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Hello BCers, I’m approaching 73, and it’s time for me to retire from gigging. This is partly due to minor health issues, but also a lot to do with having no desire to continue driving around the South East at midnight after a gig. It’s become a bit of an issue, especially in winter. After 57 years in bands I think I deserve a long service medal, but I’m not sure who awards these. I’ve been lucky and have worked with some seriously talented musicians over the years. But I’m also not forgetting those bandmates who maybe weren’t the greatest players but always did their best and were genuinely nice people to be around. I’ve written plenty of anecdotes on this forum about my various adventures and misfortunes over the years, and that’s just the stories I can remember. For the last few years I’ve been doing mainly dep work and have worked with all sorts of bands, from elite function bands to local pub rockers. Band politics never change - some bands have been super friendly and obviously really enjoyed gigging together, whereas some bands hardly spoke to each other all night. But I always tried to turn up on time, smile at everyone, and play the right notes, and that’s usually the successful formula for a dep player. I’ll still be a regular on this forum, which must be one of the most polite and friendly forums ever. But that’s what you’d expect from bass players, isn’t it? Sensible comments, witty comments, bit of banter – what’s not to like? Peace and love to you all.

Saturday night, playing with Nine Lives at Wilsons in Aberdeen. Some context for you non-football following types, Wilsons is a football bar. That afternoon, Aberdeen FC won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 35 years. So we were expecting busy times, and so it turned out to be - especially in the second half when people either came in from other bars or had made their way back from Glasgow (where the match was played). It was loud - in most breaks between songs an Aberdeen FC football chant would erupt - we politely let them complete the first few, then we kinda ignored them and just cracked on regardless of what they were singing, lol. So, the gig was going great but unfortunately, as is so often the case at these kind of affairs, one person (there's always one) had overindulged and had a massive navigation fail on the way to the bogs, stumbled over - past the front of me and taking out the singer (who ended up on her backside) and landing in amongst the drums! FFS! I grabbed his arm as he went past, but he was a hefty bloke and there wasn't much I could do versus the inevitablility of gravity So there was a break in the proceedings as we checked on our poor singer (who thankfully was OK, just a bit shaken up) and then the drummer rearranged his kit back into some semblance of order. The guy was steamin' - super apologetic, in that annoying, insistent drunk way - we politely but firmly instructed him to just go to the bog as originally intended. Thankfully, the rest of the gig went without a hitch, I played pretty well - couple of bloops when I was more concerned with protecting my pedalboard from being accidentally stood on, but decent all the same. Roastin' though! I was absolutely disgustingly damp by the end of it. Still managed to do a wireless walkabout during the last song, difficult at times though it was to get through folk - guitarist was soloing his fingers off and beginning to wonder if I was ever coming back! All in all, great night though. Bit of a bummer at the end though - it had been raining during the gig and while we were unloading stuff and packing cars, the singer, having already been poleaxed by a large, drunk guy missed the kerb outside and ended up falling on the pavement, skinning her knees! Talk about being in the wars! She's OK though, bit bruised and battered but unbowed! Gear was the Burny LSB-80 followed by the SGC Nanyo into the usual Markbass cubes.

Glastonbudget for INXS (UK) yesterday; cracking gig and I'd highly recommend it. AQOzzp_MbGHfoAfMTQA1oiNsW-zwmZT5u24bHPuASSIQATZ39KIoRCU9CEJAPvAOx7yQKG27BpFrfK2z5luGATub.mp4

Just back from my second night at the local Folk and Cider festival, this time with the blues band. Took the Orange Terror 500 with 2x10 and 2x12 cabs, along with the 58 P bass going straight in to the amp (clip on tuner). Footwear of choice was the trusty black Dr Martens tonight..... Had a great one hour set of mostly standard blues covers - more lively ones to keep people drinking and dancing!

First night of the Katy Hurt album release tour tonight, at the gorgeous Square Tower in Portsmouth. An almost packed room, my first ever guitar and bass teacher in attendance and the second gig I’ve had with my gorgeous new ACG bass. All in all it was a cracking way to kick off the tour, roll on Bath on Friday 😎 White leather Converse, pristine at the beginning of the evening but now bearing their first (minor) battle scars.

