NickH

I have this pickup setup in my custom Status, and in a couple of my workshop one-off bases previously. Sexyful indeed when coupled with a good preamp and some switching options.

[quote name='toneknob' post='1092584' date='Jan 17 2011, 03:06 PM']"It’s a kind of a totemistic thing you know, but to be quite frank with you, it’s come in useful in a couple of situations. Certainly in the topsy, turvy world of heavy rock, having a good solid piece of wood in your hand is quite often... useful"[/quote] As long as there's sex and drugs... I can do without the rock and roll

Walk softly and carry a big stick

A few things to get sorted which aren't directly related to musical ability, but are really important anyway: 1) Learn to drive and get yourself a reliable set of wheels as soon as you can. 2) Get a Filofax or electronic organiser. Get in the habit of using the contacts list and diary. 3) Learn to keep financial records. Even if it's a handwritten list of expenses and income. Keep receipts and a mileage log for everything. 4) Get, or have available to you at very short notice, a backup set of gear. 5) Be determined, professional, personable, reliable, flexible, and lucky. Enjoy!

k d lang's version of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen Find the River by REM Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan I don't know if it has a name, but the piece of music by Greg Edmonson at the end of the Firefly episode "The Message" is just beautiful. In an interview he said that the crew all knew that the show was getting canned by that point, so he wrote the piece not only to fit the mood of the scene but as a goodbye to the whole show. Gets me every time.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1021885' date='Nov 12 2010, 08:11 PM']Mad Men[/quote] Never mind Mad Men, what about Firefly!

My current (all covers) band is starting to get some word-of-mouth round our local area after a "personnel reshuffling" sorted some of our issues. We also signed up with an agency and so far they've been great. The gigs we get from them pay 2-3 times what we'd get from a pub gig, the venues tend to be nicer - definitely worth their 15% off the top. In particular the November - December diary is chock-a-block with agency gigs all paying a ton of cash, because if a club or company wants a band for their Big Yearly Booze-Up and Dance, they're more likely to go to an agency. On the other hand, we've definitely had to raise our game for these higher class gigs. Got a band 'look' sorted out, got the gear PAT tested, public liability insurance, really polished the songs til they shine, and learnt some more diverse material. All good things (which to be honest we should have done anyway, ahem) but this really motivated us to get the band acting a lot more professionally than we had been.

I'm not familiar with that head and the work PC makes searching for things a bit awkward. If it's a valve head, IE not just a preamp valve but vales in the power section, you don't want to under-load it any more than you'd want to overload it. If it's transistor, go ahead and fill your boots with the 8 ohm cab

Love that Gin Blossoms tune! A great but underappreciated band. Good luck

Well, if I'm Luke (dashing young hero) and my Status is my 'sabre, that makes my ex Jabba the Hutt - being a big, ugly, barely intelligible monstrosity with a gaggle of similarly evil hangers-on, who's intent on making my life feel like I'm being slowly digested over a hundred years. Maybe my sister will pop up and strangle her with a chain?

I'd be less worried about the pickup's field down around your waist and more worried about the magnets in your speakers when you pick your cab up. Most people heft a cab with the drivers facing towards then and hug it tightly to the upper chest. Seems to me you just found the perfect excuse to get your drummer to move your cab about. Awesome.

I'd say at this point - make sure to join an established band rather than trying to get your own started, even if you meet a blinding bunch of blokes and birds at a jam and decide the musical chemistry between you hasn't been seen since the days of early Queen I'm getting my new band into the covers scene, and even though we're all experienced guys it takes a goodly while of rehearsals to get a set up to performance quality. This is all time they you're spending out money on practice rooms rather than earning. Then you've got to make sure that you have enough PA and lighting to run a self-sufficient show. You'll need to pay for a demo recording, making copies thereof, artwork design, printing, web design, and hosting. These are not insurmountable obstacles but it's all time and money you're ploughing in which might be tough with going back to Uni. Once a band is established, booking regular work, got a website running, found a poster and T-shirt printer who do a good deal, and bulk-book practice room time - most of these costs turn negligible and you can start raking it in. Good luck!

Seymour Duncan Hot Stack for Jazz. Awesome pup. EMG's are fine in their place but I don't see them fitting those styles of music as well as the SD's. Single / series / parallel switch them for max versatility.

