casapete

I think one thing that changed for me when buying basses was to make sure the bass felt right when standing up as well as seated. I’ve found that different strap adjustments can be vital when trying something new rather than just using your usual strap and hoping it’s fine. It can make all the difference, even with very similar style of basses.

Yup, me too. Using one of those heavy 70’s Ibanez twin neck jobs must have stood him in good stead for that early Stingray. 😆

Maybe not an amateur, but the dreaded term 'semi-professional', surely an oxymoron? 🤣

Think I saved this from a previous post a while ago.

“The life of a rock & roll band will last as long as you can look down into the audience and see yourself.” Bruce Springsteen.

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side". Hunter S. Thompson, US author and journalist.

Just one thing re the website Higgie - there’s a page where the text is over two different coloured backgrounds, and the right hand section of text all but disappears over the yellow/cream bit. Cheers, Pete.

Good luck Sarah, by the sound of it you’ve prepared well so it will be a walk in the park! Hope you have a good one.

PM sent. Cheers.

“ Everyone talks about rock these days : the problem is, they forgot about the roll “ Keith Richards

Absolutely this ^^^ Superb video, and the website is excellent too. My only other comment is - can you make it pay with such a massive band ?!! All the best.

Don’t know if it’s my physique, but bowl back style basses ( and guitars come to think of it ) always seem uncomfortable to play. They seem to want to face upwards too much, even when seated. Always put me off Ovations, along with the plastic (sorry, ‘Lyrachord’) construction of the backs.

No, I'm in East Yorkshire so no connection there. Have you got sorted with a bass rig yet?

I did the same this week, and apart from my throat giving me some gyp for my backing vocals, the gig went well. It’s amazing what you remember that you assume might have disappeared from your memory, you’ll be fine. Good luck!

Yup, I knew one like that too. His count was always faster than the tempo he came in with, even when I started counting them in after a period of frustration / annoyance. I'm sure he thought I rushed everything too! Whilst I'm not the greatest bass player by any means, one of my strengths is being able to hold a tempo whatever everyone else is trying to do with it. With a dragging drummer, by the end of the night my right hand was often swollen and sore from trying to drive the song and make the drummer keep the tempo where it should be. I got to the point where in most songs I could anticipate the same places he slowed down every time. When we occasionally had a dep it was such a relief.

Did my first gig this year last night. Just my acoustic duo at a local pub, but nevertheless a landmark event for me - I was actually beginning to wonder if I would ever get out there again. The gig went well, good well behaved crowd and brilliantly organised staff sorting out table service - a buzzer to the bar on each table was available to order drinks. I was initially worried about the drunks left over from the England match, but fortunately they drifted off once we started , funny that! Worries about my hands still being able to do 3 x 40 min sets were unfounded, although my voice only just survived. You forget about rehearsing vocals, well I did anyway. Got home at round 12.30am, absolutely knackered today though.

I’ve been fortunate to play at a number of upmarket functions north of the border where they’ve had brilliant people playing bagpipes. Changed my mind about them completely - very moving when played well in the right setting. Same with Ceilidh bands with absolutely amazing players, and great to see all the audience involved in the dancing.

Yup, Marshall did ( as mentioned above somewhere). Don't think they lasted long in production though, seem to remember Lemmy using them.

Fender did do some pretty large ‘unusual’ cabs, like a 3x12 so maybe something like that? The width of the cab in the picture though seems pretty odd. Maybe could just be a home made / custom built job that someone used Fender grille cloth on?

Absolutely - worst one I've encountered recently was at a Clapton gig at Leeds Arena. Although I rarely do big venues we managed to get seats fairly near the front so a great view etc. Young chap next to me got his phone out just before the band came on and then spent the entire gig filming the video screen situated next to the stage, unbelievable! Think the younger generation now just take pics and videos of everything instead of living and enjoying the moment as it happens.

I can't be doing with pushing and shoving either. Couldn't do with it even when I was in my late teens at punk gigs, so certainly not putting up with it now! Most of the bands I enjoy seem to attract a similar audience reaction to me and my friend's. Mainly there to watch and listen as well as showing support for the band. Can't be doing with people talking ( especially in the quieter songs) or obliterating my view with phones at all. Also those gits who constantly bump into you / spill beer all over the place and think that because I'm not off my face I can't be enjoying the band as much as them. A few years ago me and a couple of mates were at a gig at The Duchess in Leeds watching ex-Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. A random bloke kept on banging around and spilling drinks on us, and one of my friends warned him not to do it again which of course he did. My mate grabbed the fella and then frogmarched him outside in an instant, job done. Rest of the gig very enjoyable! I don't go to gigs to start fights, but likewise don't pay good money to put up with being shoved around either.

Great smell but wicked stuff though - remember doing the fence with it at my first house and getting horrible blotches on my arms where it had splashed.

Exactly this. My duo play a couple of times a year at the home my dad spent his last years in, and the requests are nearly always from the 50’s and 60’s. They like an old time singalong as well, but rock and pop wins the day.

I have transport, some PA, and sing backing vocals! This seems to be a rarity with bass players around here, and I think sometimes gets me dep gigs over better players than myself. Always hard to find a dep good enough to do the job but just not too well isn’t it?!! We had some unbelievably good deps over the years, and the band always seemed to raise their collective game accordingly.

The band never let me forget it of course so just made it worse. Got my own back when the trumpet player was on holiday though. He used a dep who was really good, so I told him a lot of his parts had sounded so much better when played an octave higher. 😅