peteb

I used to have two Berg 112 cabs and they struggled - the two cabs were not loud enough, yet alone just one! I moved them in to get a CN212, which is great - I've never done a gig where the 212 wasn't loud enough.

A Berg CN212 apparently weighs 22kg

I would like the tribute band to get more of the better type gigs that we do, but it's a bit difficult at the moment, partly due to the BL having a few health problems and we really need him to get those sorted. It would be great to get the 'occasional' blues band to play more, but again there are issues with a couple of the guys being so busy elsewhere (not to mention that the main dep for the guitar chair is the aforementioned BL of the tribute band, who needs to recover from his issues with his back). I would like to get some more deps, especially for the blues stuff. I used to think that I was pretty good at networking and such, but perhaps I need to step that up again.

People want different things from music, bands and entertainment in general. I would imagine that many people go to your gigs to relive a part of their youth, maybe dress-up, have a few drinks and dance around the proverbial handbag. Nothing wrong with that, they're having fun and being entertained by you. But for many, it could just as well be a UB40 tribute or watching Mama Mia! Plenty of people love watching blues bands and are probably more connected to the music than they are music from their past. I'm not saying that dancing never happens, and it is always good if any band work on entertaining the audience, but you will have a different atmosphere to a glam band gig! Still people are there enjoying it, so it's still all good. With the best will in the world, I don't see your BL going onstage and knocking out Wig Wam Bam anytime soon! But that's cool - just work with the band you're in and be as good as you can within that remit. I've played all over the UK playing blues festivals and had great fun - I would jump at the chance to do something similar again!

I think that we can confuse what is an expensive bass and what bass a pro is likely to use! From my experience of many years of gigging, working on stagecrews and knowing people who do all of that for a living, I would say that the most common bass used by jobbing pro bass players is probably a basic American Fender Jazz! Add an extra point if its's from the 70s, you've had it a long time and it's got a few marks and simple mods. Other common ones would be a P bass, a Sadowsky or a US Lakland, followed by perhaps a Stingray or a Yamaha BB. If you were to spend £1k or so on a simple s/h Am Std Jazz, it wouldn't look out of place if you took it out on tour a week later!

I don't really know @chris_b apart from what he posts on here. However, I do know that he used to play with a guy (unfortunately no longer with us) who was an exceptional guitarist. He seems to have a lot of experience and work a lot, playing gigs at a pretty decent level. You, I'm not so sure about. Exactly how good are you, what gigs do you do and at what level? Why should I give your opinion the the same weight as his? Perhaps a little bit of respect for people who have that sort of experience and are most likely better than you wouldn't be amiss?

£1.7k seems to be a sweet spot at the moment for a really nice secondhand bass! If you shop around, you should get something really cool. I have never pulled the trigger on a genuinely expensive bass, even though I have considered it at times. The most I have ever spent is £1.65k on a s/h Sadowsky 5 string a couple of months ago. The thing is that I currently have four basses that I have spent that sort of money on, as well as a couple that I paid around a grand for. I am fortunate that I am in the position where I don't necessarily have to sell these days every time that I get a new bass, unlike a few years ago! That is not to say that I didn't part-ex a nice Xotic 5 string to get the Sadowsky.

Not really. It might help you to enjoy 'just doing pub gigs' a little bit more and, possibly, increase your options for other gigs that you might be able to do.

My question would be, why wouldn't you? I'm guessing that you could afford it and if you had a better instrument then it might make you play better / sound better / enjoy the experience more. Add to that, other musos might take note of your improved sound and more professional quality gear and start to consider you for other projects when they need a bass player, some of which might possibly be a step up from only playing pubs.

Well, yes and no! The guy that I mentioned makes a living from playing bass and decided that he needs a P bass that was completely bulletproof, complete with a quarter sawn neck / CS pickups, etc to handle every pro gig that he gets called for. I seriously considered getting something similar, but decided that I couldn't justify the extra cash as I already have a really nice 70s P bass that is always going to be my main bass, so paying the extra £1.5k wasn't worth it when I could get a really nice AVRI with a pretty similar spec, but without the quarter sawn neck! As I said in another post, you can pick up an American Std for £1k or so, which makes it difficult to justify the extra cash. But, for guys that are going to get that boutique P bass as the one that they use all the time, then it's certainly worth it for them!

The BL of the first regular gigging band with a following that I played with, once said to me 'buy right and pay a little more in the first place and it will save you a lot of money in the long run'. He was quite right and I've followed his advice (in the main part) ever since. Whenever I haven't, I've always regretted it! You don't need to spend big on a bass that will cover every gig that you are likely to get called for. If people were to ask me for advice, I would say these days to buy a s/h Fender American Std Jazz Bass if you need a 4 string bass. You can pick them up for a grand (give or take) these days, and no BL or sound engineer is going to be less than happy if you turn up on a gig with one. You will still be gigging it in 30 year's time and it will justify the additional money if you we originally looking to spend a bit less, many times over. You should note that things change over time - ten years ago I would have advised people to pick up a s/h Stingray, which were really good value at the time and look at what they go for these days!

A guy I know is a pro bass player, who paid £3k for a CS P bass. For him, the requirement was for the best possible bass that will work for any gigs that he is going to get called for and that meant a high spec P bass. I've played it and it is a great bass and his reasons for buying it make complete sense. A mate of mine did pick up an Alembic for a very reasonable price and that's great as well. But a P bass is probably going to be more suitable for more gigs for a jobbing pro bass player.

Pretty much my take, except that I've paid from £900 to £1,650 for a gigging bass. I recently was looking for a new bass with a budget of £3k, but ended up getting something that did everything that I needed for half that amount.

Dunno about the punk thing, but I know that he put together a Thin Lizzy tribute for just a (I think) single gig!

I've always thought that the Sunday afternoon / teatime gigs made a lot of sense, even before I reached a 'certain age'! I remember doing a few places back in the 80s, playing to bikers in places like Burnley on a Sunday teatime, and it always made sense, then as it does now. A punter can go out and have a few beers, see a band and still get to bed home at a reasonable time to get up for work on Monday morning. From a muso's point of view, a two hour drive home at eight o'clock is better than driving home at midnight, especially for semi-pros who have work the next morning.