meterman

The last band I used to play with in the UK have just announced tour dates for next year, with tickets online. Massive demand, sold out album, etc. I think even if I was still in the UK I’d struggle to make it to a rehearsal let alone the likes of Islington Academy. I’m just done. Finito. I’d go and see them live if it was possible though, and have a pint with them, but the thought of the slog of touring is pretty much an instant soft-on now.

I remember being told about the ‘holy trinity’ or ‘magic triangle’ when I was just starting to do sessions. It’s basically you do the gig or session if: 1: the money is right 2: the band or artist you’re working for are musicians you like or respect 3: you like the music (even if the artist is a bit of a 🔔🔚) 2 out of 3 would mean you’d probably do the gig / session. But only 1 out of 3 would probably mean you wouldn’t. All 3 together is golden. I’d try to remember to keep that in mind when I was a nipper.

I started turning down the ‘not worth it’ gigs nearly 20 years ago. Gigs where the money doesn’t make it worthwhile, or where the travel is 4x the gig time, or the ‘bar takings only’ gigs, or the $h1thole venue gigs... There’s plenty reasons not to play certain gigs, and if you’re in a band they’re less than if you’re a paid session player. Venues, promoters, managers, ‘name’ artists, etc will often try it on, but once you start saying no to people often enough, they’ll get the message that you’re not interested in them taking the Fosters, and either eventually pay you properly or go elsewhere on the cheap.

Aston “Family Man” Barrett for me. Not super fast playing, just great tone and grooves that people will still be copying years from now. Vibe for days. Love it 👍

Good question 👍 My mum listened to Bollywood soundtrack albums, eastern and western classical music and opera and also liked Greek folk music. My dad liked fairly skronky avant garde jazz, Albert Ayler and things like that. Occasionally he’d play tapes of Charles Mingus or Thelonius Monk or Miles Davis. There was no pop music in our house unless it was on my pocket radio and I listened before and sometimes after school. When I first started buying records in the late 1970s with my paper round money I bought mostly disco or punk rock. Chic and The Ramones. Salsoul and The Saints. Sylvester and the Ruts. None of the music I heard at home when I was a kid had any influence on my playing at all. I like some of the jazz that my dad used to be into but you’d never know from my playing.

Interesting topic, this. Personally I think I’m crap - I never really learned along to records (except punk ones) and I can’t understand tab, plus my left hand technique is appalling. But - if I’m asked to play on a session I’ll usually get away with it. Maybe being a drummer first and foremost helps with my timing, and always aiming to be nailing lines that don’t get in the way of the song? I’m definitely not much cop! Most bassists on here would - quite rightly - laugh at my playing 😂

I looked all over for the green one and they were either all out of stock or on crazy long pre-order, like 20 weeks or whatever. So I bought a white one and I love it (it is a classic 60s looker) but still wish I’d got a green one. Enjoy it! 👍

Every time I’ve had a a bass or guitar that has a bit of neck dive I’d use an old vintage strap that has a rough suede back to it. The grippiness of the strap would usually fix any neck dive issues. Except on my Hofner violin bass, which was one of the reasons I never kept it. But generally, a grippy strap worked well for me 👍

Did Yamaha used to have a concession shop upstairs in Harrods before the Chappells merger / buy out? They used to let you noodle about on their gear even then. I only ever bought strings from there but they had decent staff from what I remember.

I’m almost at the point of giving up. I’m no longer in a gigging band, the three basses I own have never left the house since I bought them, I only play bass when I’m recording and only need one bass for that. I don’t even own a dedicated bass amp anymore. I’m not likely to tour again and recent family developments have moved me towards the ‘Swedish Cleaning” mode, if you know what I mean. I’m ready to start listing a load of gear on Reverb, and everything else - instruments, clothes, books, records, CDs, personal effects, furniture, etc - will soon be up for grabs too. Not having any dependents, and soon no next of kin either is making me look at ‘stuff’ in a very different way than I would have done before. It’s quite possible that my personal health situation is also a contributing factor to this, but there’s an almost visceral urge within me to let it all just go. I’d bet I’m not the only one on here in a similar situation.

Last gig I played was three hours away from home. The pay was decent but I couldn’t be doing that on a regular basis. Perils of living in the middle of nowhere 😂

I might tend to agree. I’ve just done an LP for someone and all the bass parts were done on a super cheap Squier affinity Jazz bass, while all the guitar parts were done on a secondhand Squier CV ‘72 Thinline Tele that cost £150. Listening back to the mixes, you just wouldn’t know. And once the record comes out with the additional surface noise and what have you, you’d never guess 😂

Never had a Precision equipped with EMG’s but have had Precisions with Fender flats, Rotosound flats, Chromes, and probably my favourites La Bella flats. We’re all different players with different techniques so recommendations are always going to be tricky but for me the La Bellas are spot on, I have them on two of my three basses already and they’ll probably end up on my Jazz at some point.

