Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

geoham

Member
  • Posts

    804
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by geoham

  1. I had exactly the same problem, and resolved it with a Tonerider from Amazon - £35 delivered. Much better tone and responds well to the tone control. Flatwound strings are also a must for a proper pre-CBS tone.
  2. These are quite fun and need some work....hopefully 'rock' enough Crazy Little Thing Called Love Oliver's Army Heartache Tonight
  3. [quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1405940605' post='2506664'] At functions, we generally play a 45 first and then anything up to a 90 minute second set, sometimes longer if it's going mental and we're allowed to. Pubs are much more controlled, there's one we play regularly where we go on at 10pm and play till about 1am, with a 15 minute break in there somewhere, but that's the exception rather than the rule - 2x45 is what's asked (and paid) for most of the time, so that's what we do. Never been asked for a 4 hour set, in 30+ years of playing...must be a US thing. [/quote] I think there is a bit of a Scotland / England divide here too. North of the border, wedding bands normally play from 8 to midnight, with a break for the evening buffet. I believe that in England, 2 x 45 minutes followed by a DJ is the norm. Gigs in Scottish social clubs (& similar) are much the same, though the break will be for bingo rather than a buffet!
  4. [quote name='merello' timestamp='1404038139' post='2488647'] Ice cube cool! He's the British Trujillo! [/quote] Awesome bassist and very funny guy indeed. Any idea what bass he's playing here? Looks cool - like a hollow bodied 51 P. Kind of....
  5. Pretty happy - paid gigs almost every week. May finally start making more doing gigs than I spend on music equipment!
  6. I've got on beat up fretless you can have for not much cash - I'm in North Lanarkshire like yourself. Drop me an IM if interested.
  7. I was quite vain when buying my P-Bass. Ended up with Mex Fender and absolutely didn't want a Squier! My only experience of the brand was a Chinese built Affinity series Strat that I had when I was at school, which really wasn't up to much. The P plays well enough, but I found the original pickup to harsh at the top end and lacking 'ooommph' at the low end. It was very high output though - far louder than my Jazz and active Ibanez. The pickup is ceramic, and has DC resistance of only 4.5KΩ (ish!). I replaced it with Tonerider I found on Amazon, which is much more to my liking. Alnico V, 10 or 11 K DC resistance. It's widely accepted that these are the same pickups as the Squier Classic Vibe. I've ended up paying the price of a Mex Fender, plus a pickup - for a bass that probably sounds exactly like the Squier CV! I've never tried the Squier CV, so can't speak for the build quality - however, I'd recommend trying it if you can live the with Squier logo!
  8. Thanks for the advice. There will be other rehearsals thankfully. Existing bassist will finish after gig next weekend, then no gigs in July, and back to gigging most weekends from August, with a weekly rehearsal being the norm. The songs need to be pretty close to the recordings - which obviously makes them easier for me to learn at home.
  9. [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1402523485' post='2474514'] erm.... not a reasonable workload for no outcome. If I had 2 sets to learn ( 22 tracks ) I would expect the gig or preferably gigs confirmed and garuanteed payment. If this is a working function band who hint at any sort of professionalism then they should be thinking on these lines. A free audition is one thing but to pull your chain over this they have to give something back and be reasonable about it. I wouldn't be putting in anymore work unless the gig was there. If you want the gig, you don't have to tell them this, but if you are good enough and they still aren't sure, I'd be thinking I'd done enough and they need to make their mind up and then let you know and then we go from there. [/quote] Couldn't agree more. I already knew some of the songs, but I would have rather have had maybe 10 to do properly than loads to busk my way through. Anyway, I've done all I can. First gig is August 2nd if all goes well....
  10. So went to the rehearsal tonight. It was tough because they gave me a 60 song set list - and no direction about what to focus on! Anyway, the deal is, that two of us were invited to rehearse with them. I was tonight, and the other guy is next week. Despite it being a tough rehearsal, I think it went pretty well. They said they knew I was good enough - they just want to see who fits best. A reasonable enough approach I suppose. Even if they go with the other guy, I'll leave the door open for them in case he doesn't work out.
  11. [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1402488781' post='2474036'] You should be working this stuff out by ear. It will improve your ability to identify the notes by their sound which will improve your playing. [/quote] Generally do, I've just been hit with 40+ new songs to learn in a short space of time. Anyway, thanks to everyone for their help.
  12. That's what I was hoping to avoid! Strange that such an awesome bassline hasn't been transcribed!
