thebrig

I'm not worried about it, just a bit surprised by it, lol

Not sure what this has to do me my struggles in finding a band, but I suppose if I owned it, I would be very much in demand.👍😉

I always make it very clear what I'm after in my adverts, but maybe that might work against me because I do favour classic rock and pub rock (Dr Feelgood, Nine below Zero, The Pirates, etc), but I am open to other genres, but because I usually state my preferences, then maybe that might make people think that I'm not genuinely into anything else. As for start ups/new bands? I've spent the past five years trying to get bands together, but unfortunately, I've found that there so many people out there who like responding to ads but have no intention of carrying out what they say to you, and over the years I've noticed that on sites like JMB and BandMix, I seem to see the same people advertising, or responding to my ads over and over again. I agree that I should try networking more in an attempt to meet the right people for me. Cheers.

Thanks, I already feel a bit more positive, it's amazing what this great community can do, I think I got into a bit of a rut having not been in a band for five years, but I'm determined to put a lot of all the great advice into practise.👍

Thanks again for all the sound advice, I've taken everything on board and I'm going to restructure the way I go about finding a band. I'm going to frequent open mic/jam sessions regularly, and I'm going to watch more live bands and get talking to them, not in an attempt to immediately replace their bass player, but to casually let them know that I'm a bass player and enjoy what they play, which might prompt them to ask me if I would be interested in joining them if ever their bass player did leave for whatever reason. I do get see a lot of really good older bands where the members are even older than me, so I know that all is not lost yet, so I will stay positive.👍

I think you are probably right, but I'm referring to replies or responses where they start off "Hey! can I ask how old are you?", which suggests to me that they are probably from younger people who are concerned about the image of the band, which is fair enough if image is important to them, but it does tell me that there's a good chance I won't fit in with that particular band.

Yes, that's usually how I describe myself in adverts, "Mature, Experienced, Bass Player".

Thanks for the compliment Dave, I do think that I look a bit younger in real life than I do in photos and videos, but I'm realistic enough and realise that many people are ageist, and I often get replies on JMB from people asking how old I am? I usually reply, "if you need to know how old I am, then you, or your band is not right for me".

I've always been prepared to travel a fair distance, when I first moved to Bridgnorth ten years ago, I used do nearly a four hour round trip for weekly rehearsals, although I have to admit that as I've got older, I don't enjoy long journeys anymore, especially at night, I would say 45 minutes to an hour each way is about my limit nowadays.

Yes, I regularly check out West Midlands Bands and Musicians and the Telford and Shropshire Musicians one as well, I think I will probably have more of a chance on these than on JMB and BandMix/ Thanks

Thanks Phil, you talk a lot of sense and I will take a lot of it on board. I am open to trying other genres and will give anything a go, providing I can play it adequately of course. For a small market town, Bridgnorth does have a lively music scene but the problem I'm finding is that lots a local musicians are in multiple bands, so if just one local bass player is in three or four different bands, that means that those three or four bands already have a bass player. making it harder for someone like me to find a band.

That's my problem, I can't sing at all.

Yep, I think you are right.

I know these are a bit genre specific being old-school RnB/pub-rock, but would I be better off using these videos as demos? The audio isn't great, but at least they do show me playing in a "live" environment, warts and all. I'm open to playing most styles, but I can't find any live footage of myself playing other genres. Pack, Fair, and Square.mp4 She Does It Right Stupidity mp4.mp4 STUPIDITY live at The George, Bridgnorth August 2019.mp4

Thanks again for the comments, and I have to admit that some of you have confirmed what I have suspected all along, and that is: Age has finally caught up with me and I now look old and tired, which is probably putting people off. My videos are uninspiring, and that sitting down whilst playing isn't helping, but the problem I have is that I don't have much footage of me playing live, and those that I do have are mainly of my last band Stupidity, which specialised in old school pub-rock, which is my favourite genre, I also like classic rock a lot too, but I am open to playing most styles. I did find this video of me at a jam a few years ago, but I have to admit that I was extremely nervous because I had only just learn't the song a couple of hours before the session, so I didn't really know it that well and my playing isn't great. Cowboy Song (Swedes).mp4

Of course, I look on JMB every day and I'm always applying to ads that appeal to me, but quite often they don't even reply, or if they do, they then take days, sometimes weeks to get back to me.

Thanks for all the great advice so far, I really do appreciative it.

Having just read Count Bassy's thread "Facing up to Reality", I can relate to what he's saying big time. Sorry, this is a bit long-winded. Simarlarly, my last proper band played our last gig in December 2019, since then, I have put so much time and effort into trying to find a new band, or form one myself, I've put countless adverts on Join My Band and BandMix, and the amount of timewasters that apply is unbelievable. I've been doing for nearly five years now, and I still haven't found a band, and for this reason, I have just listed two top quality basses in the "For Sale" section because I just can't justify owning them if I'm no longer in a band. In my ads, I describe myself as a solid player who is reliable, happy to learn the songs at home so that I'm fully prepared for gigs and rehearsals, I have good gear and transport, I clearly state the type of music I want to play, and I can provide links to my playing if required. When covid first started, I began recording a few bass covers for a bit of fun and uploading them to the bass covers channel I created on YouTube, and I still keep adding to my channel on a regular basis. The tracks I play along with are either purpose made tracks that contain no bass at all, or are the original tracks with the bass removed using special software, so the bass parts you hear on the recordings are my own, I play through a Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD Audio Interface straight into Reaper. I only took up playing at the age of 55, never had any lessons, I just listen to a song and learn by ear, I know I'm not the greatest bass player around, and I know my level, which is only local pubs etc, but am I that bad a player that no band wants to give me a go? This is the link to my YouTube channel that I usually send to anyone who asks for evidence of my playing, if you think that I'm doing something wrong, please say so because I'm 73 next week and I've decided to call it a day if I still haven't found a band by the New Year. I have no ego whatsoever, so you can be as brutally honest as you wish, I do tend to shy away from the better bands because I lack self-confidence, but the "not so good" bands don't seem to "want me for whatever reason. https://www.youtube.com/@thegeezer284/videos

This! That for me is what sets Lakland apart from the equivalent Fender models.

I've shipped a bass to Northern Ireland on more than one occasion and there's never been any charges, and on all occasions, they arrived at the buyer's address the next day, which has not always been the case when shipping to mainland UK.

Don't tell everyone, Patent your idea.🤐

I'm in Bridgnorth which is about 15 mies from Wolverhampton, I moved here ten years ago from Hertfordshire and I've found the the music scene to be pretty good up this way, although I am struggling to find a band at the moment. It might be worth looking here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/westmidlandsmusicians/