peteb

I've got a Mesa m-pulse hybrid, which I think stands up to any all valve amp I've played thru [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1330527804' post='1558882'] Depends who was carrying it and depends on the stage set. I liked big valve heads when I had the good fortune to plug into them and they worked very well straight off. I am of the opinion that with Ampegs, for example, you need to be able to do this or you are in EQ hell, as there is not a lot you can do to change it. For me, IME, it is what it is. The EQ issue is also lessened by the fact that side fills or monitors will do a lot of work anyway, so the problem with the amp not working so well for you is disapated If I wanted a grindey sound, then a valve pre is ok.. but to get around the EQ side, I'd want a semi 4 band parametric stage and to my knowledge, you are then looking at SWR SM or Eden amps. There may be others, but not that I've tried. I've since gone with SS with valve simulations but find myself not even wanting to use that now. [/quote] The m-pulse has a 5 band parametric

Just bought a Mad Professor Blueberry Bass Overdrive pedal from Mark - no problems at all, pedal well packaged with a nice note inside, which was a nice touch! Recommended......

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1330178718' post='1553767'] and I forgot...one or two of these bands, can't play for toffee, and I mean T.O.F.F.E.E, but one of them broke the attendance record of the year for one local pub. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but I know their set and performance made my eyes water... ... [/quote] There is a band round here like that - can't play to save their lives but nice guys who can mobilize lots of friends and family to pack out a couple of biggish local gigs in their part of town Local landlords love 'em as they will always sell a lot of beer, even if it is generally acknowledged that they aren't any good, but I don't think that they would want too many other bands like that otherwise they would drive a way their regulars who turn out to see better bands Of curse this band only play regularly at these two venues as if they play out further away or even the other side of town they NEVER get rebooked!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1330112896' post='1553053'] No meant are they "not good" in just a musical sense, or "not good" at entertaining the audience. [/quote] Sorry, couldn't resist an attempt at humour there! Bands can be good in different ways - if they are good musically or if they are good entertainers then they deserve to get an audience and probably will do so at pub rock level If they can do both..... then even better - but the worse thing that a band can do is to be boring (doesn't matter how good the playing is if a band is boring)!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1330106262' post='1552940'] When you say "not very good" in what sense do you mean? [/quote] I know he's beating around the bush a bit but I think what he means is that the bands in question are actually 'not very good', i.e. rubbish as opposed to being 'good'.......

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1330030927' post='1551867'] One analogy that does work is the Sky one. Pubs seem to be happy to pay up to £13k a year for footie! [/quote] Not any more they don't! At one time every pub had the footy on with a full pub watching but a mixture of the recession meaning that people don't go out as much and Sky pricing pubs out of the market means that you are struggling to find a pub witht he game on around here...........

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1329833508' post='1548091'] A cover band will play what they think the audience wants to hear. A good cover band will play what the audience wants to hear. [/quote] [quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1329844034' post='1548386'] and how do you decipher one collection of people from the next to make them happy? I've seen the dance floor full to" Don't **** bel$~%&*ing", and another club specifically request that we don't play it because everyone there was sick of it! I've seen Great grandmothers request Pink Floyd's Comfortable numb and a biker crowd cheering after a Lady Ga Ga song. No one can claim to have the perfect set of songs. If you get an average of 80% where the crowd are whooping and 20% just clapping, pat yourself on the back. Iv'e been doing covers to bingo audiences, pubs and functions for 31 years. I've seen it all and there is no magic formula with mixed covers. [/quote] [quote name='bigjohn' timestamp='1329846366' post='1548455'] I prefer cover bands that play songs that I want to hear. It's rare. Though hearing an unexpected gem is what going to see a cover band is all about for me. They're usually songs that the audience go "huh? " to. After that I prefer cover bands that play songs they want to play. Don't get me wrong, I respect bands and players that look like they're getting off on playing some of the crap that goes down well with most audiences. But I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw 'em... [/quote] I always think that the ideal approach is to play a set that the band like and that will attract an audience that have broadly similar tastes to the band Obviously you cannot be too obscure and the odd compromise has to be made, but if you can get it right then you will get a following of people who specifically come to see you rather than just playing to the people who happen to be in the pub / venue on a particular night! These people will notice that you are still playing music that they like but is a bit different from the same old tired set list of songs that they used to love but can hear any other band play every other week until they start to get sick of them...........

[quote name='subaudio' timestamp='1329768418' post='1547091'] Not keen on the 1st link, wouldn't call the 2nd link blues but my god I like it ! who are they? [/quote] Mike Keneally - played with both Frank and Dwezil Zappa's band as well as with Steve Vai His bass player (& co-band leader) is Bryan Bellar, who has played with Dwezil Zappa and is currently playing in Steve Vai's band..........

