Greg Edwards69

Halfords. I bought a Carerra folding bike from them several years ago - at the time I thought it made sense. Regretably, I sold my (low end) Claude Butler road bike not long after getting it. Around 7 or 8 months later, one of the folding pedals started getting very loose. I took it back and was told that moving parts are only guaranteed for 6 months! I replied (loudly) along the lines of "are you saying everything apart from the frame has an expected lifespan of 6 months? If so, your bikes are not for for purpose and are dangerous!" They then agreed to replace the pedals free of charge (which took a while to order the parts). A few month later, I was cycling home from work and the right pedal fell off whilst going round a round-a-bout. Scared the crap out of me. I had to push the bike about 2.5 miles home - handily past that same Halfords. I went straight in struggled to stay calm. They looked at it and saw the thread inside the crank arm had cracked - then tried to pull the same crap about the moving parts guarantee. I said, absolutely no! You replaced these pedals, it's your workmanship that nearly caused me to have an accident on a busy round-a-about. They agreed to fix it, again, for free. I then ordered a Specialized hybrid bike from Cycles UK via the cycle to work scheme, and sold the folding one as soon as I could.

Another vote for Wetherspoons. Try this instead: Neverspoons - Find yourself an alternative pint while also supporting local independent pubs and bars.

Another vote for the Neotech Mega Strap. I've got a Comfort Strapp too, but I prefer the Neotech. The Comfort Strapp design is comfortable, but too stretchy, whereas the Neotech feels more solid, but retains the same level of comfort and relieves the weight of the bass. Neither is too grippy - which I prefer - I'm not too fond of suede-backed straps that tug on your shirt.

Comply foam tips do "go off" after a while and need replacing. A build-up of sweat, body oils and ear wax will see to that. The trouble is, I usually don't realise that that's the problem when they don't stay in place anymore.

It's not something we've tied doing yet as we've only had the chance to use it once in a "technical rehearsal" to set the thing up. But what you can do is record a soundcheck. All things being equal (such as guitar levels, drum mics positioned correctly etc) you could rock up to a venue, set up the PA and soundcheck to set eq for the room without actually playing an instrument!

We've been using a shared gmail calendar for a few years. There's pro and cons really. It's free and easy to access on any device regardless of platform and other users don't have to sell their soul to use it. And you get a shared email account for band booking that you can all access. But, security settings can sometimes cause issues signing in. You need to turn off 2-factor authentication etc for others to sign in if they're not near the admin at the time. Even with this turned off I've still had messages asking me to check the code on somebody else's phone, and I'm the admin! The other issue is if some of the users are a little technically challenged, it's easy for the google account to get polluted with everybody else's crap, such as notes, or map information. Or as one of my colleagues, not realise they were sending emails from the band accounts. I'm also forever nagging people to ensure the shared calendar is up to date, when we get a booking request. It's frequently met with a response of "what's the login?". So... We've been using BandHelper for set lists and lyrics etc for a number of years. Literally yesterday I took the plunge and upgraded to the "plus" level account that includes scheduling. It's going to take some time for everyone to get used to it, but I think it's going to be worth it. All users are able to mark their unavailability in the built-in calendar, such as holidays. And if one of us is dealing with a venue we can setup an event which will automatically notify all band members and prompt them to confirm whether they are available or not. Worth its weight in gold.

PS. Don't beat yourself up too much. It sounds like some of the other musicians have awareness issues. The drums and bass should set the tempo and the guitarist should listen, not lead. It may be helpful to memorise some standard chord progressions as well, such as 12 bar blues (which Johnny B Goode uses). If you use the Nashville numbering system (sounds complex, it's not) it takes the songs key out the equation.

It for this reason that all my basses have maple fretboards, and most of them have big black fretmarkers. I was caught out at a gig years ago with my old Warwick Thumb that only had small side dots to mark the frets. I had a light in my eye and started the bass intro solo to 'Sweet Child of Mine' out by one fret.

