BillyBass

I do sometimes drool over the Sandberg basses on the bass direct website; that looks really nice. How do you find the GR cab? I know they are meant to be really light but how do they sound?

The Flint Cottage, just by the train station. They put up an awful sounding clip of us on their Facebook page, so here is something better:

Two bags of salt. Our drummer complained about the bass drum gradually moving away from him during the first few songs. The floor had no carpet, it was just floorboards so to stop it slipping he acquired a couple of bags of salt from the management. The bass is a Balaguer Select series Goliath. I got it from Guitarguitar in Newcastle a couple of years ago. Lovely to look at and play, however, I don't play it as much as I should, generally preferring my Charvels, but yesterday I thought I'd put it to work. Here is the NBD thread I started when I bought it.

Coronation celebration in a pub in High Wycombe. We were supposed to be playing in the garden but rain stopped that. Not many punters in but we've been asked back so we must have done something right.

It wasn't ideal; our singer/guitarist got there first. The placing of the PA was worse though and when I wasn't on BV duties I shifted over to the left of it all. I could hear myself but not very well, though listening to videos of the gig the sound was ok for the audience. We were supposed to be playing in the garden but the weather put paid to that.

Rig for yesterday's Coronation gig at a pub in High Wycombe. Gallien Kruger Legacy 800 into a Barefaced Super Compact.

I like baselines that are busy but not difficult and that, perhaps, add a bit to the melody, rather than just being the rhythm behind the guitars. Losing My Religion - R.E.M. Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young Smooth - Santana Down in a Tube Station at Midnight - The Jam All I wanna Do - Cheryl Crow Echo Beach - Martha and the Muffins Pump it up - Elvis Costello

As @neepheid @Jonesy and @jezzaboy have mentioned, one of the G&L Tributes on sale at Andertons. It just so happens I gigged my G&L Kiloton tribute last Saturday and it performed very well, especially when our drummer dropped a stick during Basket Case, it held us all together. G&L necks can be a bit chunky, not one of my preferences but the Kiloton and the JB-2 have a narrow jazz sized nut, even though they stick out a bit at the back, so I'd probably get one of those JB-2s

Someone should start a forum 'bannedfromtalkbass.com'. There are loads of you! Sorry OP, back to Barefaced 10"s with tweeters...

Maybe on my birthday, as a special treat.

Pedant hat on: I've never had a Barclays in my life. I might have had one or two J Arthurs though

Our next gig will be on Saturday at the 'Flint Cottage' in High Wycombe. A day of celebration for the coronation, with us on in the garden from about 3pm, as warm up for the main event in the evening...Karaoke!

A short set of 12 songs as we were the openers of a 5 band punk night, at the Friars inn, Hemel Hempstead. Some of the other band members looked like they had started shaving, I think; so we were a bit out of place, being oldies doing covers and the rest were kids doing originals. It was nice to play on a proper stage with a backline and just have to DI out and let the sound guy sort the levels out. The other band members then had the privilege of hearing my bass through the PA 😀. I took my G&L Kiloton last night; it doesn't bring the thunder like a P bass but it certainly cut through.

My pedal board for tomorrow night's gig. I'm going into their backline (a Trace Elliot combo). The Cali76 is always on, I use the Lucy Dreamer for most of our set, a few songs will be with no dirt and there is one song that needs a bit of distortion, which the Rattler is used for and with this I also turn on the Spectradrive as a bass and low mid boost because, even with 50% blend, the Rattler takes out a bit too much bottom end for my liking.

I have learnt 9 songs from the list, using a variety of tabs from the internet, YouTube clips or just playing them bit by bit (4 bars by 4 bars) over and over again and transcribing. Of the 5 or 6 I have just listened to, I came close on a few and quite different on a few but never identical. In my previous band with just the single guitarist, I think I added more in to fill out space. I sort of know how Vim Fuego felt when he pointed out that, "I could play Stairway to heaven when I was 16; Jimmy Page didn't write it 'til he was 23! I think that's saying something don't you?"

We are opening the 'Meat Fest' at the Friars Inn, Hemel Hempstead, Herts on Saturday. I suppose as we are the openers, we must be more pitta bread or pizza base than the real meat, which comes later. Don't know much about the other bands playing but I suspect they are all originals bands.

At the 'Load of Hay' near Watford.

Beautiful isn't it! I'm not really a sunburst or black and maple guy.

Just fine. I had the gain at about 12 o'clock and volume at about 1. I could always hear myself over the drummer and I had more volume on tap when the guitarists turned themselves up during our second set. We weren't loud though; the punters commented that the band that played there the week before were too loud and some people went home, so we kept it at about rehearsal level. The Elf is a perfect back up; it comes with a little carry case in which you can also carry the kettle lead and a speak on-jack lead (the Elf has no speak on socket). It didn't get too warm and in a gig situation, you can't hear fan noise, which some complain about. For just your on stage monitoring, it would work very well.

We played in a small pub near Watford, the 'Load of Hay'. They have a good outside space for gigs when the weather improves but last night we were squeezed into the corner of the L shaped venue. We didn't have enough room for our kit so the singer/guitarist placed his amp on top of my Super Compact and I had to use my back up head as my main Ashdown wouldn't fit on top of his amp. We went down well though, there were a few old codgers in the place when we showed up and I thought they aren't going to like us (we're a punk band), but I was wrong; 45 years ago they weren't old codgers and they were listening to punk and knew our songs.

Perfect gift for the guitarist in your band!

We (and three other bands) are supposed to be playing there next Saturday, though Clint hasn't been answering his phone apparently, so we aren't 100% that its going ahead. Good to hear the backline is ok, Trace 15" combo I was told.

At least you didn't have to take the neck off, one so called 'feature' of vintage basses.

I realise I must have a minority opinion, judging by how often I hear it on the radio. If I wasn't driving my van I would change station but as it is, I grit my teeth and wait for it to end.

BillyBass, or Big Mouth Billy Bass is the singing fish thing that was on the Sopranos, and other telly programmes. My usual forum name is HillBilly (because I used to live in Muswell Hill). That was taken so I had to think up a new name and this was the first thing to come into my head. Probably not a good idea as when I signed up for TalkBass, it was taken, as was HillBilly, so I thought of a very English name for that site, which the Americans would not have taken: 'Git'. So if you see 'Git' on TalkBass, with Vivian from the Young Ones as the avatar, that's me.