martin8708

Things haven't improved since , Neil Young was the Sunday Headliner for the Isle of Wight festival a few years back , reports were everybody starting leaving early and the fireworks that normally close the festival at 11 pm went off at 10:30 ..

I am slowly becoming a convert to using shops to sell any high-end gear on commission sale . Takes all the hassle of low-ballers , tyre kickers and people who go " radio silent " once they've agreed to buy your gear .Quite often the better price the shop gets offsets the commission they charge . I do think the market place is a lot tougher than it used to be , too many guitars and not enough guitarists ???

Many thanks to your replies , especially to BigRedX for his encyclopaedic knowledge the bass vi . It sounds like it's neither bass nor guitar ,but a different instrument in its own right . The squier seems to be the best way to enter into the world of bass vi without breaking the bank , Many thanks Martin

Sorry , my mistake , heading corrected . cheers Martin.

Any one play one ? I am in a standard 3 piece band ( bass/ guitar / drums ) and just looking at bringing a fuller sound to the band , are they a viable alternative to a regular bass , or are they more of a guitar type instrument ? I play some guitar as well , so looking to throw in some basic chords as well. I have watched a few YouTube clips , most seem to play them through guitar amps with distortion pedals as they would a regular guitar . Would a Squier bass vi be a good introduction to the instrument ? All comments welcome .

It helps if you play another instrument . When I'm not in a band , I pick up my Acoustic guitar and work out new songs , my only audience is the cat and my deaf 94 yr old neighbour .I find it helps to keep my brain musically engaged .

I would love some Mesa stuff , but looking at the specs of the cabs , they weight about the same as my car , Interested in the 1x15 , but 35kg is a bit of a heft ?

Hey ,it sucks when you are given the elbow in a band , especially for some rather random reason like getting the old bass player back in. These days bands seem to chop and change members at the drop of a hat , wrong bass, wrong image , wrong hair ( in my case , no hair ) . As difficult as it is , try to stay on good terms with the others , as soon as the band implodes ,they may be getting in touch with a " new project "

I tend to agree with this sentiment , and agree with some of the points lemonstar raised. Sure ,it just a pub band , but musicians tend to be a fairly close knit community, and word gets about who's reliable and easy to get on with , and who's a bit unhinged . Life is loaded with rejection , sure , it feels pretty lousy , but sometimes you can turn it around to your benefit . Good luck which ever way you go .

Similar thing happened to me , I was "released " from a band that still had one large gig to play , rather than throw my toys out the pram , I just sucked it up and played the gig and took the money and run . I'm in a new band now , but more importantly ,I m still very good friends with one of the previous band members , who is a great singer / guitarist who has helped me out by recommending me to other musicians looking for a bass player .

I find playing acoustic guitar (classical ) keeps my interest in music alive . Another vote for acoustic guitar .

Good choice . Sultans of Swing - never tire of it . More than a feeling - Boston , I know it's cheesy , but great riffage . Its my life - Talk Talk . Still love the bass line.

A bit late to the party , but I was a dyed in the wool Markbass amp and cab user until I joined a two guitar band , ( loud ) . Suddenly I just could not hear myself at the gigs so I did the pilgrimage up to Warwick and got myself the VK212MNT . What a difference , suddenly I could hear myself I the band despite the best efforts of Mr Mesa Boogie and Mr Marshall to drown me out , It was punching through the mix like Mohammed Ali. I quit the loud rock band , it was playing havoc with my hearing , and I downsized to the 210MNT ,and I have done loads of gigs with a single 210 and never found it lacking ,even some seriously loud pub gigs . It bearly breaks into a sweat in a normal 3 piece pub rock band ,so I can only imagine 2 to be more of a good thing . Still use the Markbass amps , they seem to go well with the VK cabs .

When I was 17 , many many years ago ( and playing guitar quite badly ) someone showed me a recording of Duran Duran live on a VHS tape . Watching John Taylor play Rio in front of 1000's of screaming women convinced me bass was the way to go.

