Damonjames

[quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1435088311' post='2805396'] I think I read in an interview with Hetfield somewhere that he they maybe would have down the load-reload route sooner if Cliff was still around [/quote] This is true, in an interview just days before the accident, he told a journalist they would have got more melodic and worked with a big name producer, so the black album would probably have gone ahead in a very similar fashion. It's also heavily rumoured that after the European tour that Lars would have been sacked. So the rumour goes, James and Cliff felt limited by Lars' drumming ability and we're looking elsewhere, most keenly on Dave Lombardo from Slayer (who also threatened to walk from slayer around the sa time). Now THAT is a lineup I'd like to see!!!

Quality venue, let's hope they can continue to make it work in john's honour. RIP big fella

This argument is never ending... Some say it's all in the fingers, some say it's in the bass, some like me say it's a combination of both. The reality is that tone is something completely unmeasurable, because it is relative to the context of what is being played, by this I mean the "tone" gets tied in with "feel/groove". If someone said (rightly or wrongly) they wanted to sound like flea, the obvious place to start would be with a Stingray and a gallienkrueger rig, but that would in reality be as close as they would get. If they learned some chilli' songs, they may get a close approximation, but ask them to jam on something or create lines for an original song, and this is where the individual shines through. If you were to set up the Pepsi challenge as suggested earlier, but instead just asked to play a single repeated staccato note, the feel of the player has less impact, and the characteristics of the instrument and associated equipment come more into play. It is ALWAYS a combination of the two, that's why Geddy sounds very little like jaco, flea very little like 'nard. But it's also why people can still pick a particular bass out in a mix, I'd fancy I could tell a p from a 'ray and I'd like to think most of us could regardless of who was playing it. Flea always sounds like flea, regardless of what he is playing, but if you take an album like one hot minute, which he recorded on a Wal, except for aeroplane, which when you listen is blatantly obvious what instrument he is using.

To say it is one or the other is just ignorant, of course it is a combination of both. Despite what some will argue, you cannot coax a stingray sound out of a p bass, regardless of who is playing it. Can you get a good sound out of both? Absolutely, but they are very different beasts. The real thing you need to consider is who do you WANT to sound like? Find out what gear they play and start there. I agree that GAS is usually fuelled by a desire to sound different/better, and it a lot of cases, simply tweaking some things can get you want you want, but the other thing is it may also open up a whole New sound. That you weren't expecting.

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1434472664' post='2799964'] I doubt they'll ever remix it. Doing so would prove that Lars and James are total dumbasses who'd rather wreck an album than have a new(ish) member of the band out class them. [/quote] This album has always been controversial when it comes to the lack of bass. As it happens I had just finished the chapter regarding the making of this album in "enter night" the Metallica biography and there are a couple of explanations for why it may have happened. There is the obvious one is that the bass was turned down as a hazing prank to mess with Jason, this has been eluded to by Rex Brown in his book, he was out with James and had been played the album, when Rex asked where the bass was, James laughed and said they were just messing with Jason. The next version is that it IS possible that they didn't feel his contribution was good enough to be on the album. Best in mind Cliff left a massive hole in the band musically when he died, so maybe they were subconsciously looking for more than Jason could offer. It's worth noting at this point in his career, Jason was a good bass player with a strong work ethic which got him into the band in the first place, however by his own admission he really knew nothing about REALLY playing bass, or how to record it, so it's also worth considering that his tone wasn't what they were after. The last option is that due to the mindset of James as Lars, they wanted to cover the hole left by cliff by pushing themselves all the way forward. Flemming Rassmussen has even said that due to the guitar and drum sounds/eq'ing on this album, they take up most of the room sonically, therefore leaving NO room for the bass anyway. Personally I think this is the most likely excuse, although there is probably some truth to all the above and any other reasons going about. It's been eluded that James may have even secretly played the bass on this album to further take control of the product, but I would doubt this, he may have written most of the bass parts, but he would at least have let him play. By comparison, the previous recording of the garage EP has Jason prominently in the mix, and he sounds great, while he is not one of my most favourite bass players, his tone on the black album is to die for, and he has to be one of the toughest mofo's on the planet for surviving the early days in the band, he basically became the whipping boy for the band and the crew to take out their grief of losing Cliff on.

