oggiesnr

Either you live with or you tell them (giving them an autotune is as good as telling them anyway). Once you've told them they either accept it, and you then sit down and work out a solution (I was that singer and took a couple of lessons ), or they don't in, which case you have a decision to make, live with it, walk them or walk yourself. Steve

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1340876937' post='1710784'] If the OP is determined to buy new and doesn't yet know enough about guitars to be able to pick out a good one from a range of less good instruments, then IMO the Yamaha would be the safest bet. Has anyone ever come across a duff new Yamaha guitar or bass? [/quote] Fraid so, but only one. Steve

As far as the amp goes then it's "get a new one time", in my experience a bass amp doesn't work very well. As far as a guitar is concerned I would pick a budget and visit the local Cash Converter, fences 'r' us (or local equivilent) and see what they have in your price range (you might also pick up a small combo there at a good price). In all honesty I find guitar (and most other instrument) reccomendations a bit of a pointless exercise, not all guitars (even of the same make and model) are created equal and we all have very different ideas as to how they should play and what they should sound like. Go out and explore and have some fun Steve

[quote name='2wheeler' timestamp='1340699249' post='1708135'] Hello Steve, Great to hear this up-beat update. It sounds like you are going strong. If you feel like hanging around in York after a Wednesday on the market, we can go to the Phoenix Inn jazz jam night. Nick [/quote] Cheers Nick, I'll bear that one n mind. Steve

... but as a double bass player! And great fun it is too! Basically to get out of a rut and play some more music in a group setting I went along to our local group and asked if I could play DB with them. They were receptive to the idea, one of the problems with uke groups is they can get awfully trebly, and the unamplified DB they felt would work so along I went. So there I am suddenly faced with chord charts and a great variety of different music. Last night we did "Maggie May", "Mrs Robinson", "Ever Fallen in Love With Someone", "Love Potion #9", the theme from Happy Days, an Ami Winehouse number and a couple of others, all in the space of two hours. So playing on the fly was fun and I've a pile of chord charts to work through. The other challenge is that a lot of the music is adjusted to optimise on the uke so it's a lot of C, Dm, Am, F, so being inventive so that the basslines don't end up sounding too similar is part of it (and as uke groups have their own flavour I can't just lift the original ones ). So that's a morris team and a Uke group, all I need next is some jazz. Happy times. Steve

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1340624018' post='1707079'] Music shops - frequently useless and overpriced [i]Online shops - take your money and make you wait[/i] [/quote] Yup, that's because a lot of them don't actually stockhold that much but use your money to buy it from their supplier. It's also why they can afford to discount because they've not got lots of their own money tied up in stock. Doesn't apply to all of them but there are a lot like that out there (in many fields). Steve

I don't make mistakes, I play variations, often a different one each time through. Perfection is over-rated Steve

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1340528911' post='1705548'] Unless you are a major band looking to shift serious units, I really can't see what the fuss is about. Just dont list the covers on the sleeve if you like to worry about stuff. You wont be going to prison (unless there's something else i dont know about). [/quote] Nope you just roll the dice and hope that no-one notices, if they do then it gets a lot more expensive than getting the clearances in the first place. Steve

First define your blues Personally I would start with the older music (Johnson, Memphis Millie, Dixon et al) and work forward from the Delta to Muddy Waters, BB King etc and the urban blues and "race" records and then stop. Then have another listen to what the blues was and think about how to apply bass lines to it (and maybe detour into early country-blues or even Sun recordings and early rock n roll) and have another think and a play. Once you hit the "blues revival" and The Yardbirds etc you're into modern interpretations, fine if you want to copy them but IMHO it's much more interesting to listen to the music and put your own spin on it and for that you need to listen to the originals. Steve

Don't forget the humble washboard to which you can add all manner of 'bangy' stuff and still hold it and walk around and pose. Steve

If you can find a copy then "Drum Machine Rhythm Dictionary" by Sandy Feldstein is a great book. Basically gives you drum settings for umpteen different styles fron Rock to Tango Waltz and whilst written for the Roland drum machine is portable to any. I use it in conjunction with Hydrogen (freeware) for making backing tracks. Steve

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1340217674' post='1701318'] Really...?? its sounds like you have some pretty awful bands then around there then. There is a good sound and good sound, but not hearing the vox and words doesn't even qualify .. There are planty of things that can make up amateur hour but this isn't even 1st bass... 1st rule..get vox/PA sorted... get that wrong and it is all over before you even start. [/quote] It's horribly common and I run into all over the place and not just with pub bands and not just at festivals (where there might be a partial excuse). I've paid good money to see bands where I've filled in the words from memory (Todd Rundgren, Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention, The Nice (reunion tour), Johnny Winter to name but a very few). Steve

Probably half of the bands I've seen in the last couple of years have been too loud and drum and bass dominated (including a Johnny Winter's gig where you couldn't hear him for the bass) and distorted vocals. The most common comment from bands when this is pointed out to them is "It's rock mate, what do you expect?". There's one local band who are cheap but only ever booked for a pub once, a deaf man could tell which pub they're playing in by the stream of punters leaving halfway through their first number! If you have a musical friend with decent ears take them to a gig and get them to listen and critique your sound. Can they hear every instrument? Can they hear the words? What are the audience saying/doing or leaving? From there you should be able to start working on a decent balance and sound level. One pub band I was in used to ask after the first number "Hi folks, everything OK out there, can you hear us clearly?" or a similar line. If the landlord said "I can't hear to take orders!" we knew to dial it back! Steve

