martin8708

Beer goes straight through me , so any pints before gigging means an emergency bathroom visit at some point in the first set . I just take a small bottle of water with me to gigs , I’m always the driver , so I’m used to gigging with zero alcohol.

Bought some Tapewound strings from Johannes , good communication and promptly sent . Thanks again , Johannes . cheers , Martin .

Squeeze - Is that Love . beat me up with your lettuce, your walk out notes .

I have always found having a regular day job ( no shift work ) seems to be a barrier or obstacle to some other musicians when auditioning for a band . Some start up bands are already planning their world tour , even before doing their first gig down the local boozer . I do work weekends , so no Sunday lunch time gigs for me ( thank goodness ) but I happily commit to any evening gigs . I am always upfront about my job taking priority , the mortgage and bills need to be paid . The best bands I’ve been in are with fellow musicians who also work , at least we all understand the demands of work on day to day life .

This sort of thing restores my faith in humanity , with all the nasty stuff going on in the world , there are still some good human beings out there .

Seen 2 episodes , it’s almost as if they are setting the bands up to fail on purpose , choosing musicians more to do with age or their background story , rather than their ability to play rock or reggae. The two guitarists are probably the most credible musicians for a rock band , I hope they do well out of the series .

I use as many platforms as I can when selling gear , BC is good , but not 100% free of low-ball offers, people who agree to buy , then go radio silent , and people who change their mind . I have made some great sales on the bay , but their exorbitant charges are putting me off. As some-one who works with the public , I don’t pull my hair out anymore ( there’s none left , anyway ) , I just accept that there are lots of people who will take their chances ( to put it politely ) Playing devils advocate , I live on the Isle of Wight ( which is pretty far South ) and all the gear that I like seems to come up for sale in the North , so yes , I will politely message sellers who are doing collection -only to bear me in mind , or re-consider postage options . I’m OK with a polite “no” , but sometimes I have won them over and made the purchase.

This is my contribution to the short scale society, I bought the CV Mustang just at the beginning of first lockdown , I did not really get on with the narrow neck at first , but it’s growing on me the more I play it . Put some ground-wound strings for a bit more thump , makes a nice mini-rig with the Ashdown and the EA whizzy .

Probably not . When you turn up to gigs / auditions / jam nights with posh basses , people expect you to be some brilliant virtuoso . If you take a cheap bass , you tend to exceed their expectations .

My weakness is classical guitars , I originally learnt guitar on my sisters neglected guitar , my parents would not buy me a guitar and I learnt from books or mates who happened to know a few chords . Second weakness is Precision’s .

I suppose if you are a singer / songwriter /lyricist /bass player , then you may feel that your musical contribution is not being appreciated . If I am just playing bass lines to other peoples songs (even if they are my bass lines ) , I don’t really have a problem playing in a band called “Colin” or “Nigel “

Buy a bass in her favourite colour , it’s amazing how accepting women are if they like the colour . Keep to the same model , if they look vaguely similar , you can say you’ve had it for ages . Occationally sell a bass , this helps with the “one in , one out “ theory . My wife is acutely aware of my buying and selling habits , if you buy well , you will rarely loose money , and you get to enjoy a great instrument to boot.

Good day to you as well , hope you are well . Are you gigging much ?

Bang on , he was the Sheriff of the Isle of Wight a while back , good thing there was no Robin Hoods around then .

It’s probably well known that Mark King was originally a drummer when he was playing as a youngster on the Isle of Wight . When he moved to London , he blagged a job at Macaris claiming to play bass , ( Macaris did not sell drums ) and that’s where he developed his percussive style of bass playing . As a resident of the Isle of Wight for the last 20 years , I have not had the pleasure of meeting him , but he is the patron of the IoW bass players society and all round good guy , unlike some of the unpleasant famous people who move down here .

