dmccombe7

Just a great classic song. Well done. I love playing that song altho my own band doesn't play it. Not a bad jam night there i reckon. Well done. Dave

Stick with it..........the geddy bass will eventually release its awesome power and allow you to play better, faster and with more precision. Be patient my young student. Dave

I've got a throat bug and can hardly speak at times but i aint missing our last gig of the year in one of our fav venues, The Dreadnoght in Bathgate. Virtually sold out with only a handful of tickets that will get sold on the night. We've all been looking forward to this gig for many months. Last time we played it our female singer had ffod poisonng and was very unwell but she soldiered on thru both sets. She has set the bar very high for the rest of us. Luckily with a bit of salt water gargling and a spoonful of honey every few hrs its easing of now. Last night i could hardly speak. Good job i dont sing. Dave

I found Jimmy Lea tends to keep his left hand in same position a lot and just moves it up and down the fretboard. He's an amazing player and so fluent in his playing. Dave

Says it all for me. 👍 Dave

Last gig of the year for punk covers band last night. After 4" snow in morning and the prospect of snow on way home after midnight i wasn't looking forward to the drive across country to Dumfries. Turned out roads were clear except for my own village road and another 2" snow on my driveway when i got home. Gig started of quiet with more people watching the footie than us. I could see the large screen in the other room where i was standing and oddly enough there was no reaction either way from the punters in the pub when a goal was had which surprised me in a Scottish pub. 😁 Was a bit busy playing to really watch the game tho so missed all the good bits. Anyways back to the gig. Started off with approx 20 people in the bar where we were set up but it grew once the footie stopped and we had another great wee night in Dumfries. Just took one of my Mesa cabs the SW115 and what a tone i was getting from it. Depth but quite clanky top end and that was with the horn OFF. Using the Handbox WB-100 and my new Keeley compressor with the Sandberg MarloweDK which took me a few songs to get the compressor set just right where it was just clipping the top end volumes. Dave

I've moved on to the DR Black Beauties and they sound and feel very much like the standard D'addario EXL's i used. Being coated they feel nice but have that twang in the tone which i'm hoping these strings will last a decent length of time. I really do like the feel of them. Definitely a WOW moment when i plugged the bass in after tuning. All going well and they last more than 6mths i will definitely be putting these on my other basses. To be honest if they can last 3-4mths i'll be chuffed to bits. Dave

If just using at home i'd get 3 mths from most sets of strings as i dont sweat at home. When doing the Glam Rock thing the outfits and wigs cause considerable sweat and i've killed a new set of EXL's in 2 gigs. Completely dead. That's my worst case scenario on very hot nights and i forgot my stage fan. They normally last approx 2mths. Dave

I always have a back up bass too but its more in case electronics or something like that causes a problem. Its easier to switch basses than change a string or try and repair an issue. Dave

Have you actually broken strings while playing @40hz ? I play very hard finger style over 45yrs and can only remember breaking one string back in early 80's. It was a Rotosound and the core broke inside the wrapping. Whether that was down to my playing or a faulty string i dont really know. Dave

Did try them but they died around the same amount of time as my standard EXL's and grudged the extra cost for no gains. Dave

Yep we throw in 3 Xmas songs in the Glam band. 1st one Let It Snow by Sweet in first set we had singalongs but no dancers but the 2 in the 2nd set by Slade and Wizzard had a lot of energetic dancers on the floor and went down really well. Punk covers band dont do any tho which has surprised me a bit but i just do what i'm told. LOL Dave

Wee update on the D'addario XT's. They lasted approx 2mths and i can hear the tone changing now altho i could probably get about another month before i would normally change. Have a good gig coming up so i've changed them today to a set of DR 40-100 Black Beauties and WOW, just WOW. The Black Beauties sound almost exactly like my EXL's do but smoother on the fingers and for them being coated they have a decent low tension compared to other coated strings i've tried. Tone wise at home i'm overwhelmed to say the least. Its not often i put a new set / type of string on my bass and it WOW's me right away. Playing for 30mins at home they stayed in tune from original fitting and tune. aT £30 FREE p&p from US thru Amazon i'm so far very pleased with them but proof of the pudding will be at a rehearsal next Monday night and if all good i'll use them at the important Xmas gig on 17th. I've got a set of XT's as a back up at the moment just in case i'm not happy with them at rehearsal. I'll update after the 6hr rehearsal next week. Plus they are black on my Polar white Sandberg VM4. Another thing is they sound amazing with just the humbucker selected and bass knob boosted a bit. Very mid sounding almost like a warm jazz on its bridge pick up. Liked that but its not a usable tone in my current bands but nice to doodle around with at home. These have put me in a very happy Xmas mood now. Dave

Its amazing how a new member can uplift and invigorate a band. Well done. Dave

Got mine set at 3:1 compression and Threshold set where red light is flickering ON more than OFF but not on constantly. That allows me to play softer for quiet parts limits the harder hits. Gain set same level as when pedal switched off which just happens to be 12 o'clock I'm not keen on an over compressed squashed tone but its down to personal preference. I rtied the compressor at 4:1 setting first and it seemed a little squashed. At 2:1 it wasn't doing quite enough for me. A little bit of trial and error will get you there. I had to experiment a bit with the compression on my Mesa amp which has same controls as the Keeley. Now its set i never touch it. With the Keeley i now know exactly where it sits. Dave

Was gonna go for a One Spot and a jumper lead for power to my TC tuner and jump it from that to my Keeley. The TC has its own power out socket to jump pedals. Dave

Cheers Rich that never dawned on me that it was a link. Sat was a late night and i was still tired..........honest I'm away to read the link story now but thanks for the summarized version LOL Dave

I might be old but i've still got a few years left yet...........go for it, i'm waiting Dave

Worked an absolute treat on Sat nights gig. I forgot to switch it on for first 2 songs in 2nd set and i could hear the difference thru the songs before i realised what was different from 1st set. Its so subtle at the settings i have which is exxactly what i was looking for. No change in tone which is why it took me a while to figure out what was different. All on all i'm very happy with this wee pedal. Need to get myself a decent power supply now Any thoughts on 9VDC power supplies. Dave

Do you mind if i ask what bass you have there. A single J pick up is throwing me a bit. Dave

Some gigs with the punk band i was only just breaking even by time i paid for fuel and bought myself something to eat after sound check and before the gig. Add in a new set of strings every 1-2 mths at £30 a pop i'm finding the cheaper gigs are gonna have to up their game a bit for 2023. Have noticed fuel prices are coming down with petrol around here sitting at £1.58 / litre at moment so that's a good sign and about time too. Dave

WOW that's a bit of a squeeze for a band. Dave

Old converted church last night at Rocknrolla's in Paisley. First time there with the Glam band and wasn't sure how it would go. Turned out to be a great night with a decent sized crowd and a group of girls / women including a girl from Sweden who danced almost every song from the word go. Sound engineer Paul Thompson did a great job for us and staff were all friendly. Only downside was they didn't advertise the gig much which was a worry. We've already been asked back and everyone enjoyed the night. Xmas songs went down really well too with lots of singing along. While doodling before sound check the sound engineer asked if i was into Jaco and Jeff Berlin based on what i was doing. I am of course a fan but can't do what they do by any stretch of the imagination but a compliment is a compliment. I was already on a high now before the gig started LOL All in all a good night. And in the green room before we start.

Now that's a success story if ever i heard one. Superb. Just proves that if you find the right people and the right music for you then it can work. Problem is finding that happy balance. Dave Dave

I'm very lucky that in both bands everyone helps each other unload and load including our female singer. My wife and other partners also chip in to give a hand. Dave