Have you considered Warwick? The 5 string Thumb I used to have had a tight and defined B string with overall clear-as-a-bell clarity. PS, have you tried a 36" scale bass? I'm not sure I'd get on with one, but then again, I'm only 5'7".

SInce changing to NYXL strings I have no desire to change pickups. They sound fanstastic.

Same here. My Tribute JB2 sounds great. I see now reason to "upgrade" hardware for the sake of it. They sound and perform great out of the box. Only things I need to do on mine is get it re-wired as there's a ground issue, as it's still audible when the volume is turned all the way down. And I want to replace the tuners. Actually, what I want to do is install a hipshot xtender, so whilst I'm at it, I'll replace them all with ultralites and make the bass a little lighter.

Anyway, yes, inexpensive instruments are incredible these days. My G&L Tribute JB2 (their equivalent of Fender's Squier brand) has become my No.1 bass. Heck, even my diddy Jackson Minion is a joy to play and sounds great.

Indeed. I'm a placid guy too and dislike confrontation, but it really winds me up when a complete stranger dares to make snide comments about my gear. I'm the one with the gig. If you're so great, why are you here watching me play on a Saturday night when you could be gigging yourself?

Is it white and gold, or is it really blue and black?

On one hand, you can buy perfectly decent "giggable" basses for a lot less. On the other hand, the price of these basses has drastically risen over the last couple of years. For example, my G&L Tribute JB2 has become my primary bass since getting it in the black Friday sales in 2021 for a mere £299 (down from £399). Excellent instrument and ready to gig out of the box. That price held for a few months after black Friday. But I've noticed recently that it's not just shy of £500. Similarly, Squier prices used to be fairly stable for a number of years, but I've notice the prices creeping up in recent months. Edit: Looking at a number of Squier model on PriceSpy, many of them jumped up by around £50 in the summer.

One of my band's guitarists has just bought an Allen & Heath CQ18t. Not had the chance to play with it yet but I've been exploring the tablet and phone apps, as well as reading up on the specs and it looks darn useful and easy to use. It's similar in design to the X-Air and X18 in that it's a combined wifi-enabled stagebox with a touch screen, with 6 aux send for personal monitor mixes, not to mention built in effects. One of the issues many X-Air owners have is the wifi is a bit unreliable and resort to using third-party routers. Allegedly the A&H router is more reliable. There's also apps for both iOS and Android, for mixing and personal monitoring, as well as windows and mac. I know it costs more than the Behringer, but it might be worth a look anyway.

I've mentioned it before elsewhere, but my nemesis is "Get what you give" by the New Radicals. It's not difficult to play, but I have a devil's job remembering it. For a song with only a few chords, it's a busy bassline that rarely sticks to the root - lot of passing notes, inversions, slash chord tone. And never the same through the song. It's constantly shifting. It's the only song in our repertoire I have to read whilst playing.

I really wish multi effects units included 9v outputs for the odd external pedal, or wireless receiver.

My wish would be for Line 6 to update the Pocket Pod concept with Helix algorithms that they currently use in the Pod Go, Bluetooth streaming, tuner, headphone out, rechargeable via USB-C, and a main output that can be configured to instrument and line level (as they did with the HX One). A mobile app for editing would be a plus, but I'd settle for HX Edit on a laptop. One can only hope.

