Stylon Pilson

53 minutes ago, Slappindabass said:

Bought second hand for around half the price of a new one. What are peoples thoughts?

I think that buying second hand has a lot going for it. If you find that it doesn't suit your needs, you can sell it on for basically the same price you paid for it.

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What's the best balalaika for metal?

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Who are you and what are you doing in my kitchen?

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40 minutes ago, Muzz said:

I rarely watch the drummers hands - it's the feet for me...

I find that, by staring in the rough vicinity of both hands and feet, my eyes tend to alight in an approximately groinal area.

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6 minutes ago, Akio Dāku said:

The free use of language doesn't oppress

This is an opinion that is rarely held by anyone who is:

• black
• female
• gay
• disabled

Do you spot the pattern there?

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5 minutes ago, Akio Dāku said:

Because of the overwhelming importance of freedom of speech/expression.

What makes your freedom of speech more important than someone else's freedom to live free of oppression?

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4 minutes ago, Akio Dāku said:

I'm just making sure we're all in agreement that it should remain the performer's choice if they wish to offend/alienate their audience or not.

Why's it so important to you that we all agree on that?

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I own 6 basses. Not because I'm a collector, but because I've never sold one. They don't really take up that much space when they're in their cases.

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Some great songs from days of yore have lyrics that, sadly, reflect the prejudices of their time. What is your approach to incorporating these songs into a set list for a covers band? Would you refuse to do them on principle? Would you perform them accurately? Or would you modify them to make them a bit more palatable?

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I played 4 string for about 20 years. I'd borrowed a 5 string for a few months back in my first few years of playing, but hadn't got on with it. Then back in April I saw a deal for a Yamaha BB235 for a mere £270. I'd been toying with getting a 5er for a while, and at that price, it was hard to find reasons not to take the plunge. I figured that it was a good way to dip my toe in the water, and if it went well, I could always upgrade.

I've been finding that since it arrived, I've barely touched anything else. Now, whether this means I should now upgrade, or whether it actually means the exact opposite, I'm not sure.

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For those who are in gigging bands, what are your personal strategies that you use when setting up for a gig, to make sure that the whole process is efficient and smooth, and the end result is tidy and correct? Do you set up the band's equipment in a certain sequence? Do you have any other non-obvious tips?

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22 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

The problem with this is that the posting up of venues and promoters who are terrible/crooks does have this way about bouncing back at you and biting you in the donkey.  There's a few promoters/venues in and around London that network to such a degree that they can blacklist you from playing places pretty easily.

So you're saying that the crook promoters talk to the other crook promoters and then all of a sudden none of the crook promoters will talk to you any more? Well this sounds brilliant, sign me up!

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This thread is getting me thinking that there might be value in having a subforum of this site dedicated entirely to identifying which venues are good and which are bad. If there was one thread per venue, it would be a very useful resource when trying to decide whether to accept an offer or not.

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10 minutes ago, Rich said:

Does this mean the band is folding, rather than them just replacing you?

Derp, I've edited my post to be clearer. No, there's been no talk of the band folding.

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On 14/07/2018 at 10:07, chris_b said:

You have so few gigs with the old band. Doesn't look like you'd have many diary clashes.

I'd stay and be in both bands.

I get what you're saying, but the problem I'm finding is that because we have so few gigs, we're constantly forgetting and relearning the songs, so the end result is an increase in practice and rehearsal time, and a decrease in quality.

Also, I don't really want to stay in the old band, for various other reasons which I won't go into here. I just didn't want to leave until I had something else lined up.

Giving them the bad news went as well as could be expected. As I started to speak, I felt my throat close up - I'm not very experienced at this sort of thing. There were lots of shocked and surprised faces, some expressions of disappointment, but they've all expressed understanding (well, except for two of the band members who didn't express anything, so who knows what they're thinking).

Anyone free on Friday night who fancies coming to my last public gig with them, it's at the Broad Street Tavern in Wokingham.

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11 minutes ago, Buzzy said:

Just be honest about why you're leaving and try to part on good terms.

Well, achieving both of these simultaneously is the bit that requires some finesse. Some of the reasons for me wanting to leave are probably best kept to myself. That's why I'm hoping that they don't drill me too hard on why I'm leaving.

