Rockbassix

It's my fretting hand. I had physio for 2 months but no real improvement still doing the exercises but the physio decided i was ok as i had most of the movement back. I've been back to the docs but basically got told that it will improve with time and keep doing the exercises oh and a suggestion of perhaps trying a different hobby LOL obviously my doc isn't into music!

I broke my wrist and injured my hand a few months ago it had a huge affect on my playing as i had only been playing for a year before it happened. When i started playing again i feel like i almost went back to the start. I've finally started to improve again and even joined a band at last but my wrist is still causing me huge problems. I was supposed to play my first gig on the 30th and part of me was glad when it was cancelled due to a licence problem then cancelled again last night due to the snow making half the area out of bounds. (never organise a party or a gig in a barn in winter ) Although i really wanted to play the gig i was worried how i was going to be able to play for that length of time without ending up in agony. I've tried warm up exercises and building up by playing a little longer each time but still i'm in agony after playing a few songs without a break. I don't want to give up but i'm starting to feel like it's never going to get any better. Anybody got any suggestions please?

Cheers for the help guys! He's just ordered a black 50's classic P so hopefully it should arrive this week! Can't wait to have a play with it when it arrives!

Cheers guys much appreciated! I liked the look of them but didn't want to tell him to go ahead without hearing opinions from people who had played one! The chunky neck should be perfect for him he's got hands like shovels! Can't wait to have a play with it when he gets it!

A mate is considering buying one of these for his first bass and asked my opinion i've never played one or even seen one in the flesh so thought i'd see if anybody had any opinions on them before he hits the buy button! Anybody owned or played one how does it compare to the standard MIM P bass and whats the build quality like on these? Cheers

Good choice enjoy it! Have a look on You Tube loads of lessons on there to get you started!

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='691410' date='Dec 22 2009, 12:20 PM']The last time I tried to audition a female singer the guitarist's psycho girlfriend told him he wasn't allowed to play in a band with a woman in it. I've heard a very similar story a number of times since too.[/quote] Yep too common i got refused an audition because the singers girlfriend had a problem with a girl playing bass in the band.The guy was pretty embarrassed as he had asked me to audition then she flipped out and he got the job of explaining this to me. FFS i want to play bass not pull someone elses bloke! Congrats on the new band

Matt Freeman playing the solo on Maxwell Murder was the reason i wanted to learn bass Unfortunately i'm a long way from being fast enough to even attempt it Our band plays rock but i'd love to play some punk/ska stuff LOL i'd probably need to find another band for the punk side of things as our lot point blank refused when i suggested a couple of tracks!

Cheers Nick i never thought of that! LOL i seen a mates band play where the opposite happened some well meaning punter got the drummer stoned at the break he hadn't smoked dope in years and judging by the 2nd set his tolerence had gone down a lot. We still don't know how long we are playing for on the night we've been told probably around 2 hrs broken up over the night but might be longer LOL or shorter if we're really bad. We're aiming to have enough stuff in reserve just incase because it's a private party it's not exactly well planned if we get stuck we'll just have to repeat some hopefully they'll all be so drunk they won't notice. At least we'll have a captive audience it's getting held in a barn in the middle of nowhere so no escape for the punters!

Cheers xgsjx We've been gradually building a set list with a lot of the suggestions from here included along with stuff the others have come up with as well. I've got most of the stuff we're considering on an MP3 player and a playlist on my PC so thats all i've really been listening to in the hope it sinks in! The biggest problem is trying to decide the final list as everybody keeps changing their minds ie we agree that a song is on the list then somebody decides they don't like it when they try to learn it. We've got around 15 so far that everybody is happy with we just need to decide on the rest!

Cheers for the suggestions and advice Bloodaxe and Basscat! LOL I'm not driving but i will stick to one or two drinks till the playing part is over then get stuck into the freebie bar to celebrate surviving the gig I'm trying to practice keeping going as though i meant it when i make mistakes! Ha ha my facial expressions apparently give the game away so i need to work on that one as well! Somebody pointed out that i smirk like a naughty schoolkid when i screw up during a song! Cheers FuNkShUi i'm going to go with the chord sheet just incase. I reckon at my stage it's better than forgetting the song!

