CHW

I had never heard of them, but sat down after work last night and listened to the album. It's thoroughly decent, but completely forgettable stuff. There are definitely some nice riffs but nothing to make them hit the playlists

Playing Black Knight, something was wrong, in fact it was fecking awful. I glance down at my left hand- no it's not me, I glance at the guitarists, everything seems to be right (or as much as they get it right anyway) After about a verse and a half (seriously) guitarist 1 works out that one of his silly foot buttons is still set to 1 tone down from the previous song.... I still fail to see the funny side

Bass wise- I have done that, sold on my rarely used 5 string, and a few others I had kicking about, am left with a trusty FJ, and a crafter P copy for back up. The bass I play to learn/practice etc is a cheap acoustic. That is it (3 is not too many to be minimalist right?) Guitar wise I'm building up again... When I got married I had a bit of a sell off, but that is reversing now. Not sure I could work that down to 1

My step daughter decided that she wanted to learn the bass at 15. We bought her an Epi EB-0, one of the short scale jobbies. She did pretty well with it and I taught her quite a few bits- We were lucky that just after I had taught her it, Killing in the Name of hit the charts with all of the X factor kerfuffle. She did music at GCSE getting a B, but never really fell in love in the way I did. I sold the bass to a mate about 3 months ago after cleaning the dust off.. She is 19 now. Much disappointed

Tracks of my tears and Take That's Never Forget

I started playing at 15 so the journey will be very different, but I first jammed with a guitarist (my best mate at the time and still) after I'd been playing for 2 weeks. IIRC I could just about get through the main riffs from Manic Depression, albeit a lot slower than my friend. We got going with a band after I'd been playing for about 8 months and I did my first gig just before I'd been playing for a year. Playing with others, and gigging did me no end of good for bringing on my playing. As long as you are there, or thereabouts with your playing, I'd say that it's never too early. If you are willing to work at any more difficult passages in songs, then most people will cut you some slack as a band brings things together. I know that as bass players we definitely need to cut guitarists some slack as they try to nail certain parts, or find "that" tone...

I'm used to a variety of smaller stages, from slightly enlarged DJ booths to proper village hall style set ups and I tend to prefer the larger type of small stage. I must admit though, when I did a gig on a full theatre stage it just felt too big. I wonder whether I'd get used to it, but we definitely found it unsettling as a band

I must admit that I've never had a problem with large cash, or online purchases or transfers either through fora, or eBay/Gumtree. However, I do always transfer the money out of the account it's been put in within a few minutes of it being there, so I obviously don't trust the method completely. I used to run the bar for my local tennis club, and would regularly leave the premises with well over 1K in cash, taking it home to pay into a bank later. I know I far prefer the online method for my own comfort.

It was one of those songs that I'd originally learnt on guitar, probably just a chordal campfire type version, so when asked to play it on bass I was aware of the bass part being quite distinctive, but just kind of jammed along using root notes initially. Over time I've added in bits and pieces like the unison riff with the guitar in the verse, and a few other bits and it has never been an issue either to the audience or the rest of the band. It works fine, there is just a slight nagging in the back of my head every time we play it- and maybe 1 or 2 other bass players who have been at the back of the room shaking their heads into their pints at odd gigs.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1422625801' post='2674771'] Why all the negativity for All Right Now? To repeat what I said in an earlier post, crowds still love it 45 years. Surely that says something? I can't help suspecting that there is a bit of musical snobbery going on here i.e: "It's a successful song that people like, therefore it must be naff, and quite definitely below me. I'm so much more sophisticated than that". If you're playing at home then fine, but if you're playing out in a (non tribute) covers band, then you need to play what people want to hear - and an awful lot of people want to hear All Right Now, Mustang Sally, Johhny B. Goode etc. Personally I'd have been quite happy to have written any of those three examples. [/quote] I reckon this has got something to do with the guitar part- it's one of those very easy to play songs, but actually quite difficult to get "just" right. I've seen it done with guitarists playing just A and D barre chords, and it grates me (and I'm not easy to grate). Even then it went down well with the crowd

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1422550534' post='2674015'] Ziggy is worth putting some work on. It's a great line and not that hard. [/quote] I know, it's just one of those getting round to it things.

In the rock band I pretty much play approximations of the basslines from most of the songs we do, there are a few that I have completely made my own up for, and a few that I try to get spot on... The intro and verse part of SCOM, London Calling are the ones that come to mind immediately. The only one I feel a little guilty about not having learnt correctly is Ziggy Stardust- I pretty much play just behind the chords. It is quite a distinctive bass part to me but no-one has ever pulled me on it..

Based on the singer being unable to hit the notes we ended up dropping into G- which completely messes up the iconic bassline under the solo but I can kind of get away with it. I have ended up playing it dropping the E string down to D and it kind of works. I sometimes forget to down tune, so the first verse is often a hasty silent retune. Other than that I'll swig a coke, take a few pics of the band from the stage, or jiggle about a bit.

