KevB

+1 for Samson Airline, been using mine for a few years and only had to opt out back to wired at 2 gigs. Cheap, reliable and doesn't significantly colour the sound at gigging volumes. Particularly handy if you have to quickly change basses in a set.

Danny Miranda was in the broadway version of WWRY and as such was the obvious choice for joining the 'proper' band. I saw him in BOC a few times and he always seemed a good guy.

Definitely Slade - it's a party. You might get more fun out of something a bit unusual like Xmas wrapping but the punters won't believe me. Slade will go down well every time, guaranteed. And it's a pretty good bassline anyway, not just plonking on the roots by any means. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niIJ9Yb-xwQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niIJ9Yb-xwQ[/url]

You also come across copies of short scale basses like Columbus SG copies, picked one up for about £100 on eBay recently. The bridges are poor making action adjustment very hit and miss but for a starter they aren't too bad, mine's playable. I think some of the Daisy Rock stuff is short scale and would no doubt suit a little girl aesthetically but unlikely to be in your budget even second hand; [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-DAISY-ROCK-STAR-SERIES-BASS-ATOMIC-PINK_W0QQitemZ270204225789QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270204225789&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-DAISY-ROCK-STAR-...p3286.m63.l1177[/url] I also spotted this, might be worth a punt even if it needs some sorting out with the set up; [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-4-scale-bass-guitar-and-amp_W0QQitemZ120314652504QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item120314652504&_trkparms=72%3A1298%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-4-scale-bass-guita...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url]

Small pub gig last night, they'd originally cleared a space for us (all 5 of us with a reasonable amount of gear) fit for an acoustic duo at a pinch served by ONE 13amp socket. Clearly a non starter so I sussed out an alternative which meant them putting away their big screen (mild grumblings but the England match had long since finished) and we basicaly took over one end of the public bar, just right. All the chavs left after the football/local darts match leaving a small but musicaly oriented bunch, most of whom the band knew. Hence cosy friendly atmos but not really a 'crowd' to feed off. Played OK though, apparently about 3 people approached our singer after the gig mentioning the midi pedals. Result! now on to rehearsing some fresh songs for the next round of gigs.

I still have no idea who the band was that the original poster was supporting. I can't really take these kind of things seriously without some hard facts, like names.

Definitely get in touch with The Diamond, Sutton In Ashfield: [url="http://www.thediamonduk.com/frames.html"]http://www.thediamonduk.com/frames.html[/url] They specialise in tribute acts. East Midlands has at least one well established Free/Bad Co trib though, called Free At Last.

Forgiving audience for us last night too. Probably highest profile gig for the band so far, certainly since I joined. Nottingham beer festival, held for the first time in the grounds of Nottingham Castle. We were in an old fashioned glass sided, wooden floored bandstand. The promise of at least 4 separate mains supplies turned out to be just 2 13amp sockets (thank God we didn't bring lights!). Halfway through the first set we blew all the mains to one side of the stage, including our PA. We fixed it in about 10 mins, dropped 1 song , skipped the interval and just played on until 11pm. Not our best performance but the crowd were up for it, I swear I saw people moshing and headbanging at one point, not what I'd expected from the real ale brigade...

Large helium balloon attached to a tuning peg? No need for a stand then either, though bringing it down from the rafters at the end of the night might get troublesome in some venues...^_^

And here's another black on black (mine actually) which shows the effect of having the white strip in the guard. Not a real Fender but close enough...

Maybe this should be off-topic but what will it mean for gigging pub bands? I can easily see some pubs looking at the balance sheets and deciding live music is a luxury they can live without. There are a couple of pubs my new band have approached recently that were always known for live music and have now stopped it completely. I suspect there may be more to follow. Will we all just start undercutting each other to get gigs or we all accept less money? Interested in others views.

I sometimes do Sunday afternoon jam sessions and the guys in the house band there stagger me with an almost encyclopedic mental back catalog of songs. They may be far from note perfect but perfectly recognisable. I'd probably struggle to play half the songs I was doing regularly with my last band which only split up about a year ago. I'm OK with songs I'm performing or practicing regularly at the time but ask me to play something from a set a couple of years back and I'm hopeless, yet some people seem to have instant recall. Having said that I've read interviews with famous players who have hinted that if they introduce a song into the set they havent done in afew years they usually have to go back to the albums and learn it again!

Saw him playing with SV a couple of years ago and I'm pretty sure they did that just bass & vocals one then, very good bass player. I'd never heard of him but was impressed with his taste in not overplaying yet would throw in fills and stuff where required that showed that he was a quality act.

Most I've spent is about £800 on a barely used ric. Probably won't spend as much on a single instrument again. Despite what happens on this forum I think generally the depreciation on 'average' basses is sufficient to curb my cheque writing hand. For what I play and the way I play it most people couldn't tell the difference between a cheap bass and a top end one anyway in my inexpert fingers. I'll never own a bass with LED's if I can possibly help it.

The band I recently joined; [url="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=384228576"]http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endid=384228576[/url] are at the Nottingham Beer Festival this Thurs night (Oct9th) followed by a gig at the Black Lion in Radcliffe On Trent on Sat (Oct 11th). Come have a laugh (actually the rest of the band are pretty good) and say hi.

Living In The Past (Tull) ?

[quote name='BassMunkee' post='295126' date='Sep 30 2008, 09:04 AM']TBH the man is a god amongst bassists[/quote] Not to this one he isn't. Wildly overrated IMHO, pretty much sums up the whole 'Factory' thing in a nutshell to me.

Not a big Kiss fan but I must catch your next show at The Diamond just to say hello Gary...

Or the owner didn't think it was going to sell, got 2 of his mates to bid it up and thus artificially inflate the final price. Will be intersting to see if it goes back on eBay in the next month or two. Just call me cynical...

I assume you didn't declare this to customs when you came back?

Just been taken on by a covers band, Wildside: [url="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=384228576"]http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endid=384228576[/url] However I'm so new that neither the photo nor the listed personnel have me on it. I am playing (not very well admittedly) on the website mp3 samples though. That was a demo we lashed together in a very short space of time last week.

If he's really convinced that he's in tune when he isn't the only way is a proper recording session with him in a vocal booth. Sit him down, play the full mix then slowly remove the instruments to leave the naked lead vocal. If that doesn't convince him nothing will and you might as well find another singer or leave. The singer in my last band had difficulties learning lines and still had lyric books on our last gigs but did seem to be slowly improving. As an aside next time you are at a big arena gig have a look inside the singer's 'monitor' - you might be surprised at how often these days it isn't a monitor at all but an autocue!

Having just settled in as the permanent bassist with the new band 'wildside' we are booked to play THE GENEROUS BRITON in Melton Mowbray on Fri 26th Sep. Since I barely know the set it could be quite interesting...come along and have a laugh. No midi pedals this time, I'll be phasing them in in time for the next gig though.

For a similar amount of money there's also the Behringer BX4500H. Solid and reliable, used to practice with one all the time. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_bx4500h_ultrabass_basshead.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_bx4500h...ss_basshead.htm[/url]

+1 for the older TE combos, built to last and surprisingly compact enclosures. Find an old 7215 with the extension speaker option, lots of versatility. One here but it is overpriced; [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Trace-Elliot-GP7SM-300W-580W-peak-Bass-Amp-Combo-1x15_W0QQitemZ200256318691QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item200256318691&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Trace-Elliot-GP7SM-3...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url] Should be able to pick one up for £100 less than that.