Happy Jack

Where? Where?

How many times does this subject have to come up before people finally cotton on? ALL of these barking mad listings are, essentially, (virtually) free advertising and clickbait. He's not crazy, or if he is then he's crazy like a fox. It costs him peanuts to list these things at stupid prices, nobody buys them so he doesn't have to pay any commission to eBay, and then people like us spray the listing across the Internet and advertise all the other, sensible, reasonably-priced stuff that he sells. It's a very canny business model, and I don't understand why so many Basschatters struggle with it.

Silvie and I put a helluva lot of work into getting gigs. We plan it like a military campaign ... there's a strategy (what sort of gigs to aim for, and in what geographical region), there's tactics (who says what when we get into the venue, and which marketing materials to show), and there's logistics (make each raid as efficient as possible, plan a route that gets us to the right places as quickly as possible and at the smallest expense). I play in two bands, each of which does about 30 gigs a year, and every single one of those gigs is brought in by us. Despite endless talk about their efforts, no other band member in either band brings in anything at all. Trouble is, that's largely our fault ... the more you do for people, the more they'll let you do. We've found most agents to be an incompetent waste of time, and most websites to be an expensive waste of time. There's no real substitute for actually going to the venue and talking to the people in charge, and if you bring in the gigs by schmoozing those people then they become your contacts and will be there to talk to when you need them. Being persistent, patient and polite also helps ... there are pubs that only gave us gigs on our third or even fourth visit. The one guaranteed fail is to think of landlords as being lying scum who are out to rip you off. We've met one or two who would match that description, but dozens and dozens who are friendly, hard-working people with very little time and a lot of pressure to deal with. By and large, we find they respond really well to bands who are honest and friendly with them.

Not sure if this link will work: I think it likely that quite a few of these negative comments could have been chucked at my old Crinson. I do assure you, they would have been desperately misplaced and inaccurate!

Well, the headstock, the scratchplate, the pickups, the tuners, etc.

This is really rather tasty, reminds me of my old Crinson. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-Rare-Blackpoole-Relic-51-57-Precision-Bass-Killer-Spec/401851050701?hash=item5d90306acd:g:gF0AAOSwQKZdWCIu The given explanation ("Blackpoole Guitars were renowned builders of relic instruments. This bass dates to around 2008 to 2010 when the company was disbanded. It was the classic case of victims of their own success. Demand was so high they couldn’t meet it.") contains at least some weapons-grade bull stinky poo so I'm not convinced about the rest of it ...

They play a lot of shuffles?

You're all missing the obvious. You won't need any spares, because you look after your kit and you check it before every gig. What you need to know is which spares and tools will be needed by the rest of the band ...

That's no use to you, mate. Trust me on this. The second your guitarist sees that, he'll start nicking one side to hang his guitar. Don't ask me how I know. I now use a triple Hercules, even though I only ever take two basses to a gig ...

And for those of of a certain age (and purely for comparison):

Another reason to play flats ...

I really wish you'd bring back your original avatar (said the man living in a glass house).

I would need to stop and think pretty seriously if I wanted to count all the bands I have been a member of / played with / depped for over the last 10 years. The number is certainly in double figures, it's just a matter of how far in. Bands come and go for all sorts of reasons but IME aversion to diary clashes is one of the least frequent of those reasons. I don't get involved with bands who say up front that they want a bassist who is committed/dedicated solely to their band, so the problem only arises with bands who change their minds later. Dilution can be an issue ... but it can also be a strength and an opportunity. I have frequently drawn individual band members from one band into another band I'm playing with; sometimes they're still playing with that second band long after I've left it! Speaking very broadly, it's probably best to avoid generalisations.

+1

I rather like "Double Bdonkey", it has a nice ring to it. Might start calling it that when in discussion with bandmates ...

Perfect fret markers, every time ... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snopake-PinPoint-Correction-Pen-7ml/dp/B00E3T8TU2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=snopake+pen&qid=1567090979&s=gateway&sr=8-1

All sorts of stuff going on there! +1 to getting at the very least an introductory lesson from a pro, learn how to stand, how to position yourself, etc. Learn to pluck before you think about learning to slap; these are two very different techniques and you'll confuse the hell out of yourself if you try both at the same time. Re-think every bass line. DB is NOT like a big electro-acoustic bass, it's a totally different animal. Play only in the first five positions to start, use lots of open strings, play half as many notes. In haste ...

Personally I go solely with the year of manufacture approach - the date on which I bought a particular bass is of very little interest to anybody, even me. Even that is of course a minefield. Most manufacturers have parts bins filled with (no stinky poo, Sherlock) parts and the set of parts that goes into any given finished bass is highly unlikely to all match. There'll be a body and neck from 2011 with pickups coded for 2012 and the tuners have been knocking about since 2009. And don't get me started on serial numbers ...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAYA-PASSIVE-PRECISION-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR-1974-MADE-IN-JAPAN-MIJ/264436324171?hash=item3d91a2174b:g:q~0AAOSwxq5dSdm5 In my experience, these are very well-made instruments let down by poor electronics - stick a decent pickup in it, replace the speed knobs (and maybe the pots), maybe even fit a 4-saddle BBOT, and you've got a very nice Precision. All of which said, I don't recognise the fitted pickup at all ... is it original? @Bassassin

For the pub-rock covers band, never. It would just look really sad. But for the rockabilly outfit, very niche and brings a dress code automatically, oh yes. We all wear band t-shirts for the load-in and set-up, helps to whip up some apathy in the venue, then change into our 'official' stage wear for the actual gig. The band logo also features on both the bass drum head and the pop-up banner at the back of the stage ... we're not shy about telling people who we are.

By the time you've done that to it, whatever 5-string you started with will be plenty cheap ...

You're hardly the only Old Duffer, Michael. Most of the bands I play with are comprised of nothing else ... and without exception they're astonished that (i) Silvia and I want to play music before/between sets, and (ii) that we actually have the capability to do this, and do it well.

You've landed on your feet, by the sound of it. Nice work mate.