NJE

I had exactly that with an Overwater Jazz 5 string. “What’s that then? Fenders a bit expensive for you”. I could not be the bigger man at that point sadly and subtlety told the guitarist that it was custom built in the uk and how much it was….he went quiet very quickly and I felt good for about 10 seconds.

I always put mine on the household insurance for home and away cover as well as accidental damage. They were specific named items and I made sure they knew it was going to be used for gigging and out in public and was still covered. None of the companies we have used over the past 10 years have had an issue and it was a tiny amount added.

I never got performance anxiety when I was younger and gigging, but in the past 10 years or so it has crept up on me a little. Mine is anxiety caused by lack of rehearsal and other peoples lack of ability or rehearsal. I had one gig with folks I have played with a fair bit over the years and it was a 40+ song set list that we weren’t going to rehearse together. Not only that, they weren’t all in original keys and most of them I didn’t know and there was only a couple of weeks to learn them. This caused me so much stress and it was a huge relief when it was cancelled because of Covid. Another band I played with and fronted regularly was good fun and with good guys (for the most part) but they weren’t good players. Over time I used to get so worried about everyone else and what they were going to play wrong, my enjoyment and stress levels went through the roof. It got the point where I just dreaded playing and didn’t want to gig. On the flip side, at a similar time I was also playing with a 12 piece soul band and they were all great reliable seasoned players. I just did backing vocals and was at the back with the drummer and it was amazing. I just had to focus on my playing and enjoying the music and I loved every gig with no stress whatsoever.

I used 3m dual lock and literally had tiny strips of squares in each corner and it’s holds amazingly well but I can get pedals off and on fairly easily if needed. It’s not cheap but so much tidier than Velcro.

I was in a really fun band that managed to avoid almost all of the usual stuff for a cover band. We played a lot of 90s dance music and some garage and found that the audiences knew it all (it was the kind of stuff you’d hear on Heart a lot) and found it refreshing. I was listening to rock and grunge in the 90s, so it all passed me by and I was hesitant at first but it was so much fun to play. Sadly that band folded and ever since I have struggled to get away from the usual dirge like Mustang Sally, Get Lucky, sex on fire, Dakota etc. I know people love those tunes especially after a few beverages, but I have just got to a point where I would rather not play than have to play those songs at low paid gigs. I have two kids and time is precious.

Making a decent living must be pretty tough, but I have met a couple of people over the years who make it work. Finding decent paid gigs must be the big challenge unless you are part of a touring act. I used to pick up around £200-£300 for wedding gigs but I’d need to be doing at least 8 of those a month to come close. My oldest friend has been full time for over ten years now and he makes a very good living from recording library music for tv/radio and doing scoring and sessions, so it is possible. He does absolutely no live stuff.

I came across him last year after going down some random YouTube rabbit hole. He’s great, obviously a really tidy player and he’s doing to comedy element so well that at times you really can’t tell if he is deadly serious or taking the mick. I saw some live footage and he’s got a great band although the bit I saw his vocals were hard to hear.

It’s not really an official colour, but I would love a bass in faded Lake Placid Blue. It can go a weird green colour and I love it. Tal Wilkenfeld and Nick Campbell have Precisions in a similar colour.

Yeah it’s a job she’s really passionate about and despite the general gripes associated with working for the NHS she wouldn’t want to do anything else. It’s actually worked out reasonably well so far. I was naturally losing enthusiasm when we had our son, as I felt like my gigging life was a cross between the office and Phoenix Nights! I work from home so I am around a lot for the kids which is hard at times but equally brilliant. It just means there is very little free time for anything at the moment. Luckily I do have a few guys who are equally committed for other reasons so we can just play when we can and enjoy it without any pressure.

My wife does 11 hour shifts in the NHS and has no pattern to her shifts from week to month. It wasn’t an issue initially but we now have two children who aren’t old enough to be left alone. I now only have one night a week I am guaranteed to be free (Tuesday) and am very rarely free on weekends, so I basically gave up on bands because I didn’t want to be the guy that had to keep turning down gigs and dodging rehearsals. I got asked to join a band at the end of last year, all guys I have played with before and we all get on well, so right from the off I explained what I could and couldn’t commit to. All but one member got it, he still keeps suggesting we have day long rehearsals on a Sunday with a few beers, and wants to get out and gig loads, but the rest are fine. We just practice when we can and if it lasts I guess we will just do whatever gigs we can all make.

I agree with the above, ask for a reason and don’t assume it’s how many or few notes you are playing. I have stuck around in bands with people who aren’t the best players but are really easy going and decent human beings. Likewise I have wanted to leave bands because I just couldn’t quite get someone’s general personality or sense of humour.

That’s a phenomenal collection, I didn’t think any mortals actually owned Stenbacks! I don’t really like having ‘stuff’ anymore, and that has slowly extended to music equipment. I used to want to collect basses but now I get a weird anxiety if I have too many instruments around at any one time. It’s like I feel they deserve a better home because I am neglecting them. I have pretty much just had one main bass for 10 years and a much cheaper back up for gigs.

Cory is a wicked bass player, I believe that was his first instrument before he took up guitar

I have had a few sets of NYXL strings, I think I got the first set as a trial through here? I thought they were great strings, much nicer under the fingers than other D’Addario strings I had used until that point. They weren’t marketed as long life strings but mine lasted ages, way longer than any other uncoated string I have used although obviously not as long as Elixirs. Nice top end and good low end fundamental, and they seemed to keep the tone well during their life with minimal drop off from memory.

