casapete

Afraid not - I would think you may be needing the services of someone handy with a spray gun. I’m sure someone here may be able to suggest someone. Also have a look here in Gear / Build diaries for ideas. Good luck!

Is that the one where The Banana Splits should have had a lawsuit going? 😆

Absolutely this. We had a situation once where our 8 piece function band were somehow double booked ( not our fault IIRC). The solution? Two bands went out that day to separate events, each with 4 'original' members and 4 deps. Far from ideal, but two wedding receptions were saved and we also saved our reputation in the process.

I think the two posts ( Lozz and Kitsto) above nail it really - a band needs someone to lead / navigate it but must have the support of everyone else too, with agreed aims and how to achieve them. (I’ll shut up now, am beginning to sound like some corporate training tw*t) 😆

I feel your pain Mick. For years I was in a successful function band, all better players than myself ( 8 piece band) but most of them with problems that reared their head on nearly every gig. We could have definitely got to a much higher level if only people could control their personal problems - drink, drugs, other work, egos, constant moaning about everything etc. They just couldn't see what a good situation we were in already compared to a lot of other bands. In the end I couldn’t stand it any longer, and jumped ship to another band, which couldn’t have been more the opposite. Lovely people, well organised and fun to be with. We did really well and I loved every minute. Maybe it’s time to break from your band and look for a new direction, something where the running of it is on a more equal basis? That’s if your current problems with the band can’t be overcome or achieve a compromise? If it’s starting to affect your good nature then it sounds like changes will need to be made.

I’ll raise you with ‘Living on an island’, and then ‘Marguerita Time’. (Their original bassist Alan Lancaster disliked MT that much that he refused to appear on TOTP promoting it so the band got Jim Lea from Slade to mime along.)

I find it amazing in these ‘enlightened’ times that this is deemed okay by certain females. Can you imagine if this was a man touching up a woman, and the possible outcome? Dreadful behaviour.

Guilty as charged m’lud! 😆 I think it’s more a case of knowing that ‘famous’ people will generally be guaranteed to do a great job and not make your band seem incompetent. Having said that, over the years we’ve had one or two names (who were probably a little bit ‘tired and emotional’ ) get up to play who on reflection maybe shouldn’t have! All good fun though.

With our duo we have a policy of never letting people get up at all - once you do then you’re forever getting people wanting to have a go. In the blues band I play with, it’s a touch more relaxed - had a couple of drummers get up with us at the weekend ( see previous post above) , one who was pretty grim and the other bloody amazing - ex Status Quo drummer Jeff Rich. Lovely bloke too.

Ah, the trick is not to tell them you’ve bought a job lot, just have one or two handy for yourself if you need them, and then keep your used ones to give out to the unprepared ones ( okay, guitarist) 😆

Not my favourite Springsteen album by a long way, but still has some gems - My hometown, Cover me, I’m on fire and even Dancing in the dark which I didn’t like on first hearing but grew into doing so after it being everywhere.

I suffered the same situation in a previous band, where people knew I’d always have some new spares. Incidentally though mine worked out around only a quid each - Duracell Procells via eBay if buying a box of 10. Made the loss a bit easier to bear!

Played our monthly Sunday late afternoon gig at The Sun Inn in Beverley. Very quiet when we arrived so we were worried the great weather had kept people at home having BBQs in their gardens. However around 4.30pm people started to come in so by the time we kicked off at 5pm it was getting full. Plenty of requests, ranging from Tony Bennett through to Del Amitri and George Ezra. Some old friends in too so great to have a catch up in the breaks. Fortunately I also remembered to take my big electric fan otherwise the heat would have been a problem- as it was I’d just restrung my Ibanez bass and had to tune every couple of songs. Ended up doing a couple of encores before finishing around 8.30pm. Really enjoyable gig.