Not had it happen to me as my first gig is just coming up but i did have to be on the other end and tell someone to go early. This guy was the reason that the word Guitard was invented. I booked a band to play the rock pub i worked in a few years ago.The CD they handed me was all rock covers stuff that would go down well and sounded pretty good.On the day one guy turned up with a mate and explained that he had ditched his band and since he had booked this gig he was taking it and doing it himself and he was better without the band so we wouldn't regret it. At this point i should have went with my gut feeling and told him no but eventually i agreed that it was better than nothing or trying to find a band with 3 hours notice. After 20 minutes of self indulgent noodling and various 80s pop chart tracks singing the chorus badly then not bothering with the rest of the lyrics i actually left and nipped to the pub up the road for a quick drink in peace. When i got back he had finished his first set and the customers were drawn between this is F****** awful and this is F****** hilarious the final straw was when one large group told us if we didn't shut him up they were leaving. I had to agree with them so i politely told him that this wasn't really going down too well the customers were expecting rock covers not guitar hero noodling then playing film themes and pop songs. He assured me the next set would be different and that he had been warming up and trying to judge the customers. Judging the audience in our place wasn't really a hard task it was a rock pub with no pop music on the jukebox and most of the customers were rock,goths, punks or bikers and dressed accordingly. LOL obviously judging the audience wasn't his strong point as he proceeded to play the same stuff as before even repeating 2 of the earlier tracks that went down like the Titanic the first time round..The worst thing was he couldn't actually understand what the problem was when he was told to end it and asked if he could come back another time as maybe it was down to the audience that night as he had never had a problem before. FFS Playing pop music and film tunes to a rock pub full of rock,punk and metal fans after marketing yourself/band as rock covers is silly but the worst thing he did was act like he was a gods gift to guitars he did so much bragging about his skills i'm amazed we didn't have to widen the doors to get his head out! If he hadn't been so cocky our customers would usually have been a lot more forgiving. I later met his ex band who told me that they sacked him for being an arrogant a****** somehow i'm not surprised!

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions you guys have no idea how much this has helped Cheers Apex I'll do my best to enjoy it hopefully once i get over the first song the nerves will go! Either that or i'll be reporting back with a list of disasters like falling off the stage and completely forgetting the songs! NickH LOL i've just read the account of your first gig and everybody elses in the other thread LOL i think i'm even more scared now! Not sure if i want anyone there with a camcorder or not some pics would be good but not so sure about having video evidence FuNkShUi Trust me i'm keeping it simple it's the only way i've any hope of learning it! I'm seriously thinking of sticking a cheat sheet with the chords on it to the side of the amp just incase i totally forget any of the songs! Paul fair point but i'm going with Nicks suggestion of SEPBHAGASFH when it comes to the guitarist! LOL only joking (i think) Our lead guitarist has more experience than the rest of us so he's pretty much ok with most of the songs. The rhythm guitarist is a bit like me not been playing long and this is his first time playing live, the singer has never done anything other than sing in the bath but he's actually pretty good and we've still to meet the drummer whos been bullied into joining us First rehearsal this weekend think i'll buy the earplugs now:lol:

