martin8708

What will take the place of gigging ? There has always been a small percentage of people ( musicians / actors / musicians /comedians ) who feel the need to perform in front of people . There has also been a large percentage of people who feel the need to be entertained . Since medieval times ,and even earlier , jesters , jugglers , minstrals and acrobats have entertained the crowds ,the very same thing goes on in Covent Garden today . Take football for example , few people actually play it , but millions watch it on TV . I don't think gigging will ever go away , good bands with good showmanship will always be in demand . As a frequent visitor to the Isle of Wight festival ( it's on my doorstep ) , the best gig I ever saw was Tom Jones , purely for the showmanship ,professionalism, interaction with audience , he just had the audience eating out of his hands . Tom is no spring chicken , but he knows how to put on a show , something the younger bands with their sulky sullen faces can learn from .

I have 6 Precisions at the moment . How do I justify them all? Simple , they are all different colours , and I still haven't got the full set yet . ( that's what I tell the other half )

[quote name='ern500evo' timestamp='1452607945' post='2951554'] I'd say in the case of signature basses it can even have the opposite effect. For years I wanted a Yamaha Attitude Ltd but always felt that if I turned up at a gig with one, people would be expecting masses of two handed tapping through a stereo rig at 500mph! [/quote] Pretty much this , I played a Attitude Ltd 3 which felt and sounded great , with the normal high quality finish of a Yamaha . Would love to buy one , but probably won't, as I feel I don't match up to the legend of Mr Sheehan himself .

If the shop is one of the big 3 ( bassdirect/ bass gear/ the gallery ) you probably stand a good chance of securing a sale as these shops have a high level of Internet presence . If it's the local village music shop at the end of the High Street , ( bit like here on the Isle of Wight ) , instruments can sit on the rack for years with the occasional plank spanker trying it out with no intention of buying it . I have had good results with Gumtree and eBay , I wait till eBay have special offers on final sale fees before listing the big stuff. Gumtree is free , attracts all sorts of tyre kickers , but occasionally a good result comes through . eBay opens up your market to Europe and beyond , I have sold guitars to France / Spain /Italy / Holland and shipping is no different to posting to Wales or mainland UK.

If we are talking about the world , I suppose F / Mac's The Chain and Queens Another one bites the Dust are top contenders . If we are getting to the end of the night at a gig and the guitarist is scratching his head about what song to play , the bass line to Sweet Home Alabama seems to be instantly recognised by a lager swilling audience .

[quote name='grumpyguts' timestamp='1450999785' post='2937841'] The influence of the singer dosen't bother me - so long as I am not on the boot list..She wasn't asked to find a new Sax player - I guess she just mentioned to the situation to her Sax player friend etc. [/quote] I'm with number6 with this one , she may have another " friend " who plays bass ( better than you ? ) As a previous post says , it's a dog eat dog world out there .

Second Guitarist - that means your in a four piece band , if not more . What do the other members think of the over all sound , especially the first / lead guitar ? Last band I was in the guitarist used to play with a £50 guitar that never stayed in tune through a collection of pedals that did God -knows -what into a trannie amp that whistled like an old kettle . He was a really nice bloke , and the band was never going to really take off , so I just got on with it and made occasional jokes about his use of "alternate tunings "

You can get a good JV Squier Precision for around £6 -700 ish , that would be my choice .

Start me up . Keef and the Rolling Stones . The way Charlie Watts seems to come in slightly too late , but pulls it back in , great timing by Mr Watts . Also probably THE most botched opening chord by cover bands .

Best opening chord . B flat sus 2 - Prince - Purple Rain , great great intro .

