Norris

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.

Thanks. I'm still the third best singer in a trio though 😂

After 24 hours of continuous rain we were not surprised that turnout was a little low at the Bricklayers in Sharnford last night. Especially given that the pub is next to the river. In fact as we left the landlord came out to fix the last few sections of the flood barrier in place! As usual it was a tight squeeze in the corner. It was great to play at a lower volume though as we could hear everything and had no sacrifice of tone. The guitarist took his Mesa Boogie but had a tiny little Vox amp plugged into the speakers rather than using the Mesa amp - much easier to get a decent tone without volume. Well it sounded good to all of us anyway. As I said, a selective audience but some of them had travelled quite a distance, which was appreciated by us. We even got some up dancing (ok, it was the WAGS 😂) I don't often do vids but this one isn't too bad, even if it is me singing!

I hope it's a bit lighter than my Database combo (400W 1x15) - that has it's own gravitational field! My back loves the fact I don't gig it any more 😁

I have one of the old wedge shaped Ampeg BA-108 practice amps. It is a bit chunky, but sounds like a bass amp and can just about handle a low B. Ampeg have some new amps out these days though from 30W upwards, that might be worth checking out. My main gigging amp is an excellent Fender Rumble v3 500 combo, but I have no experience of the smaller amps in the range

I could do with a new wheelbarrow

I know. I'm not keen on large venues either, but it's either see them there or not at all, and the whole family want to go

Just a heads up - Vulfpeck "artist" pre-sale is on now. I've already got mine 😀 https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/vulfpeck-london-08-07-2026/event/3500635CD09A93BC

The whisky 👍 The other is just irresponsible! It's early November man - get a grip!

The Horse and Trumpet in Wigston has a really low ceiling. That makes it seem really loud. I had to back off the lows a bit, but once more the Rumble and Stingish bass sounded great. It was hot! I've put my fan up in the loft for the winter but might have to fetch it back down if it's going to be like that. We had people up dancing from the first song which was great. Lots of great comments too, my favourite being someone who told us that they keep coming to see us because we don't play Oasis, Dakota, Brightside, etc. Hooray!

Nope, must be someone else you're thinking of 😀. I like a weekend off now and again when the guitarist is off on tour but never considered stopping.

The Black Horse in Whitwick was the first gig in a few weeks and a good job too - we've all had man-flu during the downtime. Luckily I am just about over mine now, but it was pretty grim at the start and then spent ages slowly trailing off. Anyway nothing that a bit of performance adrenaline can't fix. Although I'd created events on Facebook the guitarist/vocalist didn't do any further plugging with a day or two to go like normal, because he wasn't certain we'd be able to play. So it was satisfying that we managed to fill the place on a dark, wet and gloomy Friday night. We played quite a few songs that we don't do often so that made a nice change too. The Stingish bass is becoming a mainstay now - it's just so lovely to play. Boss GT-6B multi-fx into the Big Muff that I'm still playing with (more fuzz, more fuzz!) and thence into the fabulous Rumble v3 500 combo. Some nice compliments too to round off the night. I think we only have one weekend kept free for the rest of the year now - the long run towards NYE has started

I've used a Comfort Strapp for many years and wouldn't use anything else. Thick neoprene padding and elasticated, it absorbs every shock and really spreads the weight of any bass. Just check the length, because you'll probably want long, if not extra long unless you like a bass under your chin

Next question please...

I'm not a classical guitarist. However I do love noodling on a nylon strung acoustic. Many years ago we bought my son a classical guitar, which he barely played but I loved. He took it away to university. After missing it for 12 months or so I've finally treated myself. It's only a cheap one - a Martinez SM-80 that I picked from Ebay. It's a few years old but I don't think it's really been out of the packaging. I've had it a week or two and have just this evening fitted a new set of strings (D'Addario Pro-Arté EJ-45). I rarely pick up a guitar at home normally but I've not been able to put this one down.