Played the inaugural Lanark Country Music Festival yesterday. One of five acts we arrived at Midday for setup and soundcheck. As usual the soundchecks were in reverse order from performance so first up was the fantastic Eagles tribute band, Hotel Caledonia. Due to some technical problems with the PA this took way longer than expected and we had a very short soundcheck. We had brought our own setup so we provided our own in-ear monitor mix and provided separate feeds for all our instruments and vocals with our XR 32 and splitters. Great organisation from the promoters with an entertainers “green room” with a fridge stocked with drinks (including beer and low alcohol verities) and trays of sandwiches. Every band had a their own take on country and Americana music and the whole event was a great success. Japanese Fender Precision, wireless to various pedals and Sansamp into the aforementioned XR 32. In-ear monitoring with X-Live and Behringer PM-16s. Footwear handmade Portuguese cowboy boots! (What else can you wear in a country band?) Horrendous weather on the journey home on the same roads and probably just a few hours before dmccombe7 (see earlier how was your gig posts) travelled on them. A few photos and a bit of phone clip from the back of the room. AQMyImm4sqAtMgabHtbBDAg22pDg5KQz0TZ9TzGLyz2qXAmPJ_7ztcI63Ewot8UUy7xZzv-ugEwI3jJ4I0aFpPpsLLS_njf9jBuMGrIG5EHViyL2WA.mp4

Cheap but good looking basses from gear4music. Nothing new about the configuration but nice new shapes. Short scale 30". Has anyone actually seen one in the flesh. About £200 a pop, could be worth upgrading?

I'll be 60 next year, so I guess I almost qualify for this. What keeps me in the game is the guys I play with. Consummate professionals each and every one. I cannot think of one bad word word to say about any of them. They give everything at each and every gig. They are the first to criticise themselves and applaud the effort of others. I really can't ask for more than that. I know the bubble will burst one day when someone hangs up their spurs, but for now, I'm the happiest guy.

In addition to the first set of keyboards not working, yesterday, the guitarist forgot his pedalboard, resulting in an hour's round trip to retrieve it. Then, halfway through the second set my strap gave out and was hanging by a single, impossibly strong, thread. What a palaver! Still, get all the niggles out of the way in one swoop. They don't make that strap design in black anymore and I really like it, so this morning was spent ransacking an identical one in red, that I don't use anymore, for parts. Good as new, even if the sewing isn't the neatest. Action pic from yesterday.

I do this to entertain people. I only play at home when I need to learn stuff Yesterday's gig was awesome. People dancing and having a great time Landlord offered more money to play another set, which I would have done, however there's been a death in the family and my wife was picking me up and she's had a diffficult week following the loss of her brother She is one of the reasons that I still play, she encourages me and says that would i do is great Like many of you, I've been doing this a long time, just shy of 40 years I've played every sh!t hole known to the area But now I play for nice landlords and places that I like The tribute bands I'm in only do good gigs I'm lucky that I don't need the money but many years ago, I did need it I'm nearly 57 but can't see me stopping just yet

Just got back from our gig with the blues band - just a one hour slot as part of the local cider festival. Great crowd despite the rain and evening chill (we were on between 9 & 10pm). Dancers at the end for Baby Please Dont Go, and Shake Your Moneymaker - blues is still alive and well in Cleethorpes! 😎

The first live performance with my new band, we did a half hour set at a 'Party in the Park' event. We couldn't of asked for a better start. Great reception/response from those there, we even have a potential booking. It was great to be playing live again after a gap of 7 years.

The Tyrds

We forgave the plectrums @Stub Mandrel, but a bass is a bass, so you're out. At least I assume it's a bass you bought. But when I googled "Kay Gremlin", this is the first image I got back:

Hey ! Thanks for the mention if anybody has any questions about the pedal I'd be glad to answer them. Basically the pedal has a 6AS6 tube in it, running at 230V plate voltage but derived from a standard 9V power supply with a boost converter. The tube can be switched from triode to pentode operation and has a pretty neat sound ! Basstheworld did a cool short demo with it :

My regular daily work is in either building new pickups to customer's sometimes strange requirements - or restoring valuable PAF pickups etc from the 50s ... this stuff is like big Lego! Seriously though ... it's meant to encourage not 'put off' - I think any reasonably competent DIYer with some hand tools and who is willing to learn (there are lots of bits and bobs of knowledge available online) can do as well or better than I have here. Patience and an eye for the end goal are the most important things. I was born a bit stubborn ... that helps too ... man went to the moon when I was a kid, I refuse to believe I can't fix a musical instrument that's essentially made of tree!

Love this thread @Bluewine, so thanks for posting it. Reading all the amazing responses it's generated have been literally life-affirming! Being able to play music, create music and make music with (and for) people is a privilege and a gift. It's communal, creative and joyful for me. And the older I get (now 64 years young), the more true this becomes. I think it was @Buddster who talked in their post about there being an extra special joy and purpose that comes from the 'visceral power of the bass', and that's definitely true for me. [As an aside - whilst I can play guitar - probably well enough to get in a gigging covers band - I'd never enjoy it like playing bass.] So, after thinking it through this morning, I'd say that music's in my DNA, but being a bass-playing musician is in my bones. And that's what keeps me in the game....

