FinnDave

Every time my brain comes up that sort of idea, I remind it about venues like Hebden Bridge Trades Club and the outdoor iron stairs all the gear gets carried up (and down). My brain goes back to thinking happy thoughts about Barefaced cabs then.

Thank you! I am now down to two 6 string basses and two 4 string basses, two amps and one cab. I reckon that's about the minimum for now. Cuts down on the insurance cost as well!

Sold another bass this week, so far my balance for 2019 is sold 3 basses and one cab. Bought nothing.

Nice six! I was seriously thinking of one of those (well, the Squier version, anyway) but wasn't sure about the short scale. The Ibby sixes are great, though! The Gibson was sold this afternoon, money being delivered to me in the pub this evening - a very civilised way of selling an instrument.

Mine is now with a friend who owns a music shop - I don't have room to keep a bass I hardly ever play, fine as it is. I had a had a serious cull over the last few months and the insurance value of my basses & gear is now 1/3 of what it was. I agree about a preference for function over form, I really don't much care what the bass I play looks like so long as it is comfortable to play and sounds right. I haven't touched a 4 string for the last six months now, all my playing has been on Ibanez sixes.

Chris bought my Ibanez 1006, very good chap to deal with, we met at a riverside country pub in Oxfordshire and had a pleasant hour tasing all things bass while he checked the bass over. Top bloke to do business with, and to have a drink with!

Not that I can remember. I remember said daughter coming to one of my gigs a few years ago and the guitarist looked at her (all tall, elegant blonde) and then at me (scruffy bugger with a beard) and just said 'no'!

One of my daughters is an '88 model, so it can't be long ago or I'd be getting old!

Spot on, I also use an ABM (600 in my case) and a Barefaced cab (Super Twin), and I have a Rootmaster 800 as back up amp.

Throwing someone else's instrument across would be better - the rest of he band will be so shocked, and then they'll all gather round the wounded guitar/sax/piano (if you're strong enough!) which gives you time to dismantle your kit and walk out before anyone notices. It also saves you from damaging your bass.

The only thing I have bought so far this year related to music is enough diesel to get me to a couple of rehearsals.

'E's not a bass guitar, he's a very naughty boy!

They are definitely a bit of a hidden gem, and much lighter than a Thunderbird as well. Mine is now on sale at Gloucester Soundhouse as I got fed up with time wasters on Reverb. If I hadn't switched to six string for all my current bass duties, I'd have kept it.

I've not really listened to anything except the Grateful Dead for the last few years, especially since joining a Dead tribute band last year. I really find everything I want from music in their vast and varied recorded output.

Soaking your manky strings in meths spoils the taste of it when you fancy a drink later. Just in case anyone thinks drinking meths is a good idea - it isn't!! Not at all.

I just use a regular piece of velcro, the sort of thing I use to keep my leads tidy in the bag, just in front of the nut. It mutes the open strings slightly, but I very rarely play an open string, but it does stop to the B & E string ringing when I am not playing them. I play six strings with a pick, and I find it difficult to mute them effectively with my hand.

After all these years, I have finally learnt that Rickenbackers aren't completely useless after all!

Hopefully there'll be a few bass payers on here warned off - if anyone is considering it, just don't! The man is a total fantasist.

That's really not a very sensible suggestion. At the very least, you're going to need a new set of strings, and a thorough cleaning job.

Yeah, I remember the rehearsal place in Uxbridge, and the drive home to the other side of Oxford in the rush hour afterwards! I'd only been back in the country a few weeks after many years abroad, so didn't know anyone. I think I lasted about 4 weeks, I bailed when the pro drummer came in told them some home truths, I couldn't keep a straight face after that.

We must have nearly crossed paths, I was with them for a few weeks 6 years ago. He was a shockingly, unbelievably bad guitarist, so sense of time or of anything else!

I almost certain this is the same guy I played with for a couple of months when I first moved back to the UK, so early 2013. I remember his vast collection of guitars and his inability to play any of them. A low point was reached when I had to tune the chosen guitar of the day for him. Best day was when he 'auditioned' another drummer because our usual guy had ducked out of a rehearsal as he had family over from Australia, and the 'new' drummer turned it to be a consummate pro. After 3 or 4 numbers with the two us trying not to laugh he told them they were wasting his time and started to pack up, and said they were all useless feckers, except the bass player (didn't make me too popular!). Apparently he was receiving threatening emails from the Merc driving (I did see him in at least one) martial arts expert ex-school inspector for weeks afterwards. Sound familiar? I've since played a few deep gigs with the drummer, and ran into the fantasy guitarist in the old PMT shop in Oxford. He recognised and insisted on showing me how they were doing certain songs by then ( a year or two later). His playing was still unbelievably bad, he had to put his left hand finger in the right place on the fretboard with has right hand before he started! Total nutcase. Initials R.G?

I remember a gig a few years ago where someone put their (full) pint on the drummer's crash cymbal. It was immediately obvious that it had very little to offer as a table. Annoyed punter had lost his pint, and annoyed drummer had beer on his kit. I think the gig went downhill from there.

Absolutely. And they should be banned from playing during guitar solos, too.