casapete

I’ve been a member on here for 16 years and it remains the best forum for me. Bought and sold a few things over the years with not one problem, which speaks volumes about the people who participate. I’ve learned loads of stuff, found places to resolve issues with gear and been introduced to lots of new music / bands I probably would have otherwise missed. Long may it continue. 😊

Seen a fair few rock guitarists in berets - Clapton, Roy Buchanan, Richard Thompson, Captain Sensible etc, but am struggling with jazz guitarists in the other one TBH……🤣

Just sold my DB to Nick. Despite being 200 miles away, he managed to come up with a solution for delivery to facilitate the sale, despite the bass having no case included! Paid swiftly too. Overall an easy pleasant transaction with another top BC member - cheers Nick!

I’d like to try some Reverend stuff. Saw Sheryl Crow’s bassist use one at Glastonbury and it sounded ace, and I love the retro but original look of them. Never seen one in a shop though, think their main outlet is Merchant City Music in Glasgow, so will try and make time to visit when my band are up there in the summer.

I was 15, and played at our school youth club with a band of school mates. PA and backline ( Marshall stacks!) loaned to us free of charge by local legend and music shop owner Lyn Blakeston (Blakey), and we rocked! I later found out that our drummer had arranged to get the gear delivered back to Blakey the next day, and it had been left overnight in a truck with faulty locks on a housing estate in Hull! Fortunately for us it all got returned unscathed. 50 years later I’m still playing music for a living and Blakey remains one of my best mates.

Two great gigs for us this week. First at Billingham Forum which is always a great place to play with the audience well up for having a good time. Then down to Burnley Mechanics, which despite the tricky load in is another one of those venues that is guaranteed to be a good night. Capacity audiences again defying current financial woes. Nice to have both of our cellists back with us, really does make a difference. We're having some time off in May, then back in June and July with a vengeance - our usual dates supplemented by some rescheduled ones due to recent band health issues, so looks like a very busy summer.

Feel your pain Mart, we’ve been stricken with illness for a couple of months and had to cancel some gigs. Nothing you can do, and audiences / venues will hopefully understand.

It is one of the best theatres we do. Holds around 1500 I believe, and last night was the best audience we’ve had since we started doing it. Everything is good - from the load in to the massive stage, the crew are superb, and the backstage facilities are great as well. Considering the height of the domed ceiling, the sound is actually okay too, although our PA guy said he was pushing the levels during our second set. ( My next gig is with the acoustic duo in a local pub on Tuesday, and I love doing that sized gig as much as the bigger venues. )

We played at The Regent Theatre in Stoke on Trent last night. Another big grand old place, and we drew around 1200 punters in - this was a rescheduled gig from earlier in the year when the band was suffering from bouts of Covid and flu. Audience were well up for it and the band played well, despite still being a cellist down. Bit of a long drive home, but in bed by 2am.

We played Halifax Victoria Theatre tonight. Nearly 1000 punters in this fantastic old place, all in good voice too. High domed ceiling made for an unusual sound, which meant using our new favourite gadget…..😆

Played with the acoustic duo at my local boozer last night - 100 yds from my front door! Usual thing we do of putting request forms on the tables and then see if we can blag our way through playing them. Had some unusual ones, including ‘Bat out of hell’ which is getting requested more just lately, and not by the same people! We did an abridged version, and the audience seemed to enjoy watching our attempt. Just had an email from the landlord asking for our availability for the rest of 2023, so may turn into a more regular thing. I took my little Ibanez short scale acoustic electric, and plugged into my Fender Rumble 100 rather than the PA which I do on some gigs. Love this combo, so good for these type of gigs, and I walked to the gig carrying it (to enable me to take advantage of a couple of free beers….).

It’s ‘The ELO Experience’. The band is in it’s 17th year now, and I’ve been with them for 12 years. 😊

We've just done 3 gigs last week after a month's layoff due to health problems with some of the band. We still were a cellist down (damned Covid again) but did the gigs as a 7 piece. Started off in High Wycombe, then down to Weymouth finishing with a nice ferry trip over to Shanklin on the Isle of Wight. The gigs went well, audience figures holding up too despite all the financial woes around at the moment. Good to be back doing it again.

I agree Bill. My tech guy said they would handle the 2 ohm load okay, but long term use would shorten it's life, IIRC as the amp would be running hotter or something? Whatever, a bit of an iconic amp IMHO.

Great amps, I’ve had a few over the years. My amp tech guy did say that they are happiest running at 4 ohms rather than 2 though, although I’m sure some people do this.

Recently sold Greg a gig big for his DB. Lovely bloke, easy pleasant transaction with great communications throughout. Recommended!

Totally agree - so much easier singing whilst playing guitar chords than bass lines.

I’ve sung (mainly backing) vocals in every band I’ve been in. I’ve found that it’s a massive advantage if you can do this - I’m a competent but not brilliant bassist, and the fact that I can harmonise has got me work over more accomplished players. I have a very ‘neutral’ singing voice with a reasonable range, so it fits for BV’s just fine but as a lead vocal it’s not that special - I do sing the odd song here and there but know it’s usually to give the proper singer a rest, and don’t particularly enjoy doing it. I do really enjoy singing harmony, especially when playing in my acoustic duo - my partner on guitar has a great lead voice, and his range is slightly lower than mine so it works well. I think having played other instruments helps when playing bass and doing BVs. I started off on piano when I was a kid, moving on to guitar/keys in my first few bands so had some experience of chords/harmony which proved invaluable when starting with playing bass and singing. I think it’s harder playing bass than guitar whilst singing, and sometimes struggle with parts that say require a root note on bass and a major 7th on vocals or similar. Tend to rehearse each part separately and then try to do them together for ages until it sinks in.

I saw 801 at Hull University in the late 70’s. TBH only went as I got free tickets from the record company, but enjoyed the gig and subsequent album despite not particularly being my kind of thing. Phil Manzanera is a great player, and love his iconic red Gibson Firebird V11. My brother was a big Roxy Music fan, and I remember hearing their first couple of albums blasting from his room. Wasn’t sure about the ‘smoother’ later albums, but enjoyed some of Bryan Ferry’s solo stuff, especially as it featured the great Chris Spedding on guitar.

I’ll have what Danny’s having….. Clapton nicked ‘Tulsa Time’ from Don Williams, who recorded his version around the same period. Danny was in Don’s band at the time, and Clapton was a big fan.

I like Stevie’s version more than the original. Good that we’re all different eh? Seeing as we’re talking covers of Beatles stuff, I can’t abide Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel’s mauling of George’s ‘ Here comes the sun’.

Even one missing rubber foot from a mic stand can create horrible resonances, especially on hollow stages.