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Two lovely shows for me this weekend, I used my old jazz bass for the first time in ages (and now cannot feel my shoulder and my back is killing me!) …. But my sound engineer loved it and asked me to use it forever 😂😫 Sat was just a local pub jobbie, but apart from the cramped conditions and sweltering heat was a lot of fun. Sunday was a headline slot at a local festival, which is always a total blast…tempered somewhat by the news that my father is critically ill just before I took to the stage. I managed to sneak a quick crowd shot whilst the house lights were up briefly between songs, which was nice Although the best snap of me has caught me with a plectrum in my mouth which is somewhat unflattering!

Sunday saw us (Rascallion) making a return visit to a local pub we've played at twice before. When the date was originally booked back in January, it appeared to be just an ordinary beer garden gig (albeit on a Bank Holiday Sunday), but earlier this week we found out it coincided with a charity tractor run and fun day in aid of the local hospice, raising expectations that we might have a decent sized crowd, a lot of whom probably hadn't seen us before. Sure enough, the parade of 35 vintage and modern tractors attracted a decent number of folks who all seemed keen to make the most of the day, despite the occasional heavy showers - at least the beer garden now has full marquee coverage so everybody (including us and our gear) stayed dry through the downpours. The first set wasn't too bad - Mr Singer threw us a curveball by forgetting half of the second verse of "Guitar Town" and jumping straight into the bridge far too early, but we scuffled our way through it. There then followed an unexpectedly long break while the organisers held the auction and raffle. On the plus side, I came away with a canister of automotive cleaning wipes and a £20 meat voucher from a local butcher, but it would have been nice not to have to hang around for a whole hour before we fired up again. Quite a few of the tractor folks left as soon as the raffle had finished, so the first couple of numbers in the second set were punctuated by tractors grumbling past just behind us, but on the whole the set felt a lot better than the first - whether it's down to the choice of material or a confidence thing I don't know, but it usually seems to be that way. The folks who did stay on to watch us were very complimentary at the end, the onstage sound was good (despite Mr Singer draping his coat over half of the drum monitor... 🙄 ), and for once I could actually hear myself properly, and my tone was exactly how I always want it to be! Next gig is a birthday bash at a local village hall towards the end of September, for which we've been asked to play a / any song by Kenny Rodgers, as he's Birthday Boy's favourite singer. After giving it a whole 30 seconds thought, we've chosen "Ruby" - hope he likes it!

All I can say is we pulled it off. Respectful size crowd. Middle to Upper Middle Class folks. Surprisingly not very big tippers. Mostly singles. In Thiensville most folks are dropping 20s. We kept the stage volume low which was nice. 2 issues, number one it was cold and windy and number 2, I had a young lady accompany me and it was a little distracting. I'm usually solo at gigs. Couldn't get many pics this time. I wore a bright blue polo /golf shirt. Blue

Last night's foray was O'Neill's in Leicester. A good crowd in who enjoyed themselves....still demanding more songs when we'd finished and run out of encores. We played well and apart for the odd glitch here and there, carried it off with aplomb. Here's a vid of 'Tenessee Whiskey'. The guitar solo in the middle is worth waiting for 👍 VID-20230828-WA0000.mp4 No fights this time although the police did cordon off a section of the street round the corner and some poor bloke was lying prone on the pavement 👀

Played a mini pub festival in Barton on Sea, Hampshire. Country-themed, hence the hay bales, but we blagged ourselves in as blues/Americana. Forgot my Stetson but went walkabout with my wireless so it would probably have blown/fallen off! Elf and two Barefaced One10s more than adequate… I bring the second out once a year! It’s possibly the only time I have ever had a view of the Isle of Wight from the stage. (Pic taken while setting up). What could be better? Oh, and our dep drummer breezed it. Happy days!

