bassbiscuits

Quite. I wear earplugs unless I’m using IEMs anyway, from years of finding myself tucked in between loud cymbals and loud keys players, so an overall flavour of the onstage sound with the harshest peaks taken out is pretty much what I want to hear. I suspect my bass sound works better as part of an overall mix than it does by itself.

That’s a bummer. It’s handy having those provided as backline. I tend to bring a spare head in the car in case of stuff like that.

I’ve always favoured my cabs being on the floor. Maybe I’m just used to the sound I get that way after so many years. And I means not having to carry around an amp stand.

Is that the Butlins rig @casapete? I used it a couple of weekends ago. Sounded ace.

The chap who ran our local guitar shop when I was a teenage bassist in Swansea was John Ham, whose brother Peter Ham was one of the main guys in the group Badfinger.

I made Neil Murray a cup of tea once when he came to Roland UK HQ where I was working at the time. Seemed like a cool guy.

Can’t argue with that. I googled him and yeah he’s quite well known in certain circles. He was sound which is why I felt doubly bad he’d been treated so unfairly by this pub (which has since shut down and been converted to a nicer pub…)

Is he Guitar George then?

Thanks both. That’s a good call on reusing other fabrics. My wife made me a long weapons bag for wooden staffs and stuff when I used to do jiu jitsu by joining together some old jeans. I might include her in this conversation when she gets home!

I’ve got an Ashdown ABM900-sized amp that needs a cover. Has any one tried making their own such things? All my other kit has Roqsolid covers but due to be being currently unemployed I can’t fork out £60 for one. I figure the main risk to amp heads is scuffs to the vinyl surface - any significant shunts would probably dislodge something inside, with or without a cover. I was eyeing up offcuts of carpet in my garage, or even thick cardboard/gaffer tape with a space for the handle to make a rudimentary cover. It’s only going to be in my car boot or a van at most. Any other ideas which have worked?

Not sure if this is genuine, but I used to do solo acoustic guitar / vocals gigs at a city centre pub, which had double booked acts on a couple of occasions. This time I arrived to set up and found an older guy with a guitar also expecting to play. We tried to establish what was going on and he proudly told me he was called “Guitar George” - as in the guy referred to in Sultans Of Swing. Apparently he’d been working on a visiting market that day nearby, and the landlord had suggested he played. In the end he didn’t take up my invite to both share the gig as he didn’t want to take any of my money. So I never found out if he indeed did know all the chords.

I one did an open mic slot in Swansea with a chap called Peter Singh, a famous local Elvis impersonator.

I gigged a cheap 300-watt Ashdown MAG series head for years, so I wouldn’t dismiss 250w as too quiet. + 1 on the Genz Benz 212tx. Great cabs, lightweight and about £350 secondhand if you can find one. I wouldn’t bother spending money on boutique niche cabs. Plenty of good reasonable kit out there. Good luck with the quest!

I move between a short-scale MiJ Fender Mustang bass, and long scale Yamahas and a P bass. Adjusting between them? Never found it to be an issue. I play guitar as well so used to playing different scale things without any difficulty. Neck dive. Again, never found it to be an issue either. No better or worse than the long scales I play (if anything a shorter neck should give less neck dive if anything?). Unless you’ve only been playing one bass your entire life I wouldn’t imagine there’s any insurmountable issues in moving from long to short.

Can’t say that I’m into any “solo” bassists tbh. I appreciate really tasteful playing, good songwriting and well crafted bass parts within a song much more than I care about fast playing or technical wizardry. Its like someone having brilliant handwriting but no interesting stories to share.

I used a Schroeder 1210 for years. It was a brilliant cab and a great design. Hugely loud as well. The dispersion of sound was glorious. The kind of cab that sounded average by itself but brilliant in a live setting. My only reservation is that they can be a little “DIY” in their build in my experience. But ace cabs for sure.

I’ve got a hiscox liteflite for my P bass for those rare times when I’ve had to fly or chuck it in a van full of other gear. I guess I’ll pad that out with extra foam inside for the few occasions that I need one.

Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere on here, but I was genuinely upset to hear of Justin Currie’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s Disease. He did a piece with the BBC on it today. I love Del Amitri and Justin’s solo work - he’s one of my favourite lyricists and songwriters, and sets a standard of writing to which I consistently aspire, and continually fall short. I wish him all the best in the times ahead. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-68528123

On a slight tangent I’d be interested to see what hard cases there are for Mustangs as they seem rare as chicken lips.