solo4652

Thank you to everybody who has helped me think this one through. I've emailed them and accepted their invitation. If nothing else, it's an opportunity to buy some new kit! I've already put an offer in on a bass. Well, you do, don't you....

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1380241425' post='2222848'] Are you doing something better at the moment? They might find a great singer and the two of you can leave for something better, citing "commitment issues". [/quote] No - I'm not in a band right now. I got a bit fed up with the usual join, rehearse hard, do a few gigs, see it collapse routine. I'm afraid it's made me rather pessimistic about finding a band I'd enjoy. Maybe I'll give this crew a go and see if I can prove myself wrong.

I've just had an email from the guitarist and drummer inviting me to join the band. Now - my view is that there is certainly potential for a half-decent pub band here. However, I strongly suspect that neither of them have really thought through all the ins and outs of setting up a full-time pro wedding band. When asked, (not by me, but by one of the singers they were auditioning), they couldn't give a clear description of; how many people would be in the band (horns? keys?), what sort of music would be played, how the band would get gigs (wedding agents? DIY?), how the band would co-exist with the guitarist's involvement with an Oasis tribute band, where rehearsals would be, who would be responsible for sorting out band logistics etc. Actually, I don't particularly want to be part of a full-time wedding band - I just would like to get out gigging. What should I do? - Join them, tag along and see where it goes while continuing to look for something else? Express my concerns upfront and risk being seen as negative and defeatist? This is typical of me - over-analyse something, be overly-cautious and then miss the boat.

Fixed it!...and am now feeling rather guilty about starting this thread. Following KingBollock's advice, I got inside the control cavity and gently bent the central prong under the jack socket into a more central position. Few squirts of switch cleaner at random, and it appears to have solved the problem. Ha! I had no idea I was [i]so [/i]practical... In a poor effort to claw back some lost karma, I'm just wondering whether all the excellent advice here about soldering is worth a sticky? Mods - what do you reckon? Steve

Hope so - I can just about cope with squeezing parts, but nothing more technical...

Guitarist wrote the "Business Plan" and is trying to put the band together. Previous bassist and singer left after 6 weeks because of "commitment issues".

I tried the bass with a different cable and that's complicated the picture. With the old cable, I was getting a lot of popping noises and the occasional cut-out. With the new cable, there's hardly any of this, although I get some crackling if I jiggle the jack in the socket. Old cable has a straight jack, new one has a right-angled one. No problems with either cable with any of my other basses. I'm going to have a look under the scratchplate to see if I can spot any problems. Might as well replace the old jack socket I suppose. Watch this space. I have Manchester's Fire Service phone number handy. Oh, hang on - I think they're on strike.

Quick report back from last night's audition. As is often the case, it was a hair's breadth away from organised chaos. I turned up and was told that "we're also auditioning several singers tonight. Can you stay for the whole 3 hours?" This was before they'd heard me play. Crap PA - couldn't hear any of the singers, guitarist way too loud, crackly/underpowered Trace bass combo, drummer effing and jeffing after 3 minutes..... And this was billed as a full-on pro/give up your day job top-end wedding band with a "business plan" already in place. From my point of view, Kiss turned out to be the easiest song. Guitarist hadn't listened to it properly though and kept going from A to D too early. My gut feeling is that, with time and patience, we could probably get a reasonably decent pub band out of it, but definitely not a full-time pro pay-your-mortgage wedding band. If I get asked, I'll tag along while I continue to look elsewhere - wouldn't want to put all my eggs in this basket. Steve

Hmmm. There's talk here of burning furniture, damaging existing components, lead poisoning and wrecking marriages. Could I simply use wire glue, like this: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/141050534572?showlimghlp=true&lpid=92&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=92&ff19=0"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/141050534572?showlimghlp=true&lpid=92&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=92&ff19=0[/url] Alternatively, could I buy a jack socket with the wires already attached so I can then use those little plastic junction-box thingies to connect it to the existing wires? Or shall I take it round to the Tech?

The jack plug on my MIJ Fender P needs replacing. Normally, I'd take it to a tech. but I thought I'd have a go myself. Bearing in mind I've never used a soldering iron before, and I'll have to buy one - 2 questions: (1): What wattage soldering iron will I need? (2): What's the best jack plug to use for my bass? Thanks, Steve

[quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1379499990' post='2213321'] So what happened Steve? [/quote] Hi Stuart. I went on holiday for a week! Audition moved to Wednesday 25th. Songs: Kiss, Valerie, Get Lucky, Call me maybe (Carly Rae Jepsen), Proud Mary, You can't hurry love, 20th Century Boy. I'll let you know what happens.

