dmccombe7

Had a Dingwall NG2 5 stringer for a couple of yrs mainly for a Prog project i was working on but i prefer 4 strings. It was a terrific bass tho and i would buy another 4 string Dingwall. Dave

Yep i remember us discussing this very issue about being dependant V's playing for fun. We talked about bands under-selling themselves or playing for nothing and how it affects the market and other musicians who rely on income from gigs. My views and opinions have changed since that discussion and now totally agree on the value of pricing our gigs accordingly to keep the market healthy for musicians and bands. We now have an agreed minimum fee with both my bands. Dave

Its funny plus a turnaround for me. When i restarted playing in bands it was solely just for fun and never for the money but now that i'm gigging a fair bit i'm finding the extra cash very very handy. So far this year we've re-furnished our main living room I'ts also allowed me to buy a fair amount of new gear to satisfy my GAS. Its even funnier that with the Glam band i find myself not wanting to play for less than our usual fee even charity gigs i expect the full fee. I'm becoming greedy i jest of course. Dave

Over the many years i've been playing i've given up at different levels ie playing in bands, playing at all, even at home, but always having my Warwick Thumb NT89 as i love that bass and would never sell it. I got back into bands when i turned 50 after 15yrs off and never really looked back. I'm busier now than i ever was but its still just a hobby for me. I really enjoy playing in bands now that i've retired at 56 yrs old the pressure is off and i have the time to put the effort in that a band requires. I've always maintained that if it starts to feel more like a job i'll walk away but for now its all just good fun in both bands. Maybe its just good luck that both bands have great people in them and that makes life a whole lot easier. For those thinking of giving it all up i'd say take a full break from it and see how you feel in 6mths to a year. If after that time you decide to walk away i would recommend keeping the minimum amount of gear to gig and practice at home with just in case you change your mind again. Dave

Think i prefer the Fender. It has a bit more warmth and depth when flat but once the EQ is brought in they sound quite similar. Dave

I've only tried the older models and found the same thing with the woolly tone but wasn't aware the button was different from other amps. I also didn't have enough time to fiddle about with it. Lot of great players use them and have a fantastic tone. I considered the new version 600 before buying the Handbox WB-100 but its wider than my cabs and that put me off. Dave

That is a thing of beauty. Always fancied one. I'm away to have a youtube listen now. Dave

Best :- Ampeg SVT7 Pro. Just loving the tone from it plus its reasonably light and portable. Shure GLXD Wireless (pedal version) which has been so easy to set up and use and has never let me down or had any issues over the year. Elixir nickel strings now on some basses since May and still sounding nice. Designacable cables that i originally got for my wireless transmitter with an angled jack. Since then all my cables have been bought from them. Worst :- various strings i've tried that haven't lasted or the got lost in the mix for some weird reason. Markbass, D'addario XT's to mention a few but now on Elixir nickels which are doing exceptionally well. Dave

Yep spare bass to every gig and never used. I used to play the spare first set but preferred my main Sandberg basses and now just stick with them VM4 for Glam band and MarloweDK for the punk band. Dave

Basses probably aren't the most important things in your life and family will always come before basses. Its a difficult position to be in and i can't begin to understand how it feels to be in that position. I can only offer my best thoughts and wishes for a better 2024 for anyone in the same situation as @bubinga5.Here's hoping it finally picks up for you soon. Dave

Few pics have appeared from last nights Glam gig.

