Norris

A slightly quieter night than usual at the Black Horse in Whitwick. Still, we had a great time with the crowd that were there, especially the landlady's mother, whose birthday it was. Stingish bass again, GT-6B, Rumble. Converse feet. The cheese and onion cobs from the bar were fabulous! The guitarist is off touring now so I have just one gig in the next six weeks.

In the UK there are hardly any pubs or bars that charge on the door, especially for cover bands. People just won't pay for it. They will (to an extent) happily pay inflated bar prices though. I guess it's a psychological thing: paying for "nothing" vs. buying a slightly more expensive beer. That's my view playing in a covers band anyway.

We used to use passive speakers and a (heavy!) power amp. The powered Mackies are a real game-changer. Just those and a mixer with built-in echo/reverb, it's a lovely quick setup and breakdown

What PA are you using? Our pair of Mackie SRM-450s are fairly old technology now, but easily handle our vocals and occasional acoustic guitar, and can be picked up second hand for not many notes

I love a Sunday afternoon gig, especially when it's outside and doubly so when it's "acoustic". Lots of the usual songs, but played in an unusual way. Perhaps Sir Duke was a little ambitious - I ran out of both strings and fretboard! It was a request/challenge though and much fun was had. There were plenty of requests, and even a bit of dancing. It's great to have a good laugh when playing and there was a decent crowd too enjoying themselves. I even got to drink a pint or two for a change as Mrs Norris drove home. Stagg EUB straight into the Rumble. Converse footwear, O'Neill eye protection

Just back from our first gig for 4 weeks due to people being away on holiday, etc. It is always a bit of a job loading into this pub, and as usual when we arrived there were people still sitting at the tables that needed to be moved out our way. What wasn't quite so usual were a new couple managing the place, that were really nice and very enthusiastic about the music. During our time off I'd read a thread somewhere about Stingray active tone controls and how the bass is boost only, whereas the treble is boost/cut. That explains why there is only a centre detent on the treble knob of my Retrovibe Stinger preamp, not on the bass - doh! Anyway the combination of a good sounding room and a better understanding of what the knobs do, lead to a tight, punchy sound that was utterly fabulous. It was hot. Darned hot. And I didn't take my fan - double doh! Still, a bit of sweat makes it feel like you're doing something. Sorry, I forgot to take photos until we'd nearly finished packing away and then it was too late. As you may have gathered it was my Stingish bass (Sterling Sub5 + Stinger) into the GT-6B, thence into the trusty Rumble v3 500 combo. My Converse One Stars have broken in really nicely now, so got the gig tonight. We have a little cluster of gigs this and next weekend, but then it's looking pretty bleak in September. At least tonight's new landlord will be putting a few more in the book for next year.

All credit to you for keeping it going for him. It's tough to call it a day. Maybe you could move him to more of a cameo/feature? You're good people. It doesn't make you bad people to know when it's time to wind it down or even quit completely. Let him bow out with dignity and head held high. We have a guy that gets up and sings with us occasionally. He's not a great singer by any stretch of the imagination, but the adrenaline of the performance gives him some brief respite from his Parkinsons symptoms. It's difficult to say no when he wants to sing but the situation isn't really suitable.

I'd have thought he'd have already done it 5 years ago! 😂

Pickups with prominent branding Single-cut coffee tables New reliced basses Basses painted brown Signature basses, especially of people I've never heard of Singers who can't/won't learn the frigging words Bands that play songs that every other band plays Bands that spend 3 hours sound checking in the Dog & Duck and then end up being far too loud On stage noodling/widdling during a performance

Another pro steel user here

That's fantastic! Sounds like you had a great time Great to hear from some new bands and glad everything went well for you 👍

Glad to hear it! Everyone in a band needs to pull their weight. Sounds like you had a great time

I would imagine their public liability insurance would be void in that situation if they allowed any members of the public in the building, even to reset the alarm

I've been keeping half an eye out for a 5er. They don't get brilliant reviews though. My 4er hangs on the wall waiting patiently for the day...

