Muzz

It wasn't particularly the jazz itself (tho Lord knows it was the wrong crowd for that), it was the condescension and 'judge-y' attitude of the players that rankled...perhaps just a pair of up-themselves musos, but they were a thankfully rare exception. There was a bloke that came in with a fantastic rock voice who always cranked the volume to painful levels (he didn't last long after having had the volume turned down on him a few times), and another old Blues guitarist who got up with myself and the drummer, called a 12-bar that turned out to be (when he started playing) a 14-bar (in a different key) and stopped playing half way through the song to tell me I was 'crap' before walking off. Not needed, not the spirit of a jam. He didn't come back, either. Other than that, everyone got the vibe of the place and it rolled along a treat. The three/four lads who'd never played before were objectively awful (on a fairly regular basis), but had such a good time playing and were so thrilled to do it that everyone loved them. The landlord got a bit sniffy at one point about 'standards' being kept up, but all the regular musicians pointed out we'd all been there at some point, and he relented.

Yeah, that rings a bell: I used my Stomp in the jam night setup, but I'd just tell the punters 'That switch is the tuner, don't frig with anything else, ditto the amp settings because it's going through the house PA, too.' 99% of bassists just used the tone control on the bass and it never sounded anything less than good, but one night a pair of Jazzers turned up; they 'Didn't like' any of the drummers they'd heard (despite our drummer having played residencies in jazz clubs in London, in between his pro career on cruises and in hotels) because 'Nobody in here can swing' so decided to just do a bass and guitar 'set'. The bassist insisted I take the Stomp out of the loop (buggering up the gain/level stage) and proceeded to take five minutes farting around with the combo settings before playing. No hint of thanks after they'd bored everyone with what was 15 minutes of presumably one of Spinal Tap's Jazz Odysseys, and received the sort of applause where you can identify exactly which 3 people are clapping. They left straight after, and didn't come back. They weren't missed.

There's always one: when I've gigged my Shuker Fenderbird I've had similar 'experts': 'Why don't you play a Fender?' 'That's got the wrong neck on it' followed by (after I'd mentioned Entwistle and Wilkeson) 'Yeah, but it's still the wrong neck'... And the general comment, spoken like it's the Last Word/Checkmate in the conversation 'I used to have a proper Fender.' My (very, very good w/mods) El Cheapo Squier Sonic P hasn't had any comments yet, but I'm ready for 'em...

I was in the house band for a jam night for about a year, literally 200 yards down the road from 12-String's place (funny town Tyldesley, it's full of live music), and I always took a cheap bass along to lend out, and my small combo through the house PA. The players ranged from pro (No.1 Album) musicians to some lads who were just starting out (the first time they played live was at the jam night), full bands, pairs and threes ('Can you play bass for us?') to solo acoustic singers. Everyone got 'up to three' songs, depending how much they had prepared (or not, in some cases), and while there were a lot of regulars (see 'Tyldesley's full of music'), there would often be a mix of regulars doing different stuff, even on different instruments*. No hard rules**, no cliquey stuff, the audience was less than 50% musos, so the emphasis was on entertaining punters. Some nights I'd do the first two/three songs, and be sat down watching until we got up to do the last one of the night. I'd say that's pretty much how it should be. * The chap that used to do my head in (in a good way) was a great left-handed guitarist who'd get up on my bass, flip it over and play it upside-down (very well)... ** Anyone taking the mick (and I'm thinking about cranking volume, 5-minute guitar solos, etc) just didn't get called the next week...

I'm another borderline-obsessed with weight: I won't buy a bass over 7 1/2lbs again, and the ones I have which are more than 8lbs or so just don't get used. I gig a lot, and no matter how you spread the weight it's still there (tho I have a 4-inch wide strap on my main gigging bass), very luckily I bought a cheap, very giggable P-bass that's Poplar and weighs 7lbs 9 after some Ultralights (I have them on everything...why wouldn't you?), and sounds exactly like a P-Bass in my hands. Other than the aforementioned Ultralights, the best way to get a light bass is to try a lot of light basses and find one that sounds the way you want it to; if you want to mod with routers, be aware it'll probably reduce the value of the instrument, so start with a cheap one you won't mind losing a bit of money on. Although the other substitutions mentioned can have a cumulative effect, it's down to how much tinkering you want to do.

