peteb

Daryl, the Skegness reference is a bit of a joke as it is a rather grim resort on the North Sea that most people would rather avoid (unless they're really broke)! It's not like going on holiday to Spain for a week in the sun. There did used to be a big blues / rock festival at a holiday camp in Skegness until very recently. It was always about this time of year. I played it once - it was a really good event...! Oh, and happy 70th birthday Daryl - enjoy your new venerable status and great that you're still out there...

1. Why you don't have any gigs? Yes, we have gigs but not as many as we would like and less than previous years. It is getting harder to book tribute gigs without agency representation, despite having quite a lot of recognition and a couple of reasonably well known members. 2. Do you rely on an agent? No, but we do use them occasionally. If it was up to me, we would be using them a lot more. 3. Who finds coordinates and confirms gigs? Generally, the band leader (guitarist) for the Zep tribute, although I’ve got a few. For the new blues band I’m doing, it will most likely be mainly me and the guitarist. 4. Are you or any band members in this for the money? For a couple of members (in both bands), making money from gigs (from several bands) is a significant part of their income. This something that the reasonably highly paid drummer sometimes fails to realise! For me, it pays for holidays and new gear, strings, etc. It might be a weekend in Skegness this year! 5. How much do you want to gig? Two to three times a month would be ideal. Playing the tribute circuit necessitates a fair bit of travelling if you want to go out for half-decent money, it just comes with the gig. I have no problem with that at all if we’re making enough money to make it worthwhile.

The thing that confuses me is that he says that maple necks weren't a thing until the 60s, but I thought that 57 P basses came with a maple fingerboard.

I have indeed been confused occasionally about that!

Funnily enough, I had once a Mayones jazz bass with a 41 / B nut width. That was a really great bass to play, although I could never get it sound just how I wanted it to.

What profile / nut width does an 'A' neck have?

I thought that 50s models were 44 and all of the 60s ones were 41 - you learn something new everyday! I had a AVRI 57 P bass for a few years. It was a nice bass but the neck felt a little wide. I much prefer the 41mm wide nut, which feels better to me than a jazz bass or the earlier, wider nut, P basses. You can tell that I started out on 70s P basses...!

What was the standard 41mm P bass nut width then? Was that a B or a C??

One of the big reasons for the decline of rock music discussed by Rick Beato and one of his mates, a former record company exec / A&R man / producer:

If we're not going to get political, at least actually get the economics right. The current 'cost of living crisis' in the UK is primarily down to political decisions made following the fall-out of the crash in 2008. Over countries have recovered from the Covid lockdown much quicker than the UK. The conditions for the current state of the UK economy pre-date the invasion of the Ukraine. This is all getting unnecessarily political. Essentially, the answer to the OP is that the cost of living is a factor that is making it difficult for today's young musicians, but the main issue is the changing nature of the music business, changes in demand for popular music, other entertainment options becoming more prominent, etc.

I'm afraid that I haven't read the whole thread, but I am a long time mpulse user. When I have had any problems with the mpulse, it was when I have changed the preamp valve. It doesn't seem to like anything other than a standard JJ 12ax7 for some reason. Good luck in sorting it out.

Exactly. The difficulties of making a living as a musician are not just because of effects of the cost of living (although that still does have an effect, for both the would-be musician and the punter), but because of the changes in demand for popular music. This is because of new things apart from music that have got the attention of the potential market (video games, social media, etc), as well as new types of music that don't require the traditional bands that most people here are used to. The last British band to become massive after slogging around the clubs and small venues was probably Oasis, which was 25 plus years ago! Don't get me wrong, there is still a demand for bands playing music in this country (and certainly throughout Europe), but this demand is nothing like it used to be. I was talking to a couple of twenty somethings at a party over the weekend and they still love music made by guitar led bands, but they are not in the majority anymore. Rock music is going the way of jazz, appealing to a smaller niche of followers. I think that rock will maintain more appeal than jazz did, but it won't be the dominant force in the mainstream anymore.

But how many kids from modest backgrounds go to music college?

It is funny how a thread about the difficulties of being a musician these days has been de-railed into quite an informed debate about the housing market! It just goes to show how significant the issue of housing is to virtually every aspect of life in the UK! The short answer to the OP is that, yes, the cost of living is having a negative impact on music (or at least people wanting to ‘make it’ in bands) in this country. I used to work backstage at a big blues festival with a lot of pro musicians playing in the various acts over the weekend. It became increasingly obvious that the younger pros were rich kids who had been to music college, whereas the older ones came from all kinds of backgrounds. This is nothing against the younger guys, who were generally good players and nice people, but it seems that the middle class or poorer kids are being frozen out / discouraged from becoming a pro muso. However, the main problem is the change in demand for popular music. When I was a kid, entertainment was movies, football or rock/pop music. These days, there is a lot more choice and of course, music’s place in society has changed. Streaming has led to less income for musicians and the emphasis away from producing albums in favour of more disposable single tracks. Celebrity culture has meant that people now strive to be famous for it’s own sake, rather than fame being a side product of being a musician / actor, etc.

I used to work in housing policy and still am involved in the sector (domestic energy). I think that between the two of you, you have accurately summarised most of the issues affecting, what I would say is, a dysfunctional housing market in the UK.

I'm spending about £2.6k on running the car (this is an 'all in' figure for normal mileage - not counting additional diesel costs for long haul gigs, but including Green Flag cover) plus maybe about a grand or so on servicing / MOT / repairs.

I've just been to a friend's birthday last night and was talking to his and his mate's 20 something sons (one of whom is working on tours with household name acts as a lighting engineer). They both prefer the music that I grew up with - If anything, the younger one seems like music that was a little bit before my time...!

Unfortunately, this is true. Gone are the days when you could pop on the ferry to Holland or Belgium (or even Spain) at a moments notice to play a weekend / week of club and / or bar gigs and come back with a few grand in your pocket. The visa is the least of your problems. The carnet, taking merch across borders and other restrictions all add up and generally make it untenable.

No one is doubting (assuming that they have a clue about the world) that it is much more difficult for kids these days compared to when I was young.

I don't dispute what you say, yet I am running a 2l diesel estate for not much more than half your £5k figure. The main difference is the depreciation - I tend to buy highish mileage cars in good condition for around £5k, run them for ten years or so and then sell them for a grand. These days, it is perfectly possible to run an OK car reasonably cheaply.

I think that you're seeing the world through your own rather singular life experience again. One of the few positives about the past few decades for the average working person is that the cost of motoring is much more affordable than it used to be when I was young and you can buy a perfectly decent secondhand car for a few grand. I run a perfectly good car (an old hi-spec Volvo V50 estate) that gets me to gigs up and down the country for a lot less than £5k a year.

Seriously, I doubt that there will be a problem in the next year or two - if nothing else, Russia has pressing issues elsewhere. We can only hope that it will remain so in the long-term. I'm not normally interested in these type of events, but this looks pretty good for the money and in the town looks great. We have already booked a couple of trips this year, but we really liked Estonia and have thought about going back - I reckon I could even sell this to the missus...! Who knows, maybe next year...

I went to Tallin about ten years ago and it was very reasonable, both to get there and spending whilst out there. An interesting place. Also, the Russian border is only a 40 minute drive away from the venue for the event, which could be interesting in the current climate...!

Ain't that the truth...!

An underestimated, yet vitally important requirement for anyone playing in a band...!