Leaderboard

I played at our self organised Hullabaloo festival yesterday. Apart from being the assistant stage manager for our sound man, I was in a 5 piece band made up of people from our 13 piece main band. With two gigs, one of which lasted a marathon 4 hours, it was a busy day. The 5 piece played in the late afternoon and were the first of the bands that managed to get people up and dancing - seeing folks bopping along is always a moral booster. We hadn't been able to rehearse much and although everyone is a competent player, there was that 'will it all come together' feeling just before we started. Part of the reason for doing the 5 piece splinter band is to give the players a chance to expand on what they do in the main band - so each year we choose a couple of songs that will challenge us and feature the players who would normally be at the back of the stage. This year our Uke/trombone player (who is an accomplished guitarist) chose 'Sultans of Swing' on which she played the lead parts and our sax man picked 'Baker Street'. Both nailed it after shaky rehearsals and Baker Street was one of those performances that you realise early on is something special - everything just clicked - and it was amazing to be playing it. It's those moments that remind me why I love playing gigs. Of course, there were a few dodgy moments, mostly involving my singing ('Sultans' and 'I'm a Believer' and a distinctly off key element to my backing vocals on our opening number, 'Pinball Wizard'). But it was all good and there were some nice compliments for the band and my bass playing. The main band (the Hulla band) went on just after 7pm to a full village green - perhaps 700 people - and we played until just after 11. The festival is a charity event and we raise money for, amongst others, a local homeless drop-in centre. They have a choir and we had them on stage to sing with the band (they had played their own set earlier in the day). I always love the choir and band combination as the voices add an extra level to what were doing. This is the 5th years I've played this gig and it was by far the best performance we've done as a band. I was very happy with my sound - I went through the desk with no backline and using IEM and my Sterling bass was sounding so good that I decided not to swap basses half way through as I had originally planned. My kit line up for the day was a Sterling 34HH through a Sine Effects HPF (set at 40hz), MS60B for compressor, noise gate and octave/chorus (for one song) and an Ampeg SCI DI (unused back-up bass was my Ibanez 205). For the songs I played guitar on I used a Squire Telecaster that went through a Zoom MS50G+. IEMs came from a Behringer P16 personal monitor mixer fed from our Behringer X32 desk pre-fade so I had my own monitor mix which I was able to adjust (for example, when the singer decided to play his harmonica at full last through his vocal mic!) Footwear was courtesy of Skechers (if I mention them often enough I should get the sponsorship deal I'm after). As usual no photos have yet emerged of either of the bands I was playing in (as I was the principal photographer on the day). I will amend this post if/when they appear. Edit: Some photos from the night.

Good gig at the Felton Club in Peterborough depping with Stevie Daniels. Nice club, good stage, fun and engaged crowd. Played well with a couple of minor goofs. Pedulla MPV fiver through elf head and Genzyme Benz 1x12’s. Justin boots.

This thread is about music, not politics or paramilitaries or gender identity. That's why it's in the GD forum. Please stick to the subject or it gets locked. Thank you.

Last night a new venue for Nine Lives - Maud Football Social Club. Maud is a small village with an old woman's name in rural NE Scotland. Incidentally, it's also where we rehearse, so in a way it was almost like a home gig for the band! Early one too - 8.30-11.30pm, which makes a nice change. So we rock up and are pleased to find a large, empty space for us to set up in, loads of power sockets - dream start. Not an extension reel in sight. We got set up, and got going. A few folk came through from the main bar into the function area and we had folk up dancing most of the time. I wouldn't call it super busy, but with a few folk up dancing in front of you it makes it all worthwhile. We did have some trouble getting a decent sound - the area is quite wide and whilst this did give us the ability to put the PA speakers quite far forward, it created a bit of a dead spot where people were dancing, which got complained about. Sorta solved it by angling one of the PA speakers in a bit to fire a bit more in their direction and that seemed to keep them happy, but we will have to think about counter measures for situations like this in the future - perhaps have a monitor wedge, not so much for our benefit, but for the dancers! Got some nice comments after, some folk came up to chat to us and said they had a good time, so happy days. Gear was a flock of Thunderbirds into the usual Markbass modular monstrosity. And another thing... I don't want to hear about "Thunderbird neck dive" as a default from any of you so-and-sos in the future. The way some people go on about it, I must own the only two well behaved T-birds on the planet FFS! Enough! Even the headstocks are still intact! I don't want to hear it!

