peteb

I quite like Gerry's bass solo on Bad Penny (plenty of clips on YouTube)

Wouldn't buy a ticket then if I was you...

If you are going for a Fender then I don't think that you can go wrong with an American Standard from about 2012 to a couple of years ago - CS p/ups and graphite rods in the neck, etc Personally, I would avoid those made in the 80s and be very careful with 70s models - some great, some complete dogs (I've had one of each)!

My pet hate was salesmen talking nonsense to sell what they happened to have in stock. I have always trusted Mark since he advised me to buy a cab that he didn't have from someone else because he reckoned (quite correctly) that it was just what I needed.

That's great value. If I was looking for a new amp that would be the first one I would be trying out!

That's a great video with some very useful concepts. Are you thinking of doing a follow up concentrating on note placement and how to 'feel' when you are playing on top of the beat, behind the beat or bang on the middle of the beat? To me, being able to control note placement and if you want to play in front, behind or on the beat is the mark of a top bass player.

PT has just released his follow up video in this series. Another great video, even a lot of this is pretty much just common sense to me, but it seems that it might not be to a lot of people (including plenty on BC)

We have had a bit of contact with Al, who has helped us with a few copyright issues on merch, websites, etc. He does seem like a nice guy. We've also had some positive feedback from other members of Magnum, which is cool. No gigs booked in the north east yet, but I would imagine that we will get up there sooner or later. If you are interested, hit up the Facebook page, which will keep you notified of any gigs we have coming up. Who knows, we may end up on the same bill at some point??

Good video, should be compulsory viewing for people who complain that they can't find bands. It's not rocket science really - be a good player, play with as many good musicians as you can, get on with people and don't act like a d1ck, make contacts and network...

I'm a little bit tempted by a Kala uke bass, but my problem is that I had an Ashbory for a short while and it was horrible - never stayed in tune, strings were awful, nice idea but just unusable! Is the Kala any better??

Hardly a sham. The OP has had a year improving his playing and making contacts, as well as acquiring pro quality gear. All of this will put him in good stead for future musical endeavours. Very few non-famous musicians make 100% of their living from purely playing music these days and many of those who do live on a combination of beans on toast and fresh air. Start teaching, find an income stream you can freelance at and generally embrace the gig economy whilst furthering your musical career. I've just joined a tribute band and we have had a fair bit of contact with the main band. Their bass player even has a second career (as a freelance photographer) when he isn't doing music based gigs.

That's f**kin obvious...

Dude, who knows?? I suspect that cetera may be a bit old to be part of my potential offspring, but the thing is that I have been around a bit and I've just got a clue how it works...

I remember working on the stage crew on a gig where there was a pretty good band from Newcastle that had a similar bass player i.e. had lost the use of his right arm.

I can answer that one. Without people like cetera, i.e. who can actually play and know how to put a band / show together then the music scene at the medium size club / better pub level would die and people would stop going to watch live music all together, apart from the big production pop acts and the occasional band that could still manage to tour…