Twigman

I have flown with my SKB iSeries case a couple of times now. At EVERY customs I get pulled > they think it's a firearm. Be warned.

I thought I’d write up my experiences on our first ever tour in USA. Sad Lovers and Giants have been going on and off for 35 years now and only now got the opportunity to play in America! The tour started in Austin TX at SXSW, the band having been invited by Michael Stock, LA DJ and proprietor of Part Time Punks, to appear at his showcase in the backyard at The Barracuda on the opening night of music week. On arriving at Austin we were met by our ‘superfan’ Mr Fred Jaggi, a Dallas resident who created our original website and maintained it for many years. He drove us about in his 7 seater Cadillac. After getting our wristbands we were good to go. SXSW is a strange setup. Each stage hosts about 5 bands a night. No sound check and a strict 40minute set length is stipulated. Our songs being around 6 minutes each meant that we were limited to a 7 song set – by far the shortest gig we’ve played for a very long time (perhaps ever!). The back yard looked fairly full from the stage but after our performance, within 5 minutes the place had emptied. That suggests most of the audience had come to see us rather than just be passing trade. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GriIQnAMB9c[/media] We were lucky to get a review in the Austin Chronicle. When one considers there are 110 stages at SXSW each hosting around 5 bands, to actually get a review is amazing, And it’s not too bad! [url="http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/sxsw/2016-03-16/sxsw-music-sad-lovers-and-giants/"]http://www.austinchr...ers-and-giants/[/url] Austin during SXSW is a mental place. 6[sup]th[/sup] Street is just full of drunken students on spring break, lying in pools of their own vomit! We were quite glad to get out of the 90 degree heat and high humidity and fly up to Oregon (albeit the long way round via Phoenix AZ). We were met in Portland OR by our driver for the remainder of the tour and found ourselves in a fairly small Ford E350 van with 2 bench seats for the duration. We collected a box of tee- shirts we’d arranged to pick up from the manufacturer in Portland and the tour proper started. After a night in a cheap hotel in Portland we drove up to Seattle WA for the first proper show of the tour at Chop Suey. The scenery was fantastic with several volcanoes visible en route: The atmosphere of Chop Suey was fantastic. We had around 200 punters show up for this one. We played around 1hr 20 minutes and the audience loved it. We were signing vinyl and CDs after the show. I couldn’t believe that so far away from home there were folk who’d actually bought our records back in the day. From there it was off to Canada to play at The Hindenberg in Vancouver BC. This place was challenging. There was a water leak above the stage apparently from the plumbing upstairs. There was huge barrel on the stage, right where I would normally be, that was half full of water. It had apparently been there over a year! During the show I felt drips on my head and arms. We had a puddle develop on the keyboard too. Luckily nobody was electrocuted and no electronics were broken. There are no photos of this gig and bizarrely no video on youtube…the same is true of the following gig in Portland OR….. Despite the difficulties the Canadians gave us a warm welcome and seemed to enjoy the show. The next day we had a long, wet drive back to Portland, Oregon. The gig here had been moved a few times. Initially we were supposed to play at Dante’s then that was moved to Star Theatre…in the end we played a place called Blackwater Bar. Soundcheck: The daughter of Al Jourgensen from Ministry came along…she seems like a ‘superfan’ ! Next day was the longest drive of the trip, to Sacramento CA. This was weird! Having played ‘proper’ venues to this stage we were a little underwhelmed to find ourselves expected to play a disused shop with no stage and just the feeblest of vocal PAs. The cab I had been using all tour was a home made 2x12 which farted out in the lower registers and was frankly awful. It hadn’t been a problem until now as I had had decent PA support all along. It was like having 80 people in your rehearsal room with you! See this video: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQlVljsBkXQ[/media] The next day we set off for San Francisco. And had a little time to do some sight seeing This venue was proper. The Elbo Room. The audience was a decent size: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwx89eLAghM[/media] We then had a couple of days off so headed to LA And took some promo shots in the Bradbury building ( - Bladerunner) and found we had our own section at Amoeba music: So then we had a long drive into the desert to Phoenix AZ The Phoenix show, despite being small, paid well. The audience all seemed high as kites! After Phoenix we returned to LA to record a radio session for Part Time Punks. And then the following day play the biggest gig of the tour. Between 600-700 turned up at The Echoplex. We had been originally booked to play at The Echo upstairs but that had sold out over a week before so we had been moved to the bigger venue downstairs. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaZkt8x04qo[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grqEBdPAIYg[/media] And so the tour drew to a close. And we got a brief review in the LA record: [url="http://larecord.com/photos/2016/03/28/sad-lovers-giants-vaadat-charigim-nite-fields-the-echoplex"]http://larecord.com/...ds-the-echoplex[/url] Oh and then look who we bumped into in the security line at LAX on the way home: We really enjoyed it. We didn’t make any money, in fact it cost us but what an experience! Best fortnight’s holiday I ever had! Edit - just thought I'd add that we had one couple drive from Cleveland Ohio to Sacramento CA and then to SF to see us! That's over 2000 miles ! Some of our fans are a bit mental!

