casapete

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.

The Dano sounds a bargain, enjoy!

I have exactly the same combos and echo your comments 100%. The 100 is unbelievably light, the 500 still manageable and both are fabulous things!

The Behringer AD121 pre amp/modeller is maybe an obvious choice for dipping your toe in the water. Useful bit of kit, and worth the £22 new price for the DI capability alone. A friend uses one to bring his electro acoustic to life, and it works very well. Regarding amps, Fishman have a good range although if you keep a watch on the small ads you can find some tidy s/h Trace Elliot acoustic combos for not a lot of dosh. Lots of features and well made, as you’d expect from TE. 😊

Took a year off in the mid 80’s when my daughter was born, then got offered a job in a resident club band and needed the dosh so back I went. Went pro in the early 90’s and apart from the Covid thing have been busy ever since. I think that year off made me realise how much of me still wanted to play music for a living, so in a way it did me good. I’m supposedly ‘semi- retired’ now, but still doing a fair few gigs, just more locally than before. Can’t see that changing for a good while yet either.

I’ve heard some people have had some success using cat litter ( unused, before the comments roll in…)

I’ve been playing short scales for a long time. Started off with Danelectro Longhorns, and still got one. More recently it’s been a Squier Jaguar, Sire U5 ( which I’m going to sell on here soon, plug plug), Fender Kingman v2, as well as really short ones such as Taylor and Ibanez acoustics. I still use long scale basses but must admit I’m finding the shorties that bit more comfortable these days.

I’ve toyed with the idea of getting one of these Neil , do you have one?

Actually no! A friend gifted me the Jaguar, which was very gratefully accepted.