peteb

Just had the AVRI 63 delivered. Initial thoughts are that it is possibly slightly lighter than my 78, nicely set-up, the nut width is a bit wider and that it currently has flats on it (whether they stay is another matter). It seems to play nicely, so first impressions are all good. I will put it through an amp when I get a chance later. Also, I need to change the strap buttons, as the previous owner used a different straplock system. I’m gigging this weekend, then on holiday for two weeks. When get I back, I will spend some time playing it properly, maybe even use it on a gig. Then I will decide if I’m going to keep it or move it on, and if I keep it if want to make any changes. First signs are pretty positive!

Just had a run of three pretty decent gigs with the Zep tribute. First up was a trip to the excellent Cluny in Newcastle week last Friday. The evening started off with a bit of unwanted drama, as the police had cordoned off the surrounding streets due to some guy threatening to throw himself a bridge overhead (fortunately they managed to talk him down a bit later). The place was packed (243 tickets sold) and the band played as well as we ever have, inspired by a great crowd (we even got a big cheer walking from the dressing room to the stage). This isn’t the first time we’ve packed this place out and the management have agreed to increase our fee for next year! Fast forward to Thursday night, and a long drive down to southwest London to play an Arts Centre in Carshalton. Another good crowd, although not nearly a boisterous as Newcastle, and another good performance. We were staying a few miles away in Reigate, in a rather dodgy hotel that wasn’t as salubrious as you might hope, but it had the advantage of being pretty cheap! Me, the singer and the guitarist were sharing a room and stayed up chatting until 2:00am with a third of a bottle of whisky and a few cans between us! A drive across to Essex and a gig in Chelmsford on Friday. When we got to the venue, I checked my phone to see a text from a couple of hours ago, offering me a dep for a blues festival next Saturday. Unfortunately, by the time I replied, they had got someone else! I always like the Chelmsford gig, but to be honest, I felt a bit flat by the time we went onstage. Perhaps not as good a performance as the previous two gigs, but still more than OK to keep a decent crowd happy. Me and the singer (who were in the same car) stayed in a much nicer hotel a thirty minutes’ drive away, while the others made the long drive home, something that I didn’t fancy at all. PS. The night before we set off, I noticed that the underside of the rear wing of my car was hanging loose. I couldn’t get it fixed in time, so I popped into Lidl just before it closed to get a big roll of gaffa tape that they had on offer in the ‘middle of Lidl’. I fixed it up as best I could in the car park, before setting off the next morning (we did a better job when we got down to London). I did find it amusing that I’m in my sixties, driving hundreds of miles to do a gig in a car held together by gaffa tape, just like I used to do in my twenties!

I will put up a few pix when it comes next week!

Cheers! It's a weird one, I was prepared to pay nearly double that and to wait until the right bass came along. But after nearly paying almost £3k for a CS a few months ago (the only reason I didn't was because my wife had to have a minor operation on her hands that would mean her being off work for a couple of months), this seems to be the right bass for the right money. I've already got a really nice late 70s P bass, so if I did get a CS, would I stop gigging that to justify paying £3k for a CS? This looks to be a really solid P bass for a reasonable price. I was encouraged by the opinion of my mate who trades guitars a lot, and by that of a couple of guys on this thread who seem to know their stuff. I did have a AVRI 58 at one point, which was great (the only reason I sold it was to buy the 70s P), so this one should be at least as good. I will let you know how I get on with it when I get chance to play it properly, which might be a while as I have road gigs for the next two weekends and then I'm on holiday for the rest of the month!

If anyone is interested, I've just pulled the trigger on a 2014 sunburst, r/n AVRI 63. I got it in the end for an offer of just over £1.5k

It is difficult to control as other people will post stuff that you would rather wasn't out there, but you can make sure that you send out decent clips and try to get people to share and push the better ones up the YouTube algorithm. From a quick look at your FB page, you might want to consider sprucing up your image a little bit if you want the band to move up a level. It's playing blues, so it isn't as image conscious as other genres, so you don't need the leathers and full sleeves of ink or anything. But if you look at the bands that get the gigs on the festivals and blues clubs, some bands have a very definite look and even those who go for the jeans and a shirt approach will make sure that they have a certain image.

I've just talked to my mate / guitar player / BL, who trades guitars quite a lot. He's close but not quite as generous as you lot - he reckons £1,500 to £1,600, which is pretty much what the guy is looking for! Having a think about it...

Has anyone got an idea what the going rate for a decent condition AVRI 63 P bass (2014) from a private seller should be?

I would also add that having some video and an online presence helps. Don't underestimate live stuff on YouTube. A promoter I know that used to book bands for the non-main stage pub circuit at big blues festivals makes sure that he watches the first video that comes up on YouTube. He says all he wants to know if the band can play, can get an audience and can play to that audience!

You are asking the right questions! Most of the venues and festivals you are targeting will want you to play some original material (although the audience will expect you to play classic blues covers as well), they will want you to have a following to boost their attendees and many would like you to have a commercial recording available (although an old fashioned physical CD album may not be financially worthwhile, so it could well be a album / EP's worth of original material available to download, with perhaps some CDRs to sell at gigs). The difficulty is to initially get a name to generate interest to get the right gigs, as well as the fact that there just isn't much money in it! When I was doing it 10 to 15 years ago, we got the gigs and played at the bottom of the bill at some of the bigger festivals, but we were not making money and since then, a lot of the clubs we used to play have long since closed down. You also have to bear in mind that it is an aging / declining audience and there are a lot of competition for that audience. A lot of very good players are playing the remaining circuit, generally as a side-line, just because they just love playing blues. I have put a very good band together to play these types of gigs, but it is difficult to break into a small and rather cliquey circuit and to keep hold of good players who love the music, but can't justify the travel / low pay when they can get much better paying gigs elsewhere. Of course, there is a much healthier blues scene in many parts of mainland Europe, but it is much more difficult to play over there these days for obvious reasons (although not as impossible as it once seemed). Personally, I would jump at the chance to play in an established blues band. I know I'm sounding a bit negative, but there are still decent gigs out there (I have done some great deps for various blues bands still getting the remaining festivals / clubs). There just isn't much money around and it is difficult to break into the circuit. Good luck...!

You consider 9 lbs 1 oz to be a "bit of a boat anchor"?? I would have thought that was pretty damn good for an old Fender.

Not me I'm afraid, mine is a late 70s P bass. It's a bit of a drive for me (although not as far as you), but for major jobs I do always like to go to Jon.

I get Jon Shuker to do any work like that on my basses - I'm sure that he compares very well with the Bass Gallery, as will several other of the top guys around the country.

I had a refret on my 70s m/n P bass at the beginning of the year. It's hard to say exactly what I paid, as I had a few other things done as well to another bass at the same time, but I think that you are looking at the best part of £300 or so to get it done properly (it would be a bit cheaper for a rosewood board).

The thing is that all of those songs (with the possible exception of Jimmy Buffet's back catalogue) were f***ing great the first time you heard them! Yes, you may be sick to the back teeth of them now, but you shouldn't underestimate how good they were until you got sick of them, because you heard them so many times. Of course, this is because people overplayed these songs because they were such brilliant tracks to begin with. I have to play Stairway regularly at gigs because I'm in A Zep tribute band. Although I roll my eyes every time I have to play it, it is worthwhile because of the reaction from punters who perhaps, haven't been as over-exposed to it as much as I have been. The same thing goes for SOTW, as Dunnery says, the simple chromatic bass run up and then playing straight 8s on the root as the riff and drums build moves people in a way that all the shredders playing unbelievable stuff on social media never will.