peteb

Some friends of mine played a festival up in the Orkneys (a gig I have done before) with Ted and became good friends, did a couple of jam sessions and pick-up gigs with him. I was a bit envious to be honest and told them they had to introduce me next time he played around here. Strange to think of how many of my heroes he played with at one time or enough, part of the musical backdrop to my youth and beyond! The terrible thing was that he died during a routine hernia operation. Still touring to the end, so not a bad old life. By all accounts a lovely guy and a terrific drummer…

Absolutely right about the crowd and it is a pretty good set-up, which could be great if there had been a little bit more thought. The Landlord at that pub is a nice guy who is a real enthusiast. He also has made a bit of money from other ventures, which means he can afford to do what he wants with the pub and what he wants to do is to make it into a good local music venue. He has succeeded in this to a degree, it's just a shame that he didn't ensure that there was enough room to site a decent sized PA without blocking the audience's view, have enough room on the stage for a desk and have somewhere to store his extensive collection of various musical instruments. I'm not knocking it too much - it's a decent gig with an impressive little stage and the people who run it are great, as are the punters. It just could be even better...

The Polished Knob in Tod...! It can get a bit cramped up there, having to share the new stage with the contents of a secondhand music shop all pushed to the back so that they can be on hand for the landlord's midweek jam session...

If you want to cover all basses (as it were) then a passive 4 string P bass and an active 5 string jazz would cover it...

Funnily enough, I caught the train down to the Bass Centre in Wapping many years ago with every intention of spending every penny I owned on an Alembic (an Epic if I remember correctly). I didn’t get as far as plugging it in – as soon as I picked it up, I knew that it wasn’t for me (I ended up getting a Warwick Streamer LX instead). The basses I’ve actually owned and hated: 1. A Rickenbacker copy when I was a kid – a lot of my heroes played Ricks, leading me to buy a Rick copy when I was about 15. Awful bass – somewhat put me off Ricks for life, which was only reinforced when I played a mate’s genuine one many years later (the worst expensive bass that I have ever played). 2. Guild Pilot – didn’t really hate this but it had a twisted neck, which no one could do anything about despite many efforts. Sounded great and looked great (for its time – it was the 80s after all) but was a dog to play because of the neck issue. 3. Yamaha (can’t remember the model) – bought to replace the Pilot – sounded weak compared to its predecessor and was difficult to set up and very uninspiring to play, although I do know someone who sought one out secondhand and insists that they are very collectable (apparently). I thought it was cr*p and couldn’t wait to get rid…

Terrific player - like an early fretless Pino on speed! Based on his YouTube videos, personality wise he may be a bit of an acquired taste...

I always thought that they were just following the grand blues tradition of taking a song, re-working it and passing off as their own. Exactly who did write 'Dust My Broom' ( to pick one example out of countless blues standards)?? BTW, I believe 'Dazed & Confused' was based on a Bob Dylan song, which itself may have been based on an earlier tune...

Always assumed that you would be an Oxbridge, or possibly a Durham, man...

In fairness, perhaps it should be noted that, following posts in this thread on Basschat and the resulting press coverage, Ms Bush has issued a statement to emphatically deny that she supports the Conservative Party. Apparently the original statement was taken out of context and she was just pleased to see a female PM, who she thought was better than David Cameron... https://www.indy100.com/article/kate-bush-conservative-tory-voter-internet-rejoice-statement-hillary-clinton-2016-interview-8718606

First of all, I hope that you are OK. I would talk to your cardiologist, but if you can get away with doing the gig on electric bass do that. Or if you haven't sufficiently recovered, dep the gig out.

Not that I've ever played Camden, but I used to play that sometimes at soundchecks! Never know what it was called until I looked it up on YouTube just now...

Was it a bit cold on stage Daryl?? You look like you're dressed for walking home after the show! A nice touch for the owner to, in effect, buy each member a meal in his restaurant. A nice tip for playing NYE...

