dmccombe7

I'm sure Rush did something similar, might have been Zep but i have Deep Purple in my head but it was a long time ago i read it. Dave

Steely Dan were in the studios when i was there rehearsing for an up-coming gig the following week. They had it booked for a full week altho much of that was guitar set ups and PA testing. A lot of techy stuff going on but the band were in there playing at one point during a Sun afternoon. Also seen Beyonce, Michael Schenker, Justin Currie and Amy McDonald all doing similar. Think the Michael Schenker thing was with Chris Glen's band tho. May well be this was their rehearsal before the tour start in Glasgow. Justin Currie was there over a 3-4 week period and Amy McDonald almost lives in the studios according to the studio engineers but i've never actually seen or heard her in there. ? Some of the older Pro rock bands used to say they hired a large venue or warehouse for a month before a tour and are in there every day. I guess its a good way to rehearse for a major tour. Dave

just ordered a set thru Amazon for £30 altho delivery is 10th Dec. At that price its worth a try. Currently using D'addario XT's on my 2 main basses. Dave

Cheers for that @Shaggy I did a search but that one didn't come up. Dave

Recently put D'addario XT strings on my two Sandberg basses and they've lasted quite well and feel and sound nice. Came across the DR Black Beauties at £30 / set on Amazon so thought i would give them a try. Not due until 10th Dec tho. Anyone using them and what do you think of them. I saw Geezer Butler on a few adverts stating they are the only strings not to give him blisters. Some old posts i found from 2013 stated a few dead G strings but i'm hoping that issue is resolved by now. Dave

They do that when you score more than 100% in the exam Pete. ? 😆 I got a few of those too. Dave

Both bands i'm in will do a 1st set of 1hr 10mins and 2nd set 1hr and 15-20 mins plus any encores. Sometimes we'll drop a song if time is getting close to closing time. In total we play about 2hrs 30 mins in total with a 15-20 min break on top of that especially with the Glam band as we do a costume change. With the Glam band it takes the singer about 30 mins to get ready as he has his face paint to get on and then we have our costumes to get ready for the gig. At the end of the gig we get changed and dried off before dismantling the gear. We also get a lot of requests for pics with us in our gear which is nice. Dave

I dont mind rehearsing if its producing good results but agree with everything else you've said. Gigging makes you perfect things a lot faster. Punk band i learned songs in 3 weeks and started gigging and i picked up on any mistakes i made and sorted them for the next gig. Glam band rehearse more often mainly because of personnel changes over its 4 yrs but now we are settled we book a rehearsal every couple of months just to run thru every song we know and keep them all fresh. Obviously learning the Xmas songs and have a rehearsal tonight to tidy them up ready for our next gig on 3rd Dec. Dave

never managed to see SAHB. Its one of my disappointments in life. Them and Kiss.

Normally i love driving too but i think its because the Glam gigs take a lot out of me. The heavy wigs and wearing quite thick jackets and platform boots causes me to sweat a lot more than with the punk band and i think its just that i always feel that bit more tired after those gigs. We do have large fans (excuse the pun) at each side of the stage to provide some cooling which is now helping a lot to keep cool. Summer gigs can be hard work LOL Its fine driving on twisty country roads because you tend to be a lot more focused but when i hit motorways is when i have had that brain drift thing. That's why i limit my drive home to 2hrs after a Glam gig. (approx 100-120 miles which is a fair distance on twisty A roads in Scotland. To be fair most of my gigs are in and around Scottish Central belt area and approx 1 hrs drive. Dave

I love a gig where we arrive, set up, sound check and go on in 5 mins. Get the job done, pack up and head home. Worst part for me is a long drive home. I struggle with anything more than a 2 hr drive home aftaer a 2.5 hr gig wearing all the Glam gear and sweating buckets. I drink 2 litres of water during a gig. Dave

Doin good mate. Keeping busy. Let me know how the gig went Daryl. Doing a wee jam session spot this Sunday afternoon with guys i played with in 80's doing Pink Floyd, Alex Harvey and a wee bit of Hendrix. Had a short rehearsal with them tonight for an hour and it seemed ok. Took me back to my younger days LOL All the best Dave

