colleya

I'm the youngest in my band at 39. You may well find that a lot of folk our age are just getting their heads back above water after years with young kids and now have a bit more time to spare. We've all got families/jobs etc so agreed early on to gig about once a month and rehearse every fortnight or so. Because we got this sorted early there have been very, very few disagreements about commitment etc Go for it, and good luck!

Never been interested in sig models, especially the over branded ones. It's definitely more specs and appearance that sell a bass to me. So when I saw Brunobass' Duff on the for sale board last week the GAS went into overdrive. Took a couple of days to shuffle the funds around before messaging and just missed out on it. Still sig-less.😢

Agreed. Miles more fun playing to a nicely oiled crowd who are up for dancing & singing. The other bits also come with the booze though, so within reason I try to smile and humour them. If you play pubs, you're going to get drunk folk. I'd much rather put up with the associated buffoonery than the soul destroying experience of playing to two bored barmaids and a passing cat.

Had an excellent one a few gigs back. I'd developed a dead spot on the A string 1st fret about 3 songs into the first half. Thought it was the strings (pink DR neons - hey, it's an 80s band) so spent the break swapping over to my reserve (standard colour) set. A couple of songs into the second half a punter wanders over: "Where's the guitar you were playing before? You should play that one, it was much better" For the record, it wasn't the strings, just needed a little truss rod tweak. However it was a night for gremlins and I was already stressed out from trying to sort mystery IEM problems so wasn't thinking straight enough to spot it.

An absolute cracker of a gig at the same pub we play every Halloween. Full day of the dead fancy dress, even busier pub than usual and tried out my new Smoothound which worked perfectly. The sound was great, but funnily enough I didn't play that well (possibly due to being paid in beer & accommodation). The atmosphere & fun factor carried it completely though. Anyway, pics.

Sounds great! Especially love the drum mix, and no discernible warts at all! Also looks like a really fun gig.

Our drummer used their kit and it sounds great. He had brought his and was all ready to set up but it was loads less hassle to use the one provided. Guitarist and I used our own amps.

Cheers gents, appreciate the comments. The bass sound came out with more mid and treble than I'd usually dial in, but I like it a lot. @Beedster Our singer was really struggling that day, lots of coughing between takes etc. She did a fab job of covering it up but her power at either end of the range was down a bit which affected her ability to really go for it. And then we made her do this:

I took our lights and asked about using them, but the lads there advised against it. What you can't see is that the fourth wall is about 3 feet in front of the singer and has three whacking great light panels on it. When I asked about the lights they said that these panels would wash them out completely.

We couldn't justify spending full day in the studio and video shoot type money. It's fantastic for the price. No, it's not perfect - our singer was really suffering with sinusitis and I made my usual stupid mistakes but still really happy with it. I'd go for it if I were you.

To help out with the upcoming gig booking season, my band booked in at Unit 26 Studios in Trafford Park near Manchester for a 'recorded rehearsal'. 3 songs, recorded live, warts and all, with a multi camera setup in a 2 hour slot. First hour was setup and warm up, second hour was 2 takes of each song. Then mixed down, edited and sent to us 2 weeks later all for £150. We're very happy with the results. As a pub covers band paying for a full showreel was a bit much so this was a nice in between solution. I'd absolutely recommend the studio. For those who are interested, the bass rig was all bought from the sale boards on here: Stingray Stealth 5H - via @derek Handbox R400 - via @TPJ Barefaced Two-10 - I forget who from and can't find the PMs about it. Here's one of the vids, would be interested in your thoughts. Cheers!

We use a single first generation Alto 15" sub with two 12" Alto tops. It's just vocals and a bit of kick drum though the PA and the sub helps give the sound more depth, especially in larger venues. I don't find the sub too heavy, but the new gen 3 ones are lighter and look lots better. We don't need to upgrade, but that's not how these things work right?

We use two pull up banners, usually placed behind bass & guitar amps either side of the stage with an uplight par can.

We had a punter at one venue who messaged us with a request two weeks before the gig. Even better was that the song was in the set anyway so it got played!

We do unless the venue specifically requests us not to. We're an 80s covers band too so the playlist reflects this. It helps set the mood. I also use it to sneak in tunes we're thinking of adding to the set so I can see how they go down.