Happy Jack

Well that was fun. Slow start to the evening, probably no more than 50 people for set #1. Ramped up quickly for set #2 and by set #3 the place was absolutely rammed ... must have been well over 200 people there. They had four people on Security. There was a beefy Polish lass on her first night at the pub, and she appointed herself guardian of the stage area. She did a truly excellent job all evening of intercepting drunken oafs, over-enthusiastic dancers, and misguided karaoke wannabees. She was so good that the band tipped her as soon as we'd been wedged. Pub seemed happy, said they'd have us back for sure. All good.

So 30 Basschatters turn up at a darkened, locked pub with a notice pinned up saying APRIL FOOL!

Not convinced by that intonation. And there's some seriously weird sh*t going on at the neck joint.

Interesting. My 1988 SB315 had the usual black plastic jobbie, and I didn't think any major manufacturer ever fitted brass nuts as standard ... maybe Alembic? Perhaps the more upmarket SGC Nanyo 5's had them?

Answer #1 - I'm a very, very lucky man. Answer #2 - Luck has nothing to do with it. We wouldn't be an item if we didn't like doing all this stuff together.

So his mate says to him, "these'd be worth a lot more if they were Vantage bass - shame they've got Lincoln all over the headstocks". "No worries," he says, "I'll just get rid of the headstocks".

Intonation? As Victor Wooten famously and helpfully put it, on a fretted bass you're never more than a semitone away from a "right" note. So on fretless, I guess that means that you're [i][b]less [/b][/i]than a semitone away, right?

They've got it made and branded, if you know what I mean ...

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1490351110' post='3264473'] Synth bass but no fart or squelch. [/quote] Well where's the fun in that? I found the Hartke pedal BTW.

[URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Just%20Stuff/Music%20and%20Musicians/Tortloaf_zpsthpgfi7s.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Just%20Stuff/Music%20and%20Musicians/Tortloaf_zpsthpgfi7s.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[quote name='AlpherMako4' timestamp='1487960346' post='3244660'] Yeah I know..... can you change it???? [/quote] [quote name='ped' timestamp='1487971566' post='3244789'] Done [/quote] Aren't you glad you didn't buy a Squier By Fender Vintage Modified Jazz Three Tone Sunburst ...

And if your name was Frank Bough, wouldn't you put a lot of effort into persuading people to pronounce it "Bow" rather than "Boff"?

I'm so up for a Nationwide event that I've already written the theme music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO0GQrYV5oQ

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1490182009' post='3262900'] Also a band doing £850.00 including lights, DJ music and striptease act ... [/quote] I would pay good money to see the look on the face of the Mother-Of-The-Bride if the Best Man booked a stripper for her daughter's wedding.

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1490177806' post='3262816'] I wouldn't have it any other way. Driving back slowly - on my own - listening to the BBC World Service is great downtime! [/quote] [quote name='blue' timestamp='1490222537' post='3263466'] I love driving home from gigs around 2:00 in the morning listening to our late night talk radio. [/quote] [quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1490224013' post='3263481'] I always drive home in complete silence, with the music of the night still playing in my head. [/quote] All cool in their own way, but I have the delight of driving home with my other half, another well-known Basschatter, who is there for every gig. It makes for a lively conversation all the way back.

Dat's da fella! 200 yards down from The Spinning Wheel restaurant, my favourite place in the mid-80s. That was before the whole Pie In The Sky thing, of course.

Well if you're interested to hear from those who "use solely fretless" there's not much point in asking "how often do you play fretted?". I play both, almost entirely according to the sort of band it is and the sort of music we're playing. To my ears, there are certain styles that just sound better on a fretless. YMMV. Almost entirely because there are two extra factors for me. Firstly, it's a lot easier to sing and play bass if you're playing a fretted bass. Secondly, much depends on the instrumentation in the band. My main covers band features a lot of slide guitar - that's really not a good pairing with fretless bass unless both musicians have very fine intonation.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1490189477' post='3263032'] Some pubs/venues are very specific about what they want though, and no matter how well your band plays the more "interesting" material, they will still insist on [b][i]their[/i][/b] favourites. [/quote] We were once offered a gig at a village pub near Slough, but they insisted that we HAD to play [i]Sweet Caroline[/i] by Neil Diamond. We assumed they were joking but they were deadly serious. We play mainly 70s stuff so it was no big deal to learn another hit from the 70s. On the night, we reached the point where we had [i]Sweet Caroline[/i] in the setlist. The entire pub erupted. Everyone stopped doing whatever they'd been doing and the whole pub started dancing and sang along with every word. Next song ... as you were.

Excellent! Looking forward to this ...

Not to play. It's already looking like it could be a great place to play though. Are you a local (it's 30 years since I lived in Hemel)? What sort of punters can we expect?

Buy a couple of well-chosen books (I'd recommend What Duck Dunn) and work your way through them. Choose a couple of songs where you reckon you might be able to sing and play bass at the same time and try them out. Take a Beginner's Course in drumming. Buy a cheap PA and learn how to improve live sound. That lot should keep you busy for a few weeks ...

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1490181613' post='3262893'] If it`s a cover that no-one knows then you may as well play an original song. [/quote] That's complete nonsense Lozz ... if you want to play an original song then first you have to write the bloody thing!

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1490178129' post='3262823'] Gigging is like moving house... [/quote]

Rather oddly, he's just re-listed it but with a new price of £145. Damfino. He's in Tufnell Park, not a million miles from me but I'm swamped at the moment - no time for this.