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10 minutes ago, Rich said:

Eek. Best of luck.

Thanks. I'm sure that they'll take it fine, but there's always this little nagging doubt that they'll take it personally, or demand an itemised list of the reasons why I want to leave. Either of which would be very awkward.

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So some of you may remember my recent thread "How many songs for an audition" or something like that, in which I grumbled about a band needing me to learn 11 songs for an audition, but then I did it anyway and got the gig.

Following on from that, tonight is the night when I am planning to to tell my current band that I'm leaving them. I shall try to keep it as diplomatic as possible, simply telling them that my heart isn't in it any more and it's not the right fit for me. I've decided to do it at the end of the rehearsal, tell them that of course I'll do the gig next week, that I'll do the gig in 2 months if they need me to, but I won't be doing the one in 5 months.

An added frisson has been added this morning when the keyboard player sent us a message asking if he could bring a friend along to rehearsal. I waited half an hour to see if anyone else would respond, but they didn't, so I replied suggesting that I didn't think it would be a good idea.

I've only ever left a band once before, and that was about 8 years ago.

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25 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

On the one hand it's Steel Panther, so what do you expect?

Ah, the "it's just locker room talk" argument.

Sorry, no.

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Looking at those latest photos, I can't help thinking that the knobs would look awesome if they were mounted on top of an elongated teardrop-shaped inlay that mirrors the shape and colour of the f-hole.

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I say bat the ball back into his court. Ask him if he's sure he wants to play guitar, maybe he'd like to play the ocarina instead. Ask him if he's sure he's in his 40s, maybe he's actually 27. Also I'd pull him up on his assertion that he's in Hitchin, because it's possible that he's actually from Croatia.

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Since I've recently landed a new gig, I've been in a diary-writing mood, and have been reminiscing about the various bands I've been in over the last decade or so, and some of the near misses. This one springs to mind:

I responded to a posting on joinmyband looking for a bass player to join a drummer and guitarist to start an originals indie-rock band. Sounded interesting so I sent a message asking for more information. They seemed to have reasonably good credentials, though I was a little concerned that the guitarist seemed to be more interested in namechecking the bands that he's been a tech for. They said they were also looking for a singer, and at the moment the guitarist is doing the singing in rehearsals.

They told me the date of their next rehearsal, and that there'd also be a guy coming along trying out for the singer job. With 3 days to go, they asked me if I wouldn't mind learning 3 covers that the singer knows well, just to help him out. Sure, I said.

I arrived at the rehearsal rooms, got my stuff set up and started chatting with the drummer and guitarist. Apart from the guitarist giving off vibes of being a horrible womanizer, they seemed okay. Then the singer arrived. A fairly stocky fellow, he bumbled in, smiling through broken teeth, and growling about how he's got a stinking hangover so apologies if his singing wasn't 100%. Uh-oh, I thought.

Give him the benefit of the doubt though, maybe he's just being very modest. But no, he started singing, and it was not good. Maybe it was the hangover, or maybe he just can't sing. There's no way to tell, and so I'd never take that risk. The end of the "audition" came and the guitarist and drummer were practically shaking this guy's hand saying "welcome to the band". I took that as a red flag and made my decision.

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On 08/07/2018 at 05:22, Bluewine said:

3. Load in was fantastic. ( See pic )

"Yeah, the load-in is really good, you don't need to worry about that. You can park literally right next to the stage. Oh but there's a lion."

"Sorry, could you repeat that last bit? It sounded like you said something about a lion."

"Yeah, huh, kinda embarrassing. There's sort of a lion that will be protecting the stage. You'll need to take your stuff past it."

"That sounds sub-optimal."

"No, it's fine really. Most people get past without losing use of more than one limb, two max."

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1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

That poor piece of wood looks terrified.

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13 hours ago, xgsjx said:

I'm surprised this hasn't been done before.  I did a search & couldn't find anything.

I suppose there's a certain amount of overlap with the "Show us your rig" thread. The thing about that thread is that everyone interprets it differently - some people post just their amp+cab, others include their bass, and others include their pedals as well.

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