Norris

The fat girl a-winding and a-grinding to every song we play. The gorgeous girl who was drunk when she came into the place, who has drunk a bottle of wine and a couple of pints since and is now making eyes at any band member she can focus on. The third drunken punter to take a pedal dive in front of the guitarist. I wouldn't miss it for the world

In the last 30 odd years I've played in some pretty rough places but the band has never had any trouble. It's not always the "dives" where trouble kicks off - they tend to have the local "heavies" that step in to control anybody that gets out of order. The worst incident I've ever seen was actually at a fairly posh wedding - an altercation between the groom's father and his other son that involved police, ambulances and us not getting paid until 6 weeks later!

We play dives the same as any other gig. You sometimes have to be bit careful with the banter and who you make eye contact with. Often the people in these dives enjoy themselves a lot more than in smarter venues. You do have to watch out for the ones that have been in there drinking all day though

Before I recently bought a Rumble combo, I used my Peavey Databass combo for about 15 years. Fantastic amount of welly for its size. I had to re-cone it a couple of times - mainly through wear and tear as I gigged it a lot. It's still sitting there as a spare. It's not worth selling as there is so much quality second hand gear at very reasonable prices out there. However in it's day it was very hard to beat for power/size. I know of at least two people who have sought them out on ebay after hearing it. Unfortunately these days, modern combos beat it hands down - especially on the weight and also the clarity. As for reliability, that remains to be seen. The Rumble has already been back once. I'm not expecting it to be as bomb proof as the Peavey, but then a new one would pay for itself within a couple of months they are so affordable. It's just a shame that you don't get the build quality that Peavey have, and that the company now seems in such decline. I'm fond of mine but just can't bear the back strain any more. I wish there was a modern (light/powerful/clear) Peavey to replace it with.

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The closest one we do is Frankenstein by the Edgar Winter band. Lots of riffage but not a lot of repeating - pretty much all different throughout the track. Definite sections to it as well

Have they been reliced?

A compressed air horn blast should do the trick

It's currently 1:15 on a Thursday night and I'm just sipping a post-gig JD. My alarm is due to go off in 4 1/2 hours for me to get up for my day job. I still wouldn't want to only do one a month though, but I might reconsider in the morning

It would be, but I don't know anyone that has one

Hmmm. We've got the pickup lowered but it's still distorting. Some more diagnostics are in order when I get back from my holiday. I won't be gigging it tonight then - I was hoping it might be the first post-rebuild gig for it

Are you just talking about harmonics of root, third & fifth? Major/minor keys? Other modes?

I have a PJ and usually solo the P pup.

The words "Computer Programmer" really kill a conversation

The only issue I've had on here was an Items Wanted ad that I replied to as I had the pedal sitting on a shelf doing nothing. Despite offering at a good "BC" price they still tried to lowball me. It's still on the shelf

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1436115958' post='2815093'] Yeah, I was sort of getting at that with my response to Lozz. Our summer schedule is also right around 7-10 gigs a month, a lot of double and triple header weekends. So rehearsals would be a bit much. And it also depends on the a guys ability, we added a key board guy last weekend without rehearsing with us. The guy was a pro, we sent him files of the set and I swear he knew the material better than me.lol blue [/quote] Some people are just in a different league and it's great when your paths cross

We gig 7-10 times a month on average and that is enough to keep us tight. New stuff is rehearsed individually at home and then more often than not we just gig it. More complex arrangements will get a quiet group rehearsal round my house. I'm blessed to be with such capable and affable chaps.

What is this "rehearsing" of which you speak? As a chap with a day job I'd still be wanting to play more than once a month. I can see that some people would be happy just doing one though, but certainly not in blue's situation

Thunderbird, Squier P-Bass Special, Ric 4003 (just before the ban). Still have all three. I also bought my Boss GT6B from here.

Another one for the Rumble. It has a very nice sounding vintage tone switch and acres of bowel-loosening bass on tap

I am lucky to have a guitarist that knows when he's cocked up a solo as he always looks my way to see the raised eyebrow. Occasionally it's followed by a tongue in cheek adjustment of his amp as if that had caused it

You'd be surprised how well the start of the Blue Peter theme tune (blue: a hornpipe) fits into most songs

At gigs where the audience isn't really interested we tend to mess around musically, putting in accents, rhythms and recurring themes to keep ourselves amused. Nothing that the punters would notice unless they were actually listening of course. It can make a dull gig fly by and have us in stitches

Tbh the opinions of a bunch of crusty old bass players isn't going to make a hill of beans of a difference. Having said that, I think there will be another incarnation of Yes. There are too many expensive concert tickets waiting to be printed and purchased. Take them as they (presumably) come, or just fetch out the old albums and weep into your cocoa for the good old days.

Is anybody else missing the big man? A little underwhelming in the bass department imho