FinnDave

Quite honestly, I can't remember - fewer small than the others, I know that, but we were surprised that the demand for S, M & L sizes exceeded that for XL & 2SXL (we did sell one 4XL at an earlier gig). The mix of sizes of the first run was advised by the T shirt printer, we used the data collected (scribbled on the back of an envelope in pencil) at the first gig this year to order a second run. I must remember to get some more made before our Halloween party in Leicester.

We were selling Grateful Dudes T shirts at SoL, Steve, and rather unexpectedly ran out of Large, Medium, and Small shirts, but had plenty of XL shirts left over for the next time we play.

With free junk and good people to jam with, I'm surprised at the re-admission rate!

Good to know when these things are on, means we won't be heading out that way today so we can avoid the traffic!

It's not plywood - it's a carefully built alternating-grain laminate of painstakingly chosen tone woods.

No, definitely not the herring. Never mention the herring.

yes, there's a lot of otter in there, best not to mention it.

Only thing I can remember thinking at last night's gig was 'well, that's the first time I've seen people line dancing to a Stevie Ray Vaughn song!'

You're reading my mind!

Just back from the second of this weekend's gigs. Friday was with the Wirebirds in Marlborough, bit of a schlep getting there and back and not many people there, stage volume was too high for comfort even with my 20db ACS pros in. But it was my second outing with the six string I bought a week ago, so starting to get more comfortable with it. Tonight was closer to home, near Didcot with the Mighty Cadillacs as a 4 piece. Venue was a music-oriented social club, plenty of dancing to old rock n roll and rockabilly - bandleader was coming out with songs from his extensive back catalogue which none of the rest of us knew but we busked them well enough. Altogether a decent weekend's work. My 8 day old Ibanez 6 string bass now has three gigs behind it. I've not got any more lined up for a few weeks, so I'll be changing the strings tomorrow and checking the set-up. Friday night I played the Ibby SR 506 through an Ashdown Rootmaster 800 into Barefaced Super Compact, only difference tonight was that I used my ABM 600 instead of the Rootmaster. Yesterday's gig involved a bit of a carry, so the lighter amp was chosen. I think I prefer the tone of the ABM, but it's a close call.

I have a couple of US Precisions and a couple of MiM Jazz basses, and the MiM are fine basses, but there is a definite step up to the US. I'd go for the US if the budget can stand it. I was playing Precisions far more than Jazz basses until earlier this year, when I joined a band that really required something with a different sound to a Precision. In fact, I have now made the jump to six strings, so some, if not all, my fours will come up for sale eventually.

To answer one of your questions, is a US Precision really any better than a MiM one, I'd have to say yes, the US has better tuners, better bridge, better pick up and probably better wood. The fact that I have a US Precision for sale here at the moment has no bearing on my opinion!

Where is this ABB band based - I'd like to hear that sometime. In fact, we could even do a recreation of the Fillmore gigs with your ABB and the Grateful Dead tribute I play in! We might need a Peter Green lookalike to come and jam with us, though

No, just a couple of pub gigs so far, and a social club tonight. Probably won't be any videos until the Grateful Dudes play their halloween party in Leicester at the beginning of November. But basically, I just play the same stuff I've always played, but find I'm using it as a five string with the blues bands, not for the below open E notes, but for the ease of being able to play across the board at the 5th or 7th fret most of the time. When I'm playing at home, I am learning more Grateful Dead songs, and they tend to have more bass in the upper register, but I won't be playing with the band again until late October when we have a pre-party rehearsal. I'm not using the chordal and melodic potential of the six, as its not needed in the music I play (not that I would be able to play it anyway!), but rather just as an easier way of playing what I play already without the effort (and risk of missing on a dark stage) a lot of up and down the neck work.

The Ibby is currently flavour of the month chez Dave! Of course, the six is only a week old, and the Alembic is over 20 years old, so it's not comparing like with like, but they are both very impressive instruments. I need to clear a few four string basses out of the way now so I can get a second sixer. I am very taken with it. I would definitely be looking at the rest of the Ibanez range when that happens, unless a reasonably priced Alembic six crosses my path, of course!

I bought my first ever Ibanez (SR 506) a week ago. Never played one before, never played any Ibanez bass before either, but since it arrived, haven't touched any of my Fenders, Gibson, or Alembic basses (well, I picked up the Alembic for about 30 seconds a couple of days ago - neck seemed so narrow after the six string it was was like walking a tightrope!). Perfectly happy with the Bartaloni pick ups on mine, played it's second gig last night (and third tonight). In terms of quality, I'd say my sub 600 quid Ibby six has better build quality than my Fenders and Gibson, and is not far short of the Alembic, which considering the price difference is astonishing! It really feels like a quality instrument. Obviously, I now want another one!!

During last night's gig, I can remember the following drifting though my head while playing: Mostly checking my left wrist, as only my second gig with my one week old six string, and need to concentrate on left hand technique to avoid strain. Oh, great, that's half the audience just left! Why is everything so bloody loud? I wonder if the hedgehogs have eaten their food yet? Why did the guitarist announce a song the play a completely different one? And which song is it? (one verse and chorus later) Oh! That song! (later) I can't believe I'm standing here playing bloody Cocaine yet again. But mostly: How the heck am I going to back out of that dismal lane I've parked in once this is all over and done with?

I'm in 3 bands, two are local and also share the same guitarist. There haven't been any clashes, I book for one band and let the other band know when we're not available. Bookings accepted on the basis of first band to get a particular date blocks it for the other, though one of the bands can and does use deps to cover. The third band is nationally based, so gigs are arranged quite a long way in advance to avoid clashes.

I think the only music from a band of this century I have listened to and enjoyed (as in bought their CDs and seen them live) has been the Cody Sisters, a Dad and two daughters acoustic act from Denver who sing and play bluegrass, folk, and country. They are like a breath of fresh air - and lovely people, I met them when they did a short tour of the UK a couple of months ago. Other than that, I still regard the 1980s as dangerously recent.

I haven't listened to any recent music for a long time. It's not that I think music was better back in the day, just that I like the stuff I grew up with, which was never 'pop' music, but mainly psychedelic rock. And that's what I still listen to, and do listen to new (to me ) recordings of long-ago Grateful Dead gigs, which is also the music I perform. I was never one to listen to the radio or follow the charts, that always seemed more a part of the fashion industry than having mush to do with music. Incidentally, I played in a Nightwish/Within Temptation cover band last year, until I realised that I was having real trouble learning the songs because they were so alien to my usual taste. I think I was only asked to join because I used to live in the same small Finnish town as Tarja Turunen!

I play with a pick. Plectrum sounds like some snobby Latin word that oiks like me aren't supposed to understand. And if there's some thing that disturbs my normally placid outlook on life, it is people who insist on using latin plurals. They are obviously unaware that once a loan word has been assimilated into a language, it takes the grammatical forms of the host language.