TimR

8 minutes ago, thebrig said:

Five years down the line, I still can't find a band, so I guess that statement might scare a lot of musicians off? 🤔

It's unrealistic. Every band I've been in that's tried that comes unstruck rapidly and I've been playing in bands for 40+ years. Even depping you will come pretty unstuck if you've learned the tunes off rote and expect to play the line you learned at home, or played in a previous band. 

See my post above. 

It's why live music is so much better than recordings. 

11 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

That's a*rse about face.

 

Come up with a set list, learn it at home and play it all at the rehearsal. Then everything has been dealt with and nothing needs "revisiting".

Until you rehearse something, you don't know what needs work. That's the whole object of a rehearsal. 

We play modern pop/rock but we just have singer/guitar/bass/drums. No brass, strings, keys etc.

So we have to be very creative with the arrangements and usually just keep the chord structure, form and signature parts. It means that often the guitar and bass aren't playing what's on the reference recording. 

So initially we will listen to the reference and pick out what we think will work and the first few band practices will be just jamming round the chords to see what works.

It's not feasable to learn the parts or practice them at home and then hope what you have learned fits what the rest of the band are playing. 

Rehearsals are different to practices. They're when we have nailed the parts and are ready to gig them.

A gig is worth a thousand rehearsals. 

I have played in bands where everyone has gone away and 'learned' their part from the 'orginal recording' and it's been a very frustrating experience, espescially if one member insists other players aren't playing it right, or I've spent hours learning something exactly as per the record only for it to just not work with the band and be shelved. 

We have a gig 15th November. Last time we played together was at last gig  on 7th June. 

We have a rehearsal tonight. No idea what we will do. Hopefully run through the first set and make notes of what might need revisting before the gig. 

15 minutes ago, Cliff Edge said:

These are the same simians who always have the car windows open, even in the depths of winter, so they can hear the vroom vroom better. They also have insanely loud in car entertainment systems that consist largely of bass and someone shouting. I long for the old days and the occasional fizz fizz of a bolt on Peco tail pipe exhaust booster. Many of which just fell off after a couple months of doing absolutely nothing promised by the marketing. 

Sounds like they are play the car version of the loudness wars, but with themselves.

Need a louder stereo to hear it over the exhaust, need a louder exhaust to hear it over the stereo, need a louder stereo...

I did hear a story of one youngster who went to an audiologist because he had trouble hearing the bass, only to be told he'd destroyed all hearing in that frequency range. He asked what speaker he should buy now that would enable him to boost that frequency so that he could hear it properly again. 

16 hours ago, KingBollock said:

That sounds like my youngest brother. He’s mad about cars and loves all that boy racer crap. He thinks he’s a brilliant driver, but he just shouldn’t be allowed near a motorised vehicle…

 

For his 16th birthday my parents bought him a scooter, a proper oldschool chicken chaser type thing, not one of those little electric things you get now. He promptly wrote it off by crashing it into the back of a parked car.

Later, once he learned to drive and got himself a car, he managed to crash it into a bridge. But my favourite was the time he drove through a bus station (that you’re not allowed to drive through), and managed to park it IN a kebab shop, having jumped up a curb and gone straight through the front window of the shop.

 

He’s a professional driver now…

Cars are like guns. People who enjoy using them, shouldn't be anywhere near them. 

While Martin is known mostly for being in Eastenders and Gogglebox, he also played a bit of bass in the 80s.

But he is currently touring his DJ set.

Hurting a few fingers but still being able to press a few buttons on his laptop surely gains some kudos amongst the millenials? 

Bloody hell!

There is a thread somewhere about finger injuries. 🤣

I once sliced the tops of my index and middle finger on the day of a gig. I wrapped them in micropore, but halfway through our first set, someone from the audience was gesturing at my white bass that had splatter marks all across it. 🤦‍♂️

On 23/10/2025 at 17:00, bigmuff69 said:

So,there’s a bass on eBay I want to buy,only problem is the sellers in London,I’m in Manchester,he won’t post it,I’ve asked if he could just pack it up and I can send parcelforce to collect it on my behalf,he didn’t want to do that either,without doing a 8 hour round trip does anybody know any other way of getting it up to Manchester?,

There are some reputable members of Basschat who regularly do that journey. Maybe title your post appropriately, someone may be helpful for the price of a pint. 

On 23/10/2025 at 17:11, Reggaebass said:

FWIW, from the not very clear pics I think it’s genuine, if the seller could check that the blocks are stickers ( which is quite easy ) , if they aren’t stickers then there’s something wrong and I’d stay away from it 

There is tons of lens barrellation on the photos. The machine heads don't line up. The two outer ones curve inwards.

The inlays probably look odd for the same reason. 

Just ask for some photos of it not taken with a Nokia 3310.

20 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

It was an experiment to see if a clickbait title for a meh video would get hits... it did!

 3D printed Clock would probably hit thousands on its own. 

People search YouTube for 'how to' videos when they either can't work out how do something or are looking for better examples and ways of doing something. 

Hence my dishwasher video hitting thousands of views. 

Man plays bass - is a flooded market. Even more flooded are bass 'tutorials' or play through of Bass led songs. I wonder if anyone searches to see if the song they're covering has been done before. Although they could well be putting it up to use as examples of their playing for future audition use. In which case, they'll still only hit a handful of views. 

I am now earning 12x what I was earning in 1987. My wages have probably outstripped inflation, but I dont remember 'old' people like me at gigs in the 80s.

I suspect we are influencing the ticket costs more than anything and putting them out of reach of young people and teenagers.

Always.

Its been either the band isn't busy enough, the standard has dropped, or the musical direction has changed significantly from what it started out as.

