JTUK

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1348141782' post='1809870'] It's alright for people to moan about bands playing the similar sets,but all too often you play something different and you get people shouting for Oasis or Skynard or whoever. If you are obviously a soul/disco/whatever band then people will specifically come to see you,but the general pub goers all too often request the same songs again and again. I've seen lots of pub bands that play more 'obscure' songs,and the audience often look bored and they rarely get rebooked.The biggest reaction of the night is invariably when they play 'All Right Now' or 'Sex on Fire'. [/quote] If they don't get booked/rebooked then that is their lookout..? but you have the choice between average bands doing the same old set or an average band doing something new..?? Now, if you are a good band doing sonmething new, you are ahead of the game, but doing the banned list is the easy cop-out IMO, We can pretty much ID most pubs by the bands they have, what sort of punter goes there but it is also down to the band to possibly educate a few people. Depends on the pubs and why you play them. We treat them as a showcase and the chance to play what we want... for £50 a man or whatever, I am not going to play songs I don't like. Pubs are too much work for the money anyway

They are very well made basses, they look nice, they sound great and I get a decent sound out of them... what is not to like..?

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1348130587' post='1809600'] With any good quality 2x12 cab you shouldn't really need anything else - so 4 ohms seems a reasonable enough choice to me. [/quote] This... so makers don't see the need to offer 8ohms..which is what BFM said

[quote name='bigd1' timestamp='1348130026' post='1809594'] The thing is as we play in bands, or at the very least play Bass guitar. Our way of listening is different than "Joe Public". "Joe" has come out for a chat with his mates and a couple of pints with a band playing. Most of the time they are not really listening. We as musicians go out to listen to the band. We want to see something different, new songs or even the old ones done in a new way. If a band then comes on and plays songs we have heard millions of times, played the same way, we are very disappointed. Meanwhile "Joe" is getting full of beer, talking away when [b]All Right Now[/b] is played by the band, him and his mates know this, they know the words and sing along. The band then play [b]Wishing Well[/b] He goes home thinking "what a great band, they played stuff we all knew, none of that new rubbish nobody knows the words for". [b]Say No More !! [/b] [/quote] I have to say that any band doing that sort of set will never be very popular around here..they'll play to a few but they will never be a good draw. Maybe in that sense, they audience expect more.so that band will get a gig or two and plod along and disappear un-noticed after a year or two. I'd applaud bands making more effort than that and would be straight out of the door if that was all that was on offer. Getting people to a gig is one thing..keeping them there is another...and venues expect regular bands to have enough new numbers for a new set after about 4 dates in the year.

Not quite sure how it works but I generally play what I hear and it may be I'll play those pieces that I noodle around on so they sound instinctive but I am always listening to the track and how it is is moving so I want to be able to add to that as and when so in that sense I'll play what comes to me and how I feel at that point.

I always try to do something constructive daily so that is for an hour minimum, but by the same token I don't get guilty if I miss a day and if I haven't got a gig that week. If I am gigging, then I will force myself or rather, be brutal about making the time to put something meaninful in. I have a few things I want to get ...but they are a work in progress so I can miss that out and work on other stuff. I never learn basslines as such so want to maintain the facility to do what ever I hear at the time of playing the song. I've always worked that way and that is why I need to be fluid and warmed up. Sometimes it is hard to put an hour aside, but I do it...and sometimes other things have to be put aside.

Em 18's [url="http://www.eminence.com/pro-audio/professional-series/"]http://www.eminence.com/pro-audio/professional-series/[/url]

Have to say that a burnt out coil on a second hand cab sounds a bit...er..... hmmmm...!!!!!

[size=5][sub]I think Wembley loudspeakers are a decent reconing source but with PP etc ...? and can they garuantee like for like..??[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]Maybe see what Eminence or somesuch do in 18" and get someone here to try and recommend a chassis.[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]You may need to retune the cab a tad but it seems the cheapest option if you buy stock and then fine tune the ports[/sub][/size]

Yes. know the market... you'd get canned out of certain pubs if you played certain songs..but then again, you probably wouldn't get asked to play there in the first place.