I thought I’d write up my experiences on our first ever tour in USA. Sad Lovers and Giants have been going on and off for 35 years now and only now got the opportunity to play in America! The tour started in Austin TX at SXSW, the band having been invited by Michael Stock, LA DJ and proprietor of Part Time Punks, to appear at his showcase in the backyard at The Barracuda on the opening night of music week. On arriving at Austin we were met by our ‘superfan’ Mr Fred Jaggi, a Dallas resident who created our original website and maintained it for many years. He drove us about in his 7 seater Cadillac. After getting our wristbands we were good to go. SXSW is a strange setup. Each stage hosts about 5 bands a night. No sound check and a strict 40minute set length is stipulated. Our songs being around 6 minutes each meant that we were limited to a 7 song set – by far the shortest gig we’ve played for a very long time (perhaps ever!). The back yard looked fairly full from the stage but after our performance, within 5 minutes the place had emptied. That suggests most of the audience had come to see us rather than just be passing trade. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GriIQnAMB9c[/media] We were lucky to get a review in the Austin Chronicle. When one considers there are 110 stages at SXSW each hosting around 5 bands, to actually get a review is amazing, And it’s not too bad! [url="http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/sxsw/2016-03-16/sxsw-music-sad-lovers-and-giants/"]http://www.austinchr...ers-and-giants/[/url] Austin during SXSW is a mental place. 6[sup]th[/sup] Street is just full of drunken students on spring break, lying in pools of their own vomit! We were quite glad to get out of the 90 degree heat and high humidity and fly up to Oregon (albeit the long way round via Phoenix AZ). We were met in Portland OR by our driver for the remainder of the tour and found ourselves in a fairly small Ford E350 van with 2 bench seats for the duration. We collected a box of tee- shirts we’d arranged to pick up from the manufacturer in Portland and the tour proper started. After a night in a cheap hotel in Portland we drove up to Seattle WA for the first proper show of the tour at Chop Suey. The scenery was fantastic with several volcanoes visible en route: The atmosphere of Chop Suey was fantastic. We had around 200 punters show up for this one. We played around 1hr 20 minutes and the audience loved it. We were signing vinyl and CDs after the show. I couldn’t believe that so far away from home there were folk who’d actually bought our records back in the day. From there it was off to Canada to play at The Hindenberg in Vancouver BC. This place was challenging. There was a water leak above the stage apparently from the plumbing upstairs. There was huge barrel on the stage, right where I would normally be, that was half full of water. It had apparently been there over a year! During the show I felt drips on my head and arms. We had a puddle develop on the keyboard too. Luckily nobody was electrocuted and no electronics were broken. There are no photos of this gig and bizarrely no video on youtube…the same is true of the following gig in Portland OR….. Despite the difficulties the Canadians gave us a warm welcome and seemed to enjoy the show. The next day we had a long, wet drive back to Portland, Oregon. The gig here had been moved a few times. Initially we were supposed to play at Dante’s then that was moved to Star Theatre…in the end we played a place called Blackwater Bar. Soundcheck: The daughter of Al Jourgensen from Ministry came along…she seems like a ‘superfan’ ! Next day was the longest drive of the trip, to Sacramento CA. This was weird! Having played ‘proper’ venues to this stage we were a little underwhelmed to find ourselves expected to play a disused shop with no stage and just the feeblest of vocal PAs. The cab I had been using all tour was a home made 2x12 which farted out in the lower registers and was frankly awful. It hadn’t been a problem until now as I had had decent PA support all along. It was like having 80 people in your rehearsal room with you! See this video: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQlVljsBkXQ[/media] The next day we set off for San Francisco. And had a little time to do some sight seeing This venue was proper. The Elbo Room. The audience was a decent size: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwx89eLAghM[/media] We then had a couple of days off so headed to LA And took some promo shots in the Bradbury building ( - Bladerunner) and found we had our own section at Amoeba music: So then we had a long drive into the desert to Phoenix AZ The Phoenix show, despite being small, paid well. The audience all seemed high as kites! After Phoenix we returned to LA to record a radio session for Part Time Punks. And then the following day play the biggest gig of the tour. Between 600-700 turned up at The Echoplex. We had been originally booked to play at The Echo upstairs but that had sold out over a week before so we had been moved to the bigger venue downstairs. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaZkt8x04qo[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grqEBdPAIYg[/media] And so the tour drew to a close. And we got a brief review in the LA record: [url="http://larecord.com/photos/2016/03/28/sad-lovers-giants-vaadat-charigim-nite-fields-the-echoplex"]http://larecord.com/...ds-the-echoplex[/url] Oh and then look who we bumped into in the security line at LAX on the way home: We really enjoyed it. We didn’t make any money, in fact it cost us but what an experience! Best fortnight’s holiday I ever had!