Just been watching a YouTube clip of a Nashville session bassist going through his recording and playing tips for guys who want to pay sessions as well as going through the gear he uses and why. He demonstrated five basses that he uses on sessions and discussed the relative merits of each - three were Fender Precision basses...!

If you don't care then it doesn't apply to you and you are probably right about there being as many jazz bass players as P bass players (perhaps SBL's next video will be why many pros use jazz basses). However, if you turn up for an audition with Dave Gilmour then you will be expected to have a P bass (according to Guy Pratt). Same thing if you are on a session with many producers...

Because it is a fact that a lot of producers / band leaders prefer their bass players to use a Precision. Let's not pretend that a lot to do with that isn't to do with familiarity, both in terms of sound and image, but it is a thing. Whether you like that or not is something else, but if you are a pro freelance jobbing bass player then it is a good idea to have a P bass in your armoury.

To be honest, Magnum were a band that kinda passed me by at the time and the only song I really knew was ‘Storyteller’s Night’. However, I was asked to join this tribute that had a load of great local players involved, so I am currently learning a set of new (to me) tunes. After two rehearsals it is certainly lots of fun and sounds great. I would never have thought of Magnum as a viable tribute, but I have been surprised at the interest that has been generated on Facebook, etc months before we are even going to play a gig! Seems to be a band with a larger following than I imagined…

'On A Storyteller's Night' & 'Midnight', both for a Magnum tribute

Funnily enough I never rated that at all, but I was hooked as soon as I heard 'Man With The Child In His Eyes'. Virtually all of her back catalogue is quality...

I've done loads of jam session, including being in a the house band at blues festivals, and they can be really great. Whether they are fun for the audience largely depends on the quality of players taking part, but it is a great way for less experienced musos to learn how to busk, play with other musicians and improve. It's also a great showcase for a player looking for new bands and guys to play with. Yes, they often tend to be blues based, as that type of music has a tradition of jamming and has set forms that can easily be varied if necessary and lend themselves to busking. The same can be said of jazz, although you won't get people like me there! The biggest problem with regular local jam nights is that they tend to run out of steam after a bit, as you inevitably tend the same guys coming back playing the same stuff every week.

I used to do quite a lot of jams as part of the house band and one of the skills me and the drummer developed was how to bring long blues jams to an end when it became clear that the guitar player had run out of ideas. Of course, we tended to realise long before they did...

You are talking about the difference between one expensive hand made bass and another (even more) expensive hand made bass. It is all going to be down to minor details and (specially) personal preference. I've just seen a Paul Turner video on YouTube talking about his Stenback Basses and it seems that he is looking for clarity and a modern bass with vintage tones. It is obviously a great bass but would it make that much difference to you and me, let alone a punter! If you want an active bass but with a more vintage sound then perhaps you should think of replacing the East preamp with something like an EWS tri-logic? Either way, I wouldn't be seriously considering shelling out money to re-build a Sei bass...!

I think that we do need to consider that we have an ageing population in the UK (and the rest of the western world) and the rock and roll generations of the 60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s have now reached various stages of middle age and are not interested in the same things their parents were at that age. Younger people may enjoy live music if they are exposed to it, but it is not the same thing as it used to be and they can't be expected to turn up en mass for a night out to see a band playing a type of music that their parents grew up with. There is still an audience for rock music (or dad rock as some people prefer) and a few years ago there was a pretty vibrant scene in pubs. You could always get a decent audience if the band was good enough. Now you can't help but notice that austerity has taken its toll and it is more difficult to get people away from their TVs and supermarket booze, but I have still been managing to gig pretty regularly for the past few years in decent bands with guys ranging from their late 30s to early 60s playing to audiences of a similar age group. You need to know your audience. These days yoof culture is no longer necessarily king and its the older punters who are more likely to be interested in watching live music, not to mention to have the disposable income to do so...

I own both a mpulse and a Subway D800. I would say that they don't sound the same, but the Subway comes as close as any Class D I've heard. I don't think it has the headroom that some say it has, but does sound good...

Sounds interesting. What's their output like??