On the subject of JJ's live tone, last time I went to see them (tour before last, IIRC) they'd switched to inears/no backline, and it was dreadful; that indistinct, scooped sub-bass rumble you get at 90% of big venues. I dragged my other half all round the Apollo trying to find somewhere I could hear properly, but to no avail. It really pisht me off, we left early. When I go to see JJ, I'd like the bass (on the earlier songs, at least) to take the top of my head off, please... I mentioned this to Jon Shuker when i was picking up my JJ Sig from him, he said he'd chatted with JJ (I wasn't the only bassist to mention it) and they were 'still working through some issues'. Apparently it got better last time out, but I didn't go. The JJ Sig is based largely on the legendary Green P, I can confirm it's a very angry P, so it's not the bass.

Just to throw something else out there, and as detailed elsewhere on here, last year I picked up a Squier Sonic P new for £145 on the basis of 'How bad could it actually be?' (oh, and the fact it's very, very light (well under 8lbs)...yeah, I'm a glass-backed owd codger masquerading as a rock star) and it's a very good bass. Some tweaks to make it align more with my requirements (including a DiMarzio pup and one of Fender's own (much better) £35 bridges), and it's my main gigging bass. Now I know at the very bottom end of the model range I may have lucked out with a particularly good one (QC-wise), but it really is a good bass, and a great platform if you, like me, are an inveterate tinkerer, and are old enough not to get hung up on what it says on the headstock...

Thing is, you can get a custom made bass built for you by a luthier that IS objectively better for half that £4k, which these days is in the territory of a lot of higher-end US mass-manufactured stuff...

Jacob Alon at the Deaf Institute in Manchester. Good gravy, that boy can sing. Had very much the same almost magical vibes of 'this kid's the real deal' as when we accidentally caught a young bloke with an acoustic for about £10 in Hebden Bridge years ago (the wonderful Trades Club, about 50 people in), and driving home I said to my other half (who'd booked it on a whim) 'He'll go far, that lad; what was his name again?' She looked at the ticket 'George something...here it is: George Ezra'. The Deaf was sold out, but you could have heard a pin drop in the quieter moments (plus I didn't need my attenuators at any point, which was great) - it's a fantastic venue, and suited him down to the ground. It was £12 with two supports, I don't think that'll happen again...

Fourth gig of January so far Satdy night, pretty busy pub (thank Buddha that virtue-signalling nonsense Dry January has faded away; all it does is shut pubs), the punters enjoyed it and danced in between the tables, and I got to watch the American Football on a big screen right in my eyeline over the bar (we really must change the setlist up a bit; I play it 90% on muscle memory these days). No nutters, for a nice change...sorry... On the point earlier, we've put the money up to £300 for 2 x 45s for a trio, no-one's complaining and the diary's filling up... As always, cheapo lightweight P, Stomp, inears. Still unidentified trainers (I'll look at them properly for next time, promise..)

That whole 'we're on the same level, I'm free to walk into the band space' thing has been made worse these days with inears replacing floor monitors which, although a pain to schlep, at least reinforced the edge of the 'stage' - a couple of mike stands and a pedal board don't really delineate much to the pisht and terminally entitled...it's like the last ten minutes of Zulu some evenings...

