pbasspecial

I've had a comfort strap for over 20 years. Used to play a 1980 fender precision special. Great tone but weighed a ton. Can't recommend the strap enough.

I thought she was fascinating. Very intelligent, super experienced yet very humble.

This and their new singer is just fantastic too!

'Oh, it's a lot harder than it looks says guitarist'

Thanks. It was tough because I wanted to go all in with the issues but I knew that would turn into a slanging match quite quickly and then the band is dead in the water. Tried to gently go from easy to more difficult subjects to gauge reactions and hopefully get approval for change. Drummer seemed receptive. Singer was just too cool for school and has the mental loop going round where he thinks his is the only opinion that matters. Shame because he can be fun and a nice guy but realise the longer I stay in, the more angrier I will be.

Update: Just got back. Had a long evening in the bar where we spent the first hour avoiding the elephant in the room. After this it was brought up. That I wasn't happy and that things were going too slowly and we need more structure, discipline and passion, etc. I tried to keep it as a friendly open forum of ideas and it was quite pleasant but as the evening wore on I could see that the drummer understood my point of view that we need to work harder but the guitarist was becoming unaware of how serious my feelings were/didn't care and that basically I think he is unwilling to change. Happy to point mine and the drummers weak spots but I don't think he realises he is the weakest musician. I had a side conversation with the drummer (who was very reasonable) when he went for a wee about how I think the singer is going backwards and that he doesn't respect us. I left them both having a beer in the garden. I imagine the drummer might mention that it's a lot more serious than he thinks it is. I've got a rehearsal on Tuesday and a gig on Saturday. Will do those. I may even stay in until my holiday (3 weeks time) but I honestly think that I will walk before then because his head is so far up his bum right now he'd have to get a proctologist to brush his teeth.

Think these look great so I took a drive over to PMT to try one out. Really impressed. Think I will push the button on it tomorrow or Saturday.

We are all planning to meet up tonight and discuss this further. To be honest I already have one foot out of the door. Alread planning to downsize my 2 barefaced Supercompact cabs and Markbass head for one of the new Blackstar 500w combo as they are amazing but overkill for my basic needs and leaving me about a grand in my pocket if I sell a couple of pedals too.

And if you fancy a combo, the new Blackstar Unity range is worth a look too

I agree but not when you're 35

This. Myself and an old guitarist were in a 4 piece band with 2 intelligent but flaky individuals (singer and drummer). We used to rehearse in their house but they were always late for rehearsals. Upstairs fannying about/power play. After a year of this nonsense the guitarist and I quit, set up our own band. Within 2 weeks I found our drummer at a New Year's Eve gig playing in a top function band. He just recently played 3 sell out nights at the Royal Albert Hall with Steven Wilson and a singer who was an understudy in the West End playing a young Elvis. We rehearsed like crazy and our first gig (3 months later) was on a TV show and we signed management contracts and later an independent record deal to record singles with Dave Allen (cure's producer) in a top studio. Unfortunately in the end it never happened for lots of different reasons but it goes to show that when everybody is 'committed, focused and driven' anything is possible. This is why amateur bands with amateur attitudes frustrate me so much.

Pretty much every guitarist has their amp way too loud. I'm not sure it's for tone, I think it's for dominance as they believe they are the Silverback of the group. The problem is too much mid and treble are really piercing and very unpleasant.

Forgive my ignorance but wouldn't the sound waves bounce back off the plexi and possibly create some kind of phasing issue?

Sorry, I meant he replied by whatsapp (text). He always reads the messages but is always the last to respond hoping someone else will cancel the said thing so he doesn't get the blame. Personally I think he probably feels it's all down to him but it's really 60/40 in the singers favour. He should have stepped up in the role of bandleader but has chosen the path of least resistance.

Latest update: Finally got a text from the drummer - 'where and what time?' Wow. Thanks for acknowledging the seriousness of the situation!

Update: I think we are going to meet up to discuss this on Thursday. Interestingly, still acknowledgement from the drummer. Think he's either letting the singer do the mediation or too scared/putting his head in the sand?

MarkBass through a barefaced cab is a winning combination

I do find it interesting that the word 'professional' keeps coming up. I should have heard the alarm bells when almost 20 years ago my solicitor said to me that I should go in to band management. I eventually did. It was a compliment but should have seen the other side of the coin that most musicians aren't. That is what I find most frustrating. If I agree to do something, I will. I expect others to do the same. However, for the majority of other people it's just lip service.