[quote name='kennyrodg' timestamp='1329641169' post='1545055'] Tommy Shannon was the perfect complement for SRV, as was Chris Leyton I guess, the perfect Blues Trio for me. Dirty Pool is one of my favourite Stevie Ray tunes with a lovely bass line to go with it. A stand out as peteb describes. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFsPYyj7mIU[/media] [/quote] Nice one - shows SRV at his best in many ways! We were asked to learn this one for someone's birthday party a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, we didn't manage it due to a family illness within the band so we just jammed a couple of SRV songs that we kinda knew instead......

Assuming that we are copying the original version (rather than rearranging the song) I always play the part how I would if I had got the gig with the original artist Someone mentioned ‘Ain’t No Love In the Heart Of The City’ by Whitesnake – if you listen to the various live versions, each different bass player approaches the song completely differently and plays a different part, whereas on ‘Give me All Your Love’ they all play virtually identical parts! Easily identifiable or defining parts (such as the intro to Sweet Child as mentioned earlier) mean that you really have to stick to a note-for-note approach I also think that some people misunderstand the approach that ‘pro’ musicians will take – many pros will take the easiest way of covering a gig that they can get away with! This applies to the gear they will take to the gig and to learning the songs. They will also approach a pub / low paying function gig completely differently than they would a high paying / prestigious one………

[quote name='Machines' timestamp='1329590016' post='1544686'] Recently i've been getting massively into blues - specifically Steve Ray Vaughan, BB King, Joe Bonamassa and George Thorogood. A lot of it is predictable to listen to - but I just love it. [/quote] You sound like you could be our target audience! Yes, it is predictable but it's also a lot of fun if you see someone who can really pull it off. To do so is much harder than it looks - blues is simple music and pretty much everybody can get thru a 12 bar, so to you do need to have something special to stand out from the crowd!

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1329582554' post='1544528'] Last time I saw Walter Trout he announced he wasn't sticking to the set list and would play whatever came into his head. Later on he started "Sitting on Top of the World" and the bass player clearly didn't know it, and wasn't much closer to knowing it by the end of the song. Created an interesting atmosphere on stage. [/quote] [color=#222222]Seems to be a common phenomenon in the genre – Paddy (our band leader) does this frequently![/color] [color=#222222][font="Times New Roman"][size="3"] [/size][/font][/color] [color=#222222]Usually we get away with it but can come unstuck sometimes[/color] [color=#222222][font="Times New Roman"][size="3"] [/size][/font][/color] [color=#222222]At the last gig he called a song of the cuff and the drummer had to ask me what it was after the show – we had never heard of it before (still sounded alright thru)………[/color]

A couple of guys that I know who travel round a bit tend to have a board with a vol pedal, tuner, compressor, some sort of preamp and a DI - this gives them some sort of control over the sound when they are using hire rigs supplied the venue When I saw Roger Inniss doing a tour of small clubs a few years ago I noticed that he had a massive pedalboard, presumably with a couple of preamps on it, but had only brought a couple of 1x10 powered cabs for his backline! Presumably, he found it easier to cart around a large pedalboard rather than an amp rack....

The following springs to mind: the keyboard intro to Tarot Woman off Rainbow Rising up to and including where the band kicks in; where the guitar comes in on Shine On You Crazy Diamond; the 'If we could just hold hands' part of the Rover Song by Led Zep; and the first few notes of the guitar solo on Deal With The Preacher by Bad Company, just perfect timing and choice of notes

Hey Simon - I know that you're not too keen on compressor pedals, but for those of us that need to use one live for practical reasons, which pedal would you say is best??

[quote name='lxxwj' timestamp='1328823815' post='1533426'] Since my fuzz thread was so popular.. What do you guys use for chorus? I've always wanted to find the perfect chorus: analog and very versatile/controllable. The EHX Small Clone just doesn't cut it, it's too subtle and simple for me. So do you have any good analog & moderately controllable chorus pedals? I think I might have to resort to... *shudder* a Boss pedal! Anything but that! [/quote] The one Boss pedal that I have is the CEB-3 bass chourus - great pedal and used by many top pros (as is the brown octave pedal)

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1328998432' post='1535975'] I had it on the tube mode, with both gain and compression on the 9 o`clock mark. Barely noticeable difference to the sound, apart from preventing some unwanted boom on the lower strings. [/quote] To be honest I did notice a difference - not a bad sound by any means and great for harmonics but didn't really work with the sound from the amp that I was using [quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1328828532' post='1533546'] The tube setting does change the tone noticeably. It seems to warm up/muddy up the tone depending on your take. If you're looking for a transparent compression I find the multiband setting with compression at about 12 o'clock ideal - really good for smoothing out peaks and tightening the bottom end without changing the basic tone. [/quote] That worked great - nice transparent compression, just what I wanted May just tweak it for my set up and try using slightly less compression but on the right track now - cheers.....