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1457698947' post='3001049'] I have a very very yellow bass.... [/quote] so do i

Nickel hardware Matching headstock Satin nitro neck finish on wood Narrow necks Babicz bridge - and yes I have one of the very very few nickel ones (produced as a prototype, I'm told) Low weight - ie under 8lb Graphite neck Passive Maximum 4 strings

[quote name='bootleg' timestamp='1457701716' post='3001102'] Does the lack of a case diminish the value in people's minds significantly, or raise any questions of the provenance of the bass? [/quote] Yes and Yes to me...that said I wouldn't use the original case - I'd prefer a gig bag for day to day and my SKBiSeries for travelling...so the case would stay at home unused.

I have a Roberts internet radio. I've found it great when we're booked to do a gig in some far off place, say Athens for example, and the promoter is telling us that such and such a radio station is helping promote and wants to interview etc....rather than taking his word for it I can check to find out if he's BSing or not by having said radio station streaming into the kitchen/office all day... Promoters can't get away with jack anymore.

I have a pair of Rokit RP-6 Many say they colour the sound but I love mine.

I used to play both fingers and pick (.73 dunlop) but I have suffered nerve damage as a result of a slipped disc in my neck which means my 3rd and 4th fingers on my right hand are permanently semi-numb and I have a strip of numbness all the way up the back of my forearm to the elbow. This results, strangely, in severely diminished grip strength in my right hand. When it first happened I couldn't even hold a pen and effectively had to learn to write again. I also couldn't turn the key in the ignition of my car - so I bought a keyless starter I just can't hold a pick long enough to get through a song which means the songs that use a diggadigga rhythm have had to be sidelined..... ...but I'd not thought of using a thumb pick...perhaps I'll give that a shot.. The Doc offered me an operation to fix my neck but when the Doc told me " There's a significant risk of quadraplegia..." I decided probably living with it would be easier

[quote name='acidbass' timestamp='1457671611' post='3000823'] don't be too annoyed when the bass amp you spec turns out to be a 30 year old Peavey instead of your preferred Mesa Boogie or whatever. [/quote] taking my TecAmp Puma head...been told I have an Ampeg 2x12 for the tour....should do nicely.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1457633662' post='3000496'] Probably ... [/quote] I bloody hope so...... I fear it's likely to be something like this:

