Dr.Dave

I'd happily gig with a Squier Affinity Jazz and to spend the change on a few pints and a painted hussy.

Played a battle cruiser called the Galway in Retford last weekend. Let the singer ( who was trembling like a crapping dog all night ) sound check my mic because I was busy with a pint of Dancing Dragonfly and couldn't be bothered to do it myself............ came home with Covid !! Whoopee - 2 years working in a covid jabbery and being Santa to grubby working class rugrats and I've dodged every bullet only to catch it from a shared mic !!! No symptoms BTW. I've always said bugs can't live on me. They take one look , say phuq that for a game of soldiers and go elsewhere.

What's on my set list .............. Footprints and spilled beer mostly !

Sunday morning conversation..... Wife - what was the band called last night ? Hub - can't remember , I had a few too many Wife - were they any good ? Hub - can't remember that much about them... Oh - they had a right gobby bastard telling nob gags with a stupid looking bass , I remember him , I'll go see him again. My job is done !

Here's some beer bottle labels under a clear pickguard on my 'ray.

There's a simple solution to pick guard woes. But a clear one. You can put any design you want underneath it and change it whenever you feel like it. I've got beer bottle labels under one of mine. I'm going for green shield stamps next. I have black and white union jacks on another - just a design I printed off the internet. You can buy sticker sheets cheaply - wrapping paper - newspaper articles etc etc.

He's got a shed load - literally and it's a big shed - of amps and other kit. You name it. Why he doesn't bring a spare I don't know.

Guitar player's Marshall went west during the first song. We trooped off again while his mate went and got his from home a few mins away but it ended up costing us our break as we had to be done by a certain time. Pity because I took my newly purchased Ampeg PF350 along - intention was to use it 2nd set but because we went straight through I stuck with my TC. I took my stack knob Jap Jazz. The sound cuts through two Gibson/Marshall set ups better than my Precisions do but it does seem low output compared to them. I have Duncan 1/4 pounders on both Precisions so maybe that's why although I know a lot of folk seem to think Jazz basses are low in output. I do like it but it showed another of the reasons I always preferred a Precision which is because of the shape of the Jazz body it wouldn't sit on the larger of my stands at all and was a bit wobbly on the small one. Guitar player said to get a hanging stand but it's no lightweight and not sure i'd trust it.

Gig - no problem. Lifting in and out - no problem though I do sometimes put a sports support belt round me. Short drive home - no problem. Long drive home.... I sieze up in the car. Before now I've had to crawl out head first. When I get in I have to be careful how I sit back or I won't get out of the chair again. I go to bed like a thousand year old man curled up in a ball and wake up the next day like nothing happened. I could sit at home and watch Ant and Macyntyre get talented in a love jungle or whatever it's called or I can think to hell with it and crack on. Sadly , I know some of you have proper serious back issues and it must be frustrating beyond words.

I don't think band splits always have to be equal. If someone offers you a gig and will pay you £x but you're fully aware that they'll personally be making more than you will then you're free to either accept or decline. The higher up the chain you go the more common an arrangement this becomes.

All that matters is that everyone is open and honest. It doesn't need to be equal so long as everyone's happy with their agreed lot.

Don't forget my oft repeated mantra which came courtesy of a Pat Travers interview. Buy the bass that feels right , anything else you want can be fixed with a screwdriver , a soldering iron or a spray gun. In this case you probably only need the spray gun

Everything apart from speaker cabs but I use two anyway. Spare amp , Spare bass , spare mic and stand - every single lead/cable/whatever. And I never forget my golden rule which is if you're using a 20 foot cable then a 10 foot one is NOT a spare. I suppose my second bass isn't really a spare because it's different - as is my amp for that matter - but it allows me to carry on which is the point.