Norris

There were lots of people taking photos and videos of our gig this evening, but unfortunately I wasn't one of them, so you'll have to make do with a brief description. We were at a very small pub that we've played many times before, but this year the dates just haven't aligned to get any in the book. So it was nice to revisit and kick off the Christmas season (it's ok, it's December now). As it's a tiny pub we decided to "go acoustic" again. We've done a couple of those recently and thoroughly enjoyed them. Tonight was fabulous. The crowd really enjoyed something slightly different and the place was rocking - especially when we got them to sing Since You've Been Gone. Playing the EUB was a challenge, from the sublime (White Christmas, Moon Dance, Stuck In The Middle) to the ridiculous (War Pigs, Witch Queen, Crossroads) Rig: Stagg EUB, Fender Rumble v3 500 combo, tinsel Footwear: black 8 hole DMs Edit: I must give a special mention to the guitarist for playing the guitar solo in Whiskey In The Jar... on a kazoo! 😂

Love the personalised pedal board

After all these years I'm not sure which "gig" was the first for "Finster Blitz" (our poorly translated German for "black lightning"). It's either... a) The De Montfort Hall in Leicester (Leicester’s biggest venue!). Erm... backing an assembled children choir of primary school kids. So the first song could have been a hymn 🤷‍♂️ The most memorable thing was that we couldn't get the drummer's shirt to stay tucked into his trousers b) Our European Tour Well actually our school choir exchange visit to a school in Munster, Germany. We dragged our single amplifier through customs (yes, they took a look inside) so that we could plug the lead singer, 2 guitars and bass (me!) into it. The singer's microphone was actually something you'd plug into a tape recorder, so had a lead about 1m long meaning he had to sit on top of the amplifier so it could reach. The song would have been an original "Force Ten Joan" - a 12-bar, and I can say that with confidence because it was the only song we had! The first song I played in a semi-professional way was UB40's Red Red Wine. I say semi-professional as I didn't actually get paid for that performance, but did a couple of weeks later when I took over from the bass player that was leaving the band. I've always hated that song - such a dirge 😂

Yesterday the drummer messaged us. His car is in for repair but the sole mechanic has gone down with norovirus! He'd borrowed his daughter's car - a Fiat 500! So the first stop was at his house to collect the kit he couldn't fit in, and then onto the gig in Melton Mowbray (and anyone from Leicester can sympathise with what a tedious drive that can be when you're stuck on the A607 behind a slow driver!) We'd not played the White Hart on a Saturday before. Melton was quite busy, all of the parking near the pub was taken, so I had to double-park and quickly chuck the kit in the pub. The place filled up nicely just before we went on. It got quite warm, which I don't mind at all when you're playing well and it sounds great. It did thin out a little after 11pm but still had quite a few to see us finish just after midnight. I do like playing there - the landlord has built a great sounding stage that's also a decent size. It really did sound great and we had lots of compliments. We had a lot of musos came to see us, which is always nice. I really enjoyed my strings being still quite fresh and twangy (D'Addario pro steel), and was told my bass sounded awesome by a good friend drummer. More importantly the landlord loved it. Kit: Sire P7-5, Roland Boss GT-6B, Fender Rumble v3 500 Footwear: Solovair burgundy rub-off 8 hole zipped derby boots They are nearly broken in now, especially with the "bass stances" being thrown quite liberally tonight, but I was rather pleased to get them off my feet at home afterwards!

Some cheaper, no-name "bass" amps will sound horrible. These will sound good even at low volume. Plus these have probably got headphone sockets too if you want to do silent practice, and likely also a line input if you want to play along to some music

If you are happy with headphones you can buy little battery powered bass headphone amps that plug straight into your bass for very little money e.g. Vox ones are cheap, other brands are available. Personally I have an Ampeg BA-108 for general noodling and noisy practice (there's one for sale on here), or will plug into my Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 interface for recording

I don't know if you can really count them as backing singers. They were far more forward than that, and also fabulous.

Just got back from seeing Nile Rogers and Chic at the O2 Academy Leicester. Wow! Absolutely awesome. Jerry Barnes was on great form, as were the rest of the band. Over 90 minutes of hit after hit performed impeccably. Nile seemed such a nice guy too. Very impressive

Nile Rogers and Chic on Friday at the Leicester O2 Academy (Leicester Uni). Small venue so really looking forward to it Just had a quick look - wow that band has had a lot of past members! 😂

Wow. They are pretty vintage. I've not seen those before. Fabulous!

