T-Bay

I had a bass go dead, luckily at a rehearsal and I had a spare. A wire had parted company with the jack socket and was easily fixed but would have spoiled my night if it had been a gig with no spare. I think of it more as why wouldn't I take one?

You can become sensitised to things you have never had issues with before, so,just because the nickel has never been an issue doesn't mean it isn't now. May be worth a try with stainless, as said above, if only to rule it out.

Sorted a few: Ace of spades, Blitzkrieg bop and I wanna be sedated All the small things If the kids are united Peaches Suspect device ( one of my all time favourites so would love to sneak it in even though it's not that well known) Should I stay or should I go With or without you (if needed) That should make the best part of 30 minutes with luck.

We played our whole set again at our first gig, it was a works do and they asked if we could play more, we explained the situation but they seemed to love it even more the second time around (Christmas parties for you!) so I guess we could sneak the odd one in if we have to, the other option is to do all along the watchtower and make it last twenty minutes.

Thanks everyone, there are plenty of options to look at. We have managed to squeeze in a quick two hour rehearsal tomorrow after work so will go through a few but I am confident we can bang out a few of the ones mentioned in not too much time.

[quote name='upside downer' timestamp='1497906140' post='3321278'] Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones. In fact, anything by The Ramones. Stereophonics are pretty straightforward too, basslines mostly root notes. And if your guitarist is experienced then he shouldn't have any bother either. [/quote] We do one Ramones track but another wouldn't hurt, we could do Dakota easy enough, there's nothing to it, so would be useful as an emergency one.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1497905438' post='3321270'] Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love [/quote] Perfect [quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1497905318' post='3321265'] Some punk (ish) stuff that we do and all pretty straighforward: Undertones: Perfect Cousin,Teenage Kicks The Damned: New Rose Buzzcocks: What do I Get, Ever Fallen in Love The Hives: Hate to Say I Told You So [/quote] We do teenage kicks, new rose would be cool to do, ever fallen in love is perfect and The hives are brilliant and fit in well with other songs we do, so that would work very well for us. Thanks for all the great ideas, more than happy to hear anymore anyone may have.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1497905055' post='3321263'] Should I Stay Or Should I Go - The Clash [/quote] Another classic, on the list to do already.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1497901681' post='3321240'] Stuff from the catalogue of U2..? [/quote] Of course! Why didn't I think of them. Not a massive fan but for a one off a couple could slip in, with or without you is stupidly simple. [quote name='mike f' timestamp='1497901682' post='3321241'] PiL - Public Image Nirvana - Breed Motorhead - Ace of Spades [/quote] All three are perfect, thanks!

Might be worth adding that the other members are pretty experienced, the lead guitarist is very good and gigging pretty much every week with two other bands or us, rhythm guitarist good but only gigs with us, drummer pretty flexible again gigs with us but deps with leads other band if needed, I have only been playing 8 months and gigging for six of them! We can't squeeze anymore rehearsal time in so need stuff we can get proficient at quickly.

We have a 90 minute set but have been offered a great gig locally but would need to play 2-3hrs, it's short notice so we have about 4 hours of rehearsal time tops between now and then. So looking for 10 ish songs that are dead simple but classics everyone knows. Ideally punk/ grunge/ hard rock but flexible as long as its rockish. Stuff like I can't explain, by The who, mollys lips by Nirvana/ The vaselines, Louie Louie etc would be ideal. We have two days to sort a set and say yes or no to the gig so it's a bit of a panic.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1497799801' post='3320601'] I'm the cheerleader for my band. Always upbeat and funny, telling jokes and keeping everyone in good spirit If a band member is really down I will do the invisible bear hump and that will fix everything. Hard to have a bad time when your humping an invisible bear 🐻 Blue [/quote] Not if you're the bear ;-)

[quote name='The_Rodster' timestamp='1497791491' post='3320565'] I bought a Gator case for my Epiphone NR and it's a bit cheap & flimsy, so I wouldn't recommend getting one of them. My Gibson's will fit in the Epiphone cases I've got but it's a bit tight. I've got a couple of the normal cases and one of the newer, slightly tapered cases. [/quote] Thanks for the info, I will avoid the gator case. Waiting to hear back from five star cases so hopefully they will be able to help.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1497711341' post='3320202'] That describes my last band perfectly. [/quote] and not just yours I'm willing to bet.

Open mic things are always a good laugh. All the ones around here are a mix of the genuinely talented and the utterly utterly hopeless but self obsessed.

[quote name='CameronJ' timestamp='1497699315' post='3320112'] I really like the look of that. The matte black hardware is a winner for me but it imagine some will hate it! [/quote] +1, looks good.

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1497684509' post='3319983'] Not sure if they are still around, but Five Star Cases in Ely made the case for my explorer, which is even bigger than a T-Bird. FWIW I worked with a Prof. John Gaulter years ago who had my dream bass. An early narrow neck T-Bird modified to have a P Bass pickup in between the other 2. Oh and HIS had the usual broken headstock repair too. That was one FINE bass. [/quote] Thanks, I have sent them at email.

Good price.

Thankfully I am feeling better after the migraine last night so I have had a chance to play with it properly. The sound is just massive and doesn't disappoint at all. I knew the action was high but thought I could live with for a while, changed my mind and will be sorting it tomorrow. It will feel much nicer a bit lower. The only negative so far is the weight, it's no lightweight by any means. I can live with that though as the sound.................... Off for a curry now and then watching my mates band and chatting to the Landlord so hopefully may have another gig booked by the end of the night.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1497632208' post='3319698'] Am I the only one on BC that plays for a living? I don't think there is such a thing as "a perfect band" under any circumstances. Blue [/quote] There are at least a few others I know of and I bet a load more as well, but I think the majority are hobbyists to whom it's either a pure hobby or brings in money to cover the GAS.

I have found a few gig bags but the extra length seems an issue on most hard cases. I have found a listing number for a Gator case but can't find one for sale. Thanks for the heads up on the epiphone case as I was considering one but will be careful now.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1497560486' post='3319175'] Well done, sorry about the migraine, but the bass looks great. I've been away from home all this week, and after the 5-6 hour drive back tomorrow, the first thing I'll be doing is getting the Thunderbird out. The Fenders can wait! [/quote] Not surprised! I had a quick half hour and am falling in love with the tone, it will be even better with a bit more volume as I had to have it very quiet tonight. Only issue so far is that it doesn't fit any gigbag/ hard case I have so need to track one down.

Just goes to show that being good at making stuff doesn't necessarily mean you are good at PR. It's a shame that makers feel the need to protect their products so aggressively. Whilst I understand the frustration they must feel it does seem that in the case of Ricks in particular it backfires as it makes it hard for owners of genuine kit to sell it on which could put off potential buyers. It has alway been the case that there are good and bad examples of customer service but as the old saying goes, someone who gets good service tells one somebody, someone who gets bad service tells everybody. And that is much easier to do in the Internet age.

A lot of discussion on here have comments about preference for low or high action. From playing other people's basses I have realised that my low is pretty low compared to some others. So I was wondering how other people measure their set up and what do people count as low or high?

[quote name='davepb24' timestamp='1497557739' post='3319151'] Cheers guys...might learn how to spell Tear while I'm at it :-) guitarist mate hss suggested a jam, might just take him up on it [/quote] Go for it, it's great fun but also the best way to learn quickly is to play with others.