maxrossell

[quote name='OldGit' post='491439' date='May 18 2009, 03:01 PM']That's not changed.. There were always millions of weekend warriors for every one hit wonder.[/quote] No, I mean literally. Now we have weekend warriors like myself and plenty others on here, and who else? Oh, yeah, thirty thousand annual X-Factor contestants, who by the sole virtue that they're prepared to make cretins of themselves on TV will get more of a look-in than people who write original songs and would rather not start their careers with being publicly spat on by management. It sounds like a glib thing to say, but if you look at it in job-market terms, it's the equivalent of having a hundred extra applicants for every position, most of them prepared to work for half the salary you want and no holidays. Then factor in that there are far fewer vacant positions because the sector doesn't make anywhere near as much money as it used to.

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' post='491423' date='May 18 2009, 02:50 PM']Interesting. Does this mean that you should buy him a pint, but not one for yourself? Or should you leave a nearly-full pint on the table? Perhaps you should get yourself a whiskey instead? Your method of jettisoning the drummer is interesting too, don't get me wrong, but the stuff about the beer is just too important to leave unresolved. S.P.[/quote] I drink fast. Get the drummer a pint, get yourself a Jack n' Coke. That way, you'll have halved it before he's even past the crease.

Yeah, all the smart-arses who started stealing music ten years ago and swearing blind that it wouldn't have any effect can go shove it. Labels won't sign bands on a standard recording contract anymore because the minute a record is released it gets pirated and everyone has access to it for free. Record labels are now trying out other tacks to keep the cashflow happening, like with their existing roster drawing up new contracts where in exchange for more royalties and marketing support, the label gets to take percentage on things they normally wouldn't get, like merchandising and endorsements. But because they're having to put more work into bigger acts, they're putting far less into smaller acts. We all understood a few years ago that labels would drop anyone who didn't score a direct hit with their first record. Now it's plausible that labels will only sign people in the first place if they've already proven they can actually shift numbers. Anyone who picks up a guitar today better understand that he has a better chance of winning the lottery than making it big as a recording artist.

I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but it's an old standard in romantic relationships: Make him quit of his own accord. Start f*cking him about, while making it look like you're just being a bit disorganised and hopeless. Start making suggestions about doing covers that you know he'll hate. Start playing out of tune and out of time and making really bad mistakes, and then blame him for it. All that kind of sh*t, and he'll start thinking about jumping right away. Then, the master-move: The palm-off. Find a band that's looking for a drummer. Tell them that you know how they feel, you had a hell of a time finding a drummer as good as yours, but hint to them that as good as your drummer is you suspect that he might feel more at home in their band, and you feel like you're holding him back. Do it in such a way that the new band think they'd actually be doing everyone a bit of a favour if they asked him to join up with them. By this point, you'll hopefully have pissed the guy off so much with your fake flakiness that he'll inevitably see any offer from another band as an improvement. So he'll quit your band, which saves you the trouble of being the dumper. Or, do it the way I always do it. Sit the guy down in a pub, buy him a pint, tell him that you don't like doing what you're about to do, and then prepare to be the bad guy. Don't mince words, be honest (not brutally honest), tell him straight that you've all decided he's out. Refuse to discuss anything like who's replacing him or whatnot, just make it clear that you think he's a great guy and a fine musician, but your band needs a different kind of drummer and that's it. Then leave quickly, pretty much before he can get a chance to say anything or try to bargain or anything else pathetic or whatnot. All he needs to know is he's out, you all agree and it's nothing personal.

[quote name='chris_b' post='491384' date='May 18 2009, 02:20 PM']Shift what you don't play and isn't appreciating! I've already sold everything I can and the last things I don't play, two of my basses are tucked away "under the bed", waiting for the market to "go mad" again![/quote] This. If you use it, keep it, because if you don't you'll end up missing it. Otherwise, unless it's gonna start being worth more than you paid for it within the next five years, sell it. Top tip: Resist any temptation to develop sentimental attachments to music equipment. The only outcome of that kind of thing is that you end up holding on to gear you never use and could be turned into money.

I'm in. Not only did I not find any vintage Fenders in my loft, I also failed to find any rare vinyls, there were no bottles of '73 Chateauneuf-Du-Pape, no turn-of-the century, mint-condish childrens' toys and ornaments for Michael Aspel to gawp at, there was not even a hint of an undiscovered Van Gogh back there, no priceless jewellery or silver, and to add insult to injury, I discovered no evidence whatsoever that I'm a direct descendent of royalty and third in line for the throne. I did, however, find a couple of Beanos from the mid-nineties.

