ubit

Mate, all it takes is jumping in. If you have rehearsed and have a band that gets a gig, just do it. You will love the buzz. The best feeling in the world is seeing a bunch of people enjoying themselves because of music that you are a part of making.

Every one of my basses has a bit of sentimental value to me so even although I am not currently gigging, they will stay. I hope forlornly to get a new job that allows me time to plan and therefore play. Playing live is my life.

I have these. I have the subs too but these tops are more than capable of delivering an excellent sound. Play an iPhone through these and they sound incredible! https://www.andertons.co.uk/live-pa/pa-systems/active-pa-speakers/electro-voice-ev-zlx15p-15inch-active-pa-speaker

We used to play in two different tunings. I wanted to tune to D and be done with it for easier singing but our guitar player said he didn't want to go that low so we compromised and went for E flat.We had an accordion player who wanted to play on his white keys so he wanted standard tuning. ( If we had gone down to D he would have been on his white keys anyway but that's another story) so rather than keep changing tunings, we carried a spare guitar tuned to the other tuning.

For years I only had one bass when we were gigging relentlessly. Then I started to build a collection by deciding I wanted a new one and never having the guts to get rid of the old one. Now I have 14 and I can honestly say, even although we are not gigging just now, I play every one of them at some point.

I would be up for anything that preserved string brightness. I absolutely hate old sounding strings and my sweat seems to take the newness out of strings alarmingly quick.

Does it have to be in tune?

We went to see The Mission a few years ago on their thirtieth anniversary tour. They were supported by the legend Peter Murphy and we were absolutely delighted to be seeing such great bands. Peter Murphy came on and it was evident that he didn't have a full band. He had a guy on guitar and a guy on a violin accompanying him. The first thing he said was we are here to see the 30th anniversary of The Mission, that's nothing, I've been going longer than that. Then he started playing obscure dirges that none of us recognised. There was an uber fan standing behind me and even he was getting cheesed off. Then Murphy made a mistake. He threw his acoustic guitar behind him shouting this f**ng thing isn't in tune. He had played it for a song just before, so if it was out it must have been him that put it out. I felt sorry for the single roadie that was running around after him. all in all he came across as a spoiled prick who felt that this support slot was beneath him and he obviously believed that he was arty enough to carry off this weird act that bore nothing to the music that we all knew and loved. Disappointed to say the least. The Mission were fantastic.

I have been at gigs where the sound has been incredible, then spoken to someone else who said it was terrible and vice versa. Certain venues can have vastly different sound quality depending on where you stand/are seated.

My latest disappointment wasn't down to a bad performance but the audience. We went to see Seether a couple of years ago and the whole evening was ruined by a sea of effin mobile phones. one girl was even filming it on her iPad! Why, oh why can't people enjoy a band without having to record it? The resulting clips are invariably rank rotten when they end up on YouTube!

Any chance of the lottery numbers mate?

My biggest disappointment was at a festival. Rory Gallagher came on and it was clear that he was blind drunk. He was fluffing, forgetting to sing and disappearing for long periods, leaving the bassist and drummer to carry on. The set was cut short and it was a shame as he died not long after that. We must have been witness to his long downward spiral and addiction to the bottle. He had been a hero of mine as a teenager.

I just don't get The Melvins. I mean I love Grunge and I love heavy music but they seem to be tuneless noise to me.

We used to cover " All these things Ive done" by the Killers. I sing and play the bass and for the life of me I could never play the very simple but slightly weird timed verse and sing at the same time. I tried for ages and had to simplify an already simple bass line in order to play it live. No one seemed to notice but it drove me nuts. I could play far more complicated bass lines and sing over them but that one just baffled me.

All my truss rods have Allen key adjustability. I am not familiar with these slot types.