gjones

I went to see a band called Mamas Gun, at Lafayette, in London, back in January. The band played to a packed house of 600 people and the sound was excellent and the PA looked pretty 'state of the art'. Fast forward to the beginning of this month and I saw them again, in a small club under a railway bridge in Glasgow, playing to about 50 people,through a not very 'state of the art' PA system. But the sound was equally as good, if not better, at the gig in Glasgow. Interestingly the bass drum did sound too loud for part of the first song but after that everything, including the 4 piece harmonies, sounded fantastic. Their sound engineer really needs a medal. Interestingly he was introduced halfway through the gig by the band, and took a bow.

I've been in the position, in years gone by, where gigging was my main source of income and every gig was a good gig (even when we played in dives to a less than appreciative audience), as long as I got paid. 10 years later and I continued to gig but the money I received from playing in a band was no longer my main source of income. That's when I started to be picky about where I played, and with whom I played. I've refused to play gigs where I was concerned about my personal safety (I got kicked out of that band because I didn't fancy playing in a dodgy bar where people regularly got stabbed/glassed). I've also refused to play with certain other musicians that I wasn't a fan of, or I thought weren't up to the job. I refused to play at a political party's rally (although the money was good), as I didn't believe in their politics. I still love gigging though and I still take it very seriously, as even though it's no longer my main source of income, I have a professional attitude to getting things right even though, in reality, I'm no longer a professional musician.

The Barefaced Super Compact needs some serious oooomf to compete with a loud drummer. Whatever head you get, make sure it has decent power if you're using that cab.

I played through one in a studio I was recording at. I tried to pick it up from on top of the 410 cab it was on...... I couldn't. I therefore assumed it was screwed to the top of the 410..... it wasn't. They are VERY heavy.

I suppose it depends on your taste in music but I found some of my favourite bands on that list (not necessarily the headliners on the big stages). I've never been to Glastonbury but if somebody gave me a free ticket, I'm sure I'd have a great time there this year.

I've been in bands where the other members used our gigs as an opportunity to get slobbered. They actually played better when they were drunk (well they had a lot of practice). My playing, on the other hand, doesn't improve with alcohol, so I steer clear until after the gig.

I'm the same, it's silly really, as I've owned/own a few Squiers and I know how good they are.

I don't see any beer fridge....???

I recommend buying a Fender Rumble 100 V3. I bought one used and it's excellent. Stupidly light, good sound and at least as loud as a PJB suitcase. I have a Markbass CMD121P too but it's a lot louder, than your old Suitcase combo and, unless money is no object, is possibly more than you need.

I always heard the Police song 'Canary In A Coalmine', as 'Mary In A Coma'.

I have carpal tunnel on my right plucking hand and wear a wrist brace when I'm playing bass and working at a computer. I had to have an operation on my left wrist and I don't want to have one on my right. I use a weightlifters brace on my wrist while playing (it just looks like a heavy duty sweatband) and a velcro wristbrace, which I got from Boots, when on the computer. I've done this for the last 10 years and thankfully the carpal tunnel hasn't got any worse and doesn't hurt when I play. Prevention is better than cure.

The majority of the Basschatters on here are men of a certain age (between 45 and 65). They wake up grumpy and go to bed grumpy and then wake up two, or three times in the night for a pee, and are grumpy then as well. So feel free to ignore their attempts at humour 😊

As I've got older I get less optimistic that everything will run smoothly. I bring every conceivable tool know to man/woman, strings, batteries, spare amp, spare pair of underpants. In 99% of gigs my gear works perfectly but other band members gear malfunctions, batteries go dead, fuses blow, jacks cease to work, etc, and I am the savior of the day.

I have two GK MB amps, one is 500w and the other is 800w. When I gig I bring both of them, as they're not much bigger than a paperback and both are extremely loud. You can pick them up pretty cheaply secondhand.

I'm starting up a covers band and most of the suggestions are really good tunes, from Blondie to AC/DC. No Wonderwall, or Mustang Sally.

I bought a double bass about 4 years ago, as I felt I should learn to play one. It's spent most of it's time in the corner of my living room (which is the only place I have room for it) where it looks great. When people come into the house the first thing they do is mention the DB, it's become a conversation starter. Every home should have one.

I found that even just loosening your strings for 24hrs will bring the life back into an old and dull set of strings. When you tune them back up again they're much brighter.

I doubt he'll be joining a bluegrass band any time soon then?

Most of the pro musicians I know make a precarious living. When I say pro, I mean session musicians who play with No 1 UK chart topping bands. it's all pretty hand to mouth unfortunately.

I liked my Barefaced compact so much that I bought a Super Compact. It's a good sounding cab but it's not as loud as the old Compact. I can play my Compact with a loud drummer, using a 500 watt head and I have headroom to spare. The Super Compact needs a bit more power to compete with the same loud drummer. I had to upgrade to an 800 watt head.

I've owned a couple of Geddy Lee Fender Jazzes but I don't really like Rush - they're just really classy basses.

The band I was in before lockdown called it a day, because of the singers health. We'd been pretty busy for a few years but that's life I suppose. So I joined another, newly formed band, and started rehearsing. The two guitarists in that band, asked me if I would like to join a band playing rockier stuff with them and I said yes. So that's two bands all rehearsed and nearly ready to gig. Then the guitarist in my original band contacted me and said that the singer, his wife, has been miraculously cured and asked if I'd like to get back gigging with them. ...and of course I said, 'You bet!'. So that's 3 bands I'm a member of. Of course two of them have never gigged but it's going to be difficult once the bookings start coming in. My old band have lots of contacts and a good reputation as a crowd pleasing, competent band. So I expect we'll be getting quite a few gigs soon. The other bands will need to work themselves around those gigs (especially since me and the drummer are in all 3 bands). I've never been in 3 bands simultaneously before, it should be fun

5 years ago I bought a USA Fender Elite Precision, my first USA Fender, which cost just under £2000 (the only bass I've ever bought new). I owned, at the time, a Japanese Fender Precision and a bitsa Precision (Classic Vibe body,Japanese Fender neck, old USA 80s pickup). The USA bass is very well put together and is a beautiful thing, it sounds great and is very versatile, as it's a P/J with and active pre amp and it plays really nice too. But the Japanese Precision plays really great too and sounds fantastic, as does the bitsa. There was no logical reason to buy the Elite, as my other Precisions were more than capable. I just had an emotional urge for a USA Fender. My warped logic was that a USA Fender is the 'Real Deal', and all others are (however good) imposters.