Marvin

At 20 I didn't have a job, but I was lucky that I lived at my parents. Lots of my friends were also out of work at the time so it made no difference really, everyone was always skint. When you could scrape enough money together we'd go and get totally wasted and maybe go to a cheap gig. I'd already stopped playing bass by then, I'd only bought my bass when I was 17 but got bored and fed up with just jamming in cold garages. I didn't really have any priorities. Now, I have all the responsibilities of house, kids etc. I'm playing again, better than I ever have. My priorities are my wife and kids. The band maintains my sanity, but to be honest as long as the family are ok, everything else can go rot 😀

We played both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Saturday was a local charity event, a freeby. We packed our own PA, which was fortuitous as when we turned up there wasn't one. Unfortunately our PA isn't big enough for outdoor gigs, it's a pub PA. We went down well, quite a few people came up to us afterwards saying they really enjoyed our set. The weather was good, so all in all, it was an ok afternoon. I don't think we'll be doing the event again though. It's a lot of faff for not a lot return. Sunday, we played outdoors again for a local pub. The pub is about a mile out of town. It has a field it decided it could use to put on an event to celebrate the 2nd year the landlady had been running the place. Unfortunately, the weather was bloody awful. Somewhere the landlady managed to get hold of a 40ftx40ft open sided tent thing to which they lashed together other gazebos to make a makeshift 'indoor' thing. The whole thing was running late, it was bloody cold, wet...the only good thing was we knew the guys on before us and they'd provided the PA, so we asked if we could borrow their backline so we didn't have to heave our gear up to the field from the car park. We were on last. None of us really enjoyed it, though the punters seemed to like us again, up dancing. Our drummer had got so bored he was half cut before we got on, thankfully not to affect his playing too much

I've got dead rounds on all 3 of my basses, I simply don't have the spare cash to keep changing strings. They must be at least 2 years old by now. As said, they don't sound like flats, they've still got some bite but have lost the bright zingy sound. I like it ☺

These Tiny Desk Concerts are really good. I've never ever listened to Tower Of Power before, but now it's grooving the stereo in the dinning room.

£150-200, is typical if what a band will get in my area for a pub gig. There are pubs that might pay more, it depends. I don't see how a pub, considering most pubs near me are very small and they're struggling to stay open anyway, could pay much more. They simply can't get the number of people in. Most pubs near me seem to put on music as a personal indulgence of the landlord/lady.

My current and last bands have both been through contacts and friends. I've had a couple of auditions from JoinMyBand. BandMix gave me my first band 10 years ago, however, other than that it's been a complete waste of time, to the point I've actually deleted my profile. For the number of musicians and bands on BandMix in my area it wasn't worth even staying on there let alone paying a fee for it. It's all a bit hit and miss really

Try email/contacting Ashdown directly through their webpage https://ashdownmusic.com/pages/contact-us

I play in a more Chicago style blues band at the moment, although we do cover material by the Stones and similar. Having listened to a lot of older and modern blues to get myself more acquainted with blues and I can't really find 'a bass tone' used by everyone. I use a Jazz type bass, Aguilar TH350 into a Schroeder 1212L. The roundwounds I have on that bass are as dead as a set of rounds can be. I can turn up the gain and drive a bit on the amp, give the low mids a bit of a boost and that's about it. It fits with the rest of the band, whether it's an older blues song or a more up to date song. I'd use what you've got at the moment and see if it fits the band.

Thankfully you've seen sense, pickguard all day long...don't even know why you asked

Last night my blues band played the town's Art Centre. This may not sound a particularly big deal but for me it was one off the bucket list. The venue isn't big, but it has a good reputation and has had some very good artists and bands play there...the likes of John Martyn (obviously when he was alive), Andy Fairweather Low is there again soon. The first time I went so see a band was at this venue, I was in my teens and went to see a band called the Cult Maniax, ironically last night, my first time playing there, our guitarist was in the Cult Maniax. This was a ticket event, we didn't sell all tickets but the venue were very pleased with the turnout, I think we out sold a much better known blues band a few weeks ago. It was a great gig. When we finished the first song we received a massive cheer. I think this really spurred us on and gave us confidence to not just play the songs but to entertain as well...if you get my drift. Post gig I had people come up to me and say how good they thought it was, never had that before. This was the first time the band had played an established venue having to sell tickets (we usually play pubs) and we were all really chuffed with how it went.

