oldbass

Great advice re-leaving it out in the lounge etc...(start cheap so it wont matter if the dog sends if flying)....but above all just do it. Bass is a little bit forgiving and it wont take too long for you to sound like ur actually sounding good.

And don't forget, there's plenty of good advice on here for when u run into any probs.

Outdoor private party on Saturday on some rich guys estate (how we got this gig Il'l never know),  Raised stage draped in medieval bunting and chifon. Great stage sound with no reflections anywhere and a supplied Marshall 4x10 and valve top.....gnarly and thick, reckon my P bass thought it had died and gone to heaven! Appreciative small crowd but wouldn't want to do it again, long drive then waiting around from 2 till our 8.30 start and back home at 4am.....

I'm sure Aliexpress can do a 1000 watt 3" usb cab for a tenner a piece....seems they do just about everything else!

Cheers guys....and I know what u mean re politics, plus the simple fact that they really know their stuff.

Guess it's always a bit awkward when u join a bunch who are basically lifetime mates.....just gotta play all the right notes in all the right places, then rinse and repeat!.......we'll see.

Great thread and I rarely if ever read every post of any thread. 

This last audition whilst not hellish was I have to admit bloody nerve wracking . The practise room is a little annex off the BL open plan kitchen. Everything's setup, tiny muffled kit, keys, couple of amps all crammed into this very small space and I'm starting to think...blimey this is cosy.

We sit down and are literally rubbing shoulders with each other, not an inch of room between us. BL asks me what I want to do and I say well lets go from the top of No 1 set list. ( their a 60's tribute outfit, and they do three sets of twenty each!)

First tune is the Beatles "I'm A Looser" with that fab two part opening harmony.  I haven't played for quite a while and was almost knocked off my stool by the power and tightness of that opening vocal.....christ these guys are good I think. Then the BL wife who's on keys starts warbling and the whole thing goes stratospheric. Not bad for a bunch of 70 yr olds. I'm 58....

To be sat in the middle of a four part harmony reaching for the sky in a room you couldn't swing a mouse in left me feeling emotionally drained....quite an experience. I've subsequently learned they've been doing this for 40 yrs and the front guy had a No1 record in South Africa.....no reason to doubt it really.

Our first gig is this weekend ( a mini festival apparently)...can't wait if a little apprehensive. They give the bass loads of frequency space, its all very jangly and trebly as would be expected, so no room at all for any mistakes.....yikes!

I don't mind saying this for the umpteenth time...tone really is in the fingers yay!

My US P bass sounds exactly like my Squier VM P bass...but it's a little easier to play and that's it. Both bodies are Alder and the chunkier neck on the VM makes it actually sound a tad grindier than the US P.....To me the main difference is price.

Affordable Squiers have a come a heck of a long way in 20 + yrs.

What a beautiful thing and nice weight..though think I'd be happier with the featherlight RW I had recently which would be a lot less stressful either locked up at home or playing Mustang Sally down the boozer. 

1 minute ago, discreet said:

You mean... talking about 'Jazz' is forbidden..?

 

 

 

Good. 

I rest my case...thks

I thght the filter put the slam on anything other than rock/indie talk. 

15 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

Man I am digging this...

That second track....incredible.

And is that a new Fender Pro Strat in its lovely grey finish?.  Obviously the guy means business..eventually.

Put simply my P bass tone varies hugely depending on the room, stage, back wall, crowd size. No-one ever complains so it must be ok I guess.

Interesting watch and a tasty player too. I had a heavy old 77 Stingray for years but it was a dog. That slab body is awful and mine never seemed to have a lot of punch despite the squillions I spent on various batteries.

I do think there is a case for saying..if you spend say two grand then ur expecting two grands worth of tone quality. My Squier gives me a tone which is probably only worth £150 ie, its ok ,maybe a bit mushy at times but then I'm happy to support the band, I don't need tone that "cuts through"  like its a solo instrument.

Oddly enough I don't hate Mustang Sally..sorry bit of reverse psycho etc

I'm in a similiar situ at the mo. Been asked to help out on a dep and need to learn 51 60's pop tunes in 7 weeks....their regular guy is competent but then so am I and I'm' different..He's all G&L, rounds, thunder and bark.   I'm all P bass, light touch, flats and boom..

Reckon both styles work and I've a feeling  that so far the band are digging it. In other words just be yourself, do ur own thing and if its well played you'll be fine.

On 11/27/2012 at 11:41, Spoombung said:

The common cause of errors for me is relaxing into a groove and enjoying the other guys playing. Then I forget about the tricky bit coming up and it's suddenly on top of me, like I said, no one seems to notice or care ...

Happens to me too...regular as clockwork.

On 1/21/2011 at 12:35, Bay Splayer said:

definitely fingers

you wont ever forget to bring them to gig or rehearsal

you cant drop them halfway through a song

Ha...this. Its the exact reason I changed from pick to fingers yonks ago...kept loosing them, dropping them..aargh....now I cant even hold a pick and if you can do Rythymn Stick with a pick your a better man than I..

Iv'e had years of this and that sillyness re auditions as most have attested to above.....nowadays I insist we meet up in the BL house and go through it using practise amps only.

Did this the other night for a 60 song dep I've got in June. Four of us sat in the guitarists lounge, keys, muffled snare and hi-hat and a 12" rototom fitted into a little frame for kick..sounded amazing.

It was all beautifully controlled, cordial and we got through a lot of work..can't wait till Thursday when we'll go thru the next batch.

And just to add.

Remember auditioning for a "Bad Company" style rock outfit. Great I thought until I saw the sight of two Les Pauls feeding two Marshall stacks. It was so loud and bass heavy I might as well not have been there. Never again.

Well, Ive just been given a dep in June....and they sent me 51 tunes to learn, no tab or notes. A lot of Beatles and 60's stuff which seem easy until you start to play them correctly....a lot of work and I probably only know a tiny fraction of them. Phew!

1 hour ago, mike257 said:

 

If it was that easy to make everything sound great in every corner of every venue, anyone could do it. Sometimes it's easy, but sometimes it's really bloody hard. "Turn the kick down" and "tweak the mids" doesn't really cover it!

Im genuinely interested.

So what is the worst that can happen if you "turned the kick down and tweaked the mids"..would it sound more pleasant or are you saying that it would actually sound horrible.

Last summer in Portsmouth we could barely get near one of the side stages....the kick was so loud and penetrating it was like being hit with canon balls. 

The band I'm in only do functions where we have been booked and paid to show up by those who know the guests ...we can then at least guarantee some level of respect and interest, so far so good.

eg last nites golf club birthday bash..everyone dressed up ,dancing and all very pleasant. Perfect.

Recovering from a 60th birthday function in a weird golf club bar with a cathedral wood ceiling.

Seven of us creating an awful muddy sound on stage as we were against a solid brick wall. I had to turn the bass knob completely off on the amp and push the low mids but I still couldn't hear myself...apparently on the dance floor ears were bleeding...seems the room sucked all the mids out of my rig...strange.

23 hours ago, thepurpleblob said:

So, how does one get to be a good sound person?

 

Here's a left field idea. How about back off the bass knobs a bit and tweak the mids a smidge. No?

And the really sad thing is it doesn't matter what fancy high end bass you bought from a fancy high end store....the sound guy will reduce its high end tone to mush and boom..bassists might as well be playing with the cheapest Squiers nowadays...its all the same. Boom and mud! 

And how the heck do they achieve boom and mud outdoors? There are no reflections, no hard surfaces just clean dense air.  One festival last summer made me nauseous it was so bad.