This was posted on our FB page last night by a local band reviewer for the Dreadnought in Bathgate. Very humbled by it. No pics or vids have appeared as yet. Dave This year I've had some good nights, some really good nights, some great nights and some exceptional nights in the Dreadnought.. Tonight's gig was on another scale completely... For ny on THREE HOURS the packed Dread was treated to a Christmas Party of epic proportions courtesy of the phenomenal glam rock covers band Blockbustarz... Mike, David, Colin, Lynn and Barry were tinselled up, hairdoed up (Barry had a hat on), silver suited up, glam rock booted up and face painted up to the max.. The crowd were suitably attired as well, with Elton John style glasses, glitter covered hats, Christmas jumpers, flashing light necklaces and tinsel on show.... Appearing on stage to Rock and Roll Part 2, they were straight into the classics, Ballroom Blitz, 21st Century Boy, All of Me Loves All of You and Dance Dance Dance for starters. It was clear from the onset that the crowd were 'up for it'.... It was party central 'doon the front', led off by a lady wearing a white Christmas jumper and Santa Hat (who I was informed was touching 70!), who never stopped 'glamming' for 2 and a half hours before she had to leave for her bus Tremendous...... Some of us 1970's punters knew all of the words, but the younger audience members just boogied along.. The Cat Crept In, Hey Rock n Roll and Glass of Champagne kept the crowd dancing... Can the Can was followed by a Sweet song... As Lynn intoduced it as "This is Mikes song!", I immediately thought it was Hellraiser... Unfortunately for Mike it was Little Willy... (too much info from the Green Room). Virginia Plain, Get it On, and Let it Snow (which had the crowd singing along) kept the pace up. The white Christmas jumper wearing woman was still going 'aff her heid' and enjoying every minute. Coo Ca Choo , Dynamite and Rebel, Rebel saw no let up in the pace, with Mike and Lynn on vocals giving it welly, as was Barry Bazza Haywood on drums (what an incredible glam rock drummer he is), and more than ably assisted by Colin on guitar and David on bass. The stage was a mass of glittery covered suits and strange shaped guitars.. Saturday Night, Schools Out, Crazy Horses and Hellraiser took us and the band to a very well deserved break.. Phenomenal first half.. Waterloo and Teenage Rampage started off the second half before the call of "Where's Hastie?" went up.... It could only be Tell Him from Hello, the best punk/glam/ rock song ever! ... As sure as night follows day and apples fall from trees, I always migrate towards the front.. Now it was game on between me and the santa hat wearer.. Tell Him was followed by, I Love Rock n Roll, Under the Moon of Love and Children of the Revolution before the first Christmas song Lonely This Christmas was played... CLASSIC.... Next up was Rocket and The Jean Genie before we had a stage malfunction....During Let's Stick Together one big lad went down like a giant redwood... backwards. Before you could shout "Timber", a monitor was crushed and Lynn got banjoed on the eye by a mic... ROCK AND ROLL..! As Lynns shiner was appearing the lad was helped up and staggered away... I Love to Boogie and Fox on the Run led us into Merry Christmas Everybody.. MAGNIFICENT.... Come on Feel the Noise, Devil Gate Drive and Wig Wam Bam had me and the 'doon the fronters' giving it 'laldy'... Hot Love, Spirit in the Sky and the Time Warp took us up to Tiger Feet or as Johnstone 'Swagger Panther' Bowes was singing "Panther Feet"..... The big stage diver was back, but was cajoled around the floor and was still enjoying his night. Blockbuster, I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday and a rousing Loch Lomondy version of Shang a Lang ended the proceedings.... 100 out of 100 for all concerned tonight.. The bar staff, Pete on sound, floor security. (), door staff, the up for it crowd, the main man Douglas Croft and not forgetting of course the tremendous band... That's what you call a Christmas Night... ..... That's me and my reviews of the music scene over for this year. I hope next year's is just as good.... As Noddy Holder once said.... "Merry Christmas Everybody!" .... Ps.. I heard Lynn is auditioning for the 'Black Eyed Peas"' .... Big Hastie over and out from his big chair where I'm recovering from my 'pogo' off with the Santa hat wearer.... Rock On Folks..

Sorry to hear @bubinga5 i thought things had picked up for you a few years back but obviously not. I don't have any cheap basses these days but happy to let you have one i don't particularly use these days. Overwater J4 its not a Tanglewood but made by Chris himself) Its a nice enough bass to play. More than happy to chip in to get you sorted out especially at this time of year. You're not the first to be in this situation and certainly won't be the last. Wishing you all the very best that things pick up for you soon. Dave

Oddly enough we talked about that very idea a few weeks back. Dave

Last Christmas gig tonight with BLOCKBUSTARZ at The Dreadnought in Bathgate. Has to be THE best venue we play. Very very busy, most i've seen in there. Door money split 80/20 to us and we made about £1200 so that was good. Feedback was excellent with the venue owner and the SE saying we have been THE best act in there all year. High praise indeed as they get some very well established bands in there. SE has done our sound 3 times now and said tonight was just another level for the band, absolutely superb night. Booked for next Xmas on the Sat night before Xmas plus a date in July too. They booked us last Xmas for this one and next years. NEGATIVES. :- drunk guy fell onto the stage between the monitors knocking Lynn's mic stand into her face given her a sore mouth and blood running down from a cut above her eye. Band stopped playing until Lynn managed to stem the blood flow using my hand towel and ice. She is a qualified nurse so knows what she's doing. After the gig the singer looked at the 2 wireless units and one has a cracked casing and the other a chipped corner. One of them the display was fading in and out so may be knackered but will check it tomorrow. This weekend has been quite eventful with a*s*h***s causing damage to the band and its equipment. Singers gear is covered thru MU so he may have to claim it or we use our band kitty to cover the costs. Bouncers had to keep people away from the stage front the rest of the night and all credit did a good job after the incident. Anyways its now Christmas Eve so hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve and a very Merry Christmas to you and your families. Dave

