bassbiscuits

Depends - for solo covers work in pubs I’ll try to get £100-£150 a go. The only other pub gigs I’m doing at the moment is a blues trio of originals and covers, and opening for other visiting bands etc, so money isn’t really a thing - if we get a small amount to make it worth our while then brilliant. We’re just glad to be playing and road-testing our songs really. Other gigs are the clubs/functions/weddings etc which are always the better payers, but also the ones involving setting up early, playing after the buffet/bingo/raffle etc.

Quite possibly. I’m thinking Motley Crue, Axl Rose and - much as I love them - even AC/DC are a far cry from the band I fell in love with in the 1980s. No doubt it’s easier to sing like Johnny Cash than it is to sing like Axl Rose when you’re older - and folk, country, blues etc lends itself to some old craggy characters and voices nicely. I went to see both Elton John and Kiss this year - and both did a sterling job despite their age. But for me there are some bands who have definitely used up their resources and maybe should think about calling it a day with their legend still intact. That’s just me tho - I totally appreciate other people have different views.

I think there's truth on both sides of this argument. If you're old but still doing a good job of it, can still play and sing well and put on a good show, then brilliant - crack on. However there are definitely a few bands who just don't seem up to that standard anymore, and seeing them limping on is painful. So it's not the age I have any problem with - its when the ability has gone that's the problem for me.

Aye. My basses need to be under 4kg these days unfortunately. It rather limits me!

Hello - yes the Gotoh tuners seem to be a direct replacement by the previous owner. They look lovely and work well. I've looked for a BB605 but can't find one that is light enough for me to find comfortable to play.

Very good - nice work.

I appreciate these are BB Basses in name rather than in appearance, but I’ve recently acquired an almost identical twin to my long-serving BB604. They are both from 2003 (serial number says even the same month…) identical colour, spec and weight (both are 3.8kg and well balanced thanks to that small headstock.) My main one is a bit more scuffed up and feels a little bit more resonant and loud, possibly because I’ve played it to death for the last seven years. Both strung with D’Addario NYXLs too. The newer bass has got replacement Gotoh machine heads, my main one has the originals. When I got the first one back in 2016 it quickly became the best value bit of gear I had and a proper Swiss Army knife bass to cover loads of different stuff. So I’ve been on the lookout for another for a while and this came up on Basschat over the summer. Delighted. Excuse to play it loud at a gig expected in the coming weeks.

Aha. My sense of deja vu was not entirely misplaced then.

Oh yeah I once made Neil Murray a cup of tea at Roland HQ in Swansea in the late 1990s.

I once bumped into Nicholas Parsons in a taxi queue in Birmingham. When I was a student I used to work in a shop round the corner from Swansea Grand Theatre. At various times we were visited by Alvin Stardust, Catherine Zeta Jones and the bloke who played Nasty Nick Cotton on Eastenders. Also in Swansea I once got chatting to Rod Hull in a pub toilet. Same pub as we spotted Marguerita Pracatan I believe.

Kiss foodie special: Cod of Thunder Love Bun 100,000 Pears Lard Luck Woman

Hovel California, by the Eagles Drive My Cat, by the Beatles Wind Cries Gary, by Jimi Like A Rolling Scone, by Bob Dylan

Well I enjoyed it anyway - cheers @Happy Jack

Solo acoustic guitar and vocal gig at the Organ Grinder real ale pub at Loughborough. Had some gremlins in the first half - one speaker not working and the other one buzzing annoyingly. Got it sorted at half time and the culprit seemed to be a pedal power supply! Nice crowd, some good singing along and made feel very welcome! Update - buzzing traced to the shredded cable on my Boss pedal adaptor. That’ll do it then…

I hear you Andy. I suppose it depends what else is going on in your life with other commitments, goals etc which can mean there's little time or enthusiasm for playing music sometimes. I've been playing since 1986 but not continuously - sometimes I've just gone off the boil and not really feeling it anymore, and didn't play bass for a number of years after a messy split up with a band. But things moved on and a few years later I got the itch again and got involved once more. I guess I mean it doesn't have to be a continuous thing - if it comes and goes from time to time, along with everything else in life, then that's ok too.

Thanks Phil that’s dead helpful. I used the same kit for last weekends gig and it was fine so I assume it was a weird characteristic of the venue wiring.

Yeah - I think the drummer is the only one who didn’t play lead guitar at some point! But he did a drum solo, so that made up for it. They were great tho - a good match with our little trio in terms of the sort of material and audience they attracted too so it worked out really well.

Had a great time as one-third of the Andy Wales Blues Band, opening for a band called the Cinelli Brothers at the Musician Pub in Leicester. Good crowd came to see the headliners (who were ace) and thankfully it was already pretty full when we played our 45-min support slot. We are quite a new band but seem to go down really well, mixing up some carefully chosen old blues/soul covers with our own original material, and turned up dead loud. What’s not to love?

I've bought a few things that haven't worked out, but I don't regret that. I needed to find out for myself. And it's always stuff I've been able to sell on. All part of the journey.

I think any of those Markbass amps would work fine. I've got a couple of Little Mark heads (the same amp as the combos I think) which I use with either a 102P traveller cab, a 121H cab or a STD102HF (the bigger 2x10 cab), which creates much the same set us as a combo. A cab with two speakers will sound louder than just one speaker, as it shifts more air and will have greater SPL (sound pressure level) rating usually. But any of the combos you mention would work fine, and give you the option of adding another cabinet in future if needed. Good luck, and enjoy!

Nice one that’s a nice clear explanation. I do wonder why it has suddenly happened tho and where in the system the problem might lie - plugs, cables, leads, basses, pedals, venue wiring etc?