OldGit

[quote name='Mike' post='58000' date='Sep 10 2007, 07:27 AM']Yeah, Grandad, it's wack, innit? [/quote] Oh you youngsters!

[quote name='paul, the' post='57993' date='Sep 10 2007, 05:22 AM']Dear Lord. I'm 18 and male and that's probably my ideal realistic set list as a guest at a wedding. Bar waterloo. "It's raining men! Hallelujah![/quote] Ha ha yeah I heard a wedding Dj on the radio once he said if the ladies was busy and queuing and his girlfriend needed to go he just played Dancing Queen and the queue would all head for the dance floor ... Also there's a whole "website of the day" discussion about the best Wedding Disco tracks here [url="http://www.websiteoftheday.info/2004/11/name_artist_chi.html"]http://www.websiteoftheday.info/2004/11/name_artist_chi.html[/url] It's not a live band set list as such but if you do this stuff it's a good list.

[quote name='terryblyth' post='57951' date='Sep 9 2007, 11:02 PM']5. Interesting what OG said about CDs for first dances. We always play them live as it tends to give the client the feeling that they've got bags of value for money. But insist on a reasonable amount of warning on what it is![/quote] We do it because we can't do it justice - my band that plays weddings is not a covers band as such and so learning Lady In Red is a bridge (and several verses) too far for us. Also I've heard bands absolutely massecre a couple's really important special tune and they don't want that at their wedding reception. We always try to remember tha this is a very important day for them, not just this weekend's gig. You only get married a few times in life so it is nice if as much as possible goes right and Roberta Flack does "The first time ever I saw your face" a hell of a lot better than I'll ever do it. (An I love listening to the bowed bass on that through our PA) However if you do a terrible version of their tune they will hate you on the nigt but probably laff about it for many a year afterwards .. I'd not risk it 'cos I want referrals ....

[quote name='WalMan' post='57740' date='Sep 9 2007, 02:44 PM']I think you need to be signed up for a course and get a tutor to sign off on it, so it may require a relevant course as well. Son is starting a sound production course having finished the guitar course at BIMM and is looking at things like Logic Pro & Pro Tools to put on the Mac once he knows what they will be using on the course. We had been thinking of some of the fleabay offers for this but GAK Education dept is at least as good as the Bay so it seems easier and in many ways to go there to get definite legit copies[/quote] Ah yes I used to sing people's Microsoft software applications on the student deal they did. That sounds very interesting, thanks ....

[quote name='WalMan' post='57599' date='Sep 9 2007, 12:53 AM']PM'd I'm sure it's not top secret but not wishing to upset anyone I'll do it that way. Or thinking about it try somewhere between their web price and their education department price. Of course I suppose what I [u][i]should[/i][/u] have done is get #2 son to buy it at the education department price when he gets signed up on his sound production course next week [/quote] Whats the deal with GAK education prices? Any idea what they need .. I may or may not still have an undated Uni card from a previous life as a lecturer .. gets me into gigs cheap ...

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='57613' date='Sep 9 2007, 04:08 AM']Has anyone mentioned Martin Clunes? Star of Men Behaving Badly, but played bass in the quality one-off drama [u]Hunting Venus [/u]as part of former New Romantic Band [i]The Venus Hunters[/i] who ended up playing a special one off, on the late show with Jools.[/quote] Ha ha I thought that said "hunting venues"

[quote name='Rich' post='53858' date='Sep 1 2007, 03:33 PM']OK, some more info courtesy of the seller: [i]"The Overwater basses and guitars were made about 20 years ago for school use only. How or why they had the commission from ILEA and others I don't know. The instruments were made of mahogany - looking at the edges of the cracked headstock proved that. The instruments were appointed with EMG Select pups. You can imagine it was quite a thrill to see those instruments when they arrived in school - they were quite different to the Westones and Japanese jazz copies of the time. "The reason they were damaged was not the fault of fledgling bassists and guitarists. It was lax supervision in the music department that allowed a thuggish element to use the instruments as cricket bats. Your bass came from a school in North West London. A student of mine rescued it thinking he would make a fretless bass out of it. He abandoned the bass and passed it on to me to repair." [/i] Cricket bats! The little bastids. No respect, some people. Thanks to M for the extra info, I'll definitely keep the diary going with any progress I make over the next months.[/quote] I think I know where they work now [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=716"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=716[/url]

[quote name='Bass_Junkie' post='57433' date='Sep 8 2007, 05:12 PM']anyone else got any ideasssssssss?[/quote] My sold all black Precision Lyte may have done it ... mine you the gold hardware and goldfleck finish may not have been right .... They come up on Ebay all the time for about £275 or so. Very light, Very active 80's Ibanez sounding (ie not at all a Precision) Very fast neck.

