Newfoundfreedom

I'm like a bear with a sore derriere on gig days. Before we even started the band I was fully upfront and told everyone that I didn't want to be out gigging every weekend, and half a dozen, party / BBQ type gigs a year would do me just fine. Yet, here we are again, another Saturday night gig coming up and I can already feel my mood darkening. I just don't think I'm built to be in a gigging band. Like 4000 above, I have my own personal battles with depression and anxiety and being in a gigging band just causes me way too much stress. So much so that I've just told the band that after our last booked commitment at the end of the month, I think I'm jacking it all in. I just don't need the stress in my life.

Looks like you pulled in a good crowd too. Fair play. 👌

???? Erm....... Welcome Twigman......10 years ago.

£150 postage. I'd want the bass for free.

Nar then. Big up to the northerners. Even the ones from t' wrong side o't' Pennines.

We did a very similar thing last weekend. Played a festival on Saturday night and it was blinding. Played a small charity gig on Sunday and it was absolutely awful. The first set was so out of time that the drummer actually had to stop on serval occasions and restart to try and bring it all back together. The really scary thing is after the first set, two of the guitarists said "well that wasn't too bad" which just goes to show that they had no concept of what the rest of the band were doing, and just listening to themselves. At this point the drummer lost her sh@t and started packing away her kit. To be honest she was probably about 10 seconds in front of me. We had a bit of a band meltdown and had it all out during the interval, then went on for the second set, with everyone paying attention and it was superb. Which probably, at least as far as I'm concerned, saved the band. If we'd played as badly in the second set I'm pretty sure the drummer would have walked, and I certainly would have. It's an absolutely horrible feeling to play that badly in public and something I never want to repeat. Just to make things marginally worse. We had a celebrity in the audience (one of the Drifters) who saw the first half, told our manager we were badly out of time and needed a lot more practice, then left before seeing what the band was actually capable of. Still it gave us a new band mantra. Now whenever things are going wrong or getting a bit heated, someone just shouts "F#@k The Drifters!" 😂

On the other side of the coin. Just because you're playing for free, it doesn't mean it can't be worthwhile. We played a local bar a couple of weekends ago. For free, as far as the venue was concerned. But we advertised and promoted it as a charity fundraising evening for a children's charity which the band supports. The venue took a good wedge over the bar, the audience thoroughly enjoyed it, and the band managed to raise enough money to financially support a child in care for a year here in Bulgaria, all doing something we love. Everyone's a winner!

The problem is, these days, with most of the pubs, (at least outside major cities) either already closed, or struggling to survive, the economics of paying a band just doesn't work. Say for example if you're in a 5 piece. To make it even modestly worth your while, not even factoring in tax, gear and travel costs. You're going to be wanting at least £500. That gets you £100 each, but very few amateur band's are going to attract enough punters to increase the pubs profits by £500 and cover costs, let alone make enough money to make it worthwhile for the venue. Especially when most of them can pay a Karaoke host £75 and probably pull in just as many punters. People often talk about exploitation, and say things like "I wouldn't work for that much", and slag of bands for playing for free. But in reality, if you're in it for the money, then you're better off being a plumber anyway. If you're in it for the music and the fun of playing, then why not? It's just like any other hobby. If you play golf you buy the best golf bats you can afford, and still have to pay the course for the pleasure of playing. I bet those guys would love to play for free. Are they exploited because Ian Woosnam gets paid to play?

This thread is useless without pictures. 😉

I've heard various stories about how unreliable Behringer stuff can be, but it's usually second hand information from someone who's never actually owned any. Mine has never been anything other than rock solid.

I like a bit of Rammstein. I've not seen them personally, but a good friend of mine whose seen just about every touring rock band you could name, said they're the best band he's ever seen live. So that's a good enough recommendation for me.

We use all Behringer stuff. Power mixer, PA speakers and monitor, and I honestly can't fault any of it.

HB's look superb for the money and are very highly rated in reviews. Vintage basses with Wilkinson hardware are ridiculously good and cheap as chips. I hate to say it but even budget Squier stuff is really good and definitely giggable. I have absolutely no problem with anyone spending thousands of their hard earned on a high end instrument of that's what they want to do. But in this day and age, there's absolutely no "need" to do so.

To be fair, anything is an improvement over the standard Fender / Squier headstock.

It was good, don't get me wrong. But at 6 times the price, it certainly wasn't 6 times better. I think even budget instruments these days are so well made, after you've spent about £300 you soon start to hit the law of diminishing returns. That threshold used to be much, much higher.

I've always found them to be the emperor's new clothes.

I used to have a £1500 Warwick Thumb. I now have a £200 Traben, and I honestly prefer the Traben, both for playability and sound. I have a Bugera Veyron head which was about £250 new and is absolutely superb! Louder than I'll ever need, punchy as hell, and the tones it puts out are amazing. I also bought a couple of the Wharfedale cabs that Anderson's were knocking out cheap a few months ago and they're unbelievably good. It makes me wonder how much "better" the expensive stuff can possibly be, because the sound in getting on a budget is outstanding!

I think relaxing too much because everything's going great can also be a big culprit. We played a small festival on Saturday night, (our first ever) everyone brought their A game, concentrated on what they were doing, and we had probably the best gig of our (granted somewhat short) career. The following night, we played a local charity gig which we've done before, to a handful of punters and were all relaxed as it was a throw away gig. It was bloody awful! So much so, the drummer started packing her kit up in the break and had to be talked around, and I wasn't far behind. We had a word with ourselves in the interval, and the second set was spotless. It was like playing with two different bands.

For me it's got to be Steve Harris from Iron Maiden. The person who made me want to pick up a bass guitar at 15, and still inspires me now at 45. His playing has been consistent through all those years, and his sound and style is unmistakable.

As I'm the only member of the band that's fully wireless and don't need to be neer a pedal board or tethered to an amp or PA, I don't have a problem if they don't leave me any room. I'll just stand in front of the lot of em.

I'm married to the singer. It's like taking a packed lunch to a buffet. 😂

My mates the drummer in System of Hate. I believe they're playing Thursday afternoon.

Yes the amp head gives me "my sound" as I run it post eq. But it's tiny, weighs next to nothing, and tucks away neatly under the PA stand. I had a whole pedal board but I don't use it at all now, it's just more gear I don't need to be lugging around. I'm aiming to keep things as simple as possible from now on.

Could be worse. The guitarist is married to the drummer. 😂

I've already gone wireless from the guitar into a class D head, and I've just decided to give DI'ing directly into the PA a go. So that'll be two cabs I don't have to hump around. Providing everything sounds OK at practice tomorrow. That should lighten the load considerably and hopefully make gigging a more pleasant experience. Just the bass, and amp head in a small laptop bag. Although as I'm married to the singer there's no way around having to hump the PA about.