OK, a catchup from before Xmas; a mix of the good, the bad and the indifferent...lots to cover, but I'll keep it brief(ish)... First off the Bad; a Black/Mad Friday gig before Xmas at the Weasel Dust Palace up in Burnley; packed out when we walked in at eight (he really didn't need a band on), we play on the dance floor, so early drunks had to be forcibly removed (some several times) so we could set up. We went on early (for this place) at 9, and from the off there were drunks falling all over. We asked for some security, nothing happened until a pair of 20+ stone blokes hugging each other fell into the band area (I stepped back so they didn't hit me) and just lay there like stunned elephant seals until they were hauled up by their mates. Broken rotating spotlight (£350), broken mic stand (mine), broken iPad screen and stand (singers), they just stumbled off. Then a 60-ish pisht woman (I'd been keeping an eye on her swaying dancing) just fell backwards and deposited her drink through the air about three inches from my Stomp; again, she just stumbled off. Mic stands getting knocked into singers teeth, people stepping int the band area to walk onto the stage to demand songs (one woman three times for the same song; in the end I just physically barred her way; she still tried to push past me), the whole nine yards. We stopped till they brought a bouncer to stand by the stage. Then the AC unit about three feet to the side of the band (not my side) started pishing water, again the staff did nothing till we stopped, then some half-hearted mopping commenced. At the end I saw the guitarist's pedal board (and the case on which the mixer stood) was in a puddle about an inch deep. Half the drum carpet was soaked, if I'd seen it I'd have pulled the gig, but the guitarist likes the place and didn't. I've told him I'm not playing there again, it's always awful. Better gig on the 27th, but that's no fun to report, it was all just OK (tho we got overpaid because the landlord liked what he heard), and no NYE gig (because the guitarist wanted to go out on the lash). First time in 16 years I've been at home for NYE, my other half was working but the Boy was back from Uni so we hung out and had a good night in. Since then another three gigs and one to come this weekend, only high/lowlight of which was playing the night the snow came down (4th?) up in the wilds Chorley way. Quietish pub, we played the first 45, and then in the break I noticed the snow getting serious outside, and given I had 30-odd miles to drive home back into the hills, we went back on quickly and played the second 45 and then just the one encore. I apologised to the landlady, she was happy and understood. As we were packing down, I saw a bloke talking to the singer. I'd clocked this bloke in the second set standing off to one side of the dancers, standing there with his arms folded. We've all had one of them at least once; they're always on their own, they're never well dressed, and they just stare without clapping. Anyway, I was over that side, and I overheard 'You lot are stealing a living; that wasn't 45 minutes.' Now I might have mentioned before, but the older I get the less patience I have with drunks or opinionated arses, so I stepped in and said 'Are you paying us, you personally? No? You got 30 miles to drive home in this? No? We've played 50 minutes, so you can...' Yeah, to prevent pinging the sweary filter I'm sure you can fill the rest in yourself. It takes a very sad mindset to think you can personally give a band the TripAdvisor critique to their faces and imagine you're not gonna get some pushback. Next time I looked up from packing he'd left. Anyhoo, another one at the weekend, and possibly another the last weekend in the month, so a 5-gig January will do me...I think we've a weekend off in Feb, but the calendar's very busy (apparently we're booked 28 weekends so far this year), so I'll put up with the idiots a while longer...

I guess it should really be a compulsory header form for 'Which amp/cab?' threads: Age: Back Condition: Dead Lift Limit (lbs/kg): General Enthusiasm For Hoicking Gear (1-10):

What are these 'rehearsals' you speak of? Not had one of those in a few years...pretty much after a project band who looooved to rehearse (and we sounded very good in rehearsals), but when it came to live gigs...not so much in either quantity or quality... Having said that, I've got one on Wednesday for a new band lineup, I'm not expecting too many more before we get out gigging.

Even though I don't use backline any more, my rule of thumb was always 'If the kick's going into the PA, so am I'. For unamplified drums, a 500w Class D head and a decent 212 (or less watts into a more efficient cab: my 300w Walkabout into either my BF 212 or 115 (or both) will decimate any drummer) will do it.

Just to clarify/re-emphasise, the Looks issue is entirely a Me thing and contains no shade at all; I have no doubt I'm missing out on some sublime instruments in terms of build and finish, it's just that I know what I like these days, and what I can live with - I can look at a bass' pickups and positioning and say 'That won't suit me at all'. Hell, I don't even like Jazzes...I'm just a weirdo.

I am on record on here as being (self-confessed) as shallow as a puddle when it comes to looks: for example, I don't care how good Foderas are, I'll never own one, because I can't stand the looks...

On regular (often lairy) pub gigs I play a Squier Sonic P (£145, plus a rummage through my Parts Box for bridge, tuners and pickup, even though it didn't really need it, it was more my irrisistible urge to tinker) so I don't worry about drunks (and worse) around my Shukers. It's not the same as the Shukers, but I'd put it up against any P under £750 these days, and it's super-light. I gig a lot, and I have lovely works of art in wood which will get used appropriately (posh Xmas hotel gig last night I took 2 Shukers) and cheaper ones. They all earn their money and justify their existence. If they don't, they get moved on. Funnily enough, I sound like me with all of them... If I had the spare money I'd get another (Superleggera) Shuker custom-made, but I don't (and I don't want to sell any of the ones I have to fund it), so that's that. The only potential purchase basses I look at these days are lighter ones (the Cheapo P is 7 3/4lbs) because my left shoulder isn't getting any younger.

Very posh Do* last night at the Radisson Hotel (ex-Free Trade Hall) in Manchester last night; a national solicitor's company, so I had a bath before I went, and dressed tastefully (for once)...didn't get time for a soundcheck, and no time to set up monitoring, so all I heard was floofy sub-bass, but played most of it on muscle memory, and of course no-one else noticed. It sounded good out front, though, and that's what matters, and the punters danced all night. Done for midnightish, home after dropping the drummer off (he's a fantastic pro (reading) drummer, a talented producer and music-tech guru (his day job is teaching Logic), but he doesn't have a car, so swings and roundabouts...) about 01:45. The alarm for work this morning was a bit gritty, but the money was four times a pub, so... Off now till the 20th, when I'll be up at Weasel Dust Central in Burnley, fending off the chemically-altered denizens of the place and stopping them turning the tops round on their stands (the new Funniest Thing In Burnley). Oh, the rich tapestry of experience... * BL went to the bar, no draught, so he got two 330ml bottles of lager. £12.40. In Manchester, for Buddha's sake...we both photographed them, in a vain effort to get more out of his £12.40...didn't help...