Looking at a few social media posts, a few people seem to think it’s their version of the Aria Pro Detroit bass. Not sure why or how Harley Benton would be copying a bass that is currently available but from the small screen shot it does seem to match up.

When I got my first fretless I spend an evening messing around with tuning and intonation until I realised you had to play on the lines not in-between them.

I use the free fender tuner, for my acoustic and my bass when I don’t have my Korg.

For me it would be: 1. petrol costs for however many vehicles you need to take 2. cost of your time to drive that far 3. normal gig fee 4. food and drink costs if they aren’t being provided The trick is working out what your time is worth, I would probably be looking at a decent hourly rate for each person in the band for the travelling time but you may think that’s a bit high. I would personally provide a breakdown for the customer as well, just so they can get an understanding how what it actually entails for you all.

That was more gripping than most of the films I have seen recently 🤣

If you use the YouTube app you can slow down songs at the same pitch and learn them much easier. I do this all the time, as I hate tab and it’s always wrong.

Apparently it’s from Blackadder according to a good friend of mine, but despite watching all of them many times I have never come across the quote. Regardless I think it’s a brilliant name for a Pub.

In answer to “are you good enough to play a fodera” then yes, I believe anyone is good enough. After all it’s just an instrument, a tool to make sounds on and crest music, I think even the guys who make Fodera basses would hate to think that anyone would be judged negatively for playing their instruments. Let’s face it, it’s not like putting a learner driver in an F1 car where they could hurt themselves or someone else, playing a bass is at worst going to give someone a headache. In response the the question of guilt for owning/playing expensive gear, then yes, over the years I have often had pangs of guilt that I should not be spending so much money on kit when no one cares and I can get just as good of a tone out of a Squier. This however is all about me as a person and I wouldn’t care less if someone else was using a £90 Harley Benton or a £6000 Fodera down the Whore and Trumpet on a Saturday night. I had a good but modest upbringing and despite having a stable job etc, I still feel guilty about owning expensive things, like it’s just uneccsary expense when something cheaper would do. I have sold expensive basses like Overwaters and gone to Squiers and actually found it hugely liberating playing a cheap bass I don’t mind bashing about and getting a great sound. I have reached a good balance whereby I have a USA made Stingray which was an extremely good price secondhand, and it’s a lovely bass I listed after as a kid, but I don’t worry about the amount of money tied up in it. I would love to treat myself to something expensive for my 40th but in all honesty I think I would start getting that weird feeling of guilt that the money would be better off invested elsewhere.

This looks pretty cool and a natural progression as Joe did use a Jazz for a lot of the Vulfpeck stuff as well. If MusicMan have got the quality down and he likes the neck then why not get them to make a JJ bass, let’s face it every other manufacturer has. In relation to a question about how he gets so many and why didn’t flea/Pino etc, I believe reading that Jack Stratton from Vulfpeck financed the first run of basses, and I would guess that he has done the same since, hence small runs of each type of bass so they aren’t left with thousands of unsold basses. I don’t know if anyone remembers the Talkbass thread about 19mm spacing on Stingray 5 strings? Sterling ball basically said if he got enough pre-orders for that spec by a certain date he would make them. Predictably no-one followed up on it, but given that history it makes sense that he would take a commission for a run of basses from a fairly well know band/player if there was little to no risk in it for him. I bet we could get a basschat spec MusicMan if coughed up enough money, but I doubt we could get more than half a dozen people to agree on the spec.

I have reached a point where I know myself well enough to acknowledge I have one of those personalities where I tend to get obsessed by the minutia of a subject when it sparks my interest. I don’t know what alternative instrument I would have gone for, I always loved and still play acoustic guitar and have two (never electric, I just can’t get on with it), so maybe I would have gone further down that rabbit hole. Outside of music, I can imagine any number of things that would have consumed my time and money, all of the following have had me spending hours reading online: 1. Watches 2. Clay pigeon shooting (and shotguns as a result) 3. Numismatics 4. Cycling (I have a weird fetish for bikes) 5. Lego (I still love and spend too much money on Lego….for my son of course) I will point out, that of the above, I have only spent money on a road bike and Lego, but could have easily got consumed by any of them if bass wasn’t in my life.

Not sure if this was really a train wreck as we had a decent night, but we did fancy wedding where the main reception and speeches were in the house and they were moving to the very nice marquee for more buffet food, cake, and a well stocked free bar. We were all set up earlier in the day and went back for an anticipated “2100 hours” start which was drilled home to all of us by ‘The Major’ who was the brides father. We were back at 8 to allow for flexibility (because when does a wedding ever run on time) and we’re told to just get comfy and have a drink until people came down, and we gladly obliged! We could see the room in the country house where it was all happening and the night went on with various updates from ‘The Major’ saying “any minute”. We got to 10pm and the best man got a projector out and the slideshow/speech started and the laughing and cheering picked up. By this time we were several beverages in and had started on the buffet as they were only just being served pudding with approval from the caterer and bar staff. At 11:45 they start wondering down, we were tired and a bit drunk but hey let’s have a good night and play some music. We did the first dance, one good rocking opener and then I get pulled aside by the very nice venue manger who said “guys we have a noise curfew at midnight so make this the last one”. We announced the last tune, wish everyone good night and start to pack up. ‘The Major’ who was steaming by this point, comes over and I am expecting some displeasure at the length of the set despite it not being our fault. He walks up, hands me a massive wedge of cash and says “bloody good night chaps, all the best”.