FinnDave

I always take two basses to gigs, if there's enough room they'll both be tuned, have straps, and be on the stand next to my amp. I use one and the other is there 'just in case'. If there's not enough room, one will stay in its case, sometimes in the car, unless needed. I have never even considered changing basses from one song to another, I set the sound to suit the venue and leave it there. I recently played with a guitarist who used 3 or 4 guitars, every some required a change, but I couldn't detect any difference between them at all!

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1487333766' post='3239039'] Difficult to beat Hanoi Rocks, Tim, good call. Mike Monroes current material is also really good. [/quote] Weirdly, I'd never heard of Hanoi Rocks until I lived in Finland.

[quote name='Cyrene' timestamp='1487458647' post='3240033'] Supported Here & Now. [/quote] Brilliant band, saw them many times in the 70s.

[quote name='Raslee' timestamp='1487437608' post='3239828'] I'm with ya ... Gong, Ozrics for me [/quote] I'm supposed to be replacing Mike Howlett in a festival band (he was doing it as a favour last year, apparently). Definite fantasy situation!

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1487425152' post='3239706'] I recently offloaded a 2015 US Precision (I still have one) but as these are now discontinued, and the necks to me are just the ones I like most, I was regretting it big-time. So I`ve just scored another. [/quote] Yeah, they're great.....

[quote name='Yank' timestamp='1487414483' post='3239592'] gig tip. Have a medical kit in your car. i.e. bandaids, aspirin, anti-diarea pills. [/quote] They're all in a pocket of the bag I carry my leads, tuner, etc. in.

Ashdown Touring 330 combo I picked up on Ebay as a practice amp, but sounded so good it immediately became my main gig amp. My ABM500/Barefaced Super Twin cost ten times as much and hasn't been used since I got the combo!

The world is, as always, an even stranger pace than I imagined!

OK, I'll bite....what the heck is a 'fitbit'? (Obviously not a shapely member of the audience judging from the context in which it's used here!).

Jam nights are a good way of meeting mew musos, I was asked to join a very experienced band (guitarist used to play for Van Morrison) on the strength of what they heard me do at a jam. Got our first gig together next week!

I've got various expensive wide leather straps, but never use them, quite happy with the bog standard Fender 2" guitar stops for my Precision and Jazz basses. I've never weighed any of my basses, but imagine them to be average for the type.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1487161557' post='3237630'] I thought phones on stages were a big no no too? [/quote] Gotta know when to stop for a break, or the end of the gig. If there isn't a clock visible from the stage, then I need the phone nearby.

I didn't people used watches at all these days. I'm sure I had one once, but not seen it for years. I use my phone, in 'flight mode' as a timer when on stage. All of our material is liable to stretch out if it going down well, so a simple song count is pointless. I usually try to position myself so I can see a clock on the wall of the venue, as the rest of the band seem incapable of telling the time and always ask me how long we've got left.

I'd a brief flirtation with flats ten years ago or so, decided I didn't like the feel of them under my fingers or the sound they made (on a Precision). Having had to change from fingers to pick in the last 12 months, my Ps and Js were both a bit too bright, so I tried a set of Chromes on one of each, and it has transformed them. I'm waiting for the delivery of another set in today's post so I can change another bass over. So, for me, flats and finger style....NO But flats and a pick....perfect!

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1487156241' post='3237539'] [/quote] Oops...better make that dent and chip!

I've had a Fender Jazz classic 60s for the past 4 years, nitro finish, effectively a road worn without the wear. It is slowly picking up the odd [s]dick[/s] (typo!) dent and chip in the paint, another 20 or 30 years and it might start to look road worn, but I doubt that I'll be around to see it. In the meantime, each mark on it is a reminder of a gig, so it is a treasured bass, even though it's not my #1 choice for gigs at the moment.

I swapped a new Jazz bass for a Precision last November. Bought it back 2 or 3 weeks ago. Bought and sold plenty of indifferent basses over the years, but that was one of the few I missed, and the only one I have bought twice!

[quote name='grahamd' timestamp='1487111293' post='3237284'] Fantasy Shift [/quote]

Here & Now, Gong, Hawkwind...if I really wanted to be out of my depth then the Grateful Dead. It IS a fantasy, right?

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1487055582' post='3236531'] Same for me, I'm still high off of our New Years Eve gig. From the first note everything came together. It's magic. Blue [/quote] Ha, yes, us too, we changed gear during the NYE gig and have not changed back, only two gigs since NYE but both have been 'special'. Got another 5 or 6 in the next few weeks, really looking forward to them.

Pre-aged is just a pose, really. Buy a bass, gig it for a while and it will pick its own genuine character from the knocks and bumps it will inevitably get. Relicing is just fake, so people can pretend they've been using the thing for decades even if they bought it new on the way to the gig.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1487008783' post='3236229'] Sounds like a cool fulfilling gig Dave. Blue [/quote] Thanks, Blue, it was. Like your post above, it was one of those 'hot gigs' where everything comes together and the place just takes off. Takes me a while to come down enough to get some sleep after that though!

We played the Rolleston in the centre of Swindon last Saturday, good venue, small but well attended, have bands on at least twice a week, so the audience are really into it. Had our home crowd of Saints (people from St Helena) in, our drummer and guitarist are from the island. We always go down well with these guys around. We're moving away from a fixed format for our songs and allowing more room for jamming, seems to be a popular move with the audiences.