Franticsmurf

We have a gig to support one of our favourite charities, Matthews House (a drop in centre/cafe/advice hub for homeless people) on Friday. Last night's rehearsal was a chance to go through some old favorites and pick out the best for a short set following our performance with the charity's choir. It was quite a relaxed affair and I think we've settled on the core songs, with a few extras should the need arise. The event is to start a '24hr sleep out' raising money for the charity and it's being held in the Swansea.com stadium so technically, my 'How was tour gig last night' post will be for our stadium gig. I somehow doubt it will be a 21,000 seat sell out, though. 😀 As it's an outdoor event and the weather forecast is for rain and cold weather, I've been practicing with thin liner gloves just in case.

In the mid 2000s I remember standing on the stage of a club in one of the Welsh valleys with the band I was in at the time and thinking 'I'm so bored with this set, I need a change'. We hadn't changed the set for more than a year and we seemed (to me) to be playing the same venues over and over (a lot of the clubs looked the same and had the same characters running them and booking the bands). I quit the band on friendly terms and as I used to share bass and rhythm guitar duties with the other rhythm guitarist/bassist in an attempt to make things a bit more interesting, they were able to carry on without me. I took about 3 years off and initially I had no plans to return to bass, so I sold almost all my gear. I was tempted back by an offer of an Eagles tribute act (which didn't fully materialise) and ended up with the same guitarist/vocalist as before in a trio/quartet (depending on who was available). It was good for a while and I stuck to bass but the same stagnation crept in again (the BL's argument was that we were gigging so often that we didn't need to rehearse, which was true of the current materiel but meant we weren't getting new stuff in) so once again I took a break. This time it was for the best part of 5 years. In 2018 I retired and with time on my hands I helped the previously mentioned BL with his rockschool (a summer school for his music students). At the end of the rockschool week, he organised a gig for the bands that the students had formed and somehow, I ended up in a scratch band with him that finished the night off. And stayed in that scratch band until 2022 when I left to join my current band. Both times I left for the right reason, at about the right time and it did me no end of good. I stayed friends with the band members and didn't burn bridges (that's not who I am). I think I came back a better musician both times an this was as a result of taking the pressure off and allowing myself to enjoy playing music rather than it becoming a job.

The Hulla band played last night at a hoedown in the village hall where we rehearse, to raise funds to repair and maintain the building. Country and Western isn't my thing so I wasn't enthused by the setlist, and much of it was new to the band so the run up to the gig was a trail of rearranged songs, last minute set list changes and, frustratingly, a key change with 24hrs to go that meant I had to relearn a tricky bassline using open strings instead of the all fretted version. I always struggle with including open strings in a riff for some reason. All in all a good night. Well attended (we sold just under 90 tickets which meant the hall was comfortably full) the bar was popular and the bangers, mash 'n' beans went down very well indeed. From a bass perspective, most of the songs were quite simple but I have developed a liking for Johnny Cash as a result of learning three of his tunes. We tried to include as many line dancing type songs as we'd heard that a large contingent of the audience had been practicing their line dancing for the night. Sure enough, there were about 20 regular dancers for anything vaguely line danceable. Our backdrop was a series of old black and white cowboy movies on a projection screen and there were the inevitable cowboy hats. I used my Squier PJ into a Laney Digbeth preamp on the valve setting, with a touch of drive to add warmth. That went straight into the desk and I monitored using a Behringer P16 and wireless system with earpieces. I've changed the gain structure on the IEM system I use and it has resulted in a much clearer sound in my ears at a much lower level. For a couple of songs I played up the neck using the edge of the neck where it joins the body as a thumb rest. It gave me a nice thick tone for 'These Boots'. Highlight of the night for me was 'Rhinestone Cowboy', which I'd made the effort to learn the full bass part for and it gave me a new respect for the musicians playing on those kinds of songs. Footwear was a pair of ordinary black boots, cowboy boots not being available. Hat was by Amazon. Checked shirt courtesy of a local BHF charity shop.