[quote name='Passinwind' timestamp='1457632242' post='3000466'] Dante's in Portland? If the girls seem a bit too friendly they're probably on break from the strip joint next door. Not that I'd have any direct knowledge of that. [/quote] The gig has apparently been moved from Dante's.....I'm not sure what the venue it's been moved to is called, I had heard it was the Star Theatre but the interweb tells me someone else is playing there that night. When I said spinal tap, I wasn't kidding! I do know it's Chop Suey in Seattle, The Colony in Sacramento, Elbo Room in SF, The Echo in LA....the actual venue names in Phoenix, Vancouver and Portland are currently unknown

I am really excited. It's a bucket list thing. One of those things you set as an ambition when you're a kid - "One day I want to be in spinal tap"......never believing it would become a reality. I'm a bit worried about being shot!

I have a Super12T and a Super Midget i love them both. I use the midget for rehearsals so hadn't used the S12T for ages - i had been debating selling it. I gigged the S12T at The Garage last Saturday and had forgotten just how good it was. I had the pre at about 9 oclock and the master at only 10oclock on my Puma900 and the bass was thunderous - so much headroom in that rig.

I'd play everything apart from the G in the final bar on the A string but I guess I'm lazy

Next week I'll embark on our first ever tour of USA - well part of USA anyway, We will be knackered. We fly to Austin TX on 14/3 We play SXSW next Tuesday 15/3 - we are scheduled to play at quarter past midnight = this will feel like 5.15am to us!! Then we fly from Austin to Portland Oregan to join the 'bus'. I have no idea how comfortable this 'bus' might be. We drive to Seattle where we play our 1st proper gig of the tour. 17/3 Then we drive over the border into Canada to play in Vancouver the next day,18/3 Then we drive back to Portland for a gig there. 19/3 We then drive to Sacramento where we get a day off before another show. 21/3 The next day we play in San Francisco. 22/3 After that I'm not sure where we're going as we have 3 days before the next show in Phoenix, 25/3 The following day we do a radio session for a LA radio station 26/3 The next day we play at The Echo in LA...27/3 Then we fly home..... Just thought I'd share. Anyone got any advice on: Sleeping Coping with jet lag Dealing with promoter screw ups Coping with boredom What to do 23&24? etc etc

coffee tables gold hardware natural finishes more than 4 strings headless basses

You can see me pointing out to Mr singer that his guitar was muted by his tuner pedal at the beginning....then he spends half the song wondering why there's no noise coming out of his guitar! hahaha [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svN3-V0XQVM[/media] And Loz - you are forgiven

[quote name='spike' timestamp='1457298805' post='2997215'] Done. I think you should have a 'possibly' option for the last question. [/quote] ditto as it depends what this mystery miracle worker is, what it looks like (if it's going to be onstage - assumed as that's where all the gear i assume it's 'protecting' will be)...but if that's so where does the extra stage space come from? EUREKA IT'S a TARDIS

TRex Chamelon runs 5 x 300mA 9V switchable to 12V

you missed a great gig!

Looks like mahogany to me

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1456925263' post='2993574'] I've played a ton of Alembics, Ken Smiths, etc that totally dispel this idea ... [/quote] I'm not saying that heavyweight = cheap...... All I'm saying is that weight probably does not reflect the price of a bass but, in my experience, cheaper basses do tend to be heavier than perhaps is comfortable.

[quote name='JohnFitzgerald' timestamp='1456923823' post='2993547'] I've been most used to cheapies being built from wood which was a bit flyweight. [/quote] Really? I've always thought cheap = heavyweight.... My old Kay from 79/80 weighed a ton

[b][u][size=3]SHOW TIMES[/size][/u][/b][b][size=2]:[/size][/b] [size=2] [/size] [size=2] [/size] [b][size=5]STEREO JUGGERNAUTS:........................6:40pm-7:15pm[/size][/b] [b][size=5]THE DANSE SOCIETY:..............................7:30pm-8:10pm[/size][/b] [b][size=5]SAD LOVERS & GIANTS :.........................8:30pm-10:00pm (strict curfew)[/size][/b]