12stringbassist

Did anyone actually manage to get any of the Rory Gallagher items sold yesterday? I assume an amount of it will be in bank vaults.

You get bands who continue and evolve over many years - I'd cite Dr feelgood as a band that has shed original members gradually and once the last of those left, the question obviously arises - should they stop? Obviously not. They have kept an audience (maybe smaller than in their heyday) and serve them. I liken most bands to WH Smiths. Some one leaves, it's still WH Smiths. I have to hold back a snigger at a certain band in the North West who BOUGHT a band's name for £1500 and trot out some 60's clunge... introducing the songs as THEIR hits... (the bit I find funny).... but they are keeping working and making some people happy. Their website has an honest band history and you can see that the current line-up is nothing much to do with the originals.

I wouldn't be without my BDI21. A little bit of drive and the tone boost are fabulous.

We take between 110 and 120 a year (including a regular Sunday jam night). Our gigs are on the front page of http://www.the3.co.uk

From the other week in Wolverhampton...

My SR1305, during recent recording duties.

The SuperDeluxe editions of some albums have been really welcome to me. The recent Ultravox box sets have been a total delight. The Be Bop Deluxe boxes were wonderful too. The Who's Next / Lifehouse box, while overly-expensive, was certainly the way for a fan to get all of the related content. XTC's reissues were of model of how to do it. A shame the videos have stopped. The Thin Lizzy boxes I have - Vagabonds / 1976 / L&D / Rock legends - are all excellent. The demos in the 1976 box are pretty special, as is the live disc. The 2024 mixes of Jailbreak and Johnny The Fox use some guitar parts that were previously buried in the mix and a spoken word part that was abandoned in Emerald - that was a REAL surprise to hear. The demos as bonus content at the time of original release wouldn't have worked, as the band wanted us to hear record in only ONE way, how it was intended. Elvis Costello's back catalogue is on its umpteenth expanded reissue now and it's too much to expect fans to keep buying it. It pains me to say that Suede are guilty of putting out a slightly amended reissue of their back catalogue every few years. I wish they would stop it. If you can find the Edsel 3 disc sets, get those. They are definitive. They also try to get you to buy a special expanded edition of each new release with b-sides and live stuff added. A visible cash-grab. Having been involved a little in the Slade reissues, I know exactly how difficult the process of unearthing and getting additional content approved as bonus content can be.

It seems quite simple to me. If you want to upgrade your PA system, and if your drummer opts out of buying, then he doesn't own a share of the new PA. Give him his share when you sell the old one. Split the cost between the rest of you. With my lot, I own powered top PA cabs. Drummer owns desk and bass bins that we use. Has spare top cabs. Guitarist also has a small desk and some PA cabs.

Maybe occasional use of a rubber thimble might help.

If I didn't take two basses with me, then sods law dictates something would go wrong with the ONLY bass. At the moment I mainly vary between a couple of P basses or a pair of Rics. I usually change basses for the second spot... but sometimes stick to the first one if I've got my sound properly. I've seen gigs fall apart when a bassist's instrument fails or breaks a string and there's no spare of anything. Nightmare. I've also had another band ask to borrow my bass. A refusal often offends. You're not breaking mine.

I'm on the verge of cancelling everything next year. 33 gigs and a regular weekly jam. Personnel issues. are wearing me down.

No.

Seeing as I've done a new poster design...

I think they got my best side.

We did a gig in Lytham the last two years where someone who was MC-ing came on and cut our set shorter than agreed because he saw himself as 'the big entertainer' and liked the sound of his own voice. He was actually umming and ahhing, struggling for things to say while we were packing up and I said it was his fault for stopping us so early. I wanted to throw him off the stage. He tried to cut it 15 mins shorter, but I wouldn't look at him. I complained to the organiser and the guy wasn't MC-ing this year. we didn't play either as we had other things on the date.

I've spoken to Dankology. It WAS the very same bar. At least we got to play. We won't be doing it again, though. Nobody has a good word for the organisation outside of the main stages.

Yup.

Good that you're managing to play. Rooting for you. Be patient while you heal. Keep us posted.

Festivals are often a total pain in the a*se. We did an annual one somewhere in the North of England yesterday. It's quite a big event and we got on after two years of asking - they always lose our applications. The tech spec said we needed to bring breakables for drums and amps for guitar and bass - cabs were provided. The venue wasn't set up for a 3 piece rock band. But you show willing, don't you? It didn't help that the band before us over-ran up to the start time of our set and really dawdled when it came to packing away. When they finally buzzed off, it turned out there was no bass cab, just a bass bin attached to the PA, so my amp was routed thru the PA which was sounding like a pair of transistor radios. The guy behind the desk seemed to be unfamiliar with what they actually do, as my bass was pretty much non-existent and he kept turning our vocals and the guitar off. Our drummer told me to 'be nice' and not to tell him off. I felt absolutely murderous. It ruined the gig for me - qualifying it as the worst 40 minutes I have ever spent on a stage. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. 40 minutes of sheer frustration. I will never leave it to chance and trust a festival team again. I will always drag my bass rig along. It would be a close contest between myself and the OP as to who is the most angry.

I haven't tried any 6 string basses as I feel I would just get lost on them and that they stray out of bass player territory at the upper end of the range. I do accept that a bass with a higher top range is a valid choice as a bass, but I don't go up the dusty end that much and not that far. I covet one of the new Fender P Uke basses. God help me if I see one in the flesh. Would I use it enough to justify buying one? Probably not. RESIST!!! I yearn for an upright bass, the old style double bass, but I couldn't transport one. The electric slimline options don't look interesting enough. Those basses where the body is attached halfway down the neck. I don't like the look of them, though I am sure there is a sustain advantage. Not for me. Sandberg, Fodera and other high-end P bass style bass clones. If people want to make basses, they should come up with their own body shape. It's just rampant lack of imagination. They may be superb basses, but if I want a good Fender, I'll buy one.

I have too many basses and am going to shed a few in January.

The superdeluxe of Synchronicity by The Police. On the first disc - the album - at present. It's a patchy release. there is some sublime stuff (the singles) and quite a bit of filler.

My band's done 8 years now. There are personality clashes from one corner of the band. Also some performance issues. I book all of the gigs (about 120 this year), do the website and media, carry the PA cabs and set the PA up and to be honest I am tired of dealing with inept pub landlords. We have talked about knocking it on the head early next year if someone doesn't improve. If we stop, I don't think I will carry on playing.

Nothing wrong with a P bass...