Krysbass

Alright Now has been done to death of course, but audiences still seem to love it - even in a band I was in where the drummer insisted on playing something more at home in “Firestarter” (The Prodigy) than the song the rest of the band were trying to play. 😳 edit: actually, I see Alright Now did get a mention in a previous post - but it does strangely still seem to go down well, despite being mandatory on pretty much every rock compilation cd ever released.

After being in a string of bands more or less continuously since 2008, I’ve been bandless since June 2019. My last project was a tribute+covers band I started, but I reluctantly had to end it after having to reject around 25 gig offers due to the onset of persistent unavailability of a couple of the 5 band members due to them hooking up with other projects. We had an in-demand but somewhat specialised selection of songs so deps weren’t a realistic option and having experienced a number of commitment related setbacks on our journey I no longer had the energy to yet again replace the 2 unavailable members and carry on. The saga left me disappointed and even a little bitter at the selfish actions of the 2 members making an otherwise very successful project untenable, but I’ve been doing this long enough to know that this is unfortunately par for the course in bands. Creating my own music doesn’t inspire me - I only enjoy playing other people’s music and gigging is the endgame of that for me. So for the past months I’ve been doing a lot of that in my home practice, playing along to songs I’ve never bothered with before and my improvisation skills have progressed in leaps and bounds as a result. I’ve been doing almost daily checks on Joinmyband too on the off chance that a project comes along that interests me. Nothing yet, but that’s been a blessing as I’ve been extra busy in my day job lately. So the home practice continues on my own terms and I intend to do a “bassist available” ad if nothing has come along by April.

At nearly 57, gigging is still where it’s at for me. Rather, my problem seems to be in finding enough other people who genuinely love to gig and don’t join a band only to then throw up a constant stream of obstacles and excuses that prevent the band from accepting gig bookings.😯

I’ve never liked the aesthetic of headless basses - no matter what the benefits may be, so even though I’ve had an Ibanez SR600 since 2010, an Ibanez acoustic bass and have frequent bouts of GAS for their BTB basses; that’s unlikely to be enough to lure me towards checking out this new headless range - even though the finishes and features admittedly look so good.🤔

For the last few years I’ve got into the habit of vetting prospective gig bookings from venues I’m unfamiliar with for ease of nearby parking using Google Street View. If parking is too far away or non-existent, or the locality looks dodgy, I’ll reject the gig, as the stress and jumping through hoops involved invariably just isn’t worth it.

During a tenure with an originals band I played gigs at 3 different venues within Manchester’s Northern quarter. I remain astonished that this part of the city has managed to amass a reputation for live music, where some iconic bands cut their teeth, given that parking close to any of the venues to unload or reload gear was so difficult. In fact, it was this combined with once having to stump up around £16 to park in a multi-storey for the evening that was the final straw in my decision to ditch the notion of originals bands in favour of local covers bands and the comparative luxury of free car-parking right outside the Dog and Duck etc.

To me, lyrics in a song are secondary. I can honestly say that there is no song I have ever liked mostly because of its lyrics. There are even plenty of songs that are great musically that are actually spoiled by their lyrics. If I want words I'll read a book, or watch a movie. My enjoyment of music mostly comes from the melody, musical hooks and sounds within a song. I enjoy instrumental music of various genres too and don't find myself missing the lack of lyrics.

6'5" - once again proving the theory 😎

And let's not forget Dougie Thomson's great, but rarely mentioned bass playing with Supertramp....😊

1. There must be an angel - Eurythmics 2. The tide is high - Blondie 3. The Winner takes it all - Abba It's probably no coincidence that these 3 songs still get a load of radio airplay, which may suggest that the great British public still love them. If so, this is something I cannot begin to comprehend. When any of these songs are played, I immediately change channel. It's not that they hold any meaning or connection for me, its purely on a musical or tonal level I find them intensely irritating. Worse still, all 3 of the above artistes have far better songs in their repertoire (imho) that get little or no airplay.

Agreed. There's more to Journey than the now ubiquitous "Don't Stop Believing". "Stone in Love" is a case in point bass-wise.

Always "bassist" or "bass guitarist". Sadly, the term "bass player" is too often used or said with more than a hint of derision or sarcasm - though (as far as I'm aware); not yet in relation to myself. 😏

Visible wood grain with no pick guards (which obviously rules out certain iconic and widely revered basses at a stroke)😊 Beyond that; whether colour-stained or natural wood and gloss or satin finishes; all these are fine by me.

