casapete

Our acoustic gig at my village local went well - people doing the conga on the village green! Prosecco is a wonderful thing. We did the first of two nights at The Core Theatre in Solihull last night, virtually capacity audience who were well up for it. Overnight hotel stay over, so my first night not sleeping in my own bed for nearly 18 months, bit strange! Looking forward to tonight’s gig, with the bonus of not having to set all the gear up too! It’s now starting to feel more normal for me to do these gigs now after an initial uncertainty. Also great to see audiences are getting more confident in coming to see live music again, with theatres doing their utmost to make things as safe as possible.

I didn’t play much during lockdown(s) and worried about starting up again so rehearsed gradually more and more before my first gigs back. What I did overlook was my vocals, and subsequently suffered a little during the first few gigs. but this settled down again to my usual average warbling! Would advise anyone who sings to do some practice at stage volume to build your voice back.

With older Trace stuff being fairly bomb proof, I’d say you’ve been unlucky. My old TE AH500 would have survived a nuclear attack. Same as the older Ashdown stuff, reliable as anything. I’ve always looked after stuff - never left in a car or damp space, serviced annually to pre-empt any possible problems and never abused onstage by being overdriven or hooked up to dodgy cabs. Maybe your Trace had a hard life before you got it? Can’t comment on the Orange though...😉

My acoustic duo played our monthly residency last night at a local pub. Lots of people in which was good to see, and all remaining seated. We make it mainly requests so a good mix of stuff, from Sinatra to Ezra! After 3x40 min sets I was quite knackered though, and my voice today is a bit affected. Still, great night - it’s my favourite gig and always look forward to it. Doing my local village pub (100 yds away) tomorrow night, so am hoping that goes well - landlord hasn’t seen us before so would be nice to get some more gigs there as I could walk to the gig!

Our 4th outing since lockdown, requiring a mammoth journey to Essex and back from East Yorkshire. Total journey around 550 miles, got in at 3.30am. Still, a worthwhile trip with around 700 punters in the theatre. Staff at the gig were excellent - we had to show proof of negative lateral flow tests and wear masks backstage etc, all with no problems and I felt quite safe onstage. We played well (apart from one mishap in the 2nd set which we recovered from quickly!) and it felt like things just may be starting to return to some sort of normality at last. (Icing on the cake was a great pizza joint having just opened 20 yds from the stage door!)

I was in a band once with someone who insisted that his Marshall 100 head needed to be at a certain level to get ‘his sound’. Actually he was right - master volumes on Marshall heads have never (IMHO) been that successful in achieving this, as you really need to get the power amp valves working. Just winding up the preamp(s) is not enough for getting ‘that’ sound, which is why the very sensible move to smaller valve amps/combos has enabled this to happen but at more sensible levels. 100 watts of full on Marshall is too much for many gigs let alone a rehearsal room. I have an original Marshall 1974 model 18 watt combo which is perfect for rock and blues stuff - when fully opened up it is one of the best guitars sounds I’ve encountered, as well as loud enough to be used unmiked.

I’ve watched the first episode too, and thought it was brilliant. Going to do some more over the BH weekend.

Anyone who uses a 100 watt Marshall guitar valve head turned up loud for rehearsals is never going to ‘get it’, so think you’ve made the right call. You would always be fighting them for sonic space and your hearing would possibly be at risk too. With all the great number of small valve combos available these days, there’s just no excuse.

I’d go chrome - look better but most importantly easier to use. Strat style knobs only look right on Strats. Remember those Squier Precision’s that had them fitted as standard? I rest my case.😄

Friend of mine was the MD for them for that gig, remember seeing photos he took from the stage. He appears in the documentary too, playing guitar.

We have a theatre gig tomorrow night, and have all been requested to provide negative Covid test details. Also will each have some sort of test when we arrive at the venue. I’m impressed by their efforts to minimise risks, and happy to assist in this. Know it’s not a guarantee of safety but probably all that can be done to ensure the show goes on.

Saw them around 77/78 at Hull Uni. Gig lasted maybe 40 mins and every song sounded like Sheena....😆

Just started watching McCartney 3,2,1 on Disney + Series of six 30 min programmes of Macca chatting with Rick Rubin about his career and everything that has shaped it. Really interesting stuff and shot in black and white too. Recommended. 😊

Finally got round to watching this, found it very enjoyable. Loved Sly, Fifth Dimension , David Ruffin and of course Stevie Wonder. Couldn’t make out who was in the house band(s) but some great players.

Great list, very useful! Am I right in thinking the power/ watts ratings are ‘program’ rather than the more often used ‘continuous’ , if so maybe needs clarifying? Thanks for taking the time to compile it. 🙂

I was hoping he was in recovery following a medical procedure, but sadly wasn’t to be. Absolutely gutted.

Sadly this is all conjecture now, as it’s been reported by the BBC that Charlie has passed away. RIP.

The guitarist in my country band now has iPad Pros which he lets us use. He scrolls through the parts turning pages with a pedal which controls all the iPads ,(Bluetooth I think), works a treat. ForScore is the app used for this.

Just done a couple of small gigs this week with my country rock band. On Thursday we did a local pub, our first gig as a band in nearly two years. A few rusty moments but overall okay, although for me it was one of those gigs I just didn’t get into. Have a new drummer who is great, but had to keep an eye on him just to make sure he didn’t miss any stops or endings. Then last night we played a social club in a small town which had sold tickets for our gig at £5 a head. Was amazed to see we sold 80 so the landlord was well happy. One of those gigs that initially looked a bit naff but which turned out to be great. I really settled into it, and the new drummer was superb, listening to what was going on and not overplaying or hitting things too hard! (Should point out that we didn’t rehearse at all either, so flying by the seat of our pants.) Audience loved it, and so did I - used my Dano Longhorn, GK800 and Barefaced Compact for plenty of thump. Hopefully we’ll get a rebooking later in the year, and have another gig for the band in September. Great to be out gigging again, with both shows feeling fairly safe ( well, as safe as they can be these days anyway).

On here of course! I’ve had reasonable success using FB market place, but as Douglas says above, it depends a fair bit on where you live. Otherwise Gumtree can be useful too, just be prepared for some dumb replies.

Sad news. Met Martin a couple of times, once in a dark corner of an M62 car park we both laughed about. Lovely bloke taken too soon. RIP Martin.

Sky Arts are showing ‘Eric Clapton Live in San Diego’ from 2007 tonight at 9pm, and tomorrow (Saturday 21st) at 6pm. Guest appearances by JJ Cale and Derek Trucks.

Another ‘straight to the amp’ player here. Like Douglas, I also use a clip on tuner, mainly so I don’t have anything else in my signal path. I have nothing against pedals per se, but for the music I’m involved in I find them unnecessary. The key for me is finding a bass and amplifier combination that have the sound you really want, which in itself can be quite a job before thinking of altering it with pedals. I really don’t understand people who shell out big bucks for top end amps, and then spend even more on an expensive preamps and pedals which alter the basic tone! If you want to do this may as well just run all the F/X into a power amp or powered monitor cab like a lot of people are doing now.