Two gigs this bank holiday weekend, and a tale of two halves really. Saturday was the Rifleman's Ball. We were on at 2pm and played to a decidedly sparse crowd. Sure there were pockets of dancers and everyone clapped but there was about 300 people in a venue that can easily hold almost 40 times that and it had a very empty feel. Anyway, I don't care because for the first time in my not-so-illustrious 'career' as a bass player I played the Newcastle Arena. The same stage that I have seen Iron Maiden, Rammstein, Green Day, New Found Glory, Bill Bailey, Eddie Izzard and many more. That was a massive, massive tick in my life column and something that I am insanely proud of. Sunday was a bar on Roker beach. Small, sweaty, busy, and I had to suffer the indignity of carrying my own stuff, which was a real come down after the roadie-filled luxury of the arena! However, the place was standing room only with dancing and singing, so really the opposite of the Saturday for sure. Both great fun in their own way. As I know you'll be asking. The band is The White Line. I'd post the link but we're not accepting any more gigs and winding down so you're likes would be wasted! The rig in both cases (because I'm too lazy to pack a car TWICE in one weekend) was my trusty EBMM Stingray, a G&L L2000 as backup (never out of the case this weekend), and Shure wireless into a HX Stomp. Saturday: Sunday:

Small festival in a field in Shaftesbury, North Dorset, with Jamarca. Good gig, nice pa, good sound guy and great sound. After our set I had a little chat with the bass player in the next band up - nice guy, nice G@L bass. When they started, he absolutely tore it up - Chilli Peppers, Sir Duke (with horn solo!). Ever been in that situation that you're super impressed, but hoping he makes a balls up somewhere along the line. Alas he didn't! Just as I hoped he wouldn't start slapping - there he goes! It also turns out that the band is an informal pick-up band who have barely rehearsed together. That's it - bass on eBay tonight!

Football club do. Drunken youngsters, beer and people all over the place. It was flippin' great!!

Even Jamie Carragher thinks our working area is a bit cosy... Back to Huddersfield to play at The Plumbers Arms. Got lost three times on the way there (thanks, Google Maps!) but fortunately our ability to setup was hampered by the pub being full of people watching the Newcastle v Liverpool game so I wasn't late. We had barely enough room to fit all our gear and us with not enough tables being moved and the pub being rammed because of the bank holiday.My entire rig (bar my pedal board) is hidden by our guitarist Jen and her big coat, but it comprised my Sire V7, Trace Elliot Elf head and Barefaced Two10S in portrait mode. I was told to turn down twice, so I could barely hear myself as I was stood in between the PA speaker and the guitar amp, but muscle memory got me through again. I only managed to brain two people with the head of my bass, but both were gracious about it and promised not to sue us. The landlord even tried to book us for another gig before Christmas but for various reasons this isn't feasible, so hopefully we'll play there again in the new year.

Today, the big room at the Earl Haig. Got a last minute call saying venue PA is out, can we bring our own. Caught alex on phone just as he was leaving, so sorted. But meant late set up. Opened to punters at 5, very empty big hall with maybe a dozen or so as we got close to soundchecking. A few verses of Johnny B. Goode with ten minutes to go and more like 20-25 people. Got a cheer, but then nervous discussion about rain, bank holidays and record numbers going away for the weekend. It's a pay to enter gig and we were worried we mighg play to a couple of dozen people. We need not have worried, it didn't get packed but we had as many people in as I've seen for one of these Sunday gigs. First song was ok, second was Oh Pretty Woman and my sound was glorious, huge throaty growl. Went down a treat. All three of us played the best we ever have, Alex's vocals have really strengthened and his guitar work was on fire. We had a great time and really put on a show. Tried to finish on time but no option but to do two encores. Afterwards great feedback, happy punters, happy venue and very happy band. That was definitely the best gig I've played ever, just felt spot on. Downhill all the way now! 🤣

This afternoon, at The Gate Inn, Loscoe in Derbyshire. A multi-band event to raise money for the regional air ambulance. The originals band, Diamond Bridges.

