sime17

[quote name='merello' timestamp='1346576644' post='1790624'] Watch out mate! You'll either get sued for a third of what you've got or tripled sued by the big three! [/quote] Dammit good point - I could edit but bin quoted twice now tho so in for a penny... Anyway made it thru the night, cold turkey wearing off, I think I'm past the worst of the GAS now as long as JOSE DOESN'T POST A PIC WHEN IT ARRIVES.

There's an old thread about this somewhere IIRC (probably at east one!)

Original post at 3:34pm + deed done by 6:22pm= TART! Nice tho, liking the whole RickenFenderRay melting pot thing, starting to really like the look of the black 5 string. Don't expect a post at 2:20am saying done deal though

The tales of woe and treachery continue. But before this starts to look like nothing more than a mutually self-indulgent bout of collective schaden-fruede (OP - do tell us when this stuff is no longer helping!), maybe we should focus and try and polish this turd of a story into a useful lesson for all. I think this is a start: 1. Initial Excitement: If you get signed - stay level headed, be excited sure, but don't think it's all a done deal and you've made it. 2. Money: keep an eye on what's going out and remember it's being counted by someone. That includes studio and rehearsal room time. Don't accept [i]every[/i] trinket and favour that comes along thinking it's genuinely 'free'. If you do need gear spend carefully on safe-ish buys - spending the advance on that brand new £2000 coffee table instrument that'll depreciate by 50+% as soon as it leaves the shop might come back to bite you. Quite quickly. If the product of the recording works out all the better, if it doesn't you've done what you can to limit the damage. 3. Trust: I may be being naiive or idealistic here (and this is aimed the OP's 'mates') but I'd also say try and stick together as a unit with bandmates who, after all, you've probly known for a while and are more likely to be able to trust(!) - on the other hand be VERY cautious, even cynical, about the motives behind record company bull$hitter$ who may tell you certain band members are boring or their image is wrong. I'm sure others (older/wiser/more experienced) will refine this. BTW apologies for my verbal diahorrea on this thread - no gig tonight - bored!

There you go - we've heard a few more of those stories I was talking about! The most memorable one I'd heard was from a muso aquaintance of a muso mate (who happened to be one of the 'tutors' I was talking about too!) whose gf was in a band that got signed - they got an advance, bought instruments, had 'cosmetic treatments' (teeth etc) and were wined and dined for months whilst recording their meister werke - all the while this was going to their heads and the inevitable prima donna effect meant the meister werke took longer and longer with little 'commercial' product coming out (muchos studio time!!!). The result, they got dropped to cut losses before anything got finished and found out they were in lotsa debt. Nasty business.

Dude, feel the basschat support! From the stories I've heard the path to the golden 'One album, brief notoriety, followed by obscurity' is littered with shallow ambitious little gits who screwed over mates but later found that the cash advances and 'hospitality' they got from the record company was all being carefully totted up by someone. If there's any karma they'll be in debt in a year's time and you won't. Well, as the 'Creme Brulee' guy in the league of gentlemen rightly said - 'it's a $hit business son'. It's a bit like the kids graduating from rock school who turn up to auditions to find half of their tutors are going for it too. Am I too cynical? Maybe. Anyway, I blame Simon Cowell. Not entirely sure why, I just do. Screw em - move on

Blimey - my part time blues band gig are getting £150 to £180 for pub gigs, that's apparently the going rate round our way. It's fascinating seeing how this differs round the country.

Jeesus guys - htf do you guys play bass in a party band and do the mixing desk!? I couldn't do it! Get the lazy friggin guitard or singist to do it. They have natural gaps. In our band we segue nearly the whole set, which seems to work well keeping people up on the floor. Me and the drummer don't stop from the start of a set to the end - I can't even scratch my arse unless it happens to be a bar full of open strings

Ok so it doesn't exactly offer a glowing reference but it doesn't pretend to be a documentary either

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1346244304' post='1786909'] The latest copy of Bass Guitar mag arrived on my mat this morning. A lovely surprise as my subscription ran out about 5 issues ago. Just wish I hadn't gone out and bought it yesterday! [/quote] The same thing happened to me, a copy just arrived out of the blue , only thankfully I hadn't bought one in the shop. I stopped my post subscription a few months back cos there was never enough in it of interest to me to be worth buying. I meant to ring them and send this random copy back but I've been too busy in work to ring (in office hours). However, temptation got the better of me tonight and I opened it for a bit of light wc reading (dads have gotta have a bit of 'me' time) and all too predictably for me: three gear reviews of only mild interest and nowt else. The muso features were a bit like reading a Warwick endorsers list: few I'd heard of and none of interest to me (and sorry, but that's how I feel about a multi-page Jaco feature too, if only because even if I [i]was[/i] interested it's all been written before, or available on the net). Much of the gear reviewed was 'coffee table' and/or ridiculously expensive and therefore didn't speak to me Fair dos, I know it can't be easy to find content that appeals to all, we're a small but diverse bunch us bass players and so much really is niche appeal. If they just covered more popular people/gear that I'd like to see then that would be equally uninteresting to many of you guys. Like Owen I remember before the interweb when the monthly bass mag was a genuine excitement but I defo wouldn't subscribe again, there are barely one or two copies a year that I'd be interested in enough to buy.

