Stylon Pilson

Here's what's in my kit of spares. Back when I played in originals bands, doing a 45 minute set and sharing the night with 3 other bands, I wouldn't generally take a spare bass etc. But now I'm in a covers band, there's no one to fall back on. Spare bass (at the moment I use a fretless for some songs, so I consider that to be my backup in case anything happens to my main bass) Spare amp Spare power cord for amp Spare speaker cable Spare instrument cable Spare mic cable Spare mic 9v batteries Allen keys and screwdrivers Electrical tape (smaller than duct tape, works at a pinch in most cases) Spare ear plugs Spare guitar strap Spare pedalboard patch cable Spare AAA batteries (for wireless) S.P.

On-stage nudity, intended to provoke, is so cliche that it's generally not shocking. I find myself far more shocked by the stories about how the industry exploits the people who create the music. S.P.

Like you, I do most of my practice through a Scarlett 2i2 with Sennheiser headphones. I keep it completely clean though, and make sure that it's very prominent compared to whatever I'm playing along to. My theory is that if my rehearsal tone is as punishingly dry as possible, then it will force me to tighten up my technique, which means that any remaining sloppiness will be buried by the aural melange at a gig. S.P.

That looks like it might have been acoustically "interesting". What was it like? S.P.

My gig last night was for a 50th birthday party in a pub that we've played at before. Given that there had been a specific request for an 80s band, we were all expecting a fantastic night with an eager audience dancing all night and cheering between songs. Well, we were quite disappointed. There was some dancing, it's true, and lots of faces turned towards us, but at the end of each song we were met with silence, maybe one or two people clapping at best. Very strange. Anyway, we got on with it, and looked forward to the end of the night. On nights where the crowd go wild, it's easy to feel confident, but when they're more subdued, you need to try not to let that convince you that you sucked. This morning I've ordered a new transmitter for my wireless system. One of the switches in my current one is getting a bit dodgy, and it's causing me issues during mid-set instrument swaps. Due to calendar clashes and illness, we've been having great difficulty getting together for a rehearsal lately - the last one was on 10th July! We've got one booked for Tuesday, so fingers crossed that that works out. There are a few things that we really need to polish up since we brought our new keyboard player on board. S.P.

For a new originals band, I'd vote C. To me, the word "headline" is code for "on at 11pm after most of the people have left". I mean, A does sound like good fun, but it's not going to help your band grow. B sounds like it's going to be one of those nightmare gigs where each band brings their own little fan club, and most of them will go home when their band of choice finishes. C, however, sounds like a good opportunity to win some new fans. I wouldn't want to do it every weekend, as it's going to be hard work, but if you put on a good show then you could really make a big impact. S.P.

Please don't! This has actually been a fairly interesting and civil thread, and I applaud you for starting it. S.P.

My first bass was a Jim Harley P-bass copy. Red with white plate. It wasn't awful, I suppose. First amp was a Stagg 20w bass combo. Now that was dire. For some reason the EQ section was back to front and the power switch was upside down. I've still got both of them. S.P.

I always take two basses to a gig. My main bass is a Lakland 5 string. If I've got a need for a fretless, then I also take my Squier VMJ, otherwise I take my Yamaha 5 string as a backup. The Yamaha 5 string is also the bass that I use most for practice at home. My other 4 basses barely get used. I've sometimes considered selling them but can't be arsεd. S.P.

I like having a pedal tuner because it doubles up as a mute button. But my feelings towards these Korg Pitchblack pedals have certainly cooled significantly. I used to recommend them eagerly, but, like you, I don't think I'd now buy one again. S.P.

UPDATE: Hosannah! I've figured out how to get the circuit board out without needing to do any desoldering! The original Pitchblack is fixed, let's see if the same trick works on the Poly. S.P.

The switches haven't failed exactly. It's just the case that there's a sort of nut on the inside that holds the switch in place, and it's somehow come unscrewed and fallen off. It would be a really simple job to screw it back in, no component needs to be replaced, the problem is just one of access. S.P.

I am absolutely beside myself with fury. A few weeks back, my Korg Pitchblack Poly pedal broke. The footswitch must have been getting unscrewed or something, because one day I stepped on it (fortunately at home, not at a gig) and the switch just came apart. Some bits went inside, some came out. I examined it, took it apart, and came to the conclusion that the only way to get to the necessary bits to screw it back together would require unsoldering the signal connectors from the board. So I sighed and dug my old original Korg Pitchblack out and replaced it on my board. You'll never guess what's just happened. Yep, the same thing has just happened to my Korg Pitchblack. I'd been using the Poly for about 2 years, and the Pitchblack for at least 10 years before that. This is utterly insane. Is it worth trying to get these fixed, or should I just buy a new tuner pedal? S.P.