Two gigs this weekend for Mustang Sally without our regular lead guitarist who's in Spain having a 'working' holiday (he's a therapy consultant and getting paid!). As our rhythm guitarist has given in his notice effective end October we invited his replacement (keyboards/vox) to dep for our lead, so still a five piece but a rather different sound with no stadium rock guitar heroics, but some nice Jools Holland-type keys instead. Saturday was a late start at 9pm at the tiny social club in Mere (Wiltshire). Place was rammed with a - for us - very young crowd (teens-40) who loved what we did and we had a great time - back home at 1am... Sunday was an afternoon start 5.30pm on a very smart mobile stage outdoors at the Castle Cary Cider Festival, with our set ending just before the rain came down at 7.15. I have to say that the crowd seemed to enjoy what we played as they necked every type of medicinal apple juice ever invented, singing heartily along with us especially with 'I am a cider drinker' (arghh!). The stage was a lightweight articulated unit behind a smallish prime mover - it featured lighting and power from an external genny, changing area, steps, retractable canopy and lighting gantry - all in polished aluminium and very stylish compared with the grubby curtainsiders we're used to. WOT NO BASS? Now here's a thing - we had to include my three sax numbers on both nights to fill the sets out. However, without our lead guitarist taking over from me on bass while I honked out front I was a bit worried that the band might sound feeble. However, Dave our new keyboard guy filled in very well with left hand bass and all went ok, tho' I'm looking forward to Francis's return next month... Here's a link to our last number on Saturday - more to feature the sound I'm getting now from the MM Bongo than any claim for originality or musical merit - yes, I'm ready to collect my coat! Best listened to on headphones - recorded on a Zoom H6 on a windowsill behind the band...) https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2unr7uje04lg6yktrzm3j/Best-Days-Mustang-Sally.mp3?rlkey=t3mz6qncp7sqhpm7nlycpk4ok&dl=0 Here's a couple of pix from Sunday - the stage rig and Gasman posturing again while blasting out 'Geno' on sax... and I swear that the Z Cars T-shirt had been washed since the pic of me wearing it for our West Bay gig last month!

Just coming round from a busy weekend, Saturday night playing, Sunday watching other local bands. Saturday night was a great night as the last band on at a little ‘fest’ in the village of Tideswell in the Derbyshire Peak District. All the PA, back line and drums were provided which made life easy. The crowd were up and ready for us when we came on at 9 and the weather stayed fair till the finish. It appeared that the whole of the village had turned up and boogied along until the end. These are the sort of gigs we do it for 😁

Last night.

I was sat playing the bass earlier and noticed there was a tiny bit of logo colour on the headstock. Wondering if it had just been painted over I grabbed a couple of alcohol wipes and bingo!! The truss rod cover was painted too!!

What does it matter? Is anyone forcing anyone to listen to any potential new Stones material? Is anyone forcing anyone to go to their concerts? No, they're not. If you're not interested stick to playing covers in the local Dog and Puke and be on your merry way. If you don't want to still be playing at 80, feel free to be filling your incontinence pants listening to what ever tickles your what not. It's up to the Stones what they do. If there's still an audience for whatever they're up to, all the best to them.

Never mind the singers head what about possible damage to the bass. You can replace a singer, not so much a nice bass. Dave

Just one of the many reasons for going headless - then you only stick the end of the neck into the singer's ear if you really mean to.

