uk_lefty

There's no way you can protect yourselves against the drunken stupidity of others. Even lashing black and yellow warning tape around every possible thing you don't want people to go near, let alone touch, won't stop a p!ssed up idiot. How far should a band go at these things? Have a burly mate in hi-viz acting as security? Dad's metal gates around the stage area (my guitarist would LOVE that!), or something else? I really don't know the answer but having seen so many drunks tumble over and cause near misses at gigs, and I don't gig anywhere near as regularly as a lot on here, there are serious accidents waiting to be caused with a band potentially in the cross hairs for a claim. Worrying stuff.

The Markbass one doesn't feel like it should do but it can prop up a decent sized cab for a whole gig. I've had mine for quite a while, you can't go adjusting the angle and it feels a bit steep but it really does do the job.

Changing strings is a great way to change your tone. It's easy to just buy what you always had but changing gauge, material and shape of strings can really breathe life into a bass you're not bonding with.... Then you can go through the whole process again later :). Over the last twenty years my fretless has probably had everything except those weird neon coloured strings and each time it gets new strings it sounds different.

Don't know of you're being serious or not... But that was from an ITV "Comedy/ Drama" years back when Martin Clunes and Neil Morrissey were in demand after Man Behaving Badly finished. Neil Morrissey is the singer in that clip and I recognise the guitarist from various other stuff on the telly.

Bargain.

So good I bought one new.... I'm a tight Yorkshireman and I'd usually buy expensive things secondhand unless it's something special that I want to keep.

I find the mid control the most useful part... For me I max the bass, have a smidge of treble and generally have the mids cut. But, if I want a more old school sound or something more prominent then I bring the mids up and roll the bass back down to just above the notch. I still get the punch of the big pup but I get a softer and rounder sound that works for things like Crazy Little Thing Called Love, for example.

Left field idea.... Get a Positive Grid Spark or Blackstar BEAM amp and connect that to your recording kit via USB? Then you've got an amp, onboard effects, and recording input. They're not great as bass amps but for recording they're really neat and easy to use.

Pop goes rock at a brilliant venue. Playing til after midnight. Excitement guaranteed. If a BC'er comes down make yourself known and I might get you a pint.

Some venues just suck sound, others love it. I played in a bay window alcove of a hotel reception facing into a big room and dancefloor with a Rootmaster 500 and hardly had the volume over a quarter and they kept telling me turn down!

Funny how this list is mostly what I would call standard pub band. Not really what I would have expected for a "function" but then again I've played a lot of these songs at weddings and sports club award dinners, so I guess they're functions too! I used to waiter at dinner dances and so on in my teens (twenty plus years ago) when I was still bashing out Hendrix tunes along to cassettes. I remember one really good function band that would always play "dance the night away" by the Mavericks and give their bass player a turn on lead vocals for "c'est la vie" by Chuck Berry, in my mind that was always what a typical function band would be but sounds like either times have changed or they were quite niche.

I'd never thought of it like that but now you've said I can't un-think it.

What are these made of? I had a gold pickguard on a fender acoustic and it was just flimsier plastic than most pickguards. I'm intrigued by this "anodised gold" business.

Sorry if this has been covered before.... How is everyone transporting their ABMs? Is there a case that works for them? Obviously they're hefty units but I do worry about transporting it in my mini where I can't wedge it between two speaker cabs.

Wowzers, very different to my settings. Will have to give this a try! What bass are you using through that?

And the EQ on my 600

I don't usually do blue basses but I'd make an exception here.

Reading this really makes me think of ditching my Helix Stomp.... It's good, but it's surrounded by other pedals to do what it can't: Harley Benton tuner, cheap expression pedal for a Boss SY-1, mosky double button switch cos the Helix doesn't have enough buttons, AMT Bass Wah AND a separate power pack to power all of that.... Recently removed from the board was an Ashdown guitar pro boost pedal. Adding to the board today will be a four button footswitch for my ABM amp. The amp footswitch is likely to be used more than anything else except the tuner/mute.

The sides and back of my JC look amazing, as does @Badscrew's. They should do one that looks like that all over.

Probably playing for Hendrix. The first band I played in did loads of Hendrix and it allowed me and the drummer to just jam through the songs and make it different every time.

I should really like this. I don't dislike it. But it does nothing for me I'm afraid.

Exactly what my guitarist needs it for. It's only one song that he needs to raise his strap for but it's a pain to do.

My guitarist could do with something that does that.... It that looks a bit flimsy tbh.

Each to their own but I LOVE my Stingray.... And what's more it's the dreaded 3 band EQ version. But before anyone calls me a heretic for liking the 3 band EQ my explanation is simple: I usually cut the mids, max the bass and have the treble a tiny bit past middle. When I need to push the bass forwards more I go just past the middle with the mids and it changes the sound a lot. I also find the neck (2018ish US Stingray) the most comfortable and best feel ever, also the string spacing is perfect for me. I also enjoy a P bass (had an MIJ Special edition for a few years) and I think one would really suit as a backup for me but the Stingray is the sure fire winner. The body is different to a P with the bridge being a bit further towards the butt so that may also throw some people off a bit, but I honestly couldn't tell you where I anchor my thumb, I'm all over the place! Also I use a pick a lot now, not that my blistered fingertips give that away!

Played a pub that my band (I joined late 2021) had played four years ago and remembered it being a good night. I didn't know what to expect, I've really gone off playing pubs now since I've mostly been doing rock clubs with this band, but we pitched up and set up in a purpose built stage area outside with a half marquee type arrangement covering a good sized area for punters. Ten minutes before we started there was a handful of people there and we had a warning about noise levels and curfew. Once we got going the place filled up, fantastic crowd of people singing along to every song. I was trying out a new amp (Ashdown ABM600 which is phenomenal) so I may have been a bit on the edge of the noise warning but we got the place rocking. Really pleased with it considering I had very low expectations.