Raymondo

I understand your pain too. although I have had to do this quite a few times (the last time was a Fifties Rock and Roll band .....thirty odd tunes all sounding the same )I actually struggle to learn songs at home. Unlike most on here I don't believe "practice is for home" and band time is for "rehearsal" When I started out band time was called "band practice" and we all learned the songs together. I learn songs much more quickly in a band settting,probably because I play by ear and am rubbish at musical theory I know it's easier these days with YouTube etc but I just hate it....especially when the songs are in different keys to the original. Oh well I've made it to 59 years old and I still get asked to play so I suppose I'll just have to keep on keeping on Mind you if you know of any bands that still practice the old way ,that need a bass player......pass them my name

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1472196836' post='3119252'] Ah, 16. Tubular Bells was probably the big thing for me back then, but I'd also just discovered Caravan, Barclay James Harvest, Capability Brown and Wishbone Ash. Was also buying a fair bit of reggae vinyl back then, mostly on the wonderful Trojan label, which was something of a fashion anomaly as I had very long hair at the time when reggae was popularly associated with skinheads. Oh those confusing teenage years [/quote] Are you me? Well perhaps not because my absolute fave was Budgie, but close enough

I think four times ....not sure really .... always the D string and never snapped ....just stretched and stretched...never did find out why . I still have the same bass...22 years now at least ... still use Rotosound round wound strings ......Not had a problem for at least ten years!

I have always loved The Saw Doctors. Their style can be summed up by an early quote from Leo (the lead guitarist).... "first we make it simple,then,we simplify it!"

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1471397021' post='3112817'] Raymond, I was sick as hell today, if it was Friday night I don't know how I could gig. I started gigging in grade school 1966, I know it won't last forever. I want 10 more years. 10 more years is doable but not doing 4 hour Colony bar gigs. I have to find 80 minute headliner work. Blue [/quote] You could always move to the UK and do 2 x45 mins Seriously mate , sorry to hear of your pain ...I am taking it easy all week to have enough energy to do my gig on Saturday. The very best of luck with your ten year plan

You deserve it mate.....really fun read and would make a great tv series....I am one of the many 5star review givers on Amazon.

[quote name='simes' timestamp='1471174092' post='3110961'] Just finished it and it really is a rather excellent read, being able to relate to much of the narrative made it doubly enjoyable for me. Nice one fella [/quote] +1 Really enjoyed it.

The book arrived yesterday. I am on chapter Ten and I would like to say.......... You will be hearing from my lawyers in the morning! I didn't give you permission to chronical my life in such detail.

Just Ordered it. Looking forward to reading it. congratulations.

Crikey Mark I hope you get day 231 posted up pretty damn quickly

Thanks Wonky. I certainly intend to try to keep playing if possible. In fact last night I accepted a dep gig in Leicester with the fifties Rock and Roll band I spoke about in the" How was your gig last night?" thread recently. Keep on keeping on is my motto!

I am just pointing out that exchange rates change regularly.....not necessarily just because we have had a vote to leave the EU.

Worth a look.... http://fxtop.com/en/historical-exchange-rates.php?A=1&C1=GBP&C2=EUR&YA=1&DD1=03&MM1=08&YYYY1=2006&B=1&P=&I=1&DD2=03&MM2=08&YYYY2=2016&btnOK=Go%21 Not sure if this will work but, if you take the average exchange rates of the £/euro for the last ten years, this years average is higher than any year since 2007 apart from 2015.

Hi Blue. I know what you mean about having nothing without gigging. The only time I really feel happy is when I do a gig....for the couple of hours I play the pain fades into the background and I just lose myself in the music. The recovery is the problem ,increased pain levels and tiredness. My band has just broken up so gigs seem a long way off at the moment. keep going for it Blue, I hope you have many more years to come.