However, I've always found another band to play in and had a few rehearsals and at least one gig with the new band before leaving.

Don't want to jump out of the fire and into the frying pan.

Currently looking for a new band due to lack of gigs and a complete lack of interest from a couple of the other band members. 

10 hours ago, Dood said:

Interesting responses. I need a producer, script writer, editor, more exploding helicopters, click-bait titles, dancing girls, an act, an accent, a side-kick, lots of exciting, never before heard news, a ton of great content in one video, but nothing longer than the attention span of a gnat. But also none of those things. Got it

😂🤣😂😂🤣

 

 

Being a YouTube creator is just like any other business. If you are in it to make money you need to be competetive and professional.

For those of us who are just having fun and putting stuff out for family and freinds then you can afford to be artistic and creative, but don't be surprised if its only family and friends who follow and watch. 

I have 2 videos with nearly 3k views. Everything else is below 120. Those 2 have tags and are demonstration videos on how to fix a broken dishwasher and how to use something I bought from B&Q that had useless instructions, I linked it in the B&Q product review. 

22 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Creators are pushed towards long form content. I want concise information most of the time, I bale if a longer video can't get to the point.

 

I find Rick Beato good at keeping me engaged because he fits in content not filler.

Beato is engaging. Not many people can do that naturally. The 3 presenters on SBL are engaging. Also Mark Lewis is very good. All of them have 3rd party producers. 

It wouldn't surprise me if Danny has a producer too. Certainly a lot of the clips use a cameraman. 

These are people who make sure every word they say is important to the subject and relevant. That's very hard to do. I've tried it and from maybe an hour of content you can eaily lose a ton a useless material and trim it down to 5 minutes. And mostly need to then go out again and re-record a shorter better scripted version. 

I don't think a lot of YouTube creators have a producer who can criticality assess and cut out the waffle. 

18 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Ooo look..! A bee..!

 

In the past, people who were easily distracted and couldn't focus on one thing died. 

Modern society means we don't get that dopamine hit, we just wander down the corner shop and buy a pint of cold milk. No anticipation, no reward for being patient and searching, or raising your own cow.

As a result people are bored, have too much time on their hands either because they're waiting for or sitting on a bus etc. In the past this time would be filled by reading a book or a newspaper. Now you're flooded with a million books and newspapers, all in your pocket. Which one should you read?

13 hours ago, Dood said:

 

Yup, no one is interested in actual bass content. This thread alone has over 28k views and nearly 400 comments. Figures i can only dream of on my no-ego, no-bs, no-bait content. It’s depressing, this, is depressing. 

I actually went on to social media bass groups of over 100K users to ask that folk watch my 1 minute video, and to date, I’ve managed 88 fcking likes. Eighty-eight? Because no one cares about real content or supporting actual musicians. Then everyone complains that another band has split or another venue has shut down. Frankly I might just be the next person to give up altogether, hard work isn’t rewarded, sensationalism and click-bait bs is it seems. 

But what is new and exciting about your music, what suspense and reward does it give? Even as a bass player 'actual bass content' doesn't interest me. I have a bass, I can create my own content easily. 

Humans need that dopamine hit - the hit you only get when you've been looking for something and finally find something that is better than you expected. It's tied into foraging and hunting for survival - it's never going away and can't be beat.

All the Social Media giants have understood this for a long time. 

Basschat is no different, you post, you read, you're looking for something interesting, some new angle.

Once you've read all the 4ohms or flatwound, P vs Jazz posts you'd drift away and Basschat then loses ad revenue and membership fees. 

This thread is about new phenomena and something interesting to analyse and debate. 

I'm not even sure I haven't posted the above already in this very thread. 

So unless you have new and exciting content, and it's not giving that promise of suspense in the first 3 seconds, people will scroll on by. 

Just now, Jackroadkill said:

Where will you be getting the secret tattoo?

Shouldn't we have a standard one?

Like the Iron Man calf tattoo. Back of the *left hand maybe?

*right if you're from the dark side. 

With Grand Power comes Grand Responsibility.

What are people using as a reference to practice to?

The original, a click, your band?

The band will sound different and what you have practiced may just not fit with the drummer/guitarist/singer's feel. The arrangment will be different, even if you all think you're all playing it exactly as per the record, you're not.

Practice is cheating. 

Sure. If you create something from an idea in your head, whether that is original or a copy, and it provokes an emotional response, then you're creating art.

The difference between craft and art is really just verb/adjective. You craft a piece of art.

Whether or not you consider it or feel like it, it's down to the beholder to decide if its beautiful art or not.

I think we undersell ourselves too much and have mostly forgotten that many people can't even contemplate how we manage to play an open E in time with the rest of the band. Something we see as easy and everyday, really isn't to your average person. 

SR300 is a very good bass if you're buying new. 

You used to play with a pick.

Had 15 years off.

Are picking up the bass again but playing finger style now.

 It's going to sound different. That in itself will take some getting used to. But also adopting to a different way of playing is going to be very hard. Particularly with fingerstyle as the notes won't have the same attack and you need to approach the note timing completely differently.

1 hour ago, christhammer666 said:

the prices for gigs now crazy. as mentioned above i saw maiden as well and that was £130, its rediculous

I thought it was superb value. West End theatre tickets are higher. These are shows, not just a bunch of blokes in jeans stumming some chords.

£300 is too much though. That's getting on for £1k for a couple for a day out. Obviously there are people who can afford that or are passionate enough to save for it, but that's not a price aimed at getting a load of people though the door to see who Rush are. 

Grass roots music is price low, play small venues, purely because of supply and demand.