Baxlin

Not done a paying gig for getting on for 50 years!  And I sat behind a kit in those days.  (And they were called bookings then, not gigs....). 

I do regularly play bass in public as part of our church band, is this 'gigging'?

On 31/01/2019 at 10:23, HazBeen said:

Yes, I name them "bass"

I’m about as imaginative, mine are 'the solid' and 'the new one'.....

Steps, a contraction of Three Steps to Heaven?

Went to see John McNally's Searchers a couple of years ago, and TBH was a bit disappointed, JM particularly dare I say a bit 'past it'.  So I think they’ve made the right decision.

Also saw Mike Pender last year, on a bill with New Amen Corner (now there’s a great covers band!!) still very enthusiastic, but like all of us, showing his age......

But when I think about having seen them live in the 60s, there’s no wonder!

Undoubtedly a piece of history, and as suggested above, one with many a story to tell, but I'm sorry, I could never let anything get into that rough state, no matter how much I used it.  I never go on stage without giving my bass at least a rub over to remove any fingermarks, and take care to avoid knocks and dings.

But that’s me, and I also can't see the point of the Fender Road Worn (?) range, or pre-ripped jeans!! (It’s probably my RAF training.........)

51 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

Probably a chance to stretch their arms, let the muscles relax for a moment

 

Or in my case, to ease the arthritis in my left hand (that’s already stopped me playing my 12-string guitar)

Drum stool in the 60s.  Went back the next day, but it had gone.  Been more careful ever since!

Might be a tad Heath Robinson, but my cheap solution seems to work.  I bought an acoustic guitar EQ for five or six quid, mounted it in a plastic box, with input and output jack sockets.  The hardest bit was finding a suitable box.  Wiring was easy.  Total cost less than a tenner.

Excellent and very interesting thread, thanks to all who've posted.  In our covers jamming band we do both.  On some, where there is only 'the one' version, slavishly following the original (eg a couple of Travelling Willburys songs), on others, where there may be many different offerings out there, we’ll do our own arrangement.  

But then we’re all retired old blokes just out to enjoy ourselves......

Funnily enough, I had a preamp EQ go last week - I've mounted an acoustic guitar EQ in a small box with jack in and out, to give more tonal control for my passive bass, and it just packed up, no warning, no dramatics, just no worky.

Bought a replacement quite cheaply online, installed it this morning, and all OK again.

In our church band (where admittedly street cred isn’t necessarily top priority!) we use stand mounted individual mixers, and wired phones of choice.  One guitarist has hearing problems, so uses over ears headphones. 

He normally stands towards the back, and it works for him,  and no one seems to comment!

1962-ish, aged 15.  Eastwood (Notts) Church youth club.  Vince Pinkerton and the Lawmen. Two guitars and a 3-drum kit.  One shared amp, no bassist.

Very professional outfit, as you can tell.

5 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

It isn’t my taste either but I thought it was a slightly better shape than this one! 😱   I guess by the reactions so far it won’t be much of a comeback. Hope GBL have them on sale or return. 

 

 

The OCD in me sees the strings as not being in the middle of the body.  Couldn’t do with that.

Welcome Scarfey, from a near (but much older) neighbour!

5 hours ago, Jus Lukin said:

Sorry, what? Because you can't reach the tuners? I don't see how the scale would dictate a way of tuning.

It's always more acurate to tune in the playing position- doing it on the stand won't throw the results off as much as, say, tuning it laid flat in your lap then fliping it up to play, but will still introduce potential shifts in the forces acting on the neck.

Particularly on my EB3, even though I’ve moved the neck strap button, it’s still head heavy.  Both basses have 2 x 2 tuners, so yes, it’s difficult to reach them.  I take your point re accuracy though, thanks.

GDAE,  and always tune it when on its stand, not when 'wearing' it, because both basses are long scale.....

And re musicbassman's last comment, standing up, if anyone's interested!

4 minutes ago, yorks5stringer said:

I hear Flock of Seagulls got plopped on...

Surely they would do the plopping?  

I played drums in my youth (50+ years ago!), both kit and military style side drum, and a couple of years ago took drum lessons for about a year.

Our church band is on a rota basis, and we had a new, brilliant, drummer join.  First time we played together he asked if I played drums, as he detected an affinity in my bass playing.

So maybe for me, the answer to the OP's question is yes?

9 hours ago, kevvo66 said:

Just heard Kate Bush on the radio is it just me I can't understand a word she sings, some xmas dribble of a song, awful pure torture

No, it’s not just you.  Even at her height I didn’t rate her.  Too 'warbly' for me.

I posted a brief comment on another thread about playing acoustically, and doing so piqued my interest, so I thought I’d share it.

I play bass in a purely jamming/hobby/non-gigging band (by choice, as we’re mostly in our 70s!), but have decent soundproofed facilities, with full PA, drum kit etc, so we don’t spare the volume when rehearsing.

But we gave our first 'performance' last night, in front of our wives (!) in a living room, so went acoustic.

No mikes, the drummer used a drum box and tambourine, I did use an amp, but very low.

To our surprise, we thoroughly enjoyed it, even though any mistakes tended to be more obvious, not that there were that many.....

On 08/04/2012 at 21:17, waynepunkdude said:

I still have my s/s black Encore P bass, great little thing.

Funnily enough I played a short scale Encore bass last night!  I’d sold it about 10 years ago to a pal who is now a bandmate, and we did a few songs acoustically (apart from the bass) at the band’s Christmas party at his house.

Certainly a lot easier in a small room than my long scale EB3.  And it fits into a standard Hiscox case - probably worth more than the bass - meant for a Strat-style six string.

i also have an Encore solid guitar, which I love the action on.

20 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I get it now! When people talk about playing bass in church it always conjures confused images for me. Church in my experience is a quiet, staid affair with mumbled hymns to the accompaniment of an often indifferently played organ. This is something else entirely! I mean wow!

Our church band lineup is typically Keys, Bass, Drums, acoustic and/or electric guitar, tenor sax, flute, sometimes less, sometimes more.  We work on a rota, and rehearse for over an hour before each service.

(none of our bass players play like that, tho........)

Nothing wrong with what I bought, just my lack of knowledge!

i wanted to go wireless for my in-ears, so I bought a  (admittedly fairly budget level) Bluetooth transmitter and 'phones.  

Worked fine in itself, but I didn’t know that Bluetooth wasn’t instant, having a delay of about half a beat.  Not ideal for a bass player!

Just come home from a concert by a wonderful girl singer, name of Harriet.  She’s recently been on tour with Michael Bolton, and been live on Radio 2 a couple of times.  Been compared to Karen Carpenter, but deliberately sings no Carpenters' songs......

Well worth a look, IMO

Had great fun yesterday afternoon, our church holds a weekly "community cafe", for local olds/lonelies etc, and had 'community carols' yesterday.  In the absence of a keys player, we finished up with two acoustic guitars and bass. 

Threw in a couple of popular secular Christmas songs, and a good time had by all!