A late one for last weekend, a decent night at a place we like playing; it's a fair trek, being up in Barrowford North of Burnley, but always worth it for the lively crowd; it's one of those 'last place open in town' pubs, which is middling till about 10:45, then someone flicks the Crowd switch, and instantly the place is rammed. Played it as a trio, which meant more room onstage and more money - I mean, seriously, what's not to like? The drummers situation is settling down now, it's a choice of #1 or #2, and I love playing with either of them, so all good. Only fly in the ointment is that was apparently our last gig there, down to some hoohah between the agent, the landlord and the BL - he didn't go into detail (he controls all the gig arrangments (his choice)), so I just shrugged and loaded up. I did have an interesting conversation afterwards with a girl in her 20s who'd liked the band, and introduced herself as 'Brooke Nutter'. Given where we were (in the deeps of Pendle) I asked the inevitable question about Alice, and she said yeah, she was related on her Mum's side. Good job she liked the band; it's hard to load the gear out if you've been turned into a newt... Lightweight Cheapo P, Stomp, inears and, erm, trainers*. * I'm not very shoe-focused; they might be Asics or something? I've had them years. Sorry.

I had an old Cortina Estate (yeah, that dates this one) which was on its last legs: the next MOT was never an achievable dream, so, with it being well insured, I took to leaving it unlocked (with old Fords this was pretty much the same as locking it) when I was in Manchester city centre clubbing in the hope someone would nick it and I'd make money on the insurance. The best thing about it was the gear knob, which was made from a pool ball. I came back to it one night and the door was open...you can guess what was gone. I was gutted.

Active, but exclusively John East's preamps - I know them inside out, and I can dial in what I want on the go when required (and without looking); I have no amp, and I wouldn't want to be turning round and fiddling with it mid-set anyway. Having said that, my main gigging bass (a very cheapo but crucially very light Squire Sonic P) is passive right now, but mainly because I'm waiting for an East P-Tone to pop up somewhere...

Not for much longer, I fear, if Satdy night was anything to go by...

As an addendum to Satdy night's thoroughly Meh gig, I witnessed one of the most extraordinary shows of indifference I've ever seen; I've played for a very long time in all sorts of venues and, like most of us, have experienced many types of indifference: the Working Men's Club Institutional indifference(1), the Wrong Band In The Wrong Pub Indifference(2), the Wrong Couple On The Wrong Night Indifference(3), the Passive Aggressive Offended Indifference(4) and many others, but this bloke was something else: he sat off to one side, on his own, drinking steadily but not quickly, looking across the room. No paper, no book - at one point I had to check he didn't have earbuds in and an audiobook on the go - nothing to entertain him but his own company. He'd glanced at the band as we were setting up, and then completely ignored us for the rest of the evening. It got to the point where I was trying to catch his eye to give him a thumbs-up or something, anything to provoke a reaction, but nope, nothing. As we were packing down he finished his pint (possibly his third or fourth, it's not like he was there for a session) and left. Very odd. (1) The one where everyone yaps incessantly to each other all the way through the first set, and then if you drop a plectrum during the bingo you get shushed and tutted as they concentrate on winning that late-dated hamper that's been dusted down especially...they might get up for the last song for a stilted dance if you're lucky, and then bizarrely at the end tell you at the bar that they thought the band were great... (2) You can feel this one coming a mile off from the clientele's dress sense/age, and they've made the same assessment of you at the same time. Works at both ends of the age spectrum. See also 'That NYE the agent booked our semi-acoustic trio as a 7-piece Soul Band' (3) That couple that sit at a table right where the PA speaker's being set up, but refuse to move and spend the rest of the night alternately rolling their eyes and hollering across the table at each other... (4) OK, this one's fairly specific, but I had a bloke come up to me before a gig and tell me my bass was 'All wrong; it's got the wrong neck' - this was the Shukerbird, and he wouldn't hear about Leon Wilkeson or John Entwistle, he went back to the bar and spent the rest of the evening standing sideways to the room, except when people were applauding, when he turned to face the band and didn't move...

This particular one'd be Breightmet...handyish for The Devil's Dual Carriageway out (A666), but that's about it...