bassjim

You're clinging onto the band because at least its a band and the' in no band' wilderness is a depressing place to be if you have no immediate direction. These two idiots serve only one purpose in your life right now and that's to make sure you don't get any better at playing bass by restricting every possible positive bass playing experience you could be having elsewhere. Bin them with immediate effect and get on with your life. Use this as a what not to do in bands learning experience.

I would have a chat with the other band members. Do they feel the same? Are they prepared to seek out a new drummer? If so then you can tell him nicely that as a band you would all prefer to do 'xyz' . Later on down the line when 'xyz' songs have been learnt and gigged to the point you all know what out of those is a keeper you may have a go at one or two of his ideas. Once the new stuff is seen to go down really well he may give up his suggestions all together and snap out of it. If the toys are thrown out of the pram and it looks like being nice doesn't work, give him an ultimatum. Drop the bad vibes, get with what the rest of the band want to do and get on with it. Chances are he will tell you to stick it. You can have that one awkward meeting in a pub somewhere. Appoint just one of you to do the talking and rest of you bite your lip and off it goes....."so , sorry man but we just don't want to play with you anymore. Hope you find a band that's more your thing. best of luck with it." Everyone stand up shake hands with him and leave. Get new drummer. If the others don't feel as you do then look for another band. From personal experience this is the way forward. Nothing worse than that guy in the band that cant keep up, doesn't want to keep up, obviously belongs in another band cause they are so flipping miserable around yours, cant accept somethings just work and somethings even if you have put a lot of band time and effort in just dont, always argumentative, brings everyone down as soon as they enter the room,.......... it goes on.

Its just rude and disrespectful. Is it just me but any guitarist that I've been in a playing situation with that was really good never did/does it.

Guitarist noodling at any time the band isn't playing be it at rehearsal, in soundcheck, pre gig ,between tunes ect. Out of all the things that are annoying this is the most.

My last experience of this was turning up at a birthday party in a pub thing. I'd agreed, for the good of the all, to play a couple of numbers with my band at the time plus jam a bit with some others. I had with me just my passive bass and a tuner. The typical practice room bass amp on offer sounded ok with the previous chap from the back of the room although he did look concerned throughout his bands performance. I found out that once we got playing, it (the bass amp) insisted on distorting if I turned up so I could hear myself over the drums. Unlike you I did 'fiddle' with it out of desperation with no luck, and it really did have an impact on my ability to deliver a decent effort. Folks that knew us as a band and individual musicians ,that were not musicians who may have understood , thought i was having an off night. Which thanks to the pile of stinky poo of an amp, I was. Personally if the situation was a decent amp but just not my preference, I would ask the owner of the amp if it was ok to set it flat or if it had a eq defeat button use that and turn it up and hope for the best.

I had a go on that Porter Davies thing and to be fair it really is very inspiring. I honestly would have said "no " prior to that but having experienced it I can say its more than just a quick thrill. I just couldn't justify the amount it costs for the amount that i would use it plus its another bit of kit to lug around. The Backbeat thing however is small enough to not put you out when using it on a daily basis,rehearsing, practicing ect. It couldn't obviously make you better as in 'now you suddenly have gained extra theory knowledge' or can now play something without practice, but it claims to make the whole experience more enjoyable and perhaps more inspiring without playing at a loud volume. I've almost talked myself into getting one.

Me too. But if it were more on the cheap side it would sway me enough to have a go with it. I can see how it would help out on a quite "can you turn it down. We're trying to watch the football/get married/have a chat/whatever" gig.

Good idea. You could turn it off if it was stinky poo.

I think the guys priced it too high. If it were @ £100.00-150.00 I think more would take a leap of faith and if its any good the news will spread faster. I like the idea of it though. Walking about the house with ear phones on and this thing strapped to my back. "whats that dear? sorry cant hear you. Im playing with my vibrating strap on." I've had a go on the platform thing by Porter-Davies which is excellent fun but again its a lot of lolly for the discerning weekend warrior IMO. Too much for me to justify on it anyway. If my regular job consisted of touring and using IEM though I would have probably brought this (back beat) by now.

flipping excellent. never listened to the winery dogs before. instant fan.

Nice playing. Do you find it works as well live at band volume. Does the G string get lost or is it as full sounding?

Done this one. Or rather was the bassist on the receiving end of it. I reacted pretty quick as I saw the speaker coming towards me, side stepped it and my tuner pedal took the brunt of it. Its got a nice dent in it now. Proper war wound. Offender carted off by doormen. Guitarist immediately came rushing over, bypassing me, to make sure his PA cab was still ok. Understandably.

