Paul S

Live recording of Hideaway from our last gig 28th April. I think it works! Hideaway - Mastered.wav

License cost £77 and a bit. Not too bad but it all adds up!

I wasn't aware of this, thank you. I'll investigate.

I think this is going to be the way forward - get the better quality jewel case, which costs an extra 55p a pop, then charge a tenner so we don't have to bother with change. Cram duplication seemed a popular choice when someone previously asked about CD printing and they charge £2.20 plus VAT a unit for 100 printed CDs in jewelcase plus 2 page insert https://www.cramduplication.co.uk/cddvd/ Ta!

Paul Rodgers. Not that many years ago I saw him at a relatively small theatre (Palace Theatre in Westcliff, for those that know it) and he stood at the back of the stage away from any mics and could still be heard quite plainly. Chaka Khan (Chaka Khan) also - really powerful voice.

I suppose I have two questions, really, but it is mainly about how much to charge. My lot had our last gig recorded off the desk and we are going to put the best 14 tracks onto a CD to sell at our gigs. This would end up being around 65 mins, maybe a touch more. Who has done it and how much do you charge? Not necessarily a live one but a CD of your band's music to sell at gigs. Not interested in online sales/downloading at the moment. The other thing is related to this - would you charge more for a jewel case CD than a card sleeve CD and is it worth the extra expense of having done? Muchas gracias

TI Flats on mine. No mud.

I had a Hondo Alien for a while - rosewood board over an aluminium neck. That didn't sound like anything else I had ever played, quite a brittle tone.

Yes, that's exactly what I did. I struggle(d) to express myself about what key something is in when playing it detuned for JJ. The fingering positions on the fretboard are the same as playing the studio versions at concert pitch but actual note is half a tone down. So does it start on the G or an F#? 🥴 3rd fret of the second fattest string, anyway. I always played the the little triplet thing at the end of each phrase on the open D string with pull offs and hammer ons. I assumed fingerstyle it would be played more elegantly by raking down the strings but maybe not.

I didn't name him, it was just a throw away humorous remark about making a song I was already struggling with even more difficult. I'm sure you have more important things to concern yourself with than making an issue out of nothing. It ended up as F# - as I recall it started off life in G: as per studio recording but then as you know everything we played was tuned down half a tone. And, yes, I used a 5er but that didn't impact on how I played it.

Well, that was my experience, Warren, and it is nothing different to anything I said at the time to his face. Just because you and he are buddies doesn't make it bad form. If your experience is different then good for you but that is what I found. But thank you for once again criticising me on a public forum.

I have this constant inner turmoil. At best I am an average player but I am also a perfectionist. So, generally speaking, the basslines that make me happy are the simple ones that I can play comfortably and perfectly. I tend not to play too many notes but like to make each one count. I can then relax and get into a zone of enjoying the music. Most of the blues/rock I play now falls into this category and as @chris_b said earlier to lock in with a drummer during a good ol' fashioned shuffle is a thing of joy, get the rhythm bouncing along. One of my favourites at the moment is the old Freddy King instrumental 'The Stumble'. But every now and then it has been forced upon me to learn more complicated bass lines. I struggle but always get there and these type of basslines also make me happy - to have successfully ventured out from my comfort zone for a short time. An example of this - when I was in a Bon Jovi tribute band the song 'Keep The Faith'. Better players than I would listen to it then play it straight off but, to get it absolutely spot on took me a lot of work. I am a primarily a pick player, which didn't help - a finger player would have done the trickier bits by grazing across the strings I am sure but bouncing around octaves and strings with a pick I found hard. Still I got there. Didn't help that the drummer would always speed up, either.

It's kind of an accepted thing that maple boards are brighter. but nice to have proof. I changed the neck on a bass from one with a rosewood board to all maple and difference was amazing.

Sorry, I thought it said 'ring for sex' so I popped in to get the number. For a friend.

One of the many reasons I need regular rehearsals.

If you fancied something Gibson flavoured I would heartily recommend the Les Paul Junior Double Cutaway, more manageably written LPJnrDC. Pickup position plus coil tap means there is no mud.

I've never tried a Wal and sometimes think I'd like to. Then I quickly remember they are far too heavy and expensive and immediately the GAS disappears 😁

This. Hiscox are good but I prefer the SKB for the above reasons.

Do it, Lozz. It doesn't have to cost you a bean, just leave the backline at home (or even in the car first time) to see if you like it. I'll not go back. It is so liberating not having to worry about backline gear - lifting, storing, maintaining, adjusting. As long as the monitoring is good enough and FOH is good.

Friday night, my blues rock trio Toredown played our regular 4th Friday of the month gig at The Shamrock in Ipswich. Great excitement as I brought a mate along who was recording it with a view to having a live CD put together. Holiday traffic on the A12 north was horrendous but we had left early enough to get there on time. Drummer - who has the pa - hadn't had the same foresight and arrived at 8:15 for a 9pm kickoff. Using my mates desk for the recording meant everything had to be done from scratch so it was a bit tight. Especially as a mystery crackling through the pa was apparent - eventually traced to an issue with the mains socket we usually plug into which then meant fiddling about taking power from a remote socket and taping an extension lead out of harm's way. Anyway, all sorted, got underway at 9.10, so not too bad. About half our regulars turned up plus a load of new faces who hung around until the end. Place was never packed but I think they were collectively as enthusiastic and noisy as we've had. Which was good for the recording A few mistakes here and there but second set was storming, really great vibe. A couple came up to us at the end and almost begged us to play at a blues festival they are organising in July. 2 hr set to finish the evening, food and drink provided, name your price. That was nice. I managed to get lost when I picked up my car from where I had left it - there had been a shop fire and the road I needed to take was shut - I have no idea of the configuration of Ipswich and kept going round in circles until I stumbled upon a road that looked familiar. By the time I got back we were pretty much packed up. Bonus was the fastest journey home ever. Heard rough versions of the recording yesterday and with just a bit of polishing it should be just what we were hoping for. The main problem will be choosing which songs to leave out.

Bit of a late starter - 50. Marconi social club in Chelmsford with a 'blues' band called 'Still The Thrill'.

I reckon Lee Brillo could keep pace.

I had no idea. When did that happen? Edit - Google - Feb last year.

I believe all the Hohner B basses, B2 range of cricket bats, Jack etc had two octave necks. Some were active, some passive.

Horses for courses, indeed. I am the other way inclined - tight spacing for pick but wider spacing for my clumsy fingerstyle.