JTUK

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1397469172' post='2424109'] I've never understood this claimed distinction between playing covers and playing originals. I just like music. [/quote] Yep... shouldn't be a problem but it really is for a lot of people. A really competent Gtr player in Grundge, for example, can't 'handle' "Sweet Home Alabama"... ( I'm thinking . ) and plenty of vocalists only really excel in one genre. They tend to be screamers who can't sing so give them a 'tune' and they sink.. There is not a lot you can do about that vocally, but you can with instruments much more easily. So, ducking and diving between genres is generally a good thing, IMO altho there are some that need more empathy...and are harder to bluff with any conviction.

It is a discipline like everything else.... so you will fine plenty of original bass guys ( and players ) that can't play Covers gigs as they don't have the discipline in their playing to do so.... and conversly if someone has always learnt songs note for note, they can't pay outside of that 'direction' I think it is a good idea to put yourself the opposite position than you normally inhabit as this makes you a more rounded player as well. IMO

[quote name='Chrismanbass' timestamp='1397416182' post='2423737'] but yeh awesome gig apparently he learned the set in a week! on any gig thats a tall order but for toto thats some supreme bass playing [/quote] hmmmm... they said exactly the same for Greg Bisonette when he depped for Simon Philips.

Neil needs to streamline some of those bands, tbh... and he must know some aren't up to it. His regulars turn out week in week out and he doesn't want to kill the golden goose by keeping those bands in the line-up even if they are cheap. Getting people there is one thing as it is out of town...so you need bands to keep them there. That is the problem, if he wants to be a top venue he needs to get the top bands in ..which by and large he does, but a few wont play because the money isn't there. It will be interesting to see how his line-up 'evolves' over the year. Sorry I didn't make it down there..we had to cancel the friday night gig.

I offered it up as one to do, as I wanted to do something with the horn line.. but I had no takers. They said PC had better numbers, but did he..?? We aren't doing them.

Depends who is down the Albion or George or the 6 Bells. Maybe I'll get to one of them.

Great gig on the DVD

ha ha.. But.... ........in all seriousnes, I have no idea why they are banned.

I don't think the exchange rate helps but at this level of manufacture, you should expect the nuts and bolts being put together well as a given... Whether it turns out to be the bass for you...only you can say that with the one you find, but expect a crafted instrument to do what it says. I like the vintage series very much.... but can give the modern series a miss....but I'd say that about Fenders as well.

Since you have a lot of things going on... but all centred around music, I would just have your name, along with the words professional bass player, plus contact details inc web, FB and tritter links etc .. You are not going to get it all on a card... and you'll be handing the card out in person 90% of the time so you'll add anything else pertinent verbally...??

Tone and playability in equal measure..plus it isn't going to look like a dog.

I am liking the Fender Deluxe atm... I fancy sunburst and tort, RW and if I can't find the fender quality or general bass is up to it.. I'll get it custom made by someone who can. That is this years goal but I don't really have to have one..just, want..!!

I think I put a lot of thought into buying, so I don't envisage selling them anytime soon. I do have GAS for a Fender Delux J5 but I could also commission a build of that sort as well. I pretty much know what I want in terms of what it will look like, but things like feel and sound are in the hands of the builder. I know the guys I want to do this and I know his build skills are impreccable, but sound is still a leap of faith, to a degree. But...I am also very happy with my 2 basses and the potential incoming bass doesn't mean one will go.... but that is a possibility. Basically, I don't need to do anything, but if I have the money, I may well do. Besides... 3 basses isn't obscene and they WILL get used live.

See, I wouldn't wear a DJ for a function..makes you look like the 'help'

I do take the point that you need to be in tune with your audience and who you are trying to attract. If you play a typical pub set and looking like it then getting a decent party gig and wage is going to be tough, and you'll be lucky to break £500 for that gig. Play to another audience and look like you fit in and those sort of parties aren't done on the same sort of budget so neither would the band be. Also... we find certain people who have seen us will simply not go to certain pubs... now this may be misguided on their part or whatever, but if they aren't inclined, they don't turn up. So...this is one of the reasons why you dump the rough pubs from my POV. It depends how and where you position yourselves. Of course, you can plan to the ninth degree but if your opening songs don't work, then you are on the back foot for starters. People congregate with what they perceived to be their own... So, for the pub, we look ok....and from that comes the better gigs.

My covers are looking good, so simple things like lifting out of the car boot helps silly little scuffs. I think that since my cabs has always had covers on them, I should stand to get back pretty much what I paid for them as they are in the same condition as when I got them. Havings said that, I don't buy and sell easily, but I like to buy in mint/VGC and I want to sell in as close to that condition and covers help me achieve that, IME.

