Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Len_derby

⭐Supporting Member⭐
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,923

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Len_derby

  1. Len_derby
    I’ve always found that if you want to make a lasting effect on somebody’s day try singing the chorus of Shaddap Your Face to them.
  2. Len_derby
    Ok, I’ll start. Why do the band want you to play one bass? If it’s to avoid you spending time switching instruments during a gig, then it’s a good thing in my opinion. The momentum of a performance is easily lost if there is down time while someone changes an instrument. As for which one to choose, my experience is that if you are playing the right notes in the right places and have an audible ‘bass’ sound the audience won’t give a damn what bass you’re playing. If you really can’t choose, why not take turns with each bass? Take the Ibanez to one gig, and the jazz to the next.
  3. Len_derby
    Interesting. I was down your way last week, went to Ross and Hereford and was pleasantly surprised that both still had reasonably well-stocked music shops. In my part of the world all the music shops have gone in places of similar size. Having said that, none of the pubs I went in showed any sign of ever having live music on. But there must be something going on…… Ps, no gigs going at the Credenhill camp? They’d be a tough crowd to please 😆
  4. Len_derby
    They have a great regimental museum in Richmond, Yorkshire. I was able to take my old man both there, and back to the Normandy beaches. The latter trip, in 2000 was brilliant. Through visiting the actual sites and local museums I was able to appreciate that what I, and my brothers, thought were tall tales where, in fact, the way it really happened.
  5. Len_derby
    My dad was a teenage dance band drummer in the early years of WW2*. They sound like they were wild gigs. Bomber crews dancing with easily impressed local girls. Wouldn’t it have been fantastic to play walking basslines to that audience? *eventually he was conscripted and hit the beach as a Green Howard on D-Day.
  6. Len_derby
    Most of mine are concerning travel to venues. I think the worst one was getting half way to a gig and realising I’d left my bass on the drive at home. Luckily, the bass was still there when I u-turned to collect it. I made the venue in time too, The Maze in Nottingham if anyone remembers it.
  7. Len_derby
    Spot on. There’s a documentary about BB King, taken in the 70s, that I believe is still on BBC iplayer. In it he’s asked how he chooses his band members. I may have the percentages slightly wrong but he answers “40% on musical ability, 60% on them as people”.
  8. Len_derby
    Me too. My HB short-scale P bass gets a lot of use.
  9. Len_derby
    As a teenager in the seventies I associate liking prog with not being able to get a sh*g. It was a blessed relief when punk came along. Girls liked it too! Luckily, I didn’t take the path of my cousin who pretended to ladies he liked T.Rex. He’s now got enough ex-wives and children to field his own football team. Plus subs bench.
  10. Len_derby
    You must have been good, they switched the football off the tele. 👍
  11. Len_derby
    A wedding gig at a stately home in the Peak District. A typical long day, there from 15.30 until 23.30, but were looked after well. An extra bonus was wandering through the parkland by the light of the full moon during the breaks.
  12. Len_derby
    I think hats worn indoors look really naff. Sometimes I wonder if I’m really a bass player. 🤔
  13. Len_derby
    As alluded to by @ChrisB above have you investigated whether you are, in fact, too quiet? I think I’d have been asking audience members what it sounds like out-front and getting some live recordings to listen to. Whatever you decide to do, good luck!
  14. Len_derby
    I’m happy to collect from Lichfield and take it up as far as Sheffield if you want to get a relay going @mikegatward. Good choice of instrument too. I took mine out to a local jam last night.
  15. Len_derby
    A mate of mine who frequents car boot sales and similar looking for vintage clothing tells me that over the last year-or-so he’s noticed men (always men) hoovering up the cds on sale. A lot of them are dealers in his estimation. This is in York, where there’s plenty of disposable income around for hobbies.
  16. Len_derby
    I’ve never had the chance to try a Jack Casady, but they certainly look good. l have a Yamaha Bex that, like your JC, is a lot more versatile that you might think. I did initially have a problem finding a suitable gig bag but eventually tracked down a Bass Centre model that did the trick.
  17. Len_derby
    I remember seeing Gentle Giant and Gryphon in the seventies, both featuring a bit of recorder in their sets. Also, is that a recorder on the intro of ‘Stairway to heaven?’ 🤔
  18. Len_derby
    Yes, I think you’re right. Possibly not being a ‘front man’ may have made him less comfortable too. Whenever I saw him with Back Door, and memorably one half of a duo with Alexis Korner, he seemed to behaving a whale of a time; what with. the singing and on-stage banter with band mates and audience.
  19. Len_derby
    I suffer from very cold hands, to the point where I can’t use them to do simple tasks like unfastening buttons! Consequently, when playing anywhere that’s not pretty cosy I use hand warmers. The reusable, plastic ones are probably the most sustainable but I find the one-use ones more effective. I keep one in each trouser or jacket pocket and hold on to them as often as I need to. I’ve tried various glove solutions over the years but none have really worked for me.
  20. Len_derby
    I’ve got a Mustang and a Harley Benton shorty P, both 30”. And a ukulele bass. Nothing in between, yet. There’s a very tempting Squier mini P in my local guitar shop, 28.5 inch scale. Maybe it’s time…..
  21. Len_derby
    Yes, there seems to have been a real change in the general tone of discussions. It might be a result of the pandemic, or perhaps people are eating too many bags of these.
  22. Len_derby
    Who could fill those trousers?
  23. Len_derby
    Oh yes, the potential train-wreck that turns out well. About five years ago, playing at a private party event. I proudly wore my black vinyl ‘leatherette’ trousers. You can guess. Sudden split down the inside of one leg from crotch to knee. Much mirth on stage at my expense. At the end of the night the host laughingly bunged us a hefty tip on top of the fee to, in his words “buy some decent stage wear”. My lasting lesson is to always have some cable-ties in my gig gear.
  24. Len_derby
    You’d have to be careful not to slip on it,
  25. Len_derby
    We once got to a pub venue and the doors were locked to stop us getting in! This was in Matlock Bath and we were told the landlord had done a bunk and left the place locked-up. The place stayed closed for quite a few months but has since reopened in a much cleaner and tidier state. We did get the gig eventually.
×
×
  • Create New...