I remember going to this one: It always tickles me to see "COLDPLAY" down there in tiny letters at the bottom of the bill on the second stage next to Toploader. S.P.

I remember reading something quite recently about how for introverts, social interaction is something that consumes energy, whereas for extroverts, it generates it. Which is why a lot of introverts view extroverts as a kind of "energy vampire" and a lot of extroverts view introverts as an "energy hoarder". I'm definitely an introvert. Can't do things like networking events, and I like my socialising to be either brief or with people I already know very well. But I have no problem turning on the charm at gigs, because the energy that I get from performing neatly balances the energy required to keep it going. S.P.

Last night was my first gig in about a month, and owing to scheduling conflicts we hadn't had a rehearsal in the meantime. I think we were all expecting it to be a little bit ropey in places, and it certainly was. But we didn't let it bother us, and I think we turned out a pretty decent gig regardless. Maybe not our finest ever, but we had plenty of people dancing, and that's one of my main benchmarks. Next gig on 14th September, but we're hoping to fit in one or two rehearsals before then. We've got some new songs that we've been planning to introduce to the set, and we would have done them last night but for the whole rehearsal issue. S.P.

I tell you, I've been trying to play "Three Blind Mice" for the last 19 years and still haven't mastered it. So I'm going to say that one. S.P.

The fact that we're having this debate suggests that the shape of bass guitars is wrong. Instead of having a concave curve along the lower edge, perhaps it should be convex so that it fits between our thighs? S.P.

The first ad is clearly for a startup originals band. There's not much information, but then I suppose that can be attributed to the fact that they don't really have much to tell at the moment. Would be helped if the author of the ad wrote a little bit about how long they've been playing, what previous band experience they've got, and what their goals are for the band. If they are aiming for world domination then I'd consider that to be a warning sign as they're possibly quite naive, deluded, and liable to be enormously disappointed. Second ad is fine until you get to the last paragraph - if I replied to this ad, I'd do it with the mindset that this person is disorganised and often fails to meet their commitments. I'd be keeping my eyes peeled for evidence of this being a trend, rather than a one-off incident. Considering that this is such a short ad, it's actually got a surprisingly decent density of information. I suppose the only vagueness is: is this a startup band that's intending to play 6 shows per year, or an established band that has played 6 shows per year in the past? Decent ad, though it gives the impression that this is just a recording project - I think they could have done with clarifying their intentions vis a vis gigging. Phrases like "100% dedicated" and "full-time member" hint that they want someone who will prioritise this band over their job and family, which may or may not have been their intention. That's my assessment of the ads. As far as the underlying opportunities are concerned, I don't think I'd reply to any of them. I'm not interested by the music that any of them play, I'm not interested in bands that expect "100% commitment" nor a mere 6 gigs per year, and Milwaukee and Wisconsin are too far away for me to travel to for rehearsals. S.P.

Yep, we do it. 80s band, so we have an 80s playlist on the drummer's mp3 player that we play through the PA during the break and at the end. It's especially useful at the end of the night if the audience are baying for more encores and we want to give them a firm "no". Obviously we make sure that the playlist doesn't contain any songs that we are performing that night. S.P.

That string alignment looks a bit wonky. Looking at the gaps between the strings and fretboard edges, and the position of the pickup pole pieces relative to the strings. Is that just a trick of the camera angle? S.P.

While this was a very noble thing for you to do, you need to stop thinking of this band as your responsibility in any way. Until you're able to do this, it's going to be a burden in the back of your mind. Move on. S.P.

In my experience, most of the punters who come up to me at gigs to talk to me are quite, quite drunk, and often have absolutely no idea of quite how boring they are being. I usually just go to my happy place and let them work it out of their system. It can suck a bit, but I'd rather that they go away with positive memories of the night, than think of us as being surly or unpleasant. S.P.

Yep, I've been a strong advocate of velcro cable ties for years. My neatly-coiled cables are a thing of beauty. In response to your request, my nomination is this: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/folding-coffee-table-blue-id_8387455.html I bought this because I've recently started playing pub gigs without PA support, so my bass amp needs to fill the room. So I use this to elevate my cab by 30cm which makes it a bit easier to get the volume and EQ right for the room and still be able to hear myself clearly on stage. S.P.

The situation with TV is exactly the same as with music. Yes, there is good stuff out there if you go looking for it. But if you turn on the television at a random time and flick through all the available channels, 90% of it is awful. S.P.