Gasman

Glad you like it, guys - those three Bongos have activated my GAS gland again - a fiver HH would go nicely with my new one, which is going to get two outings this weekend at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Spring Show - my band Mustang Sally (sorry!) is playing 4pm Sat and 3.30pm Sunday. Looking forward to it!

No, but I wish the price of the one I’ve bought had been £1250! I paid £1800, and that is a good £200 less than anything else I looked at...

Poppity poppity poppity pop, went the motor-sickle (hittin' on one!), Poppity poppity poppity pop, went the motor-sickle (hittin' on two!) Dizzy Gillespie needed his carb cleaned out?

I had no money so I thought I might as well spend it. So I went for something a bit different (via Reverb) and splashed out on this Anthracite 4H Bongo, something I'd always wanted to try. First impressions: great finish, super-low action, everything works as it should and the sound, admittedly only through my Vox headphone amp, is satisfyingly different to any other bass I've got. Looking forward to gigging it next weekend and will report back.

Sometimes it's an absolute necessity! I was playing bass in a pickup band booked to play on the back of a truck for the Dorchester carnival parade a few years ago. One week before the event our vocalist/rhythm guitarist decided to go on holiday instead, leaving us with guitar, bass and drums only. So, as we would be moving through the town all the time and our audience was constantly changing, we decided to reduce the setlist to a few numbers that I could sing on autopilot (Knocking on Heaven's door, Valerie, Route 66, Rockin' all over the World, plus a couple of others but we dropped Bohemian Rhapsody). I did the singing after one rehearsal, and it turned out OK (well, no-one threw bottles of p*ss at me, at any rate...) Funny thing, I found that singing lead while spanking the bass was much easier than singing harmony, but I wouldn't want to do it again; another reason for saying no to that kind of gig is that playing on an open truck which is constantly starting and stopping you can end up with the mic smacking into your teeth, or the amps sliding around, or the band falling about like ninepins especially if the driver is cr*p - the only answer is to adopt a low, crouching posture aligned and braced with legs fore and aft like a wannabe rock guitarist - now as responsible bass-players we don't want THAT going up on YouTube, now do we?

McArthur Park...

My 400* penn’orth, it was love at first sight when I saw the Cheyenne in that ‘50 years at rock’s bottom’ Ricky book, tracked a new trans blue one down in a German dealership when we were still in the EU and imported it. Struggled to get a sound and action that I liked out of it for three years even after pro luthiers had a go at improving it, so I then moved it on at a loss. Very disappointing but it did have the advantage of curing me of any lingering Ricky-oriented GAS...

Bessie Banks - 'The best is yet to come' - great soul number...

Er, is this thread turning into an addendum to the ‘Stop posting without reading!’ saga?

I’ve just fallen off the wagon after 15 weeks - a very nice dark grey Musicman 2004 Bongo 4 is on its way via Reverb. Yes, I have sinned, but how can something so wrong feel so right?

...and another thing - it’s sometimes different sensitivities that come into play... When our lady singer suggested with a grin that we do Lily Allen’s song ‘it’s not fair’, all four of us male backing band members listened carefully to the words, then jointly refused to do it. Too close to home, maybe?

I’m sure a lot of musicians might object to the lyrical content of a song without knowing anything about the composer. For instance, I’d expect refusals to play any number that had majored upon theft, murder, colonial military government, drunkenness, betrayal and rough justice - wouldn’t you? So why do we all keep playing ‘Whisky in the Jar?’

Has anyone tried the Nux wireless system for guitar/bass? I use the sax version when doing the ska set with my current band and it works very well, excellent design with an additional battery in the carry case for emergency tx/Rx charging...

Ah, you have the wrong gillingham - this one is in north Dorset!

Great night at Rocky’s Bar in Gillingham, despite having to play as just a four-piece (rhythm guitarist/second lead singer sidelined by some ghastly stomach-bug). Finished at 11.45 with table-dancing by our singer and some punters, whose age group was a lot younger than our normal audience at 20-40. And they still love a bit of 50s rock & roll!

Echo Beach played as fast as possible - full concentration essential as there’s a few ‘gotchas’ in the original arrangement by Martha & co...

I'm not sure that this is going to enrich my cred, but my current band is called.... Mustang Sally!

'You broke my heart so I busted your jaw' - by Spooky Tooth...

Fender Destitution Bass, for those spending around £30k of their life savings on a genuine, mint, cased, tagged, un-played '51 Precision 'found in my uncle's cellar', only to spot (just after the banker's draft cleared) the remains of the just-legible 'Made in Indonesia' wording on the underside of the neck...

Check out Andy Baxter’s site for a genuine Bender Collision...

Everyone’s musical tastes are different but as a bass player I find that there are a few numbers that although I might not mind listening to them on the radio, I absolutely hate playing. Why? Well, let’s take an example - Sweet Home Alabama. It’s not difficult (three chords and a little rinky dink about the governor) but it’s like that mythical country rock star, Loudon Boring. Utterly tedious. Goes on forever. Nothing the bass player can do to liven it up without potentially upsetting the guitarist’s extended twangy solos. Grit the teeth for a seven minute excursion to Tedium-on-Sea. So what’s your set list poison?

I've got this badly with a brand-new Sterling Stingray HH with factory rounds on - lovely rich sound on the E & A strings, weak as gnat's pee on the D & G. Tried tilting the PUP heights, altering the amp and guitar settings, but no significant difference. Gave up on it halfway through the gig last night and reverted to my lovely USA Jazz Plus with La Bellas flats - oh why did I forsake her in the first place?

Ah she was a Toploader fan - such a fine and natural sight, I imagine, 'specially dancin' in the moonlight!

First gig of the year for Mustang Sally last night after a 3 month R&R break. The venue was the Home Guard club at kilmington in Wiltshire, ideal for our bands Dads Army age group, but I couldn’t help wondering if the punters really needed a band at all in such a remote place. Needn’t have worried, very good crowd including a large gang of fit young horsey ladies who wanted to bop all night. Some bass-lead problems sorted on the fly, all in all a good evening.

Ukulele Lady as per the Temperance Seven? Wow!