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I joined a tribute band a couple of years ago. We do about 40 gigs a year all over the country - Scotland to Cornwall - and we get decent pay per gig. I’m the sort who likes to be open and honest so I called my car insurer to tell them I had taken a part-time role as a musician and needed to amend my policy for business miles. I had heard of a friend’s friend who had difficulty claiming when his car was smashed up on the way home from a gig as he hadn’t mentioned his gigging so I wanted to avoid any such hassle and was prepared to pay a bit extra to avoid it. My insurer’s reaction to my call was to establish whether this was really work or a hobby. Their cut-off seemed to be no more than two gigs a month and little or no overall profit would be a hobby. I confirmed it was a bit more than that but I wouldn’t be getting rich. They then asked when my next gig was and told me they would cancel my policy from the day before as they didn’t insure musicians or entertainers! It was very difficult to get new insurance at short notice. All the household names refused to insure me as a musician but eventually, through a specialist broker, I got some at twice the price of the previous policy. The broker specializes in entertainment clients but could only find one obscure company willing to insure me. This policy is now coming up for renewal in a few months and I am considering my options. Clearly, many people will be within the hobby definition and that’s fine. Some others may be making a profit but not telling their insurance company. You guys and gals don’t need to reply to this. My question is to those of you who are making a living/profit of some sorts from gigging, especially other tribute band members, and have declared this to your car insurers: Who insures you? If you are feeling especially helpful, a DM with some idea of the cost of your policy plus the car you have, annual & business mileage would be appreciated. I’ll happily share my details with you. I understand not everyone will want to make this public and I will keep all such data confidential. I’m guessing there must be more than one company out there insuring working musicians so I’m hoping you can help me find them. Thanks in advance!

No Bingo just a 30 minute break. I. Fact my Legion (we played there last week) also fired not have bingo just a cash raffle.

DR Hi Beans for me.

Just did a bass part-ex with Mark and, unsurprisingly, was a joy! Thanks 🙂 Si

I was thinking of getting one because they are in all the videos from the big churches, but then discovered a combination of my fuzz, octave pedal and chorus gave a similar effect without having to spend any extra money! I felt all satisfied that I was equipped to make that sound, but then only ended up using it once in a six month period, so ended up taking the pedals off my board again! Out of interest do you have a load of songs where you have a need for it? My experience of church is that 95% of the time a simple punchy bass tone is all that is needed!

I bought my vintage est96a there in moulsham street c 2007

Grab stands are good but not always the answer.

That said @lvrossem, I'm in Belgium too, in the deep South (La Gaume) a few kilometres away from Luxemburg. Who knows...

I don't miss calculating that my entire PA was 2000/240 = 8.33 amps so fine in most single sockets, while the 12 not particularly great stage lights were 12000/240 = 50 amps meaning working out how to distribute them across different circuits every frigging time... and that's before we even worrying about gels, burned out bulbs, general fire hazard... so no I don't miss that!!

Urm, urm, if you turn from left to right wherever you are, you are turning clockwise, which means tightening the truss rod, so exactly the opposite, except if it's a left thread, which is quite rare these days.

The first music shop I encountered was George Potter in Aldershot in 1963. They were mainly involved in providing instruments for military bands but hada few guitars and basses. It was there that I bought my first real bass, a Framus Star bass. The following year a brand new shop opened just 10 miles away in Guildford called Andertons, and the rest is history. I also remember visiting Monkey Business in Romford when I happened to passing on business. Not strictly a music shop but I bought my first real amp, a Linear 30, from Radio Component Specialists (RCS) in Croydon. That was followed by 4 Bakers Group 25 speakers which were fitted into a cabinet the same size as a Marshall 4 x12. When I briefly worked in London in 1965 I used to break my journey from Waterloo to Islington at Leicester Square and walk up Tottenham Court Road gazing into Macaris and all the other music shops, especially the shop under Centre Point. Alas I had no spare money for any more gear then.

What Was I Made Faure? - Billie Eilish

"Why Didn't They Go Back" We had a disastrous "bar gig" a couple of months ago. Bad acoustics , not much of a crowd, out in the " boonies" , long commute and the crowd that was there had no interest in us. On the way home we decided we would cancel the August 16th booking. I guess we never went through with canceling the gig. We go back next Saturday for more torture. Blue

Nice looking bass Clarky

A Fool For Your Stockhausens — ZZ Top

From Spector website:

I specifically bought the Ian Hill model as it has a slimmer neck profile, front to back. As an FYI, the Doug Wimbish models have a J (1.5") width nut, so are also easier on the left hand than a standard Spector

Very nice Clarky. I was up at Tony's house last weekend setting up a few basses for him. Nice job with the crown inlays. Looks very special. I only wish Spector necks were thinner (fingers to thumb), because they never suit me. I had a spalted maple Euro with Aguilar pickups for a couple of hours a few years ago until I returned it to Andertons.

An addition to the Stairway to -

Bach to you - Bryan Adams

Just did a bass p/x trade with Simon, our first deal in a few years. As always, a gent to deal with and I am very happy with the bass I received in exchange. Top stuff!

Nah-that was only the Yorkies !!!

Forsooth, I spy The electric lute

I'm was going to go for the obvious used options, ie. Hohner Jack / B2A are usually very reasonable, but instead I'm going to go for one of your other suggestions - I've been using a Cort Artisan Space 4 for the last couple of years (started with a Space 5 first) and they're a great, compact bass. Very light, too. I keep mine permanently in the boot of the car as a backup, or teaching bass. Highly recommended!