dmccombe7

I like a nice high mid sound to give me that little cut thru a mix in rock bands. The flats are great but they bass always sounds as tho its just "there" and it holds the songs together really well but i struggle to get that bit of edge with them. Dave

I might actually go down that route myself. I like the fact the flats i have on my Sandberg VM4 last for ages but sometimes i would like a bit of zing on the top end. The Cobalt flats also sound interesting. Dave

Thanks for being so honest and open. Its something that i never really thought about. I've always just made the assumption based on myself that its down to not practising hard or long enough. Weird that i think that way as i have come across guitarists that are limited in ability and i just know they literally couldn't practise more to improve. Its was just their limit. Cheers Dave

Obviously i don't know you, so don't take this personally because i haven't seen or heard you play. I don't know what your limiting factor is so I'm just throwing in my own thoughts. I struggle with Jeff Berlin fast lines and probably my limit at the moment is a step down from him. I can take some of his songs and work on them and eventually i will get most of it but i need to put in a lot of work to get there. Its not an overnight thing because i need to strengthen my fingers to maintain the stamina to keep it going. I also needed to change my technique to follow his hand positioning. That all takes time. (Talkng months for me.) On the other hand take someone like Steve Harris from Iron Maiden. Not technically brilliant bass lines but the stamina required to keep that pace for song after song is incredible. There is his 3 finger plucking technique to contend with. I'm curious what the limiting factor is for you. Is it a physical thing, commitment to learning fast songs, or willingness to spend months learning new techniques and building stamina. My limiting factor is I struggle with spending months trying to get faster and increase stamina.I get bored quickly too As i said don't take it personally its just me being curious. 👍 Dave

Oddly enough i've heard early recordings from my early 20's (1980 ish) and i played a lot more ad-lib fills in songs than i would do now but my speed and technique has improved and i can still do those early bass lines at a push. I still get blisters with roundwound strings so that's never changed. I def don't have the ability to ad-lib on the spot these days maybe because i now have a strict rule to play a cover song as near the original as possible and if the band permits i may add some additional fills. Dave

I've been married 435 times now.

I usually start off by listening to the song a few times and playing along with it to get the right feel of the song. Then i take a section at a time and just work away on it. Sometimes i have to play it slower and gradually speed things up till i get it just riight. Neil and Jack Bruce were probably my biggest influences in bass in my early days. I find Neil's bass lines come reasonably natural to me but FFYL has always been the stand out bass line for me. Its all the little fills he added that take it away from being a run of the mill line. The man is a genius in my book. The perfect rock bassist. Dave

No probs @Bilbo i'm just looking forward to having a copy again. 👍 Dave

Yep that makes a lot of sense. Few other things have been added by others that also need to be looked at so lot to think about. Out of curiosity are both guitarists into the same music as rest of the the band. ? Dave

First guy was able to get a good sound from studio amp tells me he will be more adaptable and able to cope with disasters better whereas someone who brings their own amp might have a bit of an ego and simply gives up when things go wrong and isn't able to use whatever is available on the night. The nerve thing can go either way. I'm usually a bit nervous before gigs too, but not to the point of shaking. Maybe once he finds the "right band" his nerves will fade. Mine have. The fact he was aware you had someone else to come in after him shows he is thinking of the bigger picture and not just himself. Knowing the band you're in i understand the visual aspect side of it too and No1 brings a visual aspect that No2 doesn't. That's a shame for No2 but that's life in the tribute scene. Assuming both competent guitarists then i'm for the first guy. Guitarists faffing about between songs at rehearsals is my biggest gripe. Drives me up the bloody wall. All the best with the decision and let us know how you all decide. I don't want to come to one of your gigs and find someone looking and sounding completely out of place Dave

Compared to some of the songs on your website @Bilbo i don't think you'll have too many probs with this one. I have every confidence. Dave

Would need to be the original version from the Ready and Willing album. 👍 Dave

No expert in this by any means but i've played songs in different keys from original and something just doesn't work. The song loses something. I've never quite understood why that happens. Dave

Played that in Hot Love 70's tribute band few yrs back. I'd never heard it before then. Dave

Perhaps @Bilbo could do this one for us all Dave

brilliant

Here's the link to original post with few comments from Neil himself. Makes for an interesting read again

Think Neil commented on BC before about it and don't quote me but i'm sure he said he tried to maintain the original album version but he ad-libbed a lot of the fills. Dave

If the audience enjoy it and your having fun playing it then its the right version. Dave

That was the style back then and they were just keeping up with the fashion of the day. Maybe because i'm a Rush fan i'm separating older fashion and styles from just silly looking VID clips from over the years. I just remember when they came out and really liking them Some of the clips of other bands posted on the thread have been quite laughable. Dave

I quite enjoyed the Rush vids in their day.. Dave

Same for me with Seconds Out. Managed to get the music book for the album signed by the full band incl manager and some wives too.

I was annoyed especially when the later version was in a different key and lacked the thing that made the song famous in Neil's bass line. It was the one song i was really looking forward to playing. I think the guitarist struggled with the original as it had a cleaner guitar sound than the metal version. As a band we did struggle with Whitesnake songs from that era. It wasn't that we couldn't play the right notes but the band back then had a specific feel to it. It wasn't just a David Coverdale metal band. We just couldn't capture that bluesy rock feel for some reason and therefore couldn't pull off a decent reproduction of the songs. Neil's bass lines were by far the better ones to play. Dave

Trick of the Tail to Duke was my fav era and Duke was probably the last album i fully enjoyed from Genesis. Met them on the Duke tour at Edinburgh and Glasgow gigs. I was a big fan back then. Seconds Out being one of my fav albums. Dave