Cat Burrito

Adam and the Pants

Good question! You need to pay to reserve seating or your pride and joy could be sitting amongst the lads holiday. We had that on one flight and my bass didn't speak to me for weeks afterwards!

I'm a fairly recent convert to the world of Bass VI. I bought mine originally to lay down some Glen Campbell type lines on a recording session, only for that song to be shelved. I went for the Burns baby blue and it does need a better setup but is generally a fun instrument. It sat in storage for a few months until I dug it out for a post-punk / goth duo that I do with the guitarist from my first band back in Sixth Form. We cut this short video recently for a bit of fun. The film maker was great but just to show my humble attempts at playing one. 100% agree, definitely easier with a pick. It's funny for me that the intention behind the purchase is a world away from the regular usage it is now getting.

I've done it a few times. Check with the airline but Ryan Air called the "customer" "instrument" when I booked the 2nd seat. Every airline is different but with Ryan Air you buy your bass a ticket as instrument for each flight. This was the case in May when I played Ibiza and it rings a bell for Norway in 2019 too. We did have different approaches from other airlines so it is always worth looking at the website. I think Ryan Air get a lot of semi-pro / semi- big bands flying with them so they all seemed to be familiar with this arrangement. We ran into problems in Italy and again in Sweden where the relevant airlines did things differently. This is when they start to ramp up fees and it gets expensive. @petebassist, no experience but I think customs would have a few concerns about the strings and parts in the case. I've certainly never come across this.

Love Me Tender - Elvis. I have the musical notation tattooed on my arm. Upon reflection, referring to anyone in that room at that point as a "musician" might be a bit of a stretch. Thankfully we all got a lot better.

It's a difficult call really and if you have worked as a musician all your life, many don't have enough to retire and are unlikely to slot right in to normal life. With YouTube etc, acts can be checked out and if they are past their best, punters have the opportunity to pass. I'm not a fan personally but I had friends post clips of the final Whitesnake tour and it was karaoke level, at best. Equally people criticise Kiss these days but I thought the tour I saw pre-Covid was better than seeing the original lineup back in the 90s. Some artists look after their voices and age is no barrier - Alice Cooper and The Cure seem to still deliver at the level they always did, despite decades in the industry.

My 80s Goth revivalists duo played as part of Swindon Shuffle last night. Work has been so busy I'd clocked up 19hrs overtime in the past 36hrs (I actively avoid spending more time at work than I have to these days) and we hadn't rehearsed since July. Our tech spec was probably too ambitious for a multi band bill where a line check was all that was going to happen but we soldiered through it. I lost the bass completely at a couple of points and I think the young soundman was a little out of his depth with a PA that was not really up to the job but we were professional to get through it and make a fair few new followers / fans. Against all odds, I'd say we triumphed.

I don't feel any allegiance to any company as nobody is endorsing me. I played Fenders for years because it was all I had. These days I seem to be using my Ric the most but also have a really good Thunderbird, Hofner, Gretsch and Fender. I was happily playing my P-bass last night at home and really enjoying it. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

I finished work yesterday morning at 7am and drove an hour to Bristol for a support slot as part of a cat charity gig. Amazed how on it I was considering my levels of tiredness. Pleased I brought the small rig as load in was a bit of a challenge but the whole night was worth it as an old mate I haven't seen for 20years came down especially for us.

Just back from a UK tour that took in Stoke, London, Swansea, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Bradford, Bilston and Blackpool. There was more but I am too tired to remember even my own name. Super fun but I have two weeks of Basschat to catch up on.

1988 - 1989 - Nine Lives (Glam / Sleaze done very badly indeed) 1989 - 1990 - Whore in Reverence (Sixth Form Goth band) 1994-1995 - SkinTrade (Glam / Sleaze band) 1995-1998 - The Ex-Boyfriends (Pop Punk with a dash of britpop) 1998-2000 - SpyCatcher (60s Mod) 2004-2005 Stone Circle (country rock) 2004-2007 - Grand Union Music Show (country rock jam band) 2007 - CC Rider (country rock) 2008-2009 - The Driver Brothers (country rock) 2008-2009 - The Ely Plains (country rock) 2009 - 2019 - Case Hardin (Americana) 2013-2016, 2017-current - The Jimmy Sixes (50s r&b / 60s Garage) 2015-2016 - The 58 Shakes (50s rock n roll) 2016 - 2022 - Creedence Clearwater Revival Revival (tribute to CCR) 2017 - current - Richard Davies & the Dissidents (New Wave / Alternative) 2019 - current - Last Great Dreamers (Power Pop) 2021 - current - Deadlight Dance (Post Punk / Goth) 2022 - current - Slyder Smith & the Oblivion Kids (Rock)

I do a lot of these in my downtime and usually people say "this one is just C F and G" (for example) so you just go from there. People change keys, use capos. Maybe have a scouting party, go check one out and join in where you can. The main thing is to have fun! I've busked along to loads of things I'd never heard and people are pretty forgiving, especially during intros as players find their place.

For the www, we're well represented in Wiltshire. Welcome.