Thanks Starless great advice! I'll do my best to remember that on the night! I really want to do this and i am enjoying it but i'm terrified at the same time i guess nearly everybody felt the same when it was their first gig. On the plus side i have learnt more in the last few days than i have in months so it's at least been good for my playing i just need to work on my confidence! Well done for getting up there and doing it i hope my first gig works as well as yours.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='664073' date='Nov 24 2009, 05:47 PM']A sansamp and a cheap PA amp, then dump the rest into a cab might make you and awesome rig at a crazy cheap price. Sansamp will do a generic 'good tone', PA to bring it up to level, and the cab is generally gonna be the weakest link, so is the best thing to invest in. Having put together a totally aweosome 100w valve preamped beast in a rack for under £250, I think this is a very good way to go. Thinking about it, the 8x10 I could run it into cost me £200, so for under £500 (about that exactly including cables) I have a totally awesomely loud rig there. Overkill for almost anyone.[/quote] Lol would never have thought of doing that but it's a cool idea! Especially since i have a Yamaha PA amp lying around here doing nothing at the moment! Cheers Nickh I'll have a look at the Marshalls as well i've been using a Marshall MB65 for practicing at the moment and for a practice amp it's been pretty good.

[quote name='PaulWarning' post='663708' date='Nov 24 2009, 01:36 PM']trouble is with drum machines you can't blame the drummer when you go out of time[/quote] Yep but at least the drum machine has a volume control.

Cheers Plux strangely enough i just missed out on a Hartke LH500 the other day as usual i took too long trying to decide then found out it was gone doh!! Cheers Geoff i've been looking at a lot of Peavey stuff mainly for the price and the fact they are bombproof! As for getting our drummer to quieten down i've got no hope his volume switch is set to loud so yep an extension cab is probably my only hope! Cheers Butler i'll have a look at the Trace combo as well. Trying to find stuff near here is proving a nightmare Gumtree has been bassless lately unless you want a 20 watt practice amp and Ebay isn't much better! I'm hoping if i go down the seperates route we can grab a head off here or Ebay then try to pick up the cab locally.

[quote name='Apex' post='662596' date='Nov 23 2009, 01:04 PM']Just go for it! You never know how it will end up. Our band started in 2006 in a very similar way (thrown together three weeks before a work 'do'.) We're still at it, not in a major way, but with enough of a repertoire and playing experience to be able to say Yes to most things that come up.[/quote] Nice one it's good to know somebody else done this and it worked most of the people who know us reckon we must be mad to try this! I have to admit now i've got over the initial terror of trying to learn all these songs before December i'm starting to enjoy it! I've played stuff that i wouldn't have thought of learning before and the rest of the band are saying the same. Sometimes being chucked in at the deep end has it's bonuses! I'm still dreading the actual gig though

Thanks Apex that helped a lot! Nah that wasn't sucking eggs stuff at all i am really new to this band stuff before i joined my current band i was pretty guilty of just noodling around playing bits and pieces rather than working through entire songs.Even since i joined my band i have had plenty of time to learn the songs as we've been taking it slowly and working through a few songs at a time so the idea of learning an entire set in just over a month for this party is pretty daunting for a newbie!! We're keeping the songs in the original key so we can all practice our parts with the original tracks on our own then hopefully when we play them as a band it should all come together ha ha well it should whether it does or not is a different matter! I've been looking at tabs and chords to get an outline of the song then trying to play along with them on WE7 LOL i am getting better but slowly. Cheers Linus27 much appreciated! I already know All along the watchtower so thats one less to try and learn

Nice one thanks! I hope they are easy it's the only hope i've got of learning them

Cheers for all the suggestions much appreciated! Any ideas on how to learn a load of stuff quickly?

[quote name='steve' post='660689' date='Nov 21 2009, 12:12 AM']Cult - Sanctuary, very very easy = opportunities to jump around, and everyone knows it, I could probably think of more, if I hadn't had quite so much wine [/quote] Cheers Steve! At least i know that one already so thats one less to learn:) LOL be careful with the wine thats what got me into this mess i'm just hoping on the night everyone else is plastered so they don't notice how bad we are:lol:

[quote name='oldmanrock' post='660680' date='Nov 21 2009, 12:08 AM']The evils of drink eh? [/quote] Yep it seemed like a great idea at drunk o clock

[quote name='WarPig' post='660675' date='Nov 21 2009, 12:05 AM']oooh some different stuff to learn! Cheeeeeers.[/quote] Lol if you learn it first you're more than welcome to play instead of me