TimR

That's a tough one. Where are you coming from? My suggestion would to have a band member drive in early with the gear. Leave it somewhere secure at the venue overnight along with the vehicle and go back and collect it next day. Depends on venue obviously. We used to play a venue Friday Nights and Saturday Nights and leaving the large drums, hardware and amps overnight was fairly safe.

Definition of insanity is repeating the same thing expecting a different outcome. I'll leave that there.

Make sure you've hidden the gig money somewhere safe, someone is after a new pair of shoes.

I usually lie awake wondering where that high pitched whistling sound is coming from. And then wonder why I put my earplugs in my pocket instead of my ears.

But do you not recognise there are situations where being nimble is not the aim and not required, where playing with the pads will give a different tone and where muting with the thumb is necessary? Technique is not just about physicality,it's also about tonality. I mean you can't pluck properly with your fingers if you've got a pick in your hand. Ergo, holding a pick must be bad technique.

I'm pretty sure he set his guitar on fire using lighter fluid as well. I've never seen anyone teach that as a technique. Really you should be rubbing two sticks together to start fires.

Can we rename the thread; What do you do with your handbag?

Just seen Terry Hall has died.

Our singer covered our event with backing tracks. I went along to set up PA and lights. From the feel of the event and watching audience reaction, she should have done a shed load of Christmas music. It was a background music gig. I don't think I could have played, outdoors in close to 0°c in any case. Reminded me once more you have to guage your audience. Depends who books you and whether they're expecting a band who has a set list of 40 songs or 100 songs.

No. My car is leased for 4 years and my bass model can be found on ebay buy it now for c£280. But doubt it'll be worth that. I'd guess the majority of people driving 'new' cars are leasing or whatever the latest 'loan' model is. Not many will have paid cash.

There was all sorts of punk. When people think of punk they typically think of the punk music and fashion made famous by the Sex Pistols. Adam of Adam and the Ants headlined the first Sex Pistols gig in his band Bazooka Joe, along with Suzi and the Banshees. Neither of those bands would be considered punk now. I'm not sure if Adam palm or thumb muted his bass.

I lived and worked in Coventry for 2 years in the 90s. Not much had changed by then. But actually the song wasn't about Coventry per se, it was a commentary on the whole country. Ha. That's about as intellectual as I'll get.

Ha. I had to go back 3 pages to find out what 'thumb over the neck' meant. You wouldn't teach that. But if you're resting your plucking hand thumb then you can palm mute. It's a trade off. If you can get the notes you need to while slapping, muting with your fingerings hand thumb becomes pretty useful. If you can't reach the notes then you can't mute. No one would be doing it all the time.

Yes. Arbitrary length of time, again as an illustration. Maybe use lifetime? I doubt my bass is worth what I paid for it or more. I've had it for 20? Years. That's cost me about £25 a year. The point was the depreciation gets written off against the money you earn from its use. But the whole thing falls down if it's your hobby, you're just buying it for fun and using another source of income to fund it. So my point stands, the decision to have £30k worth of basses for most of us is for fun. I don't have a car for fun.

I'm pretty sure most people have missed my point. It doesn't matter whether you spend your money on cars or basses. They're simply tools. If you spend more on your tool than you earn from using it, then you are purchasing with your heart, not your head. Then a load of people comment and prove my point exactly. We are talking about the psychology of collecting/hoarding. I don't see how any of that was off topic. The £30k car/£3k of basses was purely an arbitrary value that I thought would be common and a good illustration. Anyway, as you were, it wasn't intended to be a point of argument.

I think it was Maude actually. Thanks.

Do you have a £30k car? If not, then I agree, it doesn't apply to you....

Yes. But not £30k a year. As you say £3k a year is £60 a week, every week. And that's just for £3k worth of basses.

Indeed it does. But how much have you spent on it in 3 years and how reliable is it? And if it breaks down and you miss an important meeting? I do 30-40k miles a year, an £800 car wouldn't manage that. Ultimately it is a tool, just like a bass is a tool. If you're attaching sentimentality to an object, then that's the problem. Whether it's a car or a bass. Especially if you're buying them serially and are not able to let go of them.

A car is a tool. As its worth depreciates, the money you have made from using it increases. I'd hazard a guess that someone buying a £30k car new, is earning far more than £30k a year. So after 1 year, the car has paid for itself. £30k worth of basses, I think most people here would struggle to earn £3k a year from using a bass guitar.

Depends on what tone I'm after. Usually neck pickup. But very occasionally bridge pickup or corner of neck.

I'm pretty sure we've all been in that band.

I seemed to have a collection of spades in my shed. Having several spades is always a good idea. In the summer I had a good clear out and decided to get rid of the excess spades. It snowed on Monday. Mrs R took the remaining spade with her in her car. I couldn't get my car out of the drive... At least one of those spades would have come in handy. Had to borrow one from the neighbour. Wonder how many spades there are in our street. Not many judging by I seemed to be the only one clearing any snow. The problem is, it's a delicate balance, many is the time I've regretted throwing something away (I can always buy another one if I really need one) only to spend hours scouring the Internet or local shops for it's replacement. Then there's the 3 rubber mallets I have in the garage, because of the times I've not been able to find the other one.

My dad bought me my first bass in 1986. A Japanese fender copy £120. I bought my first bass in 1989 with my first paypacket. £350. I bought my current bass in 2001. c£500. I spent a lot of time trying basses in shops between about 1996 and 2001 so my current bass is a good fit. I still have all 3 basses. The first one has the frets ripped out. My wife still thinks I have too many.

Well our guitarist has covid and the drummer has a chest infection. So looks like no Christmas tunes this year...