Not really a solo but the outro on the extended version of "Freebird" (three solos for the price of one?) gets me every time, sublime. For a solo hook then (I know it's old and cliched) but they don't come much better than "Layla" Steve

Ask the opinion of your band mates before you paint yourself into a corner which ends up with them deciding that you should be the one to leace. Steve

If you have not aleady done I suggest that you as a band need to sort out who has written what of your originals and get that agreed in writing before you start recording them. This will save considerably more hassle down the line should lightning strike and one of your songs be picked up either by radio or another artist and become worth real money. Steve

[quote name='ChrisF' timestamp='1339448570' post='1688772'] Just when I had resigned myself to getting a Thomann.... DBs seem to be coming out of nowhere. Is a Stentor 2 any good ?? oh...after a trawl through this site it looks like the answer is no....ah well [/quote] Depends on whether the set up etc has already been done. Also remember that not all DBs are created equal, you can be surprised at how good a cheap bass can be. I bought a plywood Antoni via this forum and it's fine and cost all of £250. Don't despair just keep looking. Steve

Take out the amount you are prepared to pay in readies and go and hit some shops. When you find one that you [i]really[/i] like that is in your price range, buy it. Do not be tempted to keep going cos if you do you'll never buy one. If you have a guitar playing friend take them with you and get them to play any that you're considering so you can stand and hear what an audience will hear, may be very different to what you heard when you were playing. Also, not all guitars of the same model are created equal. I nearly bought an Avalon I really liked but was a few quid short so didn't, couple of weeks later I went back with the readies, the one I tried had gone but they had another of the same model, it stank! Steve

[quote name='paulconnolly' timestamp='1339369813' post='1687679'] You have to remember a British festival is all about finding a big field and removing the punters from their money. They're not about providing a good musical experience. [/quote] +1 Not just the punters, the traders are also in line to be fleeced (voice of bitter experience). Steve

The real problem is the location of Donnington Park, the road for that last few miles has never been able to cope with an event of any size, for the Superbikes the queue usually starts ten miles down the M1. It's also why there was much hollow laughter when a contract was signed to move the British F1 Grand Prix there, it was a non-starter from the get go. Any bad weather just makes the whole thing a lot worse. Mind you it's not just Donnington, try getting out of Knebworth after a big gig. Steve

I'm the sole vote for a resonator. My logic is totally skewed but it's the one type of guitar I've never played even though I love the sound. So if I can only have one I might as well try something new At the moment I have three guitars. My original one which is an Epiphone FR-15 acoustic from the late 1970's, super low action and crisp sound, a Tanglewood twelve string with a piezo (not bad but I prefer to use a mike rather than the piezo) and a chinese resin back Ovation copy which I got for a song at a trade show. It's my "it doesn't matter if it gets wet, beer spilt etc" guitar which actually has a decent acoustic sound. The piezo is a waste of time but I only use it really as a pub guitar so it tends not to get plugged in. Steve

I bought a secondhand Antoria EB-3 copy for £25 and a Lachenal Concertina for £70. The latter got stolen some years ago but would now cost about £1500, the former I still have and is worth b******r all Steve

If you don't go to the store (or just go to look and try and then buy on-line) then eventually the store won't be there or will go to selling stuff that people will buy in store (like ukes). Not a problem so long as you actually know exactly what you want to buy but what if you don't? If you actually want to compare some basses where will you go? Likewise if the online selling regs get the p**s taken out of them then that outlet will start to dry up (or if you get a reputation they'll refuse to deal with you). A point to remember is that when you place the order for your super bass, the online shop may not actually have it in stock. They'll take your money and use that to buy it and ship it to you on receipt, they have no money tied up which is why they can offer you the discount which the physical shop can't, it's also why what arrives may not be perfect because they will just ship what they get. How do I know this? I used to sell kites (big ones with price tags in the hundreds), I got fed up with demoing kites which then got bought online that I stopped selling them, so did almost every other kite shop in the UK. There is now less than a quarter of the shops there were a dozen years ago and all the smaller manufacturers have gone, it's Far Eastor nowt pretty well these days. Hate for that to happen in basses. Steve

Agree with much of what has been said, I would add - listen to a lot of different basslines from different genres critically, "what are they doing? what is the band doing? why does this work? why does this sound odd?" It all adds to the palette of ideas that you can draw on (note - not copy) when you write your own. I've noticed that since I got my DB and started listening to more jazz and rockabilly, my basslines have changed even though what I'm playing is mainly folk based. Steve

If, as a band, you are going to promote your own gigs then you have to do it in a professional manner which includes having reliable people on the doors, controlling the money etc and the hundred and one other things that a promoter [i]should[/i] do (but many don't). I suppose it comes down to how you see your band and how you approach playing your music. If it's a hobby then fine, hobbies have costs and if you want to pay to play before an audience then that's part of the cost of your hobby. If you don't mind some else making money off you playing that's also fine. At the other end of the spectrum, it's the Music [i]Business. [/i]Highly important that word "business", it means that you have to watch alll aspects of what you do and hopefully make money at the end of the day. Without the business there is no music. I could make a case for a "pay to play" gig, just. But I couldn't make a case for doing many of them and part of the business aspect of it is I would want to be very sure that there was a payback that justified it. Show of Hands are probably one of the most successful and business like acts on the folk scene (OK don't switch off at the F word). This article is getting a bit long in the tooth now but the fact that they are still going 15 years later may be a reccomendation. Anyway it's about their approach to the business side of the music biz (and some other stuff as well) [url="http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/inart383a.htm"]http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/inart383a.htm[/url] Steve