FinnDave

Sold a set of strings to John, everything was smooth and easy, good guy to deal with.

Sold a set of strings to Pawel, everything was smooth and easy, good guy to deal with.

I've actually quit drinking completely. I had planned to sleep in the back of my car (it's a fair sized SUV) but couldn't stop the alarm going off, so kipped under a tree instead. It was a warm night, but the sun woke me up before six in the morning. Managed to get a couple of hours nap in the afternoon while most of the band were off watching the world cup. Played 2 full sets that night as well, then drove home, didn't feel tired until the day after that.

Some of the band managed to get free accommodation at the venue, I hadn't joined the band in time to get a bed for the night before it had all been taken. Not sure yet whether we're doing two nights or one in Dorset - if it's two, the we'll be driving up to Yorkshire on the Sunday and gigging that night. Should be a good weekend!

It'll be fun, but when we played the same place in Dorset last month, I ended up sleeping under a tree, so I really hope we can get something better arranged before the 4 1/2 hour drive to the Yorkshire gig.

I usually get 50-60 quid for pub gigs (4 or 5 piece band) and 100 plus for the Dead tribute (6 piece band). But it is worth noting that the pub bands tend to play reasonably locally, or up to 50 miles away at a pinch, whereas the tribute band has members from around the country and so far my shortest drive to a gig has been about 120 miles. Next year we have one week with two nights in Dorset with the following night in Yorkshire and then southern Germany a few days after that. I doubt that any of us will have much money to take home after those 4 gigs!

It's a thought, but I suspect that getting used to the five, using the G string as a reference and then later trying a six, and using the by-then familiar low B as a reference might be easier. I think that the top C string is not very useful for a lot of music (I barely used it at all during the blues gig last Saturday) but I know I will need it to play the Grateful Dead music that is my main interest. Using the six for the blues gigs is just to get used to it - next GD rehearsal is late October, and next gig is a week or so after that, in Leicester.

i am primarily a pick player these days, but spent many years playing only finger style. I can say with certainty that I dug in much harder with the fingers than I do with the pick, possibly because the attack of the pick gives the note more clarity, so avoiding the need to dig in hard.

Next week? Marlborough with The Wirebirds on Friday, a club in Harwell (not been given the details yet) with the Mighty Cadillacs on Saturday. Both blues based, the Wirebirds is more rock oriented than the Cadillacs. Both good opportunities for me to test my six string skills again!

We played Cocaine last night, and much as I love JJ Cales's music, this is one song I really dislike playing, but it always goes down well, so I do my best and pretend I'm enjoying myself!

I've got two gigs next weekend, so I'll be spending this week making sure I know my way around the new bass.

Nope, that's what we get in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire as well.

I had spent the afternoon playing in front of a mirror and checking my wrist position, so by the time I got to the gig I was keep my wrist straight and relaxed, so I had no real problems with the width of the neck. It's certainly very different to a Jazz bass, but manageable (for my hands, anyway). I checked PMT on line but there were no six strings listed as being in stock in Oxford (my nearest PMT), so bought mine from GAK on line. The main problem, and this only happened a couple of times during about 2 hours of playing last night, was completely loosing touch with which string I was on, with the four it seems so easy and natural (I've been playing for over 40 years) but my usual reference points have moved! But it was a very encouraging start, possibly a five would have been a wiser choice, but as I have said, I really wanted a sixer for the Dead tribute I play in, so will wait until we next play to how well is fits in there.

We used to play White Rabbit when Jenny Haan was singing with us - one gig we had to play it 3 or 4 times before they'd let us go home!

Well, it survived the first gig (more surprisingly, so did my wrist. Used it mainly as a five string, which is a new step for me as I've only played fours until I got this one Thursday. Certainly a good strong sound at gig levels, very impressed with this bass for the price. I ended up leaving the Precision in its case and played both sets on the 506.

Just back from playing a gig in Melksham, 55 miles each way, was glad to get home as decidedly sleepy! Gig went well, plenty of familiar faces there, LL wants us back, so all good. Took my new six string along intending to play it for the first 2 or 3 songs as I've only had it a couple of days and only ever played four strings before - and the Precision stayed in its case, the mixer was played for the entire gig, including the 2 or 3 encores! So, gear used tonight was Ibanez SR 506, Ashdown ABM 600 and Barefaced Super Compact, sounded good.

Nooo! Definitely not for soloing! To be honest, I think I got it mainly because Phil Lesh has played a six for years, and I play in a Dead tribute, so anything that helps get me closer to his mind set is a help - he's a very tricky one to imitate! I was finding that with that band, I was using the full length of the neck quite a lot, so hopefully I will have exchanged some of that for moving across, which makes it easier to know where you are on a dark stage. I'll report back after tonight's gig, though as it's a blues/rock band, I think I am more likely to be using the B string for convenience than the C, but when I play with the Dead tribute, I expect that to be the other way round.

Watched & listened, as a result I am confident that I made the right choice. Which is reassuring. I am taking the six with me to a gig tonight, and a Precision in case I either get confused (hopefully not, been playing most of the set on it today) or my hand gets tired due to the extra stretch over the wider fingerboard (quite likely, as I have been playing most of the set on it today!!)

I'll do that right now, if it makes me buy another, I'll send you the bill!