[quote name='presoulnation' post='57390' date='Sep 8 2007, 03:02 PM']Mate that is truly the nicest Shuker I have ever seen. That is absolutely unreal! Wicked woods and they all go together so nicely - congrats on a wicked choice dude![/quote] For us old guys, does wicked still mean good? Cool

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='57329' date='Sep 8 2007, 10:57 AM']Samuel Pepys wrote about his Bass Viol in his diary.[/quote] That's the guy in ELO right? They are all about that old

[quote name='The Funk' post='57369' date='Sep 8 2007, 01:37 PM']I think it might be time to just sue them. They don't seem interested in anything else.[/quote] Maybe ... Let's see what the top honcho says first ... I like to be reasonable, and giving them as much opportunity as possible to see sence is bound to work in my favour if we have to talk to a magistrate.

[quote name='charic' post='57322' date='Sep 8 2007, 10:31 AM']Have you tried saying it isnt a musical instrument? Its a wooden structure [/quote] Oddly enough they tried to say it wasn't a musical instrument (and they hadn't even heard me play!) During one of their manouvers to change the guideline which I was supposed to have followed they claimed it was Electronic Equipment (the examples their leaflet gave for this category are "Laptop, VCR, etc ...") I pointed out that no one in their right mind would put a yard of maple and a few magnets and wires in the same category as a laptop... So ... Then they moved the goalposts again.

Good ol radio 4 .. Joanne Harris, Author of Chocolat, book and film "plays bass with the band first formed at her school when she was 16"

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='57084' date='Sep 7 2007, 04:46 PM']Ensure you personally go along and see the actual room you will be playing in. You may not want to be too loud that you upset the OAPs but there's nothing worse than being told by the venue organiser/groom/bride/best man that you're PA is plenty big enough (WTF do they know) for the room and when you turn up you find you're playing an aircraft hanger with a 300w vocal rig. It will destroy your Kudos quicker than asking for a pork pie at a bar-mitzvar. Enjoy [/quote] Good point. We do 50% weddings but we are a barn dance band, sure we are loud for a barn dance band but we are not a rock band until the last 15 minutes so we don't need masses of oomph on all night. So our rule of thumb for PA is this: I ask the fire limit for the room. Ou 300 watt FOH, 200 watt Monitors rig is fine for up to 175 (we are not loud) most weddings are not that big. A 300 capacity room with 50 people in it is another no no - disaster just wating to happen no matter how good you are. actually a 50 guest wedding is damn hard whatever size of the room ... Don't play the first dance for the bride and groom, let them bring a CD track to dance to and play it on your CD player through the PA - yes you'll need one of those unless there's a disco. Then get on stage just before, say hello, turn the "before" CD music off and invite everyone up to take pics of the B&G dancing their first dance. If they have not worked out a spiffing routine to the first dance (google "thriller wedding dance" for an example) they be doing that first dance shuffle and feeling exposed and embarrased so half way through you invite the guests to join them on the dance floor "hey don't let them dance all along, Everybody join in, lets dance for Sharon and Shane!" Then, magically, you have a full dance floor for your first number which you go straigt into as their special CD track fades ... sneaky eh? OG

[quote name='johnm' post='57001' date='Sep 7 2007, 02:40 PM']last couple I did [attachment=2149:091206.doc] [attachment=2150:Wedding.doc][/quote] Looks good.. is that your lighting settings in the code? Main difference between a wedding and a pub is that the audience have not chosen to see you - yes, OK the couple and 20 of their friends may love you and think you are fabulous and the sun shines out of your b'ass but ... It is not an ego trip for you, you are working towards making the day the best it can possibly be for that couple. It's a racing certainty that over 50% of the audience are not going to like 50% of the stuff you play and wish they'd booked a nice disco to play Dancing Queen and all the hits they love and the godawful Grease Megamix ... The room will also be full of family members from new born es to great granny so you have to be very sensitive to the fact that you have been thrust upon these poor people and they are not a crap audience if they don't show their love for you at all times. You must: - Dress appropriately. Torn jeans and t shirts may look cool for a pub band but smart (outlandish) casual or the whole band in black trousers and white tops will score many more points and show some respect for the occasion. - turn up on time, but be prepared to sit in the car park for an extra hour cos the timing's gone astray (almost always!) - Setup, sound check then shut up (play CD's through the PA) No one will want to hear you learn a tune at the sound check. - play the exact amount of time they want you to. if you have 3x45 planned and they want 1x 30 and 2 x 45 that's what you do. If they want 20 mins more you play it, If they want you to break for the food midway through your set you do it. That's why wedding sets are dynamic and have loads of spare tunes. If you run out, just play your best stuff again (we've had a request for this one again, we don't usually do it twice but we like to please..." Better that than to fill with a long slow boring blue or some unrehearsed number. - Play a professional show. Plan it, rehearse it and make it flow nicely but be flexible and if they call for Moondance play it. - Play Mustang Sally (it's the Law) You must not - Moan about starting late - Moan about them not rushing to the dance floor - Spit - Swear on stage - Smoke on stage - drink too much - behave as guests - be overtly sexual - Pull the married or engaged or dating women. - wind up the drunks - tell dodgy jokes - make a lot of noise in your break - drink too much - Noodle between tunes Under absolutely no circumstances must you play too loud. If you do that you will spoil the poor couples wedding reception.. Preempt the problem by sound checking properly and telling whoever is in control - groom, bride or best man - that they must tell you to turn down if you are too loud. Then do it. Remember that , if only for ego and pecuniary reasons, you really would like their mates to book you for their weddings too so you are out to give the audience a really good time. It's their show not yours... You see why they pay better than pub gigs?

