skankdelvar

The problem with guitarist tuning issues is that the worst offenders retreat into a huffy sort of bubble and refuse to accept reassurance ('It sounds fine') or advice ('Tune the string [i]up[/i] to pitch, not down'). As Red points out, the problem is rarely the tuning pegs. Most often it's a binding nut, failure to stretch in the strings before tuning, wildly incorrect intonation and (less often nowadays) the 5 / 7 harmonic tuning method. All these issues are surmountable. The other challenge is that electronic tuners are great for some keys and positions but not others. So the guitarist tunes up, everything sounds fine with the guitar tuned to itself. Then he plays a song in - say - the key of C and hears some sour notes. So he re-tunes which - of course - makes absolutely no difference to the greater scheme of things. Rinse and repeat. The really glaring examples of assonance often occur on the G string from about the fourth fret upwards. The only way round this is to start with the basic electronic tuning then adjust individual strings by ear to 'sweeten' the tuning for maximum flexibility. With a bit of simple preparation it's fairly easy to fix the tuning issue. The big challenge is getting the main offenders to listen to helpful suggestions.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1477000223' post='3159244'] And these guys were all older than me. [/quote] Is that even possible? Moving swiftly on: It sounds like you may be need to go right back to basics. Google yourself a list of every music bar, jam night, open mic, recording studio and rehearsal complex in a 250 mile radius. Then go back online, see what's shaking, invest in some snakeskin boots then go walk through some carefully selected doors looking like a slick operator with something to offer. People will stir themselves and ask 'Who [i]is[/i] that handsome man?' and you will say 'They call me Mister Blue'. Success will ensue as surely as night follows day. [color=#faebd7].[/color]

I think basically you need to get your ass out there, Blue. Possibly beyond the borders of the Great State of Wisconsin, even. I think there's basically two routes to finding the band of yer dreams: i) Audition for advertised vacancies ii) Become the go-to local / state-wide bass guy (with vocals) who works with everyone: turns up, does a great job, totally calm and makes life easy Neither approach is mutually exclusive but it strikes me it's better to be getting the call than placing the call.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1476912212' post='3158499'] Never thought about that. However in the States I don't think it's all that easy getting on welfare. I think the rules vary from state to state. Blue [/quote] Back in the 70's in the UK it was almost [i]de rigueur[/i] for aspirant musos to sign on at the Social (the welfare), supplement their income with infrequent part-time work and gig under assumed names to avoid prosecution for benefits fraud. Great times.

Only on BassChat - someone asks for a tab and someone else vids them a private lesson. Nice one, WoT

Quite so. Mr Keith Richard dines out on the war stories surrounding the making of the motion picture 'Hail Hail Rock'n'Roll' which chronicles his efforts to bring Mr Berry out of semi-retirement. A still from the movie below: [size=3][b]'And another thing!'[/b] : Keef loses it with Chuck in frankly shocking meltdown[/size]

The frankly 'difficult' old rocker turned 90 today, announcing a 2017 release date for album of new material recorded with the backing band from his club. First new songs for 38 years. More [url="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/chuck-berry-marks-90th-birthday-with-first-lp-in-38-years-w445376"]here[/url].

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1476815750' post='3157562'] I'm saying I feel I should be making more money and playing at the national headliners level doing 80 minutes instead of 4 hours.[/quote] It's good to have ambitions and goals. If you think your skill-set can propel you to the next level then you should give it a go. In the first instance you have to put yourself out there and network while protecting your current gig until such time as you have some offers in front of you. [quote name='blue' timestamp='1476815750' post='3157562']I'm really interested in how other currently value themselves as a musician. [/quote] As a total finger in the air exercise why not think about a 'per gig' rate of ((Your current annual living costs x 3) / 183 nights a year) and compare that to what you think might be on offer out there.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1476560289' post='3155273'] I've heard a few people sound good with them, though I must say that John Scofield sounds so much better since he switched from Mesa to Vox and moderated his chorus pedal usage. I feel like their repuation as a "Swiss Army" amp is well deserved. With a Swiss Army knife I could open a bottle of wine, cut up food and trim my toenails, but I'd much rather have a proper corkscrew, kitchen knife or scissors to suit the task at hand. [/quote] I don't much like Boogies mainly because there's a sort of overpowering blarty muddiness which sundry guitards with whom I've worked don't seem to notice. OTOH, I once had a bash on a Mesa Royal Atlantic and it was quite nice.

Worst guitar amp? But there are so many candidates... * Marshall Class 5. Only sounds good outside the room with the door closed. Up close it's just soggy mush. * Small Blackstars (as above). The much-vaunted voicing control makes almost no difference to the sound. * Any Mesa Boogie - throttled, constipated tone * Modern Orange amps (what's the opposite of versatile?) * Any Silverface Fender with the Ed Jahns ultralinear transformer / master volume circuit All IMO, one's mileage may vary, of course

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1476379554' post='3153849'] Didn't Casio used to advertise some of their home keyboards in the 80s, particularly in the run-up to Christmas? OK, they're perhaps as close to toys as musical instruments, but that's the only example I could think of. [/quote] I think Guitar Hero likewise did some TV ads.

