casapete

Great quote from his family - " May he rest forever on 2 and 4 ". His playing (and legendary start) on the song, 'Be my baby' by The Ronettes will always be a favourite of mine. RIP Hal, one of the absolute greats.

Think you're right guys, just put it down to one of those things I think. Just thought it bizarre that the P-bass pickup soloed didn't remedy it. Thanks to all for your comments. 👍

Did the first gig for over 6 months with my country band The Fork Handles last night. Venue was a pub which myself and the guitarist do every Tuesday as an acoustic duo. The landlord is a great guy, and offered the gig to us so we decided to do it ‘unplugged’ in an effort to keep the volume sensible. 4 piece band, myself on bass/vocals, guitar /mandolin / lead vocals, guitar / lap steel / dobro / vocals and drummist/vocals. The room is not massive with a stone flagged floor (an old brewery!) so we set up in a corner and used 4 xBose 802s - two for out front and two for monitors, running off each side of a Yamaha EMX mixer amp. No backline amps for the first time so a bit scary. It actually worked well, although I could only just hear myself towards the end of the second set when the drummer started his usual malarkey of heavy handed snare and cymbals, but despite that we got away with it. Room was rammed with punters, so the landlord well pleased and talking of it being a regular thing so job done. 🙂

Absolutely - I hate that thing where it was once assumed that if you had to ask the price then you probably couldn't afford it. 😒

When I was in a function band that played a lot of weddings, there were quite often requests for ‘Band of Gold’ and also ‘Young hearts run free’ , neither of which are exactly the romantic songs the titles lead you to believe.

Always loved this song, and to be honest wasn't sure what I heard when this was first aired - not my kind of thing etc. However, grew to like it a lot, and made me realise what a great song it is.

Los Pacaminos, last night in Hull. Led by Paul Young, they're a 7 piece Tex-Mex style band, playing originals and a few covers too. Despite not being a capacity audience in Hull Truck theatre, they were excellent - entertaining, funny and also great players and vocalists. Bassist had a P-bass with a red glitter scratchplate , which sounds hideous but was strangely quite nice. They are currently doing gigs all over the UK, a lot in intimate venues - if you just fancy a good night out then I can't recommend them enough.

Yeh, what I'm hoping too! Probably just a one-off thing.

I've tried it at home, no buzz. I guess it's just one venue with a strange electrical supply, it was just strange how I couldn't rectify the buzz by using the P-bass pickup on it's own, which is what sorted it in the past.

These look interesting. No individual weights given for each model, but am guessing they'll be fairly light, being class D.

So we played a gig in a large theatre last night, and at the soundcheck a few of us had problems with buzzes and interference. We occasionally experience this, with most of the band using wireless in ears etc, but can usually sort it to an acceptable level. Often just getting the theatre to disable the hearing aid loop does the trick! My Precision Lyte (PJ pickups/active circuitry) had what appeared to be an earthing problem causing a buzz - when I touched any of the metal components the noise all but disappeared. Had this once or twice before, and I could remedy it by just using the front (P) pickup. To prevent this from being a problem again , I had a Fender 'Noiseless' stacked J pickup fitted and always been great since . Last night though I could only make the buzz disappear by using this J pickup on it's own - any blending in of the P pickup resulted in the buzz creeping back in which is the first time I've experienced this - in the past it was the P pickup that eliminated the hum. Am not overly worried as have had ages using the bass without any problems, just wondered if it was just one of those odd things connected only with the venue or something I need to address? As I've mentioned, the bass is usually really quiet since replacing the previously slightly noisy stock J pickup. Any thoughts welcome, cheers.

I’ve used a fair number of phosphor bronzewounds on my Washburn AB20, and for the last few years have settled on Fender 8060 set, which are gauges 45-100. Suspect they may be made by D’Addario? Last a reasonable time and sound fine. Usually pay around £13.50 a set. If you’re after a budget set to try, the Warwick Red Labels are okay , especially for around £9 ish.

One of my all time favourite bands - which gig are you doing? Have you seen Little Steven is touring in May as well?

This is haunting me at the moment - wonderful singer, and the whole thing reminds me what Dusty Springfield would maybe be doing if she was still with us.

Thanks for posting the info about Henry Davis and Scott Edwards - great stuff. I like the Thelma Houston version, but for me this is the definitive one - Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes , with lead vocals by Teddy Pendergrass. As funky as f...😉

Thanks for that Dave. Looks like he's still using the same band I last saw him with, think they're mainly Brazilian? No bassist either, but Stevie is working those pedals on the Hammond!! Love his voice, and he's also a very underrated guitarist too as well as an ace on the Hammond - check out the concerts he did with Clapton a few years ago at Madison SG in New York.

Cheers Dave - how bizarre, as I'm writing this someone on R2 Pop Master quiz is talking about the gig last night!

As a long time Stevie Winwood fan, anyone care to comment on what he was like as the support for SD? Cheers.

Couldn't agree more. Makes me smile - every now and again a thread starts about Abba as if people are amazed that great pop songs can have great basslines! I suppose on a site where a large number of contributors appear to favour metal / prog / heavy rock etc it is maybe inevitable that people view Abba as a guilty pleasure rather than just the great band they were. As you were.....😄

I was in the Leeds PMT today, and whilst some of the basses had price tags, the majority didn’t. Only the really cheap guitars were priced too, very strange policy. On some there were labels saying to ask at the till for today’s best price, which may imply they are fluctuating on a very regular basis, which doesn’t instill confidence in the sale for me. I enquired about a digital piano which they said were on display - this turned out to mean were packed in their cardboard boxes halfway up the stairs. Also my query on prices of mic stands got very confusing too, at which point I’d had enough and left. And people wonder why internet shopping is so popular. Hey, I tried.🤨

Absolutely. For me the silver cloth fronts don’t look like they fit or suit the cabs so much as the black metal ones. Maybe a black cloth would be good? Of course when I got my original Compact there were no such diversions to consider....🤤

I much prefer the steel ones TBH. Not just cosmetically, but feel they protect a bit better and somehow go with the ethos of the brand. Slight downside of being a bit heavier than the cloth ones, but with Barefaced stuff being lighter than a light thing then it's not a problem (for me anyway). YMMV of course.

Yeah, I saw Little Steven and the D of S either 82 (or 83?) in a small club in Newcastle, then again in 2017 in Manchester and 2018 at Whitley Bay. All were superb gigs, especially the recent ones. 15 piece band firing on all cylinders, can’t wait till May. New album due out around then too. 😊

Got tickets for Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul in Leeds (May), and also Nick Lowe in Hull in June. Really looking forward to 'em both.