7 Precision’s , including the 32” scale Squier . 1 Jazz - ( lives in case under bed ) 1 Mustang May have a Steinberger in the airing cupboard ? I think it’s the 12 or 13 classical guitars that gets the most sniping comments from the wife .

Similar to me , with my limited abilities , they get a loose rendition of Beatles ( taxman ) blended with Jam ( Start ) until they get sick of it and move the song along .

Reasons for being replaced/sacked , in my own experience . 1. Being too old , -never made it past the telephone interview , the phone went dead when I mentioned my age . 2. Being bald , not much I can do about that , unless I wear a wig . 3. The new guy had a bigger amp , and wore a long leather coat , ( think high plains drifter ) . I did get a phone call about a month later apologising for the “misunderstanding “ and would I reconsider joining .it seems Lee Van Cleef could not play very well . 4 The other new guy had a massive PA , and access to numerous vans , his dad owned a builders merchants and was rather wealthy . 5.Having a job that I don’t want to quit , so the new band can’t do the World Tour they have planned , ( when they haven’t even played in the local flea-pit down the road ) I’m sure I have a few more , it sucks getting the boot , but it’s just part of life , especially now in the internet age . best wishes , Martin

This is pure genius , so reminiscent of those crazy keytar players in two tone shell suits , I would happily quit bass and become the “bez “ / scat dancer with drum box strapped to a stripped out Indonesian strat . I would probably add a bad homemade EVH frankenstrat paint job just for effect . Lots of votes for beat buddy , I’ve seen one in action before , but not very user friendly to those who are presbyopic / over 50 , small display area and constant reading specs on + off to check patterns /bpm . When I came to the Isle of Wight 20 years ago I hooked up with singer /guitarist and did loads of duo work with a drum box , this was dropped as we progressed , and relied upon foot stomping / tambourine on ankle and giving out shakers /tambourines /percussion to the audience to join in as they see fit . We did have a drummer for big gigs ( Cowes Week / corporate stuff ) but we did a lot of gigs with just the two of us . I like the idea of a 80’s / 90’s drum box with large display /user friendly screen / easy workflow - see , I’ve watched reverb videos on drum boxes . As Bigredx says , it’s down to the operator to get the best out of any unit ( which ain’t me , I’d rather re-wire the house , plumb in a bathroom , strip down the top end of the motor bike ) , If anyone’s drummer is coming south to the Isle of Wight to retire , we have first dibs .

Monitoring is pretty good ,we have a well equipped /sound proofed rehearsal shed at the bottom of the singers garden . We tend not to do dance floor /disco music , our set list is mainly 70’s eclectic /oddities that people know , but have not heard for a while . As previously mentioned ,a live drummer is massively preferable , but they are in short supply .

Probably not , with my own limited experience of drum machines . Our band has been without a regular drummer for about 2 years now , we rely on a “professional “ drummer who will cover our gigs , and will occasionally do one rehearsal before said gig , but otherwise rehearsals are generally drummer-free. I would not consider the band to be bad , we all have 30 plus years of playing /gigging experience ( each member ) and our gigs are well received by audience and landlords , but we just cannot seem to find a drummer . ( I live on an Island , so we cannot cast our net very wide ) We are just fed up of not having a sticks man when working out new material , or just cranking up the volume for a blow-out rehearsal . Anyone using a drum machine ? What are you using ? Anyone using a percussionist ? Many thanks in Advance

Enjoyed watching Steve Miller live at Austin City Limits , always liked his music ,and he played all the great hits . Mystified by the lack of bass player ( probably the keys player playing bass lines ) until Mr Renham ( from Renham Industries ) played a Stingray 5 on Livin in the USA .

It was John Taylor who inspired me to play bass ( the Reflex official vid totally sold it to me ) , but it was Alan Lancaster who allowed me to play along with my brothers record collection when playing to records was the only way to learn . RIP Alan .

I used to use Markbass amps and cabs , but switched over to Vanderkley cabs when I was in a loud two guitar rock band . A P-bass and Markbass head seems to work well (to me )