There's tons of bands making use of tracks, for sure, but that doesn't make it karaoke. I'm sure artists would love to have a massive band line up on stage recreating all the parts they'd like to squeeze in, but it's not financially or logistically practical for the vast majority. Even for bands touring reasonably sized venues, every player you add to the show adds a cost in wages, catering, travel, accommodation, rehearsal time, equipment etc. You add a few extras players and you need to start increasing the crew size to manage it. You go past the amount of people you can fit on a sleeper bus and you have to add an additional bus and driver to move your touring party around, with all the cost and logistical issues that entails. For smaller bands touring in vans, you can fit 9 people including driver in a typical tour van (any vehicle carrying more than that requires a CPC trained driver and a tachograph to log drivers hours, so isn't commonly used in small scale touring). If you can squeeze extra players in, you still have all the other additional costs attached, and given that the vast majority of tour vans are usually already running over the legal weight limit when packed with backline and a few bodies, accomodating extra players and their kit safely and legally isn't really practical. Operating costs on tour are higher than than ever at the moment and budgets are being squeezed. When you see that side of it, you can see why it's more practical for bands to add additional elements on playback than it is to add another couple of musicians to the lineup. The majority of bands that use click tracks and playback are using it for parts that enhance the overall impact of the show, but are still a fully functioning musical unit playing live together. Some modern genres of music are more dependent on electronic elements that don't all lend themselves to being recreated through live performance too. Running a click track also means that lighting rigs and other visual elements like video content can be locked in sync to the performance, adding to the overall experience that's created for the audience. Some artists I work with are using click tracks live purely to lock in with timecoded visuals and don't have any playback element to the show at all. Expectations for production standards on live shows have risen considerably over the last couple of decades, so artists and their teams are just making the most of the technology available to create a memorable experience for the audience. The majority of the crowd at most shows aren't musicians, they're there to see and hear a show and be entertained. A drummer having a click in their ear, and a couple of layers of backing vocals and keyboards being dropped in on playback doesn't invalidate the performance that's happening and the experience that the audience are enjoying.

That’s a beauty, the 62’s are so nice and sound fantastic, amazing instrument,I too recently acquired this AVRI 62

I have recently acquired this 2003 AVRI 62 P complete with unopened covers, lead and manuals. It is in very nice condition and sounds lovely with a lightly used set of La Bella LTFs. I think it may stay with me for a while.....

If I want to hear the nuances of Tommy, I can do that at home. I want to experience Live at Leeds, if you get what I mean. I'd rather it raw and genuinely live than an effort to perfectly replicate the recording. For me, live is all about the musical energy and, in the parlance of the young people "living the moment", by both band and audience. I generally don't go to big gigs where you get all the elaborate visual fluff but I do understand why it's done in this day and age. There is a beauty, however, with an adrenaline-fuelled blast through a song 20bpm faster than the original, which gives genuinely live music that something extra. It should be a different experience, filled with flaws and, for want of a better term, humanity.

After somehow managing to squeeze a five-piece band into a space about 8' square last night, and having hit a couple of people in the head because of the close quarters, a headless bass sounds very appealing for smaller venues.

I play in a venue with a small stage. I use a short scale headless at that venue. It’s not quite the same as your situation in that we do have a stage, but it does mean the stage is less cramped and I can face the audience directly (rather than having to stand at a funny angle). And, very importantly, I don’t need to worry about wacking the singer on the back of the head.

Here's a video from last night showing the close quarters, taken by the guitarist's husband who was stood at the bar. The lady with the green hair tie and her mate in the blue dress were the perpetrators of the bass to the head incidents.

I'm 72 and moved to North Dorset almost 3 years ago from Leicestershire, where I played in 3 different bands. My original plan was to carry on playing in my old bands and drive up for gigs etc - that didn't work out - 3.5 hours of ravelling and the A303 put paid to it! I wouldn't say that North Dorset is a hotbed of contemporary music excellence, but I decided that I didn't want to hang up why bass on the wall quite yet. I posted in on my village Facebook page, you know, bass player seeks musicians to make sweet music with, and eventually got a reply from a local guy. His band just lost their bass player and they were looking for a suitable candidate. Got together with them, had a chat and a jam and it all fell into place. Turns out to be a really cool band, some very tasty, funky original songs. I'm now playing the best gigs in my entire music career - just as I thought I was done! The moral of my story is: don't give up, you never know what's round the next corner - and age really doesn't seem to be an issue. In my experience, If you can play the stuff, make a good sound, are physically capable of playing sometimes quite arduous gigs and get on with people, there will always be opportunities out there if you look form them.