I bought one of the first V7s from Thomann, one of the ones with the signed neck plate. I've never had an issue at all with mine. The only thing I did was to buy a replacement neck plate so that the signed one sits in a box on my music shelf. It's my go to bass and sounds great, plays great. Yes, it's not the lightest of basses but it's not an issue for me, I carry a weight on one shoulder for a living . The tuners do the job they're designed for, they could 'feel' better, however, I can't grumble, the V7 stays in tune, and I only paid £280 for mine. I checked out a MIM Std Fender Jazz before I bought the V7 and I have no doubt at all I bought a significantly better bass. It's the only bass where when I opened the box I literally went 'Wow!'

Thank you everyone. Our singer's wife bought him the Shure Super55 Deluxe. It arrived in time for rehearsal on Thursday and sounds very nice. He's really happy with it. Thanks again.

Looks like a cheap bitsa to me. Probably a Squier Affinity body with a cheap neck and Fender decal put on.

I use one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/chord-CPT-01-Chromatic-Tuner-Pedal/dp/B0176UV9OC Works really well, big bold display, accurate and no 'pop' when you switch it on or off. Can't ask more for £26.

Thank you. Very useful and detailed information and advice. @BigRedX thanks for the insight on the SM55's durability. The singer in the band I'm plays a lot of guitar so doesn't do much with the mic, although it's still handy to know, thanks.

The wife of the singer in my band wants to buy him a vintage style microphone, one of those chrome boxy type looking ones. I said I'd ask you fine people for advice as to some guidance on which one to buy, as I know nothing about microphones at all. Thanks in advance. EDIT: this might actually belong in miscellaneous etc, apologies

Currently it's a blues band ...that also does the occasional country, soul, ska, reggae and rock'n'roll number 😎 It depends on the venue, but generally it's blues, if it's a pub we're playing then we'll chuck in some of the above.

I suppose it'd have to be my Squier VM Precision bass. I wanted a bass that could take a few knocks at venues where I knew my gear might be 'exposed'. I bought it for £150 s/h from Rich Tone Music. I wasn't expecting much to be honest. After I tweaked the set up it's been a brilliant bass. It's got great tone, lots of output...it's just a cracking bass. I shouldn't like it because I never really liked the amber/natural see through finish, but I actually love that bass.

I like Fenders, but this just seems a case of some new colours and putting a spaghetti logo on the headstock instead of the cheap looking black one and increasing the price tag. The only difference I can see is the claim that the bodies are hand finished to original specs, so basically you're paying a bit extra for someone to sand bare wood.

I can't play fast and I can't play with a pick... 😎

Basschat is the best place to buy and sell on the internet, no doubt. Ebay and gumtree, I've had time wasters, con artists and unfortunately bought duff gear with no comeback. Facebook can be ok, but that's usually the more local music/instrument sale pages. I think it's the communication between buyer and seller that's key on here, and that's as a result of it being a forum where we all, generally, get on. You don't get that level of communication and trust elsewhere. And where else would I buy cables (@obbm) and wiring looms (@KiOgan) ?

My band played a charity gig on Saturday at a golf club. We started quite early, around 7.30pm as the teams playing golf had been on the go (drinking) since 9am. It was a good crowd and we were asked to do 3 encores...and despite it being a charity gig we were paid, and a bonus for doing more than one encore

I use a Schroeder 212. It's plenty loud enough, it says 800w on the back, I don't know about SPL but it is loud even with a 350w Tonehammer amp.

Saturday night we played another very small pub. The owner loves music, he's in a band himself which played before us, so it's still a good place despite its size (or lack of). It all went well. We don't play rock and pop crowd pleasers, we're a blues band, so it's always nice when people like and are complimentary about what you're doing, despite probably not knowing 60% of your set.