Well, four years and three months after I last played a live show, finally got back onto a stage not once but twice this weekend! First one was a cheap n cheerful pub gig on Friday at the Sporting View in Southampton. Great crowd, the set went down really well, and not too many mistakes. Second one was a last-minute cancellation of a friend's band as their drummer quit! Our guy calls us up and asks if we can sub in. Turns out it's the Annual Hockey Club Tournament & Fancy Dress Pissup! Played to a chock-a-block marquee full of completely sozzled hockey players in ludicrous outfits, including some extremely pretty and athletic young ladies Working the crowd with my guitard on our wirelesses (thanks to Steverickwood for the fast postage!) and we literally couldn't do a thing wrong all night. Stayed for the DJ's set after packing up as well, and my money was no good at the bar all night 8) A triumphant return to gigging! Can't wait for the next one, at least as soon as my feet, thighs, back, and fingers have stopped hurting. Turns out I'm not 20 any more, dammit When did that happen? [url="http://picasaweb.google.com/thejackster2004/SportingView?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmG95qO1_nLhAE&feat=email#5456194053294427714"]http://picasaweb.google.com/thejackster200...194053294427714[/url]

Nuttin' but love for the Quo I was chatting to a client at work, lovely old dear, and we were going on about music and I mentioned that I'm the bassist in a band. She replies "Oh yes my cousin plays bass in Status Quo" I did a double-take to make sure she didn't mean a tribute band, but it turns out her cousin is actually Rhino Edwards of Quo! I tried my luck but sadly such a tenuous link isn't enough to get me backstage or anything

[quote name='skampino' post='788936' date='Mar 28 2010, 10:14 PM']Allowed another band to use our gear once - never again! They were a punk support band who on their closing song produced water blasters and proceeded to squirt everyone and everything.[/quote] WTF ?? I hope you pointed out to the landlord that his insurance almost certainly doesn't cover people dousing electrical gear in water... then proceeded to kick their arses up and down the length of the place ?

Vauxhall Tigra holds: Status bass in hardcase Marshall 2x10 combo Marshall 1x15 cab Backpack of pedals, cables, setlist, gaffa tape Me Nothing else on the way to the gig Three adoring new female fans on the way back to mine

Exactly the same as the guys above, the 4x10" combo is insanely big and heavy. I'm a (really) big strong guy and I baulked at the thought of shifting that bugger on a regular basis. The 2x10 plus a 1x15 really rocks, or perhaps get the seperate head and a 4x10 cab if you're so inclined. Your profile doesn't say where in the country you are - if you're near Southampton you're welcome to come have a blast on mine.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='786485' date='Mar 25 2010, 11:34 PM']We always managed to fit a lot inside our old guitarist's 2 door corsa, let's see: ... 3 human beings [/quote] I'm sorry, think I misunderstood - did you not say 2 of them were Guiturds?

In addition to the abovementioned wise words, don't forget: Spare T-shirt Sweat towel Bottles water or Lucozade Sport on stage Posters for next gig, for your new adoring fans to clamour over. Put your website on it. Marker pen to sign autograph on above. Contraceptives (yes, it's said with a wink and a nudge, but odds are that if you're ever going to need one it'll be after your band has just played. Do NOT be caught short!)

Given the Pumpkin's history of hiring rather gorgeous ladyfolk for bassplay duties, I imagine 90% of the BC readers can write themselves off of the list even if they do have ambitions towards landing this gig! To wit: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27arcy_Wretzky"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27arcy_Wretzky[/url] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Auf_der_Maur"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Auf_der_Maur[/url] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Pooley"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Pooley[/url]

The two dudes playing DB are awesome. I'd listen to that over the Gilbert -Sheehan thingy any day of the week.

[quote name='Mottlefeeder' post='768480' date='Mar 8 2010, 08:37 PM']There was a post recently where the neck dive was cured by taking a loop of string (or something similar) from the bridge-end button to the player's belt. Assuming it didn't make him sing higher, that might be worth investigating. David[/quote] I forsee a horrific accident when returning the bass to it's stage stand at high speed to facilitate (for example) a fast dash to the toilet to recycle the pre-gig curry. Potential for testicular crunching / mangling / general ouchiness is high

If you can master the intro (not tricky), Sweet Child is actually really easy to play. The original is indeed played downtuned a semitone, but if you have a 5-string (hurrah!) or don't mind going high for the Eb it's all good.

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='761630' date='Mar 2 2010, 11:00 AM']I have a large bit of wood with a nail in it.[/quote] Cliff Da Drumma FTW! Band With Rocks In 4 eva!