[quote name='chris_b' post='491112' date='May 18 2009, 09:09 AM'][i]Rule number one: don't lend your gear.[/i] I'm in a house band for a local jam and you can be sure of one thing; most the guys that come up and use your gear won't give a damn if they break it or not! There are some considerate players out there but most have their ears painted on and don't care what they do to your speakers! There are some basses out there with high output and, if the gain is turned up, they will clip like mad. I've turned the gain down and told the jammers to use the master if they have any volume problems, but I've now had to gaffer over the gain control to stop them turning it up!!![/quote] + on this. - When people who know what they're doing with their gear show up to play a gig, they'll have their own gear with them. If that is not the case, they'll have got in touch - in advance - with whoever is lending them gear, to check it out and get some info on what it is they'll be using. Not so they don't break it or anything (although they're usually careful not to), it's just that in order to get a good sound you have to use gear properly. - People who turn up to gigs without a clue what they'll be playing through and expect to just plug into whatever, twiddle for a minute and then go are generally idiots who don't know the first thing about equipment and really don't give two wet sh*ts whether they trash your gear as long as it gets them through their set. They're lazy, basically, too lazy to bring their own gear (usually too lazy to have acquired decent gear of their own in the first place), and too lazy to figure out how to get a good sound out of stuff. And the logical conclusion is that they don't give a damn about the crowd, either, since they obviously think it's okay to turn up and play a sh*t-sounding gig.

I'll echo a couple of sentiments, here Your four grand gives you almost unlimited buying power on the commercial market, however you may find that the bass you want costs half that or less. Not that I've ever spend four grand on any instrument, but I will say this: Over a certain price, virtually anything you do to a bass will become a matter of taste. Is the £1,500 Gibson Les Paul Classic better than the £500 Epiphone Les Paul Standard? Unequivocally yes, in virtually every respect. But is the £3,500 Les Paul '59 RI Standard better than the £1,500 Gibson Les Paul Classic? Some would say yes, and I suppose they'd be right. But I'd say no, and I'm not wrong, either. And when it comes down to it, personally I'd sooner put the money down on a £600 Les Paul Junior and have a lot of change. What I'm trying to say is that of course four grand will obviously get you an amazing bass, but there are amazing basses out there for a grand, and then you'd have an amazing bass and three grand left over. And that's three grand that would get you a bunch of other great basses, or one or two really amazing amps, or a pile of effects, or a mind-blowing home studio, or God knows what else. Worth thinking about. For my money, if I [i]had[/i] to spend 4k on a bass, I'd be looking at a real 60s Fender Jazz, because I could buy it, own it, and then if needed sell it on a few years down the line for a tidy profit.

It could be an extra expense, but you could try a trick I like to try on my guitars - I found that the wound strings were too twangy and loose if I got a set light enough for nice easy top strings, but similarly, the top strings were far too heavy and tight if I got a set with nice thick bottom strings. Originally I used to just get two sets of strings, one heavy, one light, use the heavy bottom strings and the light top strings - Until Ernie Ball cottoned on that I wasn't the only one doing that, so they released Skinny Top Heavy Bottom strings. What I'm saying is, try some heavier gauge strings on your D and G. Heavier gauge strings always sound less thin and less twangy.

Basic question: What strings do you have on there (brand and gauge), and how old are they? Also, do you play with a pick or with fingers, and do the D and G sound different when picked from how they sound fingerstyle? Is your P Bass an actual Fender Std, and if not, do you know what pickup it has in it?

Yeah, there's a lot of back-and-forth about Marshall guitar amps, too. Some people just hate 'em, which I personally don't understand because they're all pretty different from each other. I think it's because they all look kind of the same, black tolex, gold front panel, white logo. I wasn't really sold on the brand until I tried one of the new Vintage Modern series, the 2x12 50w combo, it just blew me away. Never really tried any of their bass gear either, although the higher-end stuff tends to be quite pricey so may lose out on direct comparison with cheaper high-end models by other brands.

I smell horseh*t. Two and a half grand for a genuine '53? I don't think so. That's Custom Shop RI money. Maybe it's a closet classic or something.

To be honest, today is the first time I've come across ABC and it already makes far more sense to me than this sort of thing: Even though I've been looking at standard notation since I was a little kid. It's just a code, exactly like standard notation, except it's made of of symbols that most people recognise, instead of little dots with tails on them and smaller dots all on a bunch of lines and stuff.

