chris_b

I had Bergantino 112 and 210 cabs and the 210 didn't have feet on the right surface to stack with the 112. I didn't want to drill holes in those cabs so bought a set of feet from Maplins and placed them between the cabs. A good solution that didn't require woodworking tools or damage to the cabs.

Messaged. . . .

The TI's on my PJ5 are nearly 10 years old. Still sound fantastic. They'll see me out. I also have a Jazz with 12 year old GHS flats, still going strong. I also put a lump of foam under the strings, of each bass, to take off some of that top end!

Mono Vertigo M80 gig bags are the best, but more than you want to spend.

I am a Fender fan, but they said nothing that would make me reach for my bank card.

Sad news.

I don't need a pedal to start a number in the wrong key!!! On Sunday I managed to hear Bm instead of Dm!!

It's fun going back and hearing your younger self and realising what kind of player you were then. When we had a 25 years reunion of our R&B/boogie band we got the tapes out, and discovered none of us could play that fast anymore!!

Hi Dave,I've been working out for a couple of years, focusing on strengthening my core. I still have limits to what I can lift and carry, but it does help. I feel much better and am more agile than I've been for years. Good luck with your exercise plan.

If it's a rehearsal. . . . what are you trying to prove. . . . sit down!!

We put no pressure on anyone. They can do what they want to do and sometimes our band leader will make suggestions, which they are free to ignore. We see people starting as nervous wrecks and gaining confidence month by month. Then you see those same people coming back with others they've met, at the same stage of development, and playing as a band. Sometimes they are good sometimes they are not, but several youngsters have gone on to be professional musicians.

How so? Is the action too high? Do you bend the strings a lot?

If someone wants to do a solo spot at our jam night they are allowed. Duos get on as well. At one point we had a guy singing an unaccompanied sea shanty! Then he recited a poem. It wasn't good, but if you ask you get your shot.

At a jam a few years back, before the smoking ban, a friend was up using my back line. I usually go to the stage, between bass players, to help with the lead, EQ, tuning pedal etc. So I walked up to the amp to find a lighted cigarette on the side of the cab! It hadn't burned down far enough to cause any damage, but that’s what you can get when other people, even friends, use your gear!!!

Do you have Dunlop Strap locks fitted? They can extend the balance point an inch or two. That might be enough to correct the neck dive.

If Nathan East dropped in I would ask one of the jammers if he could borrow their bass. . . . cos he wouldn't be playing mine! It's the rule, it's in all the advertising, and, so far, everyone has been happy to abide by the rule.

Why do you want to change? You don't like the sound, or just want a different sound? The main issue with replacement pickups is finding the right dimensions. Try an outboard preamp. That will alter/improve your sound without the need to mod your bass.

The replacement value of my bass is £5400. No one is borrowing, playing or touching it, at our jam or at any other time, under any circumstances. The rule for our jam is you bring your own instruments, drumsticks etc and during the height of Covid singers brought their own mics, if they had them. Any idiot, drunk or not, can get up and damage your gear, so they are required to bring their own. It also ensures a better class of jammer turns up.

I've owned a Precision since March 1969, and now my main bass is a Mike Lull PJ5 with flats. For awhile I played an SR5, a Lakland 55-94 and a couple of Wal's, but I'm back. All I know is a P bass makes me feel happy and confident when I'm playing.

I know several guys running jam nights. They are always on non gigging nights and the house bands all get paid. There seems to be some strange rules for jam nights around the country. On ours, the house band starts the evening off with 2 numbers and then the jammers play. It's usually well attended, so depending on how many jammers turn up the house band might not get back on.

Last night, our jam was a bit light, only 45 or so punters. We can get between 50 and 60 on good nights. The locals tell us there could be as many as 3 drinkers in on the other Monday's, and they'd be gone by 9 o'clock. So paying a band who can build up a following for a jam night makes a lot of sense.

You can be a fantastic writer of original songs and it still doesn't guarantee you'll get you paid. Tom Parker, Elvis's manager, wouldn't let Elvis record a song unless he, Parker, got 50% of the song's royalties. That was a regular scam. Elvis tried it on with Dolly Parton. He wanted to record I Will Always Love You, but only if he got 50% of the writing royalties. She told him where to go. A friend got one of his songs on the BBC as a theme tune, but he had to give the producers 50%! As he said, "50% of something is better than 50% of nothing". There are no end of people who want to rip musicians off, and the "playing for free" is just another scam.

We used to play a lot of O'Neil's pubs and one landlord told us, "It's the pub's job to get them in, it's your job to keep them here." Fair enough. We were good at that, but the people they hired as landlords started to change and the lazy element became more common.

We were a popular cover band from SW London and were offered a gig in darkest Kent. When we turned up the landlord said, "I hope you're going to bring a good audience!!" Who travels for an hour to see a cover band! We played to 3 disinterested people. He had no customers and thought we would fill the pub. . . . when we were 60 miles away from our base!!