Hot and very sweaty was the order of the night last night. All good fun with the FrankenJazz sounding lovely, though the Darkglass master seemed to be at a point where it was lovely but a bit too loud, or knock it back the tiniest touch and the heft was lost. We found a happy medium and all good running the sound ourselves as our sound guy was running another gig. Had a girl come up and try to talk to me, mid-song and into the ear with my IEM in, 🤦‍♂️so that got us nowhere 🤣 Sets went well, but by the end of the night the crowd were flagging in the heat. Wifey did say that there was still singing and dancing going on round the corner in the other leg of the bar, so maybe the feeling that it fell slightly was at odds with that 🤷‍♂️ Generally a good crowd and lots of nice compliments after, which is always nice. Next week I shall be pirating at KingsFest 😁🤘 9370f972-e34f-4ffb-b44d-95013a28d48a.mp4

We had a funny/odd moment on stage last night. It’s a well played in show where everyone knows their parts and suddenly, towards then end of a song, we sort of found ourselves drifting. All of us… we were somehow off track, simultaneously falling asleep at the wheel and none us knew how it happened. When we came off stage, I asked what was up, fearing it was me, but everyone else had the same experience, thinking it had been them, in a sort of “I am Spartacus… no, I am Spartacus!” moment. 11 people, all inexplicably lost. Fortunately, our singer who is an absolute machine in moments like that, managed to guide us to a slightly bumpy landing. How bizarre - no clue what happened.

It's like some people just don't get it. If you don't do something to create a bit of a vibe then a venue will stagnate and die. Then they will be out of a job. Miserable, undeserving, a-holes! We had quite the opposite tonight when the lady that booked us brought us the money at the end of the night and told us we were on more money next time! We didn't ask for more - it was thrust upon us. The place had been redecorated since last time we played - they are investing and it seems to be thriving. Anyway... Conservative clubs. A few years ago it was jacket and tie. Ladies might even bring along their silver shoes for a bit of ballroom dancing. Woe be tied to anyone who sat in someone else's regular seat. Well that was back in the 80s. I'm glad to say the political party clubs that have survived have needed to adapt, modernise and be appealing, especially to a younger crowd. Hence we were playing at the "Conny" club tonight, lots of younger people there. I think we pulled in probably 40% of the crowd. 20 years of playing together and making sure you post gigs up on Facebook pays off, as well as plugging the QR code that I created. It certainly helps us get rebooked. I forgot to take any photos. You've seen it before though if you've read my previous posts. "Stingish" bass, GT-6B, Fender Rumble v3 500, purple suede Gazelles. I wasn't sure if I liked our sound at first. It grew on me though as we knitted together (and got slightly louder/hit a nice balance). The recent decor has changed the sound of the room, but probably for the better. I just hope the loos are next on their list for some attention as they could do with it

IAfter last week's depping gig with the soul band normal service resumed on Friday with my main squeeze - Felis Leo. We played a Salisbury Live gig in a pub in town. No support, no sound guy, just us for the whole evening! As well as our tunes we played a smattering of covers plus our new song about the guitarist's great, great, auntie! (She was a witch, true story 😄). We had a great time, the band is fairly tight, the sound was great...no sound engineer, that's weird 🤫. We rocked it basically. I've been using my ibanez over my Lakland 55-02 in this band lately. Playing thru a TC Electronic BH550 and a pair of Barefaced one10s. Wearing Airwalk The Ones 😁

I don't gig a lot these days, but I did a very sweaty gig in Basingstoke last night with a soul/rare groove band. An appreciative crowd, and a good time was had by all, but dear god, it was hot! In that level of humidity, the skin softens, the strings get sticky, and this morning my fingertips and thumb really hurt. No proper blisters, but it was a close run thing. I obviously need to practice more...