First of all we have some photos from last night... Yep, a bit better than the photos I took 😂 So tonight was at The Crew in Nuneaton. Upstairs is Queens Hall, which may be more familiar to some as a venue for original bands. There was no-one up there tonight though, just us rocking out downstairs. It's been 15 months since we last played there due to various circumstances and cancellations, but it's becoming one of our favourite gigs. The Crew is a proper rock bar, so it made a nice change to be a bit louder than usual and a bit more raucous. My Rumble master volume still wasn't even at 12 o'clock though, but was lovely and punchy. The crowd there is a real mixture of ages, from youngsters still having to show ID to white-haired old hippies, and everything in between. It really is a great place. It's getting a bit regular playing the Stingish bass (nice & light, tighter string spacing) and the Rumble. Footwear were Vans for a change (Photo again barely remembered while starting to pack up) Ended the evening with a cheeky chicken shawarma from the takeaway across the road from the venue - very nice!

Here's one my guitarist sent me a couple of days ago

But isn't that the good bit too? 😂

This ^. Learn the bass part well enough that you don't have to think about it too much. Then learn your vocals. Then gradually put them together. Maybe even just try singing along to your bass line to get used to doing the two things at the same time. It takes a while to get the hang of it, but the more you do it the easier it gets.

It's been a while since we played at the Horse and Trumpet and at the end of the gig the landlord and lady were telling us how July is always their worst month, with a lot of people on holiday. We very pleased then to see a lot of familiar faces that we'd managed to pull in. The A4 laminated QR code to our Facebook page took a few more hits from some new faces too. It was... darned hot, and I forgot to take my fan! Cue a very sweaty bass by the end of the gig ... the Stingish bass (Sterling Sub5 with Retrovibe Stinger preamp). Usually a lovely matt finish. Of course we just had to do War Pigs in the second set, and saved Paranoid for an encore at the end of the night (how did we know?! 😂) - RIP Ozzy. I was very pleased that Sir Duke on its 3rd outing, and especially after a couple of weeks break, was tight and got the crowd dancing and singing along. It's a right earworm that riff! As seems to be the case recently I forgot to take any photos until we'd finished playing. There were a few people taking photos, so some decent shots might turn up. For now here's the kit-spotter's wide angle shot (Fender Rumble v3 500 combo and Roland Boss GT-6B on my side) The purple suede Gazelles got another outing

The guitars I've built myself, bone. The guitars & basses I've bought? Not a clue without looking, and certainly nothing I'd lose sleep over though

Not in my experience playing my 5-string through it. I have a v5 500 combo btw and they have since brought out the 800s. That is plenty enough for the pub gigs I play and more than enough for the occasions where we have full PA and it's just used for on stage monitoring. Places to try a range of amps are very few and far between. You just have to read reviews, listen to demos, ask for advice and ultimately take a bit of a punt. I'm very happy with my Rumble. There are a few BC members using them and they very rarely appear in the classifieds, I guess that says something. But then ask 10 people and you'll get 20 different recommendations 😂

I've had so many good comments about mine that I have no desire for any other amp. Compact, easy fit in the car boot, a one-hand lift, and it looks good too imo - such a great bit of kit!

My Indonesian Squier P-bass Special has a neck like a matchstick. It's still about my favourite bass even though I've moved on to 5-string for the last couple of years. It's a PJ with P body and J neck, circa 2004. I bought it from the BC classifieds many years ago for not a lot at all. I gigged it for many years, preferring it over much more expensive basses

Looks like Meat Loaf under the pickup switch and Jeff Wayne above the bridge. I have no idea what their signatures look like though

It's actually a fairly complicated bit of physics. The thicker the string, the more metal mass vibrating in a magnetic field -> higher output -> louder. But the thicker the string, the more tension required to achieve a given pitch for the scale length. Some people prefer a lighter, hence lower tension string, which has a bit more "compliance". They may be slightly lower output but you can adjust your pickup height, and after all amplifiers have volume controls. It's actually more down to personal preference. I usually play with a medium/heavy set of strings. However it's good fun playing my son's Hofner violin bass with short scale and light gauge sometimes - very bendy strings. It's really down to what you like. Try the skinny strings. "Articulate" is more down to your technique.