Twigman

Whenever I've played it - not often, granted - I've always played it in C# - that way the lowest note is an open E... Surely it depends on in which key the vocalist is comfortable singing it?

I have two of those. One with the old style metal clips on the side and one of the current model with the strap. They are useless:- 1) None of my gig bags were small enough to fit inside unless I removed the foam that's glued to the inside of the case. 2) The 'locking' clips on the side of the old model would easily come undone and did on a flight once 3) The strap on the current model can easily come undone - I didn't ever try to use this for transporting a bass as I couldn't get it to stay 'locked' So I have 2 - 1 of each type sitting around at home, free to anyone who wants to collect them.

Aye - that's why we play almost all our gigs on the continent. Northern France, Belgium and Holland we drive to, taking our own backline - promoters put us up, with our own rooms, in Holiday Inn style hotels - we get at least one proper meal a day thrown in - on top of the hotel breakfast. In the rest of Europe we fly, the promoter pays for flights, minimum 3* hotels with our own rooms and hires backline and drum kit (as close as our tech rider specifies)..we're always picked up from the airport and returned to the airport in ample time to fly home, as well as bussed around between, hotel and venue, radio if required etc....last month, while in Italy,we were even taken on a detour to the leaning tower of Pisa rather than going straight to the airport. Every gig seems to have more beer and whisky and soft drinks and water than we can consume. It almost feels like being proper rock stars! We're flying to Berlin next weekend where we'll get bussed down to Leipzig to play at Wave Gotik Treffen - headlining Haus Leipzig on the last night of the festival (Mon 10).

Really? In my experience promoters are totally ignorant of the logistics at venues. It's not so much whether the venues can accommodate but the grief caused by swapping gear out between sets. Nothing ever ends up being exactly as it was at the soundcheck. While I recognise we all had to start somewhere we always try to keep the number of supports to a minimum (prefer 1, 2 at a push - any more and we won't do the gig - apart from 'festivals'). Where possible we insist on no drummer in support bands and we never share backline. It's our gig after all.

Being in a band that often headlines such shows I would hope the promoter would tell you to fosters off. It's bad enough when there are 3 bands on the bill but 4? The hassle of doing a swap out with gear on stage - we will not share our backline. The pile up of gear backstage - the cramped backstage - we insist on max 2 support bands and prefer acts with no drummer. I would hope our promoter would tell you to fosters off.

Definitely overkill but I swear by my SKB iSeries. It’s got wheels!! 5014-44 for a p bass https://www.skbcases.com/music/products/proddetail.php?f=&id=647&o=&offset=&c=84&s=75 as far as gig bags go a Mono M80 is what I’ve used for years, even in a can stacked with gear.

I use Insure4Musuc. Worldwide cover - Insure by value- no need for specifics - not had to claim yet but gives some peace of mind. I’m trusting they’d pay out fairly if something did go wrong.

Prior to SLaG the band was known, in the punk days (and before my time) as "The Traumatics"

Few do...bizarrely We've made up so many stories as to what the name means and where it comes from when in reality it's just longhand for slag

We had a support band a couple of months ago called "She Pleasures Herself" and we''ll be meeting them again in Leipzig in a couple of weeks....we were reluctant to google them tbh

Some friends of mine formed a band after many years in separate bands...."Old Country Union"

I'm in Sad Lovers And Giants The name was contrived to suit the acronym...oohhh 39 years ago....

We've got a chinese promoter trying to get us over there to do a few shows! We've done lots of touring in Europe and a bit in USA but are a little wary of China. I know that things are likely done a little differently in China. Have any of you lot ever toured in China? What must we get sorted with the promoter before we commit? Any experiences you could relate would be welcomed.

Had a web chat with easyJet. Been told the check-in at Pisa got it wrong. They are investigating.

I succeeded at this in 2018 and plan to in 2019. I haven't even bought any strings since 2017. My EBMM Sterling cured my bass GAS. (2016 order 2017 delivery) My amp GAS was extinguished in 2015 ( TecAmp and barefaced ) Pedals? board unchanged last 3 years - no plans

We've been flying easyJet for years. We always book hold luggage allowance of the appropriate weight and have NEVER previously been surcharged. Any clue why this particular flight should be any different?

This has nothing to do with 'taking them to the gate'. Our guitars still went in the hold, as planned, and as always. Having booked and paid for 185kg of luggage and their combined weight coming in well under that we have no clue why we were charged an EXTRA €42 per item. We're feeling totally ripped off.

I fly often with my bass. We often use easyJet in Europe. We have all our gear flightcased and stick it in the hold. Flying back from Pisa to Gatwick last week, at check in in Pisa we were charged an EXTRA €42 per cased instrument despite having a 185kg allowance already pre-booked and paid for! The woman on the check in counter stated it was due to the fact we were carrying musical instruments and they were classed as 'special items'. We've been flying all over Europe for years with easyJet and have never come across this before. On every previous flight the instruments have just been booked in as any other luggage albeit we have to take them to the oversize conveyor but have NEVER been surcharged. Has anyone else experienced this? We suspect we were being ripped off - or is this a new easyJet policy? We've written to easyjet for an explanation (and refund?) but have yet to hear back.

congrats

Fender CE300 T bucket bass can't go wrong with one of them

ha - WGT v WGW - just one typo different........just been looking at Haus Leipzig....it looks like a proper venue. and the steampunk chicks at WGT might actually go to the shows!

June 10th http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/ro/go4it.php?id=115&loc=en If you go this year please do say hello

I remain to be convinced about the greatness of any festival as a performer. IME with only a brief line check and no proper sound check, the on stage sound always makes life difficult...generally due to the set having to be shorter than usual it all seems like a lot of effort for not a lot of return...at the level we're at we find that the financials often don't make it worthwhile. We played SXSW in 2016 and got paid nothing - a long way to go for a 45 minute set....it would have been an expensive gig if we hadn't been able to tag a couple of weeks touring US on the back of it. Played a few indoor 'festivals' over the years - they just seem like an excuse for the promoter to pay less than at a usual gig. We're playing WGT this year only because we're intrigued by the clientele and the pics of exotic steampunk chicks we've seen online. Oh we might be playing some strange outdoor festival in the mountains of Hungary in August....but the promoter seems to have gone a little quiet on that one.

On Saturday, playing a dairy farm in the middle of the plains of Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, during the soundcheck we lost all power...we went outside to see bits of tree flying around - we'd been hit by a tornado!!

Could be a quote from our tech rider for glasto........not been booked yet...LOL The only festival we're playing this year is Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig - civilised by comparison