Happy Jack

Oh and by the way, the sheer three-stringedness of that image has now given me Mandobass GAS. Or quite possible Contrabass Balalaika GAS. It can be hard to tell ...

Maybe I've missed something, but I thought the AI image was generated by @Bassassin rather than the eBay vendor

That, Sir, is simply glorious. The disappearing D-string is a marvel to the eye.

Depending on whether you'd prefer to fix the underlying problem, or address the vocalist's absent communication skills, one option would be to run his voice (not yours) through a Mic Mechanic. A bit of subtle autocorrect would cure his pitchy issues and simultaneously make your BVs sound better. BVs don't need "character", they need to fit.

I'm posting this on behalf of Paparazzi; I have some dep gigs coming up with them on keys but I'm not looking for another bass-playing role just now. Versatile Bass player wanted for an established covers band. We play a wide range of classic popular songs in pubs and clubs across North/NW London and Herts, with the occasional trip to Twickenham. Currently running at roughly two gigs a month but with plans to increase that if possible. Almost all our gigs are paid at 'normal' rates for pub rock. For more information, please visit our page on www.lemonrock.com/paparazzi where you can see our repertoire, gig bookings, and see a couple of live recordings. If you are interested, please either contact Andrea direct (that's her number on Lemonrock) or if you prefer call me on 07951 108682 for a preliminary chat.

Not much point showing a photo of me wearing my hat ... I wear a different hat at every gig and I have a different range of hats for each of the bands I play in. So I've ended up making a feature of my hattery just inside the front door.

Without audio, this topic is meaningless. 🤣

Pretty sure Matchbox wrote a song about this ...

Pretty much my view, but I've always found that the Veto is a useful pressure release valve for my bandmates. A number of very good songs have been banned over the years for reasons varying from "that's not what I signed up for" through "too cheesy" all the way to no apparent reason at all. Frustrating as that is, if it made them feel better and having some sort of influence on the band's direction of travel, then that's all good. We are able to select material from 70 years of popular music, millions of songs, many thousands of hours. If we can't find three hours' worth that all band members want to play then there's something seriously wrong somewhere.

And just for fund a small amp and speaker built inside Which has echo effect and a tiny microphone on the top edge of the body to speak through or beat box haha . The pickup doesn't go through the built in speaker though. Erm ... what?

Is any of that true and accurate? Hard to tell, but the placement of the Classic Vibe VI at #1 spot is somewhat concerning. And of course there are no actual sales figures, just a listing.

Ranked list of 2022 bass sales on Reverb is below: Squier Classic Vibe VI Fender Player Precision Bass Fender Offset Series Mustang Bass PJ / Gretsch Junior Jet II Squier Affinity Precision Bass PJ Rickenbacker 4003 Sterling StingRay Ray4 Fender American Professional II Precision Squier Affinity Bronco Bass Fender Player Jazz Bass / JB-62 Jazz Ibanez GSRM20 Gio Mikro Squier Affinity Jazz Bass Ibanez SR300E Soundgear Standard Hofner Ignition Pro Violin Bass Fender Precision Bass (1970-'83) Fender Standard Jazz Bass / American Professional II Jazz Bass / Squier Classic Vibe '70s Jazz Bass Squier Classic Vibe '70s Precision Squier Classic Vibe '60s Jazz Squier Classic Vibe '60s Precision Fender Player Mustang Bass PJ Squier Classic Vibe '50s Precision Source: https://forum.bassbuzz.com/t/2022-most-sold-basses-via-reverb-fender-bass-vi-at-1/35464

Well if the singer wants to do a song and the rest of the band agrees with him, Shirley the guitarist is outvoted? What's the band line-up?

Who sings the songs?

Rival to Shirley, you mean I'll see ya later ...

Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've yet to have a single piece of gear nicked (except by bandmates 😂) at a gig, nor even felt that the threat existed. The closest I've come was at a pub gig where the drummer wanted to get something from my car so I gave him the keys. Went out to the car park at the break to see the tailgate gaping wide and - sure enough - an amp missing. In all fairness it was entirely the drummer's fault (he continues to deny it to this day), the theft happened because he'd left the boot open, and it very probably had nothing to do with the gig anyway. 🙄 I can easily imagine thefts happening to various bandmates I've had over the years who sprint for the door as soon as the last note of a set is played, gasping for a fag. My gear is always in my sight or under the watchful eye of @Silvia Bluejay.

