FinnDave

Our gigs are always improved by my bass solo. (If I decline to play it).

Thanks, the band has been through a few changes, but at the last gig the new(ish) drummer suddenly got what we do and let go - it was great! Al, the guitarist, is a good friend as well as a band mate.

When I was playing for the Grateful Dudes we usually played venues with decent PA and sound man. As they were venues it was difficult to park near, I suggested that I leave my amp and cab at home and DI into the PA. This was soundly vetoed, mainly by the drummers, as they said they wanted to hear the bass clearly. My current band's guitarist (The Wirebirds, who I have been with for most of the past ten years) insists on hearing plenty of deep rich bass, and usually expects me to bring my old white Precision, as he thinks that has the best sound. Because of arthritis in my fingers, I am no longer able to play it, so I was using a Mustang bass with round wounds, and he was very complementary about the sound. So, my band mates certainly to listen to the bass.

No, because then you'd be Norman Watt-Roy and not Steve Browning. Having seen you (as Steve Browning) play a few times, I'd say that your bass playing is not in need of any improvement.

It's the rule of diminishing returns in action - you can get a fairly decent for (say) £300 and one which is a bit better for £600, and one a bit better than that for £1200. The £1200 bass will in no way be four times as good as the £300 one, but will be a little better in most respects. In mu experience, Squier basses are perfectly good, I have one not more than a few feet away as I type, but they do seem less resilient to slight knocks that a Fender equivalent would shrug off without a mark. I also find that things screwed to the body require tightening far more often on a Squier than a Fender. Sound and feel wise, though, there's little in it in my opinion.

Feet? Luxury! The overflow from the hasty erected gazebo formed a small waterfall about 3 inches in front of my cab and at one point my mains power block was sitting in a puddle while I was playing. Obviously wasn't my time to go, as nothing went wrong. I suppose if it had, I might not be here to type this today!

Thanks, Lozz, it was a great gig despite the heavy rain. Our new drummer (he's been with since spring 22, but we have only managed a handful of gigs with us) suddenly got how we play and fitted in perfectly. A wonderful moment. There were a lot of local musicians in the audience who knew about my arthritis and were all congratulating me on my return to playing live.

Just back from my first gig in 8 months. The break was due to osteoarthritis in my left hand fingers. A few weeks ago I bought a couple of short scale basses (Mustangs) in the hope that I would be able to continue playing, and tonight was the time to put the theory into practice. Well, it certainly worked - we played as a three piece, so lots of room for interesting bass, and we held a good crowd outside a small pub in Witney, even though it was pouring with rain. We had a gazebo style canopy over us (that the bar owner put up) but the weight of water on it caused a small waterfall to cascade between me and my amp & cab. Luckily, the mains plug and socket was just out of range, but we stopped and moved the sensitive bits somewhere safer. Home again, no problems with my fingers after nearly two hours of energetic playing. Good to be back!

I'll be playing my first ever gig with a short scale bass (Fender Mustang) this evening. Looking forward to coming home without a sore shoulder and aching fingers on my left hand.

I've played gigs in several states that I'm not prepared to admit to, but one strangely pleasant memory concerns the two Easter gigs I played shortly after prostate cancer surgery in 2015. The first was on Good Friday, at a pub about a mile from home. The band carried my gear in for me, and I sat on a bar stool while playing, but was still in too much pain to play well. The second was at a pub about 200 yards from home. After the experience of the previous night, I loaded myself with painkillers and again used a bar stool. Being in my local pub, quite a few people knew about my surgery and bought me drinks to keep me going. A few songs into the first set, I was just sitting there and enjoying the music, totally detached from reality. I remember thinking that the bass player was quite good, and I remember wishing that I could play like that. Then I looked at my hands but didn't make the connection between them and the bass playing. After the gig, people kept coming up to me and telling me how relaxed I looked.

Watch out for the bats!

Most of the few gigs I play these days are in pubs, and we often get offered free drinks, which if I am not driving I will happily accept.

I wear glasses for distance pretty much all the time, only take them off for reading or using my laptop/phone, etc. Without my glasses, everything further than three feet or so away becomes blurred. I often take my glasses off when I gig so that I am less distracted by the activities of members of the audience. I am easily distracted by some of the saucier ones! I rarely look at the neck when I'm playing, and, strangely, find my way around the fretboard more easily after my recent switch to 30" scale basses than I have ever done in the last 50 years of playing 34" scale basses.

I am You All of us together

I had trumpet lessons from the age of 11 until about 14 (now over 50 years ago), so had a vague idea of theory and could sight read the treble clef. The lessons stopped when my family moved to a different part of the country, got into rock music at the age of 14-15 and bought a guitar, swiftly realised that bass was more my thing, taught myself by copying records (mostly Gong & Syd era Floyd) and that was that. I wasn't aware of lessons for bass guitar, so all my mistakes are mine and mine alone!

The next village to ours has an annual election for the official village idiot, who is awarded a cup for his trouble. Campaigning is very active! The same chap has won it for years, the cup is kept in the village pub and his name appears on it frequently. I know him quite well, and he is far from being an idiot! There is also locally brewed beer called Village Idiot - it's very good!

I was once a very unenthusiastic member of the audience at a Hawkwind gig. I found a seat in the bar at the back of the venue and sat there trying to ignore everyone and everything around me. Thing is, though, that I am a lifelong Hawkwind fan and in fact I was (unknown to me) coming down with pneumonia at the time. I've never heard of the band in question (have my own personal rock to hide under) but woman in a bobble hat sounds like the sort of person I see in the waiting room while my wife has her radiotherapy. She might be doing the very best she can to enjoy music she likes, no one knows what's going in in a stranger's life.

Like the majority here, I take one to play and a spare just in case of a problem with the first.

I've used up all my bass buying money for a while now! The Player Mustang is very good, sounded great at rehearsal.

I don't think I'd survive that much exertion!

Thank you, but I have no idea what dancing like the farmer in 'Babe' means!

Played the Mustang for a full two hour rehearsal this afternoon with no significant problems. Sat outside a local pub for a post-rehearsal debrief and a couple I know booked us for an autumn beer festival gig as they walked past.

I turned 13 in late 1970, so the 70s was definitely my era. Wasn't too interested in music (other than trumpet lessons) until I was about 15 and discovered Gong and that opened the door to a world of non-commercial music for me. I started playing bass then as well, and had various permutations of bands that just jammed, learnt a lot from that. I very rarely listen to music now unless I have a song to learn for a gig, the music of my teens lives in my head and and I can listen to it internally.

No, she's a married woman, and I'm her lucky husband.