Rayman

We did a wedding some years ago. I'd been ill for a couple of days before, seriously unpleasant gastric flu. Any other bog standard gig I'd have pulled out, but someone's wedding.....you have to soldier on don't you? Apparently it was a great gig. We played well, and the music went down well, but I remember almost nothing. I've never felt so bad in my life, and spent the time before the gig, during the break, and after the gig, cowering in a corner behind the stage with a bucket next to me, out of the sight of the guests. I can remember staring at the drummer at one point, sweat running down my face, swaying backwards and forwards, and telling him I couldn't go on much longer, but we got through it to the end, that's about all I remember from that night. Apparently the groom came to the microphone after the set to thank the band, and especially "the bass player who was feeling unwell". I was round the back of the marquee meantime, throwing up. Top night.

That sir, is quality, of the highest order. Reminds me of a gig I played at Rafters in Manchester, many years ago. King Kurt had played there the night before, and the stage was an absolute mess. I spent most of the gig slipping around in what looked like blancmange. The Death Cult (later The Cult) were up after us a couple of nights later, so I'll bet they weren't happy either. I'm not suggesting you're like King Kurt.......the vid just reminded me of those phsycobilly/goth days I used to be a part of.

I've been down the Delanos road, and for me, it was a big fat dead end. To me, a 'ray sounds great straight out of the blocks, and if the tone isn't right for you, I'd look at a Jazz instead, rather than swapping out EQs and such, again, I've tried all that, and it didn't work for me at all, the mods made the bass sound clinical and souless.

I've had a couple of Epi's and played a few Gibsons, and as always my answer is pound for pound I'd have the Epiphone all day long. Gibson guitars are over priced and QC is awful at the moment (I played a couple of [i]shocking [/i]Les Pauls in PMT recently). Epi's are what they are, work horses, and it doesn't matter if you ding it half way through a gig. Mine was solid, sounded great, looked great and played great, and it cost a fraction of the Gibson version. There's a big thread on all this somewhere in the archives.

I've never had a bass [i]guitar[/i] disaster thankfully, but plenty of amp related ones. The usual "pint on top of the amp" sketch (not my pint I hasten to add) springs to mind, just before we're about to go on, said pint gets knocked over, amp goes off. So I spent the next hour with the amp in bits, holding a hair dryer, drying off Guinness covered parts. Amazingly, after an hour, once all put back together, the amp worked perfectly. Top tip for your gig bag that, a hair dryer, or better still, don't have pints on top of your amp.

Horrendous start to the year, my wife left me. Never felt so low in my life, but........thinks are turning around, new house, on my own, without the nagging, and I see plenty of the kids, so not too bad in the end. Basswise, very poor. A few gigs, but band politics are getting in the way, and sometimes we can go a month without playing at all. I need some inspiration. I don't even come on here much anymore, I'm just all bassed out at the moment. On the plus side, I've stuck with the Two Stingrays virtually GAS free now for a few months, so gearwise I'm ok. I [i]WAS [/i]really looking forward to Bassday in Manc this year, but it's my weekend with the kids, and that means a lot more than looking at more gear I can't afford. Wish I could've seen Marcus though . Looking forward to Christmas, and a more prosperous 2012 hopefully.

Saw him with the Blockheads last year, superb gig, proper music, proper bass playing. Legend. HMWYRS is one of the best basslines ever.

The only player I know who's even cooler in the flesh than he is on his records. I've been a fan for many years, and he's responsible for getting me into dub/reggae too.