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Everything posted by casapete
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Another Wednesday evening at my new residency playing rock and roll dance stuff. Great selection of tunes - some standards plus some deeper cuts from Elvis, Johnny Burnette and Big Joe Turner. I sang a couple of Chuck Berry songs, ( the inevitable Johnny B Goode and Roll over Beethoven), so am looking to expand my repertoire of his stuff to lesser known songs that are still immediate & danceable. Bit of a NAD for me - first time out for a recently acquired Hartke HA3500. Not much time to fiddle with it so pretty much straight in, and it sounded as well as I’d hoped. Only got it as we can leave our gear at the venue, so no heavy lifting required. Using a Fender Rumble has turned me into a right wuss….
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Read that earlier today - shocking, but has been going on unregulated for years. All it would take is for people to stop buying tickets like this for a week or two and things may change. Same as ‘dynamic pricing’, another dreadful idea brought in to rip off audiences. 😡
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Our regular pub / club gigs are cash too. The blues trio only do pubs where this is the case, although AFAIK there aren’t that many places around here that insist on invoices / delayed payment anyway. Private functions / weddings etc for our duo are usually paid via bank transfer, BEFORE the gig!
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Fender Precision Lyte (MIJ) - is there a passive version?
casapete replied to Marc S's topic in Repairs and Technical
As you say Marc, they have ‘standard’ pickups but an active preamp, so will work fine if the preamp is disconnected. I had a Fender ‘Noiseless’ bridge pickup fitted in mine, as some venues I used to play caused interference issues , and I left it in - still got the original though. I used mine for nearly 15 years touring theatres with a tribute band, and it proved to be great. The light weight meant I could do nightly sets of around two hours with no discomfort to my problematic shoulder. I set it with a lower action too, and learned not to dig in so much and let the amp do the work, which again worked fine for me. In all that time I never had to adjust the neck once, just using the same gauge sets of D’Addarios. The thin neck on it is sublime ( and this was for someone used to standard Precision necks!) It’s still my main electric bass, and I can’t ever see me parting with it.- 10 replies
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Fender Precision Lyte (MIJ) - is there a passive version?
casapete replied to Marc S's topic in Repairs and Technical
AFAIK all Precision Lytes have been active. 3 models , all MIJ. Precision Lyte - late 80’s to mid 90’s. Active 2 band eq ( bass and treble cut/boost) plus a pan and volume control. First editions had gold hardware, later ones had chrome. Both came in a number of colours. Precision Lyte Deluxe - mid 90’s. Humbucking bridge pickup , as above plus a mid cut/boost. Natural finish. Precision Lyte - recent ‘reissue’. Like the original but with 3 band active eq and a separate battery compartment ( unlike the original where the battery was included in the preamp cavity). Currently one of these is for sale at The Bass Gallery. I’ve had a fair number of Lytes, and my current sunburst one has been converted to passive after the original preamp failed. I actually prefer it passive now, but they’re all great basses IMO.- 10 replies
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Spot on Phil. Just to add - of all the musicians I’ve worked with over the years, I think guitarists have been the least likely to be able to read or follow charts, so those who can are a rarity. ( I speak as someone who isn’t an overly proficient reader myself, but can get by and also use chord charts.)
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I’ve done a fair few dep gigs over the years. As pointed out above, basic charts should be a given for all bands IMO. What if one player can’t make it at the last minute and a dep is obtained but doesn’t know the stuff? Even more important when it’s covers and the arrangements / keys / tempos are altered from the original. I recently got asked to dep in a tribute outfit for one gig a good distance from where I live. They have no charts of any description apparently. I’m unavailable, but would have been able to play probably 90% of their set, just needing to brush up on a couple of songs I don’t fully remember. I suspect they will have trouble getting anyone who is willing to put the work into learning the stuff for only one gig ( if they’re not familiar with the material). If they had charts then at least they’d have a good chance of finding someone to do it.
