musicbassman

Regardless of whether you're playing an upside down RH bass or not, the 'one finger per fret' concept is pretty well essential, IMO.

So if you have a smaller hand, you'll really need a shorter scale bass to make progress.

1 minute ago, musicbassman said:

Why no pics? - well, buying a roll of film and then having it developed was quite a big deal financially, and there were usually other more important things to spend gig money on - like food, and petrol for the Transit.

............and platform shoes...................

I was gigging pretty solidly throughout the early '70's in various bands, but have very little photographic evidence. Similar story for other musos of that era I know.

Such a shame, I really regret this now.

Why no pics? - well, buying a roll of film and then having it developed was quite a big deal financially, and there were usually other more important things to spend gig money on - like food, and petrol for the Transit.

That 'lesson' with Carol Kaye.....................is he for real ???

Jawdroppingly appalling and clumsy technique - and he allows someone to put this up on Youtube ???

Carol Kaye is so polite.......like to imagine what she was really thinking............................

No changes seen here - Windows 10 + Firefox

49 minutes ago, Tokalo said:

On inspection, the asda battery is a couple of mm wider than the Energiser, just enough difference not to fit in the compartment.

Some PP9's are made up of 6 x AAA batteries, others are made from 6 flat cells. This might explain the slight difference in size.

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-a-9V-battery-made-of-6-AAA-batteries

Thanks for your thoughtful remarks, SpondonBassed.

On 30/03/2018 at 11:13, chris_b said:

The band won't want 2 bass players. There's only potential trouble for them if you try to go down that route.

Do the gig, ie join and be the band member. Explain that you'll have to dep out some gigs due to other commitments. Don't be specific, then you can chose which gigs you do and they can find a dep for the others.

Well, chris_b, that sounds a bit harsh to me, and I don't think they'd offer me the gig on those terms - I'm sure they won't want to be phoning round trying to get another bass player if I feel like missing a gig or three. The material is quite tightly arranged and they would expect someone who had learnt the set fully and was absolutely familiar with it - segues etc.

I think I would have to offer the band a good potential working arrangement  - and then they would want to approve the other bass player (i.e try him/her out on a couple of gigs) before committing to this on a permanent basis.

PS - I have already had a couple of BCers contact me about this - they fancy the idea of a job share also!

7 hours ago, fleabag said:

I've moved onto to stuffing my ears with jelly fruit and custard,  as i'm a trifle deaf

Thankyou for your valued contribution, fleabag  

Maybe we should all heed this sensible advice from The Serendipity Singers:

Well, this is either really quite sensible or absolutely bonkers, depending on your point of view.................

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43571144

...................."acoustic shock", eh ?

48 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

but in all honesty to me it doesn`t matter how good your product is if people don`t come to see you, which comes back to the bums on seats/drinks across the bar aspect of your query.

Well, this is a bass players forum, and bass players are practical and realistic people, so we can easily agree that we're really just doing 'a job'

Playing in a pub or a bar is mainly about entertainment, you're not playing a b*****y Arts Centre.

And don't forget some bands or individual band members might like to view themselves as strictly  'musicians' or 'artists' and regard the grubby business of whether the sums add up for the venue as completely beneath them. And as a result have a problem accepting that their jazz noodlings in 7/4 aren't likely to bring that many punters in  ..........................

3 hours ago, Les said:

Have you asked the band what they think of your idea @musicbassman ?

No, it's early days yet Les - I'm just depping with them at present. They may not offer me the gig in any case, but I don't think their current bass player will be returning - he's very ill indeed (Big C).

It's rather a delicate subject - he's been in the band a very long time, and the guys are very upset about the situation...........

I'm just trying to get some feedback from BCers about the pros and cons of job sharing if I'm offered the gig. Most responses have been along the lines of - yes, if you and the other bass player are super organised, then this should be good.

And all bass players are super organised, aren't they ? 

47 minutes ago, bazzbass said:

all in or  nothing, leave it for another bassist who wants all the gigs.

It's covers, and not even your cup of tea, plenty of bassists would jump on this.