As posted a couple of days ago on another thread; I folded my band back in May due to the singer and keyboardist involving themselves in other projects and thus leaving themselves unavailable for gigs from June to September - peak gigging season in my area. I had been clear and up-front before they joined the band and with several reminders along the way that we would be averaging 2 gigs per month, but their unavailability meant we were turning gigs away and averaging about 0.5 gigs per month by the time I'd had enough and pulled the plug. So multiple bands can seem ok and manageable in theory, but can end up causing serious problems in practice.

Unfortunately, the band scene seems increasingly populated by people with the sense of entitlement that they can mess the band leader and/or gig getter and other band members around and we'll just happily take it on the chin to keep the peace. I folded my tribute band in May this year having had a gutfull of this behaviour from our singer and keyboardist who between them had wiped out the summer - the peak festival season. Our gig getter was practically having to beat off gig bookings with a sh***y stick. It reached the point where venue or event managers couldn't understand why we had a fairly empty gig calendar, yet were turning down their bookings. I'm still bandless and the experience has not only taken away any desire to start another project, but left me jaded with the idea of even joining another band. Bands seem to bring out both the best and the worst in people.

I see my basses as much more than tools. Even mass produced basses embody a certain amount of craftsmanship and innate beauty, so I do take a lot of care to protect my basses from damage and keep them looking as good as possible.

Similar to the O.P.; if I have agreed a sale with someone, I would honour it, even if I'd subsequently had seller's remorse. But the unfortunate reality is that it is not mandatory to follow that standard, so it comes down to how each of us as individuals chooses to do things....

Surely always the year of manufacture. Many serial numbers on basses can be directly or indirectly traced to a year of manufacture, and if I was buying a pre-owned bass, it is this that I'd want to know, rather than when the original or subsequent owners bought it.

I have a couple of Levys 3" suede straps for most of my basses and would never go narrower than this, but I use a 4" padded suede-backed leather strap with my unusually heavy Westone Thunder III. Interesting that 4"+ straps look to be the most popular here, yet I've found that the choice of these wider straps isn't that great. Could be an opportunity for someone. ...?

Been using an original Ibanez Musician case since the mid 80s - mostly for my Westone Thunder III, but also for my Ibanez SR600 for a while. So it's a versatile case, but also a frequent reminder that I never managed to bag an Ibanez Musician bass and so use the case for its true purpose.😶

I began using ear plugs (just inexpensive off the shelf ones) in 2008 when I was in a band with a drummer who hit the heads so hard that he put dents in them and broke so many sticks that the scattered debris at the end of a rehearsal resembled the floor of a sawmill. He was so loud that without earplugs it literally hurt and I could feel the insides of my ears rattle like an overpowered loudspeaker about to disintegrate. But although he was unnecessarily loud, he did me a favour, because I've religiously used ear plugs for all rehearsals and gigs since then. Thankfully my hearing is still pretty good.

As a long-time Thunder III owner still hooked on the looks of these basses, I found a couple of solutions to the neck-dive issue. The main one that served me well for many years is 4" wide suede-backed strap. The other more recent one is replacing the stock tuners with Gotoh lightweight ones. I now find the bass comfortable enough to play for a couple of hours without a break. ps - I've added a couple of photos of my Thunder III to my original post on page 1 of this thread.

Very nice bass - and obviously well treated over those 30-odd years. That looks like a Westone case too if I'm not mistaken? Still loving my modded '84 Thunder III, - it was just a slightly younger version of the Thunder II when in original spec. Only difference from the T-II was black pickup and truss rod covers.

This only happened to me once, when due to being late home from work; I was last to arrive at the gig. But as the p.a. had only just enough power for vocals, it was essential I used my rig, so the drummer had to move his kit. Other than that, I'm usually one of the first to arrive and make sure the drummer leaves enough space for me. And it's not as if I need much space, as my rig is two 2x10 cabs stacked on the small ends - so arguably the smallest gear footprint in the whole band. But some venues are just impractically small for anyting more than a duo so there have been situations where my 4 or 5 piece band has had to cram into a venue minus our usual guitar changes, effects boards, lights, number of drums etc and I've had to play my bass pointed at the ceiling all night. Curiously, one of those cramped, stripped back gigs remains one of the best received we ever played....😐

In my 50s and still love gigging. The loading in and out of gear or late arrivals home don't bother me either - despite some aches and pains the next day. But I'm bandless right now and missing gigging - deeply. 😟 Rather, it seems my problem is finding enough other musicians who have the commitment and availability to average even a paltry 1 gig per month.... which surely isn't too much to ask? - Evidently it is.