FinnDave

Played an interesting gig this afternoon/evening with Frankin's Tower (Grateful Dead covers). Private party for the 70th birthday of an eminent Oxford chemistry professor held in the very spacious grounds of an Oxford college. We played outside, so the sound was good and we were well received. Not a paid gig (I didn't organise it!) but hopefully will lead to more that will pay.

Sunburst, rosewood 'board & tort plate. I've got three Jazz Basses like that.

Bit late to the party, but I have a Fender Classic 60s Jazz sunburst/rosewood lacquer finish that I bought new in May 2013. It is the best bass I have, better than my US basses, probably better than the Alembic I used to own. It's not for sale, but hopefully will inspire you to keep on searching if you haven't found one yet.

Or even worse, buy things!

Flat tyres would slow down their escape….these things can happen sometimes 🤐

Just back from a long gig playing Grateful Dead music to an attentive audience in the garden of a country pub (which happens to be about a mile from where I live). Six piece band went down very well, though we need to check our set lengths. First set was estimated to be 45 minutes but ended up at nearly twice that. Great fun.

I suppose I could upload something slightly more recent than my current profile pic, which dates from about 1978. Not exactly a portrait, but I like this picture as it shows me & my good friend and bandmate, Al, having a laugh on stage somewhere. Just in case anyone has trouble telling who is who, I'm the one with the Thunderbird.

Not far from me, then, I live in Standlake, other side of Witney.

Gig in a small bar in Witney last night - fourth time I've played there since lockdown eased. Very few people there this time - combination of people going on holiday and at least three other music events within 3 minutes walk. It was good to play, of course, and we still got paid. Better with a few more in the audience, though.

That's a nasty persistent cough you've got there, better get tested and isolate until you get the result.

Only pressure will be to play anything like as well as we did last week!

Wasn't aware of that - it's our nearest town, about 6 miles away. It's a regular gig I do with my St. Helenian guitarist friend. He played guitar at my daughter's wedding party last week. Good chap.

Half the old Wirebirds crew are playing together again tonight, this time in Witney. Very enjoyable gigs so far….

I either didn't read or have forgotten that thread, but it does sound serious.

Seems a lot of fuss over a grub screw!

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I've just had to pull one of my bands out of a gig ten days before it would have happened as our guitarist has covid for the second time despite being fully vaccinated. He is most definitely not someone who takes any risks - we have turned a few gigs because he was unhappy about the ability to distance at them.

Picture from my daughter of us playing at her wedding last Saturday.

Thanks - it's been quite a weekend!

Played what was probably the gig of a lifetime last night - at my daughter's wedding. They held their reception in a field, with camping for those who wanted to, a leave main marquee (which is where we played) and assorted games and things to do - like a small private festival, with only one band. We played two hours of mostly blues-based material as a three piece, with my good friend Al Stroud on guitar and vocals, his son Luke on drums and me on bass. Just about everyone there was dancing themselves silly, from the friends of my daughter & her husband to elderly relatives and toddlers of the next generation. No problems despite intermittent heavy rain, generator was absolutely solid. My son-in-law's father passed away a few years ago and we played a favourite song of his (Hey Joe) in his memory - hardly a dry eye in the house (tent!). One thing I had never expected to see was my ex-wife (mother of my daughters) dancing with my current wife. Very strange! Breakfast at the pub we've stayed in for the last couple of nights, then an hour's drive through the rain back home. I'll be playing at a local blues jam with Al this afternoon if it's not rained off (again).

I found a time machine and took a quick snap while I was back in the 70s I chose it more for the bass than for the pic of me - my dear old Framus Jazz bass, long since lost in the mists of time, but a cracking bass.

They also gave me a decent trade-in price for a couple of Fenders when I was buying a used Alembic there. Their trade-in prices weren't far short of what I would have got selling them myself, but without the hassle.

Are the US basses better than the MiMs? Well, I have four Jazz basses, one is a US Special (despite the name, it was a lower spec than the US Standard), one is a MiM deLuxe (active, now with an East UK pre-amp) and the other two are both MiM Classic 60s. I couldn't say that any one of them is better than any other, though I don't play the deLuxe much, simply because I refer passive basses. Just find a bass that feels & sounds right and don't worry about where it was made - but don't pay too much for any of them!

I had a couple of Westone Thunder 1s (one might have been a 1A -active) about 40 years ago. They were good basses, and more reliable than the dodgy Fender Precision I bought to replace them! The only problem with them to my mind is that they will now have spent about 40 years in the hands of beginners, so who knows what horrors have been inflicted upon them!