Dr.Dave

Slade all the way , mate. Massive fan , always have been. Got to share a stage with the Dave and Don version a few years back. Huge day for me.

TOTP. I wasn't that interested. Loads of pretty people making bland sounding noises. I watched it so I could join in conversations at school but I preferred my Dad's Black and White Minstrel LPs. One day in 1972 - I was 10 - on come 4 ugly blokes dressed up as circus clowns making a big guitar noise. Huge rough voice. Tune I could remember etc. Having a ball , they were. I wanted a piece of that , pure and simple. I'm sure most of you don't need telling who I'd seen !

Do we need a bass player ?? Well , I'm a fan of songs first and foremost and my definition of a decent song would be one that you can sing while strumming an acoustic but still sounds good. So - no , we don't need bass players. As a result , I try to make sure that any bass part I play brings something to the table in order to earn it's keep.

I find people from all walks of life are basically fin de cloches who get on my thre'pennies so I can't hate gigging for that. In fact I don't hate gigging at all but I do find one huge disadvantage of being a player is that can't just sit back and enjoy music anymore. I have to pick it apart etc etc. It seems to be my nature , though , to be creator rather than consumer so I suppose it was inevitable.

How about this offering from ' we're not trying to be steely Dan , honest gov ' jazzers , Jango. https://youtu.be/_m_hCKPnzKs

I haven't done a gig in over two years since I took my early work pension and moved to the sticks , before that I was a regular 50 gigs a year. Here in rural Notts it's not easy to find players like it was in a Yorkshire city but I have teamed up with a reforming rock covers band of similar ancientness to me so I'll be gigging again later this year. Can't sing anymore though. My ears are so shot that I can't hear to pitch properly .... so I've done the obvious thing to protect them and joined a noisy two guitar rock band !! I lowered the action on one of my basses for it while my hands get up to speed as I'd barely picked up a bass during my time off. Wasted my time - like falling off a log. Couple of days noodling and the coordination came straight back. My timings still bang on , my chops are still there where they should be. Guess I'm lucky not to have lost anything. Must be ready for it as I've found myself performing at rehearsals ! Interesting reading comments re rehearsals. I'm not used to rehearsal at all. Same band for 20 years etc. We rehearsed by chatting in the car on the way to gigs !

Use a mic stand drinks holder ( drum accessory ) because if you don't I guarantee it'll go on top of your amp at some point. If you make a mistake , don't react. Folk will think it was deliberate , so do it again in the next verse to make sure ! Take no notice of praise from punters. If you do you'll take notice of criticism too. They are nought but ants designed to dance to your tune. You are the creator - they the lowly consumer - entertain them for your own amusement then disregard them. If you've run a 20ft cable , the 12 ft cable in your bag is not a spare. Find an exit sign or clock or something on the far wall. Perform to it like it's a person. Every one in the audience will think they're getting a low level of eye contact but none will find it threatening - particularly the pond dwelling worthy with more kids than teeth that'll otherwise accuse you of staring at his creature's thre'pennies. Always carry a chip fork.

Wow - at least 5 names on this old thread that I met up with but they don't seem to be on here anymore. Hope yuz are all good , folks

It's obviously dependant on whether your bass is a bolt-on or not but on the few occasions I've flown with a bass I whipped the neck off my precision and stuck both bits in my little wheely suitcase along with my socks and undercrackers etc. and took it on as hand luggage. 10 mins to take down or reassemble. Once my guitarist pal insisted on taking a Gibson explorer in a very expensive flight case as hold luggage , in fact I think he paid extra for it to be looked after or something , and when we collected it on landing in Portugal a corner of the case was crushed. No damage to the explorer but still.

Just reading that as of today slug pellets are banned in the UK. We may do well to get stocked up on the stick backed copper tape before the price goes up. Don't waste any you have in the garden shed . Crushed egg shells around the stems keep slugs off plants just as well - perhaps not so good at shielding !

Sorted. Also my 54 blue flower jap re-ish.

We had to have some celeb toss fest on ice on the telly last night so I did these. I used two sheets of stiff printer paper joined together as a backing. The flags are a vinyl sticker , couple of quid on ebay. A4 size so had to join it. The other is beer bottle labels , stuck on with watered down pva. Put the new clear pickguard on top and cut round it with a scalpel. I'll post another pic when it's on the bass.

