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This year has been really busy for me with bands. it's also been like bootcamp for my playing. I started the year in a 3-piece rock band that we'd been doing for a few years. Originals, obscure covers, mainly desert rock style. Only a few gigs a year at small venues. I'd recently retired and was looking for something else in addition. I joined what appeared to be a reasonably busy established (15 years) covers band and learner the 30 songs and went out gigging regularly. It was good to get back into that regular routine however there were issues that I've covered in detail on other threads all the issues. Then in September, the band announced it was splitting in December so I started looking around. I auditioned for a busy, long-established Bristol-based cover band and got it. I'm currently learning a 40 song list. The new-to-me band has a great vibe, a very interesting crowd-pleasing set and is a real team effort. I got to see the last show with the outgoing bassist and chatted to him at length, which was really useful. I think I've learned around 80 songs this year in total, I've also managed to focus on improving my technique, my reading, my ears and my theory in in parallel with learning the sets. I'm up to around 30-40 hours a week of focus and am enjoying it more than ever. The band I started the year with split, the band I joined to expand my activity split and now I'm getting ready to rehearse and gig in '26 with the new band.

I bought a modern Hofner violin while recovering from a back injury - it had a good thumping bass sound and weighed so much less than a solid body bass. I wasn't so keen on its 'look' so sold it once I was recovered. Lately I bought a bass ukulele and that reminds be a bit of the Hofner.

suspect things like apple pay will be able to cope…. or any credit or debit card linked to an underlying wallet populated with whatever stable coin variant/s are adopted for use.

Very nice - I really liked mine too, but as per usual, something better came up and I traded it in. The Pure Vintage 64's are among the best passive Jazz pickups out there. Mixed with the free-breathing Nitro finish and you've got an unbeatable passive combination. I have the same pickups in my American Original Jazz. Congrats, you've got a great bass there!

I am SO looking forward to the Ten Items Or Less checkout at Sainsburys in an era of blockchain for everything ...

Curt Smith has played them for best part of 20 years I believe, a lot longer than he was a 'pop star' in the 80's. Johanna from First Aid Kit switched to playing bass live around 2017 and consistently alternates between a Mustang and Hofner for specific songs. Tame Impala primarily uses a 500/1 for recording, it's all over multiple albums of his. Air have used them on a couple of albums, but most importantly all through Moon Safari for classic basslines such as La Femme D'Argent - which is the reason I wanted one... They've all used Hofners extensively for live work and/or recording. I'll let you off with Weller, although I've seen multiple photos of him playing both Clubs and 500/1 😉

Sorry I should probably have offered a bit more advice. If you aren't used to metal bashing steel is really forgiving but you can stretch it and even bruise it if you are too rough. use a soft faced hammer in this instance and keep the hammer square to the work. Swinging in an arc will mean you are beating with the edge of the hammer concentrating the force on the edge instead of spreading it. Find a flat rigid surface supported so it wont move or bend. The idea is to 'push' the metal down onto this surface. I found that I could simply push the sheet flat with my hands to start with. That takes out the convex curve but leaves the edges which have a more distinct fold in them. Turn the grille upside down and start to adress that. Use gentle blows with a soft hammer and remember you are trying to push it into shape so you can go gently and use repeated blows rather than trying to knock the hell out of it. Work steadily around the piece. You'll now find bits that were up are now down so you'll need to flip the grille again and try from the other side and it will gradually get flatter. The other thing to note is that beating the metal heats it slightly so lots of repeated blows will soften it, slowly working your way around means you'll find the metal starts doing what you want. I find it quite therapeutic That makes it all sound a bit complicated, it isn't. Just work steadily and it's a job of a few minutes

I bought a pedal from Jim, great communication, well packaged, deal with confidence! Thanks!

As a tribute, we needed a Showreel, so we did a mash of DIY and pro. Recorded audio ourselves at a rehearsal space (individually not as a live take), guitarist's brother is a bit of a whizz at recording. Went to a theatre to mime to the track on a stage, where a guy did mate's rates for multiple shots of video. The guitarist has the know how to then edit the audio and video to this end product. Probably cost us £300 to rent spaces and pay for video recording but would have cost x3 that if our band didn't have the knowledge and contacts to bring it together.

Tube Snake Boogie - ZZ Top

Love Me Like A Reptile - Motorhead

I have to stop playing too much. The Bluegrasss band has two booking agents and we’ve got 60 dates in the book, including 4 European trips. As a result, I’ve canned all other projects (aside from a Blue Note jazz band) as it’s not fair on the family.

This'll be our biggest challenge!

This is excellent advice. Last function-style band I was in we rented a studio and paid for a professional to film and edit it. Paid itself back within 2 gigs.

Another fine Bass Chatter. Great comms and no messing about.

A band I am rehearsing with recently made a showreel. The BL has his sights set on theatres, for which you need something that an agent can send to a venue. First we made multi-track recordings of a couple of rehearsals, and I edited together acceptable (but not perfect) versions of the 6 songs we’d chosen. It helped a lot that the drummer plays an electronic kit! We then hired a small theatre and a videographer came along and filmed us miming to our live-in-the-studio recordings. We got mates’ rates because the BL knows him and he is trying to break into band showreels. Afterwards the videographer edited together a draft and there then ensued considerable back-and-forth over what did or didn’t work. I think it’s finished now and will be launched in the New Year.

I love the caterpillar one 😄

They look brilliant, what a great find!

Have you missed out on any gigs because you didn't have a show reel? That's probably the most important question to ask. If you do think you need one, then do it properly. A badly produced showreel will probably put more venues off than no showreel at all. Unless you have lots a spare time and are interested in learning all about filming and video editing, pay for a professional. IMO you need good sound - the ambient live mix picked up by the camera is not going to cut it. The band need to look like a band and not a bunch of middle aged blokes who happen to have picked some instruments and the venue where you film should be as undistracting as possible. Good luck if you decide to go for it.