Thank you for the reply Mark. As you can see by the time of this post, pain woke me early. I am travelling to Prague later for a few days and do not have basschat on my phone so will probably not see your pm until Tuesday. I will not be ignoring you ...just trying to enjoy a short break. I look forward to your thoughts. Cheers Ray.

After a few mix and match heads and cabs I managed to accumulate enough to buy a new Trace Elliot 7215 combo. I had lusted after a trace for many years. It sounded fabulous, however, after only three months service, playing a couple of pub gigs a week and a few rehearsals, at a gig the last note of the last "encore" died suddenly. When I tried it at home the next day,nothing,dead,kaput. Back to the shop it went and they sent it to Trace for repair. A few days later I got a call to come in to the shop. I arrived to be met by a very sheepish and embarrassed sales manager, who informed me that Trace had refused to repair the melted cone speaker as I had been playing too loudly Now apart from the fact that I had never had the volume above 7 (something I could not possibly prove) I asked why they made a combo that was capable of melting it's own speaker? They outright refused to do anything to help and wanted a small fortune to replace the speaker. I insisted that I could not afford a repair and asked what the shop could do about it. I had used this shop for a few years and bought quite a bit of gear from them. The manager offered to take the trace ,in it's non working state ,in exchange for a new Peavey TNT with a 15" Black widow speaker....in fact he ordered one in especially as he insisted that the Black widow was much better than the speakers in the combos he had in stock I was disappointed at losing the "kudos" of playing through a Trace but, The Peavey was fantastic I kept it for years!

How on earth have you managed to become so active whilst suffering from Fibro' Mark? I am getting steadily worse and it takes me days to get over the pain and tiredness after a gig;in fact I have virtually stopped gigging. It doesn't help that I have degenerative disc disease with some stenosis, it stops me from exercising but I am interested in hearing how Yoga has helped you? I am a typical cynical 59 year old British male....unsure of all this foreign stuff Loving the diaries mate ...I manage to find the updates before you post on here by checking on a daily basis

Good weekend by the sounds of it Kev. I really enjoyed your first set on Saturday night (I had to leave before the second set as we were all a bit "tired and emotional" after a 10 hour drinking session ) You will struggle to find a venue that your drummer hasn't played in mate. He is awesome (as you well know from a previous band) and has played in some fabulous bands over the years. Good luck buddy.

Fabulous, nice contact! Puts my ....Played a song with the drummer from showaddywaddy into the shade

Have we really got to go down this road again?

I kinda fit inbetween the two(so far) opinions on here. I was amazed at how tight they were and loved their music in a live setting(I don't really know their catalogue) . However after a few songs I started to flick around to different programs and eventually stopped going back to them because, although the music was fabulous, it became a bit monotonous to me and I lost "the buzz".

Thanks Kev. I don't gig much but I like to keep trying! Last night was arranged by Malc from MFN and the contacts were very good ...I could get some quite nice gigs out of it. Of course it could just all of been hot air Before you say anything Blue ....yes I did get paid

I did a dep gig last night with a fifties rock and roll band. I must admit I wasn't looking forward to it, not my cup of tea normally but I have to say it was fantastic. We played at a farm in front of the cow shed.....lovely aroma of live cows and cooked ones on the bbq mixed together It was the Farmers 40th birthday party and everyone was up for a dance. The old rock and roll went down a storm and I ended the night on a real high...lots of compliments and good wishes.. Some of you know that I have fibromyalgia, the playing of music is a short relief from the constant pain but boy am I paying for it today.

Still do a combination of eat in or takeaway... Indian,Chineese,kebab,Mcdonalds,cheap late night garage sandwiches....No not all at the same time Mind you if you take notice of the weight I have put on you would have thought otherwise

Crikey that was a well contested round! Well done The Caffreys....inspired choice of cover .. a .Sheffield band.... for the leadmill. I wouldn't have been able to pick two bands from that lot but the harmonies in your band, Mr 0ftyne stand out. All the best for the rest of the competition.