All the best with it Blue. Sure it will be a great night. Dave

I'm kinda with you on this but would have to add that when i was learning i was trying to copy my fav players which at that time were Jack Bruce, Neil Murray and Glenn Hughes and of course Geddy. They were the players i was aiming to be like and after a couple of yrs learning the basics from lessons and music sheets back in mid 70's i decided it was time to look at Jazz / Prog Rock players and that took me into a whole new world listening to Richard Sinclair, Tony Levin, Mo Foster John Wetton and a few others and of course Neil Murray again who can play anything. That led me into listening to players that were way out of my league like Jeff Berlin, Percy Jones, Jaco P. To this day i still listen to guys i cant copy but i can pick up little bits and bobs that i can use in my day to day job. With the amount of social media and interweb the younger generation have a fast entry into how to play fancy bass licks but i worry they might be missing the basics and what's needed in typical pub band. I know bands that have auditioned some young guys and all they wanted to do was slap and pop and couldn't hold a basic rhythm with the drummer and they obviously were over-looked for the simpler player that could hold a song together. Most bands aren't looking for a bass soloist. Just my own views of course. Dave

No-one specific these days. Usually i'm looking at gear reviews and its more about the bass than the playing. Historically tho my favs have been (in no specific order other than how i remebered them) MarloweDK Bass Whisperer Michael Manring Stuart Clayton Tyler Spicer Ivanbassist Charles Berthoud Frederico Malaman

Oddly enough i mostly keep the pan centred except when mucking around at home and with my Jazz i have both volumes full. I'm never happy with the tone if the pan is moved off centre or i reduce one volume on my jazz. I have one exception to that which is my Overwater custom fretless where the pan seems more controllable and gives a more refined change over between pick ups. With my other basses i find the tone changes too much towards the pick up its moved to and i get either a more P tone or a more rear Jazz pick up tone so i just leave it centred and adjust tone controls to get what i like. Dave PS i'd be happier with just one volume and one tone.

My EQ will depend on what bass i use and room acoustics to be honest but generally speaking i run it flat most times occassionally i'll nudge up the mids a bit. Dave

4-5 mths to move house, must have a big house Sounds like a good gig to get too. I won tickets for that show a few yrs back but couldn't make it. Dave

Why is the band on hold till 2023. December is the usually the busiest time for bands. I know you've probably told me the reason but at my age i have a short memory The good news is you wont be disappointed when you do start gigging with the WB-100. As someone mentioned above the WB-100 sits really well in the mix without the low boominess you get with some all tube amps. Even using my P bass the sound is deep but retains a clarity i've never come across in an all tube amp. Some amps sound "woolly" with a lack of definition which suits many styles but i like to hear my notes clearly. Hopefully your band gets a move on and some gigs come your way soon. Dave

Methil Ex-Services in Fife last night. Glam covers band. About half full which the club said was good under current climate. Dancing from 2nd or 3rd song, lots of vids being taken on phones altho haven't seen any yet. Band sounded good. Backline and vocal PA and the new Handbox WB-100 did a sterling job and all running flat on EQ with master at 11 o'clock. Club was very impressed and have asked if we could do next years Hogmanay 2023. Gave them a price and they will run it thru the committee this morning at their AGM. Feedback from the audience was very positive and everyone had a great time. Band is really starting to tighten up with our new guitarist and band feels a lot more settled. Drive home was a bummer as it was heavy rain / sleet with fair bit of flooding on roads. Very pleased this morning albeit tired. Bed at 4am and cats at 9am this morning. Dave

Nice collection of fretless basses. Post a pic of them for us. I like having a fretless in the house but i've never really managed to master the fretless but i keep trying. I have my Overwater custom fretless 6er which is nice. Over the years i've had P fretless (unlined 1980), WAL (lined 1982), Jaydee (unlined 2015), Overwater 6er fretless (unlined 2000) and an old Yamaha BX-1 i removed the frets Dave

Well we did a large club last night with the Glam covers band with just vocal PA and used the WB-100 backline only. Was definitely a little worried the HB would run out of steam but nope it handled it with ease. Had the Gain at 1 o'clock at the crunch setting with just a little bit of edge to it. EQ was totally flat and master was at 11 o'clock. It was faultless. Stage was a bit boomy but it just meant we felt the bass on stage as well as hearing it. Out front the tone was perfect. No vids appeared yet but hopefully some later. Club was approx half full. Feedback was excellent. Dancing from 2nd or 3rd song all the way thru the night and lots of people taking vids with their phones. We have been asked if we could do 2023 Hogmanay night. We gave them our price and they said they would run it thru the AGM committee this morning at 10am. They were very impressed by sounds of it. Used my Sandberg VM4 (tried the P bass but on stage it was even more boomy so opted for old faithful) HB WB-100 into Mesa SW210/115 rig. A very successful night for us. Only downside was the 2hr drive home in torrential rain with lots of flooding. Got home and watched the F1 Qualifiers with my coffee and biccies before bed 4am. Back up for the cats at 9:30am. I'm now wishing i hadn't sold my Auralex Gramma last year. Looks like i'm gonna have to buy a new one as last 2 gigs have had hollow wooden stages and lots of booming. Dave

Good point. You end up with racke ears that are bgger than the amp itself LOL