I think every rig report needs to include the footwear! 😂👍

I like 5 and that's all that matters I'm happy for you to like as many strings as you do I won't sell or stop playing my 4-stringers occasionally though Edit: Actually, to answer the original question... I played 4 string basses for over 30 years because that was what was commonly available. I made the move to 5 strings a couple of years ago and played them exclusively to really become second nature. Now I can switch between 4s and 5s without too much effort. I still play a 5er most of the time though. I wouldn't get rid of my 4s because they have sentimental value and/or a lot of them are not available/affordable in 5-string versions. I still like to own them even if they don't come out to play often.

A bit of a strange one tonight. A new venue we've not played before and we're in the corner of the room. It was rammed and hot when we turned up and we had to set up on a sixpence - you know, where every piece of kit gets moved 6 times as you shoehorn it all in. First job was to turn the darned radiator down. Once we start playing the guitarist singer was not at all happy. We were not loud by any means, but he seemed to be in a spot where the bass and the snare was making his ears ring. I backed off the low frequencies quite a bit and in the first break he fitted his ear plugs, but it didn't make that much difference. We persevered and all perked up a little when we played War Pigs, but he still wasn't his bright bubbly self. It sounded great to me and the drummer btw. Of course we got loads of compliments saying how great we played and how fantastic it sounded. It just goes to show, eh? Even if the band were not buzzing it must have sounded half decent. To cap it all the barman came up with the money at the end of the night and told us we were not charging enough! Anyway next time the guitarist and I will swap sides to see if that helps. It would allow my amp to be a little further out of the corner The usual Sire P7-5, Boss GT-6B and Fender Rumble v3 500 btw

We decided we were not going to do huge venues any more. But... it's Jamiroquai! Tickets bought for the Birmingham gig

I bought a cover for my combo from Roqsolid. It's been excellent and kept the amp in excellent condition over the years. They don't specifically list a cover for the Rumble head as far as I can see, but do offer custom covers with a range of options like extra pockets for leads, pockets to insert stiffener boards, etc. They are a UK company. It might be worth giving them a call

The old one with the "lame" arm stays at home in the music room. Replacing it was a no-brainer

I was away with Mrs Norris last week visiting her brother before he retires from foreign parts. I don't know if I picked up something on the plane back, but have had a worsening cold ever since we set foot back in Blighty. So Saturday I felt like death warmed up. Not quite bad enough to call the gig off, but definitely lacking in energy. It was actually a pretty decent gig. We got them up dancing, which hasn't happened there before. The landlord was very pleased. I had put a new set of D'Addario Pro Steels on my Sire P7-5 for the first time in two years. It sounded great (Boss GT-6B into my Fender Rumble v3 500 combo) - nice to have a bit of twang again. No photos because I felt like cr*p and couldn't wait to get home to bed. So then I woke up this morning feeling a little bit better, but couldn't speak! The cold, phlegm, etc. has moved onto my vocal chords, so all I could do was whisper and squeak. This afternoon was planned to be an "acoustic" gig, as it's a small pub and could easily be far too loud otherwise. With my vocals not working it was an extra stripped-down gig - literally just my Stagg EUB straight into the Rumble and a clip-on tuner. It was actually great fun and we tackled a lot of random requests from the crowd (Hotel California, Ziggy Stardust to name a couple). The EUB is fun to play - lots of silly phrases and slides to put off the guitar/vocalist. Oh, and the landlady booked us because it was her one year anniversary of taking over the pub, even though we only played there a few weeks ago and have another in the book for next month. It's always nice to be the landlady's favourite band 😁

What will a Jaguar Bass do for me.........? Being shorter scale, it will have a slightly smaller turning circle than a standard jazz bass, enabling you to turn around in the road using forward and reverse gears in fewer manoeuvres.

I put a set of Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders in mine and it sounded awesome. Straight fit, no mods

In a previous band we once did a continuous medley for an entire 45 minute set. The dancers were knackered afterwards and we were in stiches with laughing. Obviously called on the fly. The continuous tempo is essential to keep them dancing

Sure? Because it's exactly what I did to mine. New genuine Schaller buttons with the hex drive (Ebay is cheapest I found) and my existing strap fitted just fine

Better you found out before you turned up there at least

Nice. I popped a Retrovibe Stinger preamp in mine, which transformed the sound. Mine's quite light for a 5er too You can buy just the Schaller strap buttons now. The old locks fit new buttons ok, but new locks are a bit tight on old buttons

I think you need to do a YouTube video to show off your technique on this!