KevB

Gillan's is still the benchmark performance to measure others by for me. Considering he had to learn and record it in a very short time between Deep Purple commitments it goes to show what an effortless natural singer he was back in the day. He fancied a go at acting in his youth so it would have been interesting to have seen him do it on stage had it been possible.

All a little disorganised on the part of the venue but we did our best and got good feedback at the end, venue apparently sold out of tickets and it did look packed by the start of the second set. They wanted us to start at 10pm and we eventually got off stage at 12:45 but we did have a break between sets and then an enforced break for 10 mins into the 2nd set as they closed the bar and we did the countdown for them to midnight followed by auld lang syne (no one else in the band could be arsed to learn it so it was played in from an ipod, don't know which version it was but it was really slow and rather dull. I was into my third consecutive cold and running a temeprature so it was all a bit surreal for me anyway, like playing through someone else's body. Worst part as ever is clearing up but when the venue stays open later than usual then you are trying to pack up around a bevvied up audience which takes twice the time. Even when they were all chucked out they just congregated in a mass in front of the doors which is the only way to get gear in and out of the venue. At least the slightly over double our usual fee lessens the burden a bit. Bizarrely they still want us to honour our regular first Sat in the month residency there so we will be back in 3 days to do it all over again, it'll be dead though the first weekend after new year always is. Might be an opportunity to thrash out some new stuff. Bought some cheapish LED lights from Maplins to give us a bit more presence, seemed to do a job and easy to set up/break down.

Wedding gig in Chesterfield last night. Band leader says we should be there for 7pm, look at forecast realise there's a nasty weather front moving from north to south so give myself extra time. At one point I could actually see torrential rain being driven uphill as the wind was so strong, surreal.Arrive just before 7pm. Band leader eventually turns up at 7:45, get yourself a decent sat nav ffs. Fortunately I'd found out which wedding it is (there are 2 on in different parts of same hotel) and started loading in gear with the other band members by then. Odd gig, we only got 4 songs into set1 and had to stop for the evening buffet. As I hadn't eaten since 12:30 along with the guitarist i was happy when the organiser invited us to help ourselves to food and also supplied us with drinks all night plus a generous payoff at the end. Not a big wedding so there were never going to be a lot of people dancing but we kept those who were up for it happily entertained. Just got to sort myself out for this afternoon's jam session now then I can have a gig break until NYE which could be 'lively'...

Here's the new girl trying not to upstage anyone of course... [URL=http://s30.photobucket.com/user/KevB64/media/600full-paz-lenchantin_zpse0b6567e.jpg.html][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/KevB64/600full-paz-lenchantin_zpse0b6567e.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Knackered today after another private xmas party do last night, this time some NHS employees (bless 'em). Nice people and looked after us (allowed us free access to their buffet and offered to buy the band drinks all night) but the city centre venue is a PITA for loading. No easy parking close to the venue and the party room itself is on the first floor, no lift. I opted to go for a mutistorey a walk away and traipse all my gear in in shifts in the rain (£7 parking). The drummer on arrival with his other half got half on the pavement outside but was still in the way of a tram and had to shift it sharpish. When she came back to pick him up at the end she made a wrong turn into a 'bus only' road (so probably a ticket there) and realising the mistake and trying to do something about it then ended up the wrong way down a one way street just as the police pulled up (might be a second ticket meaning the drummer will end up in deficit for the night's work). After getting all my own gear back to the multistorey then lugged half the PA and ancilliary gear back to the singer's car parked in a disabled only area which was still a good stroll away from the venue. They played it last year and the (different) drummer then incurred 2 parking tickets on the night, i don't know why BL accpeted the gig again. If it comes up next xmas I'll probably be long sacked anyway so it won't be an issue for me. Can't even recall how the gig went it was just a blur, had a dep guitarist in so didn't feel like the real band anyway. Wedding gig on Sat so it'll soon be all forgotten.

I never found Kim Deal's singing to be particularly convincing anyway but i take your point

He goes on about it being a trivial matter changing the bass player again but they seem to go out of their way to make sure it's a woman each time. I guess they are just frightened of alienating their fanbase.

How wide is the neck on the new Fender Dimension? might be worth a look.

You might even be able to hear the G string on these

[quote name='gazzatriumph' timestamp='1387225596' post='2309656'] Hi Kev, thanks for your reply, too good and for me too expensive as a back up, is there any reason you don't just use it in passive mode as your main bass.[/quote] I don't think there is the option on my model, there's no active/passive switch as far as I know. It's an 18v (2x 9v batteries) powering the pre amp and a double J pickup at the bridge; [URL=http://s30.photobucket.com/user/KevB64/media/IMG_0944.jpg.html][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/KevB64/IMG_0944.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s30.photobucket.com/user/KevB64/media/IMG_0947.jpg.html][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/KevB64/IMG_0947.jpg[/IMG][/URL] I think the design has subtly changed over the years

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Viqr6KHwJjc

I have a US P deluxe from 2003 or so but I think it already had some shielding fitted when I picked it up s/h so don't know how it sounded prior to that. I'm playing passives at the moment and the deluxe isn't getting used much unfortunately, too good a bass to be having as a backup really but I'm not going to give it away, it's a beast of a thing. Don't go overboard on the mids boost knob at the far end!

You're the customer and it's your money.

I'd like to think it's Geezer playing even if he's duplicating someone else's lines. The other thing is that the general tone and feel of the basslines on Heaven & Hell are very similar to those on Mob Rules (although the slightly muddy production on MR makes the comparison difficult) and there's never been a suggestion that it's anyone other than Geezer on that album.