Also, why is the choice "either/or"? I would be interested in both contributing to AND reading a PA subforum.

All Right Meow - Free

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwdcI6yInzO/?igshid=MWZjMTM2ODFkZg== Mrs Scalpy has done a post about the gigs from yesterday I mentioned in my post!

My most recent gig (Friday night) was on lead guitar with a rock’n’roll outfit. My big problem was the excessive vocal monitor volume, which was most unpleasant during the first set. In the second set I wore an ACS plug in my more sensitive right ear (blocking the vast majority of the sound) and a Doc’s Pro Plug loosely in the left. This meant I could still hear my guitar! The other (more tech-heavy) solution I’ve found is to use an IEM setup and feed it via a speaker-emulated DI box run from my amp’s spare speaker output. That way I can always hear myself even if my amp is turned down low.

A while ago I finished the build a a rather challenging bass build. The Brooks QB. This 34" scale twelve-string bass is a tribute to the Quad Bass that Jol Dantzig from Hamer built for Tom Petersson in 1978. Except I didn't put a mixer in the built-in panel, but two effects! A big thank you to Bas Becu from BQ Music for building the SansAmp type overdrive and the Aguilar TLC Compressor. - Mahogany body. Les Paul Junior Double Cut shape - Flamed Maple top. Sun burst high gloss - Body back, sides and neck: Mahogany gloss - Pearloid Binding - Glued neck, mahogany/maple five piece laminate. - Two spoke wheel type double action truss rods. - One carbon stiffening rod. - Ebony Fretboard. White side dot inlays - Sintoms Jumbo frets. Nickel-silver - 34” Scale - Buffalo horn nut/ string guide - Custom made 12 string bridge and tailpiece. Black - 4 x Gotoh GB 350 bass tuners. Lightweight. Black - 8 x Gotoh ST-31 Octave string tuners. Lightweight. Black - D’Addario EXL 170-12 strings - Gotoh large black strapnuts - Pickup 1: Lace Alumitone. Black - Pickup 2: 2x Nordstrand NM4 - 2 x Switchcraft output. - 2 x Volume. On/off switch with led light for each effect - Weight: 4,5 kg I'm pretty sure the new owner is Gonna Raise Hell on this monster! I'll post pics of the entire build process in separate posts below...

