All Activity

Sounds good, but to be fair, I get a very similar tone from my Warwick Rockbass Alien. I ripped the frets out and fitted her with La Bella low tension flats and she growls and sings. Mind, my playing isn’t anywhere near Matt Garrison level 😂

Sad news. As well as the brand, all those people out of a job! Whatever you think of the headstock the technological steps forward: MFD, active/passive tone shaping, locking bridge, 6 bolt neck are worthwhile. I'd really hope that Fender might incorporate some of that into new models if they are the buyer.

I’ve got the old bought OnSong app and love it! Have used it extensively over the years. However, I hate the idea of subscription software so have never “upgraded”.But I’ve noticed that certain functions have started to fall away for it. You used to be able to search for songs generally on the web and that’s stopped working recently. But like orders I’ve got a large library which I’ve built up over the years and also just create my own files using the internal editor.Which is t so hard when you get the hang of it. There are a few ChordPro / pdf compatible apps out there and many are free so not a bad idea to check them out.

yep, it happens I had a Policed gig at a rugby club fun day. They all got plastered and went home, promising to return Organiser offered us the full fee and to go home. We agreed to do the first set and see if any of them come back. They didn't, so we gave it our all for the bar staff. And more recently a St. Patrick's day beer fest in Derby this year.# with The U2 Tribe boys You'd think U2 / St paddy's day were a good match It was a repurposed warehouse and freezing cold and it was rammed with people We were due to start at 8.30. I counted 23 people left but we did the whole set (they said to stop after an hour) but it was my 2nd or 3rd gig and I need the runthrough Got paid 400 quid each though

The general feeling is that if Fender does buy it, it’s to gain the right to use Leo’s name & image, rather than to continue the G&L brand. Time will tell, I guess…

Definitely truss rod adjustment needed there, the bass had probably just settled into your home's ambient temperature and humidity. I have to tweak some of mine (guitars included) with the changing of the seasons. Yep, that was absolutely clueless by the dealer

G&L by Squier 🙂

Sounds like it needed a ⅙ turn to loosen the truss rod. My Fender Performer was exactly this after not bring played since high summer. The dealer let you down.

@BassBags that’s great to hear and thank you for taking the time to clear that up 😎

I think we’ve all played the gig to the bar staff and the gig to a rammed out room. My own highlights include travelling 50 miles to play in a remote Northumberland village pub to the bar staff and pub dog because two local lads were having a birthday party in the village hall (at least the dog seemed to like us), and playing to 4,000 Hells Angels in a big top tent on a Thursday night in Stafford. Locally, live music is often seen as a way of saving failing pubs with the result that you get three or four pubs all offering live music of varying standards within a 1 mile radius. This splits the local audience with reduced numbers all round. Suffice to say that most fail and eventually close or get new management. We’re blessed with a few pubs and clubs with a reputation for good quality live music, and as both of my bands are shall we say ‘niche’, then we prefer to wait for gigs in these venues than take a gig in a dying ‘flat roof pub’ where the meagre audience are not going to appreciate your efforts. But I think we have a huge role to play in attracting audiences. The prevalence of social media means that marketing/advertising your gig doesn’t need to cost a fortune. Timing your advertising is important too, too early and folk will forget, too late and they will inevitably already have other plans. Also, all band members have to share the workload of marketing as whilst we have many common connections, if we all hit the like and share on our bands posts, we will hit the widest possible audience. Oh and posters, many venues still rely on bands sending posters to advertise inside the venue.

Anybody that's had any experience with corporations and acquisitions knows this is true, sadly. It's just a matter of timescales, and the ease of business transference. For the first few years, it'll be "Fender G&L" or "G&L by Fender", until one day someone in management realises they can gain personally by arranging a strategic brand absorption / "realignment". The brand will die in a C-suite Powerpoint pipedream promise.

So does that mean you got a full refund on the bass and walked away?

Maybe half-cut..?

He was certainly board (I'll get me coat).

Alternate viewpoint... This didn't happen to me, but to a friend.... His lot were a locally reasonably well-known Milton Keynes band back in the 1980s. They got a gig at some Buckinghamshire rural pub and turned up to find they'd be playing to a bored barperson and a dachshund (It may have been called Colin). Being troupers, they decided to treat it as rehearsal time and duly played their set. Right at the end, and as they were contemplating a weary trip home, a massive, obviously wacked-out, knife-carrying (it was very visible) biker turned up, alone. He started to dance to their last song. At the end he demanded an encore...warily, they obliged...when they finished and started to take off their instruments he demanded a further song. As he was approximately three times the size of all of them they concluded that it might be better to oblige....remote pub...bar person suddenly absent.... What ensued was a reprisal of their entire set, played by them in a state of abject and increasing terror and a strong feeling that they might never see their loved ones again, as this maniac biker lumbered menacingly around the dancefloor... I think he eventually fell asleep.

Been there Dan, was rather disappointing to find out my (imo) great onstage sound was so rotten in the audience.

Tried a new Standard, impressed with the overall quality with neatly finished frets and low action fast neck. Not over keen on the ceramic pups but planned to replace with alnicos. On second play at home the guitar had become unplayable- horrible rattling of all strings on first to fourth frets. Hadn’t made any changes to the original setup. The dealer couldn’t explain what the problem was but refunded the cost without argument.

Many moons ago I was working as a stage manager at Nottingham Playhouse. On the night Forest were in the European Cup final we had an audience of two. But the show still went on...

Haha, wicked! I've been telling people about this for years - picked the tip up a couple of *decades* ago and stopped boiling strings to switch to this, and it's so good! And yep, they kind of feel played in, but with all the zing you could want - my guess is, the stretch they've had has them at "comfortable playing tension", so they don't need playing in. Such a cool trick, and it saves a fortune! And it'll work great the second time around, and the third - at least. The only thing that happens is the paint deteriorates on the ball ends - but that's it. And thanks to the XLs not having any thread winding on them, the string tops always look good. Nobody can tell it's L'oreal (or whatever)

Typical of the G&L story...now they've closed they're getting the advertising they always needed 🤷

That's good to know. Music retailers are going bust all over the place at the moment. Good luck with the new business structure.

Years ago I was playing in a country rock band. We’d been booked by a rugby club somewhere near Doncaster to play in the bar after a big local derby match. As we were setting up our pedal steel player let us know he’d forgotten his instrument! He played it on around 80% of our songs, so pretty key to our sound. Around the same time we noticed a distinct lack of punters too - apparently the home team had been given a thrashing so their supporters had either gone home in a huff or ventured into town to drink away their disappointment. We kept quiet about our own problem, and sure enough the club steward shuffled over and apologised for the lack of an audience, offering us most of our fee to go home! We tried not to look too relieved as we packed down. 😂