bonzodog

[sub]I agree that there is no reason why you cant do both, even if it means setting up two websites. You should certainly get paid more for the tribute side as they are so popular at the moment. I also agree that you need to go all the way as regards to stage show and what to wear, although I would draw the line at 'pretending to be the actual people themselves'. I saw a Queen tribute once who talked to each other on stage as if they were Freddie, John. Brian etc.....way to cheesy. But certainly get the clothes right and a back drop. At least if you run with both, you can drop one off if the tribute band is working and visa versa. As for agents, I wouldn't bother at first. See if you can get gigs yourself and only approach an agent if you are struggling as they will want at least 20% and send you to any old sh*t hole, as I have experienced.[/sub]

Cheers for the replies guys. I may never need it, but I would feel happier knowing I had a spare even if it was left in the car. I appreciate the advice on having similar sound to my main bass so may just look out for a good SH Tbird.......however as one poster already suggested there is an element in me that wants to convince myself that I need a back up just so I can go and buy a new bass. At least that's the excuse I will be telling the wife. If she knows its for gigs where I earn money to line her pockets, she seems to be ok with it!

As I have more and more gigs coming up its time to invest in a back up bass, and it begs the questions do you have a back up bass just to get you through the gig if your main weapon of choice lets you down or do you alternate between basses. I play an epi thunderbird pro and could quite easily just buy another standard thunderbird as a back up. However as money is a bit tight I have been looking on some well known auction sites. I am looking at getting a Jazz bass and decided to look at other makes as well as Squires. Its surprising how many I have seen very cheap (sub £50) but in good condition ,where I do not recognise the make and upon investigation they are relatively cheap to buy new. As this is predominantly going to be just a back up do you think basses of this quality would suffice or would you suggest putting the money towards something a little better. In an ideal world, I would have a selection to choose from for every gig but until then I need to be careful what I spend

Don't assume more watts equals louder volume. It doesn't. Like has already been said the difference between 300 and 500w is nowhere near as much as you would expect. Sound is basically moving air and the more cabs you have moving more air will have the better effect.

i try and go to any local venue I see advertising original bands but the truth of the matter is they are very poorly attended and in the end the venue can't afford to carry on hosting it so knocks it on the head. There just aren't enough people going out anymore to watch original bands so it's very hard to get regular work

As AcDc said it's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll

My band are working on an acoustic set so we can broaden the types of venues we play. Learnt Sunny afternoon and Stray Cat Strut last night. Both have really enjoyable basslines

Glad its just not me then.......Since I posted this, I went to a showcase gig last night and watched 5 bands play. It was only the first band who were all 17 year olds, that bothered to dress like a band and looked really cool. All the other bands of ages 25-50 wore normal clothes and didn't look interested, which I found hard to believe as it was a showcase. No surprise the young band got all the attention. I also agree on disliking music between songs, especially as I do a lot of the talking to the audience which is hard when you have some toss pot on rhythm guitar playing metallica in-between songs when we are not even a metal band

I've had a similar problem last week. I sold some music software on ebay and the winning bidder paid me straight away. Paypal put the money in a pending file and would not release it until the winning bidder had received the items and scored me 100% feedback. When I asked paypal why they did this they said it was either because I did not have 100% feedback or I was selling into a market that had a lot of deliveries not arrive. I have always had 100% feedback so it must be the latter which may be why you have had problems. Either way its just obvious that itsa way of paypal getting interest on your money.

I play an Epi thunderbird which is very heavy but I love it, although its not everyone's cup of tea. However I sit down at rehearsals and would never rehearse for more than 2 hours anyway. Over 4 seems a bit excessive. At gigs we never do sets more than 45 mins at a time which I can jut about cope with

Sorry if this topic has been mentioned before but I am a relatively newbie. I have played in a few bands over the years and am currently in one and setting up another working covers band. I always seem to be in a minority when it comes to being conscious of how the band looks on stage. I don't mean dancing around (although I do prefer to move a bit rather than stand still). I mean the tidiness of the stage itself and what we wear. I have known fellow band mates in the past leave guitar cases and drum cases littered around the stage and leads end up becoming like a plate of spaghetti. I worked the clubs as a singer for years and it used to annoy me when the club would leave stacks of chairs and tables on the stage and also the dreaded shimmer curtain were always half hanging off so I suppose this is where I am getting it from. Do you think this is an issue or am I being over the top? BTW I am not writing in continuous lines for a reason, my post wont let me start a new line or paragraph for some reason!!

