uk_lefty

What a beaut

Known the US as a "Karen"

Well if you like the stories... For a long time I held on to the special edition fifty p and two pound coins. Last autumn I decided to get rid and sold a load over eBay on 1p seller fees or whatever it was. I sold a fifty p for £1.50 and got full payment including postage but with a note saying "I collect". I had Covid at the time and was quite sick so I dropped the buyer a note saying "let me know when you're coming and I'll put it in an envelope on the doorstep for you because I've got covid." I got a very quick and harshly worded reply "only if you're going to pay my train fare from London, why would I travel to collect a fifty p coin?". I was polite in responding over the misunderstanding and said I'll post when out of isolation. The buyer sent another message but I missed it, this is important later. Time passes and my wife also caught covid extending my isolation period, then it was Christmas with post offices closed. I posted the 50p to the buyer quite late. I got a really snotty message a few days later "I got the coin eventually but you didn't write flat 1 on the envelope. There are three flats in this building it could have gone ANYWHERE!! I am not happy...." Blah blah. I reply politely, but cheekily added, but you did get the coin so I assume all is ok, good day to you. I got more angry messages over the address issue to which I replied "I apologize for having a medical condition that meant I both physically and legally could not leave my house and delayed posting you a fifty p coming you paid £1.50 for. I further apologize for missing off a small detail from your address, while the coin could have gone to one of your two neighbours (anywhere) it did not, did it? You have the coin you paid for even though you said you'd collect it" Then I found the earlier message I had missed from the day of sale: "Show me proof of where I say I collect or I sue you for libel". Now, admittedly I am not a lawyer but I do work with contract law on a daily basis so I cannot let a threat of legal action go without response and I'd love to go to court so I really don't want to turn down the opportunity to do so. I screenshotted the "I collect" message and responded to it, "please furnish your legal team with the attached exhibit as evidence for our forthcoming trial. I look forward to hearing from them". Their response? A screenshot of their address as on the eBay account and the message: IT SAYS FLAT 1! This person must be an absolute joy to be around. As well as a terrible investor, exchanging £1.50 for 50p.

Saturday afternoon private party in a social club. Weird time to play, caused allsorts of issues with my wife having to have the kids all day with me hardly around having other commitments in the morning too. Getting more confident with the set list though, so much so that there's now joking about between us all on the stage.

I've had to say "trust me" a few times when pulling out a bass that doesn't look like it fits the bill... My "hair metal" style Kramer which is a lovely fretless, and while I had it my Washburn Status very modern sounding headless. I choose a bass that I think I can get a good sound out of for the musical situation, I like to experiment with different sounds, tones and now effects but I'm first to hold my hand up if I think it doesn't fit. I've never, ever had anyone ask for a more modern or more vintage sound. I've been told to turn up, turn down, play less notes and not to use certain effects, but never had a comment on the tone of a bass. Except for "that sounds massive!" often commented on my Stingray.

Basically, it's all this guy's fault

I've got these on my Jack Casady. Gigged it last Friday, but unfortunately the sound was poor when the singer was playing guitar so I couldn't hear it. Sounded good when he wasn't playing guitar and I could hear it. I like them so far, nothing amazing or unique about them but they feel good to me and work perfectly for that bass. I do like EB Cobalt flats but think they suit P basses superbly and basses where you still want a lot of character in the sound on top of the flatwound "hollow" tone, whereas on my Jack Casady I just want a plain flatwound and let the bass do the rest.

Am sure that would be the same with most cabs though, push them too hard and they don't like it. Why does the band need to be so loud?

Nothing to be ashamed of. It reminds me of my favourite Homer Simpson quote: every time I learn something new it pushes some old stuff out my brain.

100% BC deals are the absolute best. Unfortunately left handers are a very small market but I always try here first. I just don't understand why send a begging note. Does he think someone is just going to post a guitar to the Philippines free of charge because he's poor and can't afford it? I get loads of these, often with a lot of questions and pretending to be interested to buy before "but I've only got $100 to spend on a bass" or whatever. Bl00dy annoying.

I'm getting quite sick of chancers and beggars. Not through BC I must add, but when I have basses up for sale I often get queries from people who must be really chancing their arm on me being soft, stupid, or generous beyond any reasonable standard. I can understand a request of "if it's still available on payday I can offer you x" but I get far too many of these... Do people really post guitars half way round the world to people who just ask and have a sob story? It's not X Factor!!

I didn't even make the pdf. I just sent them a photo of the bass, a photo of the Yamaha BB basses with the pickup surrounds and asked gigink to make it for me. They sent me a PDF to print out to scale so I could check the measurements then it was all easy from there. I'm plotting what to order next from them.