[quote name='LZD56' timestamp='1476361564' post='3153635'] "50% of what you spend on advertising is wasted - trouble is you don't know which 50%" Don't know which marketing guru said that, but it's very true [/quote] The observation is sometimes attributed to Lord Leverhulme the founder of Unilever which - as every schoolboy knows - is the owner of the Marmite brand. [quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1476318764' post='3153358'] Which carrot rifle is best for metal? [/quote] The metal one in the YT video. People were 'worried' about durability of the earlier plastic version. Frankly, I'd like Santa to bring me an oxygen-propane potato gun. [media]http://youtu.be/OwRAbVPsj5g[/media]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1476307863' post='3153297'] How do you kill someone with a carrot? [/quote] With a carrot rifle, obviously. [media]http://youtu.be/bo_oNLdpN7g[/media]

[quote name='BrewA1' timestamp='1476288034' post='3153069'] One thing I've pondered while watching tv, why are there no instrument adverts on? I'd love to be sitting there and see a new bass come up on the screen, would be a darn sight better than some adverts that are on! [/quote] Placing just a single national TV ad spot on ITV costs up to £60000. That ad would be viewed by hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people who do not play bass guitar and never will. Hence there would be a very high outlay for a high level of wastage. Advertisers seeking a specialised audience use specialist media in order to minimise cost and wastage. That's why they use musical instrument magazines, websites like BassChat and low visibility programmes like Google Adwords that deliver ads in response to keyword searches. Basically, it's the difference between buying an atom bomb to drop on a city just to kill one person or sneaking up behind him in the pub with a garotte. [size=2](Sorry, I really must work on my analogies).[/size]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1475963511' post='3150179'] Here's an example,many famous big name acts use video and walk on music. IMO, if a local unknown band uses walk on music in a small pub it's would come off as weird and pretentious. Blue [/quote] To a certain extent, this - again - depends on context. One Chicago-style R&B band I was in we'd play a background music mix tape of laid-back 1930's blues stuff over the PA for an hour or so before went on. The audiences (being greying old blues fans) liked the songs and it warmed them up but not so much it would 'compete' with our more uptempo set. We'd walk on just before the end of the last song on the tape. Another band, we used walk-on music but very much in a piss-taking sense. Sometimes it would be cheesy TV show themes (The Sweeney, Crossroads, Blankety-Blank). Other times it would be short clips of ludicrously heavy classical stuff; the finale of Mussorgsky's 'Great Gate Of Kiev' was a particular favourite of mine. Most uplifting.

[quote name='grumpyguts' timestamp='1475920280' post='3149725'] So what's the view, is it better to begin with a bang or ease gently into the set? Or does it depend on setting? [/quote] I think you've answered your own question; it depends entirely on setting / context. On some occasions, starting with a balls-to-the-wall attention grabber is likely to have severely counter-productive consequences.

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1475396120' post='3145527'] was he offering nostril flaring lessons? [/quote] I don't know about flared nostrils but the shop guy would certainly have been wearing flared trousers. It was the fashion in those days.

It's good to have a nice surprise every so often. Enjoy!

By amazing coincidence there's an Eastwood Ampeg thread [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/292557-nbd-tonight-matthew-i-want-to-be-rick-danko/page__p__3142137#entry3142137"]here[/url] on BassChat that started just a few days ago

Given the number of BC-ers namechecking this book it would seem that a considerable debt is owed to Mr Gregory and Mr Vinson. ([i]beams out a cosmic 'thank you' [/i])

The Harvey Vinson book, a Dansette record player and a copy of 'On The Level' by Status Quo.

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1475089366' post='3143027'] They may be a little steep, but what do you do for money? [/quote]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1475088717' post='3143020'] But the shop doesn't just buy them all in for £500 each and earn more off more expensive sales, it's quite possible sometimes that the cheaper version has more in it for the shop, less so for the same brand granted but a known brand that sells like Squier can force a better deal for themselves than the shop, lots of £50 cuts from lots of Squier basses is better than a £100 cut from a bass that doesn't sell. The chinese P bass deal with an amp and strap could be bought in for say £100 and sold for £199 many times over coming up to christmas, the no doubt much nicer and better value for money Squier deal selling for lets say £249 might be costing the shop £175, that expert advice has got the buyer a better bass and a useable amp but you've cost the shop £25! Stack 'em high sell 'em cheap! [/quote] Yes, but I wasn't talking about Squiers. Neither was I under the mistaken impression that the shop were buying in DRSs and D18s at the same price. I suppose there's a possibility that a retailer might make less profit off a D18 than a DRS at less than half the price, but I doubt it. Perhaps the retailers here could weigh in with a view?

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1475087844' post='3143005'] Terry Stafford [/quote] Everybody whose performing career tanked is influenced in some way by Terry Stafford.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1475086642' post='3142980'] As with the Squier story above though this is looking at it as both an outsider and an enthusiast, the cheap package deal the assistant was trying to sell to the lady probably had twice as much profit available for the store than the Fender (squier) one, possibly more, same goes for the Martin D18, its possible that a ticketed £250 acoustic has more margin for the store than a £1250 acoustic. [/quote] £1850 and the previously considered alternative was a £729 Martin DRS. I suspect the shop probably made more out of the deal. Anyway, I wasn't [i]actually[/i] looking for thanks; experience has taught me to expect very little from guitar shops