peteb

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.

The trouble with that is strings, sticks, etc are low value sales with a low margin. Guitars do have a decent margin but can you sell enough to justify having all your cash tied up in sock? I think that many small shops do rely on repairs to keep going. That is not necessarily true in all (most) areas.

As someone said above, your English is far better than my Swedish...! As far as your reasons to leave a band - all I can say is you would have struggled to stay in a rock band in the UK in the 80s

You may have misunderstood - I don't think that he is referring to taking illicit substances here...

I can't say that depreciation isn't a factor when buying gear, although not a major one for me as I generally buy musical stuff with the intention of keeping it for a long time. Personally, I would always prefer to buy secondhand where possible (especially basses, slightly less so for amps)...

This is one of the many problems that music shops face these days - there isn't the demand for them to afford to carry too much variety of stock, yet this means that they struggle to build up a customer base of people who may occasionally need these items and who are therefore forced to get them online!

I'm not sure that is generally the case, depends on the band I suppose. From what he has put in the ad (the name of the band, etc) it seems that he is probably the frontman / band leader. Anyway, good luck to the guy. I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is - of all of the daft / incredibly unrealistic ads you seem to find on sites like Lemonrock or JMB, this one does not stand out as one of the worst (to me at least)...

Dunno about that – it’s a three piece blues rock set (not exactly Zappa-esque material or a 7 piece funk band complete with brass section) and IF he does have loads of gigs in the diary and IF he is any good, then it should be quite feasible for him to quickly pick up a new rhythm section. Of course, if I was considering taking the gig then I might be interested to know why the drummer was so quick to jump ship when the bass player left…!

If I lived anywhere near Plymouth with the same contacts I have round here (and if he was any good) he would have a full band with two phone calls...!

Am I missing something here??

When I was a kid, me and my mates used to hang out in the biggish local music shop in the next suburb to drool over guitars / basses we couldn’t afford and try out gear that we might be able to save up for. All the staff played in local bands and the place was full of local musos who would take the mickey out of us, show us how to play little bits and pieces and generally give us tips and advice. Fast forward ten years and I am friends / playing in bands with all the staff there and it’s me showing kids how to play the bass line to The Boys Are Back In Town and advising them on gear, etc. It was a really successful shop from the early 70s until well into the 90s. Of course, it closed its doors a long time ago…

I suppose that another USP is that although they are expensive to buy new, you can pick them up pretty cheaply secondhand. £700 will get you a quality classic US built bass that wouldn't be out of place on virtually any gig that you are likely to get.

I think that the selling point is that a Stingray has a pretty unique tone, which works well in most genres. Coupled with this is that Musicman have always had a consistent build quality, something you can't really say about Fender over the years.

So have I, not so much Harley events but definitely 'backpatch' biker club ones.

I have, many times

Cool - great bit of feedback from a punter!