dmccombe7

Same here Greg. Take care and keep let us know how you're doing thru the recovery process. Dave

Good to hear the Yamaha bass was positive feedback. I've never had a Yamaha bass but i love the tone from them especially the older BB2000 or 3000 versions if i remember right. Dave

Some clips from our weekend gigs. Fri night Cambusnethan Club. http://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=25683119331329350&set=pcb.2256881974820337 http://www.facebook.com/100001739064740/videos/pcb.2256881974820337/736660958963532 http://www.facebook.com/100001739064740/videos/pcb.2256881974820337/1372059424701274 Sat night at the Dreadnought. http://www.facebook.com/100000315642844/videos/pcb.2257398474768687/1614815816554452 http://www.facebook.com/100000315642844/videos/pcb.2257398474768687/4324524834499098 http://www.facebook.com/100000315642844/videos/pcb.2257398474768687/3830380380600210 Dave

Think the Glam thing just works really well at Xmas. Women seem to love the era. Dave

Last gig before Xmas for BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam covers band at The Dreadnought in Bathgate was another great night of party fun. 110 advanced ticket sales at £10 a pop and quite a few walk-ins took it up to approx 120. 80/20 split to us on ticket sales so a good nights work if you would even call it that. Its just great fun doing Xmas gigs. Great feedback from the audience at the end as always in this venue. Its our singers home town and her local at weekends when not gigging. Fun stories of the night :- #1. Our singer was in loo at start of the evening and a guy asked if he had seen the band before. He replied yes and that he'd seen them at every gig in this venue. The guy was none the wiser that he was talking to the singer. Wigs, make-up and outfits tends to throw them off the scent a bit. #2. My wife and singer wife were sitting at a table with very few seats remaining when 2 guys asked if they could take the 2 spare stools at the table and they both said yes and they then asked if it would be ok for them to sit at same table as it was quite busy. While sitting there they then asked if the 2 women had seen the band before and just like the previous funny story they both said yes but elaborated that one was singers wife and the other the bass players wife. We are already booked in for next year the Sat before Xmas plus a summer gig too. Fingers a bit tender from Fri nights gig but managed ok without any issues. Tiredness was creeping in during 2nd set but managed to enjoy it all right to the end. 45min drive home and home for 1:15am, coffee and biccy then bed cause i was quite knackered TBH. Next gig for us is Hogmanay which should be another busy one and then on 3rd Jan up to Dundee for what should be another great one. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas guys. Until next year all the best. Dave 🎅

Last nights gig with BLOCKBUSTARZ Glam covers band in Cambusnethan Miners Club. Was sold out with 200+ tickets sold. Not an empty seat in the hall. It was crammed full. Mostly women in the audience and a mixed age group too. Looked like a few Xmas party groups in. Dancing from the first song all thru the full show. One pair of dancers dressed for the occasion were literally dancing every song of a 2.5hr show. They were on their feet more than us. 🤩 The atmosphere was literally electric and it makes you feel better and put more into the show. The singer was on top form with his audience participation. Not bad considering he drove there straight from work. We had so many people chapping our dressing room door to have a chat and thank us for a fantastic night. Was quite over-whelming but still nice to hear. Sound was incredible from our Sound Engineer And PA guy who is now our new permanent 6th band member. People that saw us there 2 yrs ago said the sound was much more full this time around and you could hear the difference between backline and full PA use. Feed back was sensational with many requests for contact details with the venue wanting to book for next Xmas too. Another woman that asked if we would play the club she manages as she was so impressed by the band and the show. This was a club i played back in early 80's. Similar sized Club too. She's adamant she'll have us booked for 2026 and was so complimentary. And she made a point of telling me she was teetotal and sober so that sounds promising. Will see what else comes out of it all. Tonight at The Dreadnought so hopefully will see the same reaction from the audience tonight. We're already booked in for next Xmas so no worries there. Think this is 4yrs in a row so far we've played the Sat before Xmas. My usual gear Sandberg MarloweDK - Shure GLXD wireless - Bassist Comp - Handbox WB-100 - BF 212 cab. Dave

I'm using elixir nickels on all my basses now. I get 9mths to a year on working basses and my Warwick Thumb 10+ yrs but it rarely gets played and doesn't leave the house these days. (too heavy for a full gig but i just love playing it at home) I guess you could change out the pick up for something else ? Keep us posted on how the string change develops. I'm really curious. Have you tried asking Sandberg to see what they say as it looks like its an issue for others too. Dave

The only suggestions i have is either heavier strings on D & G as you already mentioned or try raising the pick up a touch. Not sure whether its just a volume thing or its purely weak tone you mean. I'm sure Neil Murray once told me that's how he got round volume differences on his older basses was to put a heavier gauge on the weaker pole piece. Raising the pick up is an easy adjustment. Just remember how many turns and if it doesn't resolve it you just put it back to where it was before. Did the rest of the band notice it too. ? I've found with some basses thru certain amps i get differences across the strings. If i have too much bass EQ rather than tweaking up the volume the D &G strings do sound quieter. If i flatten my amp EQ it seems to balance it out again but out front it all sounded balanced, its just what i was hearing on stage. Dave

Looking forward to 2 sold out gigs this weekend. 1st at Cambusnethan Club in Wishaw area with 200+ tickets sold. This was actually where i had my wedding reception back in 95. Wife's Aunt was Bar Manageress so we got a great deal. 2nd at our Fav venue the famous Rock Club, The Dreadnought in Bathgate that have been booking us every year for past 4 yrs and already booked for next years. Always a great night and always a total party night. Both within 45mins from me so that's a bonus. Got our PA guy doing the hard work at Camby Club and PA is supplied at Dreadnought so no heavy lifting this weekend. Life doesn't get much better than this. I tell a lie - i pick up my new car on Sat morning 11am. A lovely Subaru Outback that has more loading space than my Volvo V90. The dealer suggested i take the demonstrator home and load my gear in to make sure 100% that they fit rather than relying on measuring it at the dealers. This is one seriously exciting weekend. Dave

My social life is the gigs. You mean there's more to having a Social Life. ? 🤩 Dave 🎅

What we've found as a similar type of show is that Sunday afternoons are a great time for people of a certain age. Weve now played a few well attended Sun afternoon gigs and it suits everyone from the band to the audience. Dave

When i bought my Thumb bass in 1989 i tried it thru a TE410 combo and it was a perfect match. Absolutely stunning combination. Still stands out in my memories to this day. Unfortunately i've tried TE kit since and over the years never quite captured that tone from 1990 ish. Dave

Oddly enough we were having the exact same discussion in the changing room yesterday. 😂 Dave 🎅