peteb

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...

I think that people tend to forget that he produced and played on the third best selling album of all time! One of the most impressive things that I have ever heard was a solo’d edit of Todd playing the motorcycle noises and one of the most memorable solos of all time on the ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ title track, all in one pass, first take and without the slightest hint of a fluffed note – an outstanding feat of musicianship…

Perhaps this is a good starting point – Bryan Beller explaining how to listen for frequencies in your bass tone to get the sound you want thru your monitors: [url="http://www.bassplayer.com/article/monitors-in-metal--cleaning-up-the-low-end/4996"]http://www.bassplayer.com/article/monitors-in-metal--cleaning-up-the-low-end/4996[/url] He is talking here about monitors, but you can easily use this information for sorting out the sound coming out of your cab. Also, he is only discussing the bottom end of your sound, but that is often where there are the most difficulties…

I would personally go for the Xotic and keep the £1.5k change for a bit of travelling! Best out of all the jazz type basses I've ever played...

When political correctness goes wrong...

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1373439810' post='2137506'] Thats a bit harsh. I just finished reading Bon Scotts biography and after Mark Evans was sacked , they brought Cliff Williams in because he was a better player.More technically minded and experienced. I think its just the music that calls for easy bass lines. At the end of the day, I would gladly thump out those lines to make as much dosh as them! [/quote] Not knocking AC/DC at all - one of the all time classic rock and roll bands! But, having played a few of their songs, the bass lines are very easy to play! Sometimes that's all that is needed...

Play in an AC/DC tribute band...

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1373192024' post='2134453'] Fender got a lot right but what he [i]really[/i] got right was to invent a way of making musical instruments on an assembly line. The method of production largely dictated the form. He made many good decisions (pickup placement was one of the best) but he was also lucky that the competition at the time missed a trick by not adapting their brands and adopting his manufacturing methods. I guess they're all on the assembly line method now but they gave Fender such a lead that he became uncatchable. [/quote] [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1373201079' post='2134590'] By debating all the good/bad points of fenders compared to other brands, this topic seems to missing the most important factor of all - iconic status. THAT is surely the reason that fenders are so popular? There are all sorts of iconic products - want a luxury motor car, then get a Rolls Royce. Want a good MP3 player, then get an iPod. Want a good watch, get a Rolex. Etc, etc. All iconic products have their good points and bad points and all have their competitors, many of which will be better in some respects than the icon in question. But none of them are the iconic products they aim to compete with. Yes, a Lexus is a fine motor car, but it's not a Rolls Royce. I'm sure Sony make some good MP3 players, but they are nowhere near as cool as an iPod. Omega make perfectly good watches, but they're not in the same league as an iconic Rolex. So If you want a bass then you can be sure that a Fender will not only do the job demanded of it - as proved by countless musicians over decades of live and recorded music - but you can also be confident that it will be widely accepted as the 'right' choice and will never be asked "what's that then?" when you open the case. Of course there will always be people who choose to avoid iconic products (and iconic music come to that) for all sorts of valid reasons, but they will never detract from Fender's iconic status. Indeed, they may help to enhance it. [/quote] I think that these two posts pretty much sum up (respectively) what Fender really did get right and the reason why a lot of top gigging players use Fenders...

[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1373232737' post='2135199'] Hopefully he's free of all that now Mr Machine.... should I tell him or will you? [/quote] Tell me what exactly? As I understand it, the dude has got AIDS. Not exactly a condition that can be cured by a doctor giving you a prescription, although these days it can be managed by drugs & a healthy lifestyle, etc... http://m.classicrockmagazine.com/news/andy-fraser-how-i-got-aids-and-how-i-survive/

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1373209923' post='2134719'] Hopefully he's free of all that now [/quote] I'm afraid that you can never be free of AIDS - hopefully he is managing it as well as possible...

[quote name='Donnyboy' timestamp='1373195736' post='2134511'] Did Andy have to deny reports that he was dead a few years ago? [/quote] He was extremely ill at one point and still has serious health issues...

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1373019975' post='2132815'] No I've only done a couple of such things but in both cases the conversation with the engineer was "hey, you got a DI on your amp" "yes" "cheers". It beats me why anyone would prefer to take a raw instrument feed that needs EQing and compressing when they can just take the amp feed. Whatever next, are they going to take a midi out from the keyboard because they want them to all sound the same - it just defies all logic. [/quote] It just saves a bit of time and effort on their part as they will use the same EQ & compression as they did for the last bass player. If you are lucky, there are a some engineers doing these gigs who will ask if you want a post DI out of your amp but unfortunately not all by any means...

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1373015744' post='2132729'] your amp have a "post" DI ? if not then get one that does. Also try to get "your sound" such that is not overly dependent on your specific speaker cab (i.e. use one with a flat-ish response) because engineers don't like miking up bass due to it being more difficult to control bleed at low frequencies. -- edit -- Another option is buy yourself a DI box than take a signal directly from your amps speaker output e.g. [url="http://www.andertons.co.uk/pa-outboard/pid10282/cid624/img-stage-line-dib100-passive-di-box.asp?LGWCODE=10282;56375;2717&utm_source=googlebase&utm_term=241140&utm_medium=pricecomp&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=CNfet4-FmLgCFYW23godwWoAFw"]http://www.andertons...CFYW23godwWoAFw[/url] [/quote] I am guessing that you probably have not played too many of these types of gigs? The problem is that many sound engineers that these gigs do not want to have to deal with loads of different bass sounds, not to mention varying quality amp DIs, so they will take a (pre) DI straight from the instrument. The better guys will be more confident of taking a post DI out of the back of your amp and quickly getting a better representation of your sound. If they can be bothered! Of course, they will ensure that the headline band will get their full attention and the best sound (both on & FOH) that they can achieve! But then again, presumably most of the punters have paid their money to see the band at the top of the bill…

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1372986586' post='2132591'] Thanks for the heads-up guys. I'm on the British Stage this year. I'll be on the look out for problems. [/quote] Who are you playing for? I'm playing on the trail on the Friday...