You need something that is (capable of being) freestanding, easily erected by one person in less than three minutes, and which will fit in the tiny gap between the drummer's arse and the back wall. It needs to be lightweight and - as Mike says - tall enough to be easily seen over the drummer's afro, but not so tall that it's unusable in venues with low ceilings or medieval beams or both. Oh, and it needs to be cheap enough that the lead guitarist doesn't throw his toys out of the pram when asked to cough up his share. @Silvia Bluejay has bought all the pop-up banners used by our three bands so she's the real expert on this, but she's just hopping on a plane so she'll be out of action for most of today. To answer the actual question, our banners tend to be 6' tall by either 24" or 28" wide, and we've been very happy with that size. Anything significantly larger would impact on one or more of the points I made above.

"... to keep your account safe from anyone else logging in as you". Thanks for the initiative Ped but now I'm curious. Has this actually happened?

I saw a well-known & busy covers band on Saturday night, playing 40/50 pub gigs a year. Noticed that the singer was using the same Lekato system that I've just bought to experiment with so I asked her about it. She had nothing but good to say about it and it sounded absolutely fine to me BUT I did notice that the receiver unit was plugged into a mini-mixer of some sort on her music stand so the transmission distance was really very short. Now that's actually quite similar to how I'd plan to use mine (for when I'm playing keys, not bass) so I'm happy with that, but how the unit performs with a 30/50/70-foot transmission distance I can't tell you. It works fine over those distances in my back garden, but that ain't a busy pub/club with routers & extenders and dozens of mobile phones in use.

How on earth does that strap button work on the upper horn?

We played Amersham Heritage Day last year alongside a big band, with a large gazebo for each set-up to speed up the handover. Just as we finished our first set and the big band was about to start, we got hit by a thunderstorm of Biblical proportions. Pretty much the entire crowd leaped up and tried to shelter underneath the two band gazebos, both of which - of course - were filled with delicate and expensive gear. Oh how we laughed ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cflity-Automatic-Waterproof-Shelters-Removable/dp/B0C6XT5DW9/ref=sxin_15_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.0470ff70-bb0f-46c4-b5d0-cc44c15fecc7%3Aamzn1.sym.0470ff70-bb0f-46c4-b5d0-cc44c15fecc7&cv_ct_cx=pop%3Dup%2Btent&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.C27p78S-0fjtPxS25U7SzLMUZv5oanpxaw6E8-JFJC1CupDQVw2G3OKl3wApJKLQtn5RCAmIS_9-uqWJtmTswQ.Ci6L8H9RjBAO-SeM4VbOXKn4AzV03D38c0gRnCT3Iy4&dib_tag=se&keywords=pop%3Dup%2Btent&pd_rd_i=B0C6XT5DW9&pd_rd_r=7c8c985a-52e7-49df-bc3d-af4732a7fed1&pd_rd_w=2PfeQ&pd_rd_wg=CXQzm&pf_rd_p=0470ff70-bb0f-46c4-b5d0-cc44c15fecc7&pf_rd_r=0TB77N1VCNBC3EYH3DD1&qid=1720429906&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sr=1-2-ad3222ed-9545-4dc8-8dd8-6b2cb5278509-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1

@Silvia Bluejay battles the elements while https://www.facebook.com/DamoAndTheDynamites/ play to a field full of muddy grass.

There's no shortage of people on Basschat with way more band experience than me, but ALL my experience has taught me that there is simply no substitute for personally owning all the gear you use. In the (three) bands I play in, each member owns their own instruments & backline, a couple even own their own mics and stands, but pretty much everything else is owned outright by @Silvia Bluejay and me. Sure it costs more money that way, but there has never once been any sort of argument - or even discussion - about shared kit, who owns it, who's not putting in enough money, etc. We could start those rows tomorrow by announcing that in future we would be taking an extra 'share' of the gig money as a fee for supplying the PA, an extra 'share' for the sound guy (who is, of course, Silvie), and deffo an extra 'share' as our finders' fee for bringing in every single gig played by all three bands. But we're not going to do that, are we Silvie? Silvie???