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1329052517' post='1536461'] Clinical trials have conclusively proved that playing blues piles on the pounds: [/quote] Another study suggests that the associated weight gain with playing blues is because most musicians don't turn to the blues until the onset of middle age

[quote name='subaudio' timestamp='1328968161' post='1535404'] Hi all, a bit embarasing this considering I've been playing for so long, but I've never really played blues or listened to it, weird as I'm predominantly a rock player but there you go, so my question(s) is/are, who is good to listen to, who has/had a bass player that can really make music, and what is the form on blues jams? [/quote] As a predominantly rock player myself, who has been playing (and gigging a lot all over the country) in a blues band for nearly two years, I would suggest that you don’t get too hung on authenticity and listen to the more recent stuff at this point. The two I picked on were Walter Trout (as both of his bass players are great but quite easy to suss out) and Kenny Wayne Shepherd – in fact if you listen to the first half of the first KWS album you will have the basis of pretty much all you need for modern blues rock! Not massively authentic I know, but a good crash course on what most punters’ seem to like and a good basis to get you thru any blues jam and many decent gigs that might be out there!

[quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1328985391' post='1535755'] Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! These guys are about as genuine as anything Simon Cowell has put together : the singer came 3rd in the 'Inxs find a singer' reality TV show a year or two ago, and the other three guys have been playing sessions in LA for years. It's so contrived, image by a stylist, deliberate 'DIY' vibe to the whole thing, but, they are managed by Doc McGhee (Bon Jovi, Motley Crue etc) and strangely enough they are out opening for Bon Jovi this summer. I'm sure they are great guys - but it just feels to me like they are 'dressing up' & don't believe it - and it's just a big marketing ploy. That said - The Wombles still had some good tunes. [/quote] Plus one - well spotted! Well crafted but not as authentic as they appear to be....

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1328831097' post='1533608'] Exactly, I put EMGs in my Japanese '62 reissues, ditched the pickguard and got them bashed and scratched at gigs. Fairly recently I've realised that to get the Fender sound it's best to have the cheap old pickups and Bent Bit Of Tin bridges so now they're back with their original components (luckily I never throw anything away!). It's probably hurt the resale value although I'd probably still get much more for them than I paid 20 odd years ago. Interesting to hear some of the early 80s instruments are starting to be sought after. [/quote] My point was that we didn’t have the reverence for 70s Fenders that was reserved for the 60s models – they were thought to be relatively cheap workhorses that were often not very well made (including my keeper) and needed a bit of work for them to be any good! You may even pay a little more for one with EMGs or a Badass bridge as it saved you the bother / expense of doing it yourself! All the changes I made to my bass significantly improved it IMO but detracted from its value in the long run I still hate the crap pickups & BBOT bridges. Despite saying that I would never get another Fender, I recently succumbed and bought a beautiful lake placid blue American Std Jazz from someone on here. Unfortunately it didn’t play or sound anything like as well as my other basses so I gave it to Jon Shuker to work on the neck and put in an active circuit / new pickups (the bridge is next)! It sounds and plays great now, but I hope that it won’t become a ‘future classic’ in a few years and I find that I’ve seriously devalued a potentially expensive bass by making it better!!

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1328828532' post='1533546'] The tube setting does change the tone noticeably. It seems to warm up/muddy up the tone depending on your take. If you're looking for a transparent compression I find the multiband setting with compression at about 12 o'clock ideal - really good for smoothing out peaks and tightening the bottom end without changing the basic tone. [/quote] Cheers for that Simon - certainly agree about the tube setting, thru harmonics do sound great! Will try the multiband mode at 12 o'clock on Sunday's gig......

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1328816639' post='1533229'] Changing anything from original will damage value eventually - [/quote] Ain't that the truth! Does anyone remember the early / mid 80s when a late 70s US Fender Precision was thought to be a basic workhorse bass that used to traded about between friends for £200 - £300? I used to put a Badass (or sometimes Schaller) bridge & EMG pickups on every Fender that passed thru my hands - the one that I kept for years was totally unoriginal, complete with all black hardware and stripped back to the wood (after I saw the P bass being used by Paul Rogers' bassplayer on the Muddy water Blues tour)! I ended up trading it for a 90s stingray and a bit of cash on here, but I reckon that I probably lost about £500, maybe £600 off the value if I had kept it all original.....!

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1328443233' post='1526901'] +1 Makes a lot of sense. Although I`ve only had it a week, I really like my EBS Multicomp - it evens everything out, without ever sounding like the sound is changing. In fact, the time you notice is best is when it isn`t on, it`s that subtle - exactly what I want from it. I`ve had others that seem to reduce the low frequencies as soon as you switch them on, irrespective of settings, but luckily the EBS doesn`t do this. [/quote] I've just got an EBS Multicomp myself Can I ask which mode you use and the settings? I've tried the 'tube' mode on a gig but have had to go back to the drawing board as it was changing the sound more than I intended