On lead guitar last night with an ‘anthems’ band (all the predictable stuff that has punters losing their poop) at a nice old pub just outside Portsmouth. When I’ve played there previously I’ve noticed that single-coils pick up a lot of buzz, plus we’ve been in a ‘box’ area in the middle of the pub which made it feel very loud despite the earplugs that I always use. This time, instead of a Strat I took my modded Steinberger Spirit with (noiseless) Lace Sensors as well as my Tele Deluxe (humbuckers). Also they gave us an area backing onto the front windows, which was much more open and allowed for better engagement with the audience as well as reasonable ventilation. What a difference! The on-stage sound was loads better and my Steinberger has never sounded as good. The landlord is great with us, providing free drinks (which for us means coffee and soft drinks) and paying above the odds. The only downside was the long drive home to Swin Vegas.

After getting my Competition Burgundy Vintera II back from the workshop on Friday (it was suffering from a lot of hum and turned out to have an earth wire missing from factory), I suddenly found this morning that I have a 'Tale of Two Mustangs' on show.

Gender identity starts with an individual's right to self identify as their gender of choice. Gender is a social construct, society is always changing and members of society have the freedom to build their own gender identity. Stonewall define gender as "A person’s innate sense of being a man, woman, non-binary or another gender". I think Raye is using her platform on national television to support our non-binary friends at a time when they are literally under attack for simply being who they are. More power to her. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gender_identities

Two weekends in a row…air conditioning on stage. The gig seems unimportant if you’ve got sweat rolling down your butt crack. Rock’n’Roll

Last nights gig was delayed due to a game of football so we didn't start until 9:45. We sat in an empty room until the match finished where about a dozen or so came in from the bar area. The few that were there enjoyed it, pretty drunk by then I'd guess, singer dose not drive to gigs so he was well oiled too. But he dose a great job engaging with them and will take himself and his radio mic over to them and get them involved. He was loving it, I hated every moment. I struggled with the drummer who was all over the place and a guitarist who I'm sure was at another gig. I made plenty of mistakes too it must be said but it's hard not to under the circumstances. I used a 1x12 Markbass combo on its own and it preformed brilliantly with plenty of power but I was unhappy with my Sandberg as I just couldn't get the right sound out of it, great in some areas and completely lost in others so need to do some work with that. So a successful gig according to the singer and the venue who have rebooked us but from my point of view, effin' awful! But both myself and the guitarist agree that a lot of work needs doing and this shambles has to improve.

We've had four reports on three separate posts withn three hours on this thread, which I think has to be a record. If not, then its definitely a long time since things have kicked off this much. Polite request: We don't have to agree on everything but can everyone keep the comments to constructive criticism rather than platforms from which to jump off into other agendas? Better, yet, just say you didn't like something and leave it at that...or even focus on the stuff you did like. Thanks in advance.

Electrician here. @Marky L's bodge isn't quite as unsafe as you would imagine. The top pin on a plug is used as a path for current to flow to earth, should this be necessary (when there is a fault). As a safety measure, British three pin plugs will not enter a socket without the top pin present. You may notice that the top pin is slightly longer than the bottom two pins; when the top pin enters the socket, the guards over the socket holes for the bottom two pins will open and allow the bottom two pins to enter. You can't access the bottom two socket holes without the top pin entering first. This is to stop kids, or anyone, sticking their fingers in a socket and getting a shock. Marky's pedal board power supply is a 'class 2' bit of kit. Class 2 kit doesn't use the earth pin for safety (it doubly insulates the live terminals inside the plug instead). Consequently, he only needs the top pin of the plug to be there to open the bottom two pins and connect the plug to the power source. The big lump of a pedal board PSU plug houses a transformer, which takes the 230 volt mains down to a pedal board friendly 9v (or something similar). 9 volts are quite safe.

