asingardenof

Yeah, we pay £33 for three hours when we rehearse, and the place has nine rehearsal rooms. I don't think there's ever been more than three or four bands in there at a time when we have been there, so I dread to think how long they might be open for. I know another band who pay for their own rehearsal space, but they have to practice a lot to make it cost effective.

Yes, absolutely. I was reading an interview with Kirk Hammett the other day where he said he hates having to play the same stuff all the time (not that he doesn't like the songs, just that fans expect them to be played more or less as they sound on the record). He said he deliberately went into the recording of the latest album with several options of what to play on the songs so he can mix things up a bit. I imagine that that sort of thinking may play into what you're describing here, although it sounds like ego is the biggest factor.

Definitely still a thing, I don't think my band would cope if someone suggested we do a rehearsal over Zoom.

Does your backup have to be a Fender? Have you considered a Squire, Sire, etc.?

Bought my Ashdown ABM head from @walshy. The transaction couldn't have gone smoother, and it was nice to meet in person to collect it, albeit in the less than salubrious surroundings of the Scotch Corner services car park in the rain (my suggestion though, I hasten to add, apart from the rain bit which neither of us could help). The amp sounds loooooovely DI'd through my Focusrite, and I can't wait to hook it up to my Barefaced Two10S at the earliest opportunity! In short, a pleasure from start to finish!

I can heartily recommend this as a low-budget option, I love mine: https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/181102334391008--landlord-fx-a-cheeky-pint-optical-compressor-mini-pedal

For anyone down Cornwall way, I can heartily recommend Chris at Tube n Truss, based in St Dennis if you have a vintage amp. Chris did an amazing job on my old Marshall Super Bass (https://fb.watch/jJq8aOm8ei/), which I'd still be using if a Covid-induced funds deficit hadn't necessitated selling it. https://www.facebook.com/tubentruss

Sitting down pushes the fat outwards, so resting the bass on your leg means either it'll slip out and you'll be playing at a weird angle and putting pressure on your wrist, or you'll have to stretch over the top of an upright bass and, again, put pressure on your wrist. I have to set the strap much shorter when I'm sitting than when I'm standing which is why I have one for each. I'm around 300lb, so rotund is an understatement.

I stand corrected!

This sounds great in theory but falls down if you're somewhat rotund.

I only use one to check my neck relief. Other than that I haven't had the need to, but I'm not against the idea.

It is a first gen ABM so it is a *wee* bit out of warranty 😁

Fortunately the fates have allowed me to buy a replacement ABM from @walshy (with more than a little help from @merton who is proving himself to be a saint) so hopefully all is well.

I also love it. It's very easy to play, and running in passive it sounds amazing. Haven't had much need to play with the preamp but it seems decent.

Yep, Sire V7

Sub-optimal, but ended up OK. The gig started OK, but midway through our cover of Regret I noticed a nasty smell and suddenly couldn't hear myself any more. Turns out the ABM had gone poof during the worst possible song. Fortunately the pub has a reasonably clued-up sound guy which meant I could DI from my Behringer BDI21 so we were able to complete the gig, but because of the position of the PA speakers I could barely hear myself. I'm told I did OK though, so yay for muscle memory. Now begins the serious quest for a new amp though.

My current band plays Enola Gay, which is boring AF to play. Root notes on F, D, Bb and C throughout. Andy McCluskey went to the same school I did though (19 years before me, I should add) so I'm doing it to represent a fellow alum.

Granted, but if one is just after insurance cover then there are more cost-effective options out there.

But you're tied into membership for the full year once you've signed up, so it might be more cost-effective in the long run to get a separate policy.

It was a bit before Leo was born so must have been some form of lute possibly? (This is a screencap from the film Hysteria, which is, well, hysterical, if you haven't seen it)

My first ever gig with some mates from school, and being quite naïve about such things I decided that we were playing one song (I think Cake's version of I Will Survive) too fast, so decided during my solo introduction on the guitar to slow things down to the original tempo. I looked around before the main song kicked in to see the drummer absolutely livid with me mouthing "Speed up you wombler!". Not only that, but I'd been using a mate's Epiphone LP Special to practice (we already had a bass player so I was roped into learning the guitar), but during our soundcheck was told it sounded stinky poo by said mate's dad who was a pro studio engineer, so had to borrow the main band's guitarist's Gibson LP, which was my first experience with block markings on the fretboard and completely threw me so I messed up the solo at the end. More recently I forgot that my current band does a cover of Let Me Entertain You in E (rather than the original F) and so was playing a semitone too high on that song for three gigs before I worked out why I sounded so terrible.