Gasman

In my current band minus two, the guitarist (otherwise an intelligent talented responsible bloke) did this at the slightest opportunity. Bad enough at rehearsals (the rest of us trying to work out a number while he started playing about at full volume with his looping pedal), even worse at gigs. Maybe at a performance it's an insecurity thing, reminding themselves how a riff or melody goes before starting in case they c*ck it up, but why doesn't the rest of the band have to do the same? Meh....

Back in '72 I was with a London-based covers band (Sweeny) on sax. We worked exclusively through agents and got some interesting support act gigs although none anywhere near London! One of these involved a trip to Scunthorpe Baths Hall to support 10cc - nice guys to chat to and a stonking set from them with Donna, The Dean and I, Rubber Bullets and many more done to perfection; we were very impressed with them having two drummers - one to cover when lead vocals plus drumming were just too much to do properly, also they had a brand-new Merc 600 van. Ours was a dodgy old transit....

While my guitar gently weeps - I cannot see why or how anyone could dance to it but it seems to be a permanent fixture in our set list.

I'm sure that 99.95% of the punters at a gig don't care what the band's gear looks like or cost, as long as it doesn't sound terrible. The other 0.05% are probably other rather envious bass players who haven't got a gig that night...

There is indeed a de-activated phone box there; it sits in solitary splendour outside the village hall as a memorial to that epic confrontation you mention. There's even a Doctor Who annual in the 'box amongst the other books-for-swap stacked inside!

@alant on my bathroom scales it's 3.5kg. It hangs exactly level (no neckdive) Its got lightweight Gotoh tuners and has been upgraded to Nordstrand PUPs and a pull-up selector added to give the choice of both or just the PB pickup. Very punchy sound thru the AG700 and Darkglass 212.

Mustang Sally played three gigs over last weekend, a Saturday afternoon village party in Kington Magna (no, I'd never heard of it either!), evening as part of the shaftesbury fringe festival in the Two Brewers pub. The afternoon was excitingly dangerous with rain tipping it down the whole time and a mini-whirlwind busting one of the lightweight tents just as we started playing. The punters were all county-set rich landowners and suchlike, barbours, leather hats, red trousers and expensive wellies, average age 68-ish. Their picnics comprised champers, foie-gras, etc. We thought that starting with Guitar gently weeps would scare them off but not a bit of it -they danced in the mud, got a bit tipsy and we even had some of the ladies balancing on straw bales to bind freshly-hacked branched from the trees around to splint the bent and busted tent poles with gaffer tape, doubtless carried in their Gucci handbags for just such an eventuality - the Empire spirit or what? The evening pub gig was warm and sweaty, rammed with punters who danced, drank and sang while the rain continued to soak the band outside in their wall-less tent - they were Dreamweaver, an originals power-punk four piece and bloody good - I'm hoping to book them for one of our West Bay minifests in 2024! Sunday was an afternoon gig at the Shaftesbury FC clubhouse, all of the band still feeling a bit stunned from the day before, but the punters rolled in, sat in the sun and danced for the whole afternoon. I used my new-to-me short-scale Harley-B (thank you, @knicknack} all weekend with the Bongo relegated to spare. Our guitarist loved it (less wrist stress than a 34") when I did my sax bit - he's now keen to play more - did I subconsciously buy it for him so I get more sax-time?

Hmm, sounded like a good idea, so I’ve just been out to the garage and checked out the possibilities (yeah, it’s 2am but I can’t sleep...). As I thought, unfortunately the amp is an upside-downer, with the chassis bolted to the inside top of the case and valves dangling. Without totally dismantling it, there’s no access to the strap bolts and blind drilling from the outside would be, er, a bit too adventurous for me so i think I’ll struggle on lopsidedly for the rare occasions it gets gigged.

My fender silverface Bassman 100 I bought new in ‘80, still the best sounding amp I’ve ever had, the weight is in hernia territory but would be much more tolerable if only the amp didn’t suffer from chronic transformer dive!

Love the colour-coordinated galoshes!

I realise that there’s not a lot of love for jazz here, but that’s where I started, and through that had to develop a good ear for changes, helped by subconsciously knowing the structure of a load of songs that I’d listened to but hadn’t actually played. As several contributors here have suggested, I find watching the rhythm guitarist’s chord shapes helps a lot too, but the lead guitar is not much help at all!

OK, thanks! 😀

No, I'm not, haven't asked the others, although I believe at least one is. Your point was?

We've all paid, so its a good test situation - can we find a replacement member who's prepared to cough up £600? Why he paid his share then decided to leave (or maybe the other way round) is slightly baffling...

Sorry for the delayed response, had a mental, no, dental appointment this morning, NHS so unmissable! There seems to be an even split between those who recommend that the gear is owned by just one person (not necessarily in the band) and those that feel that a shared purchase followed by depreciation calculations to cover departing member pay-offs and (possibly) incoming member buy-ins is best. So what ought we to do? Our old PA was owned by the singer with no charge to use it or buy-in payment required from our BVs guy and my sax set, so that was a clear type 1, with no drums, guitars, bass going through it. Our new PA is now a ownership hybrid. The purchased twin tower Bose set up cost £3000. That excludes the Bluetooth mixer, iPad, cables and drum mics, which the guitarist is loaning to the band free until such time as he leaves, and the active fold back speakers that formed part of the old PA, owned by the singer. All instruments will go through it... We have all dobbed in £600 towards the Bose items. As you can see, this has the makings of a classic flustercluck when people join or leave... I’m minded to focus on just the Bose gear and propose an agreement based on @TimR ‘s depreciation formula, as tbh the mixer, mics, cables, iPad and fold back kit could be replaced easily enough from gear already owned in the background by other band members, or replaced with new stuff at a relatively modest price compared with the Bose setup. It’s still a potential ‘mare, but we’re all reasonable people (I think!)🤓 Oh bu##er, belay that, I’m told that our rhythm guitarist has just handed in his notice!🤪

I guess any reaction to what we play at a gig is better than complete indifference...

This^^!

I don't want to play any song exactly as written/recorded and I imagine very few original artistes play numbers exactly as per their original recording either Perhaps the only people that do go for a carbon copy of a specific original are those in tribute bands - the train-spotters in their audience came to hear a recreation of the music of their youth and wouldn't tolerate anything else!

I think some kind of consensus is emerging here, but I'm too knackered after visiting the three grandchildren tonight to put it into words right now! I'll have a go tomoz - and thank you everyone for responding - but don't stop yet, there's still time for more input!

Thank you for all your input - very helpful. Please keep it coming, I have to put a suggestion to the others in the band tomorrow...

Don't laugh too hard, I feel the need to chill - Mantovani's songbook!

Our guitarist has just got as a deal on a new Bose PA - he has paid for it all, so the rest of us have agreed to reimburse him by paying him 20% each (5 piece outfit)- equal shares. I would like us all to sign up to an agreement that states specifically what happens when members leave and new ones join, repair costs, and divvying up the proceeds if we split and sell it. Has anyone got a template agreement that they would share with me? Here's hoping!

Alas, probably not many bass-players on this site - most of us (although not all) could write virtually identical blogs, only difference being the make of car full of rubbish going to the dump (mine's a Jeep)...

11pm curfew, 500 yards away from any place with children, this must be Chester the Molester trying for a new career...

Wise move! If this thread were music, it wouldn’t be rock n roll, funk, europop, classical or folk; no, it’d be free jazz a la Archie Shepp or late Sun Ra, no discernible structure or theme but a jolly fine mental laxative!