For this gig we were supposed to play various sets around the festival site to spread our jazzy vibes (according to the site). I guess that this made us look a bit like buskers - at one point a child accosted me between tunes to offer me 50 pence. Nice that it was the bass they liked best. The audience appeared to like what we played, but it's quite accessible jazz. The weather was quite good:

Finally found Gary Numan's set. Bloody awesome. Sound issues I read about seem to have been addressed with a bit of post-production.

Hi Dave, Here's a pic of my 1994 Gibson Thunderbird. It's a great bass. It's a shame I don't gig much with it. Daryl

Peter Capaldi had a great time with Franz Ferdinand, and they seemed to be doing a good job too: https://fb.watch/Ax75cP1lNG/

I read that as 'Stormy'...

Well I watched thirty minutes of Charlie XCX to see what the fuss was about. What a disgrace. Miming, no band, just nothing but a flashing screen and a recording. Shouldn’t be allowed at Glastonbury.

Very much so. These artists have experienced way too much angst to be able to hold a tune. Just try and appreciate the authenticity of their pain.

Where driving is concerned the Quebecois are only slightly better in following the rules of the road than the Italians. But in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts one has to fail an IQ test to get a drivers license. 🤪

He's the sort of bloke who I think would be brilliant to have a pint with but by the time you've stuck around for a third or fourth he'd probably start getting on your nerves. And I mean that in the sincerest, nicest way possible.

With luck, your Jazz body would come out of the vacuum bag a bit like this: Then, ALWAYS cutting across the grain and not along it, you use the curve of the body sides as your blade guide: After some careful sanding along the line, again, across the grain line and not into it, it should blend in pretty well:

This concert, from 1974, will only be on YouTube until this Tuesday. Frank Zappa channel. Awreety awrighty!

I agree. A lot of smiles and looks like he's really enjoying it. And making the band really inclusive. A nice change from some taking themselves far too seriously.

80 years old, recovering from the flu, stupidly hot weather and allegedly spent £300,000 of his own money to bring the full band over from Vegas for this one gig. He's earned his time for me so I'll cut him a bit of slack...

Nice to see her doing well at a festival for a change, after what happened to her duo.

Let me fix that for you 😁

This is just an initial take, in headphones, and it might be slightly unfair on the Classic Pro as I have not had a chance to change the strings yet (not doing that until I get chrome tuners). To my ears, the Classic Pro is darker sounding, much more prominent in the low mids, whereas the Vintage Pro has a somewhat fuller range of sound, a bit more top end and a more balanced (but still very aggressive) attack. The difference might close up a little when I fit fresh strings to the Classic Pro, so may revisit this question again. But it is broadly as I expected. The Gibson TB+ pickup, love it or hate it is a growly, mean sound, with that emphasis on the low mids, but retaining a full bottom end and a (possibly only perceived) lack of top end as a result. The Epiphone Probucker 760 is more balanced - it's hardly "hi-fi", but it's an honest-to-goodness passive humbucker which is a tad easier to work with as an all-rounder. It's all EQ-able of course - you can make the two sound like each other more or less by tweaking some EQ. I don't like one better than the other, I know both work great in a live setting (because I played them both last night) and that's all that chiefly concerns me - I don't tend to evaluate basses predicated upon how they sound on their own much, hence my lack of vocabulary for describing such things. But you asked, and that's the best I can tell you right now.

