tjm

I play originals and I hate a couple of our older songs. We play death metal and have slowly progressed from melodic death to blackened death so the change is obvious. I, as the songwriter, really hate the change in dynamics between songs in our set. I'm hoping when we release our EP we will abandon the old style. Luckily we aren't having much luck with gigs at the moment so I don't have to play them

I hate lending out my gear. If you haven't got your own rig without an excuse like, it got stolen 5 minutes ago as I was carrying it into the venue and I need to play this gig so I can pay for someone to give me a piggy back to china to feed my disabled child, then they aren't lending mine. I don't even like lending gear to "friends" who are mostly just familiar faces on a local scene who you only get to know through sh*tty interband small talk, with conversations about upcoming tour and recording plans, filled with words "dude" and "man" and "sweet". I also don't play gigs for sh*tty promoters who don't have the balls to ask you to borrow gear, and instead tell "someone" to bring a bass amp. It also annoys me when headline acts don't even bring a drum kit for themselves to use. Our drummer uses his kit, or at least his breakables and his bass drum because of his triggers which don't fit on certain other kits, at every gig. If he is asked before a gig to provide a kit he usually won't mind if we are high on the bill and don't have to hang around long waiting for our gear. But when a promoter asks what gear we are taking and he mentions his drum kit, most of them assume that everyone else is covered, and its the same with my gear. There was one gig we were playing and the first band brought nothing except their guitars and drum sticks. They hadn't asked us if they could borrow anything, and it came to soundcheck and these assholes were carrying my bass head up to the stage to put onto another bassists cab without asking me or him. Their drummer had set up my drummers cymbals and pedals without him knowing, and was actually playing on them - obnoxiously loud I might add - as his other bandmates set up with everyone elses gear around him. I took my head off of him and asked what gear he was planning on using, and he just shrugged and said the promoter told me where that (my) amp head was. Another band reluctantly had to borrow them all amps, and they used the battered house bass drum and snare with no bass pedal, just a sh*tty crash/ride/hi-hats, and my drummers toms, which delayed the gig. They were also absolutely sh*t, obviously. Totally unprofessional and disrespectful

What is the average rate for bass lessons? I have been playing for a few years now but I would definitely be interested in lessons if the right guy came along. I wouldn't know where to start looking for an appropriate teacher though because I have pretty much mastered smoke on the water, and could probably play the notes to anything you put in front of me, even by ear, but my technique is most definitely far from perfect.

Hey guys, I'm Lewis. I have been browsing forever so thought I'd get in on the action. I am 18 years old and play in 2 bands, a post rock/instrumental project and a blackened death metal project that has recently developed into a full band that is looking to tour and be more conventional than its previous form of recording between myself and the guitarist who produced and programmed the drums etc. I have been playing bass for around five years. I use a rackmount version of the Ashdown ABM 500 evo II, currently through an imaginary cab as I am in the middle of building my rig. I previously just used an MXR DI box. I use an ESP LTD B-105 for the moment, dreadful bass. I need a better job than delivery pizzas to sort that one out though haha. See you all around