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[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1475179334' post='3143872'] Like others, listening to records I liked and trying to pick out the bass line and copy it... much simplified if necessary. Also worked through this classic tome. Oh the joy of getting a flexi disk to work properly... Oh yeah, and any opportunity to play with others, however modest or low key! [/quote] Another +1 for this book and playing along to records, plus endless jams with my mates

He repaired my Little Mark III last year, I can recommend him.

Had a great wedding gig in a marquee in a field near St Albans. For the first dance the couple wanted us to play Stand By Me for a few bars and then go into that shining example of 80s cheese, Never Gonna Give You Up. We sent them a recording of us playing it at a rehearsal so they could work out some dance moves and it all went really, really well, great fun. Our drummer decided to leave the band two weeks ago without any notice so we had to find a dep for the gig. We found an excellent guy on Facebook who in all honesty pulled us out of the sh*t and made me realise I won't be missing our old drummer at all. Some shaky starts and finishes but only to be expected with very little rehearsal and otherwise as solid as a rock. All in all a fun evening, the guests were all up for a dance, the bride and groom loved us and we got fed.

Didn't know about that one but I always enjoy listening to the Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show on radio 6 on my way to a gig on a Saturday evening.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1473419726' post='3130040'] That depends on where in North London he is and what time you're expecting him to be at gigs. Doesn't matter how keen he is, that's a serious undertaking for a Friday night. [/quote] To be fair, we're talking Harrow and most of our gigs are Saturdays but Friday night in Bedford is a regular for us. We do have a couple regular gigs in Watford and Ruislip which will be fine for him but everything else is north of Harpenden and Stevenage

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1473418637' post='3130014'] if you have the luxury of all band members and gigs in you own town great. but.....sometimes if the mountain wont come to buddha....... I travel 15-30 miles in both directions several times a week to gig and/or rehearse with my current band. The best pool of accessible musicians for me is currently in another town. Everyone local to me that's good enough is already doing something. My last good local band did have every thing on our doorstep and so we were spoilt. When it came to an end, rather than stop I travelled even further a field for a while to play with a not so good band rather than nothing at all. Just to keep my hand in so to speak. Gig wise i will go up-to about 50 miles for £50.00 if its a good gig for the shear pleasure of playing music. If its a known rubbish gig playing to a handful of mentally challenged yobs then no, i dont need the money that badly. We will give most places upto a max of an hours drive a go once to test the water. Some of these far away gigs can produce weddings. For top wedding lolly (£2-250 on average each, occasionally even better) we will go the extra with no complaints but these are usually closer to home. From the point of view you are worried he will get fed up with the travel: he may be really good but he also may be in the same dilema that I was in ie: no one worth playing with that's local to him. He will make the effort if its all worth while so if you all get on well and make the the right noise together cant see a problem. The only thing you need to worry about is a better offer popping up local to him in the future.... [/quote] Interesting post, especially the last sentence... Maybe we are a bit spoilt, as TimR said in his post there are loads of opportunities in our area which means we don't have to travel far to find gigs or other musicians. Might not be the same for everyone.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1473414392' post='3129938'] I'm near Stevenage so lots of gigs with an hour. Even as far as Cambridge. The thing is though for a drummer it's a hell of a load in and out on top of that hour so he'll end up doing 4 hours of 'driving duties' for each outing. I used to be 40mins+ from rehearsal space. On top of my daily cummute. It did my head in and I'm now 15mins from my current band. . [/quote] I used to live south of Dunstable and a previous band I was in rehearsed weekly in Bedford. Like you, 40 mins + to get there and it did my head in. My present band only rehearses to learn new songs or rehearse new members and I reckon if we went with this drummer it would only take a couple rehearsals to get him up to speed. My main worry is how keen he will be to drive from north London to Luton or Bedford on a Friday after work once he's done it a few times

My band plays mainly around the Beds/Herts area and most of our gigs are about 20-30 minutes journey from my house, some a bit nearer and some a bit further. We have one gig in London that takes me about an hour to get to which I don't mind because we only go there a couple times a year. We have just auditioned some drummers and the one we really like lives outside our area and would probably have to travel an hour each way to most of our gigs and to rehearsals. He says it's not a problem but I can't help thinking that after a while he'll get fed up with the travel. So, what do people here think is a reasonable travel time to do a gig for pub money?

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1472685905' post='3123374'] Who's Geezer Butler? [/quote] [b]I'm[/b] Geezer Butler ( according to the quiz )

Just got back from a function at a village hall. As soon as we finished our encore our drummer and one of our singers got into and argument which resulted in the singer storming off in a huff and our drummer resigning with immediate effect. Apart from that it was a good gig.

Hobbyist here, but gigging enough to make a noticeable difference to my income. Does that make me semi-pro?

Had a lovely gig last night at a village pub in north Bedfordshire, we played outdoors on their patio to an appreciative audience and the weather was perfect for it. The band was on form and we had a couple of those rare magic moments where it's like everyone in the band is connected by telepathy and nothing exists apart from the music.

At gigs I use a wireless attached to my strap which I always leave plugged in between sets. This thread has reminded me I've had my bass for just over a year ( around 50 gigs ) so it's time for a battery change.

[quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1468672313' post='3092537'] Very nice. Not sure what the 'Masterbuilt' means in the description. [/quote] I think it's a mistake and is supposed to be 'Mastergrade' which is how Sadowsky describe their top quality woods

i was told recently by an audience member after a gig that my playing was melodic. I quite like that.

Thanks for posting that, I'd never heard of them before but they are right up my street

Congratulations, I've got an RV4 which I really love. As Molan says, they really shine when you gig them.

Two that do it for us are Good Times and You've Got The Love

At the pub level I would't bother, you just have to accept that these things happen from time to time.

A few years ago I used to go to a jazz jam at a place called the Hat factory in Luton. The regular guitar player was called Neil and he was Scottish. One evening there was a second Scottish guitarist there called Jim and I just assumed he was a mate of Neil's. I jammed on a couple of songs with him and it was only later that I found out I'd been playing with Jim Mullen. same venue, different evening I played with a drummer who was head and shoulders better than any jazz drummer I had played with before. I had no idea it was Clark Tracey.

we have one regular pub who use this method of payment and it takes 2 weeks or so before we see the money. It's a minor inconvenience but not enough to make us give up the gig.

My present covers band found me on BandMix at the ripe old age of 52 when they answered an ad I'd forgotten I'd placed. Four years later I'm doing more gigs than I ever have done before. Age range of the rest of the band is mid 20s to late 40s.

I like it, it's a nice song.

Back in the 70s when I was a kid I heard a song on the radio that I really liked but didn't get to hear the title or who it was by. I heard it on the radio a few more times over the years and thought what a great song but still never found out who it was by or what it was called. Fast forward to a couple years ago and I was in a discount book shop and bought a biography of Neil Young for 50p. Obviously I'd heard of Neil Young years ago and I knew that one of his classic songs was After The Gold Rush, but he'd never really appealed to me so I never bothered to listen to much of his music. Reading his biography spurred me to buy his greatest hits CD and of course that song I'd liked was After The Gold Rush