yorks5stringer

Review of the Blackstar in this month's BGM

You should have watched The Plague...

Good advice from all: I'll see how things develop over the next few months. So far I've never had a conflict on gig dates but it's the lack of transparency that irks me. There was a programme about telling lies the other week, and as well as the outright lie, the programme said that deliberately withholding information falls into the same category....

I just bought the regular plier type and ground down the jaws.

...agree, but I do suspect DJ gets paid in more than cider tokens! Wonder if he fancies a band swap for a gig, maybe I could pitch the idea to C4?

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the free wristband and a £1 off your first pint providing you buy the plastic glass first...!

I do suspect they are bagging all the £150 gigs as a duo and the full band gets the charity and festival gigs where you are lucky to get cider tokens as payment....

Early this year I advertised my availability for bass duties on JMB and had quite a lot of interest. I spoke to a couple of guys who had recorded an album (with another in the pipeline): they sent me some of the material which I learnt and we had an informal audition and long chat which went very well and I was in. They explained they had being going out as duo but had a percussionist/drummer in place along with a fiddler and they were looking to do gigs and festivals over the summer as a full band. We had a full rehearsal and then took on new material, rehearsing it up and doing around 8 gigs up to July including a number of Festivals. It soon became apparent however that they were still going out as a duo with acoustic guitars (which they only mentioned after the event in rehearsals, by saying , 'Oh we screwed that up when we did it on Friday 'etc) and I put this down to they had booked ahead as a duo and they were fulfilling those gigs. However as I was signed onto their Facebook page I started to get notifications and photos of gigs they had done, not only as a duo but as a trio and even a quartet started appearing: over August they did around 4 gigs at Festivals without me and without even mentioning it! I sent a very polite email to them saying I had just been made aware of missing the August dates to which they said they'd always done gigs with different line ups and it was dependent on the size of the venue and the wishes of promoters. Whilst I saw no sign of a smokescreen, they had photos where they were on what looked like a large tented stage.... Needless to say, I know there are no issues with my playing or if bass does not fit, but I feel as if ( ironically) I'm part of the 'gig economy' and on a zero hours contract where I'm last in line to get the call. Incidentally the material on both their albums has bass all through it and whilst one of them can play the Bass, they have not gone out without me and played the bass themselves. So do I suck it up ( they are perfectly nice guys, as are the other players and we get on fine) and continue to pick up the scraps in terms of gigs or would you move on to a band where bass is integral to the live performance? I am with 2 other bands, 1 who gigs monthly and another who've only done about 4 gigs this year.

Should'nt the string be over the bridge?

Not that I am in any way affiliated ( I often write to the editor to complain about typos and wrong info in the BGM) but I noticed they were offering a free TC clip-on Tuner worth £50 with a years sub of BGM, for £22 in the latest edition to new subscribers....

I'd be surprised if a genuine Luthier would charge as much as £77 to carry out a set up? Obviously they would not be as well qualified nor use their garage as a workshop....

Vintage Modified built in Indonesia would be my guess, from 2014 (ICS14). I say VM as it has a maple board. Doubtless there will be others along to agree or disagree!

and having to go over that crossing everyday too...

Don't understand if you are looking to slacken off a screw, why you are concerned about over- tightening? As others have said, do it by hand, the other advantage of manual loosening is that you are less likely to crack a brittle screw( and also stripping the head) when doing it by hand. FYI the torque settings are usually from 1 the least ranging to 16( or higher) for the most torque.

He's going to pay by PP friends and family. so you have no redress...?😱

Just leave it as it is, it's called MOJO!

What is surprising is the both FRP and Mark VW have had to have public appeals to pay their medical costs. In this country we take for granted that the NHS would take care of major surgery and I assumed reasonably successful US musicians would have medical insurance too? Clearly not....

There were quite a few addictions in that band, seems to go with the territory:I think Emilio was on gear for some time too. There's an article somewhere where they were quite open about it, I think he found Jesus?

I think the Player and Infinity series are made in China but this is 20 years old and as you say, that decal looks well dodge...as does the bridge cover!

I shook FRP's hand maybe 5 years ago and was surprised how frail ( not just his hand) he seemed.

and breathe..........😄

Maybe you could do some songs by The Fall...?

Give these guys a ring, I have no knowledge myself: https://www.lean-business.co.uk/eshop/