KevB

This is partly why I'm concentrating on the trio and dropped out of the 4/5 piece band. Better chance of coming away with a reasonably worthwhile amount of coin when it's only split 3 ways. We didn't get overpaid for our 3 sets on NYE (gtr/vox has done it as a 3 before and said they got same amount 8-10 years ago) yet at the end of the night it was touch and go if we would get paid in cash or given a cheque depending what was in the till. We practically emptied the till apparently. @Peteb gets to the nub of it. You won't get £500 if the venue knows they don't get that coming into the till on a music night week in week out.

For anyone interested this is a solid cheap as chips introductory CD https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Budgie/dp/B000005RDY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15P6RV3H27YQJ&keywords=best+of+budgie+cd&qid=1642002211&sprefix=best+of+budgie%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-1

I knew he hadn't been well for some time but sad non the less. The first serious rock gig I went to was 1981 with Gillan headlining and Budgie as one of the supports. I thoroughly enjoyed their set yet for some reason never got round to seeing them again which I regret. Proper power trio.

The TE 1x15 combo I still use was originally picked up on eBay with a TE 4x10 ext speaker. I didn't use the 4x10 for very long just for this reason, it's not just the weight but an awkward shape to pick up and deadlift up flights of narrow stairs in some venues. The TE 4x10 was quite 'deep' making it almost like a cube to haul about. The SWR 2x10 that replaced it isn't light but at least you can get your arms round it a bit easier. If I know it's a flat track to somewhere near the stage I use a cheap sack trolley anyway.

I bought a Rumble 100 for a small pub gig when asked to dep at short notice and my back wasn't up to taking my usual TE 1x15 combo + SWR 2x10 extention cab. I found it rather underpowered, I probably should have gone with the 500. I've kept it as a practice amp. However I also now have a TC Electronics 250W 1x12 combo and that can just about do the job for pubs so if at some point the heavy rig has to go I could still manage small venues. The TE rig still sounds great though even at low volume in pubs. Hauling it in and out of the pubs is becoming less of a thrill though.

We got through NYE, in the end we did 2x45 and a final third set of 30 min interrupted by the midnight chimes and I had to then busk my way through auld lang syne having never played it. We were originally going to finish final set before 12 and the DJ would play it in his set. Then the organiser changed his mind while we doing set 2. We chucked in as much non rock stuff as we'd briefly had chance to work up in the few rehearsals we had (non covid illness had ripped through the band, I was full of cold myself by NYE and struggled). The agent was there and moaned a bit at the end that we were unrehearsed and 'a bit heavy' but considering the band was put together to do biker rallies I didn't think we did a bad job, had them dancing at the end and got paid. I doubt we will be playing the venue again any time soon but it won't bother me too much, it's all a bit chicken in a basket for me despite the money being a bit better and a bigger stage to spread out on. We still had to provide our own PA so set up and break down was as much as usual, only thing we didn't need was lights.

Only just got round to posting but not much to recall. Sat night pub gig, not that many punters in and the area we were given to play in really suited to a solo player with backing tracks we ended up across a corner of the bar which meant gtr/vox was pretty much invisible to the bulk of punters so he was miserable all night. On top of that he now says he's got a dodgy LFT result back and is having a pcr test done to check. His wife is on the vulnerable list so he's rightly concerned. This week's rehearsal cancelled which gives us 1 potential go before xmas to run through a shed load of stuff we don't normally play for a NYE's bash. It'll be a car crash can see it coming. Ithought we were a bit lacklustre on Sat but a guy we all know who's been in many bands over the years popped in and said it sounded fine. One punter came up to us after the gig and said he'd enjoyed it so much he offered to buy us all a drink so a bit of positive feedback. That's probably it until the dreaded NYE 3 x 45min fiasco in the making.

In my 3 piece I've used the Fishman pedal (that happy Jack gave a link to) with some success but you have to be a bit careful not to get too busy as it sometimes doesn't track all that well . For completely non-guitar sounds to accompany some songs I've been using the McMillen 12Step which has received some complimentary feedback from punters and the other band members appreciate the difference it makes. However this probably goes beyond what most would consider a 'pedal' in the usual sense and there are other threads devoted to midi pedals already.

