Dr.Dave

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1365257659' post='2037307'] I'm fed up of people coming to the house (delivery men, boiler engineers etc), seeing the basses and asking "Does your husband play the bass" no he bleeding well doesn't.... I'm the bassist and damn proud of it! [/quote] I'd say 'No.... Does yours, sweety ? '

Your cash , mate. So try as many as you can and buy what you want. I too would expect to find a greater than average chance of a late 70s one being a dog but not all by any means. For me - I have a 73. I love it to bits and I'd never part with it because I've had it since 78 - but if it were nicked or my house burned down I'd buy a used japanese Precision for 400 spots or so and two round the world flight tickets with the change fom the insurance money. I bought a vintage bass only once - because it gave me the opp. of a fast buck - but I'm not into the vintage price structure at all from a playing point of view. As an investment - maybe.

I doubt anyone's ever forgotten seeing me on stage - that's by design and I'm still getting better at it. Stage 'presence'.... I really do feel at home on stage , I'm totally comfortable there and look forward to being there. I don't belong in a crowd - I don't know how to do that. I just feel weird and unsettled and want to get on the stage to safety. I suppose with feelings like that I must have a degree of presence either naturally (unlikely imho) or learned.

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1364562249' post='2028186'] He's a lesbian?? [/quote] Chortle etc I did set fire to a pub in Baildon by knocking one of our par cans on to the carpet. I'd have thought there should be fire regs about flammable carpets in a public place. It was a shithole anyway and nobody actually died..... well , not until the following morning. Serves them right , going out in a shell suit for christs sake.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1364552349' post='2027998'] The star gets the carpet and the bass player usually gets floor boards. [/quote] Didn't Greg Lake tread on persians ?......... or am I thinking of Sadam Hussain

I'm not frustrated as a bassist. I have no doubt in my ability as one either. Put me on a stage with what some would consider the finest guitarists and drummers on the planet and I wouldn't bat an eyelid. Playing bass ans singing on a stage is as natural as breathing to me. What anyone else thinks about me as a performer doesn't interest me. I'm right. They're wrong. I have enough experience and confidence to be able to say and feel that. I was , however , very frustrated as a songwriter who spent much time and money trying to get a publishing deal. In a nutshell I was told to be original to get through the first door - at which point the second door was slammed in my face because , as I was told by the exact same people who encouraged me to be original , I should have been seeking to emulate what everyone else was doing. That happened frequently and consistantly. I would have loved to have made an honest livng as a songwriter. One likely explanation as to why I haven't is because I'm not good enough. That I can deal with that fine. Another likely explanation is I had no power base - no foot in the door - no chaperone - no mentor - no break. There was just me writing songs with no clue as to what to do next. I can understand that too. But why worry. Nobody died. Music's good. I love making it , though I don't care to listen to it much and when I stop doing it I won't miss it. I'm not someone who 'needs' a particular thing - or a particular person - in my life to feel complete.

It's good to study and discuss the technical side of playing. It shows us what can be done. Then the clever ones decide what should be done. There will always be those who choose not to play very technical stuff because they shouldn't - and those who can't make that choice because they simply can't do it. I suppose we should all strive to be the former.

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1364298792' post='2024459'] I usually get child labour in to do it! [/quote] You just went up in my estimation 1000%. As for taking them on holiday........ I recommend an off-season week in a caravan in Withernsea when they're less than 5 , then when you're old and want them to do your shopping and stuff you can say 'you ungrateful little bastard - don't you remember how I took you to Disneyland'.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1364297464' post='2024433'] That's nothing, I once did a gig when I was dead! [/quote] Funnily enough - I've died on my arse at several !

