Dr.Dave

I change strings every time celebrity juice is actually funny - ie not very often. When I do I give them a real good stretch , I'm talking bass on my lap being bounced up and down by the strings one at a time. After that I have very few problems other than the E string key often gets turned in the gig bag. Of my 3 gigging bases the old Fender (with replacement Schaller M3s) stays in tune forever. The newer Jap Fender ( with replacement keys because I don't like the original reverse tuners) sometimes needs the tiniest of tweaks but the Stingray seems far more sensitive to temperature and is often uniformly sharp or flat right across the 4 strings. The strings are Rotosound 45s and 50s on the Ray. My shell likes are so buggered I can't rely on them so I depend on my tuner which usually tells me I'm bang on even though my ears say different. I used to like playing fretless but these last couple of years... no chance.

Funnily enough I really am on both sides of this coin - the most ironic of which was when I was the ...what was it .... over zealous council jobsworth that had to deal with a swathe of complaints from fed up residents who had put up with disturbed Saturday nights for years and , as it was put so quaintly to me at a tenants meeting , 'them noisy c***s last Sat'dy is the last f****g straw'. Thankfully they didn't know that the noisy c**t in question on the previous Saturday night was me !

There's a joint called Fanny and Bacardi's here in Wakey that has worse drag acts than that !

Yes , I did read that wording , possibly more carefully than you read my opinions. I should think anyone's thoughts on the second para would have to include whether the traditions of a particular environment are more important than the urgent need for new housing , and the rights of those occupying that housing. That urgent need , of course , stems from differing reasons , the cold facts of which - were I to air them here - would doubtless result in my being chucked out of this forum too.

I have my own sig. model in effect. I added a second string tree , better ( opinion ) bridge , after market pups , dice knobs and home made beer bottle label pickguard to my blueflower 54P re-ish. Easy with Fender style basses as there's so many after market parts. But if some wise guy marketing type with sh*t in his handshake came to me with some pile of toss expecting me to compromise my equipment choices in exchange for something as unworthy as a load of cash ............. I'd do it in a heart beat !

Odd , isn't it. We seem to live in a world where folk want to pay 80 quid for a T shirt , manufactured by poor Chinese kids who should be at school , because it's an official product of some fancy Euro fashion house. They want to do that BECAUSE it's 80 quid !! It's the pose. The exact same t shirt costing a tenner isn't good enough for them and they wouldn't be seen dead in it. Then those self same people go home , rip off musicians with a few illegal downloads and watch a 2 quid copy of Iron Man they got down the boot sale !! Hardly surprising in a 'label buying ' atmosphere like that that rip off items pop up.

Sorry but I can't sign that. For many years folk who live in built up areas have had to put up with noise pollution from music venues til god know what time. Why should they ? Any recent legislation is designed to finally give folk some respite. If anyone thinks that's all a bit 'spoilsport' then tough. There are many things venues can do to stop the problem but from what I experience , a sign in a pub that says 'keep the door shut when the band's on' and a 'no noise after midnight' policy is just not cutting the mustard and is all too often 'relaxed'. I'm always hearing how it's just one single grumpy old geezer etc etc. but I reckon it's many , many more. There are enough pub and other venues big and small well away from concentrations of domestic dwellings for us to blast the walls down in without causing other peace loving folk a problem and enough acoustic bands - and many other quieter forms of music - to play in places that 'want to promote music' ( ie. make a buck on musos backs) that are in places likely to disturb the Englishman in his castle. Of course there will be borderline cases - maybe genuine , long established venues recently affected would be a good example of that - but they are the victims of other venues who don't give jack sh*t about communities or music who have long taken the piss in the name of profit. When legislation has to be put in place there will always be losers , sadly.

