on gigs with modern PA systems doing all the heavy lifting for the room. Having said that, I had to resort to wearing plugs with two drummers in particular over the last few years, both who had some skewed idea of what was needed and beat the sh*t out of their kits on every gig. Left one band and managed to tolerate the other band with the help of plugs but it took a lot of the enjoyment out of it for me. One of my current bands are all on IEM’s ( including electric drums ) except me and it’s fine - I can control the level of everyone through my monitor and to have anything in my ears. Haven’t had any volume problems for years and it makes my gigs so much easier. Not sure if I’ll jump down the IEM route eventually, but for now no need.

I love stacked configurations of 10’s too. My valve Ampeg SVT rig is still my favourite rig ever, followed closely by an Ampeg 6x10. I’ve also had a Fender 6x10 which was great, and my SWR 8x8 was actually the same size as a 6x10 and sounded wonderful. Quieter stages have meant I don’t need so much speaker real estate, so currently using a GK Neo410 along with my BF Compact for smaller gigs. ( The Compact is the only cab I’ve owned in maybe 30 years that doesn’t have 10 inch speakers. ) Would love a BF410 if funds allowed.

I think the only ‘upgrade’ I’ve ever done to any of my basses was to swap the stock jazz pickup out on my Precision Lyte for a noiseless version. This followed a couple of gigs where interference was an issue. Otherwise I’ve always left things as they are. Same goes with amps - bought them because I like the sound they make without adding any other tone shaping stuff. Think I’ve seen too many guitarists chasing something they’ll never be happy with while spending a fortune. 😆

Bassdoc on here did me one for my Stingray. Great job.

Don't set your alarm clocks, it's on at 22.00, BBC2, Saturday December 4th. Maybe Dorset time is different Mick....😆 Hope you're well mate, Pete.

Me too, at a club in Newcastle, The Mayfair? They got back together recently to do a couple of great albums, 'Soulfire and 'Summer of Sorcery',. They toured the UK to promote of them, and released live albums from both. I had the good fortune to see them a couple of times each tour, in 2017 and 2019. Steve has a new book out too which is great, 'Unrequited Infatuations', and we went to one of the official book launches where Steve was on great form. As you've probably guessed, I'm a massive fan.....😆