chris_b

Have you tried the Mbrace Stage Guitar Stand? It's going to be my long stop if my back gives out. https://www.imuso.co.uk/itm/mbrace-stage-guitar-stand

I was asked to do a wedding and the BL sent me a list of 96 songs! I asked if we really were going to play all those songs, and could he list the songs he was likely to play. A new list came back of 80 songs!! There were a lot of classic 60's hits and Elvis and other 12 bars, so I only had to chart about a dozen songs. Not that bad, but when we got to the gig I discovered the guitarist sang half the set and I hadn't been told about him or his songs!!

I still get songs thrown at me that weren't on the list, but most bands I dep with are pretty good at sticking to the set lists and arrangements. . . . . . . . but there's one bandleader who seems to make up the songs as he goes along! That was a problem on the first couple of gigs. I was unfamiliar with the set, the stage volume was unbalanced (guitarist too loud!!) so I had trouble following. I got an email telling me to learn the songs! If I didn't put in the hours they wouldn't be able to use me in future!! What an a-hole. I know the songs better than he does. No toys out of the pram, I asked the BL to get the guitarist to turn down (he only did it!!) and that fixed everything. I can hear when he's gone off piste and now I'm their favourite bassist. I'm in 3 bands, but regularly dep for about a dozen more. I like playing most of the songs, they are all great players and I like the variety. If there's a good drummer (and there usually is) then I can deal with anything that crops up. I'm usually digging them out of a hole so I'm already in their good books and if I get the gig right I get called back. I also get a fast track into any side projects. Every gig is an audition. Depping is all about keeping the phone ringing, expanding your list of contacts and having fun.

We got short changed when we were on a percentage of the bar take. At the end of a well attended gig we discovered they were only counting cash purchases and didn't include credit card purchases, which were the majority of the take for the night! As you say, B*stards!!!!

DOB basses are God's way of telling you you have too much money. Buy a bass because it does something better than your current bass, not because of a date in a calender!

I'd say it was James Jamerson.

I'm interested. What Aguilars in what basses?

Hate bad people, don't bother to hate songs!! In the last 10 years I've played at least 50% of the songs listed so far. Played but never "murdered". If it's a good band, good audience and we're getting paid, I'll happily play them as many times as I'm asked. I have to admit, I do a mean Mustang Sally.

What you need to do is stroke the strings. If the cross section of the string is a clock face you need to be playing between 5 to and 5 past 12 o'clock. Play with a light touch. This technique isn't an aggressive way to play.

Maybe tastes are different in Lithuania, but as you are already doing session work, I'm surprised that you're not already being asked to bring a Precision. I'd already have one, but I'm biased.

I'm 6'2" and would rather have a Mono M80 Vertigo hit a door frame than any other gig bag I own. They are total protection.

Now rebranded as Staines on Thames!! That probably didn't change it much, though.

. . . . and one of the best, most overlooked guitarists of all time, Reggie Young.

I went to school in West Ealing, just down the road from Jim Marshall's shop in Hanwell. Spent many lunch times ogling the basses on the wall and annoying the staff, Chris and John.

Everyone's choices are valid. I only play 5 string basses because I want to have the same geography under my fingers every time I gig. We don't play all the strings on every song on a 4 string bass, and the same is obviously true on a 5 string. Songs of any era don't "need" a particular number of strings. I played 5's on a 60's/70's cover band gig last night. No one noticed or cared. Why would they?

The bass player in Toots' band used a 6 string Warwick.

My unsung heroes are not band members but the session guys who worked in the studios pumping out the songs that influenced the rest of the bass playing world: Tommy Cogbill, David Hood, Mike Leech, Bob Babbitt, Jerry Jemmott, Jesse Boyce, Junior Lowe, Olsie Robinson and Vernie Robins etc etc.

I'm sure it's 86%. I've been playing 5's since 1996. Back then you belonged to a secret society, but now they are mainstream in many musical genres. They are more than a necessary evil, more than a 4 with a thumb rest, they are flexible and just sound good.

The Caernarvon Castle also burnt down in that fire, although I don't think it was a pub at the time. In the 80's and 90's the CC was a great music pub. My band had a weekly residency on Sunday lunch time and then Friday evening for about 4 years.

Some people make bad decisions. I'd take someone back if they were very good players, a nice guy and promised to make better decisions next time.

A drumming friend set himself up as an online drummer and one of his first jobs had Chuck Rainey on bass.

You'll need a pint of Brandy for that one.

Most of the dozen or so band leaders I play with are die-hards, still doing it the old fashioned way. I have done DI/fold back gigs and see no problem in that method, but an amp is essential to the way I gig. My advice to the OP would be to keep a rig handy. You never know when your circumstances might change.

Ray I'm sorry to hear your news. I always use Basschat, although sales seem to be very slow at the moment. What have you got?