I LEARNED FROM THAT
Don’t leave home without it…
A while Ago i did an acoustic gig where there was a collection of players who had been invited to play just one number each. There was quite a cast list and we were all obviously going to be subject to a quick turnover – a sort of musical production line. My thinking was that i should cut the gear i was taking with me down to the absolute minimum and do without the luxuries of a preamp, volume pedal and other sundry indispensables that i would usually pop in the boot prior to leaving for a gig. Just a single acoustic guitar and a tuner and we’d be good to go… or so i thought. My principal acoustic guitar is a Fylde Custom Falstaff, basically a dreadnoughtsized instrument, except this one has a bass on it that could stun an antelope at over 500 feet. i usually warn sound engineers of this during the soundcheck, but on this occasion there was no time – there were simply too many of us lined up to play. My back-up Yamaha preamp has a feedback killer onboard and at the first sign of trouble a quick stomp is all you need to identify the rogue frequency and stop it in its tracks. on this occasion i’d left it at home. Big mistake. hendrix would have been proud of the howl that greeted my introductory few bars; i, however, felt like a prat. lesson learned.