Would expect that...and I think you'd get that effect if you added another 210

I would say that, generally, a 210 is not man enough for a punchy band. There are gigs it will handle well enough, of course, but a loud pub it will not. Depends on your definition of 'handle' as well. A sub will help if used in conjunction with the output of the combo but it needs to be passive to take a load and help the 10's. Can the Rumble not handle an ext cab..???

For pubs, it doesn't matter, for parties, smart casual, for shows we have a chat. Our drummer goes through 3 shirts in 2 sets..1 per set and 1 to go home in.

It is a good subject.... players and band choices. When I put units together I normally have an idea of what we want to do and then you pick the players to fit that. I might decide that the band is formed with one person's strenghts and go from that.... but at some point you need to find out about more than the notes. My current band's first version was pretty strong in my mind as the 4 instruments sounded 'great' in the first loose busk. We added a drummer who completed the line-up and altho I am massively picky about drummers, I was put on the guy as a second pick and even then, he wasn't someone on my radar. But it turned out really well even tho his bias is on the heavier side and mine is more funky. We had to change that line-up... and went thru various 'top' local guys ( they play in the best bands, so..?? ) and it wasn't quite convincing..and that reaffirmed how good drummer number one was. We hadn't really come out the other side even when we added a monster drummer and it wasn't until we depped the gtr that the chemistry has returned to where I want it. I say 'I' as this kind of mixing up is my thing and the other guys have come to trust it. Current incarnation is going to be our best yet....which pleases me no end, but there is a huge difference between playing chemistry and personal chemistry... so the trick is to sort out what you can live with and put up with... We will hit much better highs now, but we may have lower lows... so time will tell if that REALLY works out but atm, I am pretty excited about this unit. Hopefully, the music cures..mostly..all...

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1397111024' post='2420665'] you saying i should wear the wedding dress AND the tiara? [/quote] Steve's band's audience is totty city and, no, you shouldn't try and compete...

.............Of course, many landlords will take the easy option and book rubbish local bands who are prepared to play for nothing! These same landlords will be in their empty pub on a Saturday night, moaning that putting on live music is a waste of time and blaming the bands…......... I've had this same 'discussion' with a silly bint publicist who was bemoaning a promoter and a venue because none turned up to see her band that she was 'pushing'. I just said it was the bands responsibility to get people there as well, which she just couldn't get, She said it was different for originals and that I didn't understand. The simple economics were that you need people thru the door and if the band has been going for 10 years plus, maybe she should come to the conclusion that no one is buying what they are selling. These same people are always going on about supporting live music... but I never ever ever see them out supporting music.. so I guess they mean 'their special brand of live music'.... Anyway, both bands and the venue have a vested interest in promoting the gig...but not so much if the venue wants 4 bands to sell 20 tickets each and play for free as well..or 20% of the tickets they sell at the most...and on a ...er... monday night. You have to be a bit smarter than that....

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1397062320' post='2420300'] Actually she was very hot, a little Polish bird and her boyfriend who was Scottish, was a good bit bigger than me. [/quote] that explains it then... oh well.. !!

It is a difficult equation. We had to pull out of pubs when we had a ticketed gig in a town. It was a bit rich that the ticked gig was offered by a Brewery who supplied most of the town and it was their LL's who said we where taking business away from their pubs.. The fact that some of the pubs never had a gig that night seemed to escape them but there you go. Anyway, the upshot was that we had to stop playing that town 6 weeks prior to out ticket gig. This helped us sell our tickets and it worked out in the end. Friends band, who very rarely play the town these days, sold out the venue within 29 hrs...at £10 a ticket, iirc. So, despite what I think about the band... and sense the tone here ...you just have to stand back and say 'well done' as that is a very good effort for a cover band. This type of stat gets that band into one of the very top acts around... on pulling power alone. I think any local cover band who can sell 350 tickets is doing expectionally well... and they certainly have a selling point. This is another reason we try to keep pubs dates down to around 4-5 pubs... as it impacts on sat night party dates where we get far more money...and those same bookers don't want to pay 3x what they believe they know the pub fee to be. For the same reason... we have to keep our prices consistant as pubs/venues/LL's talk. And if they don't, then they should do. We are having to drop our best pub date unless we can renegoitate.. and we have to do that to be fair to the other pubs that pay us more. So..once you get around... it can actually benefit if you play less pubs...and to charge more you must also be prepared to offer something more. We do this by augmenting the band...sell it as a different show etc etc ..and it may well be that we can only offer that to 2 types of gig per year.