KevB

I'd forgotten that the P bass actually predates the strat a bit, thought they came out about same time. Not much of an instrument historian

Girls in their late teens? They will soon get bored of it and move on to something else. FWIW the one reservation I had about joining my latest band was the name - Rapture. Lots of bands with similar names knocking about though fortunately none of them local. It woud have been worse if their name had the extra word after Til Dawn, the inclusion of 'Awake' before lessens the impact somewhat but I can see you dilemma. Convince them they will get a lot of people turning up to their shows thinking it's you, get pissed off and give them bad reviews as a result.

Wedding at [url="http://www.lustyglaze.co.uk/corporate/"]lusty glaze beach[/url] in Newquay. Only way to get gear from car park to venue is one hundred and thirty odd deep concrete steps. Takes each band member about 5 trips to get all gear down they are too narrow to haul a lot in one go. Then do it all again at end of night after driving there on same day. Then band leader insists on us all going out clubbing after and finally get to bed at 5am next morning. Never ever again unless they provide roadies or sherpas.

[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1465287136' post='3066710'] Not to mention the world's best bar band - Blue will know! [/quote] Only if they play a minimum of 4 hours with a couple of short breaks.

The other pet peeve of rehearsal rooms is wasting the first 20 minutes of a 2 hour slot working out which combination of mic leads/desk channels provided actually work properly. When you demonstrate it to them they go 'Oh yeah, we have that down to get repaired next week'. Next week never seems to materialise.

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1465126951' post='3065440'] How many times must BB King have played 'The Thrill Has Gone'? He always, to the end, made it sound like he meant it. It's probably a rare skill. I don't think I have it, but I'm working on it! [/quote] It's a very valid point. If you put yourself about a bit and don't keep going back to the same venue too often then there is a good chance a fair proportion of the audience that night won't have heard you playing the set before so it's down to you to make it as good as it was when it was all fresh and shiny in the set. With the new band I've joined they are still effectively waiting for me to get fully integrated into the set before freshening up with new material (just done my third gig with them) but we already have four potential new covers to work on once we get a break in the schedule to get in a rehearsal room. We only have 1 gig this coming weekend so chances are we will get a session in next week and primarily work on (i) vocal harmonies on some of the existing set and (ii) what we can do with the 4 potential new ones.

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1323127974' post='1459734'] Having worked, in the late 80s, with many bands from the [i]Glam[/i] era, I came across BC's Sweet many times and got to know the lads a little. I have to be honest and say that watching BC on stage was not a pleasant experience. He was clearly not well. [/quote] Brian's version of Sweet (along with Les Gray's vs of Mud, as others have mentioned) were already doing the Uni xmas party circuit in the early 80's and he didn't look quite right even then, sad to see indeed. Because of their respective ailments didn't the two refer to each other as 'Shaky n Flaky' ? Even in their charting heyday you only had to flip a single over and catch a b-side to realise that there was more to them than the Chinnichap hits.

Loving the Lynott cow there. Are you incurring the 'wrath of Blue' by playing for nowt? This is only about 10 miles from me, I'm getting very tempted to abandon a few sheduled house jobs and pop over for a bit. Edit - quick follow up, I did get over and caught most of Rick's set and very enjoyable it was too. Interesting setting with a band knocking out Lizzy classics a few yards away from a sheep shearing demo. Didn't have much time to chat but had a quick word with Rick on my way out, another basschat connection made.

Just caught up with this, think they should have stuck with Midge Ure he sounds knowledgeable and personable and comes across well on TV. Never been a fan of Peter Hook so not sure if I will watch the next one. As others have said the strongest 2 bands were picked, realistically I don't think any of the others would have any complaints being edged out. Of the rest I'd go see the Irish all-girl band doing their take on well known songs, was something a bit different.

More enjoyable gig last night to a more responsive crowd. A bit less money (for those avid readers of the interminable 'playing gigs for nowt' thread ) compared with the previous night but much more local so lower travel expenses, I guess it all evens out.Only 3rd gig with new band but it's starting to gel I think, singer has already commented that my bass is more of a driving presence in the sound compared to the others they have had. Slightly nervous moment when another bassist showed up on one of his non gigging nights. Very good and hugely experienced player so felt a bit under the microscope. He stayed the full 2 sets (I've seen him walk out on bands I've been watching myself in the past) and he was complimentary about the band when I chatted to him afterwards. Good feedback from other punters too. Only downside was I 'lost' my car keys, must have come out of my pocket as I wrestled my wallet out at the half time interval, gasping for a drink (it had turned warmer and more humid during the day yesterday, warm gig). No one at the bar had anything handed in, all my gear needing to be packed away. The drummer offered to drive me home to pick up my spare set of keys and suddenly hey presto someone who had come to see the band found them in bushes at the back of the pub, no way I lost them out there. I think someone had picked them up maybe with intent on coming back to take the car later and panicked or just for the hell of it threw them away. All a bit bizarre but it delayed me packing up by over half an hour, not what you want after a couple of sets requiring a bit of concentration. Enjoyable gig all round though, would play there again if they rebook us.

