chris_b

The closest I've been to a tribute band was gigging with a band who were "playing the music of. . . . . . " Musically it was pretty close but, thankfully, there was no attempt to dress the part.

I played my first gig this week. Crossed my fingers and turned up with a big bottle of sanitizer. It was a small venue, with restricted numbers, but after a year and a half isolating and 130,000 deaths I wasn't sure I wanted to be mixing with anyone. We have to start up our lives again and I don't know there will ever be a "best" time. It was a difficult decision to make. I've been desperate to gig for over a year but when the opportunity came I found I really didn't want to take the first step. I'm jabbed up so, while I expect to get Covid19 at some point, I'm hoping/relying on the vaccine to keep the illness to the level of an annoyance. If a new, more virulent, variant turns up, it's back to hiding under the stairs, but until then I'm happy my diary is seeing gigs again.

Very nice looking bass.

We got together about 2 months ago for a video shoot. The drummer asked everyone to take a lateral flow test. He's got some serious illness in his family and needed the reassurance that he wasn't going to complicate the situation. The rest of us thought that was a sensible precaution, took the tests and emailed him the photos. I was happy to comply.

Is there anyway to hide the Activity Stream display box at the top of the main screen? I know what I'm looking at and the system telling me every page is a wast of display space. Cheers

Last night I did my first gig since March 2020. We were in central London and played 3 x 1 hour sets. I haven't stood up for a whole evening since the beginning of last year. It nearly killed me! Talk about match fit, or not.

Bad songs that are good. . . . Star Trekkin has to be my fave and Nellie the Elephant, forget the band.

I'd buy the same Fender Precision but be a lot more serious about becoming a better player!!!

In the early 70's I was in a band who were demoing for Island records. All original songs, and the guys couldn't get a line to rhyme with superstar, so they sang the line, " dumpty dum, a superstar, dumpty dum, like what I are." My toes curl up every time I think about that one. Island passed. I wonder why!!

My wife has known me as a bass player since day 1 and we've been married for 43 years. We support each others interests. She is a lovely person, a fantastic woman, she drives me mad and apparently I return the favour! Her usual reply when I talk about gear is; "If it's that good you'd better buy it."

I be more curious if they did a 5 string version.

For a 500ml mug: slightly more than a level teaspoon of turmeric. 1/4 tsp ground black pepper and chilli flakes to taste. Depending on the strength of the chilli I have about the size of my little finger nail. Careful not to gulp down the sludge that sits at the bottom of the mug. Don't spill it! It's very effective at staining anything it comes in contact with.

I like the idea of the rosewood slab board and roasted neck, but they don't do 5 string versions.

My turmeric "tea" is turmeric, black pepper and some chipotle chilli flakes. Three mugs a day. Last month I stopped taking it for 3 days and my neck and shoulder arthritis pain started to come back. I also have twinges in my thumb, which the turmeric seems to be keeping at bay.

This. I tend to own amps that get a great sound when the controls are at 12 o'clock or very close. IMO extreme use of the EQ means you bought the wrong amp.

I want every note to be clearly heard and felt by the guy sitting in his front room in the next street. And I want to see a sprinkle of dental fillings on the floor around the room.

Keep what you regularly play. Sell what you are just storing.

Not yet, but I'm very interested in these amps.

My first bass was a Framus Star bass. Bought in August 1965 for £22 10s. It was the cheapest bass in the shop but still just under £400 in today's money! I spent 6 weeks on a summer job picking fruit to pay my Dad back. With a short scale and thin neck it was a great bass to learn on, but it started to fall apart very early on. You can see in the picture these are replacement tuners. It ended up with the pickup directly wired to the jack plug socket because the pots stopped working. I treat my gear very carefully so I wasn't happy with the rate of attrition. In the end it went to the dump. All it was good for!!

This isn't something I intended and I've never bought a bass for the hardware, but. . . . . . I've had Dunlop and Allparts (rebadged Dunlop) strap locks on all my basses since the mid 90's. Hipshot tuners since 2003 and Hipshot A bridges since 2011.

I know a bass player who used Jamey Abersold books when he was getting up to speed on DB and getting into Jazz. He was able to make them work for him. He was a great electric bass player and now he's a great DB player.

If anyone wants to play for nothing hire a studio and play your hearts out. If you want to support a charity, give them money. If someone is trying to make money off your labour then you should get your cut, as everyone else connected to the event is.

I have a big pile of Making Music mags from, I can't remember, was it the 90's?

Yes. Even the songs with Bob Babbitt on bass were hits, so sorry guys, they are still playing those song 60 years later because of the songs not the bass playing.

I was told by a mate (a jazz double bassist) that if you don't know the number you never hit the same note twice in a row. Hit a different note every time and you'll either be on the right note, a harmony or a passing note. I tried it and it works.