Having just spoken to Mrs Zero: @cetera - Charvel 3B, ESP Surveyor '87, Fender FSR PJ Precision, Hamer Impact, Italia Imola, Spector NS2, Spector Euro, Spector EuroX (Spectorbird), Spector Pulse II, Spector Dimension 4HP, Gallien Krueger 400RB & Legacy800 heads, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 cab @TheGreek - All short scale this year - a @Jabba_the_gut scale 5er, Mini Ray, Short scale P bass @Harlequin74 - Zoot Performer, Status Shark, Spector QV4 , Markbass TTE501 and Matching CAB. Maybe the Lehle Basswitch… @Frank Blank - @Jabba_the_gut short scale fretted and fretless, JMJ Mustang, QSC K12.2, Grace Design Alix @TrevorR - Mk 1 Wal, Wal Pro IIE, Aria SB700, Frankenjazz, pedals and MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 @bnt - travelling light, probably a couple of pedals such as T-Rex Diva Drive, Orange KongPressor @bass_dinger - 1999 Washburn XB500, 1994 Washburn XB500, Washburn XB925 in zebrawood, Washburn XB925 in bits, Boulder Creek 5 string (likely to be for sale, SWR Workingmans 12. @greentext- 2008 Spector NS4-H2, 2015 Sandberg VS4, 2000 Trace Elliot T-Bass, my pedalboard and my tin of picks 😈 @prowla- Probably a couple of Rickenbackers and some interesting oddities. Amp-wise a Markbass EVO and a 1x12 (last year I bought some others to try and never switched them on, as the EVO sounded spot-on). @SuperSeagull- Status S2, Feline P Bass, Modded Fender Lyte, Flea Jazz, MB Combo @Merton - various short and medium scale ACGs, Zoots and Conway basses, Barefaced cabs, modern Trace Elliot amps @MacDaddy Shuker (probably no3), Snapdragon Folding Bass, possibly a Rob Allen Mouse. @neilp - matching pair of fretted and fretless 1980 Aria SB1000s, possibly my fretless Wal mk1, Ashdown ABM500/Ampeg 4x10, Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig @NickD - Strunal Schonbach 5 String DB, and whatever else I can shoehorn in the car around it... hopefully a MD CMD121 H, Zoom B6, and maybe a Maruszczyk Jake and a Shuker Series 2. @walman - converted Wal Pro, Zon Legacy Elite, Status S2, G&L L2500 fretless, McMillen 12Step & DSI MoPho, Two Notes Bass Revolt, Trondheim Audio SkarBassOne, BackBeat2 (and my BackBeat1 will probably be available for sale). Darkglass Microtubes500 and one of the Barefaced cabs. All depends how late I leave and what will fit in the new car 🚙 😁 @Smanth With my small, light, battery powered gear (mostly) ... IBBY-Ibanez GSRM25 5 str sub short scale, 'ELIMA - Kala California 5 str fretless ubass, QUINN- HB 5 Str Fretless, MOD Dwarf based pedalboard, Boss Dual Cube Bass LX. (Also some toys to sell) @tauzero - the basses that @TheGreek made me buy (handmade 6-string headless, Pedulla 6 fretless), Roland GR-55, one or two Seis, anything else that occurs to me, Mrs Zero (probably)

Tasteful!

Hope your dad is ok. I see what you mean... looks like a fag!

Nailed it @dmccombe7 😎

Back to black for a bit. I still dig it. Maybe I'll try an aged white plate next

Looks like a 2600

We played an outdoor event yesterday, in a combination of rain, sun, wind and a bit of thunder. Fortunately we were well covered and the turnout was pretty good in the circumstances. A few songs in my MB setup wasn't right. Not enough volume and no bottom end. I could see the speaker in the combo pounding away but no movement in the extension cab. Between songs swapped out the speakon lead for a spare jack to jack speaker cable I carry and all was good but these things are always a bit stressful when they happen mid performance.

Last two gigs have been wrecked by decibel meter.Now before I am berated by comments of turn down then.These things were set at ridiculously low levels.The disco with poor low end as usual played at a volume that could wake the dead.We produce a quality full sound at a very low volume and trip the meter.It’s been a long time since we had this happen even in venues that have decibel meters in.Even after speaking to the agent after the gig he mentioned the problems artists playing in these venues are complaining that it is becoming really difficult to do there shows.His option is to put in a single act with backing.He then tells me the venues want bands with drums but the meters will not accommodate them.I have been playing for more years than I wish to admit to and played through 70s 80s when meters were everywhere and had no issue.We have now decided not to play anymore of these venues without the option to bypass or adjust the level.If we are not required to play at these places then so be it.We will always accommodate volume requests levels but sound quality to suite a decibel meter is non negotiable.The shows were very well received and we even got apologies from some of the audience on having our show wrecked by these meters.

Second gig of the weekend was the modern rock covers band (Wednesday’s Child) playing a little pub in Dorking. Bank Holiday weekend meant a sparser crowd than usual but they seemed to enjoy it and we had fun. Two new additions to the set, one of which is the wonderful Twisted (Everyday Hurts) by Skunk Anansie - what a bassline 😀 - and both went ok I think. Now for a busman’s holiday, off to a beer and music festival as a punter 😎