Jakester

So, how's it sound?

Porkopolis - what a great (nick)name for a city! I'd definitely move there. Yum.

We had a corker a few years ago - I was playing drums with a covers band in Bristol, great gig, always a lively crowd, and even more so on this particular evening as all of the freshers were out as well. Anyway, gig all going well, crowd suitably lubricated, lots of dancing and singing along, until one young girl, obviously not realising there’s a low stage behind her, inadvertently launches herself backwards onto the stage and took out the entire right hand side of the drum kit - toms, cymbals, the works. I’m mid-fill at the time and end up flailing into space as she goes past, and she ended up in a heap to my right. Like the pro I am, I mouthed “are you okay?” and keep playing - she nodded, blearily, and we manage to finish the now truncated song before helping to extricate her from the tangle of pipe work. Amazingly she got up, downed a drink someone handed to her and continued to dance for the rest of the gig! Bet she ached the next morning, it really was some header she took.

I have the XR18, and although it's a bit of a learning curve, it's been great. However, and it's a big however, if you need mid-gig adjustments and you're playing continuously, it can be tricky. I've used it playing both bass and drums and if the singer suddenly decides to stand in front of the speakers resulting in howls of feedback there's no quick and easy way to just whip the faders down a touch. Likewise if something suddenly goes wrong (we were using ours in a band where I played drums, and the DI from the bass suddenly went mental - blasting through everything) it was VERY tricky while playing to try and mute a channel. I have picked up the XTouch control surface which has native control for the XR18, but once you've done that you might as well get a hardware mixer with the faders etc! Now it means I just have two things to carry to the gig, rather than one!

You’re welcome, by the way…

Have you tried Google? Third hit… http://topmusicsheet.com/queen-hammer-to-fall-accurate-bass-transcription-whit-tab/ Sixth hit: https://leftybassman.sellfy.store/p/queen-hammer-to-fall-bass-transcription-with-tabs-and-audio-track/

Sold a 3Leaf GR2 to Ian - a great transaction, highly recommended!

Yep, I do wonder what I’d make of it nowadays! I do remember the lack of forearm cutaway was annoying. I do think I’m going to have to reacquaint myself with a G&L soon…

Nice one Nick. I still pine for that orange 5er… I had a few 4er Tributes and never really got on with them, but I always think it’s an itch that needs scratching again!

Thanks for that @basstone- I don’t currently have the PA butbwhen I get it back I may well drop you a line.

Every big band I've ever played in (and there have been a few...) had a rotating pool of players who could cover whatever was needed.

My take on this (which has worked for 25+ years) is be upfront with each - whoever books it first gets it.

It's not a big band - unsure of exact line up but on the pics its rhythm + vox, plus sax, trumpet and bone. I think the Weds thing has been slightly blown out of proportion - the reason for rejection was "split loyalties", rather than unavailability, suggesting that they wouldn't take anyone with commitments to another band.

I've seen some Mackie SRM450's for sale nearby. They're the V1s (Italian made) ones. My band could do with some higher-powered tops (currently have some Thump 350 equivalents) but I'm loath to spend a flying fortune. I know there are better options out there and I know lots of people don't like Mackie - no need to tell me. We'd be using them for vox and support for guitars (both cabs mic'd), sometimes drums (we have a sub with crossover etc). These are up for around £300 for the pair. Provided they work, is it worth getting them?