Have it delivered to work, then take it home piece by piece over a period of some weeks. Then, reassemble it at home. When asked about it, say "What, this old thing - oh it's just something I put together from parts I had lying around" which, technically, is the truth.

I've been learning this. Here's by far and away the best video. . [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLVVBTePZSg[/media]

[quote name='stubass' timestamp='1378904974' post='2206291'] Thanks Dan, and thanks to charic too! DV have (reluctantly) price matched the hartke and thrown in their 4 year warranty so I've went for it. Should be here Friday. Happy! Now, how do I break the news to the wife! Seriously, thanks guys, a 500w hartke for £250! Sick! [/quote] Oooh - nice job. 4 year warranty too.

There's the Redsub head. I've no idea how good it is, however. [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/RedSub-BT500H-500W-Bass-Head/B1D?origin=product-ads&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Product+Listing+Ads&utm_content=WlfiSmxu|dc_pcrid_32000002159_plid__kword__match"]http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/RedSub-BT500H-500W-Bass-Head/B1D?origin=product-ads&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Product+Listing+Ads&utm_content=WlfiSmxu|dc_pcrid_32000002159_plid__kword__match[/url]__

I won't be playing it like this: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To9PqpyuM1k"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To9PqpyuM1k[/url]

[quote name='Urban Bassman' timestamp='1378817933' post='2205010'] I used to play it like this. [url="https://myspace.com/thecarpetsharks/music/song/kiss-47055617-50425169"]https://myspace.com/...055617-50425169[/url] Always went down well. Not sure if it helps you though... [/quote] Thank you! All ideas and suggestions gratefully received.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1378817125' post='2204977'] I could be wrong but I would think that there must be a hidden agenda if you've been asked to play this in an audition. There is nothing to play so unless they've given you a different feel to the number the idea must be to find out how you groove on 2 root notes a bar. I'd add some small unobtrusive fills, but assuming the drummer is playing the correct part, I'd stick to him like glue. [/quote] A hidden agenda!? I've not heard their take on the song, so I'm flying blind here. I've just been grooving along basically playing root, root, rest, 5th, root, rest, pretty much throughout with some lead-in notes here and there and slide back down to A at the end of each chorus. Sounds OK. It's easy to get carried away with the fills so, as you say, I'll concentrate on root, root, rest, 5th, root,rest with space just about everywhere else.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1378815638' post='2204937'] Be brave and just play the accents with the bass drum*. Add some small fills if you really can fit them in but the risk is that you over play and sound crap. In an audition you have to play something but I'd try to hit the groove just right instead of attempting to show how funky you are. * That's all I do. [/quote] Thank you. There is a thread on Talkbass about this with some useful ideas buried within a long-running joke. I'll concentrate on root notes on the groove.

I've been invited along for an audition and one of the songs is Kiss by Prince. I've got the chords. There doesn't appear to be any bass on the original. Just wondered if anybody plays this and could suggest an approach, please? A quick look on YouTube throws up one attempt at a bass cover but it sounds far too busy to me.

[url="http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/109005101/burnsbaldwin-shadows-bass-circa-196667-ex-jet-harris.html"]http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/109005101/burnsbaldwin-shadows-bass-circa-196667-ex-jet-harris.html[/url]

[url="http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/109003531/fender-precision-bass-196263-pre-cbs.html"]http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/109003531/fender-precision-bass-196263-pre-cbs.html[/url]

I'm researching buying and importing a bass too, and can pretty much confirm what others are saying. I got shipping quotes from FedEx, UPS etc and they were all at least £160. The US Postal Service will charge $72 (£46) for a 5-day service which, considering the distance involved, seems remarkably cheap to me. Obviously I'll then need to add on VAT, Import Duty and handling charge but that still gets me a really nice bass that I just cannot find this side of the pond. I'll pay the seller by PayPal so we both have some protection.

[url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/fender-jazz-bass/1016474775#photo-content"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/fender-jazz-bass/1016474775#photo-content[/url]

I've read this ad a few times now and I'm fairly sure they're saying they want a bassist with a "4K rig". 4000W !? [url="http://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/hype-need-a-bass-player-t541098.html"]http://www.joinmyban...er-t541098.html[/url]