Dr.Dave

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1393789762' post='2384405'] Well not really because the energy goes, the pace lessens and the anger fades. It becomes a reminisce rather than a meaning. This really only applies in the 'rock' world of course. The travelling wilburys where the epitome of everything I dislike about the 'going back to your roots' thing. Horrid stuff. You can see in fast paced angry groups later works - they mellow as is expected then when they do the early stuff its at the same pace as the later. Doesnt work [/quote] The energy changes - it doesn't go. In the case of someone like Roger Daltrey - worldwide mega star - seen it . done it . had a flunky buy the T shirt for him , I imagine the opportunity to get on stage and just rock out is an absolute breath of fresh air to him. That's where energy comes from. I have slice of this sometimes. We walk in a strange venue and the eyebrows go up. They see a bunch of grey hairs and think they'll be getting a clapped out lounge act. When they're pinned against the back wall by a wave of aggression and attitude they change their tune. We get the young bloods in for a gloat - they usually leave thinking 'for fcuk's sake how do we top that ?' Easy - they don't ! Folk do what they want , for as long as they want. If they want to change - fine. If not , what's wrong with playing the material you're proud of , that made your name , to punters who want to hear you do it. Sorry , mate , but I look around me and see many of my pals getting older ( in mind and in body) by the day. They all seem to have one thing in common - that's a mind set closer to yours than mine. The young bull and the old bull spotted a field of cows in the distance. The young bull said 'let's charge down there and shag a few'. The old bull said 'No - let's stroll over and shag the lot'.

Doesn't matter who any country enters this year - best they can hope for is second to Ukraine.

De-humidifier will help short term. You can hire big f**k-off jobs from places like HSS or you can buy one. I think Argos stock some and - don't forget - Argos has a 16 day money back guarantee if you're not happy with the product. Some people of a low ethical , tight arsed , Northern nature might be tempted to use such a device for a fortnight and then return it but far be it from me to suggest that !! Longer term you'll need to get a professional in to give advice and a price to sort it. Get several and only pick ones with a landline number ! I look forward to hearing that Mrs B's face has returned to a placid , contended smile but in the meantime so long as you leave her some space in the house to do the dishes and push the vac about I'm sure she'll cheer up

Said it many times. Put on the actors clothes and assume the role of the most confident , able player that walks the earth. Before you know it... you won't need to act any more. No skulking at the back with your head down. Proceed to the front of the stage and make 'em have it. You will be a different person the next morning , having walked the walk , and you'll never go back. I hope it brings you the joy it's always brought me.

I'm about 80% sure it must be the Honeycombs so thanks to those of you who said that. something else buzzing ( ) around in my head though tells me it's not.

Ha! my wife said that when I whistled it to her. No - def. not that I'm thinking of.

We're not gonna take it. The first two lines of the verse , what does that melody remind me of ??? Keen to have a crack at this song but I do like to nick bits of other songs and wedge them in for a laugh. I know the ' Wo wo wo etc ' bit in the middle is 'God Save the Queen' by the Pistols so I'll stick a bit of that in but it's not being able to identify the verse that's frustrating me. Terrible thing , this middle age sh*t.

Santana's 'Say it Again' and Stevie Nicks' 'Nightbird'. Neither would be right for Dr Blue , sadly. A third would be 'Cum on Feel the Noise' but we started doing that this January. Can't believe I've never done it before. I did 'Say it Again' as a solo demo on my multi tracker just to amuse myself. I'll have to content myself with that.

I always think that if I have an amp where I'm happy with the sound when all the knob are around 12 o'clock then the amp's happy too. It's not needing extreme boosts or cuts. Same with the vol. At 12 o'clock it's neither pissing about or straining.