I simplify the bass line when I need to sing (I do backing vox on some songs and lead vox on others) and then go back to the correct bass line in between lines. We cover 'Should I stay or should I go' which has a great bass line in chorus but is still easy to sing as walking parts are between lines.

Its just plain rude to plug into an amp without asking, unless they were kids and a bit naïve. Simple answer is, as has been said before is the organiser to sort it all beforehand. We are playing tonight and there are 5 bands on, with us being 4th on bill. The organisers have already set up back line and we've been told to just bring guitars and FX. This does however have a downside as I have no idea what amp I will be playing through and we have been told we must not bring our own amps,

I think unless you have software or are a real expert you rarely get a bargain. I have bought several items from ebay and sold a few and I cant really say I've ever had a real bargain either way. Like previous posters I have seen products go for pretty much the new price from a shop. I think ebay is becoming too sophisticated to bag a bargain unless you fall lucky. I still look at the local newspaper adds and you can get some real bargains there. Best deal I have had for a long time was buying an amp off here

Best system I have is in the car, and as I drive for a living that's the only time I listen to music. As with previous posters I too have 2 kids and a wife, all of which have about as much interest in my music as I do in their obsession with every soap that's on TV. However I am considering going back to vinyl and building my collection up again.

I am planning on doing something similar in the Midlands and have already done a few trial nights with mates' bands. There are dozens of pubs with big empty function rooms just dying to be used. They will give you room for free and just take on beer takings. My plan is have genre specific nights and then have 5 bands on, mixing it up with original and covers bands. Each band is allocated a number of tickets and they get 50% of the total value of what they sell. The balance is paid to us. Anyone who pays on door is asked who they have come to see and then they are allocated to each band. If you target young up and coming bands they are always keen to gig and will usually bring all the family and friends. Put them on with some established bands and you can get a full house. We charge £5 per ticket and room we are planning n using holds 200 people. So far, both trial nights have sold out. We are having to hire PA at the moment but the intention is to buy one in the long term

Just been and collected a Crate combo from Mark (Tredders). Very happy with purchase and looking forward to giving it plenty of use. Mark was a top bloke and a real pleasure to deal with. Even made me one of the nicest coffee's I've ever had!!!!

+1 on just focusing on the root notes for this gig. If its going well and you relax a little then you can venture out, but best to get through first gig keeping it simple. Good luck

Awesome song and video, especially like the guitar melodies and vocal harmonies. Good luck

PM sent

I've always had it for bands I have been in. As has already been said its so cheap (£50-£80 per year) its worth it as more and more places insist on it. You may not even know till you turn up, get the gear out of the van and be told you can't play unless you can produce a certificate. Like the previous poster, PAT certificate is also good to get (Portable Appliance Test). Most electricians will come round your house and test your gear for about £25.00 and give you a 12month certificate. Or you can buy your own testing equipment.

done

I have played bass in a duo along to backing tracks and also in a previous life sang around the clubs to full backing tracks and hated both. The main problem is you are tied into the backing tracks layout and therefore can't add an extra chorus for example, I you fee like it. Plus I would imagine it would be a nightmare for your drummer. I have only worked with backing tracks containing drums, but to have to keep in time with a backing would be hard for a drummer. You also have to think about what format you use. In a large room MP3 quality sounds pretty naff in my opinion. I would be inclined to leave the keyboard bits out unless you take on a full time player. I played bass in a Jam covers band once and we didn't bother with the keyboards, just bass/drums and guitar and it sounded fine.

Rock band I played with a while back used songs from the film 300. Have a listen to some samples because if I recall you could use just about any song off the album [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack-Version/dp/B001F5VKZI/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366396629&sr=301-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack-Version/dp/B001F5VKZI/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366396629&sr=301-1[/url]

Hello everyone. I played bass in a rock band when I was in my teens, and then moved over to lead guitar up until recently. I was asked to start a new rock/punk covers band and as the other guitarist was so amazing I offered to go back to bass.......I cannot believe what I've been missing. Playing bass again feels like I have come home and its brought back memories from playing as a kid. Just wish I had stuck to bass all along now. Bought myself an Epi Thunderbird Pro as I have always loved the look and sound and am currently on the look out for an amp for practise/small gigs/DI to PA, but needs to be fairly light (on going back problems) in region of £200. Hope to be a good contributor to this site and a long term member. Cheers