julietgreen

Very nice. Not me, I hasten to add. The player demonstrates various vintage horns. Lovely sounds.

I completely agree. I was doing the dep for my own pleasure and experience but otherwise it's a rule.

We've often been given free drinks, or at least the first drink free for the band. That's certainly been the case when we're not getting paid. It costs the venue so little but it pays off enormously in goodwill.

There are venues that know how to treat musos - provide free drinks, a place near power sockets, friendly reception, being expected etc. and then there are others. On Sunday I depped for a jazz band, doing their second gig in their new line-up. They had booked a slot at a local venue that were offering times for bands to play for free. Already it sounds wrong, right? But these guys were happy to do that to get one under the belt, as it were. Treat it like a live rehearsal. Put the stuff out before an audience before booking some paying gigs. We were booked to play 3 - 5pm with the resident muso coming in at 5 - 7. When we arrived, we were immediately told that all the music had been cancelled for that afternoon. ALL of it. OK, so the band leader said, 'Well nobody informed the band.' So they played anyway. About half an hour into the set, the waitress informs us that there's a 4pm guillotine on the music. We play 2 numbers from the second set and finish. There is an audience. 'Is that all?' they ask. At which point we notice a whole load of other people hanging around - some musos we know. 2 other bands were booked to play at the same time. No free drinks either.

I grew up on Tin Pan Alley, so the standards are ingrained in my soul. I 'know' every likely number that is called, but my bass/music skills (lack of talent) are such that I can't just jam along without the chords. The 'feel' is not something I struggle with though, having listened to that stuff all my life and also having played sax in various jazz outfits. Since I'm not playing jazz sax in a band at the moment, I do noodle to the Hal Leonard jazz series stuff. I've got a small stack of those books and I love the bands that are on the recordings. They play in the most supportive way, obviously. The great advantage is that the books cover all the instruments, including bass, and the recordings are with or without top line or keyboard and bass. This way, I can listen to the basslines which are laid down really elegantly but in a no-nonsense way by the professional guys on the recordings. You don't have to buy the books - there's plenty similar on YouTube. One of the things I do is look for saxophone versions of standards like these on jazzbacks and then I add my own bass.

My jazzcapades continue too. I would imagine I'm just a few stages ahead of you on the journey, since I decided I'd make myself learn how to play walking bass and get some jazz gigs. When I started, I felt like this was a specialist area that was on the other side of a chasm. I realise now that it's doable and that I've pretty much made that leap across. I'm depping on Sunday with another jazz band and we had a rehearsal today. They were old band mates of mine when I played sax in a latin jazz outfit. They were all very happy with my walking bass and other stuff today. Hooray. Stick with it. Dave Marks and Scott Devine have sensible approaches straight off.

That's interesting info. I don't normally consider using a preamp pedal. Someone gave me one once and all it did was make things louder. I wasn't sure what to do with that one. I considered fuzzing things up now and then for the rock band but never bothered in the end.

Got my cab delivered on Wed, just in time for a rehearsal that afternoon. I pushed it through its paces a bit in my living room. It coped well at the bottom end for what it is, though I thought I detected a slight 'zing' of vibration with the lowest notes. This was with my cheapo Retrovibe, so it's most likely the guitar not the cab. The little Columbus fretless sounded better. I haven't tried the De Armond (in my profile picture) yet. I found the EQ on the Trace was good with some of the lower middle taken down and a bit of a boost to the bass and the treble. (Fairly standard, really). It was very, very nice at the rehearsal - really round and clear at low volume. I'm particularly impressed with the full sound at the top end of the bass but I coudn't detect any difference with tweaking the tweeter dial on the cab. I may need to discover how this works properly. The cab is lighter than the amp and I carried both round to the car myself. The Trace sits on the top when the cab is landscape orientation, but the feet of the amp are just in the wrong place to sit on it securely when it's upright. I might move them so that it slots in neatly.

Do you tend to use it 'portrait' or 'landscape' standing on the ground? What did you find you needed to tweak in the EQ?

I will let you know!

I'm looking forward to it. It's not aesthetically unpleasing to look at either, though that shouldn't matter!

That's encouraging. I'm extremely hopeful it'll be better than what I'm putting up with at the moment and also less risk of pulling muscles/putting my back out.

It's the GP7sm. 250. Not that heavy in its box and I don't struggle to carry it because it's quite small. It'll stick out a bit if I put the cab on its side though!

OK so on reflection and research, I've decided to give the Markbass Traveler 102P a try with my Trace head. I've gone ahead and ordered one and I'll let you know how I get on.

I also took the plunge a few months ago and played bass at the local jam. Almost immediately I got picked up by a new jazz band and also asked to dep on numerous occasions. I downloaded fakebook pro for a few pence, although ireal is even better. I recommend it. Then all you need to do is take the tablet/ipad to the jam and pretty much all the standards are on there, in any key they call! Fun isn't it?

I'm thinking along these lines now. What else do I have to spend my money on anyway? I'm not into soft furnishings.

Ah, funny you should say that. I'm just looking at the Markbass stuff now. And thank you for the advice. An easy lift is idea. It's amazing how many cabs/speakers are made that have non ergonomic designs so that we risk breaking wrists or dislocating thumbs.

As I said in the ampless thread, I'm not happy with my rig. Today I tried it out and the cab was rattling. It's not a problem I can sort out now and I'm going to have to go out for this evening's gig with a medium sized Laney which doesn't do justice to the bottom end. I dislike and can't get rid of the mid/high buzz it gives. I have asked if I can try going through one of the kb player's powered speakers, which is something I do in rehearsals and the sound at that volume is quite sweet. I don't know what it'll be like for the gig volume though. So I may be looking to get a new set up. I'm female and not a weight-lifter. That's a limitation! I don't want something enormous, but conversely I don't want a buzzy little speaker either. It needs to sound sweet for jazz and pop vocal accompaniment, e.g. that smooth, round sound, no distortion. What do people think? What do you use if you're in a similar group?

Well I'm kind of fed up with my bass rig set ups. The one I was using is now rattling and the two medium combos don't give me a round sound at the bottom end. As I'm playing jazz these days and not rock, I'm thinking of dispensing with them altogether. I seem to get a sweeter sound from the PA! I'm going to ask for suggestions. in another thread.

It's always worth casting the net wide. You don't have to keep what you catch.

Thanks for the replies, folks. To summarise: if you want to and it sounds right?

What are thoughts on voicing such things as 6ths and 13ths when playing jazz on the bass? Should we be putting them into the bassline when accompanying?

Yes. I'm thoroughly enjoying the feel of the fretless. I like the sound of the one I have as well. It'll be good for jazz.

I think this is probably key.

Thanks Marc. That was a useful response.