Some of you may have seen my post Rejection Dejection, where I detail how I may have talked myself out of a great gig. Well, round two has arrived - this time, where I didn't even get to meet any of the band before not getting the gig! As the kindly souls in my first thread noted, often the first time rejections come back to you if their first choice doesn't work out. And so that has proved - there was an ad up a while back which was a swing band looking for a bassist. (I know that's totally different to the other band - what can I say? I love playing different styles of music). I dropped them a line but I was told that they'd found someone. However, it seems that person didn't work out so they dropped me a line to see if I was still interested? I said yes - I don't think their standard was particularly high, which suited me as I was looking to improve my EUB playing without much pressure. I knew I could play the parts on electric bass at worst. Anyway, I'd managed to build up a bit of rapport over email with the person doing the recruiting (the singer, I think), when matters came rather swiftly to a head. I'd already told them I play in another band. She said they rehearse on Wednesday nights, did that work. I said possibly, though the other band I play with also do Weds eves when we're rehearsing so I may have to do alternates. That put the cat right amongst the pigeons. The singer had to go and check with the band leader whether that would be okay, and the response came back "no - wouldn't work due to split loyalties". I was quite surprised at that - I've managed to successfully play in multiple ensembles for many many years, and IME it's better to actually have a player there than none at all. I'd have been happy to rock up and work out with them when they needed a bassist and when not. In all honesty, having listened to their recordings I do think I have dodged a fairly big bullet - anyone who can't really crack 'In The Mood' was probably not going to be much fun anyway! I get that they want someone committed but I find this "commit 100% only to our band" thing really odd. Variety is the spice of life - I'd go mad if I could only ever play one style of music. At this rate, I will getting bands I've never heard of get in touch to reject me before they even put up a 'bassist wanted' ad!

Our lot aren't this bad, but what REALLY gets my goat is checking that the patches are properly loaded by playing the riff to the next song - just before we play it. Now, I'm sure that our audience couldn't really give a hoot about what's coming next but having listened to some of the gig videos, it sounds like we're completely uncoordinated as the guitars start, then stop, and then the band starts. Widdling the riff inbetween tunes should be punishable by death IMHO.

Thanks Nick, very kind of you to say, and likewise!

Well, I can play it, I just don't play slap very often cos until now it's not really been an issue. Maybe one song in the set every so often, or a cheeky slapped disco fill every now and again if I think I can get away with it. Amusingly this is the first time I've had to learn a tune by ear instead of reading a transcription - I found one for one of the tunes, but not the slap one - or even any tab. The one with the part was fine - learned it, played it - job done. Nah, I like it/don't hate it - I'd have been happy to play it and I love the style of music - much more so than just rock covers etc. I reckon I could have done the gig - the idea was to stretch myself out of my comfort zone. I've actually only played in one band as a bass player, nearly 10 years ago now when I was starting out. I currently play in a community orchestra which is great, and have done hundreds if not thousands of gigs as a drummer over the years. I think lesson learned to a) nail the part and b) don't talk yourself down! Still annoyed with myself. Ah well.

Thanks Nick. They did emphasise I was a good fit personality-wise, so hopefully the other chap is a douche (assuming he's not on BC of course) and they decide to revisit it... Yep, I think this was where I went wrong - trying to pre-empt any criticism, which, as it transpired, probably wouldn't have materialised!

Sigh. I think I managed to talk myself out of a gig! I recently went to audition for a band. The stuff they were playing was great - proper hard funk. They gave me two tunes to learn, one of which had a slap bass solo. Now, I can slap but it's never been my main focus. I managed to put together a passable rendition of the solo - not note-perfect, but in keeping with the intent of the song. However, when I met them at the audition, before we started playing I explained I struggled with the solo and said "I'm not really a slap player". Anyway, it all went fine - got one well, played the tunes well - they complimented me on my playing and feel, said the solo was fine, and I left on a high note (not literally, I am a bass player after all...). Got an email back from them saying thanks but no thanks, which concluded "you clearly have great musicianship (timing etc. was spot on) but some of the tunes we want to play have pretty technical slap parts." It sounds like by saying to them I'm not a slap player before we started, I effectively ruled myself out of the gig! I'm quite gutted as they were really nice people and the tunes were brilliant. I'd almost talked myself into buying a Stingray for "when" I got the gig as well! I suppose the moral of the story is learn the part more. I was close, and I can hear the solo in my head, I just couldn't quite execute when it came to it! Anyway, just wanted to share my dejection with my fellow bassists and I'm really jealous of whoever got the gig. Is it petty to hope they're an chocolate starfish and get fired in a couple of weeks? 😈

Yep, I use ours to run 2 IEM feeds and a trad monitor from the auxes. Dead easy and works exactly as you suggest. As Silky suggests each aux can have a different mix, though we haven’t got there yet.