All Activity

I said 'popular music', implying the charts. 5 and 10 of the contemporary ones are good... but possibly synths. I think most of the older ones are more musically interesting (rhythm and melody) than most of the newer ones.

Gigs in the diary! This comes down to the usual question of how much everyone wants to/can commit to the band. Which band takes priority when a member is double booked? If you take a booking will they all honour it? Will they tell you when dates become unavailable? Adult conversation time 😀

Point taken, but I am more concerned with how one motivates people whose main interest is another band. The fact they gig more than us, for instance - would more dates promote us up their practice list? Or are there other tricks ?

Why not just buy a cheap pop up tent?

There will always be conflicts of interest and if your intention is to gig regularly, even as much as a gig every other week, chances are it won’t happen. Its bad enough keeping a diary for one band and it’s members, attempting to work around another couple of diaries is a nightmare.

I probably need to go up into the loft, I'm not sure what is up there any more.

Try to keep as many fingers as you can... 😉

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0vzrxe2y7o.amp https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gr16yyrp8o

I have a new purchase and this paired with my Triton router means I can start making my own bodies from slabs and blanks. This opens up the world of new woods and shapes…..any tips or advice from old hands with a bandsaw?

Sting at the Isle of Wight Festival on now.

Strings, string, strings! I only play 34" for my 5'ers, I don't care for the feel of 35's nor anything longer than that. The quality of the B is what was I discovered it boils down to over the years, and I like bright tones with piano-like attack. I can get along with just about anyone's 4 string sets...these have been made great for decades. but B strings didn't feel as tight in the 90's, but many progressively got better as production techniques got tighter over since the 2000's. My two favorites are DR Hibeam/Sunbeam and then EB Slinky. I've also used Galli with excellent results. D'addario B's is very decent, but I don't love their feel. I cannot get long with any of GHSs' strings. And while I love R Cocco 4 string sets, their B strings are terrible, flabby, and the tone never matches the E-G strings. I have custom Wal 5's that are of course fantastic, as are my StingRay 5's... but you should try my cheap Squire Jazz 5 thats loaded with Galli 40-125 rounds and my own set-up work, you'd think it sounds and plays like a $2k bass! I use 125 B's if I'm standard tuned, and if I get hired by a band that tunes 1/2 step down then I'll go to a 130 B

I alternate between both but always struggle to get my tone right. If I set it for pick, when I play with fingers it sounds boomy and vice versa. I'm starting to think I should just stick to one for the whole set. Any advice?

Float On - The Floaters

Another Charlie Haden performance - sublime but easy to read. This is Haden's part to the Harlod Arlen tune 'Over The Rainbow' from the 2011 Al DiMeola album, 'Pursuit Of Radical Rhapsody'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/over-the-rainbow-al-dimeola/

In my gigging band: The singer is in 1 other band The drummer is in 2 other bands Guitar One is in 2 other bands Guitar Two is in 2 other bands I’m in 1 other permanent band, and standing in for my old band for a while We don’t gig too often, and only rehearse when we have a gig, but when we do it’s tight and sounds good. I think it’s all about dedication and application, not bigging us up mind as what we do isn’t particularly difficult, but everyone knows to show up with their best game.

Ah… Duck Duck Go. Yes I’m aware of their work.

Phil Collins Big Band...Some very fine playing all round:

We have been navigating with difficulty after sacking our singer and losing our drummer. Our current five piece line up includes three people in at least one other band. It’s apparent that, in the two weeks since the last rehearsal, no-one has done any homework or practice, leading to a less fruitful three hot, sweaty hours today than hoped. My guitarist, with me the only permanent one-band member, is at his wits’ end. I am just concentrating on fulfilling gigs. The availability question will limit those, I accept, but that is of less concern than risking losing my most reliable band mate. My question - can a band thrive if most of its members have other, clearly more interesting/lucrative interests? If so, how do you manage/motivate them?