I'm definitely out. I've dropped a fortune on a boutique bass. OK, actually it's a dirt cheap Kay Gremlin the owner wants to go to a loving home... it can be mates with my Kay Tulip.

Sat in with a friend's band over the weekend and between wireless guitar systems and cheap IEMs there was so much crappy signal firing around onstage that my wired IEMs started to pick up interference even when not plugged into the XLR. Hard work and not a problem I've ever had before, but luckily only a one shot gig.

This is why I still do it. I was going to say 'despite being 62 years going round our sun' but my age has nothing to do with it. AQOzzp_MbGHfoAfMTQA1oiNsW-zwmZT5u24bHPuASSIQATZ39KIoRCU9CEJAPvAOx7yQKG27BpFrfK2z5luGATub.mp4

I used to use the schaller ones, but always put a blob of thread lock on them, just in case! Only ever had one come away, and it was the bottom one from being bashed on the floor earlier that evening 😲🤬

Seems like 99% of the British Invasion bands 1960- 1965 have origins in the blues even The Moody Blues. I'd say the blues scene in my neck of the woods is a viable, respectable size niche. I think it's because I'm a little over an hour north of Chicago. However, the blues bands don't get the cool high profile big money gigs like the top tier represented cover bands. We're able to slip under the radar because of our Americana stuff. And I think having a female lead guitarist and lead vocalist fronting the band helps too. Daryl

Stay awhile this time. Daryl

A packed room. Those are the best kind of rooms. Lol Daryl

The Icing on the World ~ Cardiacs

In use yesterday at the Dubs in the Middle festival (wicked stage, and the backline provided was an entire 1x15 / 4x10 Ashdown stack on castors - impressed!) - TBH I've seen promo shots of Absolution 5a Elwoods where the binding looks completely identical to this. The finish is impeccable! The binding is the most amazing job, and the bass performed beautifully!

The bottom one has something... Love the plate... Think that would suit the classics of Shell Pink, Sea Foam Green or a Fiesta Red... Nice take on the fret markers.

Hey ! Thanks for the mention if anybody has any questions about the pedal I'd be glad to answer them. Basically the pedal has a 6AS6 tube in it, running at 230V plate voltage but derived from a standard 9V power supply with a boost converter. The tube can be switched from triode to pentode operation and has a pretty neat sound ! Basstheworld did a cool short demo with it:

Yep, me too. Not keen on Dunlop's either. I've gone back to Grolsch bottle washers. Trouble here was that I couldn't see the wear behind the rubber.

Oddly enough i even keep a spare strap in my kit. I have a spare everything from bass, amp, until recent Barefaced cab i even had 2 cabs, even spare stage clothes. Nice to be prepared. Dave

Would love to have been there. I'm just 6 miles along the road plus my mate Eddie is bassist with Hotel Caledonia. Unfortunately we had a booking at Dundee. Great venue for a band. I've seen quite a few band nights in there including our very own @cetera with Dressed to Kill. Happy Days. Sounding good. Looks like a good night was had as the camera operator must have had a few. 😂 Dave

I tried to use the GAIN block to drive the AMP block, but it only resulted in "same but louder", not like an amp at breakup. I only use the gain stage to match my different basses output signals to the Anagram, by making three similar presets (on each bank) with unity gain, -9 dB and +9 dB for the different basses. The block HARMONIC BOOSTER is also very useful to get a nice tone. It really enhances what comes after. I start my chain: Gain - Harmonic Booster - Vintage Microtubes - Peggy Bass... all other stuff on scenes ... BUS Compressor and finishes off with an IR B15 cab from Shift Line. I also put a high pass filter at the end at ~60 Hz just to not make PA guy cry... Well, I do not really care HOW to get a tone that I want; the main thing is that I get the tone I want. Many modelers have "gain stages", but they tend to just sound harsh and kind of trashy in my ears when overdriven. The way I do it gives me the tone most similar to a tube amp - Ampeg or other - without using a tube amp. I have an Ashdown CTM-100 with a H&K Quantum 810 in the rehearsing room; it NEVER leaves the place. I get almost the same creamy-ish kind of tone out of the Anagram into my clean micro rigs and/or PA and studio monitors. I also put the BUS compressor block at the end of the signal chain so I can play with the dynamics into the tone shaping blocks at the beginning. This will surely be a long thread...

