chris_b

Nice move. I sold my SR5 to fund a 55-94, which was my #1 bass for 14 years. I briefly owned a very nice 55-02. IMO Lakland's are very special basses.

Sadowsky SBP-2 preamp pedal, a bargain at £50 in the classifieds. So good it almost makes my £200 bass sound like a Sadowsky.

Touring, like everything else to do with bands, is what you make it. There are always ups and downs, but if you're serious about playing in a band, think you've got something for an audience and if you've chosen the right guys, you'll make it work. As Charlie Watts said when the Stones were celebrating their 25th anniversary, "5 years playing and 20 years hanging around!" IMO the end justifies the means. 8 hours driving to a gig and 8 hours driving back again depends on the gig. A good gig and it's worth it. A bad gig and you put it behind you and look forwards to the next one. If you can't do that become an accountant etc.

So that's why my lights dip, when you switch your gear on!

Maybe front vs rear doesn't sound different when you are standing in front of them, but I've been told by several drummers that rear ported bass cabs, when set up next to them, don't sound as good as front ported. I prefer front ported. I was always moving guitar cases, covers and other pieces of gear stowed behind my cabs, in the space I left for the rear ports!!

Noooooooooo!

I don't play with attitude or aggression, but I do remember when I was that shape. Oh for those days again!!

Excellent choice.

I use the same amps at home as I do on the loudest gig. 800 watts sounds fine in my front room. They all have a thing called a master volume.

Check out a Markbass 112 combo. They are small, light and you can get a good sound out of them. Add a 112 extension cab if you feel the need when the band gets going.

Good choice. Lakland make fantastic basses. This is your second and third basses all in one go.

Hi Chris, they moved the business to larger premises over Christmas and the New Year which seems to have had a knock on effect, but they should be replying to emails. The website says they haven't got a phone number for the new premises yet. I'd try email a few more times. https://barefacedaudio.com/pages/contact_us

I noticed they'd renamed a big store in town. When I told the wife she said, "They did that 4 years ago!" That's how often I go to the shops.

Oooops!!

I won't say don't do it, but many years ago I de-fretted my bass. . . . and I regretted it. Taking the frets out (with a kitchen knife and filling the slots with polyfiller) never gave me sound I thought I was going to get. If the bass wasn't worthless when I started, it certainly was when I finished. It went in the bin shortly afterwards.

You've got a chorus section with some structure. A verse with looser structure and the rest is just jamming. IMO there's no need to "learn" more than the chorus section. Just get the feel right and you've cracked it.

I still measure myself in feet and inches and stones, pounds and ounces. If it ain't broke. . . . I drive miles in the car and fill it in £'s, not those silly litres things.

The handles on the 112 are not in the right place for a balanced lift and carry.

I was there and we put a lot of people out on the streets.

AI for finding a cure for cancer is good. AI for replacing people's jobs, absolutely not good. As far as music goes, we survived Synths, so we can get through this. IMO the bigger problem is that younger kids don't see live music as a thing. It's as interesting to them as golf. They have their songs on Spotify, playing on their phones, it's musical wallpaper. My musical career has gone from cutting edge to historical. 90% of the music I get asked to play is from the 20th Century. When AI has its own programs on Radio 4 I'll start getting annoyed.

I used DR strings on Laklands, Wals and Stingrays, for more than 15 years, and I loved them. Faced with the same problem I'd cut my losses. I have D'addario NYXL's on my Sadowsky Jazz right now. I'd recommend those as well.

The crowd are very generous with the bucket. Which is why the management's short-sightedness is going to lose them a great earner. I like the Welly boot idea. Nice one. We also have a card reader, which gets used a lot.

My first thought was Jim Horn. Looks close. . . .

Sorry, spelt his name incorrectly. . . . still isn't Emilio Castillo. . . . he's not black. Doesn't look like Doc Kupka either, but this was a long time ago, so I'm less certain about that.