The club are trying to get away from singers with backing tracks and back to proper bands and i think we were the deciding factor that people definitely prefer a live band. The attraction of many clubs was the cheaper drinks but these days they are pretty standard prices from what i'm told. I don't really drink these days. My personal trainer plays for Glasgow Tigers American Football Team. Dave

Be very careful on what you go for. For my 50th i wanted a special bass and originally wanted a 6 string fretted but wasn't playing in any bands at the time and decided on an Overwater 6 string but thought i should push the boat out and get a fretless version. Gorgeous bass and beautiful to play and look at but now that i'm gigging again its not a practical bass for use in the bands i'm in and very rarely gets played. I'm more comfortable with a 4 string fretted and now wish i had gone for a 4 string fretted version. My point is to ask yourself what you currently play most and settle on that and that way you should get more use out of an expensive bass like a WAL. Have to admit i really do fancy another WAL myself but a 4 string fretted Mk1 or 2 for me. Gorgeous basses altho i personally think overpriced these days but once your mind is made up nothing else will do. Dave

Wee vid from last nights show. http://www.facebook.com/100079944291714/videos/25433903599533850

Checked this morning and bass is fine. Have to say its a fair size club with few different halls / rooms etc. I trust you were a local to the area. ? My wife's aunt was bar manageress back in 90's so we got the hall cheap for our wedding reception. My wife is originally from Newmains area too and used to work part time behind the bar in mid 80's. Dave

Last night was a new venue for us with our BLOCKBUSTARZ Xmas show and WOW what a fantastic night in Cambusnethan Miners Social Club in Wishaw. Its where we had our wedding reception in 1995. 200 tickets sold and a sell out. Dance floor was busy from the word go. The organiser came backstage before we started and said he was going to pay us £50 more than agreed because the tickets sold so fast without them getting a chance to advertise the gig and they were so surprised and never seen that kind of response before. At the half time break he paid us another £25 on top of that as he said the feedback was unbelievable. Everyone was talking about the band. Apparently someone said to him that this was a proper band where everything was played live with no backing tracks (i think they normally get singers in with backing tracks) They want us back next year but are fully booked on Sat nights and asked if we could do a Fri night and another Sun afternoon for same money. Lots of photos at the end too. NOW THE NEGATIVES. An a**h**e decided to go onto the stage after we finished and getting changed when we heard my wife throwing a rage and shouting at him to get off the stage so our singer was fully clothed ran thru and the guy had staggered and knocked my bass over and he dragged him off the stage by and he then fell across 2-3 tables. Committee members then grabbed him and told him to leave. Luckily my wife who is normally very very shy and quiet was ok and when i checked the bass at home there was no damage. When the committee guy came backstage to talk to us i angrily explained that particular bass is worth approx £2k and if its damaged i wont be covering the cost of repairs or replacement and he agreed and said to let him know if any damage and the club would cover all costs. I was fuming the rest of the night and struggled to get to sleep last night. Told him the guy should be barred and if we come back he better not be in or the band would pack up and leave. They are checking to see if he's a club member and if he is they will remove his membership. He had been trying to lift props off the stage thru the night and kept shouting for Gary Glitter until guitarist said over the mic that this was an Adults Only show and maybe he should be at a different show. Our guitarist is an ex Royal Marine Instructor and generally doesn't get phased by anyone for obvious reasons. Always one TW*T and the club have been very apologetic and embarrassed that they weren't aware he had been heckling the band all night. Anyways tonight is our last Xmas show at our fav venue in The Dreadnought in Bathgate. Fantastic venue, great staff, great owner and just a venue that knows what they are doing when it comes to organising bands. This is the highlight of our year as singer lives in Bathgate and its her local venue for all sorts of bands. At least PA and lights are all supplied with a great Sound guy too. Dave

I used to play GYOW in a band too and 100% on that amazing bassline. Dave

Yep some of them just look so nice while others not so much even tho they are all sunburst. Yours has it. Lovely. Is it a wide nut. ? that's what puts me off some P basses. Dave

That P bass is very nice and putting me in the mood for a decent sunburst P bass. Dave

Is he on any illegal medication ? How to kill a bands atmosphere. I even grudge stopping for a 15min break in the middle of our sets. Dave

not able to view the link i'm afraid. When i copy over from FB i remove the s from the https and then copy over Dave