EliasMooseblaster

Perhaps unusually, the most uncomfortable SPL I've been around was in a recording studio! The engineer kept trying different amps because he thought the bass hook needed more grit, and eventually I was plugged into a massive Hughes & Kettner valve head with an 8x10 fridge. We kept stopping and starting while he tweaked the settings, but I found I had to stand at the longest distance my lead would allow: standing too close to the cab was actually making me slightly nauseous! Eventually he stuck a RAT in the signal chain, everyone agreed that was "the one" and I finally tracked the bass part, wondering whether he couldn't have just plugged the damned pedal into a smaller amp in the first place. (And of course, by the time it was all mixed down, it didn't sound anything like as "big" as the sonic assault I was trying to keep under control in that soundproofed room...)

Your ears will thank you! I don't understand why people still think it's clever or impressive to be painfully loud - especially given how easy it is to be loud these days with modern equipment. Unless you're at a Sunn O)))) gig, I don't imagine most audiences enjoy it either.

I remember that transition well - explaining to the bassist another band that I was really pleased with my purchase, but still getting used to the 12th fret not being where my muscle memory expected it to be! Congrats on a gorgeous new bass, I hope it continues to please at your next rehearsal.

What's the difference between a cow and an orchestra? On a cow, the horns are at the front, and the a***hole's at the back.

It's funny how some basses just seem to 'suit' the way you play...and some really don't! Jazzes are the awkward one for me: I've heard lots of people, from big names like Geddy Lee down to some-other-bloke-at-a-jam-night, get great tones out of them, but I've never been happy when I try playing one myself. And yet, pass me a Precision or a T-bird, and I'm laughing. Glad to hear you've found "your" bass type!

Good grief, what was this guy's budget like? (It wasn't Tommy Wiseau, was it?)

Yeah, probably the smallest I've ever played! I had a run of gigs there a few years ago myself - this must have been around 2011-ish. I think by that point the owner was really leaning on his connection to Amy Winehouse, as the walls were covered in paintings of her, with portraits of one or two other famous musicians tucked into the corners. Pretty good portraits, to be fair, but it was a bit unsettling having her face staring back at you from every angle!

This is the crux of it really - it depends so much on the PA system at the gig! If the band's bringing its own small-ish PA that's only really handling vocals and maybe an acoustic guitar, you're best bringing your ABM and cab(s). If the venue has a massive in-house system that handles everything, save your back and bring a decent DI/preamp. (I wish I'd learned that lesson sooner...)

This bar wouldn't be Jazz After Dark, in Soho, would it?

I recently sold a hard case to Andy. Very nice chap, and a pleasure to do business with. (Our cat seemed to like him as well, which I always take as a good sign!)

Many thanks to you too, Andy! Pleasure doing business with you - do you have a feedback thread I can populate in return?

A particularly moo-ving piece of music...

I'm not sure what's more awesome: the fact that you were on TV (on the Beeb, no less!), or the fact that you can play a sousaphone!

Have you considered the high-brow legend that is "Unclef**ker" from the South Park Movie?

Personally I find that they're quite useful for getting making the strings a bit slicker, and easier to glide over. Judging by the dust on my pickguards under my usual right-hand position, I'm leaving a lot of shredded fingertip on and around the strings! So whilst the audible difference is a bit on the subtle side*, I can definitely feel a difference. *I have also noticed it's more audible on acoustic instruments than electric (like so many of these things...)

I suspect you're right - I almost certainly heard that one from a drummer I worked with for many years, who devoured rock star biographies and was chock full of music biz anecdotes just like that. I have long suspected that roughly 50% of them were mis-remembered or just plain made up!

I've heard before that Sabbath (and so presumably H&H too) had a weird bee in their bonnet about keyboard players being visible onstage...didn't Rick Wakeman get stuffed behind a curtain when he toured with them?

Indeed it was Parasight! Glad to hear the others are still in music one way or another; they were a lovely bunch and all really good musicians. We were very much passing through - the band was called Cherry White, and a local group called Thunderous Jones were headlining. Were you there that evening, by any chance?

The nearby "Worst Auditionee" thread has been hilarious (thank you all!) - but it's thrown up a couple of stories of auditionees who turned out to be absolutely stellar musicians and went on to greater things. I assume, between us, we've a few more stories about somebody you played with / drank with / had an argument with who you've since seen on the telly or suchlike. My example: played a gig with two or three other bands at The Victoria in Derby back in 2015(?), and we were a bit surprised when the first band loaded in - they didn't look old enough to be there! (In fact, I think a couple of them were only 16 and there with a parent!) But they were really good. Hard rock with harmonised guitars, definite shades of Maiden and Wishbone Ash. Nice guys, too. I never did know what happened to the band - or where the others ended up - but one of the guitarists was clearly destined for greater things. He now plays lead guitar for Inglorious, and I'm pretty sure I heard about him starring as a young iteration of Slash in a biopic about Guns 'n' Roses. Over to you...

I never thought I'd find myself wishing that the Psychedelic Tuning track could be brought up a bit louder in the mix. But there are moments where it isn't quite covering up that...erm...microtonal fretless line!

I don't know if it's strictly an audition, if a guitarist has cobbled together a bunch of mates to hurriedly form his own band, but it was certainly a tedious experience. To be fair, many of us will have joined various "bands" at school which had no plan, and didn't survive beyond a couple of rehearsals, but this one stood out as interesting. Mostly because I'd never realised that the guitarist forming the band could even play the guitar. The singer, I already knew as competent. The drummer was new to me, but he seemed pretty adept, if frighteningly hyperactive. But the guitarist...could only play one song. Given he'd asked me whether I wanted to join his indie/pop-punk group, I think we were all a little surprised to find that the only song he could play was Summer Days. Yep: the song from Grease. I wish I'd been a bit less diplomatic, and suggested we knock it on the head after twenty minutes. But instead, I somehow agreed to come back the next week, by which time he'd managed to learn a Green Day song. Just the one. Made for a less tedious hour than the first session, but it was a long time before I could bring myself to listen to Longview again...