BrunoBass

It depends where you live and if there is a ‘scene’, as such. We’re very lucky here in Banbury; there is a good amount of bands with plenty of venues to play, it’s not too cliquey and most people in bands know each other and are on friendly terms. If my band folded tomorrow I’m fairly confident I could pick up with someone else quite quickly.

I didn’t know that. I had an approach from a band yesterday, I’ve been in no hurry to respond as I’m not looking for another band at the moment. I won’t bother now I know that!

BandMix

I’d be interested to hear what you think of the Behringer pedal when you receive it.

Not a bad idea!

Excellent, thank you. I’ve just subscribed and will be listening on my commute home this afternoon.

Boss, EHX, Buddha, MXR. The only one I haven’t tried is the TC Spectracomp which I consistently hear good things about. I wish you could rent pedals for say a week, to see if you get on with them in a real world environment. I always feel like I’m buying blind and some of them are too expensive to just take a chance on. I wouldn’t buy a bass or an amp without trying it first, it’s a pity you can’t with pedals.

Hi Al, no I’m pretty much all Fender. I am indeed in a band, gigging regularly and I currently find myself approaching that time of the year when I start thinking about buying a compressor pedal again...

I think that would work better, or perhaps fabricate one to follow the exact shape of the body?

We’re back at The Bell in Bicester on Saturday; one of our favourite places to play, always a good gig and crowd.

I was thinking of heading down, might see you there.

Whilst emptying the dishwasher tonight, in a hurry before going out for rehearsals I somehow managed to slice my fingers to bits on the blade attachment of MrsBass’s smoothie maker. The cut on my index finger is particularly deep and bled a lot for quite a long time. I considered missing rehearsal to see if I needed a stitch in it or something but eventually I stopped the bleeding with pressure and strapped everything up tight. And besides, we have a gig on Saturday... I mostly play finger style, and sods law the deepest cut is right on my main plucking finger, which is pretty painful. We went through the whole set with me playing using a pick held awkwardly between thumb and middle finger. It was difficult to play precisely and after a while my hand ached from the unusual grip. I’m determined to play the gig so as not to let anyone down but equally to shut up my pisstaking band mates. Hopefully it will have improved by Saturday and I’ll be able to at least hold a pick between thumb and index finger. It’s bloody sore though! Anyone else played with injuries and battled through the pain barrier like a hero? 😂

I’m somewhere in the audience on a live album by Athlete. I’m also in the audience on some live tracks released by Depeche Mode in the eighties, as extra tracks on 12” singles, if that counts?

I’m thinking about the Quarter Pounder as a replacement pickup. It obviously does the job for you as a metal player? My band is alt rock / indie / punk so I need an aggressive tone. I’m also impressed with the ceramic Wilkinson set I used on my P bass self build, I might pop a set of those in.

God bless Aretha. A towering talent gone and another important link with the past severed.

Age is no barrier. Look at The Mystery Jets. Their frontman had his dad in the band on bass!

Well, New Bass Day was actually last week but I’ve not had an opportunity to do this until now. I’ve been after a cheap Precision for a while now, just something low value for sweaty pub gigs. I fell in love with a Roadworn Precision that I recently tried but it was way out of budget and the neck probably a bit fatter than I find comfortable. Then a few weeks later I tried a Squier Affinity and was blown away by how good it felt and sounded, for £200. I liked the fact that the J pickup gave me a thumb anchor point, as I’m comfortable playing back there after several years with Jazzs and Stingrays. I tried to buy it there and then but the shop’s system had gone down and they couldn’t accept payment! Very frustrating, so I left it and said I’d pop back another time. A couple of weeks later I’d kind of forgotten about it but last week whilst in lovely Loughborough I walked past one of those modern day pawn shops and saw the exactly same model in the window for £100. Went in, had a look, it’s immaculate, virtually ‘as new’ ! They chucked in a decent padded gig bag and she is now mine! Very pleased. The previous owner has put a naughty Fender decal on, which looks ok, but have left the Squier serial number intact. Build quality and finish is excellent. The stock pickups are very good, rich and meaty sounding and may well stay. The bridge is adequate but will probably be replaced by a better one soon. The tuners are poor and will be replaced immediately. I’ve already gigged it, two days after getting it and I’ll gig it again this weekend. It’s light and very manageable over a full length set. It looks the part too, nice Paul Simonon / Dee Dee Ramone aesthetic. I’m very pleased with it and further cements my opinion that you can buy a quality giggable bass for very little money!

Sounds like an interesting concept.

I’m 49. My other two band mates are 45 and 35. Most people my age are playing blues and classic rock. I don’t want to play that, I want to play modern stuff, which we do. I’m lucky that I look ten years younger than I am. My age was never asked when I auditioned and I got the job, obviously. Had I offered my age when I first contacted them (I was 46 then) without having met them they may have dismissed me as being too old. Age is irrelevant really, but I can understand why it’s an issue for many bands. Are bands you’re looking to join actually asking your age? You probably don’t want to lie about your age but maybe just, well, lie?

My amp head has its own carry case with a shoulder strap, and all my leads, stand, pedal board and other assorted debris all go into a very big, very heavy duty black hold-all that I hurriedly bought at JFK airport when one of my suitcases zips failed at check in. Because it’s soft it’s easy to squeeze in the car or van around other stuff.

That will presumably depend on twelve people all agreeing on the same spec?

Yes, I think so. We all wear band tshirts on stage now and again. It’s kind of a homage to the bands we like and admire. It’s quite often a talking point with punters too.

The bands whose tshirts we wear on stage don’t need our promotion. We’re not exactly competing with them...

Looking forward to it being available on iTunes 👍🏻

Great to see all the love for Paul Simonon. I found this short film about him on YouTube recently; nicely done, it shows him to be an interesting, creative man (with a very cool house).