StingRayBoy42

There's a heavy metal band that insists on having everything on stage set up in *exactly* the same way at every gig... they're called OCDC.

And Bandcamp! They're good! https://theinevitableteaspoons.bandcamp.com/album/money-for-old-rope

There's at least three of us!

There's at least two of us!

TONIGHT! (Technically last night as it's past midnight but it counts as tonight) Second gig with a new band (Midnight Mayhem (they were already called that when I joined, don't judge me)) at The Rose & Crown in Ludlow. Lovely old pub that has lots of live music so they're used to it, fairly small stage place where the band goes, decent mob there by the time we'd set up and soundchecked (The soundcheck (sixteen bars of 'All the small things') had people up dancing (!)) and from the off people were loving it - singing along, dancing and generally enjoying it. Mid first set, a bloke came up and told me he appreciated my Bass playing (Not 'liked' it, mind you) which I tried to take as a compliment, then he stood right in front of me and watched me intently which meant I completely forgot how to play. At half time a guy I'd genuinely never seen before came up and greeted me like a long lost friend ("I forgot you said you did this too!" ) so I had to pretend I knew who he was (because I am English and to say "I'm so sorry but I have no idea who you are" is about as appealing as stamping on a newborn kitten) which was...odd. The set went down really well, it's a mix of (sort of) alt-80s type stuff (Back on the chain gang, couple of Blondie ones, Kids in America (Kim Wilde - absolute BANGER and tonnes of fun to play), There's a guy works down the chipshop swears he's Elvis, Doctor Doctor (Robert Palmer), Echo Beach, Sweet Dreams sort of thing), a few pub-cover chestnuts (Dakota, Teenage Dirtbag, Mr Brightside (which the guitarist started in the wrong key and then got horribly confused when it came to the chorus but he styled it out)), a couple of curveballs (Take another little piece of my heart, Crash (Primitives)) and an ABBA one for good measure. I went for a wireless wander for the last song (Born to be wild) which got a good reception AND I got to fuss TWO Doggos *AND* a man told me my dreadlocks are "Really Cool". We played really well, sounded good, went down a treat (Even the bar staff liked us) and the singer said my playing "brought them to another level" which was very gratifying to hear. Played the StingRay -> Small board (I only used the Soul Food) -> Amp board (Thumpinator -> VTDI) -> Markbass CMD 121, footwear was the bright orange DMs (with glittery black laces). An absolute corker of a gig!

+1 for Surgical Spirit. I slather it on before playing, it really helps. Or there's this http://doublebassfingertape.com/ I bought some but have yet to use it!

I spent a lot of time researching this - I'm the bellend who decided he *had* to have retina-searing, colour-changing LED strips under all his pedalboards. The ones I use are 12V RGB, so easy to power from a decent Pedalboard PSU (reverse polarity for extra fun!) but they need a lot of mA compared to pedals - approx 1.2A per metre. https://learn.adafruit.com/rgb-led-strips/current-draw If you only want one colour, the draw is about a third of that and the PSU will probably handle it but you'll need to do the maths! You can run them at 9V, they just won't be cornea-scorchingly bright, which would be a shame.

Mike bought some strings from me (or off me, I can never remember which is correct) and he was a pleasure to deal with. Instant payment, great comms, a credit to Basschat. Cheers!

Before I read this thread, I knew his name but nothing else about him. Based on the two videos people have linked, I think he's funny & makes some good points and Mohini (sp?) and her feller are insufferable twunts. I can see his style might turn some people off (See also: Jimmy Carr, Peter Kay, Stewart Lee etc) but I like his shtick. ETA: I'm not going to comment on his dress sense... I've worn many, much worse outfits

Half Man Half Biscuit - It's cliched to be cynical at Christmas Bob Dylan - Must be Santa (Not sure if this counts as 'obvious' but it's an absolute fever dream)

LOVE the black hardware! Eyeing up my natural SR5 now...

I think I'm free and up for this! I'd be happy to help out if you need. Personally, I'd LOVE a masterclass on setting up a Bass! EDIT: I don't have any Wals or Alembics or anything... happy to bring my MusicMans/MusicMen and pedalboard if they're of any interest to anyone...