Personally I like a bit of 'edge' in my bass tone so I hardly ever use flats. There's no reason you can't use them if it is the sound you really like. I have a P, a P deluxe active and a Jazz, all US made. This year I got fed up of being stiffed £15-£20 min for just a set of strings so tried a dirt cheap brand as an experiment. I'm not a bedroom player so in the proper live band context (90% of my actual playing these days) and neither I nor the audience could tell any difference between cheapo and fender or Rotosound or whatever. Using these at present; [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Guitar-Strings-DCG3-45-105-Coban-Deluxe-Range-Wonderful-Reviews-/161085017849?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item25816a4ef9#ht_3856wt_1077"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Guitar-Strings-DCG3-45-105-Coban-Deluxe-Range-Wonderful-Reviews-/161085017849?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item25816a4ef9#ht_3856wt_1077[/url]

Sorry, too many contenders even if it was limited to pre-'76 or whenever Rainbow Rising came out. Actually nearly all the top classic heavy rock genre defining albums came out between about '70 and '76, it was a golden half decade or so to be sure. I wish I had been born about 10 years earlier than I was, I only really got into it very late 70's but then there was a bit of a revivial in the post punk early 80's so it wasn't all bad.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1386857053' post='2305427'] I was expecting MUCH worse when I read the OP... [/quote] The title of [i]that[/i] thread would be 'Yngwie splashes out on another Strat'

Here's a chunk of Wiki about Heaven & Hell album; [size=3][color="#000000"]Black Sabbath's line-up was in chaos prior to the recording of [i]Heaven and Hell[/i]. Not only had Osbourne recently been replaced, but drummer [/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ward_(musician)"][u]Bill Ward[/u][/url][color="#000000"] was battling personal issues that would see him eventually leave the band. Original demo recordings for the album featured [/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoff_Nicholls"][u]Geoff Nicholls[/u][/url][color="#000000"] on bass, as the band's longtime bassist [/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geezer_Butler"][u]Geezer Butler[/u][/url][color="#000000"] was going through a divorce and his future with the band was in question. In fact, when Dio first joined the band he was doubling as bassist and vocalist, having played bass in the band [/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_(album)"][u]Elf[/u][/url][color="#000000"] in the early 1970s. At one point Iommi contacted close friend [/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa"][u]Frank Zappa[/u][/url][color="#000000"] for help finding a bassist. Zappa offered his bassist for the [i]Heaven and Hell[/i] sessions but Iommi preferred a permanent member. Eventually, Butler returned and Nicholls stayed on as the band's unofficial keyboardist.Former Elf and [/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_(rock_band)"][u]Rainbow[/u][/url][color="#000000"] bassist [/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Gruber"][u]Craig Gruber[/u][/url][color="#000000"] also rehearsed with the band during this period, though the true extent of Gruber's involvement is unclear. In a 1996 interview, Iommi stated that Gruber rehearsed with the band only "for a bit".Gruber has stated that his contribution was much more substantial; he claims to have co-written most of [i]Heaven and Hell'[/i]s songs and that it was actually he and not Butler who played bass on the album. Despite not being credited for his contributions, Gruber claims "we came to a suitable financial arrangement".Iommi later stated in his 2011 autobiography that Gruber did in fact record all the bass parts on the [i]Heaven and Hell[/i] album, but that Butler re-recorded the parts upon his return to the band.[/color][/size]

[quote name='Grassie' timestamp='1386849854' post='2305279'] the scalloped fingerboard. WTF is that all about? [/quote] Imitating Blackmore basically.

Just for a bit of 70's nostalgia we sometimes do 'Sky High' by Jigsaw in the house band's jam session forays. We drop it down to a lower key though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_LcZhmkg88

Like Dingus I really like the stuff he did with the Dio era albums, I really hope that it is Geezer on those albums. There have always been rumours that it wasn't him on the original recordings as he was a bit in and out of the band at the time (especially H&H). In particular I always cite the bassline in 'Die Young' as particularly good from that album but both albums are chock full of quality low endedness.

Ah yes the boy who wanted to be Hendrix and Blackmore and never grew up. Grew out quite a bit though. Lowender has him pretty much summed up in post 13. I also saw him with Turner on the Odyssey tour and felt I'd pretty much seen everything he had to offer in one gig and it wasn't worth going again so I never did.

Well spiny it was the briefest of meetings but he didn't come across as 'starry' at all. I saw him on a couple of other different nights at the same club but didn't bother him. On one occasion as I left the club in the early hours I saw him pottering off down the street on his own, presumably to find a taxi home.

I met Roy Wood in the 90's. I believe he had a place in Derbyshire at the time and would occasionally just turn up, on his own, unannounced and not remotely doing any 'look at me' stuff at the Sat night rock nights at Rock City. I'm not one for pestering people but having heard his stuff over the years and couldn't help but thank him for all the great music through the years and he should let me know next time he wanted a drink as it was on me. He didn't take me up on the offer but seemed genuinely touched that his music was still loved and was a very down to earth humble character. I'm not getting into a 'Roy v Jeff' thing, been done to death. I think if you listen to Jeff's pre-ELO band 'The Idle Race' you can definitely hear things that sound similar to what ended up on early ELO albums so they were both bringing ideas to the table. I really like the second album, some gloriously dark stuff compared to the later commercial work but I like other later material in its own way too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6afzcy6zlhs

Was pleasantly surprised by the Dead Daisies album I got free with Classic Rock magazine to the extent I've decided to go see them play (supporting Black Star Riders) on Thurs. OK so it's a bit blues rock by the numbers but it works and they have Darryl Jackson on bass! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfMkQQl6q4o