musicbassman

Dear BC'ers, I've been offered an afternoon dep gig (outdoors) on 19th Sept which I can't do. Don't get overexcited, it's for charity (ie no fee) and is at a retirement village in Aldershot. Music is 40's/50's. The 40's stuff is mostly standards with walking bass lines, 50's is mostly period RnR. PM me if you're interested, I've told the BL I would try and find someone to cover this. Please only PM if you're sure you can confidently play this sort of thing straight off - there won't be any rehearsals ! You will certainly get the set list with keys well beforehand though. Ta, stay safe.

In 1981 I picked up a gig with a top drawer functions trio, doing West End hotels and the like. It was very good money for the time, I was earning £80 - £100 a gig. Mind you, it could be very long hours, we often had to be set up by 6 or 7pm and didn't start playing until 11, and I would eventually get to bed around 3 or 4am, - and I was living in Central London! Using Nail Soup's Bank of England calculator, that gig money would be equivalent to around £350 per person now. But I bet that these gigs are still only worth £80 - £100 now, 40 years later.... 😯

I witnessed this QC problem for myself in 1977. I was playing in the resident band at Harlow Mecca ( yes, this was just before 'resident bands' were consigned to the history books for Mecca venues) The guitarist, who certainly had more money than sense, rather fancied playing a Telecaster. So, instead of buying something sensible, he appeared at the next gig waving a BRAND NEW Tele he'd picked up (or, rather, he'd been sold) from a music shop in Ilford. Enthused by the substantial discount off the list price he'd been given he didn't seem to have considered what it played like, or even how well it had been banged together. It really was shameful - the neck was appallingly misaligned and was twisted also, and it had massive feedback problems for some reason right from the start. He tried to return it, but the shop had clearly written 'Sold as Seen' on the invoice and apparently didn't want to know.....

Did a dep gig with a 40's/50's band at a retirement village in Surrey on Saturday afternoon. First gig since lockdown. It should have been a dead easy gig, but when i arrived I found out only the guitarist and sax player were from the band's regular line up and myself, the drummer and the girl singer were all deps! Still, it all went OK and the elderly punters loved it. 😊 The girl singer took this pic.

Sunshine of Your Love - Cream 1968 - my first band. We "rehearsed" at the drummer's parents incredibly scruffy and smelly house in Paignton, Devon. All the curtains seemed to be permanently drawn so it was pretty dark, and it always smelt of wee. Amplifiers? - there was one, a Vox AC 30, which had been borrowed. It had six inputs, so there were two guitars, a bass and three mikes plugged in. Brilliant! The mike stands were broomsticks which were propped upright by bricks. Then the tape recorder style mikes were sellotaped onto the tops of these. Result! Actually the 'band' knew two numbers, the other one was 'Walking on Sunset' by John Mayall. One of the guitarists assured us that John Mayall was playing a "mouth organ" on this song, but he couldn't afford to buy one, let alone play it, so he used a kazoo instead.... Fantastic !

Thanks Dan, this is beyond appalling, what were they thinking? Shows girls can be as delusional about their talents as boys. 6.17 - it's just very unkind to encourage someone with special needs to think he's a singer - really, and I'm not being sarcastic. 7.49 - My lyric of the week - "I have big tits and I like politics" Oh please.... 😟

Wow - the Venom video is pure Spinal Tap And as for the Ancient video, every metal cliche is there, including the goat. Anyway, here's something fabulously groovy - it's the Beach Boys from 1963 Mike Love certainly has some unfortunate mannerisms (2nd from right) which make you wonder where his carers are. And their Mums come along for some groovy dancing at 1.40 ! Fab! You'll have to click on this as it can't be embedded. but it's worth it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s4slliAtQU

I've only just found out that Cardiacs frontman Tim Smith has died after a long illness. He was the guiding light behind the band and a ridiculously talented and creative individual. For those of you who have no great knowledge about Cardiacs and about just how many other mainstream bands were heavily influenced by them, then maybe spare just a few minutes to watch this intelligent and carefully crafted video from Tantacrul, who also explains some of the musical theory behind their tunes.

Some may find this interesting/informative. If only Youtube had been around when I'd first started playing! -this one tutorial alone would have saved me a lot of time.

