Gasman

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)

Was it Charles Berthould, by any chance?

Consecutive gigs this weekend, Horns Inn near Wimborne and the Gillingham Coronation club and no, Charlie wasn’t there! Both went well, Saturday better acoustics and the first time we’ve managed to nail ‘Geno’, albeit with me moonlighting on sax while Francis thrashed my Bongo (ooh, really!)

The ‘designers’ of the SAP user interface were probably free jazz enthusiasts recovering after a bad night on acid...

It’s strange how misguided the punters are, liking songs that many musicians seem to find so terribly boring...

Are we discussing the bass part behind the guitar solo or something else? My guitarist insists that the verses must be drums and guitar only so no work for me there...

I sympathise completely, I was knackered after clearing up post event then getting home about midnight, today has been a bit of a washout in all senses!

Wow! I can't top that from down here in Dorset... I won't even try! Anyway, down here in West Bay (Dorset) I'm a member of a committee that arranges several mini-festivals every year to raise money for local good causes. We held our first one yesterday (Pirates' Day) in that one-day nice weather window that made it possible; the fact that we have a vicar on the committee seems to have helped many times - rumour has it that he has a quiet word beforehand with his CEO on our behalf! I look after the band bookings as well as being the treasurer, so I can make sure that everyone gets paid a fair fee on the day. We featured six bands; Nina Garcia (ultra-talented local singer/fiddle-player with backing tracks) Howling at the Moon - Pop-Rock Folk outfit Turnette Doone - Amazing pop/Rock trio (I've never before heard a rocked up version of Andy Williams' 'Can't take my Eyes Off of You' segued with a full Bohemian Rhapsody cover!) Ironhide - very popular metal band from Weymouth Mustang Sally - my lot, 5-piece with soul/pop/rock covers What the Phunk - seven-piece funk outfit So we had two stages, six great sets from 14:00-23:00, many hundreds of punters, raised a lot of money for those good causes nd had a good time. Had the pleasure of meeting a Basschatter in person for the first time - Turnette Doone's Phil, aka Alfie Noakes, so as a thank-you here's a pic of his outfit in action:

Having had wrist and finger problems I was interested to read this as I'd never heard of or been advised about this condition. I checked my left palm and sure enough there's a nodule below the ring finger - perhaps because I've had cortisone injections for osteo-arthritis in the wrist (very effective) that is masking the Dupuytren condition although I do still get the occasional bent-finger-lockup. Thank you for posting, and my good wishes for the best possible outcome.

Andy Baxter Bass sells on commission - he's sold three items for me - Ricky 4004, Fender Jazz 60 anniversary bass 5 and a Takamine Santa Fe special 'Gecko' electro-acoustic. Reasonable commission, handles all the sale details, insulated me from tyre-kickers and paid out in good time - I would recommend. I sent my items by Parcelforce, picked up from my house, no problems.