FinnDave

My back up is always as close as possible to my main bass, ideally they are interchangeable. I am currently gigging with a Gibson Thunderbird and taking a Fender Jazz as back-up, but will soon have my Epiphone Thunderbird back in action and the Jazz bass will stay at home.

The Wirebirds had a great Saturday night gig on their home territory, Swindon, with a good enthusiastic crowd - best way to spend Saturday night I can think of! Landlord had changed since the gig was booked, but the new guy was fine, really enjoyed the music and wants us back soon. Our second gig with our new, more powerful, PA speakers, and the vocals are much clearer now. I played my Thunderbird through Ashdown Rootmaster 600 evo and Barefaced Super Twin - bass heaven! Lots of clear, grunty bass, and the master volume was only about 10% open! I had the input level turned down as well, but the bass was still punching the back of my legs quite hard. Nothing until next Saturday now, it's going to be a long week!

I live in a small village in West Oxfordshire. There are a couple of busses a day to the nearest town. There used to be buses into Oxford but they were cut over a year ago. If I didn't own a car, I would be dependent on taxis for gigs, and as most of my gigs are 10-50 miles away, the taxi would cost more than I could earn. I had a 50 mile round trip this evening to play in Swindon, same again next week. Our drummer lives in Swindon and doesn't have a car, so his kit is shared out between the harp player and the guitarist, who also lives in Swindon and brings him to our gigs and takes him home afterwards. Even when I lived in London in the 80s and half the 90s, if I was involved with a band, I had a car. The main reason I wanted to learn to drive and took my test at 17 or 18 was to be able to drive myself and equipment to rehearsals and gigs.

All of my basses live in their dedicated cases, both at home and in transit to/from gigs. I have a real issue with space and so am trying to move a few on, but keeping them out of the cases is unthinkable.

[quote name='clivem' timestamp='1504348235' post='3364254'] I received the Epi T-Bird case I ordered from Amazon last week for my Classic IV. It was the tapered version, not the rectangular. [/quote] What are the catches like? I have two Epiphone cases (Thunderbird & Casady) and both have dodgy catches

Yes definitely, as is our guitarist, we have played Bridge of Sighs at rehearsals but never at a gig (yet). Not an easy one to fit a harmonica into, and the harp man doesn't like to feel left out!

I'd choose Gong's 'You can't kill me'

Just had an email from Gear 4 Music, the 'anticipated delivery date of my order has changed'. No new date given

Andertons website is now saying there is no ETA for this item. I'll just leave my order with G4M as it is and when it finally arrives, it'll be a nice surprise.

If they include a compressor on the BF amp, I hope it's of more use than the one on my Ashdown. Plugged it in, connected an air hose, and it took nearly 20 minutes to inflate a tyre. You can get better than that from Halfords, for goodness sake!

Revisiting the title..I only buy good gear, and only play rough venues, so if I didn't take good gear to rough venues, I'd spend a lot of time sitting on my arse at home instead of having a bloody good time playing.

I don't think we share a drummer, so....

Damn you and your disagreeable agreements! Anyway, you don't know our drummer...lovely bloke, but short attention span.

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1504115062' post='3362813'] Played a privet party once. We took a break between sets and when we came back into the hall a totally pissed woman was staggering around on the dance floor with my EB Stingray round her neck, being cheered on by other guests. Not impressed at all and subsequently bought a cheaper P Bass copy which does well enough for me with far less worry if anything horrible was to happen. [/quote] I would never leave gear on stage without at least one member of the band there to make sure no one tries to touch anything. Obviously, you can't expect the drummer to do that, turn your back and he'll wander off. Guitarist can't, he has to go outside for a smoke, so it's down to the poor old mug with the bass, every bloody time

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1504111748' post='3362785'] This has fairly serious implications for car insurance too then. If you're driving to a gig and have an accident and don't have business cover you're screwed. Given the cost of business insurance it's beginning to look unviable to do once a month pub gigs. [/quote] I paid extra on my car insurance this year to include driving to and from gigs and rehearsals. I had no choice, they all know what I do because my wife works there!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1504098961' post='3362673'] 'When'..? ... [/quote] Some things are inevitable!

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1504097743' post='3362658'] Everyone who lives in the west country! [/quote] Exactly! All our best gigs are in lively old pubs west of Swindon, the further west we go, the livelier they get!

We've played a few lively places and in most of the ones where there is potential for trouble, there have been security staff to prevent it. The security at a gig we played last week insisted on surrounding us with tables, which seemed ludicrous as we set up to a near-empty pub, but once we started, the place was full and tables were a very effective barrier between our gear and those punters who were the worse for drink (after midnight on a friday night in a west country pub, who'd have thought it!!).

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1504089028' post='3362558'] ? The basic rate of MU sub's works out at around a quid a week. Try getting decent PL insurance for that. [/quote] The MU site says it costs £213 per year, that's about £4 a week by my reckoning.

I bought a new 800 evo in the spring and it's a great amp. Only complaints have been from guitarists who claim it's too loud! I also have an older 800 (non evo) that I bought on this forum a few weeks ago, no problems with that, either.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1504038495' post='3362317'] How many gigs and what types of gigs are you doing? Did they not even suggest an additional premium? [/quote] Around 30-40 gigs per year, pubs, festivals and bike rallies. No, they simply decline to insure once they knew I was using the equipment to play gigs for money. Believe me, they have bent over backwards to accommodate me over the years, and they were turning away business, not trying to get more.