I have to admit that when the band phone up and say "we have a gig " a small feeling of dread comes over me .I work on the weekends ,so getting home at 1.00am on Sunday morning having to get up 5 hours later to cover a Sunday Clinic doesn't really float my boat . Yes ,we get £30 ,but factor in fuel costs and a drink ( no free drinks ,) and your not exactly going to be much better off. I think the audience has changed as well , as well as landlords attitudes to musicians , years ago there was a bit more appreciation and respect towards musicians .When you are playing to a room full of people who are more interested in watching Football on TV, I do sometimes question why we are doing the gig .

Standard gig set up protocol is drummer goes in first to set up kit at back of stage while PA is set up in front . Next the guitarist sets up with huge pedal board and stereo amp rig , and the vocalist claims her space with mic stands and pedals . Last is bass , as it takes me 1 minute to set up , normally in the corner littered with gig bags / left over lead bags / general junk / coats that the band can't be arsed to take back to their cars . The last gig we did they dumped a monitor speaker in the exact space I was supposed to stand . Yes , it's infuriating , but I'm just too meek and mild to say anything . ( until I tell them they need to find themselves a new bass player that is more suitable to their gigging requirements ) The only time I have been given space and shown consideration as to stage layout is when I play in duos with an acoustic guitarist .

I tend to go where I'm told , the drummer and guitarist seem to need the whole stage to set up before the bass player is allowed on . I'm normally left with a tiny space , currently stage right , but I've never really thought too much about it .

I have a small collection of vintage instruments , but these were purchased 20 odd years ago when I had more disposable income and the market was not so overheated and rife with instruments of dubious origins . There is no way I could ever afford these instruments now , so I guess my collecting days are over , so I must have made some gains in these instruments . There are far better ways of investing money ( and getting regular returns ) , but you cannot gig shares in Royal Dutch Shell. Like any form of collecting for investment purposes , condition and originality is paramount .

It's no big deal if the drummer is not present , it gives myself and the guitarist time and space to work out all the nuances of some of the more difficult songs . Without a vocalist or guitarist , not much point in rehearsing .

Unless you are incredibly lucky , bands dont seem to last too long these days . My last great band ended 5 years ago and since then I have been in various start up bands , done short notice gigs , and occationally do open mike nights . Although i'm not in a "proper " band , I am still playing very regularly , so you dont need to quit and sell off your gear yet . Dont think of yourself as a fifty something year old ,( I'm 54 myself ) think of yourself as someone with 40 years of gigging experiance .

I live on the Isle of Wight , so i share your pain . During my days of prolific buying and selling , I relied 95% on couriers , with only a rare meet up in person in Southampton or Portsmouth , and the occational exchange in Waterloo Station if it was a high end bass. If i decide to sell an item , I just assume that I will be posting it ,so packing it up is just part of the sales process, just like photographing and listing it .I prefer to deal with established BC members which gives me a little bit of re-assurance that the deal will go smoothly and I always us UPS to ship gear , never Parcel Force . Maybe i have been lucky , but virtually all my deals ( bar one ) went very smoothly . I have sold loads to Europe as well , sometimes shipping to Holland or Germany is quicker than shipping to Mainland UK . Offering postage gives you a far wider market .

I have more experiance with Strats than with P basses in this dept . I own a pre -CBS Strat , I have had a few Custom Shop Strats ( all sold now ) but my main go-to guitar is a JV Squier 62' . I love the pre -CBS , the smell ,the vibe and the feel of history ,but its value means i get nervous about taking it out . The JV is great ,great tone , great feel , it just has that massive strat ring when played unplugged . Because it says Squier on the headstock , the tealeaves are less likely to target it .

If the pub is a regular music venue , they will probably have numerous bands on their books It would not take the landlord / manager very long to do quick phone-a-round to find a replacement band . Providing you let the pub know you are unable to to the gig , i dont think its down to you to find a replacement band , let alone stump up extra cash to entice another band to take the gig , although , fair play to your guitarist for finding a replacement band .