Wonderful amps. Had a lot of GK stuff over the years, my favourite being my 800RB which I must have now owned for maybe 20 years (pic below).The 400RB in the same series sound very close to this one and as you say, are loud things. The later models such as the 700RB and 1001RB are also brilliant amps, just not quite the same as the earlier ones though IMHO. I used the 1001RB for over 10 years touring and it never missed a beat. When you can get quality class AB amps like this that weigh around 22lbs, it does narrow the advantage class D lightweight amps usually have. I had the MB800 and MB500 and liked both, but the RB models are still my favourites.

I’m generally not a fan of shouty / football crowd types of songs, so glad I managed to avoid doing it. In one of my old bands we did ‘Chelsea Dagger’ which I absolutely hated, but to be fair always went down well towards the end of the evening.

Of course, that’s the chap! Remember seeing him doing ‘Swords of a thousand men’ on TOTP. Quite pleased he wasn’t in the pub as well last night though, don’t think I could have busked that one from memory. 😆

I was playing with blues band The Alligators in Bridlington last night at The Stirling Castle in the town centre. Nice pub that puts regular live music on, with great staff and manager. I love it when you are greeted with a smile and offer of a beer! Used my passive Precision Lyte into a Rumble 500 watt 2x10 combo raised off the floor due to no space - actually quite liked it a bit higher. Also utilised ear plugs as didn’t want my ears ringing - even though it’s only a 3 piece with a 15 watt Vox and a small PA the levels can be deceptively high. Playing area was quite small, even for a 3 pc band like ours. After an initial problem with the mains supply we got set up and started around 9pm to a reasonable sized crowd. During the break ( 2x45 min sets) our guitarist Tony was chatting with an old band mate of his, who it turned out is getting married today so was out with some friends for a few beers. As he is a drummer, inevitably he got up to play a song with us which was okay although he was a tad inebriated. Told us his best man today is Tenpole Tudor, who we are old enough to remember! Another of his pals we got chatting to was Jeff Rich, another drummer who was with Status Quo for over 15 years. A lovely bloke, who we got up to play as well - he wanted to do a blues shuffle sort of thing, so I sang ‘Farther up the Road’, made famous by Bobby Bland and later Eric Clapton. Jeff was an absolutely amazing player, so strong yet subtle and groovy as. Really enjoyed playing with him, and so nice to meet someone with no edge or ego, just a fabulous musician. May be some pics with him kicking around that I’ll add later. (now added!) Got home around 1am, bit knackered today though.

Ha ha, know what you mean. I quite like the neck pickup on a Tele, and also the struggle of setting up an amp to cope between the massive difference in tone they offer on neck and bridge pickups! Great guitars once you can get that sweet spot though. If your Tele front pick up is as bad as you describe, maybe it needs some attention? I have a Baja model Tele and it is fairly lively on all settings.

Agreed, down to the OP to decide the cost of his nostalgic refurb. When I was at school in the early 70’s, Eko guitars were often the first ‘reasonable’ guitar people had. I had an Eros jumbo which was quite similar - bolt on neck and very overbuilt but at least they stood a lot of rough use (without luxuries like hard cases to carry them around in) and played okay as well. Think the Eko brand has recently made a resurgence with some reissues too.

I’m playing with a blues band soon at a wedding! Both bride and groom have seen & enjoyed the band at many gigs, but I have a feeling their family and friends might not be so keen. Same as tribute bands doing weddings / family celebrations really - you probably have very little chance of entertaining all ages and tastes unless it’s a wide ranging genre such as soul / glam / disco etc.

Have a look at www.projectguitarparts.co.uk They have listed a set of 6 Eko Ranger machine heads for £34. From the picture of them they seem to have the same screw configuration as yours. 🙂

Another seaside jaunt for us this Friday.

Old Peaveys are legendary for their survival! My old Mk4 bass head from the 80’s is still in use and has never missed a beat, besides being used as a hire rig. The amp tech guy I use always swore by their build quality and design too. Unfortunately ( as with many manufacturers ) things seemed to start to slide downhill during the late 90’s.