Roger2611

I sold a guitar on Evilbay this week and the buyer decided to send his own courier to collect...queue an unmarked van turns up and the guy says hello mate I've come to collect a package! I said have you got the correct address labels....no he says, fortunately I had already put the address on the box....Am I going to get a receipt....no we don't give receipts he says...well I am not letting the guitar go then....so finally he gives me a City Link missed delivery slip with collect guitar written on it! Not exactly inspiring confidence but I rang the buyer and confirmed it was City Link collecting so I let it go....thank fully it arrived safetly but I can't say much more than FFS!

The Bluetones "If" great bassline never stops in one place too long but has some great little riffs in there and isn't too hard to learn

My mulititasking skills alongside playing bass amounts to little more than "it's allright" from The Vaccines If You Wanna bellowed into a microphone...badly

Well done that man To quote Mr Strummer "Go easy, step lightly, stay free" I reckon that means look after yourself!

What really frustrates me is my inabillity to write songs, I find a great riff and then keep working at it until I turn it into something that has already been written....drives me potty don't know why I do it to myself but every time I do the same thing!

It depends on the demands of the bride and groom, if they want you there early and hanging about for hours it needs to be paid for, if they want you to play longer than the std 2x45 slot again it needs to be paid for, if they want you to learn a specific song factor the practice time into it, if that song is a Justin Bieber song there clearly isn't enough money in the world for that! We tend to do 3 or 4 weddings a year and the starting point is £500......just noticed from one of the other comments that this puts us in the crap catogory...doh !

It has to be a fake...I like the no gigs within 500 yds of a school etc sounds like it might be a probation restriction?

Just coming at it from a slightly different angle, if they do use any images of you and then go on to make it big you do have the kudos of being able to show you were part of a band that went on to be successful (of course you chose to leave them possibly after you revealed a fling with the singers sister and mum ) but seriously how many musicians that were part of one successful band albeit briefly go on to play in other successful bands? As you no longer wish to be part of that band their using your image in anyway could work to your future advantage

What about the Precision Lyte is certainly fits all of you criteria weight and size wise it's not too expensive, you can, as many do, upgrade the pre amp (but I love mine just the way it is) and you can get them in some decent colours unlike mine horrid tobacco burst should that 1970's disco feel not appeal to you

Thank you....I thought I was twisted now I know I am just ill and even better it's not fatal.....now where's that Paul Young CD

I really enjoy gigging, I can't get enough gigs locally doing original music to satisfy my need for public adulation!! so playing in a covers band solves both needs plus it really keeps me stage ready and up to speed as a bassist and forces me to practice at home of an evening (forces in the case of the covers, inspires in the case of the original songs)

You will tend to try and dial in the sound you like whether you are practicing, jamming or gigging after that it will depend on the sound the band wants to achieve and the acoustics of the room you are playing in, they will influence your sound on a regular basis

Throw them all in a bag and relish the twenty minute job of extracating every lead from the knotted mass at the next gig. I have tried the gentle loop and twist and the famed fold and knot etc still ends up in the good old tug and shout when I next want to use it

We never ask for payment until the end of the night, our guitarist always gets an email confirming the fee....any arguments and out comes the I Phone with the email and away we go, to be fair to the local venues we have never had any serious debate over fees at the end of the night

I quite honestly never really considered myself a Bassist / Bass player until a guitarist who I had the upmost respect for asked me to play bass on some recordings ahead of the usual session bassist he normally worked with. (I still think he was daft, but it did wonders for my self belief at the time and has stayed with me throughout my playing career)

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1363540286' post='2013817'] If you're in a covers band as a way of earning money, you need to be paid, no matter how much you love it. I'm sure plenty of people love their day-job, but wouldn't dream of doing it for nothing! An acquaintance of mine got a gig in a local pub before christmas. He's only 16 and trying to get his foot in the door. He got this gig, and was told that he would get free drinks on the night (this kid doesn't look or act 16, let alone 18, but that's another discussion) and that it would lead to more gigs. I advised him against in, because i don't think any landlord who thought you were worth paying for a gig would try and get your first gig for nothing. He did the gig, and never got another one. I've never played in a covers band, or done gigs in a pub, but i know plenty of people who have, and it's always the same story. Your first gig is never free, that's it! Free gigs are for the people who put plenty of work your way and can be trusted. [/quote]I have to agree with the above comments, we will play a 1st gig at a venue (covers band) at a reduced fee but with the understanding of what our normal fee is and after the first gig the normal fee will apply there after. I guess where we are quite lucky is that largely the venues we play are wanting to re-book us so we are able to stand our ground over minimum fees however we will often play a venue that pays less than others just because it is a more fun venue to play I think with original songs we would be looking to do the right gigs with the right kind of exposure but would be fully prepared to go unpaid for the "right "gigs

Firstly good luck with the shop we certainly need the smaller independant retailers out there to keep the big guys on their toes. I buy from a couple of places normally, PMT in Northampton where the staff are great, always helpful and polite (but I have spent a small fortune in there so they know me by now) and on a smaller scale Pheonix Soundworks in Earls Barton, Duncan has been in business for many years as a retailler, repair and service centre and hire centre, he doesn't stock a massive range of gear but can get most things that I want, he will always try and get the price as close as possible to the online prices, one of the biggest attractions though is from time to time he will have something really special hanging on the wall, something the likes of PMT will probably never take in as a part ex or choose to stock (he had a custom built Gretsch Silver Falcon last year that had me visiting on a regular basis just to ogle this thing of total beauty) Phoenix carry out all of my repair work, any servicing etc, Duncan is a font of knowledge for anything sound or lighting based...so as you can see there are so many reasons to keep visiting and spending my hard earned! Is the level of service better from Phoenix...probably not (only because the guys at PMT are also excellent) but it is a different kind of service that I am not sure the major retailers have the necessecary mindset to be able to match

Has Mr Hall ever taken the time to explain his companies position and why he chooses to go after indivual sellers rather than tackling the manufacturers? Why Rickenbacker don't join the 21st century and outsource some production to the far east and go down a proven successful route both Gibson and Fender has paved the way for? And finally what he thinks about the apparent public perception of his company that is being created by their stance towards modern and vintage copies? Mr Hall, this could be a perfect forum to tell us your position?

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1363282358' post='2011036'] It's just like all those people who wear cheap TAG fake watches. They think they look sophisticated, but the Nike trainers, tracksuit and fags give it away. Take some pride in yourselves people. Don't give your wife a fake Cartier watch from down the market. It means that you don't value her. Don't buy yourself a copy bass guitar, it shows that you consider yourself to be of low value. There are plenty of affordable alternatives out there without demeaning yourself. Or ..... you could chose a licenced copy. Then you wouldn't be so seedy. [/quote] My first guitar was a £25 Kay Strat copy, my first bass was a £20 no named P bass, I can't remember there being much of an alternative available that a 16 year old could afford at the time, I thought both were pretty cool because hey I am now a musician, from what you suggest then really I shouldn't have taken up music at all because I couldn't have afforded a "proper" guitar....30 years of playing later I think that would have been a waste

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1363276452' post='2010908'] From the title I thought that this was another Mr Hall Rickenbacker thread. [/quote]