Read the title of the thread and thought that Nate had quit and we were forming an orderly que to audition....

All the above is sadly too true. It amazes me how little effort venues put in to promoting gigs. We we have had some not even mention it on their website/Facebook. It takes very little effort to do a little promoting, just update your calendar, create a Facebook event and invite everyone who like your page. Others are the complete opposite, we had one ask for the graphic for our posters so he could get a larger version blown up for his billboard, which fronts a busy rd, also pushing it via social media. A little effort makes a huge difference. I can't imagine why pubs are shutting down these days ...

I feel for you, it's a crappy situation probably Made worse by the anticlimax of what should have been your first gig. While the blunder is definitely the pubs, we usually check in with the venue in the lead up to a gig and monitor their Facebook page if they have one. Have had a similar situation at one of the venues we play regularly, but it was the other bands mess up. If you keep your side professional, it can often make up for others lack thereof. If the pub is worth deing with, they should offer at the very least to give you another date asap by way of apology, I'd be adding £50 to the fee for this though to cover lost cost. If they don't do anything but shrug their shoulders I'd just move on. Plenty of good puns about!

Haha, cheers Andy!

Just completed a deal with Andy for a lovely candy apply red fender precision special. Top bloke to deal with, invited me over to try the bass without any pressure to buy, and waited a week while I sorted my finances out (stupid banks and taking a week to clear cheques!) Buy with confidence, top bloke!! Cheers Andy

Am I first to say Larry Graham??? No Larry, no slap.

Would you? It's great to stick with the "right" thing to do, but let's face it, we all generally go with the choice of best pay. It costs a shed load to tour nowadays, living in a tour bus for 3-4 months every summer is not something the top end guys are prepared to do. That why they all play festivals! It's the perfect scenario, someone takes care of the the venue, PA, lighting, stage, facilities, security, and insurance, and you just turn up with some back line and your crew and play for 45-60 mins and probably take home an easy pay check. Don't get me wrong, I think Dave grohl is a top bloke and great musician who's heart is in the right place. His genuine love for music makes it hard to hate him, it would be nice to see home do a more fan based show though.

Wow!! As long as you aren't giving any personal details away, I'd go for it, stranger things have happened!!! Just be careful mate! Even though you have shipped my bass, I'd hate to hear you wound up in a ditch somewhere!

Haha, ok I'll get back I my box! It's always the same with bands though, I always think of the Simpsons when Bart is at the spinal tap gig, and the bass player goes "nobody rocks like (looks at gaffer tape on back of bass with town name) Springfield!!! It's clever see, it makes us feel special!

He did though!! I thought he was just having a bit of banter, I do think he would have played all night if they would have let him! Finished on time with a great version of "best of you" I got goose bumps when he stopped and the whole crowd were singing the "whoa,whoa" but!

Welcome to the dark side bubinga, it's always nice to have newcomers!!! Don't feel guilty, just enjoy!!!

I was also there. I spent 4 years doing stage lighting for major concerts and productions like this, so along with being a musician, think I am somewhat qualified to comment on such things... In terms of the front of house sound, it was pretty bad to start with (not the worst I've ever heard) but it did improve as the night went on. The job was made incredibly difficult by the conditions, but both the placement and setup of the delay stacks wasn't great, I agree with the out of phase comments from the OP, plus I had I delay stack smack in the middle of my line of sight to the centre of the stage. From a lighting and AV point of view, I thought it was below what you would expect from a band the size of the foo's but wasn't appalling. The performance itself was really great, loads of energy from Dave, although it left him breathless at times, but Nate isn't the most animated of bass players.... The industry is changing so much now, that the big bands can't make "enough" (I use that term loosely) money by playing arena's anymore which is where they would blown the roof of somewhere like the MEN, so they have to go to open air stadium tours instead. it appears that they don't have the experience to pull them off with much conviction though. Personally, I bloody loved it, but I'm a dirty rock n roll fan so can deal with a performance that is a little rough and ready if it's delivered with a bunch of energy. if they looked they couldn't be assed, I wouldn't have tolerated it, but after 20 years playing these songs together, they seem to genuinely still love it and it makes it all the more enjoyable to watch!