I have Mighty Plug (the original non-pro version) and used to have a couple of MS60B units. I largely agree with all your sentiments there. The Mighty plug is okay, but lacks crucial features for me such as octaver and pitch-shift, and the Bluetooth audio is too bass heavy. It's also not appropriate for live use, even as just a backup device. The MS60b is still quite a good unit and I sometimes wish I had kept one. But to use it in a live situation without backline, it would need a separate DI box. Not a huge dealbreaker, but it's extra faff. The lack of Bluetooth and headphone output for home practice is a problem as well, and IIRC, the pitch-shifting is diabolical. I've done the iRig HD with iPad/iPhone. I never really took to it and I wouldn't want to rely on that as a foolproof backup. I considered the HX Stomp and the Hotone Ampero Stomp and Mini. They would work great as backup devices, but again, no Bluetooth streaming or battery power for quick home practice. By the time I've plugged in teh necessary power, USB, guitar and headphone cables I may as well use my Helix LT. That new Kemper looks cool too, but it's a lot of money for a backup device. I thought the P1 would do it all, practice tool, backup device for gigs and interface. But I was sorely disappointed with the sound quality. I did not like it at all. The P2 doesn't offer anything that would make me want to dip my toes back in the P series waters either. So, like you, there's not a do it all device that fits my requirements and budget at the moment. And also like you, I've split it between two devices. The Boss Pocket GT has everything I need from a practice device, and the Sonicake Boom Ave is a fool proof emergency backup at a price I don't care spending for something I hope I won't need. It's also analogue which makes it quick to dial in without any faffing around. It only missed a pitch-shifter, but if I really needed to use it for a gig, we'd simply skip those songs that need it. I'm still keen on the Sansamp FlyRig V2 - it has more features that I'd find useful and I think for some gigs where I need to travel light, I could happily use it instead of the Helix, but I'd struggle to do that with just the Sonicake.

I've had a couple of natural oil finished Warwicks in the past. I wouldn't say I babied them, but I definitely looked after them, kept them clean, and maintained the finish and hardware. I seem to recall Warwick (possibly) mentioning that you should only need to regularly wax them for the first couple of years. After that, the finish should have built up sufficiently that it only needs a touch up once or twice a year. As for the neck, with regular playing, natural oils from your hands should keep them smooth and playable. IIRC, I waxed the back of the Thumb's neck once and hated it. I left it alone to let nature take it's course and it became one of the fastest necks I've ever played. PS, I used to use Kaisers Lem-Oil (not actually lemon oil, pretty much just lemon-scented naptha) to clean finger poo off the frets, then fed the fingerboard with proper lemon oil. Worked a treat. FWIW, the Warwick bass manual has cleaning and care tips

FWIW I ended up forgoing the all-in-one backup and performance tool. The device I want doesn't exist - at least not in my budget. So I now have the Boss Pocket GT as a practice tool and recently bought the Sonicake "Boom Avenue" flyrig as a hope-I-don't-need-to-use-it backup for gigs. It's okay, but I'm still considering getting the Sansamp Bass Flyrig V2 instead if I can find one for a good price - I could easily gig with one of them instead of the Helix (as long as I don't have to pitch shift. Even though the Boss Pocket GT doesn't have bass amp models per se, I think it sounds much, much better than the P1. And the built in bass presets are usable without any tweaking. The only downside is the transport controls are all but useless since Youtube changed their restriction algorithms. It can be controlled with a wireless footswitch like the P1/P2, which could make it a viable live tool, but like yourself, the price then creeps up and you may as well use a more appropriate multifx device. Not to mention, I'm not convinced the headphone output going direct to FOH would be as good as a dedicated line out or XLR DI out on other "gig ready" devices.

Before we got a sub for our PA last year, I was still using my FRFR speaker to support the low end as well as going direct to the PA and using IEMs. I'd highly recommend using an FRFR speaker as your backline instead of a bass amp/cab if you're going to use an IEM feed with bass from the mixer. This way you'll have more consistency with your tone.

I guess it's feasible, but if you keep your FRFR speaker in the traditional backline position - at the back of the stage facing forward - I would be concerned that putting a full mix of everything else could cause feedback issues - particularly with vocal mics. IMHO, you would be better off putting your bass through the PA and using your speaker as a monitor wedge. Or better yet, get those IEMs you've been considering.

That's the challenge. It's difficult to say when a new song comes out if it will be a classic. We've dropped a number of songs over the years that we thought were worth learning at the time. But sometimes, just sometimes, a "Mr Brightside" or "Sex On Fire" comes along as you just know it's going to be around for years to come.