Slightly odd one last night. We played better as a band than last weekend but didn't get as good a response from the audience. However this was a WMC type venue and the set is pretty genre specific so it's always a bit of a lottery as to how you go down. There were a couple of ageing rockers at the bar loving it though Booking via an agent so you have to trust them that they think you are a good fit for the venue and it was a good fee. Playing again tonight so it's onward and upward.

I'd keep the paintwork but that string mute would come straight off

Yes I've switched bands a few times and the level of care and attention varies massively. Changes of clothing stuffed into Asda poly bags, leads in disarray. Now my flight case full of leads etc does look a bit of a mess but I know where everything is and I can set it all up (given appropriate space) in minutes. It's continually falling over discarded boxes and drum covers that wears you down. The new band seem pretty sharp though, if anything they have been waiting for me before launching into the next song which is a rarity. I've just had a text from singer giving me the exact address of the venue we are playing tomorrow, when they are turning up for load in and precisely what the payment details are. Breath of fresh air after the last lot.

If I have basses that are significantly different outputs I just set vol on quietest to max then back off the vol on the others to match it. I've even put a tiny marker pen mark on the scratchplate so I can immediately get the correct vol and then don't move it. It's only a minor correction and doesn't seem to affect tone at all, these are passive basses though.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1464790465' post='3062574'] thin lizzy without phil to me isn't thin lizzy. [/quote] I think privately they felt the same, so when they eventually started writing new material they changed to Black Star Riders.

There's watts and then there's trace elliot watts. They seem to get them from a different supplier....

I tend to go off doing other stuff more when I'm between bands and can get horribly rusty as a result, the odd jam session here and there to keep my hand in but very little serious playing time at home until I'm learning a new set.

On the plus side it's only the other bands on the island you will have to compete with, can't see many looking to ferry it across from mainland for £120!

Do you get more opportunities to play in the tourist season though (ie midweeks as well as weekends) or is it just fri/sat still? If a venue was putting on 3 or 4 acts a week in the season with a limited budget they would probably have to offer low rates.

Did it at a jam session once but I was also singing the Roy Orbison/Tom Petty bits so it was fine for me to keep the bassline as simple as it is on the recording.

Kind words as ever 'shell, glad you enjoyed it, Still work to do on my part but the other band members are excellent so it's a great basis to work from.

If you are looking at functions (weddings, 'big' birthdays etc) completely from scratch it might be better to get on an agent's books until you have gained some reputation. You will still need some degree of web presence to do that and you will probably have to do some pub gigs for the agent to look you over anyway so look to your local area for decent music friendly pubs. Might have to do the odd freebie or reduced rate gig to prove yourselves, its a risk for the LL too remember. Stick at it, lots of gigs don't just happen overnight and you have to put almost as much work into getting them as actually producing the product itself in the rehearsal room, this where a lot of bands fall down.

Inaugral gig with new band yesterday, technically I guess it was afternoon rather than last night, 4pm-6pm slot with a break, did about 2x50 min or so, enough for that type of gig and style of music (mostly 80's classic rock). Pub looked a bit quiet (sun was shining, folks have better stuff to do on Sundays) initially but then filled up a bit closer to showtime, drummer invited a few mates and family which swelled the ranks. Our very own Seashell made it up from the west midlands which was great and in the end the crowd seemed to like it. I wasn't impressed with my own performance, I knew I was under rehearsed but the original deal was I would come in to dep gigs the main bassist couldnt do and I'd be starting late June or early July. Then a couple of weeks ago the bass player quit and didn't work any notice period so I've had to step in early.to avoid them cancelling too many gigs. Still got some positive feedback and the landlady immediately got the diary out to rebook us so it can't have been that horrendous.

Yes I slavishly get it note for note with all the correct accents and micro nuances. Then I think 'Bollocks to that' and work out something I can actually produce reasonably consistently in a live situation.

Yes I think that pretty much sums it up, early P's had that single coil job. I think the humbucker vs was favoured for a while by country bands looking for a thud to match the bass drum. I've tried both in shops, maybe one was the Squier version, but never been tempted to buy.