KingBollock

Indeed, I too love Son of a Preacher Man. I also love White Rabbit, which is getting a right kicking in this thread.

I really dislike the slightly stretched, drawn by a child, quality of Spector basses.

Perhaps you’d prefer this version…

OutKast’s Hey Ya. Almost as ear-gratingly nasty as the theme tune to the old tv soap Take The High Road. I almost put Meatloaf’s I Would Do Anything For Love. But the reason has more due to timing and a certain couple of women than the song itself…

Loving that track!

My first 5 string was a Magna Series Aria Pro II MAB20/5, and I hate it! It has a very narrow neck, which makes it really easy to play, and the jazz pickups are really nice and growly. It sounds lovely. But it looks so boring! The shape is a slab, all hard angles, and the colour is a dirty looking pearlescent white. Just looking at it makes me cold, and black veins crawl across my soul. I’d like to do something with it, though. I like really glossy, piano white basses. It doesn’t feel beyond me to sand it back and re-spray it, but it has a nasty, wood deep chip in a prominent place, which means I’d have to take all the paint down to the bare wood. Which would at least give me an opportunity to reshape it a bit, rounding over the edges. But my confidence that I could do a good job of it is not high. I have thought about filling the chip and having at it with an airbrush, possibly do some kind of design on it. Maybe something American McGee’s Alice inspired? I’ve thought about defretting it, too. I doubt it’ll ever get to the top of my stuff to do pile, though, and I’d probably have to give someone money for them to take it off my hands…

Are you having doubts about giving up the band you just left, or just in general? Maybe the enquiries piquing your interest might be a clue that what you really need is something new/different?

I love stickers. Meet Angelbane. Again.

I use a sandbag rifle support. Once filled with sand they get quite heavy and sturdy. But you could also fill them with beanbag beans for a more lightweight solution. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185027001692

What about replacing songs in your set that he currently struggles the most with, with simpler new songs?

I hope you enjoy them more than you think you will. I know you said that it’s the lead up, rather than the gig itself, that gets to you, so hopefully you’ll end on a high and be left with good memories.

Isn’t alt rock just anything that isn’t rock?

Have you tried the nylon ones? What sizes are you trying? I used 3mm Big Stubbies for over twenty years until I discovered Dunlop Primetones. They’re expensive but they have better grip than Stubbies and I prefer the sound from them.

I was once in a band that disbanded and reformed with a new name and different lead guitarist and singer. I had no idea it was going on. They all knew each other socially but I was quite a bit younger, not old enough to go to the pub with them. I was just told that the band was over. At the time I was working in a guitar shop and the lead guitarist had come in for something. I was out of the shop, on my way back, when I met the guitarist coming the other way, and he told me there was someone on the phone for me. It turned out to be the second guitarist. He and the drummer had organised the split and they wanted me to join them again. I said yes. A little while later the lead guitarist had found a really good drummer and they asked if I’d like to join them… I really wanted to but I had no idea that you could be in two bands at the same time, so I felt I had to turn them down. The new band was a mess and didn’t last long. Guess who went on to have a proper career in music…

This seems such a shame, but I understand some of the cruel treacheries of the human mind. Is the lead up to the event the only thing making you want to quit? If you have made your mind up, then I apologise for this next bit, because I can’t know your precise problem and so throwing different, possible solutions at you may not be welcome. Have you considered counselling/therapy/hypnosis? I don’t imagine you’d be able to get it on the nhs, and I don’t know your financial situation. I have no idea how much such an option would likely cost. I think someone has already suggested virtual recording. Do you play any other instruments? Could writing music be an option? Do you have to be in a gigging band to play? I, personally, would be perfectly happy just to write music and rehearse it once a week with a band, with never having gigging as a goal. Just to play with other people would be enough. Recording would be cool, too. One of my biggest regrets is having to walk away from a whole circle of musicians and never being able to find my way into local music scenes since. I miss playing with other people so much, and I have only ever played a handful of gigs. But, the most important question is: Will, you be sticking around BassChat? I hope so.