Len_derby

Welcome Chris. Yes, there are several manufacturers that offer small, light-weight cabinets that can handle 200w and more, and are loud and rich in sound. I use Barefaced but others are available. If you are anywhere near Derby you're very welcome to come and try. Alternatively, I'm sure there'll be a friendly Basschatter near you who'll do the same.

10-12 with a bit of chat.

Hiya. in Derby we have Chris Bainbridge who is a renowned specialist in hand surgery and treating hand difficulties. Although he has no specific experience of musicians, to my knowledge, I have a friend in precision engineering (Rolls Royce) who had been able to continue in his career thanks to Dr Bainbridge. http://www.hand-surgery.co.uk

That's a wise choice Blue. I find opportunities are much harder to find if you're not active and you're out of sight and mind. My take is that 'something' is always better than 'nothing'.

Limited parking and not that easy to find. PM me if you want any mire info.

I played with the blues trio last night in a small brewery in Burton on Trent. This was for a birthday party. The brewery has a dedicated stage area, decent PA and a competent sound engineer, plus a tap room/bar. The Tower Brewery. The man whose birthday it was said, "there's a tab at the bar for you lads, enjoy yourselves." A night to remember.

It was seeing 'Bomber' Hodgkinson with Back Door in the seventies that made me decide to try and play the bass guitar (still trying!). I saw him with Back Door about 5 times but the best gig was when he did a tour with Alexis Korner. Just the two of them, playing blues and jazz and obviously having a great time doing it.

I remember trying that out at a Bass Bash a couple of years ago. Afterwards I had to whip myself with my empty wallet until the GAS subsided

I've got to agree with you Nathan. Your comment about the weight of your Aguilar is relevant though. I have gradually moved over to light weight gear. Not only because of my age and increasing feebleness but it seems to get harder and harder to get decent parking anywhere near urban venues.

That's a shame Kev. But you could always turn up late with the silverware that your team has won, full of champagne. Maybe 😉

Ah man, didn't know you were at The Smithfield. I'll have to catch you next time, The outside river terrace is a much nicer place to play. It gets busy in the summer too.

I can recommend Newtone strings. They are a small, specialist British company, local to me. The MD, Neil Silverman is a bass player himself. I now don't buy any other strings. Contact them and talk about what you're looking for.

Welcome to Basschat. Take a look at the Build Diaries section (under 'Gear'). Prepare to be amazed and inspired!

Definitely try before you buy. I had a Mexican Fender Jazz V and it was seriously 'average'. Heavy too. I moved it on, and now very happy with a Yamaha TRB 5.

Amicably, always - even if it means gritting your teeth and forcing a smile. If you burn bridges with people you burn networking opportunities. It's a small world in someways and I've had things passed on to me from former bandmates. I'm not sure that would've happened if we'd parted company in a sour manner.

A nice end to the story. Or is it? Be prepared for negative comments from band members. When I whipped out my Countryman Uke bass the guitarist said "that looks a bit naff on stage". My reply was, "what, more than your fat belly, dad jeans and red trainers?". I'm not in that band anymore. 😉

Great news that you're back in the groove. 👍

Welcome to Basschat. You do realise that your wants will never be fully satisfied? 😂 It's a kind of joining fee 😉

Can't beat a bit of self-love. 😉

Currently in two trios. 3300 & 3300

Nice position to be in, a choice of three! Just a few thoughts. Are they in any other bands? Commitment issues. Are they likely to stick around if you invest your time in them ? Some people never seem to stick a band for more than 6 months. Any transport issues? The carless drummer is an annoying sub-species. Depending on the kind of venues you may play at, can they play quietly when it's required?

Good old Mick! Still doing the business at least once every week. Although he is looking increasingly frail and like he hasn’t seen daylight for years.

As an owner of a Roland Micro Cube I'm not sure that you'd get the volume you need. I'm unfamiliar with how a serpent sounds but when I was a band with an accordion player and soprano sax the battery Roland didn't really cut it. If you're anywhere near Derby you're very welcome to borrow it and have a try. The folk/baroque scene is unknown to me, but would turning up with an electric bass guitar result in cries of 'Judas'? 😄

Yep. Pretty universal I think. Just last week I watched a pub band whose bass player just couldn't stop himself playing on the verse of All Right Now. Sounded pants to me. Maybe not to most of the audience though, I don't know. Are we being too picky?

For me a lot of the pleasure using (especially gigging) cheaper stuff is being relaxed about it getting scratched/broken/lost/stolen.