FinnDave

Ask John, he's very approachable, and very knowledgeable. His contact details are on his website. https://www.east-uk.com/index.php/home.html

Just got home after an hour and a half or more driving in pouring rain. The Grateful Dudes played the Fiddlers Elbow on Camden Saturday night, our first time there but not our last, as we are back in December and have been booked for six dates in 2020. Decent turnout despite the weather, and all very enthusiastic, saw plenty of old friends and made quite a few new ones. Had to play as a five as your rhythm guitarist (also one of the main vocalists) was already booked elsewhere, so the dynamics were a little different, but we had a good time, and so did the audience. Off to bed now! Morning edit - forgot to mention that I took a look at my Precision and Jazz basses yesterday, having not opened the cases for over a year due to my concentration on six string bass. I was thinking it might be time to move the old 4 strings on. Yesterday morning I picked up the Precision, it was very close to still being in tune, starting noodling on it, played a couple of songs I was due to play last night - and, as I am sure most of you have guessed, played the entire gig on it! Many people in the audience commented that it sounded very good, and a surprising number were very aware of my 4-6-4 periods over the last couple of years. And there was me thinking nobody notices the bass player!

I was thinking about John just the other day - I was driving home from rehearsal in Leicester and my sat nav avoided traffic on the M40 by driving straight past his house. I recognised the aerodrome opposite and had just worked out where I was when I drove past his place. Lovely chap, I bought a uni pre from him last year for an Ibanez six, but it wouldn't fit. He invited me over, we chatted for an hour or more while he had a good look at the bass, confirmed that the pre amp wasn't going to fit because of the way the cavity was made, and refunded me the money. Shame though, I have had one of his pre amps in another Ibanez six and it was great - sold it because it was too heavy for our 2 1/2 - 3 hour gigs. I hadn't considered that I couldn't slip one of his pre amps into the lighter replacement without some serious non-reversible surgery. I am still thinking of going down that route though. A very knowledgable, very pleasant man.

Probably not

Every gig we play has a different set list - obviously, songs get repeated but in different version and different order (a lot of them run straight into the next). Keeps us on our toes and the audience interested.

We're spread out between Leeds, Nottingham, London and Oxford (and a few places between) Leicester is close to being the geographic centre, and one of the guys has studios there…what we spend in traveling is compensated by top quality free rehearsal space.

We rehearse about once every other gig. The band members don't live near each other, so the average journey to the rehearsal rooms is about 90 miles.

I saw Albert Lee helping out his old mate Richard Thompson at a small venue in the early 80s - he was incredible then and he still is.

I'll be able to say what it's like after Saturday - my first time there as well!

I think the last band I saw was Here & Now at the Summer of Love party in Kent. Great band that I saw many times in the 70s, still have the same vibe even though the bass player (Keith) is the only original left. I have to admit that I was only there because my own band was playing as well, but it was a real treat to see (and talk with) the band. They were a big part of my late teens/twenties.

Never seen a Theramin played so 'conventionally'. Actually got to play with someone with a Theramin when we were in Germany earlier this year.

The band is based in Leicester as it's roughly in the centre of where we all live (Leeds, London, Oxford, Nottingham). We're rehearsing there tomorrow.

We usually play in Leicester sometime in the Autumn, but it's not happening this year for some reason.

I couldn't even hear it!

I use vaseline (on my earplugs!) ACS said it would work and it does.

Perfect, Dave - can you arrange this free of charge for us, as we can't afford to pay! We'll be spending all of our pocket money on the PA!

If you're going down that sort of route, then do it properly, Phil Lesh style. Quadraphonic pick ups sending individual signals from each string into a huge stack. Four sets of amps & cabs. Mind you, all I use to play his lines is a single Ashdown head and a Barefaced 1x12. We don't have huge trucks or a vast stage crew!

Anything post mid 70s is modern to me! I only ever play music from my phone through my car's stereo, I have never used the radio in the last few cars I've owned.

I've never heard of at least 95% of these, and am grateful for that! I did once encounter the infamous 'sex on fire' when I band I was in briefly had in their set. I listened to it once, played it once, and then quit. Absolute dross. I haven't listened to the radio for decades, can't stand TV, drink in pubs that don't have piped music (I've walked out of places that do), so am able to avoid what counts as modern pop music. Reading through this thread confirms that I have not been missing anything.

A worthy thought, but would they play for free if the gear was transported and set up for them? I like getting paid not because I'm greedy, but because it means that other people value what I do.

Damn you! That's years of therapy thrown away in a moment!!!

I keep a record of all of music related expenses (not just gear, but strings, straps, leads, set-ups, driving to gigs & rehearsals, etc) and income (gigs and selling off gear I no longer use). I've just about broken even the last couple of years, and have had a lot of fun. I have no interest at all in playing 'pub classics', and only play music that I listen to by choice. For the most of the last two years, that means I have played only the music of the Grateful Dead, and only to people who enjoy that music (and our way of playing it) enough to travel and buy tickets to see us. It's a close-knit and very friendly scene, and if I could no longer play that music, I'd stop playing altogether.

I thought a tone knob was someone who believes that the wood used to make the bass has some magical effect on the sound of the finished bass!!

I've been noticing the same thing, my ACS plugs are at least 5 years old. I ought to drive out to Banbury and get new moulds made.

Only about 15 times per gig. Other than that, I'm fine.