Happy Jack

And ain't that the key? This is supposed to be fun. If you're not enjoying it, chances are that you're not doing what's best for you.

Lots of well-intended advice here, but a surprising amount seems to be about building strength and tightening your grip. That may well be the answer to all your problems, but in that case you'd be the polar opposite to me. Playing bass involves keeping both hands and their fingers under more-than-usual tension for long periods. What I need is not more tension but more stretching to loosen everything up. As an experiment, try this. Use your left hand to stretch back each finger (and the thumb) on your right hand, one by one, as far as is comfortable with the web between fingers feeling the stretch. Don't overdo it, don't hurt yourself. Then reverse hands. Repeat this randomly all day while you're watching TV or staring idly into space, and see how your hands feel later.

Solo, duo, 3-piece, soul band with brass section and fully-landscaped Gospel group singing harmonies ... it's all music, it's all gigging, it should all be fun. Let's all kiss and make up, OK yah?

Why thank'ee, thank'ee kindly Zur ...

Nope, that's new drummer Roy at our gig on Friday. Old drummer blew that gig out at exactly 12 hours' notice, so Roy did well to step in instantly without even a rehearsal!

So I realise how tedious it is when someone starts asking everyone to 'Like' their page, but we're trying to do a rapid re-build of what was deleted. @Silvia Bluejay was up half the night working on it, and we now have all the gigs and enough videos to get us close to where we want to be. Can we now enlist the help of The Basschat Massive and ask everyone to 'Like' the page. If you actually DO like us then so much the better, but frankly right now we'll take anything we can get.

She was never the same after Freddie died.

And we now have confirmation that the Facebook page has been "unpublished". I didn't know that was even a thing, and I'm not sure it's jolly good English, what what, dontcherknow?

Yes, but can you dance to it?

An announcement shortly to be distributed to the (many) pubs where we have gigs booked in 2020: Sad to relate, Damo & The Dynamites has now parted company with the original drummer (and founder member) Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx. Even sadder to relate, the parting has been less than friendly and the band is now aware of attempts to spread disinformation about the band on Facebook and other social media platforms. Saddest of all, it turns out that the band's original Facebook page ( facebook.com/DamoAndTheDynamites ) is owned and controlled by Mr. Xxxxxxxx, and ridiculous posts have already been made there by members of his extended family. The continuing band has now created a replacement Facebook page ( facebook.com/DamoAndTheDynamitesBand ) which is where all future activity can be found. None of this nonsense should impact on you, and we're sorry to have to take up your time with this, but please be aware that this situation does exist and be on your lookout for fake attempts to change or even cancel our gigs with you in 2020! If you have any questions - or any dodgy activity to report - do please call me.

Close ... The Junkyard Dogs has soundchecked with the same song at every gig for the last 10 years. We know exactly how it should sound, and it's immediately obvious if something either stands out too much or is missing. Complete disclosure obliges me to mention that what I mean is, that we know exactly how it should sound when WE play it ...

Depends on the pub, Pete ... https://metro.co.uk/2011/06/21/biggest-pub-in-the-world-eatons-hill-hotel-opens-in-brisbane-australia-52470/

Very nice club, clean & well-kept, friendly people. Can't say what they're like as an audience since I've not played there yet ... the reason I play so few clubs is because of the sense of entitlement that sometimes faces you, a crew of regulars who effectively 'own the place', sitting there glaring at you and daring you to try to entertain them. Access is slightly a nuisance since the club is right at the end of a sort of mini-bypass where they've turned several local streets into a one-way system. Parking is OK but a bit cramped. Can't comment on the load-in yet.

Excellent! Presumably not rockabilly?

That is pretty jaw-dropping.

Yup - this one is 22.75" scale, despite what Andertons say.

I use mainly Rolson toolbags for carrying my gear around. https://cpc.farnell.com/rolson-tools/68283/bag-tool-13pkt-18-long/dp/SG32779?mckv=sEFmCMEfE_dc|pcrid|224699680447|kword||match||plid||slid||product|SG32779|pgrid|49812616027|ptaid|pla-399482536964|&CMP=KNC-GUK-CPC-SHOPPING&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2b7uBRDsARIsAEE9XpFpNoIHHPdK7qb1hXwO0PqGIunb2WwfoPYHaBqXJy7oV65y2_Y_lqgaAtryEALw_wcB Their bright yellow colour makes them (1) easy to spot in a dark corner of a pub, and (2) easy to spot when someone tries to walk off with one. Plus of course they're incredibly hard-wearing.

The FDeck (Francis Deck) High Pass Filter pedal, or one of the available clones thereof. Extremely simple way to reduce or eradicate feedback from a DB by rolling off the sub-audible frequencies.

