gjones

Dave swift takes his Bergantino gear with him on tour (Jools Holland's bass player) but it's just for show as I believe he has an endorsement with the company. He uses in ear monitors and stands on a plinth that vibrates with the bass notes, so that he gets the impression of standing in front of a big old bass cab, when in reality the master volume is turned to zero on his amp. Sad but true.......

Here's some good advice.

At age 18 I went into Sound Control in Edinburgh and the shop assistant was a condescending twerp. I met him again, 40 years later, and guess what, he's still a condescending twerp.

I've written to the Queen, complaining about this very subject, several times. So far I have received no reply.

I tap my foot on the offbeat. Don't know why? Although I did play in a Ska band for a couple of years.

Chris recently bought my john east pre amp and the deal was smooth as a baby's bottom. Recommended basschatter.

Real nice bass sound you have there.

I experimented with replacing a 200watt 8 ohm speaker with a 400 watt 4 ohm speaker, into an Ashdown EB 150 combo . I also replaced the 150 watt amp, in the combo, with a 500 watt one. I was told that I was mad and that it wouldn't work but I did it anyway. It sounded great and I played it in various bands, with great success, for a couple of years. So go for it.......what's the worst that could happen?

I suggest, to make it perfect, get a new wiring loom to switch controls to master volume, blend, tone.

I went to see a band called Mamas Gun, at Lafayette, in London, back in January. The band played to a packed house of 600 people and the sound was excellent and the PA looked pretty 'state of the art'. Fast forward to the beginning of this month and I saw them again, in a small club under a railway bridge in Glasgow, playing to about 50 people,through a not very 'state of the art' PA system. But the sound was equally as good, if not better, at the gig in Glasgow. Interestingly the bass drum did sound too loud for part of the first song but after that everything, including the 4 piece harmonies, sounded fantastic. Their sound engineer really needs a medal. Interestingly he was introduced halfway through the gig by the band, and took a bow.

I've been in the position, in years gone by, where gigging was my main source of income and every gig was a good gig (even when we played in dives to a less than appreciative audience), as long as I got paid. 10 years later and I continued to gig but the money I received from playing in a band was no longer my main source of income. That's when I started to be picky about where I played, and with whom I played. I've refused to play gigs where I was concerned about my personal safety (I got kicked out of that band because I didn't fancy playing in a dodgy bar where people regularly got stabbed/glassed). I've also refused to play with certain other musicians that I wasn't a fan of, or I thought weren't up to the job. I refused to play at a political party's rally (although the money was good), as I didn't believe in their politics. I still love gigging though and I still take it very seriously, as even though it's no longer my main source of income, I have a professional attitude to getting things right even though, in reality, I'm no longer a professional musician.

The Barefaced Super Compact needs some serious oooomf to compete with a loud drummer. Whatever head you get, make sure it has decent power if you're using that cab.

I played through one in a studio I was recording at. I tried to pick it up from on top of the 410 cab it was on...... I couldn't. I therefore assumed it was screwed to the top of the 410..... it wasn't. They are VERY heavy.

I suppose it depends on your taste in music but I found some of my favourite bands on that list (not necessarily the headliners on the big stages). I've never been to Glastonbury but if somebody gave me a free ticket, I'm sure I'd have a great time there this year.

I've been in bands where the other members used our gigs as an opportunity to get slobbered. They actually played better when they were drunk (well they had a lot of practice). My playing, on the other hand, doesn't improve with alcohol, so I steer clear until after the gig.

I'm the same, it's silly really, as I've owned/own a few Squiers and I know how good they are.

I don't see any beer fridge....???

I recommend buying a Fender Rumble 100 V3. I bought one used and it's excellent. Stupidly light, good sound and at least as loud as a PJB suitcase. I have a Markbass CMD121P too but it's a lot louder, than your old Suitcase combo and, unless money is no object, is possibly more than you need.

I always heard the Police song 'Canary In A Coalmine', as 'Mary In A Coma'.

I have carpal tunnel on my right plucking hand and wear a wrist brace when I'm playing bass and working at a computer. I had to have an operation on my left wrist and I don't want to have one on my right. I use a weightlifters brace on my wrist while playing (it just looks like a heavy duty sweatband) and a velcro wristbrace, which I got from Boots, when on the computer. I've done this for the last 10 years and thankfully the carpal tunnel hasn't got any worse and doesn't hurt when I play. Prevention is better than cure.

The majority of the Basschatters on here are men of a certain age (between 45 and 65). They wake up grumpy and go to bed grumpy and then wake up two, or three times in the night for a pee, and are grumpy then as well. So feel free to ignore their attempts at humour 😊

As I've got older I get less optimistic that everything will run smoothly. I bring every conceivable tool know to man/woman, strings, batteries, spare amp, spare pair of underpants. In 99% of gigs my gear works perfectly but other band members gear malfunctions, batteries go dead, fuses blow, jacks cease to work, etc, and I am the savior of the day.

I have two GK MB amps, one is 500w and the other is 800w. When I gig I bring both of them, as they're not much bigger than a paperback and both are extremely loud. You can pick them up pretty cheaply secondhand.