You are probably more than "good enough" to gig! This sounds like 99% of bands out there doing pub gigs, and I do not mean that as a disparaging comment at all, just that we all make mistakes. Two of my old bandmates came to watch my new band last week, I made TONS of mistakes, guitarist did too, they said the only way they knew was from the apologetic looks we were all giving each other across the stage. Just because a band is gigging doesn't mean they're a highly polished and well rehearsed unit.

I get exactly what you mean! It can go stale going round the same venues, playing the same stuff. So, does anyone else want to freshen up the set? A good shortcut is "this Aerosmith song is good, so let's learn a similarly good one to switch it with" etc. For venues, where do you like going for a weekend away? Try and get some gigs there, make a weekend of it with the family or the band or both. OR... Do you like multiple genres of music? If you have time try to get into a second group playing something completely different. Change of pace, style, scene, type of gigs, new people. Even if they play songs you wouldn't normally listen to you'd get something out of it musically. As I said to a whining drummer I used to play with, if you find it boring it's your job to make it interesting.

I got mine from gigink and they even sent me a spare in mirror finish. Let me know if interested.

I will report back on Saturday whether a mini can hold a bass, 2x 15" cabs, pedal bag, bag of cables and some lighting stuff

Fancy a unique, very gigable top spec PJ..? 😉 Yep. I've had a Hohner PJ (awful) Warwick Streamer LX (looked amazing but sounded... Is this it?) Now this one. The pickups are fantastic individually but I was just wanting something more when blending them. I think my expectations are just not realistic, rather than there being anything wrong with it. In hindsight I should have never done a self assembly because I don't have the tools, skill or patience, I should have bought a Sire P7, realised I still don't like PJs then bought a Sire V7.

Having made the same difficult decision myself recently I'd say the fact you're even contemplating it means it doesn't look like there's much of a future. You could have a band meeting to give it the rallying cry of getting a better idea of what you are: a guitar/ fiddle and vocals trio who sometimes add a rhythm section or a full band that sometimes does stripped down sets, or a full band take it or leave it? What are you as a band, what type of gigs do you want, what do the punters respond best to (it's not always the songs the singer insists on doing because they're his or her favourite), what do you want to be known for? I was in a band for five and half years and became great friends with my bandmates, but I'd still struggle to describe what that band was: it wasn't "rock n soul" but so hard to describe when trying to get gigs in new places. We had no drive or direction and just played the same handful of gigs year on year with anything new treated with suspicion if certain members hadn't brought it up. That was already creating a divide. Incidentally, it was them booking a gig knowing I wasn't available that sealed it for me. And now almost six months down the line they've agreed to do a gig but they still don't have a bass player. I've been asked to dep, four weeks in advance, but I have other commitments so can't do it. Seems the person behind all that just hasn't learned. Bad habits don't just disappear.

Nope, hence it's been for sale for a long time. And I started a thread "does anyone else not get on with PJ basses?"

Good to hear about the necks! I need a good backup for my Stingray in case I get a bust string, battery goes on me, or just something to take for a gig abroad in a few months. I am very tempted by... well, let's be honest, everything Sire make. If the V10 came in the vintage White that would seal the deal for me I think. But I like the look of all the 5 series, the 7s are ridiculous value but the 9s and 10s are so tempting...!!

Gigged my trusty RM500 last night. The drive is so much more natural and warm than a lot of the settings on my Helix, it just has more girth and less high end fizz to it, it's a great option to have at my toes. Hardly had to push the amp at all last night, great onstage sound provided by the Corn Exchange, Hertford.

Last night... It was like a school disco. Huge room with a smattering of people sat around the edges for the whole first half. Luckily some people arrived about halfway through and had up til ten o'clock on paydays worth of Dutch courage to dance and sing along for the second half. In the first half I suffered from "what sounds good at home doesn't work live" and had some very muddy settings on my Jack Casady on a few songs, which was a bit of a shame but I couldn't hear myself for most the first half. Made a fair few mistakes in the first half but an experienced ex soundman friend of mine watching said the only way he knew was from the apologetic looks being exchanged on stage. Had a chat with the sound engineer, switched to my Stingray in the second half and was much happier with sound and performance all round. Also, it was my first gig with a wireless so I joined the singer and guitarist for a boogie on the dancefloor, leaving the drummer on stage all alone, which was fun.

What's the verdict after 1 month? I gigged last night and am thinking a P bass of some type is what I need as an alternative to my Stingray....

Why can't they rout a passive bass nicely? I don't get it. Cheaper basses can like a Sire V7 can be routed neatly.