[quote name='The Funk' post='56982' date='Sep 7 2007, 02:17 PM']Try this, head all correspondence with big, bold "WITHOUT PREJUDICE SAVE AS TO COSTS". Might scare 'em slightly.[/quote] nah I've actually said "I'll take you to court" which is what that means ... Actually my solicitor mate says not to do that (in another argument I'm having) as that precludes it from being used as evidence should it ever get to court .. The Funk you are a lawyer arn't you? What's your view?

Woolworths has a bunch of "Woolworths Worth It" CD's for sale at £2 yep two quid Includes a Bob Marley one. Not may hits (in fact about 30 of these are new to me) and some of the horn playing is painfully out of tune but ... Family Man Barret bassing for 38 tracks ... how can you resist?

[quote name='elom' post='56924' date='Sep 7 2007, 12:49 PM']My band has been booked to play a wedding - our first. The couple know the kind of stuff we play and said that they didn't want a typical wedding band. I'll be meeting them at our next gig anyway to discuss exactly what they want anyway but I thought I'd ask here for any tips. So what does a pub band need to know before they play a wedding? Any advice gratefully received. Also, they've asked if we could provide lighting. I said we'd see what we could do and get back to them but I haven't really got a clue. Hire or purchase? What are the options and the costs? I've done a bit of net searching without much success. Thanks elom[/quote] Wedding playing is a skill of it's own. Lots to it. Most of it has nothing to do with whats on your set list. However... What's in your set list now? Lighting - not a big deal For years we just had 6 little planks (yup real planks) about 14 inches long with angled bulb holders screwed to them with simple coloured spots and long mains leads. You position two behind the band pointing up the wall, two pointing in from the sides and then two pointing at the lead singer stuck on top of the PA tops. If you make another pair point them at the kit .. all that chrome reflects really nicely. Simple but effective mods included screw in big eyelets and a bit of string so that, if needed, you can hang them up somewhere to get a better angle on the singer's face (essential) and silver foil baking cups. You push the bulbs through these so that the white light that comes out of the back of the spot bulbs gets reflected back. That gives a much better effect than loads of white light spilling out. We have all our lights on one foot controlled switch so we can turn them on when we take to the stage and turn them all off between last number and encore (amazingly effective - people are trained to roar "more!" when the band stops and the stage lights go out and "Yeah!" when the lights go back on again .. Thanks, Mr Pavlov ) Oh and pack the bulbs in a well padded cardboard box between gigs 'cos they break. Buy a couple of spares Don't use any green lamps they make people look horrible Red blue and yellow work fine. These simple lights will transform your look on stage. Total cost about 25 quid and some time... Bits inc bulbs from B&Q Or Maplins sell simple lighting kits with flashing bits, stands and all that malarkey

[quote name='lemoley' post='56926' date='Sep 7 2007, 12:52 PM']well considering i bought the bass 2nd hand in Cash Converters for £115 and sold it for £130 on ebay i dont think there should be a problem[/quote]

