Cat Burrito

Sneaky Pete is something of a pussycat really (er, um!?!) but he won't hear a bad word said about my Rickenbacker and as he lost an eye in a fight once, I'd advice everybody to pick any battles carefully!

I love my Ric. I'm actually in the process of using it on a new recording project I am doing at the moment & it's the first time I have recorded on just one bass for a whole album. I bought secondhand as I didn't fancy the full on expense but I've really bonded with this one. The expensive bit is the furry security guard I have to employ because of all the haters!

I use the Ampeg PF-50t which if the retro stylings are to your tastes is great for a not too heavy and more controllable volume setting. I've had bigger in the past, I've used Class D stuff but this really ticks the boxes for me. I find it puzzling that it isn't a more popular head. I guess a few people are put off by the look.

It sounds amazing and looks really cool too. Great job all round!

It works great both ways. Personally I like the guard but it is nice to mix it up.

Exactly. Nothing wrong with that but just means you have to compensate when using them alongside more modern designs.

I've used this sort of a mic since around 2005. The Shure one really impressed me but we found when some singers use them and others onstage use something more conventional, the conventional mics win out. Not a problem in my rock 'n' roll band as both mics are Elvis mics but in other bands we've found a more modern mic will be louder and clearer. Within the context of using them exclusively, we probably turn up a bit more to compensate but they absolutely deliver 100%.

I thought London Calling was always a tad over-rated but I bought it on vinyl again this year and FINALLY got what the fuss was about. I don't think it was the format (I'd previously owned it on cassette and then CD - twice), more just the mood struck me. The album I have tried the hardest to get along with - and believe me I tried for years - is Mickey mouse Clubhouse! Thankfully the kids are older now.

I think as suggested these things come around again. There was a time whilst growing up when reverb on the snare and chorus on the bass was just standard. Equally the really old stuff becomes a trend for certain niches desperately trying to recreate something from a previous era. I used to love recording 24 track 2" reel but I must confess life is easier now the world is digital.

It's an Eastwood copy... I cheated!

Different bands require different things so my setup varies massively. I'm not loyal to one type of manufacturer and regularly rotate basses. The rock 'n' roll band get this But a bigger show might get this and I'm picking from this (which is missing a Flying V, a uke bass & a fretless, purchased since I took this);

If you email Ampeg's customer service, I've always found them really helpful and they usually reply inside of a day or two. Just use the contact option on the website.

So I flew out to Stuttgart at the weekend with an old friend of mine to see the Rolling Stones. My mate had scored some particularly good tickets but I wasn't quite prepared for how good they actually were. When we landed we could see the Rolling Stones private jet which was pretty amazing to see. However, it got better. We arrived at our hotel and there were fans outside. It turns out they had booked out 1st and fifth floor. The show was amazing. I was floored by Mick's energy, Keith was really on it and noticeable humble. The set just didn't let up from start to finish. The whole band were on fire. And we were close. We were basically right down the front. Back at the hotel I am queuing for more beers and an American voice asks me what beer I am drinking. I turn around and get chatting to the guy - I quickly realise it is Darryl Jones! I ask if he is and he confirms it. I told him he was a great player and decide to tell him how when I was back in college I had to do work experience - Bill Wyman had just left and I was a typically flaky musician student. I asked the lady if for my work experience she could get me the Rolling Stones gig. Needless to say she couldn't. Darryl possibly politely laughed but said it was a cool story. He was very humble about what a great player Bill Wyman was (I suppose on the one hand he has to be but also having studied all those lines he will have a great appreciation). I asked for his photo which he said "not now because we'll get swamped" (interesting how nobody else in the room at that point had recognised him!) but to grab him as he was leaving. The beer flowed and later on my friend snapped a very blurry shot of me with him. A great night... but to think I was happy at seeing the plane! I don't like taking phone pics at shows but my mate snapped a couple. Here they are...

It is indeed an Ampeg PF50t and it is a great sounding amp head. I really like those Aguilar heads but other than weight, there would be no reason to change.

Having been an Ampeg fan for a LONG time, my days of lugging the full size kit have been drawing to a close. I picked up one of the Aguilar cabs at PMT and I'm blown away with how great it sounds. I road tested it with my 3 piece rock 'n' roll band last night and the drummer was asking if I had changed the basslines. "No, you can just hear it now!" I replied.

My CCR tribute band was only formed because of a jokey pub conversation; Creedence Clearwater Revival Revival!

My Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute did "a night of CCR tunes" (obviously) at a pub in Wantage. One drunken punter kept coming up and asking if we knew any Oasis! Bizarrely we'd wind up launching straight into Green River or Have You Ever Seen the Rain, only for him to be completely happy once the music started up again.

I play in 4 bands and have no trouble loosely defining each. I guess we’re focussed on what we do, rather than the covers scenes where you cater for a wide range of taste. If you book one of my bands, you tend to know what you are getting. That said my Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute did get a request for Oasis once from a punter who I think it is fair to say missed the point. 😆

I’v just ordered one of those Aguilar DB112 cabs in the same chocolate thunder colour scheme. 😎

Absolutely... As a company they are between a rock and a hard place. As a personal observation I wish they’d stop launching classic designs as new models but then I get that it is business and this is how to survive.

I would imagine that this is the case for most of us, simply because we strive to improve all the time.

I like it. Perfect combination for me, although nobody can accuse Fender of ripping up the rule book with this one!

Speaking as a child of the 70s who started playing in the 80s, most things have blown my mind in the last 10-15 years.