I'm trying to do this on bass too. I have the actual bass line but I'm trying to work out the melody part, so far this is what I've got … G|-------15---14~~~~17--12---14~~~14-----------------------------------15\14---- D|-12--------------------------------------15---------------------------------------- A|---------------------------------------------12--12--15---13\12---13\12------------ E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think the next section starts G|---17-- 12--15--14-- but something doesn't sound right there, so I need to do more work on it. Mark

Well, it's a very attractive 78, guards are guards, if you want tort, speak to the Laveguard guy, he does real nice ones that are VERY well priced, compared to many others, and his are really good looking. As far as the noise issues go, might have a lead going into a pot lug somewhere that's loose, but I would first try squirting some contact cleaner into the pots. If that don't work, check under the bridge for contact with the bridge earth wire. I usually sand a patch in the nickel plate where the bridge earth wire contacts the bridge to ensure a good "connection". If you were mad enough to want to throw money at aftermarket pickups (those factory pickups should sound lovely) you can lift out the whole lot, pickups, pots, jack and bridge earth wire by taking off the guard and lifting the bridge so the when you pull the bridge earth wire out of the tunnel it stays soldered to the volume pot. And because the rout from pickups to control bay is a trench rather than a drilled tunnel, just pop off the knobs, unbolt the pots and jack and it'll all come out without having to unsolder anything. If you did go down the aftermarket pickup route, you can just send a bit more on new pots, cap and jack. There are a few comparisons of Fender PV 63's and Fender CS 62's on Youtube, check them out, personally I think the 63's sound a little nicer than the 62's - but in all honesty, your 78's are gonna be so similar it isn't worth the money splashing on aftermarket pickups. And bolting another heavyweight bridge to an old Fender always leaves marks in the paint usually because those things have a much larger footprint than the stock bridge and end up making your bass sound like it's made of solid metal - the OG Fender bridges are light and don't reflect string vibration away from the wood of the body like those massive Badasses and Babicz things do. There's cheaper less invasive and less unsightly ways to get more "sustain" out of a P Bass, like stainless roundwound vs nickel strings, or simply EQing or turning up the treble knob on your amp! I'm 59, I've owned multiple P and Jazz Basses, and NEVER had a "stability problem" with stock bridges. And I've played 1000 shows between 1984 and now. By all means, change what you want to but in case you haven't noticed, mid to late 70's P Bass prices have been going through the roof, because pre-1970 P basses are now heading to the damn moon, and if you make irreversible mods to this really good looking bass, you'll live to regret it if you ever need to sell it. PS attached pic of my 69ish P with a Lavaguard...

I'm going to start taking pics of my footwear. Daryl

That's what I call a proper gig. Very nice. Daryl

Half way through this afternoon’s gig. Slow start as keyboards refusing to work, but all good after. Parking is an absolute nightmare and it’s all gone up in the pay and displays by about 30%! Still, appreciative crowd, which is nice.

Rubber Bullets - 10CC

If they are 4 ohm cabs it is a no go unless your amp is a rare breed of 2 ohm capable kind. Unlikely. 2 x 8 ohm cabs should always be fine. Once in a blue moon a cable or socket can be miswired. That can really mess with you mind. You would hear it as a dropout of most of the low end.

… And then, it arrived yesterday, of course. I‘m not complaining, though! Without further ado, here is the catalyst for my shattered intentions: That’s a 2010 Ernie Ball Classic Sterling in coral red with a beautiful birdseye maple neck - and the new stable mate to my 2011 Classic Sterling in natural with birdseye, too, but a rosewood board: I really do enjoy the idea behind these: A smaller body than a Stingray, but slab. The classic 2-Band EQ, but a series ceramic pickup. Beautiful necks, one piece bodies, and the absolutely fantastic bridge with mutes. So rare to catch even one this side of the pond … I couldn’t keep them apart. So, I‘m out - but not too sad about it. To the rest of you, keep up the good work and don’t let me drag you down!

The Buddy Holly Tribute in our touring multi-tribute show is now 79 years old. Still out there and gigging. I also work here and there with a drummer who's now 76. As Rhino says, "You're Never Too Old To Rock & Roll".

Played at Fryshuset Klubben Stockholm yesterday. 300-400 in the audience (Emergenza Stockholm and Swedish final). 14 bands, so hectic with only line checks. I brought my Warwick $$, Mesa Carbine M6 for the backline and a TKS W2128 cab. I plugged in my Quad Cortex, which was overkill, as our 20 min set didn’t really need any bass tone changes. I could have gone straight. Had a great time and had several people come up afterwards and say how much they liked the performance. Cherry on top was we were among the audience top four picks.

I just love playing music, if I’m honest I don’t really like all that comes with a gig anymore, but playing I just love. I’d be happy to only rehearse and record nowadays.

You cannot spell Bass without a B. Come at me 4 string zealots.