dmccombe7

Another from Gypsies Kiss circa 1986. You can't see it in the pic but i was sporting a broken leg after a footie accident. Using an Ibanez Musician bass in this pic,

Hot Love from a few yrs ago possibly 2016 so not that long ago.

In Stock with the supplier ?? I'm with you on this. If it says In Stock it should be on their shelf waiting to be posted to you. I look at Andertons site quite a lot and they have things marked as "In stock", "Out of Stock" or "Available to order" once you click on an item to order it tells you approx how long the wait will be. I like their system. I ordered 2 sets of strings from a large store (not Andertons) on Mon for next day delivery. I got an email saying they only had one in stock but the other set would be with them in a few days. I asked them to send the one set they had as i needed them for Fri gig. My issue now is it cost £5 to deliver and they'll now charge me another £5 for the 2nd set even tho it was one order and no mention on the site that they only had one in stock. That annoys the hell out of me too. If i had known it was going to cost me £10 for postage in total i would have bought the 2 sets elsewhere and would have been cheaper; Dave

No comment but it wasn't coming from gig money. That was back when i had a 28" waist. Those days have long gone. Dave

Cannae beat leather jeans in a rock band in 80's.

Have you always played WAL basses. You do seem to like them. 😂 Had one in 80's and it was nice. Would like another but prices are a bit too much to justify. Dave

Looks like my next set i'll give them a try. All quite positive comments about them and especially nice to hear is their longevity of tone and easier on the fingers. That's exactly what i was hoping for. The nickel wounds do give me occasional sore finger tips on plucking hand when i'm really getting into the songs. Flats or coated strings are either too dull or have a higher tension than i like. Dave

A year is pretty good and could warrant the extra £10 very easily. I'm changing my EXL190's every 2-3mths depending on how often i use that particular bass. Thanks for the info i'll maybe give them a try next time around. Dave

Free Ale i hope Dave

Lot of cancellations because of it. Sorry to hear you missed out. Roll on the next one tho, onwards and upwards. Dave

Any particular reason it got cancelled ? Dave

I'm going thru a phase where i think i can find a better string than the D'addario EXL190 nickel wounds. At the moment i have put MB Longevo on both my Sandbergs. I've just realised from a fellow BC'er that the strings are the cause of losing definition when gigging. Sounded great at home and when playing solo at a gig before we start but they get lost in the mix and its only guitar, bass and drums. Shame as they feel good and i liked the tone. I tried boosting mids but nope still not cutting thru like my EXL190's. ANYWAYS i've just ordered 2 sets of EXL190's from GAK but saw the NYXL's and wondered who has tried them and what are the benefits other than staying in tune better than other strings. Do they compare with the EXL190's other than gauge being different at 45-100 which isnt a big problem for me. What justifies the additional £10 Was gonna try but GAK are out of stock and need strings for a gig on Fri night. The NYXL's might be my next trial when i can get them. Dave

I found this same issue when elixir strings first appeared and that's why i stopped using them plus they had more tension than i liked. I had completely forgotten all about that. Dave

Not a song you'd forget then. 🤣 Dave

Odd that you should say that i changed from D'addario nickels to Longevo on my Sandberg MarloweDK and i noticed a lack of definition at my last 2 gigs but couldn't quite figure out what it was until you mentioned that. The bass sounded great when i played the bass on its own but in the mix there was no cut thru the mix. I tried boosting mids and treble at different times but didn't help much. I'm wondering if they settle a bit after a few gigs. ? Think i might just go back to the Daddario nickels on my basses. Shame as they feel nice and the tone at home or when playing on my own sounds really nice to me. Thanks for mentioning that. Dave

