Stylon Pilson

I think that the important thing that we mustn't lose sight of here is that small cabs just don't have [i]heft[/i]. /me disappears off over the horizon, cackling with glee S.P.

Assuming that there's just one support band, I would have thought 45 minutes is a reasonable ballpark. Why, what have you been offered? S.P.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1493039972' post='3285071'] So [i][b]then [/b][/i]did you hit on her? [/quote] No, I misread, and I hit her instead. Now my band are calling me a cycle path, which seems like a somewhat abstract insult, but whatevs. S.P.

Saw a band called [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clor]Clor[/url] at the Reading festival in 2005 and was blown away. They split less than a year later. S.P.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1493037939' post='3285034']Already, the band is talking about recording another 5 songs to add to those from Saturday.[/quote] Interesting, that suggests to me that they thought more of your performance than you apparently did. They're not saying "we need to go back in and re-record those 5 songs." A very good sign! [quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1493037939' post='3285034'] It's only the drummer and me who are talking about our first gig together in 3 weeks time.[/quote] It sounds like you're having serious doubts that this is the band that you want to be in. Your earlier mention of rehearsals being cancelled at short notice, along with your self-professed desire for things to be well-organised, suggests to me that you may find this to be a frustrating experience. I think that at the very least, you need to talk to the band leader, and ask them what they thought of your performance at the recording studio. S.P.

[i][font=lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif][size=5]UPDATE[/size][/font][/i] So it looks like, fortunately, I had misunderstood. Girlfriend didn't come to the band meeting. However, he had told her that we'd all meet up with her afterwards at a gig nearby. So that's good, and we had a productive meeting after all. That said, something tells me that when making this plan with her, he may have slightly underestimated how long the meeting was going to take. When we finally strode into the venue at 11pm, her face looked like a thundercloud, and the two of them had a little private conversation in a corner for a few minutes. S.P.

My band is in dire need of a meeting to discuss various aspects concerning this, that and the other. A few weeks back we co-ordinated diaries and agreed this evening would be suitable, and decided to do it over a nice meal. However, and I really hope I'm wrong about this, I think that the guitarist may have invited his girlfriend too. In which case, that probably puts to rest any chance of having any productive discussion, and means it's just going to end up being a band social instead, and all those issues that are threatening to tear the band apart will continue to remain unresolved. Lesson learned - next time, plan the band meeting for somewhere as uncomfortable and hostile as possible. S.P.

I'm also using a Rockboard LT XL, and am very happy with it. It lasts multiple gigs on a single charge, and you can play while you charge anyway. The only slight complaint I have about it is that it doesn't have an on/off switch, so I have to disconnect it to prevent the battery being drained. S.P.

With those tuners sticking out of the back of the body of the bass, are they going to be poking the player in the hip, or are they far enough to the edge that they are out of the way? S.P.

The go-to basic free recording program is [url=http://www.audacityteam.org/]Audacity[/url]. Have you tried that? S.P.

You can just use a normal guitar lead, though with pedal boards you'll usually use the shortest leads available to try and minimise the total length of cable run between your bass and the amp. Another thing to consider is that normal guitar leads with straight jacks will force you to have a huge space between your pedals. I personally like EBS patch cables, they've got very flat-headed right-angle connectors. S.P.

Thanks for all the thoughtful responses. I suppose the question I was asking was "is it possible to be a successful covers band if you don't play Sex On Fire" and from the sounds of it, some of you are in bands that are. But then, as BigRedX points out, the downside to a set list full of your favourite songs is that if you play them enough times then you may end up hating them, so from that perspective maybe it's better to start with songs that I don't have too much of a personal attachment too. Some respondents have set up a false dichotomy, interpreting my original post as suggesting that the choice is between "Sex On Fire" and obscure album tracks that send people running for the exit. I don't believe that that's true - I believe that it's possible to come up with a set list of songs that are recognisable and danceable, but also steering clear of the dozen songs that are played by 90% of covers bands. Anyway, the broad range of responses suggests to me that there is no single answer. I think the only way to find out is to go along, assess the musical competence of the other players, and see whether I enjoy it. S.P.

