Gasman

The challenge can sometimes be counting the number of times a hypnotic riff repeats before a radical change, like the 32 bar guitar solo spot in Sweet child of mine before the stop chords under ‘where do we go’. Concentration and counting is key, plus a readiness to follow if the singer comes in too early!

Just watched Lewis Capaldi on the Beeb. I must be missing the point, seems like a big bloke with no vest on shouting dreary lyrics over three chords then letting the audience sing them for him. But they loved him, so my opinion is worth zilch!

Close, but nearly 800 out...

She does look very pleased with herself for getting through it with only one wrong note - did anyone else spot it? Nice!

We played a private 60th birthday party last night in Gillingham (Dorset) social club. Pre-gig requests included 'Wipeout', (not on our current list but no problem for me although our drummer worked up a good sweat!) lots of rock n roll, and One Step Beyond plus our other sax numbers (me doubling) - all very varied but appreciated. Went very well, enthusiastic dancing, free food and drink and we've now got our new computerised Bose PA working well. Downside? Left home at 18:00, got back at 01:15... definitely cream-crackered today...

“I just can’t hear their lead guitarist at all, I really wish he’d turn his amp up and drown out that bass player...”

We did an afternoon beer festival in Gillingham (Dorset) on Saturday playing outdoors from 2-4pm. The humidity and temperature were challenging to say the least and I was bl**dy glad to see the end of the gig after three encores and two and a quarter hours non-stop playing! Audience liked us so that was the main thing - not much dancing but a lot of beer and cider was being consumed to our musical accompaniment - still, I was totally cream-crackered by the time I got home and flaked out by 9pm First try-out for our new Bose PA (it's that one with the tall thin tops sat directly on the subs, with computer controlled mixing) - great improvement on the previous rig, which is now relegated to foldback duties.

These fingerboard pluckers just need to add a hootenanny strap button and all will be normalised....

How long is my strap? Well, I’ve nothing to be proud of...

Two for me at every gig - I've had a jack socket do a rapid unscheduled disassembly on itself and supposedly new batteries fail after 30 minutes, so it's great being able to simply swap instrument in 30 seconds. The backup is onstage where there's room, otherwise in the nearest broom cupboard. My main amp is an AG700, but I bring my previous TH350 for emergencies - so far I haven't needed it but our rhythm guitarist has! Our lead guitarist has a carousel stand with 4 guitars - not for primarily for backup but for various different sounds.

I’ve experienced this and still do on occasions. The most regular situation is when sat down in an armchair holding a newspaper, which seems to be because of the static, longish-term, mildly stressed position of the hands and repetitive action of page turning. Pressing the fingertips of both hands together strongly (after the unbending) at an angle seems to help! Hydration also definitely helps to prevent it.

To max out on misheard lyrics, try www.amiright.com - it’s a superstore for the Mondegreen enthusiast!

Why stop at barefootin’ It? Bare chest, no pants, crack’n’sac wax, what’s not to like?

Chaka Khan - 'Climb, every woman, they're all like trees...’

Lars bigging up the drummer at the expense of the bass, you mean @Baloney Balderdash? Not really, the Tech on the desk was a musician more in the Rudy Wiedtoeft mould... @gafbass02, I share the pain of your bad onstage sound experience, but what can we do at these mini-fests with minimal soundcheck time and semi-pro techs trying to tame a big PA?

Thanks again guys, you’re confirming my take on this unfortunate situation...

Yes, very fast turnaround between bands, 10-15 mins and so a lot of pressure on the engineer, I guess..

Hi again BC-ers - thank you for your helpful comments! I didn't really give enough info up front (I was still a bit knackered and pi**ed off after the weekend when I posted) so here's some of the missing detail: my gain was set to nil - as always with this band, this bass, so no boost or distortion there. I started with the Ag700 master volume set at about 11 o'clock, but by the end of the third number it was down to about eight o'clock. The line out is on the front of the amp and is an XLR out-only. There is a -10db pad toggle on the amp which I'd never needed to engage when playing my previous go-to bass (a Jazz plus 9v active) even when going through PAs like this one, so I didn't even think of engaging it this time, but as @tom.android says, surely the stage box and/or the desk could have more than dealt with the Ag Line + Bongo's output. My on-stage volume was by now very quiet - I was told by some of our fans in the audience that the bass was inaudible either thru PA or stack, so I might as well not have been there! Maybe I'll have to ditch the Bongo for this kind of PA-driven gig and revert to the Fender, but I'd really rather not! BTW, the engineer is a lovely bloke, owns the PA set up but it's basically tailored to the needs of his own large ska band.

Two gigs this weekend for Mustang Sally, on Saturday a private party in Devon for an 80th Bday, we were worried that there might be Zimmer frame clashes on the dance floor but far from it, lots of dancing, happy punters and help getting our gear in and out of the venue! Sunday played a mini festival in north Dorset, outside stage with full pa, problems getting my 4H Bongos line output tame enough for DI but overall an ok gig, punters busy soaking up the sunshine and cider so not much dancing... Knackered this morning, glad to be painting a fence for relaxation...

Played a mini festival yesterday, PA provided with a 24 channel digital desk. First time playing my MM Bongo 4H using the line output from my Aguilar AG700 into the desk, with a PA fold back cab and my Darkglass 212 behind me. Ok, the Bongo runs 18v, but the engineer could not compress the output enough to get a clean PA signal, kept asking me to turn amp volume down, to the point where I couldn’t hear what I was playing onstage! On reflection it seems ridiculous, being like Schrodinger’s bass player, too loud and too quiet at the same time... So was it my gear or my ears or the engineer’s incompetence? Our supporters in the audience said afterwards that the sound quality of the band in general varied considerably according to where they happened to be standing at any given time...

‘Put yer ring on ma doo dumma dah, whack for my daddio...’ often wondered if the singer and Captain Farrell really were whacking their daddios with both barrels...

Stop playing Sweet Home Alabama unless the punters pay £100 extra for it, and get our lady singer a new wireless mic that doesn't eat its batteries by the middle of every gig!

Echo Beach (Martha + Muffins) Back Door Man (Stray Cats) Can't buy me love (Beatles) Continental Breakfast (Monti Amundson) Angels (Baseballs Turbo Version)