KevB

With respect to Blue, I think there are probably a few more opportunities even for the more 'mature' player over here if you live in a reasonably well populated region and have transport. There are times when I've gone a full year (most 'off' time I've had) between bands but that has been as much to do with my priorities as there were potential bands to audition for. If you have realisitc expectations (and I think the OP Clive does from these and other posts I've read by him) there are gigs out there still. I'd rather move on to another project than keep slogging along with something that I don't think is really working at the expectation level I had when joining.

Could have been worse, might have been 2nd on the bill to the puppet show and have to break out 'jazz odyssey'

Have to admit I didn't make it to the end of any of their songs on Jools but at least I gave it a shot. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when that girl band did the 'deliberately out of tune' song.

[quote name='CHW' timestamp='1433153555' post='2788219'] Bass player fired for being overweight??? I'm in trouble. [/quote] Doubt that I'd have got any gigs over the last 10 years or so at least

Someone on here checked the details for the number, it's not a premium rate number and is registered to a musician called Eric Gynan. He may well have been the victim of someone fraudulantly using his number in which case it would be good for someone to ring him and let him know. It may be him that really sent the email and it's not a scam at all, he may just be a fantasist. We've all come across them. One call could sort it but hey ho.

Was asked by the band I quit earlier this year to dep for them Sat night as the guy that replaced me was already commited to a gig in a different band for that date before he joined! Ah well it was fairly easy, didn't have to learn anything new and the crowd wasn't bad. The singer from my new band even turned up to hear the first set. Then yesterday I had a 3 hour session with new band, first time we've set up with all our own gear in an empty room just so we could get a workable PA running from what we had between us, actually didn't sound too bad at all and I could finally get a monitor back to hear my own bvox! Also someone who knew what he was talking about was there to give us feedback on how the whole sound was coming over FOH (we set up in a working men's club) which was really helpfull, especially as he was continually telling 2 guitars to turn down (I've thought they were too loud when we've practiced before but good to get a 2nd opinion).Totally knackered by the time I got home though.

Ring the number, if it's the real Eric Gynan and he hasn't a clue who you are then you can tell him some fraudster has his number and is using it in a scam, you will be doing him a favour. If it is the guy that wrote the email (Eric Gynan or not) then you will get a much better picture of what's going on than some weird email.

Lee Pomeroy, plays leftie but with strings upside down. Great player, seen him with It Bites a couple of times and in Steve Hackett's backing band. Been gigging with Take That for a fair while too. Edit - beaten to it by our friend up north Thread merge?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1432898363' post='2785994'] We're a dying breed. Some kids laughed at me in the street the other day - for carrying a newspaper. [/quote] Roll it up tightly, then a short smart rap across the bridge of the nose usually puts a stop to the mirth. Edit - great minds Marv...

If you missed part 3 it's on ipalyer still; [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vxxmt"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vxxmt[/url] part 4 on Monday where he's talking to Ian Anderson

[quote name='Chris Sharman' timestamp='1432824427' post='2785329'] Cool, if you make it we can meet up for a beer afters perhaps? [/quote] Yep, def up for a post gig pint mate.

Not a fan, never seen them live but I thought the latest album was as strong as anything I've heard by them. Enjoyed the documentary.

Could try a basic rock n roll song like Johnny B Good. They are good learning tools because at the very basic level you can just play root notes and work on speed & timing then when you are more confident can put extra notes in, say 5ths, to flesh the line out a bit more and can even go on to playing walking patterns, all using the same track to play along with.

[quote name='Chris Sharman' timestamp='1432724203' post='2784250'] Booked for Nottingham anyone else going? [/quote] Printed off a ticket on the off chance but it says 7pm start so not sure if I'll get to town that early, depends on work.

Great stuff there Chris, excellent promo for the band.

I'm generally not [i]too[/i] bothered about colours (despite both my fenders being Butterscotch blonde) but it would have to be an exeptional player/tone for me to gig a shell pink, sorry. Come to think of it I think it's the red end of the spectrum that I find least appealing, not a big fan of CAR either. having said that I'm not keen on green. OK maybe I am influenced by the colours after all

Yes I've quite fancied having a go on drums a few times but then having seen fellow band mates (and helped them) hump all the kit in from a van and set it up then break it all down at the end of the night I've decided just the few bits I do of my own gear is quite enough.

This looks fairly indestructable: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Professional-100w-powered-wedge-monitor-for-vocals-keyboards-etc-/331553943475?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4d3227afb3#ht_78wt_1159"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Professional-100w-powered-wedge-monitor-for-vocals-keyboards-etc-/331553943475?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4d3227afb3#ht_78wt_1159[/url]

A lot of stage wedge monitors seem to be in ever larger surrounds these days. I'm sure they are better protected in their big moulded plastic boxes but they sure seem big! I picked up a pair of old MAJ wedges on eBay for about £100. One powered main with a non powered slave, though they are 12" drivers they are in sensibly sized boxes so don't take up a lot of stage room. Runs at 75W at 8ohm for single unit or a bit under 150W when paired up with slave at 4ohm, seem plenty loud enough for me. The other possible solution is the Behringer 205D which you can mount on a mic stand and therefore take up no more space than the stand would on its own. They are angled and have fittings so the rest of a boom mic can come up out of the Behringer unit. Only a 5" driver but don't be fooled, they are over 100W and are quite punchy. Your drummer could effectively have one at head height.

[quote name='Old_Ben' timestamp='1432306120' post='2780283'] Which show did you come to? [/quote] Rescue Rooms Nottingham

I saw you supporting Von Hertzen Brothers recently, bass sounded fine to me but I know what picky gits some of these studio types can be. On the other hand the studio can be pressurising enough without going in with a completely alien instrument as BRX says. If you go for a loan make sure you have it well enough in advance so you are as familiar with it as your regular squeeze.

I bought his bass chords long thin book about 15 years ago. I must get round to looking at it some time.

I was playing classic rock in a band using a jazz for a while, never had any complaints (though I did tend to deploy the S1 switch a lot ). I still have it and it was only when I started doing more modern britpoppy/mainstream stuff that I switched to a P regularly at gigs.

Also if you get one of the S1 types you can switch between series and parallel on the pickups, an extra tonal variation right there.

If you are looking to initially just noodle around in the bedroom, all about playability for me for a starter. Decent tone helps but not that essential to start with. Find something that you feel you will want to pick up and won't be making your hands hurt after 20 minutes through a poor action or ergonomics. Nothing worse than trying to learn on a badly set up neck, just puts people off.