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1364297292' post='2024426'] It should calm down if you put ice on it. You could also try ibuprofen gel which has anti-inflammation benefits [/quote] I was thinking 'air pistol' myself , but there you go

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1364289786' post='2024267'] I've only gone and damaged my little finger again! It's an old injury and occasionally I do something stupid and it flares up again! This time it was twisting it back whilst cleaning out the chickens. It's swollen and bruised today, but thankfully on the bass playing spectrum it is surplus to requiremennts! So good dose of pain killers and I'm practicing. I'm soooooo glad it wasn't any other finger or I'd be screwed with me learning and rehearsing my new set list for my new band! [/quote] Pah !! That's nothing - I've done gigs with stitched and broken left hand fingers (cue late night cabin scene from Jaws) Could you not persuade the chickens to clean up their own hutch - bone idle feathery bastards - maybe taunt them with pictures of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall holding a bunch of sage until they start pushing the hoover about.

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1364214808' post='2023212'] Hang on.......... [/quote] Nowhere near - more chance of platting fog !!

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1364214370' post='2023198'] "Rag Doll" was one I could do no problem, now it becomes a rusty croak before I get half way. [/quote] Hang on..........

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1364211319' post='2023139'] Now you've made me feel even older! In my old band I was always elected to sing the Frankie Valli numbers - & play bass at the same time [/quote] I used to do 'walk like a man' , though more of a 'Divine' version wtih gruff , rather than falsetto vocals. Reading this I just went and had a crack at a F V vocal and I couldn't get anywhere near ! I think I might resurrect 'Walk like a Man'. Current band ought to be able to churn out a sort of ZZ Toppish version.

Argos........ what a wonderful place. 16 day free loan of power tools when you've a job to do !!!!!

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1363532870' post='2013706'] £3.10 seems quite reasonable to me. I must have been in that London too long. [/quote] Wrong on the first count - correct on the second ! My gig last night......... cancelled due to bad weather. So I sat supifyingly bored in the house watching Saturday night TV. What a load of bollocks. Pub gigs should be rammed if that's what folk do as an alternative.

There's plenty of pub work for bands like mine in this area - maybe we do better than many because we're no trouble , ultra reliable and know what we're doing. The Hop in Wakefield is my fave at the mo. and I think would please almost everyone who's chipped in on this thread. It's a real ale pub - good stuff too - with plenty of bottled beers none overpriced. Downstairs - along with a 'snug' and a whacky bar - is the main bar with a covers band playing. Upstairs is for originals bands. House PA and lights for both. Folk wander up and down as they wish. The covers bands go watch the original bands when they're on half time and vice versa. It's what a music pub should be.... rather CAN be. And I commend it to the house.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1363892532' post='2019093'] Aye, oop in yerkshire thee boils thar strings, doesn't thow? [/quote] You joined the Quakers ??? I stopped boiling strings - boiling the water costs money !! There was a bloke on the telly from Rotherham who takes a flask to work - boils the kettle there and takes the boiling water home - my all time hero !!

I enjoyed Noddy Holders self penned job - lightweight though it is -and Fleetwood Mac's 'Behind the Mask' because it's such a 'human' story though it's telling ( by original bass player Bob Brunning) is a bit gushing. I've read a few and I always said when I write the story of my own life I'd title it ' Chapter 4 ? '. Rock biogs start just the same as my own life and early gigging experiences etc etc then they get famous at the end of chapter 3. I didn't - hence the question mark for chapter4.

Long time ago but I had a sooty glove puppet - I made holes through the back of his neck and if I wore him on my left hand backwards I could play reasonably well - so I did for a song at the start of the second set.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1363823964' post='2018365'] Imagine the cost of changing strings..... [/quote] ...changing strings. 'changing' strings....?? 'changing'.... Sorry mate - you got me on that one.

Well .... if you hired Stanley Clarke I bet he'd ask for more than $30 a note ! Mind you.... he wouldn't be sh*te , would he.

I did a gig a few months back in fingerless gloves because I simply forgot to take them off. I liked the idea and it didn't affect my playing so now I do it every gig just for the pose. I've taken to doing one song with a pick and I can;t damp properly with the mitts on so I take them off for that one song - or rather I wait til the guitar intro starts and rip them off for extra dramatic effect !

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