Norris

I've never known pubs to be so busy in January - another one rammed tonight. They were not very dancy, well there wasn't really the space, so it was a bit of a proggy night instead. We even had a little blast of Genesis - I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe), and I found my lawnmower patch in time 😂 The tools of the trade - Sub5 Stingish bass, GT-6B, Rumble v3 500. Black DMs. Some lovely compliments too. It's always nice when people acknowledge the bass. We have a couple of weekends off now.

I have a TGI Extreme. It's a very nice bag, although as @lemmywinks says the single front pocket is not very deep. My main issue with it is the handle, which is kind of zipped together but without a zipper tag on it. It came undone, there's no way to do up again, so it's now bound together with duck tape.

When we took the gig it didn't register that it was Burns night. I arrived first to find a very loud piper in full flow on the stage! We therefore had a slight delay getting the kit in. The plate of haggis, tatties and neeps with whisky sauce while we were setting up was very nice though. We are not a Scottish music band at all, but we did play a few songs by Scottish artists or fabricated tenuous Scottish links to the songs we did. I don't think we upset too many of the folk in tartan, although one guy did ask if we could play properly. When we said no he just said "Ah, crack on then" 😂 The place was quite busy and very hot when we started around 4pm. It was a bit of a relief that it thinned out slightly as it went on. We were all starting to flag a little by the time we finished though. The trusty Stingish bass and Rumble were in action again. I also gave my Solovair boots a run out for a change - not quite as comfy as my DMs yet though, so I'm glad to be at home in my slippers now 😜

Looks like there are a few of us then!

Whatever bass you can think of, Sire have made a cheaper copy - and usually decent quality

Sterling Ray-5 (£449 from Anderton's) Retrovibe Stinger preamp (£95 from Retrovibe) Darn it, broke your budget so you can't sound as good as me 😜 ... unless you buy used... Edit: ah - just noticed that's too tight string spacing for you. Ah well.

Twee but catchy

The guitarist just messaged with another gig for the book. He didn't really fancy it so slapped an extra 50% on what we normally charge, and they went for it without hesitation - sweet! A fat wedge always helps the night pass quicker 😂

Boost/cut/whatever - it's a great upgrade over a cheaper pre. It transformed the sound of my Sterling Sub5.

Standing room only at the Griff and Coton Club in Nuneaton. We were half expecting an empty room, but far from it. It seems we had drawn a few in - we overhead one woman say it's the first time she had been in the place in over 30 years! 😂 A really good crowd. It took a little while to get them dancing, but then they didn't stop. My sound was strange in the first spot, which I put down to the really low ceiling in the "stage" area and fact I wasn't on top of the amp for a change so could hear it better. However then I noticed the knobs for the mids had been knocked up accidentally. I set them back to flat and all was well in Rumble world again. Many compliments and shaking of hands afterwards. The only slight disappointment were the cheese and onion cobs - we've had better.

£200? Is it the 1970s?! 😂

No, but it does help to remove the existing solder, meaning there's less left to heat and keep melted. Especially if you're struggling with an underpowered iron.

Maybe a solder sucker might have helped. Cheap ones are only a couple of quid.

That does look an interesting venue! Nice to hear from someone else that uses the same kit most of the time 😂

You can only laugh sometimes. As long as it doesn't become a habit 😂