This has been on the cards pretty much since I first discovered ACG 11 odd years ago. It was @eude’s Finn 4 which first drew me to @skelf’s basses and very soon after that I saw a Holly-topped Finn. I’ve been hooked since the first bass I bought, and for a long time had a Holly-topped Finn in my wishlist. It almost became a reality about 5 years ago but I never got beyond the “annoying Alan” phase. Fast forward to last year, an ebony Finn which Alan shared on socials made me hatch a cunning plan for a yin/yang pair of basses - one holly, one ebony. Specs were developed, plans were hatched, then I had to be sensible and drop one of the two. Naturally I kept the holly plan as it has been on the list since day one, and the shape changed from Finn to RetroB. Thus this spec was born and a deposit was paid last July. Today the 5 string bass of my dreams was delivered. She sounds as good as she looks, and I’m over the moon 😎 So, the specs: Limba body, bloodwood accent, holly top 3pc Ash neck with ultra slim profile, ebony fingerboard with bloodwood blocks, 30” radius 3+2 headstock with holly facing and limba rear veneer 50mm RFB in bridge, 50mm OPB in neck Passive vol/tone/blend with coil select switch for RFB Black hardware 17mm bridge spacing (Hipshot A) Gotoh resolute tuners Honestly couldn’t be happier at this point, I am looking forward to getting her out in the wild with Katy Hurt next month 🤠 First 3 pics are from my “unboxing”, the rest are Alan’s:

Yes! Goat are on now. Get your freak on, people!

I'm boycotting the rest of Glasto now. For political reasons. That I won't be going into here. Countryfile is on BBC1 soon. Calm me right down, hopefully.

Here’s a clip of a gig from just over a week ago - hopefully it demonstrates the bottom B well enough as I’m sat on a low C for a lot of the song 😅

I wonder how the auditions went: can you play some Paganini and some bluegrass. Yes. Now can you try on this tight red dress?

Yes, glad to be back playing live. We haven't been together long so the gig was a bit early but none of us are new to this. Many more to come hopefully. The bass is one of these: https://www.guitar.co.uk/reverend-decision-p-bass-venetian-pearl I love it; reverse P with added bite from the bridge pup. Goes very well with the GK head, cuts through nicely.

The heroin is probably less expensive than the cheese nowadays🙁. Especially if you factor in the price of cream crackers.

I cheekily put out a press release for our next gig. On friday a mate had two people tell him they'd read a good band was on next week

Complete twaddle😆. I love it ! Keep it up👍

If I drank at gigs I'd be all over the place, much too old for that now! However, the singer really reacts well with the audience after he's had a few. He engages with them more than any other frontman I've been in a band with and gets them on our side so to speak.

I chanced upon Father John Misty’s set and absolutely loved it. The bass player wasn’t doing anything flash but he was totally in the pocket, gorgeous tone out of a Gibson Triumph. Really cool.

Quite possibly the venue is at fault here. I used to use a Sandberg Basic VM, with an LM2 through a Schroeder 1212. A marvellously punchy rig that always delivered, until one gig where, despite all the usual settings, it was inaudible to me. Tried shifting the eq around but without any success. Next gig, different venue, all back to normal, IIRC. Such are the vagaries of venue acoustics and bass frequencies it seems. Doesn’t stop it being a huge PITA.

What Sandberg are you using. ? When i had a MB 112 combo with 112 ext cab i found i struggled to get a decent on stage sound or even hear myself but when i moved out front for sound check it was a great sound. That was using a Jazz bass back then. I've had that issue with other rigs while using a Jazz bass to be fair. I find my J basses have a sweet spot for their tone that just works but if i tweak the tone away from it i get lost in the mix. Dave

Just while we're on the subject of Living Colour, are many/any of you aware about the version of Stain with the alternative guitar solos? The original US CD (catalogue# EK52780) was issued in two versions, one of which was very limited and contained totally different guitar work on Ignorance Is Bliss, Leave It Alone and Bi. There's no discernable visible difference in the CDs, just the content thereon. You got lucky or you didn't. I was a huge fan of Living Colour from the outset and bought a copy of Stain when I was in America; there was a bit of a WTAF? moment when realisation struck that the versions were different. Interesting stuff.

Plenty of things to get angry about in the world but all this seems pretty harmless to me. We’re an inclusive community etc.