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Bit better than those brands IIRC. Proamp were a UK company based in Essex, and established by an ex Selmer amp designer. They made mainly guitar combos, many of which were valve / transistor hybrids. The bass stuff is fairly uncommon, but if the guitar combos were anything to go by, they tended to feature Celestion speakers as standard so that may be the case here. Definitely worth a punt for a tenner…..😆
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That’s the fella - He brokered a sale for a vintage amp I was selling, and was a pleasure to deal with as well as being a bit of a character. He plays guitar in a punky kind of band, and likes a Les Paul Junior so must be okay. 😁
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Settling in to my new weekly residency at a local club’s rock and roll night. 2 x 50 minute sets of stuff for dancing, ranging from rockabilly and Elvis along with some lesser known tunes from Eddie Cochran, Buddy Knox and Dion. It always ends with a waltz, and this week it was ‘Until it’s time to go’, made famous by Elvis and The Four Pennies, written by Buffy Saint-Marie. A lovely song but with some strange changes - glad I had a part supplied! Nice crowd in, including a couple who regularly come to see our duo when we play in Scarborough, so nice they made the 100 mile return trip. My first gig there using my own rig, so took along my lovely GK 800RB amp and my Loud Inc 4x10 cab. Used my Precision Lyte passive bass with them, and it sounded fine. Think I may take my old Precision along one week, or maybe the Dano Longhorn too.
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I’m going through a busy period for some reason at the moment Daryl. Lots of stuff going on with the duo, the 3 piece blues band has a few gigs in soon including a couple of festivals, and I’ve just started a weekly gig at a local rock and roll club playing music for dance enthusiasts! I’d stepped down from the touring theatre band to reduce being away from home too much, so nearly all my gigs are now within around a 50 mile radius. Not sure how long things will continue but enjoying it for now! Hope your band gets the gigs you want / need Daryl, and that you quickly recover from your injury. I know what it’s like to be incapacitated due to an accident, so hope you’re soon over yours.
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It was quite flash Dave, and the prices reflected it too! Staff were great though, couldn’t do enough to help. I do love the variety of our gigs - Saturday night posh city restaurant, Sunday great local music pub etc.
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Second two gigs out of 4 for me this week. Saturday night the duo played for a small birthday party in York city centre. The venue was an upmarket restaurant’s first floor function room. Combined with restricted vehicle access, no lift in the venue and the area teaming with people out for the evening , this made for quite a challenging load in and out. Still, we got set up early and then had a drink or two sitting outside watching the endless amount of people going by, including many hen parties in various states of intoxication. Fortunately we had a bar tab ( and a meal )supplied by the booker, as the prices were quite hefty. The gig went well, played a number of requests and even had a guest clarinetist! The grandson of the birthday boy asked if he could play ‘Stranger on the shore’, so we backed him. He was only around 9 years old, and played well. Of course he went down better than us…. 😆 Used my little Ibanez short scale electro acoustic, perfect for the job. Home by around 1 am, absolutely knackered. Sunday night was our regular monthly gig at The Sun Inn, Beverley. Pretty full for most of the gig, and some great requests including ‘I guess that’s why they call it the blues’ and ‘Friday I’m in love’. We drew the line at doing a Beautiful South song though, as one of the band’s original singers was in the audience! I used a Sire U5 short scale into my Rumble 500, and was happy with how it fared. A guy came up and gave us each a decent tip at the end too, really unexpected. Next gig this coming Wednesday, and then a week or so off.
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Just done two of four gigs this week. Tuesday night was our acoustic duo’s monthly residency at a local pub, doing our request thing. Not quite as busy as usual ( half term around here so some folks away ) but still some varied songs asked for, including ‘Shadow of your smile’ and also ‘Where everybody knows your name’ which I’m sure you know is the theme tune to the ‘Cheers’ TV show, in tribute to cast member George Wendy who died recently. I’ve never played the song, and was quite surprised how tricky it was in places! Others played included ‘Have a nice day’ and the Ken Boothe version of ‘Everything I own’ which made a nice change. Really humid in the pub, sunroof open in the car on the way home. Then last night I was playing at a local club’s weekly rock and roll night, which I’d also done the Wednesday before. A bit special this week though, as it was the last night for bassist Rob who’s been doing the gig since 2011. He’s just turned 80 and is retiring from gigging now, after being in bands for 65 years!! I’ve been offered the job of being his replacement, so have accepted with immediate effect. Rob played the first song of the evening (see pic) before giving a short speech, and then I carried on for the rest of the night. Used his MarkBass combo, but will be taking backline of my own for next week onwards - I can leave it at the club so makes it nice and easy. ( Think I’ll be taking my trusty old Loud Inc 4x10 cab, with some old school head I guess ) It’s a new chapter for me, and another part of my ‘semi retirement’ 😆
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Oh and absolutely this too!