3 years ago we were booked into a regular gig - place we did 4 times a year - in December. Tiny bar in Wakefield but we loved playing it and the punters loved having us. It was always a midweek which is hard on our drummer because of his work and the distance but he did it without complaint. The pay was sh*t. £100. But the bar so small we recognised that they couldn't afford more. After expenses and paying our roadie a bit of a drink I might come home with a 20 spot. During that December I wanted to go to Egypt. I found the ideal flight at less than £200 but couldn't take it because of the gig. I booked at different flight a few days later at £348. I was happy to be £128 out of pocket because I like to be professional and that includes loyalty to my band mates , my punters and my temporary employers. 4 days before the gig the management cancelled it. Just like that. Saying they were getting xmas trade in and didn't need us. It completely changed my attitude after 30 years playing. I never had much respect for landlords from a musical point of view but now I'm openly hostile to the bastards and unless everything's on my terms I pack my gear and walk straight out of the door. ( we've done it 3 times) . And if they can't afford to hire us at a decent rate... tough. Get some other sucker. Fcuk the lot of 'em.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1392847788' post='2373576'] I'm trying to work out what the point of this post is. [/quote] A thoughtful member trying to be helpful by providing us with useful background information from a source that would claim to be factual but whose reliability is often linked to the popular phrase 'taken with a pinch of salt' ?? I'm guessing !

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1392820924' post='2373086'] If the function band circuit is your thing... Primary Function Vital Function Function Junction [/quote] Spell one of these with a K and it's job done , I reckon.

I did a demo thing with my mate Nicola a bit back that we dubbed ' Nicotina Diamond-White and Benny's Fit Scroungers' but my fave remains 'Dicky Hart and the Pacemakers'.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1392817839' post='2373038'] The Jazz bass was apparently designed for guitarists but the Precision? I think the Precision was pitched at upright bass players. [/quote] The book that's under my spare bed that I can't be arsed to dig out quotes Leo - or possibly Freddie Tavares (Memory fails me) - as saying one idea was a Precision could be easily played by guitarists and they could 'get a job more often'. No doubt , though , that a huge part of the Fender ethos was to produce instruments that could easily be amplified , esp.on the radio - so double bass players were certainly in mind. All this also stops the age old argument about the name of the instrument we play. It's a 'bass guitar' because it's a bass version of a guitar design. I think the Jazz was introduced to complement the Jazzmaster guitar.

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1392800369' post='2372789'] The part you're all missing here is that by 1970, Leo was completely out of the picture, and Don Randall was no longer the hands-on guy he'd been before, purely due to the way CBS ran their organisation. I doubt Leo would ever have sanctioned a fretless Precision - it would have made no sense. [/quote] I get your thinking but I'm less sure he would feel that way. Much of what I've read of him tells me his priority was to build useful instruments for working musicians in a changing - esp re. broadcasting - world and thinking of the US market in particular where you may be gigging/touring hundreds of miles from home and need to be able to call in a music shop one afternoon and buy replacement parts to fix your instrument yourself and be playing again that night. Someone already mentioned the great idea of an instrument that guitar players could play to get more jobs. I doubt , though , he was immune to seeing how the use of his products evolved - and Fender's re-design of the original Precision and introduction of the Jazz reflects the desire to feed that evolution with more versatile instruments. A guy like that would likely latch on to folk ripping the frets from their instruments in a desire to get a very different sound and wish to be a part of that movement , in my opinion anyway.

I never shut up !! Can't pass up on a chance to impose my opinionated bullshit on lesser mortals. 'Rolf is innocent' - 'Vote UKIP' etc etc. ' We've had a request , but we're staying ' usually gets a laugh.... as does 'It's always nice to come across a new face'. You can get away with reading out the sick text gags you get that you normally have to pretend not to find funny , too. More seriously , if you build up a rapport with the Williams they'll hang around waiting to see what you come out with next , they'll clap and cheer even if they're not too fussed about your brand of music and they'll laugh with you rather than at you when you cock things up. So far as I'm concerned - when my light comes on and theirs goes off I'm there to entertain whether I'm playing or not. I often walk out on bands that stand there like they're something special , often with their backs to me so I wouldn't blame the Williams for feeling the same about me. Besides - whoever bought you a pint because you ignored them ?!

