casapete

I haven’t posted on this thread for a while now, mainly because my gigs are often residences and subsequently fairly similar, rinse and repeat jobs etc. Usually in a duo these days too, with the occasional dep here and there with other bands. I did just short of 100 gigs in 2025, ( so much for semi retiring etc.) so still doing a fair few. 2026 is looking around the same so far which is good. Anyway, couple of recent ones worth a mention. Scarborough Yacht Club was an interesting venue, located on a pier in the harbour and part of the lighthouse building. Needless to say a challenging get-in, where we nearly drove the van over an old bridge which wouldn’t have held the weight! (See pic 1 below) So we had to carry all our kit on foot, with heavy rainfall not helping. The gig went well, although a very boozy do with plenty of audience ‘interaction’. Been promised a return gig in the spring so think they liked it. Played a nice gig at a lovely hotel just outside York in December. It was a trio, headed by wonderful saxophonist / flautist and singer Jon Taylor. Jon has played in many bands over the years, and is a great character. First time I’ve played with him, and a thoroughly enjoyable gig, at a great venue. (Pic 2). We did our annual Christmas gig at Beverley’s ‘The Sun Inn’, where we get invited guests up to sing with us. As last year, we had some mega volunteers, including landlord Paul and also Dave Hemingway from ‘The Beautiful South’. Dave did a version of Bowie’s ‘Starman’ which was really good, and the pub was rammed with a ‘one in / one out’ policy to avoid overcrowding. (pic 3 shows the group shot). My go to rig for most of the gigs has been either a Fender Kingman electro acoustic, or a Squier Jaguar SS when I know it may get a bit loud and lairy. Then one of two Rumble V3 combos, either the 100 or 500. Shoes have varied but often black Chelsea boots.

I saw the Eagles on their ‘Hotel California’ tour in 1977 at Stafford Bingley Hall. I’m not sure who was more out of it, most of the band or the audience. The smell of dope was prominent all night. Didn’t stop it from being an amazing gig though ( and that’s from someone who was not partaking due to being the nominated driver).

I agree. The irony is though that most of the gigs I’ve ever done have been funded by the sale of alcohol. Without people paying for booze I probably would have followed a different career path. I’ve seen many colleagues fail, and lost a couple of friends due to it too and yet somehow managed to stay mainly on the straight and narrow myself. Had a few times when I’ve deviated but nothing serious, and I know I can’t play well when I’ve had more than a couple of drinks.

The manager of a band I was in always said that if the booker or audience saw any of us with just one beer, they assumed we were all pis*ed, so we had to limit drinking to non public areas. Problem was that drinks were always free and plentiful so it took some skill to balance the situation, but we managed it. Ironically in the end drink and drugs led to the downfall of the band though, which was a shame. The next band I joined had a zero tolerance to drinking before a gig, and was all the better for it.

I use a Rumble 100V3 for small acoustic gigs. Fewer bells and whistles than the PJB mentioned, but still relatively lightweight at 22 lbs and cheaper too. Sound wise it’s fantastic, and will cope with even a not too heavy handed drummer. It’s great having headroom on gigs , and with both acoustic and electric basses in a duo and bands. Best amp I’ve used for a long time.

I’ve both bought and sold some stuff at Rich Tone, with no problems. You can get online quotes when selling your gear, although don’t expect a fortune for heavy bass rigs in particular…..

I’d like to get our duo a wider variety of gigs. Stuff that’s a bit different from our regular bread and butter venues, not that they’re lacking at all - I’ve done 95 gigs this year which is way more than I envisaged when I stopped touring with the tribute band in 2024. We have an enquiry for a gig in Stockholm for later in the year which hopefully will come off, so that would be nice. I’d like to play more places like breweries / beer festivals, village halls, arts centres and maybe even small theatres. I think I should be looking at sorting out some better publicity, maybe even a showreel which seems to be the done thing these days. We don’t push ourselves enough sometimes, so would be interesting to see the results if we did.

This is my last gig of 2025. I’m not playing (by choice) NYE this year, which is probably the first time in nearly 40 years. In what was supposed to be a period of winding down gigging a bit, still managed to play 95 gigs this year and 2026 is already looking quite promising. 😀 Happy New Year to all BC’s gigging fraternity!

Am looking forward to one of my last gigs this year. It’s at the wonderful Sun Inn in Beverley this coming Sunday. My duo play here once a month, and for our December gig we get some friends up to sing with us as well. Last year was a hoot, and included landlord Paul who sang really well. They get to choose what to sing, so it’s a challenge for us too!

You’re right, it does happen on the 100 , but also on the 500 too. The DI is post master volume, but I have no idea why. TBH it’s the only niggle I have with these amps, and can be solved by using a DI box if it’s a problem. If you rarely change your stage volume once it’s set, then it’s not much of an issue but still a bit weird! Incidentally on the 800 it has been sorted - you can switch between either pre or post on the DI.

Looks ace! All the very best for your new venture.

We won’t play with TVs on in the same room. If they want music, then off they go. Beats me as to why anyone would want both at the same time TBH.

There has always been a great deal of disagreement over heavy vs light instruments. I think it’s generally been acknowledged over many years that guitars that are lighter are praised by experts who speak of better resonance / sustain etc. Whilst that may not always hold true, it has been from my experience with both guitars and basses. Having had a fair few Precisions and Stingrays over the years, the ones I thought were better were indeed the lighter ones. Whilst this may have been partly because they were easier on my aching shoulders, I do think that weight does play some part in what makes an instrument sound great. The best guitar I’ve ever played was a friend’s Fender Esquire from the 50’s, and it was also the lightest. Likewise Gibsons, best Les Pauls and 335s I’ve owned /played have been the lighter ones. My 63 P bass is fairly light at under 8lbs, and my regular gigging bass is a P-Lyte at 7lbs ( as you would expect!). Both are very resonant basses.