Count Bassie

I asked a friend once for his opinion of my band. I wanted him to tell me the truth. He said, "The truth?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "It sucked." And then he told me why. It hit me like a punch in the stomach- I spent a moment recovering from it, he said "I'm sorry. You asked for the truth." But I was grateful that someone told me the truth. I will always remember that to his credit, and consider him a friend for it.

In person makes it way more meaningful. I don't wish to be harsh at all, but he needs a dose of reality.

Hey man! Sometimes a name steps out from the fog of years and events... I'm in emotional/mental burnout rehab, lol... Nice to be back chatting with all you folks. 😃

Hey @stereoplayer! Been a minute...

😀 I have, but haven't been hanging for a year or two... I just didn't remember doing this little intro so I though it couldn't hurt. Might as well throw onto the table. I like this board, and there are some different gear and instrument references here too, so it's also interesting in that way.

I think his point is that gigs are sparse nowadays, as rooms full of sweaty, drinking partiers are a less popular draw these days. Covid and all that...

Thanks- cheers!

That dude would be gone in a day... Also sometimes making one move to fix a problem opens up opportunity for other problems to repair- you create the opportunity for adjustments within the structure... For instance, the intimidating lead guitar player is gone, so now the timid rhythm player sees it's safe to turn up. Now he can hear himself, and he can begin to enjoy playing, etc... (I don't know the guy, just saying)

Thanks mang!

We are new at it, but we're practicing a lot! 😁 Thanks!

That is one good-looking short-scale bass. I wouldn't have thought I'd like it, but it's very cool.

Ok...

Did we go too far?...

Ay!

Getting head. Please...

I don't remember if I've done this yet, but it's been a couple years, so what the hey... I live in Rhode Island, in a part of the US called "New England". No offense. 🙂 I've been playing a bass since 1979, learned on Tull, Zeppelin, Lizzy, and a lot of funk styled bands of the day. Reggae, classic rock, old school hippie rockers like Mountain and Vanilla Fudge, prog types like Zappa and Crimson are among influences. I'm just here for the stories, wisdom, and the fun of cultural exchange. I love learning new languages. 😁 Nice to be here...

For an extension cab? I don't recall if you could do that or not...

I think we're doing alright here.

I pulled the head and saved the sleeve section of the enclosure, put the head back in, cut the grille to fit and put the logo back on it. It's a pretty cool gag now, sounds fine. I loaned it to a guy, I have to get it back at some point.

Got an old Mk-III refurbished a couple months ago. Two mixable channels, it's a beautiful thing- the sound I've been after for years. Seriously. I'll stop derailing now!

My old Combo 300 looked like one, but it weighed about 100 lbs (sorry...).

It's ok to get along.

We had a trio that would do 2 or 3 hour sets, with a loose list of tunes we'd cull from. We'd end up playing a tune and jamming on it, then either me or the guitar player would introduce a modally friendly riff from another tune. Maybe we'd segue with it, or remain in the same tune with the new riff running with it. This kind of thing invited all sorts of permutations and grooves. It was a fun party band, and had that DJ gig thing of not stopping- you could dance until you felt like quitting, no standing around waiting for the band to get it together and play the next tune. Once we had the rule laid down we could run around in it and whomever wanted to could break it- it was a blast! You had to know the tune, and listen. Doesn't sound like that's what's happening here. Disorder is discouraging at best... I hope you're moving on.

Because this is fun.

I had a girlfriend at rehearsal once. She was something of a singer, so she went around the room and critiqued everyone. That was her last time at one of my rehearsals. Lol, and yes, I heard all about it!