  13. Hi, I've been hunting for a decent transcription of Oliver's Army. I've never really paid attention to the bass on it before, and it is certainly much busier than I expected! I'm not a big fan of the text based tabs which are common on the internet, but that's all I can find for this. I've looked at some of the sites listed on here with no luck. Can anyone help? Either dots or proper tab would be ideal! Thanks
  14. Thanks for your suggestions! I'll go along to the rehearsal on Wednesday and try to pin them down to a decision, or at least a firm timeline. I already play in a function band, just don't gig enough and it's difficult enough to even arrange a rehearsal. But that's a rant for another thread.....
  15. A couple of weeks ago, I went to an audition for a function band - who are gigging almost every weekend, and need a new bassist starting from August. The audition was 1 hour - 45 minutes playing and 15 minutes chatting. I was apparently one of six candidates, and the last audition was immediately after mine. A week later they asked if I could come back in and do a full rehearsal with them, to see how we work together. I'm not sure what to take from this to be honest. Did they offer it to someone else who said no? (Hence the week long delay) I'll treat the rehearsal as a second audition, but I'm not sure if anyone else is also doing a rehearsal with them. Would it be common to ask multiple candidates back for a 2nd, longer audition, or do you think it's just a sense check to make sure I am actually the right guy? I've always formed bands with people I already knew, so this audition thing is all new to me! Thoughts?
  16. [quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1402178916' post='2470840'] GAK have an utterly ludicrous policy with regards shipping to Scotland (the "free shipping over £99“ policy they have splashed all over their website doesn't apply for addresses anywhere in Scotland). I wanted to buy a zoom b3. Postage from thomann (in Germany) to anywhere in the UK? About £7. Postage from GAK to Newcastle? Free. Postage from GAK to Edinburgh? £13.39! Funnily enough I voted with my feet! [/quote] Really bad! I've just spent 30 minutes browsing speaker cabinets and abandoned it at the last hurdle due to this. Reckon it's easily grounds for an ASA complaint - nowhere at all does it state 'England & Wales only". (NI gets a rough deal along with Scotland!) Highlands & Islands quite often need to pay extra, but, no courier company I'm aware of charges an additional fee to deliver to Central Scotland. All the big couriers have depots up here, so really no reason for the surcharge.
  17. [quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1401964779' post='2468704'] Worst I've had was my first ever gig. I had been playing roughly 9 months at this point in time and we were doing a set of 4 original metal tunes. During the first song the drummers bass pedal stuck to the bass drum (luckily he used a double pedal and was good enough with that!). Come the second song I forget and start playing the wrong tune. Luckily nobody else had heard it before and it was in the same key so didn't sound too mental. [/quote] Bloomin' drummers and bass pedals! My drummer (who earns good money and lives with him mum!) continually has problems with his. Chain inevitably will fall of after a few songs. Check with him before every gig - he's finally managed to sort it properly. But we all just know it will pop off at the worst possible time, then he'll spend 5 minutes on stage trying to sort it.
  18. [quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1401837348' post='2467472'] Well at least you've tried and I think it was worth doing (and why would the jack socket have a ground tag on it if it could do without a connection made to it) and it's certainly no worse than before... BTW did you check with Bartolini customer support to check that the 250K pots are right for the pickups? I guess they ought to be as I'd expect the Barts to be drop-in replacements for stock pickups. [/quote] It's pretty common for there to be no earth wire from the jack socket. The metal plate takes care of it. Personally, I connect all three earth connections directly to the jack socket - mainly due to the fact that I am rubbish at soldering to the back of pots, but also because star grounding should reduce noise. Apparently..... The pots used should have little effect on tone when fully open, though will cut some treble when rolled back. I suggested on the other thread to try wiring a pickup directly to the jack socket - to rule out all other wiring.
  19. Rough prices around here - hall will range from free to £200 (some places happy with enough punters for a decent bar take, or will give you it free if you buy a buffet from them!). PA costs vary wildly - but about £100 for a basic vocal PA to about £150-£250 for a proper set up with someone to operate it. Might even get lights included. That's what we pay around Glasgow anyway.
  20. [quote name='skej21' timestamp='1401717687' post='2466099'] Ibanez SR305. Has a surprisingly good low B for the price and at £299 new, you should be able to pick one up second hand at a decent price. Close string spacing though, so watch out for that if you're not a fan! [/quote] I picked up an SR405 for a third of that! Bargain of the year for me!
×
×
  • Create New...