We've only just got going but.. [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,][url="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heart-Of-Gold/655225684599253?ref=aymt_homepage_panel"]https://www.facebook..._homepage_panel[/url][/font][/color]

There have been some odd changes- but here is the basis of the setlist for band 1 [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]1 Cant get enough [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]2 Sharp dressed man[/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]3 Ziggy [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]4 Funky White Boy [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]5 Wild Thing into Loui Loui [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]6 Alright now [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]7 Breaking the law [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]8 Burning Love [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]9 Black Knight [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]10 You Shook Me [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]11 Wishing Well [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]12 Cum on feel the Noise[/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]13 Summer of ’69 [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]14 Teenage Kicks [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]Set Two [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]1 Gimme some lovin [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]2 You Really Got Me [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]3 Jumping Jack Flash [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]4 Mustang Sally [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]5 Crazy little thing called love [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]6 I Saw Her Standing There [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]7 Twist and Shout [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]8 Proud Mary [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]9 Jail house rock [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]10 Blue suede shoes [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]11 Johnny b Goode [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]12 Born to be Wild [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]13 Spirit in the sky [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]14 Boys are back in town [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]15 Wonderful World [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]16 Whole Lotta Rosie [/font][/color] [color=#373E4D][font=Helvetica, Arial,]17 Sweet Child of Mine[/font][/color]

ultimate guitar- tab pro, I think it was about £3

Current band is pretty much the tale of 2 drummers, Drummer number one is a bloody nice chap, who was responsible for setting the band up, was massively keen and regularly told me that I was the best bass player he'd played with (I'm honestly nothing special) and that I helped him understand the drummer/bass relationship better. He also suffered the 20 cymbal disease and had a tendency to try and play stuff that was beyond his ability- on many occasions I went with the keep it simple, tight and the whole thing will lift advice and he generally took it on board, until he either got too nervous, or too relaxed. He left recently due to a fall out with the others in the band, although we still get on really well, to be replaced by a guy who learnt to play with a brass band, but whose first love is punk. His fills are full and fast absolutely spot on, and he is a pretty simple, but very effective drummer. We lock in and are pretty tight and the timing is good (if a little quick at times) I know what is the easier to play to. I also recently spent some time jamming with a guy who is a session player, and it was bloody brilliant- but seriously syncopated and really kept me on my toes. Playing in a band scenario with him was pretty hard work, but in a good way.

I started playing in my mid teens in the early 90's. I remember sitting with a Beatles Basslines book, and a transcription book from one of the Use your Illusion albums for hour on end trying to follow the basslines that I could barely make out on my crappy little tape player. All this was on an Encore P bass copy and a no-name battery amp bought from tandy I developed a decent ear for working out bass lines but really struggled in those early days. A few weeks ago I was asked to learn the bassline note for note from Livin on a prayer- back in 93 that would have meant a trip to the library to borrow the tape, with a couple of hours of repeated listenings to perfect the subtle variances on the basic lines. Today I loaded an app, played along with it, looped it if needed, slowed it down if needed, and nailed it within 20 mins, (in '93 I'd have still been on my way to the library) The beginners experience is so much easier now than it was then- the kit, the price, the accessibility of tuition etc. etc. Although in addition, I completely recognise that I had it far easier than anyone trying to learn 20 years before I did.

I joined my current band through partysounds, and have had successful responses when placing ads. I think the key is to be genuine about who and what you are looking for.

This is me on my Virgin upright bass gig. I'm still looking out for the right hat...

I don't know whether this is completely relevant but I think there may be increase in recognition of classic rock among younger folks around here thanks to the fact that we have a pretty successful local radio station specialising in classic rock. This may be completely unlinked though..

I played electric guitar for 10 years with a ceilidh band- this is the worst for me During the caller's explanation of a dance, my guitar dropped off of it's strap and nose dived into the floor- it resulted in a chunk out of the headstock, and a big chip on the lacquer on the body, but more embarrassing at the time was the loud clanging of all of the open strings which brought the entire room (70 people dancing, another 30 sitting out, bar staff and the rest of the band to turn and stare directly at me) I wanted the floor to swallow me up.

I'm kind of in 2 bands- one gigging, the other in redevelopment following a member departure.. In the gigging band the other guys have known each other for 30+ years and are genuinely friends who meet up outside of the band and know each other really well.. I am kind of an outsider and although I'm friendly with them all I'd consider none of them friends. The other band formed as a result of a guy I knew from work, who I was friendly with, getting together to play a bit, realising we had something pretty good, and developing it from there.

It took me 20 years to even get close to be able to do it. I think I managed it by getting going with a basic 8th note I-IV-V progression and then trying to sing/talk over it. Eventually it just comes.

[quote name='inthedoghouse' timestamp='1411670647' post='2561810'] I hope you don't make the mistake I've made before now and stayed with a band that isn't up to scratch just because they are nice people. [/quote] Oh Bugger- that's exactly what I'm doing- I've been trying to come up with the best way of extracting myself for a while now.