I’m always surprised when folks say that Telecasters tend to have chunky necks. Certainly the original 1950s ones did but I’ve owned a ‘63 and a ‘68 that were just on the perfect side of skinny. I had a 1969 Thinline Tele and that had a fairly skinny neck too. My hands are weirdly tiny so I’m always into any guitar or bass with a neck that I can get away with. And having worked in a shop that specialized in vintage guitars I found plenty Telecasters that had skinny necks or were simply easy to play. If you don’t mind buying second hand, then definitely try and check out the MIM ‘69 Thinline, or the MIM ‘72 Thinline that has a pair of humbuckers, that is a very versatile Tele and they can sound like regular Teles if you need them to. The roadworn Teles and Baja Teles should be available in your price range too. In terms of Squier - any of the ‘60s style models should have necks to suit your needs. Play a few if you can, you might be surprised. I’ve got 3 Teles (1 Classic 60s Fender, and two Squiers) and the one that gets the most play is a CV ‘72 Thinline, the neck on it is my favourite but tonally it’s great. And it was £150 second hand. Just try and play a few and you’ll know soon enough which is the one (or two!) that’s right for you. Good luck on the quest 👍

If I still lived in the UK and there was enough acts I wanted to see at Glastonbury, I’d pay the daft price and go and get stuck in. It’s not my fave festival in the UK but there’s nothing quite like it. I can look past all the posh gap year kids and the packs of acid house milfs on the razz, easy, and just crack on cause there’s always interesting stuff going on somewhere there. (Btw, I have nothing against acid house milfs at all, they’re great. Just not when there’s 50 of them on a hen do completely plastered, waving glowsticks, and covered in glitter. Then I’ll run in the opposite direction because they scare the bejeezus out of me in large numbers 😂 )

With IOW you also have the ferry operators seriously upping their prices for the weekend. Just because they can

So if that’s ‘Rick-O-Sound’, does that mean the Shaftesbury copies have ‘Shaft-O-Sound? And the Hondo copies have ‘Hond-O-Sound’? Either way if had a spare three grand I wouldn’t say no to a Rickenbacker 3000 bass. They’re like the Rickenbacker bass equivalent of a Fender Telecaster or something. Quirky but I like them.

I realise that the accident was late in his career, and should have been dealt with better / sooner, but what an awful end to his career.

or Edward Scissorhands or summat...

Would have to be these, surely:

I use the side of my thumb, not as in a slapping kind of way, just instead of using fingers to pluck. It’s my preferred way to play but if I have to play anything a bit lively (repeated 16th notes or disco octaves etc) I’ll use a pick for that. My technique is terrible but it’s ingrained in me now. I’m self taught and had nobody to tell me I was doing it wrong when I started playing (1989) so I always carried on playing like that. Can’t play finger style at all, it feels really weird, I lose all sense of timing and evenness between notes. Thumb or pick, that’s all I can get away with.

Almost all of my friends are musicians, or DJs, or run record labels, or work for radio stations or record shops, or are vinyl collectors... it’s inevitable that we’re going to talk about music. It always happens. Even my ‘non-music’ mates mostly seem to have been in a band when they were teenagers, or ran clubs, or something. Music is just one of those things we all have in common. It’s rare I meet people who don’t have some connection with music. 40 years of playing, and not having a ‘regular’ day job or career is probably the reason for that. I can natter on about other stuff but music always enters the conversations I have with mates.

Only time I’ve been asked for set lists (plus lyrics in some cases) has been in originals bands, usually at festivals or when TV or radio stations have been present, and you’re asked like it’s a legal requirement, maybe it is I’ve no idea. Never ever got asked anywhere when I was depping in a covers band, no matter what the genre was. Might be because we were rubbish though 😂

This is a really (well, to me at least) interesting subject. I would say that covers bands are an essential part of the live music ecosystem. Loads of people love playing in them and equally loads of people love going to see them in their local venues, just so they can hear a bunch of their favourite tunes whilst having a few drinks and a good time on their Friday night or whenever. Pubs, clubs, bars and larger venues all benefit from having covers bands on, it helps keep the live music scene alive in some towns, and it’s a brilliant outlet for the musicians who enjoy playing covers, or those who don’t write their own material, or maybe do but don’t feel confident playing it in front of the Dog & Duck crowd on a bevvied up Saturday night. Also, sooooo many big pro originals bands relied on covers early on in their careers. Not just the obvious Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin (arguably), but Kasabian were more or less an Oasis tribute band when they started out. Loads of soul and R&B outfits leaned heavily on covers in their live sets too. And artists like Bryan Ferry or Siouxsie & The Banshees or John Lennon (and many more) cut covers albums during their careers. Full disclosure: I’ve done very little covers band work over the 40 years I’ve been playing, and have been lucky enough to be able to get away with playing originals most of the time, but I’m not too up myself to rule out playing in a covers band for fun or for a bit of pocket money if the opportunity came my way. I’d love to play in a classic ska covers band, or a soul revue, or a reggae covers band, or even something as left field as a Wire covers band. I reckon something like that could be a brilliant laugh. I’d have to draw the line at playing “Sex On Fire” though. Or that flipping Killers song....

I’m not especially nostalgic and so I never used to bother keeping stuff, just because I moved house so often and would declutter each time. But after 40 years I’ve still got a load of AAA festival lanyards and venue wristbands in a bag somewhere. The odd gig poster or flyer or ticket stub in a box, maybe some photos (definitely some Polaroids) etc. Some handwritten crib sheets with percussion charts on them too. I don’t even have physical copies of everything I’ve played on but I’ll buy them if I see them cheap. But the only set list I have kept is this one from a gig in Bulgaria in 2015. I was on a session gig and sneakily took a pair of scissors to everyone’s set lists and placed them onstage, so the first time they saw them by their monitors, they’d see this: When we got onstage everyone couldn’t stop laughing throughout the gig. It’s not big or clever or even particularly funny, it was just the unexpected factor that made the other players laugh.