Great player and all round top bloke but....I too don't like that scratchy distorted tone. It sounds like the speakers in the cab are flipped to me even though it is what he's deliberately going for. It probably sounds better in the room plus he's made a career out of it so that's me told but it doesn't put that Yamaha on my wish list. Once I'm past that I do like what he does here.

I thought about this. Actually where I live and the surrounding areas, there really is. From the hopeless to the excellent. Amature to professional. Its all down here on the south coast.

If electronic drum kits were the norm I think we would all benefit. Less volume would do a lot of good for everyone and I seriously would include tempos and time keeping in that. Most electronic kits also have a headphone out thingy that also sends a click from the controller bit /thingy. The trouble is having a drummer open to the mentality that like a bass or guitar you buy not just the instrument but an amp, pedals, leads ect. that all contribute to the end sonic result. And that's down to you and not the rest of the band to supply it. Yes they feel different to an acoustic kit but then so does an acoustic bass or guitar. ..................................runs and hides behind sofa...........

I call them " people who own drum kits".

Ages ago I was in a band where the drummer had a small metronome with a dial on it. On his set list he noted the correct tempos for each song and just prior to any song he would select the tempo , hold it to his ear and then count in off that. Worked every time and as he was a great player (still is) would keep the tempo steady very much throughout every tune. A great idea if you have tempo problems. I couldn't agree more that most tunes work at optimum tempos. I've worked with a drummer with very bad tempo and time keeping problems. Might of well as just shout "go!" at the start of every tune and hope for the best. Which we did for a while. And then we sacked him.

If strings lasted as long as that for me, I'd go for the more expensive and luxurious every time! £18-22 for the D'addarios = no problem!

Back to the bass. The latest info on this bass is now on the Status website. Price list looks like £2 grand ish for a 4 string so not bad for a Status bass I guess. I'm interested so far but will want to try one out first and will like to see what other mortals think about it before pulling a trigger.

I used the old RB 40 and RB 45 nickel. Cheap as you like. I have a one gig/weekends gigs = one set of stings mindset so £12.00 per gig/weekends worth of gigs. They just needed to do the gig/ weekend and then on to the next set the following week, so longevity is never part of my requirements. I find the D'addario strings don't really last any more or less than the rotos and if its a sweaty hot gig then I'll kill either brand in a night no problem! But IMO the extra £5.00 or so for the D'addario strings is worth it I think for all the reasons already stated. If I'm feeling poor then I'll go back to Rotos but as a preference its the D'addarios for me. I also think about what any string is like to play when its dead and mucky. The D'addrios retain all their playability and stay comfortable. Its when they start boosting prices based on whatever cow poop they feel is acceptable and it goes over the £20.00 price point that I start leaning back to the cheapys, which is what happened with me last time, hence I'm recently back with the D'addarios. For a longer lasting string I have found that I have to either embrace the compromises with a stiffer feel or dont do it. If you are a player thats after that higher tension then ok its a good choice.. Personally I'd rather have the lower tension. I too tried the DRs but wasn't wowed enough to warrant the high price tag. If I got em' for free I'd use em' no problem but as a weekend warrior £25.00 is the limit for me. I think the brightness could also be described as presence? maybe its one of those things that you only can really tell when its you thats playing them and in the circumstances you are in. I play mostly funk, soul, pop and disco covers, don't use a pick, just fingers and slap a bit, and they work really well for me.

I love these strings (D'addario EXL190) and have recently gone back to them after another stint on cheapo Rotos. I've also used the 45.65.80.100 sets and these work for me too. I prefer less tension and a softer feel on the fingers and these are just great for that. I'm using a jazz bass and I think the tone is better when I'm using the D'addarios. Weather anyone else notices isn't as important to me. I hear and feel the difference and play better as a result so I'm happy.

So just to protect the cab from getting scuffed then?

Out of interest, do the wooden blocks lifting the cab of the ground do anything? I'm always looking for any sound improvement tips no matter how bizarre they may seam.

Our singer does this. It works well providing the rest of the band still get vox in either their own IEM or on stage monitor. For most pub gigs we find just one good floor monitor on the floor with vox only it does the trick. There are some compromises. Sometimes its all good and sometimes for what ever reason not perfect (for her that is) but overall it works. Any decent sound man thats not trying to play keys at the same time as managing the desk( which is what our guy has to do!) should be able to handle this no problem.