Norris

Any song is open to rearrangement.

The Old Inn in Littlethorpe is tiny. We're used to squeezing in there so have learnt to travel as light as possible. The Stingish bass was back out. I think I prefer the simplicity of a 2-band EQ. As you can see it was a bit cramped. The night started a little bit quiet but soon got much busier. In this place we nearly always have people encroaching or knocking the mic stands as they pass by. However I can heartily recommend the fluorescent pink duck tape! It kept everyone at bay. I don't think most people consciously noticed it but it was quite amusing to see the effect.

Slade was our opener for our final set and did the job of getting them on the floor. It was the only Xmas song we played though as we just gave them a segued onslaught of dancing tunes to keep them on the floor. Most of our Xmassy songs are done tongue in cheek and they were not really the sort of crowd for that. Tonight should be better suited.

It's nice money but there's a reason that we don't do corporate gigs often. The first reason was getting in early and then sitting around for a couple of hours. The next reason is it can be darned hard work getting them partying. Anyway we'll chalk that one up as another success and we were well received, if a little unfulfilled personally. Kirby Muxloe golf club has a short stage and ceiling tiles that seemed to suck all of the top end out of the room and I had to back off my bottom end too to avoid stage boom. A bit of a shame as I took the Sire P7-5 out for a bit of an airing but it couldn't really sing. We were dressed fairly smartly. Shiny black DMs FTW Tomorrow's gig is probably the smallest pub we play in...

+1 I've used them for years. EPS165-5 to be specific.

Funnily enough I was looking at the Kala 5-string the other night and wondered what they were like... Maybe an alt-bass forum? Anything not a "normal" bass guitar or double bass/EUB

You can't go wrong with a set of SDQPs. Everything else is for the eyes, those are for the ears. They transformed my Squier P-bass Special, which is still my favourite 4-string

We love playing at the Crew in Nuneaton (downstairs from Queen's Hall if you're familiar). It's a rock bar and they like it loud, so we properly rocked out. It's a great atmosphere with guitars and posters on the walls and ceiling. Hot again too. It took the Stingish bass again, but have a hankering to fetch out my Sire P7-5 next weekend for a bit of P-bass goodness. It's been a while. A couple of malfunctions: my amp overdrive footswitch needs rewiring, and a riff run that I've messed up two gigs in a row needs practice!

The kits you linked look quite affordable. It looks like the tricky bits have already been done for you: the neck is fretted and the body routed. I guess you really just need to finish the body (oil finishes are easier to apply and are a bit more forgiving than paint/lacquer) and then screw it together. In other words it looks like a relatively easy job to end up with a working guitar at the end of it.

Our first time playing at the Gate in Hugglescote. It looks like they have entertainment fairly regularly, but not with bands with a drum kit. It was a bit tight, so much so that the drummer sat on the bench instead of his stool and had no room for a floor tom. That made for a few chuckles on the occasions he forgot and hit on thin air 😂 I never find it fun having to move every piece of kit six times while setting up, like a sliding tile puzzle. A bit unusually for a Saturday night pub gig they wanted us to start at 7pm. As we expected it was a little thin on the ground when we started but soon got busier. The Rumble had to go on the bench. I don't normally have it up high like that, so it made for a different experience and I tried not to be too self-conscious being able to hear every little thing. A good night was had. Some dancing. A lot of compliments, and it turns out there were quite a few musos there too. Most importantly my black DMs looked great, having polished them this morning 😂

Which ones are not t**ts, you can get on with, and can play the songs? Keep them, sack the rest. If none of the above find another band

Or at least tune up before you start playing 😂

It's up to you really. I only took grade 5 theory because I had to in order to progress onto higher level practical exams. I didn't take any other theory exams. There again I did do music at A level so wasn't exactly lacking in the theory side either.

Well done for passing! Maybe it's time to learn something for pleasure? It doesn't need to be difficult, just something you enjoy. You can always learn your grade 3 pieces at the same time. It's important to keep it fun.

We don't play at The Thornton (club) very often but it's always a nice friendly place. We managed to pull a few in, so it made for a good time. Lots of dancing. Lots of compliments. Although we were totally upstaged by one of the guitarist's young grandchildren who stood on stage dancing while we played the last set. The heat combined with a very busy weekend meant that I was pretty tuckered out by the end of it. I have next weekend off so hopefully can crack on with a bit of spannering on my old VW camper.