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1401630982' post='2465325'] last night I was playing with my band in a holiday camp for aliens?!) [/quote] Yes - I've played in Sheffield as well. I get knee ache from the humping and dumping , my throat gets sore from trying to be Noddy Holder and my ears - which are jacobsed anyway - often ring a bit but that's all because I'm too old to behave like I'm a teenager on stage , don't look after myself and should probably pack it in. What I do do to avoid the sort of next day lethargy I think you mean is have a decent wind down when I get home. Bit of proper music like Beethoven or Mahler low in the background , proper cup of non-poncy coffee out of jar and I sit in my socks and undercrackers for an hour or so thinking about bugger all and dipping cheese thins into humous and Heinz salad cream*. Works for me - I wake up at 7am ( no alarm clocks ever - I refuse to own one) in boat/wargame/fell walking/ mode as required , regardless of what stupid time I got in. * other pseudo French egg and oil based rubbish should not be available

Of course - if you can't decide whether to be in a covers band or a tribute band or you want to do something more creative or you don't know other musos into your type of stuff.... you could always do it all at once and try something like this ! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dAO3J5QJ9w[/media]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1400711716' post='2456415'] I suppose it depends if they blew the roof off the joint or not as to whether the invocation was justified. [/quote] Dustin Hoffman. Marathon Man. I believe the tale goes that he stayed awake for 3 nights to look dog rough for the torture scene and moaned to dear , dear Larry Olivier , luvvy how much he suffered for his art but felt it was required to get into character convincingly. Olivier tutted and said ' Then learn how to act , dear boy , learn how to act'.

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1400704939' post='2456349'] The worst tribute I've seen was one for Queen. They were all quite unconvincing, but "Freddie" looked like Bruce Forsyth in a vest. The performance was sanitised, aimed at people who quite like hearing Bohemian Rhapsody on the wireless, but would find perspiration on a performer unacceptable. From conversations I overheard at the interval, it was going down well in Malvern. [/quote] We shared the bill with one , went into their dressing room to say hi to find the singer on his knees in front of a Freddie poster. Drummer told us to bugger off while he 'invoked Freddie's spirit'. What can you do ? !

I was in a ZZ TOP trib band for about 3 years. It was a side project of my regular band , Dr Blue. Why ? Because it got us playing in places that wouldn't normally have a pub band like Doc B - all over the UK and in Europe , it also got Doc B in the same places because we would support ourselves. We did huge car shows , night clubs , trib festivals and in Portugal actually replaced ZZ Top when a monster outdoor gig fell through for them and the organisers would have lost a fortune if they' cancelled the event. I enjoyed it - fantastic experience. 50k rig , more lights than Blackpool and chauffeured from sponsor to sponsor in an open limo !! We stopped doing it because I felt I was becoming too much of an actor and we were starting to take regular pub work which I saw no point in doing. I don't really like trib bands enough to go see them regularly but I don't really like seeing other bands anyway - I'm only interested in being a player , not being audience. There are some great players doing it that I stumbled across ( and some complete celeb obsessed arseholes who should get a life too) - and a huge market for it. Simple thing for me - if you like trib bands , play in one or go see one. If you don't - well... don't ! I've never appreciated an alternate view to that and can only put such views down to sniffiness and a 'holier than thou' attitude.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1399878206' post='2448440'] Learning to play guitar as well as Noel Gallagher, or to play bass as well as Percy Jones. Which is more difficult? [/quote] And which is more likely to inspire a young player to want to play ?

It's healthy for a 12 year old to be into music that irritates his parents , I think. That's just rock and roll ! Even if I'm wrong it's certainly a good thing for a youngster to get playing his or her own fave music as soon as possible , that encourages interest and practise. Back in the day I'd have had lessons if there'd have been anybody around that didn't just want me to play 3 blind mice and something by Beethoven and I'd probably be a better player for it. As for bass being easier - no question , to my mind , that you can get to a standard where you can play with other musicians in front of joe public quicker than you can on guitar. How far you take it on after that level is up to you , same as any instrument. Besides - I can never do with this bass v guitar thing . A bass - as most of us here define it - IS a guitar.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1389460813' post='2334410'] the more basschatters I meet the more i realise I'm a really bad bass player... [/quote] So far as I'm aware everybody round here puts their trousers on the same was as you do - besides , there are players riding round in the back of a Rolls who can't hold a candle to many pub players I've seen. That's how I see it anyway - I've picked up as many , possibly more in some ways , elements of my playing from local guys than I have from the big names. Everybody has something different to offer and therefore something worth paying attention to. The real stars for me are those who play the notes they should , not the ones they can. Put your finger in the right place at the right time and you're as good as anybody. If you can run 100m in 8 seconds then you're definitely better than Ussain Bolt. Music is different - it's subjective. There's no absolutes , no better or worse - just different.