Gotta be Fender. The first, and for me the only. I would consider owning a Jazz, a Precision, a PJ, a '51 P, and, err... That's about it. Anything else is too frilly, too fancy, too pricey, too complex, too much everything. But then I also don't use effects, I can't stand bass amps with graphic EQs, I won't touch a bass if it needs batteries - Basically if I can't build it or at least fix it myself, I probably won't be interested.

This is where being a guitard comes in handy. There's all sorts of techniques for it, you look at for instance Hendrix, who would rake the string up and down by using his fingers as pistons (the way I try to do it), or BB king who keeps his index on the note and then just kind of waggles his hand, which wobbles the string. Okay, so it's harder to do on a bass, but the Hendrix-style way works okay - if you start off by trying it out around the 12th fret, where the string is easiest to shift, and the work down from there, it should come to you. The hardest part to nail is the feel for it, the right speed and so on. But all that's just practice stuff. And when you get it down, it really will make a difference, you can start giving whole new textures to the low-end of a mix.

Bugera is a Behringer brand. Money better spent elsewhere.

[quote name='AM1' post='483960' date='May 9 2009, 07:37 PM']Well, we're talking about music. It's not quite clear what you're doing.[/quote] Editorialising.

[quote name='AM1' post='483954' date='May 9 2009, 07:29 PM']Where's that then? It's a perfectly reasonable question.[/quote] Let's hope the answers are all just as reasonable.

I can see where this is going. Wahey.

[quote name='Kongo' post='482202' date='May 7 2009, 05:32 PM']Still, Drop-B or C# standard or whatever eare is fine. But do bassists really need "Drop" tuning? As we don't barre power chords it's really better standard surely?[/quote] I only drop out for the patterns. If I need to be going C-D-F-G real quick with the C and D on the A string and the F and G on the E string, it's just way easier and a better feel to tune to drop D. Most of RATM's earlier stuff was built around that kind of riff.

[quote name='bear-foot-bass' post='483345' date='May 8 2009, 10:06 PM']Thanks guys. You've confirmed what I was thinking. OK i exaggerated a bit we're 2 hours min, ideally need 3 not 4. The problem is that no matter how many times we say we need to speed up, the guys love to discuss gear and gates rather thangetting on with getting it done. I'm quitting.[/quote] Good call. For reference, I used to run sound for a little clubnight in Preston. The rig was hire-out, which meant we had to load it in every night. Big desk, huge cabs, massive bass bins, rack cases, all that. Because of limited space, the three bands we'd have on each night would share the drums and the bass rig and ideally guitar cabs so changeover was just a matter of swapping guitar heads and arranging mic stands and so on. But all in all, I could usually load in the PA, hook it all up and soundcheck all three bands in under 2 hours. Even if you're a big band, 2 hours is taking the piss. I've seen a seven-piece band with two guitars, drums, bass, two keyboards, a sampler and four vocals set up and souncheck in under half an hour.

I just raised my action because I was getting a load of clicking from my pups. It never really occurred to me why I'd want a lower action, apart from the fact that your fingers get less tired. But I play really really hard, and there's no way I can get away with that with low action, I just end up with a load of noise.

[quote name='mcc' post='483849' date='May 9 2009, 05:15 PM']Always wondered how they manage to make great instruments on a budget, but their amps are so bad. Absolutely noone uses them.[/quote] I guess you just can't make a decent amp for under a certain price. My guitar player once bought a full Ibanez Toneblaster stack new for a shade under £400. Two 4x12s and a 100w head, for that kind of money, there's no way it's not gonna suck. I mean, you could arguably make a guitar out of ply, stick a basic maple neck on it, jam on some budget hardware and budget electronics and still make it playable, even make it sound okay. I've played a few guitars that retail under £100 and they weren't what I'd call "bad", just not particularly good in any way. Really cheap amps, on the other hand, just sound like hunks of crap.

This thread makes me feel so conservative. I can't imagine owning any other bass than a Fender Jazz or a Jazz clone. Everything else just looks and feels wrong to me.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that it's just about aesthetics. I'm not so sure that anyone who gets a relic'ed guitar is trying to fool anyone into thinking that they actually have a 60s strat (well, maybe a few people). Take this, for instance. I like peeling paint more than fresh paint. I like stained wood more than I like clean wood. I like objects that have patina better than objects that are shiny-new. I like dirty better than clean. I like chaos better than order. Here's a picture of something I find completely beautiful: So to someone else that just a mess, right? Not to me. Okay, so granted the above photo is "real" decay, but I wouldn't find it any less appealing if someone deliberately did that to a building.