The problem is, bazzbass, (and I expect many other BC'ers would agree) -  it's pretty tricky finding a regular reliable well established gigging covers band, whatever style, and I would certainly rate playing 60's covers way above C&W or strict tempo.

So I'm very pleased to be offered this gig, and quite happy to do it, but it's really just too many gigs to do without erasing most of my social life and the patience of Mrs Musicbassman.

I know some peoples social life revolves around their band in any case, but I'm not one of these.

Thanks for your input, guys.

Obviously I'll have to make sure that I don't pick someone who wants to hoover up all the gigs - but hey, I was there first - and I can't imagine mature old musos like these either wanting or needing to do this.

(FYI stewblack - band mainly works Crawley/Redhill areas)

36 minutes ago, SICbass said:

It means the band have two worked in bass-players rather than one regular guy and a (potentially) rusty sub.

Yes SICbass - exactly - it all sounds so sensible to me - but I don't know what they'd make of the idea - might think it a bit odd. They've been together for many years, and might find the idea a bit new-fangled. You know what old people can be like.....................

So, after a lot of searching for my first gig after a long lay off I've picked up a dep gig with a decent 1960's covers band, and it looks like they'll want me to join permanently. Their old bass player cannot gig any longer due to health issues.

They're all v.experienced players aged 60-70 and great people. 1960's music is not really my cup of tea, but they play it very well.

This is all good, but they've got far more work than I want to do - they're doing 35-40 dates a year. I'd be happy doing about 20-25.

I was considering whether to suggest to them that I job share this position with another bass player (of the same standard) as a permanent arrangement. So this wouldn't mean putting a dep in, but sitting down with another suitable bass player and deciding who was playing which gigs for the next 6 months or whatever.

Has anyone experience of this arrangement? Sounds fairly straightforward to me, but other ideas/warnings may be on offer from your good selves.

I played on the USAF bases in Spain in the late '70s

We did 6 nights a week, 6 x 45 minute sets per night.

Jeez, that was hard, not just for the band but for the equipment too.

......and as for the poor vocalist.....................

So, you want to learn to play 'Rocket Man' on this ?.......... By Thursday?

Bass for sale, heavy reliced finish, mint condition, never played.

1000 Brownie points for your thread title.........................

Nick Fyffe was the bass player.  Great phrasing, this should be on every developing bass players 'to learn' list.

7 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

Then of course you hear of partners who get jealous of inanimate objects that they think come between them and their beloved.  File those under Bunny Boiler.

Blimey, I hope I never come across a Bass Boiler !

Still, at least the strings would sound brighter afterwards.......................

We really need to get some well paid pub gigs..................

Lots of common sense and sensible advice in this thread.

I'm a 'one' player -

One bass

One amp

-and err, one pedal (comp).

Bass is early '80's PJ.  Just about b****y perfect for me. Combining the tone range of this and playing in different styles (both fingers and pick) means I can get most of the way to whatever 'that' sound I want for a particular song is, and no one else except me is going to notice that last little bit of difference.

Mind you, I must admit that looking at any quality pics of well worn '60's Fender basses is pure gear porn for me..........*blushes*

Absolutely stewblack, no responses here just because we are all speechless.........

( Actually, must admit that is pretty neat! )

10 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

What I don't get is how someone who sings as if straining on the potty can get away with it.

One of the best descriptions of a certain style of singing I've ever come across!  

Looks like I've hopefully picked up a decent gig now after quite a long search, but online I used these three sites:

Bandmix: Very clumsy and inaccurate search engine, won't accept some postcodes, and some of the band ads which come up in results - they aren't even looking for bass players!

Join My Band - the simplest and most straightforward, ads by U.K. county and in chronological order, no fees.

Find-a-musician.com - Charges fees, unintuitive site - and another one with a dreadful search engine and difficult to filter results.

If you use paid-for Bandmix then the most important thing is to write a carefully worded profile and include your contact details, then anyone can contact you without having to sign up and pay.

Also I agree with FuNkShUi about trying agencies - good plan.

I've just bought a Spectracomp, and it's rather good.

And just one adjustable parameter - nice and simple.

Suits me well..........