[quote name='darren' timestamp='1398877254' post='2438593'] A beard [/quote] I already did beard - I just chose a posher word for it !

A corpulence ? A confederate ? a barbate ? An unslake ? An embuggerance

While Sam Hagar era Van Halen remained close to the top of the tree Dave Lee Roth hardly fell on his arse. The Beatles are an interesting one. Lennon and Macca as a songwriting team could have picked up two tramps off a park bench and been massive. I do think , though , that even on the most basic musical level bands are more than the sum of the parts. I can play a note while our guitarist plays a chord and the result is a noise neither of us could make alone. It's that simple. It's good to play with others , think about what they're doing and put your spin on it. - then they react to that , and on it goes.

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1398607124' post='2435658'] So blokes then?! [/quote] At my age I can't afford to be choosy !

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1398329282' post='2432851'] You'll be playing 'The Chain' by Fleetwood Mac next [/quote] I've been playing Mustang Sally...ish and (a bit of)the Chain in our set for years and I've yet to hear a good reason why I shouldn't. All I do hear is folks thanking me for doing it and moaning when we drop it. What matters is how you play it - in my case I find it entertains the Williams and entertains me best by playing it like it stole my wallet. Do I copy ( the wonderful) McVie's line ? Not really. He wouldn't copy mine. I usually end up in the audience for Mustang Sally to make room for more inadequately clad young ladies of the opposite sex to get on stage and sing the backing vocals. 'Blue Jobs' we call them. Only a matter of mathematics that one or two of them will have a daddy complex !

All I know , from a gigging players point of view , is that with the bridge cover in place not only can you not put a new string on but you can't even get the old broken one off. So it's as much use to me as a chocolate fireguard. Binned the day after I bought the bass 35 years ago. Pickup cover was tossed the same day - got in my way , as did the thumb rest. I expect that lot from a 73 sold on ebay these days would buy me 5 pints of Beardytwats 'aud Wifebeater , Sag Gohst with extra chilli and a peshwari nan and a knee trembler round the back of a skip with a painted hussy ....but I care not a jot.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1398292400' post='2432696'] Song about cars and girls..isn't that Prefab Sprout? [/quote] That song is a dreadful insult to the hugely popular 'Boss' Bruce Springsteen and his army of fans............... WINNER !!!! Get it in the set at once !

[quote name='cclowend' timestamp='1398170197' post='2431099'] Yes. Now that's impressive. I thought about that but haven't got a router. Post a pic if you will. [/quote] You mean you don't have a router like the ones that Argos sell - which of course are covered by a 16 day no quibble money back guarantee should you not find the item to be suitable. Just saying ! Should you decide to embark on such skulduggery - leave off the Kentish Ale in fact should you wish to get temptation out of your reach please forward it to ......I'm yer best mate , me , no 'onest PLC - 1, The Skip - Wakefield.

Been opening our show with 'Bad Case of Lovin' you' for ages now. Half because of the 'Dr Dr' reference - and I've been forced against my wishes to stop putting 'leader of the gang' in the middle - but anyway - always liked R P. Big fan of the Power Station stuff too though I'm sure many just think it's a load of 80s nonsense. Being of an age where I remember music coming on big black plastic discs , the first CD I ever bought was 'Riptide'. I remember 4 of us in the works kitchen trying to figure out how to open the case !

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1397487525' post='2424390'] Fair point. There must be a better word for someone who won't get out of bed unless they're being paid. [/quote] Well that word won't be musician in my experience. How about promoter or landlord. The same experience tells me they're a much better fit.