ahpook

There have been worse years ! It wasn't too bad...no real yawners, a few rather obvious no-hopers, but overall not bad at all. A nice silly evening. Armenia, though...robbed

Armenia was robbed !

Getting some practice in every day is the way...it is working for me. Three weeks to the gig and I need to coax ~ 8% increase in speed out of myself. Doable, but time needs to be put in. I hope the drummer doesn't speed up at the gig 😯

Farty sounds right for a dying battery in an active circuit. As the voltage dwindles, the the circuit won't have enough headroom for clean operation and it will go flatulent.

I'm having to put a lot of time at the moment into getting faster at picking as my band's songs run at about 140bpm with flurries of 8th and 16th notes. Ouch. The only way I can do is to cane practicing. Increase the bpm a bit at a time until I get faster....sorry not to be able to offer anything more insightful than that ! I have started using a stiffer, but not thicker, plectrum (first change in 30 years) and that seems to have given me more control. As for muting - try getting the unused fingers on your plectrum hand in on the act - it's something I only noticed recently that I do, but the tips of the spare fingers can be worked in to mute strings when moving from string to string.

It is a bit odd, you'd expect your friend to get the money not going to the now not-travelling member. I think you have the right approach though, but after the gig it's time for a proper think and a chat about how the band gets paid, and how that money is divided up in the future, as you're not too happy about it and I don't think I would be either. Good luck 👍

Exactly. It's a manifesto for a 'manifesto' band...better find that stuff out before replying.

Don lose heart @T-Bay, keep looking, be patient, keep playing at home. 👍

All the current users.

I used to do a short bike ride to a practice studio with a Thunderbird on my back. Quite do-able, although the larger the bass the more wind assistance/resistance you get. The T-bird was fun in high winds I've not carried a combo - I think if I were, a small trailer would be if interest to me. Seems to me a lot of hard rattling might not be too welcome...although it would depend on how smooth a road it is on the way.

I feel you do yourself a disservice, sir ! Lessons learned for your next project, I'm sure.

Lovely work ! Well impressed 👍

Stick with the bigger bridge - I think Jazz basses looks more balanced with a larger bridge.

Where do you stand in a five piece band ? Why does everything on Basschat inevitably have to turn into another bloody argument, just relax, it's just a discussion forum, not really of any import in the grand scheme of things. Yeah yeah yeah ! Sorry, some of it doesn't scan very well.

Agreed. I'd rather be on the hi-hat side of the drummer, but I've played on stages so small that it was more a game of human Tetris than a matter of choice.

Of course, if the idea is to remove the personality and skill of the person playing in the demo from the equation then I'm quite happy to be the control who exhibits neither

Mrs. Pook and I are on a road trip holiday and have been listening to quite a bit of Laurie Anderson. We'd forgotten how much we both enjoy her music. It's great to reconnect - to reconnect to music, and to reconnect to music 👍

A fine point, well made.

There is the view from the other side....

Something like one of those Boiling Vessels fitted to British tanks so the crew can make a nice hot cup of tea.

No price cutting with a Katana then....? Sorry. I'll get my kimono

Also add Mr. Robert Fripp to the sedentary set.

You do you ! I've played seated gigs when ankle problems made standing with a bass for any length of time nigh-on impossible...It feels a bit odd, but keep your head up and get as much groove on as you can from your 'relaxed' position.

It may be only a handful of notes and far from involved, but I never get tired of this. A simple man of simple pleasures, perhaps.