Key Features: 27.5”-scale electric tenor guitar Custom 4-string single-coil Telecaster pickups “U”-shaped neck profile 9.5”-radius fingerboard with 21 vintage-tall frets Includes deluxe gig bag Here's what Fender say: A modern take on the 4-string tenor guitar, the Fender Tenor Tele has a huge sound that belies its small size. Tuned to the same pitches as the top 4 strings of a 6-string or any of a number of popular alternate tunings, guitar players will feel right at home on this fun-to-play tiny Telecaster. Custom-designed 4-string alnico pickups give this Tele variation its sound—twangy and powerful, it has the authentic sound that’s made the Tele popular since its inception. The usual 3-way pickup switch is there, along with master volume and tone controls to further shape your sound. Comfortable for any playing style, the 22.75”-scale maple neck has a “U”-shaped profile and hosts a modern 9.5”-radius fingerboard with 21 vintage-tall frets. Someone at Andertons needs to learn how to proof-read ...

And deep beneath the rolling waves In labyrinths of coral caves An echo of a distant time Comes willowing across the sand And everything is green and submarine

A whole new type of GAS. Not basses and amps and pedals - there's a whole forum of that stuff outside this thread. This is for all the other bits and pieces that make a musician's life easier or more enjoyable. I'll kick it off with this. I'm gigging a fair bit just now, and having the gear that I need distributed amongst a bunch of randomly-accumulated, anonymous bags and cases (all of them black) is making set-up and break-down more stressful than it should be. Solution? Revert to one of my favourite websites ... https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/ Ignore the rods, reels and bait sections, head straight for the bags and luggage. For every bass player in the UK there are a dozen guitarists; for every guitarist in the UK there are a dozen anglers. Their kit is produced in huge quantities (so it's cheap), it has to withstand weeks of being kicked about on muddy riverbanks (so it's waterproof and rugged), and anglers are every bit as vocal and obsessed as musicians (so it's reliable). Today I am happy to recommend the Guru Fusion 400 as an excellent way to carry (for example) two vocal mics, a voice processor pedal with power supply, and a headset mic. And be able to see the contents even when it's closed. https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/guru-fusion-400-bait-pro-case?_sgm_campaign=scn_849ee64608000&_sgm_source=KD16041407&_sgm_action=click [Ignore the Fusion 300 in this example.] Similarly, the Drennan Vis Case is ideal for holding (for example) everything one might need to connect a DB to a PA ... 10M instrument cable, HPF300 with power supply, patch leads, etc. Again, the ability to see at a glance what's inside is a huge bonus when setting up in a crowded pub. https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/drennan-vis-case No, I have no connection with Angling Direct, and no, I am not an angler. But before you buy your next piece of branded, over-priced musical baggery you could do worse than to check out what's available from a coarse fisherman ...

Probably not what you want to read, Rabbie, but a couple of weeks ago at a rehearsal I unplugged my ply DB from my bass rig (AI Clarus II into a Crazy Eight) and plugged instead into the Hi-Z input on my cheap-as-chips Behringer XR18 wireless mixer, going into a pair of cheap-as-chips 1x10 PA wedges. Just out of curiosity. That channel on the PA had no special processing set up, no compression or low cut, no FX or anything. I was surprised to hear that the damned thing sounded very nearly as good through the cheap PA as it had through well over a grand's worth of specialist kit. Just a bit boomy. So I dug out my HPF and put that in the signal chain: DB -> HPF -> XR18 -> Powersoft Digam power amp -> cheap 1x10 wedges. Now it sounded just as good and - apart from the HPF - everything I was using was stuff that would be taken to a gig anyway for use by the band. It's worth experimenting with the kit you already have lying around before going the specialist mic route ...

Busy, successful 3-piece needs a new drummer. We're based in NW London but we gig the M25 from Surrey round to Essex borders. We play mainly classic rockabilly from the 50s and the early 80s, plus a handful of (rather good) originals. As of today we have 37 gigs in the diary, over 30 of which are spread through 2020. Most gigs are at £300, the rest (broadly) are at £240; we hardly ever play for nowt. We get a lot of repeat gigs - we're a decent band and we're nice people to do business with. Age, gender, colour and shoe-size are all equally irrelevant ... we want someone who really knows how to play rockabilly properly, and really wants to do exactly that. Just in case it matters to you, though, we're both middle-aged white guys. What does matter to us is good equipment, reliable transport, and the right attitude. BVs would be a bonus but are not a requirement. If you're interested, or you know someone who might be, please PM me here on Basschat.