One word - acceptance. How many gigs have I played I wonder? Well over a thousand. In how many did I not make a mistake. Not a one. Happily, my experience has taught me how to deal with them and that's the best we can do. My band mates are the same - we carry on like nothing happened. Will the punters know ?? Well - they will if you react to your mistakes like you just saw a ghost. Otherwise they're never the sharpest tools in the box and probably won't know. Plus there's always the old trick of repeating the mistake on purpose in the next verse - that's jazzzzzzzzzz !

A thought for folk who question what it is that artists actually ' lose '. I saw an old movie starring Alec 'I've got a big light sabre' Guiness called 'The Card' in which he comes across a fisherman at the seaside bemoaning the fact that his boat is buggered and he can't make a living. Alec pays for the boat fixing and employs the fisherman to take tourists on trips around the bay. Makes a fortune. He's sitting counting his brass when the fisdhetman says to him ' that's a lot of money for doing nothing'. 'But I did do something' says Alec. ' I thought of it'.

Speaking as someone who had his copyright stolen - a CD single I wrote and recorded to raise money for the stroke association , as a stroke killed my mother , was copied and sold for profit by a scrote on Wakey market - I feel very strongly about copyright theft and have no sympathy with those who are caught and punished for it. Whether Prince is doing this for the right reasons I don't know , strange little creature that he is - and there's something to be said for the difference between a true rip off merchant and , say , a fan who just wants to share a concert experience. Sadly I couldn't afford the team of lawyers like the stunted one can - so I got my brother to wall the guy up and threaten to tear his head off and sh*t down his neck instead. I think many folk think it's OK to rip off the rich and famous - but what if one of us wrote a great song that might mean our band could go into the black and get better gear and better gigs etc with the cash from it..... then some herbert steals it and makes a fortune. How would we feel then ? I see no reason to treat rich guys differently to poor ones . In this case I hope any real rip off merchants lose ( and unwise fans learn a lesson) more than I hope Prance wins but that's only because I think he's a nobber. Generally I'm 100% for protecting the artist.

I would never pay a fee to try out a bass ...... Though I have , on occasion , accepted one !

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1390213745' post='2342561'] Good lord..... Where Have you been? [/quote]. Still raising a finger to my ..er ...superiors by playing mustang sally like it stole something from me !

[quote name='Marc1t' timestamp='1390237706' post='2342986'] Thanks Dr Dave seems like great advice if I ever get to the stage ill pretend to be Norman Watt-Roy one of my heroes, dealing with mistakes! yes I can see ware your coming from & play what I cant play? just had a go at hit me with our rhythm stick, If Noman was present he would have hit me with It that's for sure. [/quote]. I think he would give you a few tips on playing the line while encouraging you to develop your own. Its good to take inspiration from great players , I did a lot of learning by copying as most of us do , but every body puts their trousers on the same way you do. I always think I had the best teachers in the world in Geddy Lee and Jim Lea but I would never play their lines now.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1390179679' post='2342420'] Excellent advice - and not just for bass playing either! [/quote] I forgot to add - never take an easy road by not telling others when they are wrong.

When you're practising alone - play what you can't do as much as what you can. When you get on stage - put on the actors clothes and be the best player in the world , confidence , confidence , confidence. No skulking at the back of the stage. Accept you will always make mistakes and never be perfect , once you accept that you will learn how to deal with mistakes rather than fear making them. Listen to as much opinion as you like - but learn which to respect and which to dismiss. Most , by far , will be in the second category. Remember at all times that every time you play the right note in the right place you're as good as anyone else on the planet.

Music wise - I got a new gig bag ( a tool bag ) and a fabulous pink furry strap. Otherwise - some bastard bought me a book about cemetary design !! Can you believe it ?!! I took ungratefulness to new heights by telling them I thought it was a sh*t present and chucked it in the bin in front of them.