chris_b

Jon Cleary and The Absolute Monster Gentlemen

Just some simple old fashioned soul music. . . with a very clever arrangement. Great bass playing by Tiran Porter. Break it down into sections.

The plan is that I work with the drummer to make us the best rhythm section the front line has ever played with. Apart from that I'm lighting director, sometimes A&R man, bringer of great ideas and general positive ray of sunshine.

Not so true these days. Fender let their reputation slide for far too long, but since about 2008 they have raised their game.

It's wood. That's what wood does. Looks fine to me.

I'm watching this on the hard drive. I don't see the fuss about Darryl Jones. It's a film about the Stones not the side men. No one's mentioned the keyboard players, backing singers or brass guys either. Why would they? The Stones are playing better than when I saw them about 6 years ago at the O2.

2 of the best 5 string basses I've played was a Ken Smith and a Fodera. Even second hand, these basses are way beyond my budget. Different league and a lottery win away for me, I'm afraid. Also a level of quality beyond my old Soul and R&B playing style. The current basses I own are my best so far. I have a US 55-94 Lakland and a Mike Lull PJ5. Great sounding and playing basses. I have a Fender Am Std Jazz V which is good but the other 2 get all the gigs. I've just picked up a Lull M5V. Haven't gigged with it yet, but from playing it at home I think it might be my new #1 bass.

I'd suggest you start by checking out Lakland 5 string basses. They are quality instruments and the necks are fast and comfortable.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1481272904' post='3191075'] That was last year, he'll be 71 by now [/quote] So he is. . . . even better.

70? That's an achievement! The first bass player I saw on a gig. Playing with John Mayall at The Georgian Club, Cowley, Uxbridge. Amazing bass player through all those years with Clapton then Peter Green. All those guys rearranged my brain cells, made time stand still and made me want to be a part of that world.

I love these guys. Duck Dunn, John McVie, Bill Wyman, Willie Dixon, Tommy Cogbill, Willie Weeks, Chuck Rainey, Reggie McBride, Nathan East and Wilton Felder.

In defence of the rehearsal rooms: every day of the week they get the people through the door that this thread is about, so they have to protect their investment. If they put in anything smaller they know it'll get blown to pieces. On the few occasions I've been to a rehearsal room the drummer has always bought his own kit because the studio kits are wrecked. That's the level of musicianship we're talking about. I was in Panic, West London one night and the bass player next door was so loud that we couldn't hear each other speaking in our room! The problem isn't the half stacks and 810's it's the guys who don't understand that the volume control can go both ways.

"I have to be this loud to get my sound" is shorthand for I don't know how to get a good sound out of my gear any other way, and anyway the sound of the band as a whole doesn't matter to me.

Last November 20th was 50th the anniversary of my first gig. Within 18 months we had been conned out of the money for 5 gigs by the infamous Don Arden and I've been ripped off at least once every decade since. After awhile you can see many of these situations coming, but some you can't. Looking on the positive side, I haven't been ripped off by a band leader for a long, long time. In this business if you can miss the crooks, devious, idiots and just plain flaky you're very lucky.

Very high volume in small rehearsal rooms is pointless, damaging everyone's hearing, achieves little and is [i]very[/i] amateurish, even immature. Hearing protection is essential. Whether you carry on with this is up to you, but I wouldn't be playing with these guys.

January is certainly cancelled. . . . probably the whole gig. People have ideas that don't work out as they planned and this gig sounds like one of those. I'd assume it's finished but you should clarify some of the "wishy-washy" language and see if you can talk him into putting on a few "specials" next year. Make suggestions on how you can address his issues. The volume (take the volume down), the space (less gear, give the stand-ups more room on the stage) and getting the stand-ups involved.

You can easily tell when there are Basschatters at our gigs. We get drowned out by the sound of tutting when we start Mustang Sally.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1480848350' post='3187463'] That's one way of looking at it, but I play for the song. Being a member of a band I prefer the audience to think "What a great band they are" rather than how good I am. Depending on the genre I think we all have a job to do to make the song the best it can be, and locking into the groove with the drummer is always my top priority. Showing off comes a long way last on my list. [/quote] It seems I haven't explained myself very well. I wasn't advocating showing off, over playing or doing anything other than making the rhythm section as perfect as you can. You can easily stand out by being the perfect [i]band[/i] player, look at Chuck Rainey, Nathan East, Reggie McBride, Bob Babbitt, John McVie, Duck Dunn. And. . . . as I always post, the best players serve the song first.

It's all in the way you play 'em. Get it right and I think the (very) few players who would notice would jealously think; Damn, he nailed that part! But your style should make the bits you steal sound like they're yours. That's the way it works for everyone else. In Jazz the great players make a point of "quoting" from other numbers and players.

Is this a valve amp, ie a valve power section?? Unless Marshall tell you a different story, you [i]have[/i] to plug a cab into a valve head. I used a Marshall 100w Lead amp for years in the 70's. The guys in the Marshall shop said it would be fine and it was.

[quote name='sirmuppet' timestamp='1480785885' post='3187164'] I checked those out. They look pretty cool. Haven't heard much about them [/quote] I only have 1 non-OBBM cable a Whirlwind from the early 90's. Good cables will last forever and OBBM (Dave) makes exceedingly good cables.

We need one of those chicken wire frames between us and the bad audiences.

How can you tell anything in that Kooks record. The production and sound is terrible.

I've had to stop drunks wandering onto the stage and picking up guitars several times on gigs. One guy looked angry enough to start pushing and shoving, but I was rescued by his friend who defused the situation. Why don't we get happy drunks these days? Anyway, I never leave my bass on show when we're not playing.

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1480780287' post='3187098'] You're the guy in the village hall! [/quote] It's like eating peas with your knife. You can do it but if you have any class, you shouldn't.