All of this - PLUS try and watch the film 'Twin Town' before you go - it's kind of like a tourist board video for Swansea Only kidding - brilliant film tho and it's genuinely set and filmed in Swansea so at least it'll get you used to the accent.

[quote name='RichF' timestamp='1346094205' post='1785216'] I can imagine the look on Mark's face when a 5 year old wee Scottish lassie comes in looking for a Take it Away deal on a Wood and Tronics 5. [/quote] Genius! That's it - GAS answered! Now my 7 year old needs a credit rating!

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1345495996' post='1778264'] What a load of old arse. No music in there old son. That's what happens when you spray Lynx on a bluebottle trapped in a sash window. [/quote]

Blimey - just seen the news that Bob Babbitt died last month too. A few of those great Motown basslines we attribute to Jamerson were actually played by this guy - I guess at least he got some real credit during his lifetime, what with the funk brothers movie a few years back, whilst Jamerson died in relative obscurity. Plus Duck a couple of months back. So far - a sad year for the bass family.

Nah - I think he peaked when he was with Paul Young. Only kidding! He's such a tasteful geezer, impeccable dynamics, lovely taste in gear too . Genius. I've never heard of this outfit, this could be 'the acceptable face of jazz' for me, I's gonna google their ass. And sheeit.

I think it looks great mr - visuals are really nice and most importantly you've remembered to include the caveats function bands need - like set up times, power, stage size etc. Set up times are a bugbear of mine -the usual scenario is to turn up at a wedding at the instructed time (or half an hour before) to find that the speeches are over-running and you can't get in. Most clients fully understand that this will knock on your start time too - but in the 1% of times we've had some idiot whinging 'you're supposed to be on now - you wanna get a move on!' it's always been possible to politely point out this clause (it's in our contract as well). The only thing I'd maybe say is to beef up the wording for eg - 'to be set up within an hour (ideally 1 hour 30) of gaining full and unimpeded access' - as having kids doing slides across the floor as you try and get stuff in, or having tanked-up guests sidling up demanding 'a go on your guitar' tends to delay progress! Roger - there's no gig dates cos it's a function band dude - you could put them on but it's bit pointless in an advertising sense as ad hoc punters can hardly invite themselves to someone's private do. We put testimonials on instead as we accumulate them.

Dunno if anyone has seen this, or mentioned it on here yet, but I thought it deserved something. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19280686 Poor sod - I'm not a particular Elton fan but sincerely, these sidemen are unsung heroes in my book. I've noticed this guy and his similarly be-mulleted chums backing EJ on his tv appearances and he just seemed to be doing a damn fine, professional job whilst appearing to still get a real joy from what he's doing. Judging by the comment from the tiara'd one, it appears he agrees: this guy's played for him for twenty years without 'a single bad note'. To be honest I personally can't recall much of the original material from this period, but replicating some fantastic back-catalogue bass parts, whilst singing bv's, impeccably, for twenty years... Well, hats off to you fella! I think such a tragic loss deserves a mention even if it's not your average 'bass hero'. Bob, may you rest in peace.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1344433388' post='1764394'] I'd love a G&L but i just cant get past that fugly headstock. Great tone though so maybe one day...... [/quote] Yay! A fellow headstock-obsessive! Couldn't agree more m'chum - luv the idea of G&L, shame about the headstock... (Y'know when you're on a train and there's only one spare seat, it happens to be next to you, and then the obligatory mental person gets on, sits next to you and starts on a long rant? Well this could go that way.)

[quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1343526701' post='1751773'] Exactly what happened to me [/quote] Exactly the [i]opposite[/i] of what happened to me... and what do we learn from this children? We're all different and you can't just go by others' recommendations or anti-recommendations - if you can, always try out that new gear first. And have I always followed this sound advice myself? Have I f...!

Chris Horton has a v nice Stingray 5 on here for a silly price. Just saying is all. I won't go as far as to quote the Nike marketing department or anything...

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' timestamp='1343211267' post='1746991'] It is incredibly easy and intuitive, you'd have to be pretty thick not to understand it as each button is an on/off pickup switch, it's up to you which one you decided to have on, and what combination, there is only one hidden setting and that is with all the pickup buttons off the bridge h/bucker is in series. And the very last button is an active bypass switch means you double all your combinations in both active or passive. [/quote] ..... ..... Well, I spose my maths teachers were right