I've only done this on basses with a metal control panel - a Ray and a slab P. If you're talking about a more modern P design with the controls mounted through the pickguard it has a shielding strip on the back which is also earthing the pots . In that case you need to recreate it on the back side of the cardboard cut out under the clear pick guard. I asked a Q in technical a few weeks back and everyone seemed to suggest self adhesive copper strip from B and Q type places which is sold as a slug repellant ! Couple of quid for a metre on ebay. Anyway - I bought some because I'm about to do the clear pickguard/cardboard trick on a dimension. Had an email today that the pickguard is on it's way so when I've done it I'll report back on the shielding strip issue.

Do what I do. Buy a clear pickguard and have any design you want on a piece of card under it. Something printed... Beer bottle labels ( copyright DrD) ......green shield stamps.... Anything. Then change it when you get bored.

Take from this what you will but I can't wait to get on stage. I feel at home there , far more so than being in an audience. I feel like an outsider in an audience. In pretty much all parts of my life I'm a better creator than I am a consumer so it's not surprising I'm more comfortable on stage . No fear of performing to any size crowd - slight anxiety of letting fellow players down but it's negligible to be honest.

How much better does that look !! I bought the dimension because I was looking for something cheap to stick a fretless Fender Jazz licenced neck on. Went and tried my mate's dimension and only at that point did it click that it's a 21 fret neck so that idea was off the cards. I was so impressed with the squier though I came home and bought myself one that same day.

Be a few weeks but I'll post pics of it finished. It's already got dice knobs and my signature second string guide. No practical use at all but 40 odd years ago I was too green to string it properly and a second string guide helped. Sort of a trademark now ! I've got a couple of telecaster guitar decals kicking about somewhere too so it might say it's a Fender in the pics !

Wouldn't work if it was already shielded . I've ordered a clear plate because I like to have a cardboard template underneath with weird stuff stuck on it. Beer bottle labels - green shield stamps ( under 40 - ask ! ) anything daft. The shielding needs to be on the underside of the cardboard template. Anyway , the clear guard is still on order but I got some of the slug killer stuff and feeling in fettling mood I swapped out the brown tort guard on my old precision for a redder tort guard which is a WD product and shielded but because I've had it on and off for years the shielding's torn up a bit by the serrated pot washers so I refreshed it with the slug tape. Glad to say it works fine. The dimension ( Yes , a 4 ) .. I'm stunned at how good it is. Got it from Bassbros for about ten bob - cracking player.

Slade in Flame's been a fave of mine since I first saw it at the flix and How does it Feel which was the theme tune is a fantastic song. Probably a few parallels in it for many of us. Does 40% of Spandau Ballet in the Krays count ?

Nice one , cheers. I get slugs after my courgettes too and never seen this so double result.

Bass in a gig bag along with spare strings ( old ones boiled ) ,.Strap. Small tool kit inc fuses. Stand. Goes on the back seat. 2 barefaced cabs , tc amp , all cables in spares of each type , extension reel, 2x akg mics. All that in two cajon bags. Chucks in the boot with a mic stand. CDs for the trip. Probably something like Steely Dan on the way there but definitely Leonard Cohen on the way home to help switch me off. Can of febreeze , so my sweaty clothes don't stink the car up. Carrier bags. You never know what you can blag. Beer and the remains of the buffet being favourite but I'll take anything - came home with three radiators once !

Just bought a Squier Dimension. Anyone know if the shielding strip on the back of the pick guard also earths the pots as it does on other Fender basses ? If it does - as I plan to replace the pickguard with a custom job - what material do you guys use to do the job ?

Just done a deal with Bassbros. Well impressed and certainly no issue with comms. Wouldn't hesitate to buy from Will again.

In terms of why they aren't always accurate I think it's all been said but though they can be an interesting reference as to what someone else played ...well - I don't really care about recreating how somebody else did it and I refer you to my favourite 'Douglas Bader ' coaster.

Recently I've been staring a lot at my old Precision ( which is almost 50 years old and 10 years younger than me ) . It's not the pristine example it was when it left Fullerton , mostly because I've dragged around every scummy toilet of a pub in the north of England since I was 17 , but when I look at it I also look in the big bedroom mirror and realise it's wearing better than I am !! There's been an odd time , too , when I've had a dark thought that one day it'll still be hanging there when my ashes have been scattered to the wind. I don't know if that qualifies as bass love but I am concerned about what will become of it.