I'm doing NYE this year too having avoided it twice even before lockdown. It'll be 3x45 min sets in a local WMC but the money's not bad when only split 3 ways and minimal travel for me so I've agreed to do it. We are going to have to resurrect some real old crowd pleasing sh1te to make the sets up but needs must on nights like NYE.

That was going to be my first guess, never played there but seen folks going in and out when I've played the hop pole and thought it looks the sort of place that might kick off from time to time. I was in the depths of Leicestershire on Sat night little village pub gig.

Relatively straightforward pub gig, it was one of those that an agent who we are using for some gig had sorted out but it wasn't his area so we guess it was a fill in for another agent, they do this sort of stuff quite often. Looked at tripadvisor in advance as none of us had played there and it looked clear the playing area wouldnt be that big so I just took my TC electronics 1x12 250 watt combo and it did enough to get through. We couldnt use monitors (front row got to see my tap dancing skills on the 12 step) and had to put the main PA directly behind us so FOH tops were right behind the mic's. Had to be very careful not to get feedback but we are all fairly experienced and just didn't push the volumes too much and tried to keep our bodies between the mic and speaker at all times. Not a huge turnout (Local autumn fair in the village on same night) but had some nice comments and a few handshakes after the gig. Most importantly the LL was happy and would have passed that back to the agent.

Anywhere I'd know Paul ?

I wasn't going to bother relating the tale but here goes. Drummer got us a gig for bonfire party last Sat. He told us th eset up a couple of months back and have to say i was sceptical about pretty much every detail he related in terms of time we would be expected to play and the type of audience I would personally expect at such an event (ie lots of screaming kids and pretty unsuitable for a 'dad rock' band). Told we would be on at 6pm, turned up to set gear up at 4pm only to be told we wouldn't be on until at least 7:30pm so wasted time rushing over, totally screwed up my Saturday. Sure enough, still full of screaming kids by time we eventually went on and then told we'd be playing until 10pm. On that money? no way. We ended up doing 45min, having 45 min off then doing another 45 up to the agreed 10pm finish. Couldnt get packed up and off quick enough. Drummers. Thick as mince. Hopefully this coming Saturday will be a different matter as it's a proper pub with adults and stuff. And not 'organised' by our drummer.

In my experience it's usually the people who complain the band are 'rehearsing too much' and don't do any preparation at home that then go on to f*ck it up at the gig. They seem incapable of joining the dots.

3 of my current 4 basses are USA (3 fenders and a ric) the other is a Chinese Fender. Main rig is half Brit (TE) and wherever the SWR ext cab was made. Pedals who knows where. I mainly buy stuff for the noises they make rather than whats on the 'made in' label.

My jazz has the S1 switch and whichever circuit version you get when it is pressed in that's what I've found works best in bands.

I too got weary of the 'big sheds'. I think the final nail in the coffin was seeing Peter Gabriel (Bham) and you couldn't hear a note of what Levin was doing over the persistent booming bass drum. However, credit where it's due : one of the artists on my bucket list was Jeff Lynne and I never thought it would happen so me and a mate shelled out way more than we normally pay for gigs in order to see ELO. The sound (Nottm Arena) was superb, far better than when I've seen any other band there and when you consider the complexity of how many instruments and voices were in the mix it showed what a really good sound engineer can do.

Got one, had it a few years and moved my SWR 2x10 plus TE 1x15 combo stacked on it no problem.

Not that they wrote it anyway.

Think it's the ELO tribute?

Dunlop USA Nylon 1mm for me, has been for years though I do play fingerstyle on some songs when it's required. Always serve the song.

Sad to hear, though I knew he hadnt been well for some time. As others have said somewhat underrated and they were never quite the same without that rhythm section of Coghlan and AL. RIP

Considering he's not done any tweaking the HB sounds very good for the money, the sound could probably be improved with some EQ'ing. I hate unfinished necks but if it was for a rough outdoor gig or somewhere dodgy where you wouldnt want to take a USA Fender then it would have to be a consideratrion. The Japanese Fender is way overpriced for what it is.