martthebass

The very large tent didn’t have any doors…..

Somebody kindly pasted some footage of our gig last Saturday….love bikers rallies me. https://www.facebook.com/groups/205058939536937/permalink/7865884146787673/

I’m in a Smiths tribute band as you can tell from this pic…..

Our favourite gig of the year at the Farmyard bikers rally at Helmsley. Middle slot on the bill so the crowd were well warmed up and singin and dancin from the first number. Looking forward to the official pics as we had no guests this time to photo and vid. Had an issue with the Smooth hound wireless set up - it couldn’t cope with the level of wifi interference and I had to swap to a lead rapidly after the second song, guess it’s time to look for a more modern set up.

I'd heard he was from Todmorden but when the American market couldn't get their heads around the pronunciation of the Fender Todmorden he had to cross the Pennines and change the names.

One of em looks distinctly scrotesque…

A 60th BD party at a social club on the outskirts of York last night. Normally I’m not a fan on ‘celebratory’ gigs but it turns out a number of the guests had supported us at bikers rallies around the patch so we had a cracking night. One thing though - why did we have to share the dressing room with a hoard of balloons (that were nothing to do with the event)…?

Done…

MarkBass set up Mick, little Marcus 500 with 2 x NY121. Fits in the Mini….

Bit late at the posting but a few pics have turned up from the weekend gig at The Peacock in Huddersfield last weekend. This was the first pub I played, as a dep at the time, with Glam Fever and it’s still one we look forward to.

That looks sweet. I love my fretless, this might be heresy but I prefer mine to the EBMM fretless stingray I used to own.

I consider it a tough market in the UK at the moment unless it's something on the current desirability hit list. There's a fair few US Fenders on the market so unless you price low you could have a wait on your hands.

Ding Dong!

One thing I did note when I was selling a bass a little while ago was someone who messaged me through FB Marketplace and made a pretty lowball offer. Now I recognised the name and while he didn't declare it I know he worked for a well known retailer and I concluded that he was looking to procure to put it through the shop. No problem with this but was irked that he didn't declare his affiliation.

Standard clubland this side of the border tends to be first set 45m followed by second 45m +15m. You'd be shot if you eat into bingo time lol

I tend to stick with silver and red-silver-blue sequinned converse Dave, I just haven’t got the head for heights these days.

Gig at a nice local pub for us at the weekend. A new venue that’s only just started up live music so wasnt sure what to expect. Lousy stage area so using the short scale Lionel was a bonus. Audience was initially a bit subdued but we eventually brought them around and had a cracking night. Vox still having issues with his Shure wireless set up (losing contact between set up and start of set…) which meant he had to do his audience participation shenanigans with a long lead….

The first band I was in was not a JD tribute per se (I don't think tribby acts were as yet a 'thing' in the early 80s) but our set was a good 80% JD songs. This wasn't that long after Ian C had departed us. I don't think we had the look; the vox certainly didn't try and copy the mannerisms, but we did try and do justice to the originals. That gave me an appreciation for the effort required to make the songs authentic, the sound was deceptively difficult to reproduce, particularly the 'darkness' on the Unknown Pleasures' tracks. But time moves on and I agree more is now expected of a tribute act, we expect authenticity in sound, actions and looks I guess and for the top end tributes this is required. I don't play in a tribute but being genre specific we do aim for authentic sound, actions and dress. We were once criticised for wearing wigs as opposed to having long 'period correct' hairstyles on one occasion (quite tough for at least one of our number who is follically challenged) so some punters do take this quite seriously.

Threads like this remind me of the silver lining side to my shoulder hating anything approaching 10lb on a guitar strap.......

Another nice local one for Glam Fever at the Milestone in Sheffield last night. It was definitely on the warm side and the fans were run to overdrive….wig wearing is definitely a challenge. An enthusiastic crowd and we had a good sound on and off stage for a change so I could go for the harmonies better than normal. Pleased with how we played - zero defects which was nice and sets us up nicely for a steady run of gigs over the next couple of months. Quick getaway was a bonus as I had two people picking up the mustangs I had for sale first thing. Down to the Lionel and Fallout basses for most gigs now - fortunately I love both of em.

I’m also more of a rosewood/ebony guy but maple with blocks is acceptable. Haven’t had a proper play as yet as I need to set it up - the action needs lowering a fair bit for me so it’ll be the weekend. My MW Mustang sig has served the ‘Glam sparkle’ function for the last few years; I was was going to keep it but it’s having to go on orders from above 🤣

Had a 4003 2010. It had the Vintage push-pull thing - tried it once, it sucked all the body out of the sound, just awful, never used it again. I have played 4001 in the past (though never owned) and did prefer the slimmer neck profile over the 2000s 4003 but ultimately I decided I didn't want the hassle of the older agricultural truss rods. That said I only had to adjust the rods on my 4003 once and it never moved in 8 years....so if the 4001 is the same then maybe not so much hassle. If I had another I'd go with the 4003s....as I prefer a bit of contour and no binding.

Jazz…..it’s a Mex.