peteb

Peter "Mars" Cowling (bass player for Pat Travers back in the 70s) was certainly an inspiration for me!

Will drop you an email later on but can you give me an idea of the dates in October? Also, don’t suppose that you can say who is involved in the band (just out of curiosity – I’m kinda local so I might know them or have played on the same bill as them, etc)??

Friday night bump to say that other (local) bands appearing will be The Hookas and the Groove-a-matics...!

I remember speaking to Phil Nixon from Bass Gear a couple of years ago about Fodera basses. I mentioned that I would never buy one but had to admit that the best bass I had ever played was a Fodera. He said that many people had told him that they thought Foderas were unjustifiably expensive and a waste of money! Phil then got them to actually play one and said that on several occasions the same people would come back a couple of months later, having borrowed money and / or sold every bass that they had, and put in an order for a Fodera. It is not so much the sound of these types of basses, as you can put a top range preamp or new pickups into a Fender for a couple of hundred quid. It is more about the playability, rigidity, feel and attention to detail. You will not get things like a quarter-sawn neck and a flatter radius fingerboard on a standard Fender, yet alone a Squier! If you think of the most challenging thing that you have to play on your Squier and then pick up a Fodera, you will find that it suddenly seems relatively effortless. It will not turn you in a top player overnight but it will make everything seem a lot easier… I still would not play £6k for one, but some people will and it is not just because of vanity or snob value…!

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1377272841' post='2185707'] ... and very much more replaceable without hassling and insurance company [/quote] TBH – I don’t think that is the reason at all…

[quote name='Jellyfish' timestamp='1377250641' post='2185244'] Then why do professionals use Fodera's? [/quote] To be fair, I think that most pros play Fenders these days (at least in public)! This is (obviously) not because Fender make better basses than Fodera, but because they are in fashion at the moment and will help to get better gigs…

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1377112853' post='2183594'] Make sure you know all you need to know about Laney. Hear it a loud volume if you can as there are certainly better cabs out there. I'd say the same about Ashdown as well as a few others. Try them all that you'll consider at volume, is what I'm trying to say [/quote] Wise words – if I were you I would certainly go down the second hand Hartke route rather than Laney! If you find that you can get a GK or an old Eden cab within your budget then so much the better…

I am playing with Rhythm Zoo at the Tyne Bar in Newcastle on Saturday, if anyone here from the Geordie Delta fancies a pint or two and is partial a bit of blues rock. Great gig last time we played there and should be even better this time with our new and guitar player. We even have a warm up gig the night before at the Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival in Colne! Come and say hi if you can make it down there…

I've been using Ken Smith Masters recently - stainless steel, nice & bright, good 'tension' and last a fair while. IMO they sound as good as DRs and other more expensive brands but only cost £20 a set!

Now that I have had the album a while, I would say that it is a bit like a Richie Kotzen album with Billy and Portnoy playing on it (nothing wrong with that with me) and maybe a song or two too long. But when it is good, it’s very very good! Just come across this clip of the encore of the final show in South America – not the greatest quality but a terrific performance… [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAsOJKEhgyM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAsOJKEhgyM[/url]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1376047324' post='2168970'] I'm not sure. When I auditioned for the last two bands they had already auditioned several bass players. Neither band were in a position to 'help' beginners, they needed someone to learn 30/40 songs in two weeks and play confidently in front of a few hundred people. Do you need a beginner, intermediate or advanced player for that? [/quote] It sounds like they really need someone who can learn 30/40 songs in two weeks and play confidently in front of a few hundred people! Whether they need an 'advanced' player will depend on how technically difficult the songs are to play, but they will need someone good enough to cover the gig and be a 'good fit' for their band...

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1376047090' post='2168964'] Is he at the wrong gig? [/quote] Not at all, he has been on lots of the right gigs! Watch the video...

A mate of mine (a very good drummer himself) put this clip up on Facebook with the comment "I've always said people should stop whining and get on with life. Dean Zimmer, you rule!" I couldn’t agree more – f**kin awesome… [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thm5QitqFPY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thm5QitqFPY[/url]

I would suggest that you can judge your level by the quality of the musicians who want to play with you! If you have been gigging for 5 years and the bands you play with are pretty capable and if you have a good enough ear to nail all the parts that you need to, then you must be pretty 'good'. Of course the term 'good' covers a huge range of abilities, but the important thing is that you are capable enough to hold a gig down in a decent band. Of course, if you can't read you won't get a gig in an orchestra pit or a cruise ship (or any other reading gig) and you really should have a working knowledge of basic music theory, but might find that you already do know more than you think but don't realise it...

Do not underestimate power of the ‘Fender made in USA” transfer on the headstock – IME many people (bandleaders, producers, even certain members of the audience) just feel reassured if you bring a bass with such a sticker on the pointy end…!

I can definitely do the 22nd, not sure about the 8th. I would suggest a Sunday afternoon pint in Leeds city centre first then discuss if anyone wants to follow up with something bigger. Saltaire would be cool as a couple of decent rooms available and next to a train station a couple of stops from Leeds! A few decent boozers nearby as well if you're not driving...

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1375773568' post='2165294'] That's odd, maybe it's just me but I love going to see blues bands play. Don't seem to get enough of them in small clubs and pubs in the NW - unless I'm looking in the wrong places. Maybe you BCers could point me in the right direction? [/quote] There is always BJ's Blues Club in Chorley - I'm playing there on 5th September...!

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1375636589' post='2163733'] Interesting comparison I've heard previously someone who personally loved the sound he was hearing onstage from his Sadowsky but his sound man said his vintage Fender sounded much nicer out front. In that particular case it was possibly that the Sad was brighter and cutting through more on stage but maybe too bright and 'modern' when taken as part of the overall band mix. [/quote] Or it could be that the engineer is used to mixing bands with Fender basses and found that he had to think about what he was doing with the bass for a change, which of course would have meant that he wouldn’t have had sufficient time to concentrate his efforts on getting [b]the[/b] perfect kick drum sound…!

One that comes to mind was about 10 years ago when I was in a band that used to play a lot of biker rallies. A very good band, but essentially just a group of mates who had played together over the years, knocking out rock covers for the hell of it! We did one rally in Scarborough where we were introduced to one guy from Ipswich after the show. He told us that he was going to give this event a miss but he had got a phone call from his mates on the Saturday morning telling him that we were headlining that night (he had seen us before at another rally). So he immediately strapped a tent on his bike and rode all the way from Ipswich to a field just outside Scarborough and paid on the door - just to see us play Van Halen, Pearl Jam & Queen covers, etc! I always thought that was a pretty good complement…

I might be up for a beer if someone proposes a suitable date - maybe a Sunday teatime in the city centre (a couple of decent pubs have bands on and easy to get a train home)...

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1375034418' post='2155996'] We have played loads of more obscure tracks, but they last no more than about four gigs. [/quote]Probably because SD seem to have loads of casual fans like me who love the big songs but never got to grips with the actual albums...

Did you manage to catch Northsyde?? Terrific band with an excellent female vocalist and a really cool bass player too (left handed but plays a 5 string with the strings upside down)! Really nice people as well...