Forgot you were down in Lanark and i was off this weekend too. Dave

The joys of playing in a band. Dave

Best thing he's ever done. Dave

Great news for you guys. Cancelling gigs last minute is always gonna be an issue. We've had to cancel 2 gigs recently as band members have tested +ve. Drummer had it 3 weeks ago, tested -ve few times for an all clear after 10 days and we thought all good to go again and then last week he tested +ve again. Says he def had symptoms twice and 2nd time it felt worse but symptoms cleared up quickly. He's now waiting for a -ve test for all clear to go again. Out of the 2 bands i play with i'm the only one that hasn't caught it at all ........ yet. We've all had our 3 vaccines so i've no idea why they've caught it and myself and wife haven't. She attends all the gigs. Anyway good luck and wishing you happy times ahead and keep us posted how your first gig goes down. Dave

I see where you're coming from now. My Mesa amp was cancelled after a year waiting and its a combination of things like parts shortages and cost of shipping containers. Most US companies wont send an individual amp. They wait till they have a full shipment worth but cost of containers and availability of them is causing severe headaches for many companies. Have a look at 2nd hand gear on Basschat. I saw a decent 500w Ashdown EVO rig for sale recently that looked a good buy. Ashdown are a UK company so no shipping delays if buying new. Most shops either have them in stock or can get them quickly. Ashdown EVO amps and cabs are used by many many pro bassists. I guess a lot is down to budget tho and if its a back up interim amp then 2nd hand resale will be better on 2nd hand amp than a new Carlsbro amp. I'd check the 2nd hand market on here first before getting Carlsbro gear. I've never known any pro bass player use it. Dave

Loved Bowie's Laughing Gnome. "Aven't you got a gnome to go to" Combine Harvester also a great fun song. I used to quite enjoy them as they were a break from the usual chart songs we got back then. Dave

I would have thought the Rumble 500W would be good enough. I hear a lot of praise for them. I'm not a huge fan of Carlsbro gear and always found it a bit cheap especially compared to the Fender Rumble. My experience of Carlsbro was my first "big" amp back in late 70's and maybe they've come on a bit from then but not for me. Why Carlsbro ? A 250 person venue is a decent size and i'm assuming a PA is involved. If so his own amp will be solely on stage monitoring for himself and the PA will be doing the main job. If just a vocal PA i think the Rumble will still be ok I've used 500W combo's in venues over the years and it was loud enough. Maybe someone with more experience of the Rumble 500 can advise far better than me. Wish him all the very best for the gig Dave

Torquemada 1981 probably my first proper gig with a decent rock / prog covers band. Using an Aria SB1000 Gypsies Kiss circa 1986 doing original rock with a few covers of ZZ Top, AC/DC and Free. Using my Fender 80's Jazz Georges Kitchen circa 1988 doing originals with a few covers. Quite a varied style including this image of us doing Pink Floyd Time. I remember that cause i triggered the smoke machine for the beginning. Drummer had a Simmonds electronic kit altho you cant see it in this pic and guitarist had the Roland guitar synth. Great fun band. I'm using my Yamaha BX-1 bass. Another George's Kitchen circa 88 just to show the drummer existed LOL Stormbringer 2012 a tribute to Deep Purple & friends doing DP songs plus any band that had a link to DP like Rainbow, Sabbath (i know but Dio sang with Rainbow who had a link to DP.......😂)

Best thing you'll ever do is retire early and join a band or two. Since i retired 6 yrs ago at 56 i've never been so busy with bands altho covid put a stop to it for 2 yrs its back up and running this year with one band booked 2-4 gigs a month and the other a handful but that's more down to member work commitments. People our age have lost their ego's and bands become a more friendly enjoyable place to be (usually). Lot less stressful than when i was younger. I also live in country and rehearsals are 40miles away but its worth it. Enjoy and make the most of it. Dave

Punk band playes 2-4 gigs a month and doesn't need to rehearse unless they want to add some new songs. Glam band plays 5-6 gigs a year so rehearsals are a necessity for me. I wont gig with a band if its not up to giving 100% at a gig especially more so when there's decent money being paid by a venue. There will be mistakes but rehearsals or regular gigging reduces that risk IME. Dave