gjones

The audiences are slowly kicking the bucket. I've been playing in Blues bands for years and have noticed the audiences getting older and fewer. I call them the grey hairs and the nae hairs. My band are thinking of getting gigs in care homes

I came into some money, a while ago, and seriously thought about buying a vintage instrument, to play and also as an investment. But then I played a few, that were owned by friends of mine, and just didn't like them. They didn't play that well and they looked frankly.......a bit skanky. With a build up of decades of muck and various gunk on the necks and bridges, if I had bought them, I would have needed to give them a good rub down with a wire brush and dettol, when I got them home. I also didn't like the thought of buying a vintage bass, sight unseen, from someone in another part of the country. If I didn't like it I'd be stuck with it. So in the end I bought a 10 year old Fender Roadworn Jazz, locally. Which has that played in feel without the general mankyness of the 'real deal'. I spent the money I had left on a new Fender Elite Precision, which is a great bass, incredibly versatile and in 50 years time will, itself, probably be a sought after, vintage bass. Edit: after reading this back it sounds a bit like a letter from the VIZ letters page

I bought, an almost brand new MB CMD 121, a few months ago but (of course) still haven't been able to play it with a band to check what it sounds like and if it can compete with a drummer. The good thing about the MB, is that it can take another cab. I also have a Fender Rumble 100 v3, which is a great little amp but can't hack it with LOUD drummers and can't take another cab. The Fender Rumble 500 is much louder, the drummer who overwhelmed my Rumble 100, also plays with a bassist who owns a Rumble 500 and that is more than loud enough to compete.

Bill from basschat is his bass player https://www.basschat.co.uk/profile/2530-bill/

You have to be careful though, because at 1001 BPM a bassist will spontaneously combust💥💥 💥

New Warwick heads are incredibly tiny and incredibly cheap, https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Warwick_Amp_GNOME.html

I see a lot of artists, at a reasonably high level (Mike Scott of the Waterboys, KT Tunstall, Gayle Ann Dorsey), setting up accounts on Patreon in order to make ends meet. These days their income is mainly from live gigging and merchandise. This is an article about the lowest selling No 1 album in the US , which got to No1 after selling only 823 copies (CDs and downloads). https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/us-rapper-a-boogie-wit-da-hoodie-sets-record-for-lowest-ever-selling-us-number-1-album__25334/?fbclid=IwAR1jmubsoK7TXwn0OZQsIqIP0qM6ZsL5AlaoCJFu-Z-aT808SdL75_Mh6Pw

You only take the plastic off the scratchplate and the pickups, when you know it's a keeper

I was listening to reviews of Fender Stratocasters, Ultras, Professionals and Players. Interestingly, the Player Strat sounded the best of them all. Hopefully your Player P will be equally as good.

It must be ready for the skip by now. I bought the combo version, 40 years ago. Say to whoever has it, you'll take £20 to take it off their hands.

I own a Fender Rumble 100 V3 which is very light, small, polite and is a perfect house practice amp but it is loud enough to gig with, if you have a quiet drummer. I bought mine secondhand for £165. I also own a Markbass CMP 121P, which is all of the above, but is a bit louder and much more expensive. If you want to spend more money on a house practice amp, there's plenty of alternatives out there but in my opinion, the Rumble ticks all the boxes.

In the old days of huge heads and combos I couldn't be bothered taking a spare. But these days, with class D heads the size of a paperback, it is much easier to keep one handy just in case.

The sound of my basses depends mostly on the strings I use and what mood I'm in at the time. I bought a bass recently and when I plugged it in I really disliked the tone. A week later I plugged it in again and loved it (and still do). Weird?

Click bait....

Hothouse flowers are a great band and one of my favourites but I saw them a few years ago, at the Barrowland in Glasgow, and they were excellent but just didn't know when to call it a day. The gig had hit the 2 and a half hour mark and they were starting to make songs up, improvising over gospel like grooves, in a very self indulgent way. I had to leave. I wouldn't be surprised if they were still there, grooving away

I've never needed a back up amp but a few years ago bought a head, secondhand, which arrived with a fault. I took it apart and put it back together again, and it then worked fine, but I've never 100% trusted it. Since then I always take another head with me, just in case.

I'd like to play with Jim Keltner. He's drummed with many of my favourite bands and artists, over the years. Even with the CV he has, he's still very humble. Hates playing to a click track and understands the concept of playing ahead, or behind the beat.

My MIJ Fender Jazz is the bass I'll probably end up being buried with. Perfect feel, action, sound and looks. I fitted a set of pickups from a Roadworn Jazz, which I picked up on Basschat into it and they sound just perfect. J Retro was the finishing touch.

I have that very fridge magnet, which I bought for £5.50.

Before I discovered Basschat I only had one bass. This question would have been irrelevant. Not any more

I have a wee fiddle with my instrument, occasionally.

Ampeg made a 32x10 cab, just for a laugh. I suggest that this cab was built for the same reason.

Ahhhh......the under rehearsed middle aged band scenario. Gave up playing when they were 17 and returned to it aged 40. What they don't understand is that, what you could get away with at 17, you can't get away with when you're 40. I have nightmares about being in this band.

I've bought a couple of basses from them, including a purchase during the first lockdown in April, both were delivered within a couple of days with minimum fuss.