I'm sorry but I couldn't tell you how the bridge affects the sound as I don't really have any experience of comparing the two designs. I bought it because I was on the lookout for a semi acoustic to give me that woody sound as the band were doing songs that could benefit from it. It was also bought to replace an acoustic bass that just wasn't holding up at acoustic gigs. I'm very happy with the sound - it's usually played via a clean pre-amp with little shaping into the desk as the natural tone needs nothing else (in my opinion). I had previously tried a Sire GB5 which was a nice bass but uncomfortable to play and the sound was too 'clean'(i.e. not woody). I was fortunate enough to see the AGBR200 2nd hand in GAK and snapped it up.

My unscientific measurement suggests that the string spacing at the bridge of my AGBR200 is 18.5mm with an overall width (outer edge of string to outer edge of string) of 57.5mm.

Ibanez AGB200 or the tastefully reliced AGBR200. They are short scale basses but very nice to play and a lovely 'woody' sound.

I used to gig with an Epiphone EB 3 which had awful neck dive and sounded very muddy. I've used Gretsch Electromatic which looked nice (I love the Les Paul shape) but lacked definition as well. That's moved on to a better home (my dep in the band). I have an Ibanez EHB1000s which I've used as my main bass where space is an issue, and as a back up as it's small and convenient and I can dial in a decent sound. I also gig an Ibanez AGBV200 semi acoustic. Short scale basses are easier to play for me as I have guitard sized hands, but I still prefer long scale. But if I have a tricky fast piece to record, I'll usually reach for a shorty.

A good rehearsal really boosts the batteries.

I have the same attitude about my two main hobbies - photography and music. When I worked, they were my escape and stress busters and while both have earned me money over the years, I made sure that neither became sources of income that I relied on. This has meant that I can still enjoy both today and I can choose the projects/band/assignments that I get involved with.

When I was in my first band playing our own songs, the main writer was the drummer. He was very good, but had limited bass and guitar skills. He'd bring chords and rough lyrics to a rehearsal and we'd set off from there. I was the guitarist at the time so we'd work together (the drummer was my best mate from school so we were on the same wavelength) but my main contributions were riffs and middle eights. If I wrote a song on my own, it was usually reasonably complete and, without the influence of others, not the sort of song the band was looking for. The other guys would also write now and again and more than once we jammed new songs pretty much from scratch in rehearsals. The singer was usually responsible for the final lyrics. I write my own songs now but I do miss the collaborative process and it tends to take a lot longer for me to finish a song. I often find myself with a form of writer's block which a second opinion would usually overcome. We tried remote writing during lockdown but the spontaneity wasn't there.

I had to stop watching as it was so annoying. The cameraperson was clearly trying out their new steadycam rig. 🙂 Kept listening, though, and the performance was amazing.

Thanks for this Phil. It took me a couple of read throughs to get it and my simplistic, non-technical 'take-away' is that if you expect to increase your amp volume between rehearsal and gig, then also expect to change the EQ balance to retain your sound/tone at the new volume. From a practical application point of view, expect to have to lower the bass and treble EQ levels or raise the mids in order to keep the same tone. I will be trying this at the next rehearsal (using the difference in home practice to band rehearsal volumes).

I find that no matter how much time I spend on nailing a bassline, run fill etc at home, it takes two or three (or sometimes more) run throughs with the band before I can play it as well as I could in personal practice.

Having recently acquired and SR300, I would agree with @TimR that it is a very good bass for the money (mine was a shade under £300. But being a 'new' bassist, I think the right way forward is, as @Len_derby has said, to try a selection of different basses. Being an ex-guitarist (I came to bass via the same route many years ago) it's about string spacing, neck profile etc - in other words the feel of the bass - as there are a number options that affect playability. One bass to consider is the Bass VI in all its forms. It's a six string, short scale bass that has very narrow string spacing (closer to a guitar than bass). Coming over from guitar, this might result in less of a learning curve. There are version from several manufacturers - I have a Harley Benton (Thomann own brand) one which is very nice and was cheap but there are Fender and Fender Squire versions as well as other brands that I'm sure others here will be able to talk about. I think there's a dedicated thread to the Bass VI in the 'Bass Guitars' Forum (click on the forum and do a search).

Great song and video. Loved the lipstick writing and removing letters to make new words/meanings. I liked the bass drone and the sound used for it - bass guitar plus pedals or bass synth (or both)? And, for a reason I can't explain, I really liked the countdown at the end. Good luck with the album release.