@oldslapper, I've worked shifts myself so have always been painfully considerate of others. My house is a small 2 bed terrace with thin walls and I wish my neighbours were as considerate as I try to be. I think when reading posts online one naturally thinks of their own life. A 25w practice amp a three minute walk from a house, pointed the other way is going to be considerably less intrusive than most Basschatters at home practising in semi or terrace houses. My friend has done considerably better on the property ladder than me (I have nicer kit, more records and shoes - life is a balance!) and it's more about some people being pompous. Neither of them works shifts. The summerhouse is also down loads of steps so I think they really are just being silly. By all accounts it's her more than him. And no, I didn't think you were having a go - my exact thought was that I bet you had neighbours that were noisy so had just empathised. I have similar where I live and this just isn't the same. @ubit. It's for music and we will be soundproofing it as he's turning it into a studio. In 34yrs of playing I wouldn't have said it was jumping out as needing it but given the neighbours, it would be a sensible way forward.

Not personally but it's not my house. As per my previous comment, I would imagine we are all more annoying practicing in our own homes. This is a 3 minute walk from the main house. At my place, my practice amp backs on to to my neighbours kitchen & she asked me to turn up! My previous neighbour came around to say how much he enjoyed my acoustic jams. This isn't something that is done with a drummer or loud stack amps. I think that any typical person who could physically see what is going on would think they are being completely unreasonable. They know he's a music teacher and the walk from the house to the summerhouse is a fair one (down four flights of steps and over a bridge and then up some more steps).

For context our next get together is mid-September and it's two practice amps that are a three minute walk from the house. My 25w bass amp is set around 4. The amps are directed AWAY from the house. It's always weekend daytime. The last rehearsal was 16th July (yestersay's practice was 6th August). We've never rehearsed for more than a few short hours & that's with plenty of chat, as we are old mates.

Genuine question if any of you can help? I have a duo that I'm part of with an old school friend from 30yrs ago. We have two small practice combos and a drum machine stored in a small summerhouse which is about a 3 minute walk from his house and that backs onto open fields. He's a music teacher and I think we are both of a reasonable standard. Yesterday, we were rehearsing down in the summerhouse (as we do about every once every 3wks - a session usually lasts 3hrs, always sometime between 10am - 5pm) and received the following text; "I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather as we are and having a good summer holiday. A polite request, do you think you can please turn down the amplifiers on your practise sessions when your playing in the summer house, I'm not sure if you know but the sound travels up making it sound like Glastonbury in the garden from up here and we cant hear our own radio in the lounge when windows and doors are open. In the winter months we don't even hear it however during the warmer months it does become a little over powering when doors and window are open, and we are in the garden more. Many thanks, speak soon Debbie & Steve x" My question is this; if Glastonbury is £300 a ticket, does £180 sound reasonable to charge them?

Or just the top strings from a guitar pack? EADG would be a bit pointless (but great for bass). Presumably though you'd want it for banjo style playing rather than bass? Personally I play extremely unconventionally and we use these instruments for 80s post punk / goth stuff. So we put flanger / chorus / delay on them. Sometimes I play lower register variations of bass parts, other times right up high for lead melodies. In previous bands I was playing more country / folk / bluegrass so thinking more conventionally. It's all just a nice busman's holiday from the bass.

I have a few cheap pedals like that on my mandolin pedal board and they sound great. I'm livid though - I paid £14 for my chorus! 😸

I play mandolin too so it made sense to have my tenor banjo tuned to GDAE. I like the crossover. If you play guitar, it's probably not a bad idea. I worked in a band a few years ago with a guitarist who played a tenor banjo tuned like the top 4 strings of a guitar DGBE and it sounded great. I think ultimately it won't hurt to try and just see what works best for you.

I initially gave up music for my job as it was shift work... being bandless lasted only 4yrs. How I got around it was I formed the first few bands around me and booked everything around my work. I built up a good enough reputation that I was getting approached by bands knowing that I was limited in my availability and they'd still want me. On social media I swear most people think I lead an exciting rock n roll lifestyle (busiest man in rock has been thrown at me on a fair few occasions) but the reality is that I have just become extremely good at juggling things. For the last few years my job has been more 8-4 type hours but as of Monday I am back around for the first of three 5 week blocks of 24/7 shift cover (over a few months, not back to back). In the middle of those I am managing a UK tour, a Spanish Tour, a trip to Norway and some decent standalone shows. Plus open mic and recording. I thankfully have few other distractions aside music and paid employment so am able to operate at this level. I guess my point is that if anyone really wants to do it, you can operate at a level with a degree of compromise, whether that's meeting in the middle on musical tastes, doing open mic, running the band yourself or some other way. I play with musicians who want to be the next Mick Jagger and I play with musicians who want to have a bit of fun away from everyday life. Both of those scenarios have strengths and weaknesses. Best of luck trying to find something. Oh and motto is "if it isn't fun, don't do it!"

Do you play 5 string banjo? I cheated by getting a Tenor Banjo so have it tuned the same way as the mandolin. I did the same with the Bouzouki - 3 instruments all in the same tuning. Within my duo we also have a mandocello but it is tunes a 5th down. The shapes are different but related so easy to adapt. It makes us look super talented but actually it's all smoke and mirrors!

Shameless self promotion alert! If you have 85 seconds and fancy checking out a teaser of bass vi and synth, my duo Deadlight Dance...

My duo played a couple of sets to an initially dead pub, followed by one of the liveliest crowds I have had in a while, locally. It never ceases to amaze me how there is a demand for 80s post punk / goth performed on folk instruments (now with added drum machine / synth). I'm pictured here on the 8 string mandocello.

I think one has to be fairly selective as you can amass a LOT of stuff. I have all the albums I played on framed on the wall above my stereo. I also have a lot of old magazines and fanzines from the early 90s onwards in a storage box. It's amazing how yellowed they have become. The photos are long since scanned and moved online. However, all of this is edited highlights as I would need a whole garage to keep everything.