I joined basschat in 2010 , I think we were well into the recession by then , ( property prices peaked in sept 2008 ) . The basschat market was still very vibrant then , with certain members seeming to keep the whole market place afloat single handedly . I never struggled to sell basses back then , Ok , they were fenders , but they sold in a matter of days / weeks . I remember any Barefaced cab would last for an hour or two , sold for nearly new prices. I think stuff still sells , it just takes longer , and you have to work harder at it . As Karlfer says , good ads , clear / sharp photos , willingness to ship or travel and setting your price at a realistic level . Everytime I phone Mark at Bassdirect or Rudi at the Fellowship of Acoustics , they always seem very busy , so someone must be buying guitars . My take on the mega-bucks basses from EU from low post members are they very nice to look at ( window shopping ) , but it must take huge amount of faith in humanity to bank transfer £5k plus to a bank account abroad , and have that agonising wait for a shiny new bass in the post a few days later . But that Carl Thompson 4 looks absolutely stunning , nice to see one in the market place .

When I get bored with bass. I pick up the guitar , where the scope to " learn more " is probably greater than on bass . I'm always surprised to find the amount of stuff that applies to guitar can cross over to bass in some way or another , especially rhythm guitar technique . Improvements to your playing seem to happen at snails pace ( for me anyway ) , but if I think back to 1 year ago , I always seem to find a few chops or fiddly bits I can do now , that I could not do previously . I think finding a good bass tutor would be the way forward .

I love to gig as a bass player , playing bass on your own is not very exciting . When I play classical guitar , it's purely for me on my own , pure 100% selfishness .

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1442995195' post='2871169'] Nothing wrong with taking a cheat sheet on stage. I've done it at gigs for songs I was unsure of, you don't need a music stand. Just a piece of A4 paper and a permanent marker, write the chords out nice and big on the page and place it at your feet. If you're only doing one or two songs you'll only need a single sheet and no one in the audience will know its there. [/quote] Fully agree , and I've been doing this for years . I use a clipboard with the notes written in bold marker pen on sheets of paper, prop it up against one of the floor wedges and off you go !! Play a song you know in your head , that way you have a rough idea where the notes / chords will go .

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441291151' post='2857633'] I think it's entirely unjustifiable today to spend £2,000 on an acoustic guitar. [/quote] I'm sure Amalia Ramirez , Paulino Bernabe or even your very own George Lowden won't loose too much sleep over the above comment .

I have 5 Precisions , one amp , and one cab , and one set of fingers ( no Isle of Wight jokes , please ) They all sound slightly different according to age , strings , maple or rosewood neck . Still don't sound like Colin Hodgekinson though

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1432993077' post='2786873'] The plus side is that we didn't fall out over it, the downside is that there is no longer a band, and it's left me with a real hole in my life, and I'm feeling it quite badly as the band was my only real musical outlet. Apart from having no practices or gigs to look forward to it just seems such a shame that all that work has gone into the band was for nothing. Just needed to share. [/quote] As a veteran of band break-ups or dismissals from bands , I fully sympathise with this sudden hole in your life . Band break ups can be as bad and ugly as breaking up with a partner . My coping mechanism is dusting off the acoustic guitar and improving my guitar technique . As a non Facebook / Twitter user , I tend to go to the occasional jam nights and still rely upon the notice board in the corner of the local music shop . I also stay in touch with as many muso's as possible , so I still get the odd last minute stand in gig . Generally speaking , something allways tends to turn up if you let enough people know your available for gigs . All the best Martin

We tend to check out the pubs before hand , but both pubs in question are not really " Sports bars " as they are sometimes known . One is actually the best music pub in the area , the landlord just happens to like Rugby ( as we found out when setting up our gear ) Drunks we can handle , we have a pair of Peavey floor wedges which seems to take out most of the flailing drunkard dancers , we all know Peavey gear is indestructible !!!

Playing second fiddle to Skysports channel is my issue . Arriving at the pub at 8:00pm for a 9:00pm start , the landlord mooches over and says " can you guys start playing at 10:30 pm after the Rugby has finished . Did another duo gig when the World Cup was on , I think East Timor was playing Yemen ( two really strong contenders ,or such like ) and the Landlord refuse to turn the TV off , and we played the whole gig with a widescreen TV just above our heads . It was like playing to a bunch of Zombies , no eye contact at all .

Well , screw all the nay sayers , I think these guys are great . Two local ( ish ) lads with a different take on how to make good music , I wish them the best of luck . Much rather listen to them than the predigested drivel that passes for music these days .