Most of my playing experience over the years has tended to be with bands playing original music. It's fun, but there are always a lot of gigs to small crowds, and the feeling that my "competition" in this marketplace is with teenagers and kids in their early 20s who just have a whole lot more dedication than me, who are throwing themselves into their music with the dream of one day making it big. So I've been toying with the idea of shifting into covers bands, where I can play great songs well, to an audience who want to dance and sing along. I've got one opportunity in the pipeline, but the example set list that I've been sent is far from inspiring. Sex On Fire, and other such songs that seemingly all covers bands have been playing for the last five years. I'm worried that I'd get bored quickly. Should I rule them out on this basis, or is this just something that comes with the territory? And if I do decide to rule them out, what's a diplomatic way of letting them down gently? S.P.

[quote name='interpol52' timestamp='1487282588' post='3238701'] Subcircus. We supported them in the 90's and I was speechless watching their set. Their album Carousel is one of my all time favourites. [/quote] I came to this thread wondering if I'd recognise any of the band names in here - very glad to see Subcircus! I saw them live when I was at university. I often wonder what the band are doing now, they apparently all just disappeared without a trace. S.P.

Building a bass cab is a lot like modifying a car. You lower the springs, you install tinted windows, maybe a beefed-up sound system. Then you drive it to the Sainsbury's car park on a Friday night and meet up with other guys and look at each other's cars. Then a bit of a fight breaks out, and as you hear the wail of sirens on the horizon, you jump into the car and drive off, but you prang it on a traffic light, so you're a bit embarrassed about that, and the most awkward thing of all is that it's actually your mum's car and she needs it for work in the morning, so you sit there looking at your phone trying to pluck up the courage to call home to get someone to come out and rescue you. Maybe the analogy doesn't really hold. S.P.

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1486549927' post='3232619'] I usually find I have to go and listen to them again. It's almost as if my memory's got a partial recollection of how they sound and is nagging me to go back and refresh that memory. Doesn't clear them out straight away, but makes the nuisance of their running 'round your head a bit more bearable until they do finally fade. [/quote] Yep, this is my solution too. You need to sort of indulge your brain, and then it will stop bothering you. S.P.

[quote name='anzoid' timestamp='1486379945' post='3231191'] Tempted to make an offer of £150 and put the damn thing out its misery. Could probably sell most of the parts - and there's a few structural engineers that might be able to make use of the strings in a small suspension bridge... [/quote] Are there any videos on YouTube of someone trying to actually play one of these things? If not, then it might be worth buying it just so you can be the first person to do that. And then strip it for parts, of course. S.P.

It certainly looks tasty, but I'm not convinced by the shape of the pickguard. The thing about the Jazz control plate is that its shape flows into the Jazz pickguard, whereas what you've ended up with here sort of bulges out and back in again. I feel like if you weren't constrained by the shape of the control plate, you could have come up with something more fluid. S.P.

My concern would be that the dirtiness suggests that it hasn't been very well looked after. But see how you get on. Also, wash your hands after touching it. S.P.

I'd be inclined to pop it back in the bag, take it back to your colleague, and say thank you but no sale. S.P.

My post seems to have spawned a lot of defensiveness and name-calling. It's really not necessary for this to turn into a huge cage match. It was just a simple, and to my mind perfectly reasonable, question. If something important is happening on the site, like a data breach or something like that, then I want to know about it. However, I'm not interested in receiving promotional offers. I was just wondering if there was a way for me to choose one but not the other. S.P.

Not sure whether this is the right place to post this. I received an email from [email protected] offering me 20% off tickets to the London Bass Guitar Show, as I imagine many other members did. I currently have the "Send me any updates sent by the community administrator" option enabled in my notification preferences - is there any way that I can specify that I only want to be sent important site-related updates, but am not interested in receiving unsolicited advertising or other special offers? S.P.

I agree that honest reviews are important. However, if you set up a forum where the explicit purpose is to post "savage" reviews, then people are going to be exaggeratedly critical for its own sake. Any small criticisms that they have will be inflated beyond all proportion, just for a larf, innit. Where's the usefulness in that? S.P.

Fill it with bees so it doubles up as a honey dispenser. S.P.

That looks good enough to eat. S.P.