[quote name='skywalker' post='56902' date='Sep 7 2007, 12:03 PM']In the parcels/shipping iundustry the drones are given 5 seconbs training and made to sit by a phone, and given a manual written by a consultant. The whole thing is a recipe for disaster. The drone will (in some cases) tell you whatever comes into their head, and then the supervisor or manager drone tries to tell you what the manual says. A/ The first drone hasn't a clue and B/ The manager drone can't understand the manual. The thought here is that as they have half read the manual and you haven't they can BS you all day bcoz you don't know any different. It is good that someone really takes them to task sometimes and gets them to wake up.[/quote] Possibly. My view on what has happened here is that the problem is that the claims assessors are employees of the company I'm claiming against. They are probably targeted with not approving more than a certain number or value of claims per month. Once that decision has been made - one of hundreds that day, I am sure, and by a low down person who cuts and pastes a letter from some source - then the superiors support that decision whatever. Many of the conversations I have had with them have loudly resonated with "we cannot change this decision no matter what you say, even if we see your point and agree with you" That's 1st and 2nd level managers refusing to change a decision made by a drone .... How many commercial companies would do that? In real life the operative at the cutting edge would get a bit of retraining and advice, the process would get a review (in this case the yawning chasm between the packaging advice given to customers by front line staff and that by which the wrapping is assessed by the drone in claims) and the manager, being gifted with the wider view of business, would override the decision and pay out in the hope that the customer might return and tell mates how well the problem was resolved and how apologetic the company was... It's old but true.. do exceptionally well and the average customer will recommend you to 5 mates, do badly and the average customer will tell 15 mates not to do business with you.

[quote name='lemoley' post='56906' date='Sep 7 2007, 12:05 PM']i sent a bass off yesturday through Parcel Force *shitting one*[/quote] My problem is wth the Post Office not Parcel Force... Your worry is that the max you can claim from them, should anything go wrong, is £150 and you should have read these packing guides for a guitar before hand and complied with them.... [url="http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw/content1?catId=25800694&mediaId=load105018"]Parcel Force packaging guidelines[/url] Oddly it's under the heading of [b]Prevent movement of items in transit[/b] and says Please ensure that multiple items within a parcel do not touch. Place contents in a firm cardboard box, closed so that it cannot come open during transit. Guitars and other musical instruments should be packaged in a hard case with sufficient internal packaging to ensure that the instrument cannot move during transit. Please note that if the instrument hard case is used as the external packaging then the case itself will be treated as packaging and not contents, as a result the case will not be covered for damage compensation. Any instrument strings should be loosened. [size=4]Musical instruments will only be covered up to £150 of compensation for loss or damage.[/size] In reality I am sure only a very small amount of stuff does get damaged or nicked. It's just that they seem to have no idea how to handle the complaint past the initial rejection. I suspect that out of 100 claims they reject, only 50% will appeal and then only 20% of thse will stick with it if the appeal is rejected etc until they end up with a few people each year like me pig-headed enough to hang on and fight for what is right .... pass me that cape and mask will you?

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='56897' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:47 AM']The first one? The [b][i]first[/i][/b] one????????????????? Don't think I don't know what's going on here Old Git and Tinman the pair of yous are now officially under increased surveillance :ph34r:[/quote] Ah that explains the mystery van outside my house ..

[quote name='dood' post='56888' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:38 AM']I await a response from them with some eagerness now! Defintely sounds like they are doing an awesome 'back-peddling' attempt![/quote] Well I hold out little hope

OK I know I'm sounding like an obsessive, or habitual displacement activity user .. I'm not really but this is almost fun ... I got a level 3 supervisor to review the situation - sent them the results of a survey I did of PO staff proving that they all said "pack it in bubble wrap, mark it fragile and send it special delivery next day" with no mention of the cardboard box - the pivotal item "if you'd put it in a cardboard box, we'd have paid out" one person said, a few layers of management ago. The survey results had names and call times etc and I asked the people I spoke to to make a paper record of the conversation in case the PO Customer Services claims people wanted to check it out. (because someone in the PO customer services department said "prove it" when I told them I'd already asked 6 PO people about this and been given the same "wrong" information...) All well and good. The reply said "thanks, we have reviewed the availability of info and are making sure PO staff can access the recommendations. However, as you didn't ask us for advice before packing your parcel the claim remains rejected" In other words, THEY didn't give me the wrong info so it's not their fault. Even though I packed it exactly how they would have told me, had I called and asked. Doh! So in a final attempt to resolve this I have skipped several further levels of the hierarchy of the Post Office customer services and written direct to the director of customer services for Royal Mail - ie the boss of customer services for the whole organisation. I laid out the facts as I saw them mixed with my reaction as a customer, I quoted the Royal mail's own website back at him about the need to treat customers fairly or they will shop elsewhere and I mentioned that I was enthralling my friends with the tale, including a community of several hundred musicians who regularly buy and sell things that are then sent in parcels. I have reminded him that an organisation is measured by the way it handles its mistakes and just mentioned that Which, The Guardian and You and Yours would be very interested in this story. So .. We will see