peteb

There you go: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Automatic-Man-Remastered/dp/B0001Q5YDG/ref=tmm_acd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1536783426&sr=8-1

I vaguely remember a rumour that Glenn Hughes may have contributed to the first album. He was a mate of Pat Thrall and he certainly sang uncredited on other friend's albums around the same time (notably the first Tommy Bolin solo album). Hughes did work with Pat Thrall on the under-rated Hughes/Thrall album a few years later.

I bought the first album without a cover for about a quid not long after it came out (may have been a promo pressing). Used to play it quite a lot and remember it being the first I'd heard of Pat Thrall. I can't remember much about it now unfortunately...

This is what Jon Shuker charges for a set-up (assuming that you want it done properly by a genuine craftsman): http://shukerguitars.co.uk/services/ Basically starting from £25 + strings for a basic set-up (action, intonation, truss rod, nut height) rising to £75 + strings (action, intonation, truss rod, nut height, fret level, re-crown and polish, fingerboard clean and oil), depending to what you want doing. I think that is pretty reasonable...

In answer to your questions: 1) yes - the rule of thumb is that you adjust the truss rod to set the action lower down the neck and the bridge to set the action for the higher register. 2) depends - £65 just to sort the action and intonation seems a little on the high side, but quite reasonable if he had do any fretwork, etc. You could always do it yourself. But it is but somewhat pointless to have a bass setup up badly, whether you pay someone else or do it yourself. FWIW, I recently went on a day long course run by Jon Shuker to learn how to do it properly. However, I still took a new bass to him because it needed some fretwork, something I now kind of know how to do but lack the tools and touch to do a professional job. Money well spent...

That summarises it quite nicely

That was the Muni stage with Chris (the big Welsh guy) stage managing. Unfortunately I didn't get chance to watch your band as I would have been heading off to my gig for that evening, but I did pop backstage to say goodbye to Chris & Marcus et al while your band were in the dressing room, so I might have bumped into you.

You are very welcome! What band were you with and which venue did you play?? We were based at the Hippodrome.

I did a dep for a pub gig once where everybody on stage apart from the singer was a dep! A few weeks later, they did a gig where even the singer couldn't make it and the whole band comprised of deps without a single actual member on the bandstand...

I would say no, especially not in the post-industrial wasteland oop north where I live. You might get the odd gig like that in London??

Blue - it was great - you would have loved it...! But bear in mind, I did two gigs for a total of £80 (about half of what I would normally get for a couple of pub gigs). In addition to that, we paid £110 for a hotel room, £20 in diesel and £50 or so on taxis to and from the hotel to the venue. I worked stage crew for one of the main stages, i.e. working as a roadie for about a dozen bands and my missus was in charge of backstage hospitality. In return we got to see a few great bands (when we weren’t working of course), a bit of free food and a few free beers. As I said, you would have loved the backstage hang and had a great time, but this is one of those times when you do gig for free. In effect I did a couple of gigs for half pay and walked away at least £100 out of pocket…!

It was indeed, but quite tiring! Always nice to be part of such a big event...

I'm surprised at that your band would cancel rather than use a dep. I'm sure that I could dep for your band with no problems and I imagine you could do the same in most of my bands. Generally, if want to play with decent players, you have to expect that they will have a few projects on the go and sometimes you will need a dep. It isn't just full time pros that work like this.

I have just spent the weekend at the Colne Blues Festival, playing a couple of dep gigs in pubs on the trail and working stage crew at one of the main stages. The first gig was a bit eventful, playing as the last band in a decent sized pub with a pretty full (not to mention well lubricated) crowd. As we were finishing, the (woefully underpowered) borrowed bass amp blew up! Played the rest of the first set through the rhythm guitarists 30w combo, which only me and the drummer could just about hear! The worrying thing was that the crowd hardly seemed to notice and danced and sang along as if nothing important had gone wrong…! We got the amp working again (to a fashion) for the second set and it managed to limp through the gig on the next day. Backstage at the main festival was great fun as usual, catching up with old mates that you only tend to bump into at events like this and making new friends that you will hopefully meet again at a festival of some sort in three or four years’ time…

1) Learn to sing harmony BVs - take lessons if necessary when you are young 2) Don't be so loyal to every band you are in - be prepared to walk if a better opportunity comes along 3) You gotta commit - no half measures 4) See the stewblack's comment above

Yeah, he's not too bad! Funnily enough, we were just talking about him last night with another guitar player who plays with him (Steve Wright) at Colne Blues. I have seen some YouTube clips of the ABB band a while ago. Will have to take another look...

Fothers! I didn't think that there could be too many ABB tribute bands round in that neck of the woods.

Is that Jule's band??

All the local guys I know are early to late 50s, most still gigging regularly and have still have a bit of a rock and roll about them. I've just done a stint depping for a band who are all in their 60s whilst their regular bass player recovered from a serious medical procedure. They might definitely look a bit older / less rock and roll but they''re still out there doing it, gigging virtually every weekend. Never too old...

I use a purpose designed Lugville bag (http://lugville.com/shop/lugville-musicians-gear-bag/). Not cheap, but paid for itself in one gig, well designed and should last pretty much forever.

I have played the blues circuit a bit and sometimes help out backstage at the Colne Blues Festival. Generally the bigger acts use a hire SVT rig or are happy to use the house rig (usually something like a SVT4 and a 8x10 fridge). However, I have seen plenty of good pro players turn up with something like a Mark Bass or Aguilar Tonehammer rig and get a great sound. Personally I would avoid using overdrive for blues and go for something a bit cleaner - no need to go ultra vintage or anything, but avoid anything too hi-fi or with too much gain.

I have had all three at various times...!

You might not consider it to be blues, but the OP specifically referenced John Mayer and various other high profile guys currently playing blues based music. Lots of people like that stuff even if you don't...

Pretty much any decent bass sound should work for this type of modern blues, just make sure there is not too much gain or that it doesn't sound too 'hi-fi'. Anyway, when you get playing the blues circuit you may quite often find that you don't have the option of using your own rig and that you will be expected to use the house rig (especially lower down the bill on festivals), so it helps if you don't get too precious about the gear you're using! A decent P or J bass of some description, together with either of the OP's amps should be fine...

Just leave the Sansamp at home. The Precision with rounds will work fine for the stuff you're talking about doing.