Why it's 'Squier' and not 'Squire'

This absolutely. Once you can 'hear' intervals then you'll soon learn to recognise chords - majors, minors 6ths, maj7ths, sus chords etc...... I remember the sheer delight I felt soon after I started playing (1968/9) when I learnt to reliably recognise a 5th ! It all seems so obvious now. And this is the bassline I memorised the sound of it from:

I am embarrassed to say that out of the thousands of gigs I've done, I've only ever once turned up to a gig without my bass..... Long story, but basically the band wasn't in it's usual travelling arrangement, so I hadn't realised it hadn't been loaded. I played the entire gig on a Strat copy which a punter in the crowd had rushed back to his house to fetch for me, bless him...... No, it didn't sound good. 😧

Commiserations, and big hugs from everybody. You are clearly a stoical and considerate man. Much respect to you.

Yep, and just because it's old and is on a collector's wish list doesn't mean it will be a good instrument to play - two old but similar vintage Fenders can be alike as chalk and cheese. I had a '62 Jazz back in the day, first of the 3 control type, five figure serial number. It looked great, but it was really pretty worn out and I really don't think played any better than a modern Squier Jazz would. Shame that old basses don't have a mileometer like a car. Not quite sure what you'd measure though - No of owners? No of gigs? ..........................Number of notes played ????

I particularly like the perfectly reasonable $25 fine for the DB player who actually plays audibly !

Lots of clever here. The intro kids you into thinking it's some standard funk riff in Dm with the C - D bass line. Then, guitar line starts and sounds a bit off, but wait - then chords come in... - and hey, it's in Cm ! 😯 Great tension and release in the bass line created by use of the supertonic D (2nd) - unusual - resolving to the tonic. And of course, the feel is perfect. There's always something to learn by listening to great simple bass lines 😊

Not being familiar with this album, apparently by the popular beat combo Metallica, I had a listen, and .............. 1. Maybe this is just a collection of some of those bass playalong tracks where the original bass has been removed ? 2. Did they actually have a bass player in attendance whilst making the album??? 3. If they did, then the poor guy must have realised he was being given a very, very clear message from the rest of the band when it was mixed. 😨

I think you might have the answer there, Bobbi, your public speaking role has replaced your need to 'express yourself' through your playing. Just follow your heart - and maybe you'll look back on your years of gigging as just an interesting previous chapter in your life. Best of luck!

Yep - there's actually two bass players featured here - Sam Wilkes plays the LA concerts, and a guy called Petter 9000 plays the Amsterdam concert. Petter is obviously a big Wilkes fan, but plays some fairly bonkers bass breaks of his own - try listening to 'Falling in a Cool Way' - and the break at 25.05 for example. 😵

Rolling Stone know their audience...

I usually just do deps, but everything I had booked in for this year was cancelled. Now I've been offered a dep gig in Surrey for next month 😊 It's a 1950's doowop band. 😳 It's playing at a large care home, in the gardens. It's paying peanuts. 😨 Will I take it? Of course I will ! 😁 👍 Might end up being the only gig I do this year !

Oh c'mon, only roadies will share a room with the drummer. And actually, they'd rather sleep in the van.

So, a change of strings - weight and type - can completely change the feel and sound of a bass -we know this. What may not be appreciated is how some strings can be so much louder than others. I've just taken an old set of 45-105 Olympus flats off my PJ as they were getting increasingly 'grabby' I've put on Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky cobalt flats, same weights. Without changing any settings on my headphone amp they're about 20% - 30% quieter than the old Olympus - the greatest volume change I can ever remember experiencing with a change of strings. I won't comment on their sound as all new strings sound wonderful, but the volume thing is a bit weird. There's always something new to learn about strings! But it is an expensive journey. 😕

I've been driving in my car, it's not quite a Jaguar I bought it in Primrose Hill from a bloke from Brazil It was made in fifty-nine in a factory by the Tyne You'll need more detail than that to complete the change of ownership section on the V5 Vehicle Registration Document, Suggs. And also to advise that the River Tyne does not flow through Oxford. That'll be the upper reaches of the River Thames.

Scene - a band rehearsal back in the day... Guitarist: (stops widdling for a brief moment) "Anyway, a 200watt amp will be twice as loud as a 100 watt amp, won't it." Bass player: "Err, no, I don't think it works like that" Guitarist: "Yeah, of course it will, you thick or summat ?" Bass player: "No, no, it's a logarithmic scale or something" Guitarist: "You bass players are so full of sh*t" (carries on widdling)