Paul S

It happened to the same band I was in twice. We started off as a general rock covers band and came up with the name Waywood Sons. After a while it became apparent that there was another higher profile band using this name, albeit after us. We ended up morphing into a Bon Jovi tribute band calling ourselves 'Just Jovi' - and then discovered there was another one in the USA and, closer to home, Scotland. In fact the Scottish band asked our singer Noel if he could dep one time

My choice of shoes, primarily. Leather soles every time. I find anything with a foam midsole decouples too much - and don't get me started on Airwair. With cotton socks, obvs. 🤨

Can only agree. I bought a Harley Benton Shorty which, at the time, cost around £70. Straight out of the box it went on my gigging bass rotation - it sounds just like a P bass should and it is easy to play. I changed the pickup after a bit, not because the stock one was bad (it wasn't) but because I wanted something more aggressive. And I changed the pickguard because I have an irrational dislike of white pickguards on black basses. The tuners aren't the best but I have basses with worse.

I can't honestly remember the last time I tried something before I bought it*. I rarely buy new - these days my bass requirements are quite specific such that I need to cast my net wide and buy from sellers from far afield. Looking at my rack of basses, in fact, two were bought new (but not tried beforehand) the other 8 are 'pre-loved'. *Actually, I just have. It was early January 2020 - I tried out the RCF EVOX 8 pa in the Southend PMT along with my mate and local legend Noel Ashton (who understands pas). Although I ended up buying Thomann B stock at a decent discount on new.

The nearest I got to anything like this was a few years ago with the Bon Jovi tribute band I was in. We accepted a gig in Skegness, best part of a 4 hr drive away, mainly because it paid well. The main employer locally was putting on a big family day with fairground rides, food and all day entertainment in the middle of a field right by the sea. We were due to play 90 minutes to round off the night. We got there to be greeted with gusty winds and horizontal rain - possibly just a couple of hundred people rather than the thousand-odd that were expected. The tent with the stage was being buffeted around and the set up beset with technical issues. First up was a local Little Mix tribute, who started 45 mins late. Next up was a local covers band who, from the hostility radiating from them, clearly considered they should have been headlining the event and were obstructive the entire time. Rather than cut short their set, as asked by the organisers, they ploughed through their full set plus a couple of encores, including a lengthy drum solo - playing for over an hour. The drummer had one of the biggest kits I have seen for a pub band - double kick, 4 floor toms and a huge array of rack-mounted clear acrylic toms ranging from something the size of a tin of beans to snare-sized. All of which were laid out across the stage at break down time whilst he carefully, and incredibly slowly, packed each one away. That left us to play for 20 minutes. The organisers couldn't apologise enough, thanking us for not making a fuss. Then 4hrs home. We got paid but it wasn't a great experience.

Ditto all the above, plus Isle of Wight postcards! Thanks Micky!

Indeed. There is music I like and music I don't like. Don't care who it is by or what genre it is.

Totally agree. Faith no More were a revelation to me. Never been a fan, not really taken any notice of them. But what a performance! Edgy, tight - as good as a live band could be IMO.

I was 40 in '97 so had better keep out of it. I saw them at Hyde Park in 2015, sans Bill Ward, and it was a phenomenal day. Ozzy seemed in good health and was, comically, doing press-ups on stage from time to time. Saw them again in 2017 at the O2 for 'The End' and it was like they were a different band - I guess they were at the tail end of a huge tour and it had taken its toll. Not sure about this one - almost like going to the funeral of old friends that haven't actually died.

It was a Trace Elliot 18" cab that did it for me, too. I had just bought an Ashdown combo but for some reason used the studio kit one night - Trace head and the 1x18 cab. Stag in Witham, if anyone knows it. That was it, I sold the Ashdown. I ended up with a choise of 2x10, 1x15 or 1x18 cabs, depending on my mood and where we were playing. Then my back went and that was that.

Yeah, same here. I stopped for other reasons for about a month and it was really noticable how much worse it had become. Still, it is good that the propranolol can extend our shelf life!🙂

Here's another stripped back bass but with a rockier feel - Bernie Marsden's cover.

Yes. It was like a magic trick, 3 days after I started taking it the tremor all but vanished.

I have recently welcomed a brace of medium scale basses back into the fold - having owned and sold both and tracked them down again. An Aria pro II CSB 'Black n Gold'. These are beautifully made, top end basses with an aggressive tone that is all about the mids. I've had two before but they were both too heavy to keep, usually coming in over 4kg. This one must be made of different wood as it is 3.4kg. Neck dives as a result but a wide grippy strap offsets that. lso non-original tuners and knobs but I can live with that! The other one I am massively chuffed about. A few years ago I took a punt on a Yamaha SB-35 - very little online about these - and absolutely loved it. Then I, ahem, changed to playing 5 string basses exclusively, ahem. And sold it. Biggest sellers remorse I have ever had. The 5 string only policy decision lasted less than a year, of course. Unbelievably another one came up just before the new year, think I flagged it up on here, and as it stood was too heavy at 4.1kg. Luckily no-one bought it so I did, largely for old times sake, and presented it to the guy who does all my tech stuff to see what he could do to lose weight. He routed out 400g of wood from under the scratch plate - voila, no longer too heavy. I 'could' change the tuners to Hipshots or similar but these are superb and it would be a shame to take them off. Anyway, seems OK now at 3.7kg and a wide strap. No neck dive, either, despite the weight loss. This is a special bass and I am not going to sell it, ever.