StingRayBoy42

LAST NIGHT! The Cantina Band at The Vaults (Real Ale Bar (dog friendly)) Knowle. AGAIN. Great load in, park up next to the door behind the stage [sic], set up all good, I got to tell a new joke to the lads (too rude to repeat on a family forum such as what this one is), dep drummer (chap from my other band), singer and guitarists WAGs were in attendance, all good. The guitarist had also brought his two young daughters (last time they came, the landlady asked him to kind of keep them out of sight as they're probably too young to be in a pub, she then proceeded to get them dancing on a table, filmed it and shared it on the pub's social media. She's bonkers, but in a good way). After the unscheduled fun of two weeks ago, I was expecting the usual ambivalent punters and dispiriting reception and sure enough there weren't many there, but for some reason we all *really* enjoyed ourselves. Possibly because we were playing to a handful of friends and family so there was lots of audience interaction (basically good-natured heckling) so we ended up having a right laugh. It was the drummers birthday (28! My StingRay is older than him!) so he was presented with a cake and a rendition of Happy Birthday which he wasn't expecting and totally blew him away. Very heartwarming. The guitarist's youngest joined us to sing the last song, which was lovely - she's a budding guitarist so I hope we haven't put her off being in a band. I joined the landlady at the bar for Sex on Fire (the song!) which went down a treat, we got three encores (I think the WAGs enjoyed watching us sweat). Used the StringRay for a change (I usually use the Sterling with this lot - I definitely noticed the 'Ray sounds a lot smoother than the Sterling, especially through the many distortions) -> small board (now with pedal toppers! (which obscure the LEDs on some of the pedals 🤨)) -> amp board (Thumpinator -> VTDI (set to ROCK)) -> MB CMD121. Still getting used to using a pleccy but it does sound good on the punk numbers, especially through the Bass Soul Food. Paid, packed up, home about 1 for a pint of Aldi vintage cider. A good night!

I bought a Fishman Pro EQ from Dave - he was great to deal with all the way. More top Basschatting!

Rob 3D printed and sent me some pedal toppers in exchange for a donation to the Travis wetroom fund - very generous and he was lovely to deal with. Top Basschatting!

Sold Lorenz a pedalboard, he was great to deal with. Ta!

I like my AKG K92s - IIRC they were about £40

It did indeed keep up with the blowers, sounded great, had some volume to spare and got lots of admiring comments which is the main thing, right? Disclaimer: I used the Sansamp VTDI in front of it, which really does elevate it - more punch and a noticeably better sound IMHO. It's no slouch on its own TBF!

Me too! Great little amp and I'm sure it'll do acoustic/jazz rehearsals. I use it with a Sansamp VTDI which really gives it some oomph and brings it to life. I'm taking mine to a big band rehearsal tomorrow, hopefully it'll keep up with the 15-odd blowers... will report back!

Rich sold me an XLR lead - Great comms, good item, good price, top man. Fabulous Basschattery!

Sounds like a fun gig! I have nothing to offer on strings advice, but have you heard The Hot Club of Cowtown? Their album 'Continental Stomp' is one of my all time desert island favourites - the Bass player is incredible. Enjoy!

I like my Markbass CMD 121P - I use it in a pretty loud rock band, it's a one handed carry and I've never been told it's too quiet... I rarely have the master volume past about 4. Used price is usually less than £500.

I sold Mr OnTheFloor a pedal, he was a pleasure to deal with all the way.

I use these on my Sterling for the heavy rock covers stuff - they're flats but they sound a *bit* like rounds.

Sold Owen a tuner. First class gent to deal with.

'Angles' is such a fantastic album. 'Letter from God to Man' is just jaw-dropping... the way the vocals build throughout the whole song to the righteous fury of *that* last line is just... WOW. Most Hip-Hop isn't my thing, but DLS vs SP are a world away from that 'Gonna pop a cap in yo ass' type stuff that I don't get on with. 'Home' by Spearhead is another Hip-Hop album I can't get enough of. Any reccomendations of other 'intelligent' Hip-Hop I might like?

TONIGHT! The Cantina Band at The Vaults Real Ale Bar (dog friendly) in Knowle. We play here a lot and it's always the same story... no-one's interested, a couple of dancers if we're lucky and a few "Nice one, enjoyed that"s at the end so I was expecting more of the same. When I got there I found out it was a private party for a surprise 40th, the birthday boy's wife had booked us, she'd never heard us and hadn't asked for a setlist (we play a lot of rock covers - think Motorhead, Sabbath, McFly... that sort of thing) and she was asking the singer what sort of stuff we play. AFTER booking us (and after paying). Great, we're going to go down like a wet duvet. Sure enough, the first three songs were met with an empty dancefloor and a deafening silence from the other end of the pub (where everybody wasn't watching from), fourth song a couple of dancers. Great! Then a couple more, then a couple more then suddenly the dancefloor's packed! Harumble! They loved it - singing along, air guitaring, getting involved with the band (in a good way), Sweet child of mine nearly took the roof off (We got the riff in the solo right! That's twice now!), absolutely cracking set. Second set was just as good, went for a wireless wander into the throng which went down a treat, Birthday boy loved it ("You couldn't have picked a better set"), three encores, a couple of people asked for cards... turned out to be a fantastic gig. A few more shekels than usual as well. Dep drummer (chap from the other band) smashed it as usual. He took a pint off the barman while playing and didn't miss a beat. Oh and the drinks were all on the house! Usual setup for this sort of thing : Sterling -> Small (now slightly expanded with an octave and another distortion) board -> amp board (VTDI (set to SVT, sounds amazing) -> Thumpinator) -> Mark CMD121 Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip on the way home, back about 1 for a Henry Westons Vintage (8.2% ABV - AKA The Much Marcle Methadone) and a Curly Wurly. A decent Saturday night!

Francis bought my ABG case. He was an absolute pleasure to deal with and a thoroughly lovely feller when we (eventually!) met up. Top Basschattist, deal with confidence.

Do you know why cows wear bells? Because the horns don't work.