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Absolutely this.
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I’ve been playing in bands for over 50 years, of which over 30 were to earn a living. It’s so ingrained in my life that I just couldn’t imagine not doing it. I’m 67 and still in reasonably good health, although some days feel like 77! I’m currently in two regular set ups - an acoustic duo with my best mate, and a blues rock trio with other friends. I chose to leave my last pro gig mainly to wanting to be more at home due to Mrs CP having some major health issues. Fortunately she is doing well, and I now do mainly local gigs with no overnight stays. I refer to myself as ‘semi-retired’. My gig money, although not essential, is a welcome addition to our finances, and although I enjoy all the gigs I do it’s still nice to be paid well for them. For me it’s also about the camaraderie ( all my friends are musicians who I often meet up with for coffee / lunch etc) and just getting out there. I’ve been blessed with doing something great for a job rather than slogging away for years in an unhappy work situation, so I never take it for granted. I have no plans to stop playing music live until I’m unable to do so, so fingers crossed!
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Yet they won’t let me advertise my old iPhone on Marketplace - they insist it’s counterfeit! As if a pro counterfeiter would be bothered selling something for £40! Unbelieveable.
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Dodgy as! Les Pauls for £125? Avoid.
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Just got back from doing a last minute dep at a local club’s rock and roll night. My buddy in our acoustic duo does the gig every week, but the regular bassist was unavailable so I got the call. Ended up using his MarkBass combo ( which wasn't a patch on my Rumble 500 which I should have taken really.) Took my passive P- Lyte as I knew there was a lot of playing. Still, a good night playing some old school dance tunes along with a few I’d not heard in years. Guitar, bass and drums trio - drummer is a nice player who keeps it simple and straight and doesn’t speed up or slow down. Particularly important on this gig as most of the audience go to dance all evening so tempos are quite crucial. Some nice comments afterwards and home by 11.45pm so happy days.
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Bruce Springsteen and the mighty E Street Band last night at Co-Op Live in Manchester. Seen Bruce many times but not for a while so hoped he’d still be up for it, and he absolutely was! They played for over two and a half hours straight through, with no signs of tiredness or slowing down. As well as Bruce, incredible performances from all of the 17 piece band, especially Max Weinberg on drums and the very cool Gary W. Tallent on bass. Gary mainly used a short scale Spector, but also a Guild Starfire semi in natural which sounded immense. Nils Lofgen was also on fire, being given quite a few extended guitar solos. A great sound for such a large venue, and well organised inside too. Shame the parking was so hit and miss though - okay getting in but dreadful queues on the way out mainly caused by conflicting crowds from the Etihad stadium next door. The football crowd should have been gone before we left ( kickoff at 8pm) but in a brilliant lack of consideration there was an extra 30 mins or so added to the game ( a special leaving feature or something) which meant both arenas emptied at exactly the same time. 70,000+ people trying to get away simultaneously meant a lot of frustration for all. Then our journey home involved two lengthy diversions off the M62 so I got in around 2am. Still, an amazing evening with an amazing band, wonderful.
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May 17th 2007 for me. Ex Bassworld too, although not for long. Was slogging away in an 8 piece pro function band at the time, seems like eons ago. Didn’t do any other forum or social media for years, just this one. Sold and bought a fair amount of basses and amps over the years, and met some top folk along the way. 😀
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The nice GK amp will certainly be more than partly responsible too.😊
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The parking there is a bit of joke from my experience. We went to see Macca there in December, and my son in law booked a disabled space as he’s in a wheelchair. When we arrived the football had already started in the stadium next door and someone had parked in our allocated ( and paid for ) space. I took this up with one of the parking staff who was apologetic but said they couldn’t ensure people didn’t park in the wrong spaces. Pretty crap for us as we needed the space around the car that the disabled bays offered. In the end I found a space on the end of a row and we managed okay but it was a bit of a struggle. 😡 Apparently the football match this Tuesday is starting after the Springsteen gig does, so hopefully we’ll be in with a chance this time.