I like pubs where the LL is quite a fan as opposed to someone who sees the exercise as only selling beers. Of course, that is his bottom line but the LL of the pub we are playing on friday is a big Counting Crows fan but he puts up with us because we play our songs well...or so he says.. He actually gives us a few pointers about what music he think would work for us... LA woman being one..but we lined it up before he told us it was his favourite song.

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1348016484' post='1808240'] The distributor may have been referring to the wire companies like Mapes which make the raw wire for those who manufacture the actual guitar or bass strings. [/quote] No, this was a face to face informal chat and we talked about metal grade in strings as well as winding factories. I'd call Rotosounds, La bella and D'addario major names so if they have their own large factories..??? but then there is large and large. When I see him again, I'll dig deeper

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1348002864' post='1808085'] So Rotosound no longer make strings in the UK then? [/quote] That is what he said...and he works in strings. As a rep he seems a very straight guy, I had no reason to disbelieve him.

In my case, I'll check out what bands are playing in the sort of pubs we will want to do... and then see how big the place is and then decide if it is our sort of place I'll talk to the LL and go from there.... that will be enough to decide if we give it a go. I'd start with the 3 songs in this thread but it is more about the sort of bands the venue puts on and whether we think it is for us.

[quote name='bigd1' timestamp='1348045360' post='1808379'] I think most of you seem to have missed the point that "The Customer is ALWAYS right". I don't like the songs on the list, but people who come out to listen to live bands DO ! Just because we play in a bands does not mean we can just play what we like, unless you are an originals group. If you are a covers band that's what you do, you play cover of songs what the punters want to hear. Not just what YOU like to play. Unfortunately most punters have limited music knowledge. [/quote] Nope.... but you live and die on your set. We don't do too many pubs but the ones we do tend to have a more discerning type of punter...or more musically adventuous so our taste or decision trumps theirs and if they don't like it they can go and see eleventy-eight million other bands doing the same set locally. You could argue that bands that play such a blatant populist set have nothing much else going for them to be popular or a band to see.

[size=5][sub]Embrace it.....if they are really good players and they are willing to accomodate you, then you can learn a lot from them....[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]There will be plenty of shortcuts you can use so a basic chart and a few symbols can get you a long way and they can [/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]teach you how to work in a more formal setting..ie, from charts. You wont need to learn much to get a basic chart [/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]to be readable...and that needn't include notation[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]The solo might be a bridge too far for you at this stage as it will be what they DO and you out of your comfort Zone[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]but take heart from the fact that they are willing to play with you...[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]Music can be a lot about being able to play at certain levels and players find their own levels a lot..[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]Dive in, both feet, and get working on it. As long as you are enthiusiastic and they can be a bit patient, it could work[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]out as a nice little gig..[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]Not all muso's are up their own bum..!!!![/sub][/size]

I like to think we would have more sense about what songs are appropriate at what event ... so they wouldn't be on any pub set of ours. There are certain songs and tracks which fit and flow in a set and some that just don't...also some are in keeping with the style of the band and some are definitely not. All bets are off, when you want to ask for more than decent money at functions so my opinion would be that a song like 'Sex on Fire' could rescue your act on its own at a function. Personally, I wouldn't do functions if left to me but sometimes it is worth your while, so...

Only had the ME50-B for 2 days so have only got core sounds out of it. I managed to get a great one configured for a Muse track...it doesn't sound much like the Muse bass but it works for me. It has distortion/OD, with a filter effect added to synth plus a flanger so the bass sounds BIG enough to be noticed which is the whole point, IMO. If I can get this saved and working LIVE then that will be a result. Generally, I think effects can be too cheesey soundwise so therefore limited to single rather than a multi effects units as there will be so many you pay for but never use...but this one sound might be getting close to be worth the money... and it will do the simpler singles well enough as well Have to say, I am not an effects person generally but you just need to put your time in and make sure the sound works across the strings... For example, I find some distortion works great on one string and weak on others....and the top end gets buried across strings but maybe that is me not working thoroughly enough though the patches.

Nobody needs to learn more than a few tracks... as it is too much work for potentially no gain. Select 5 or so that you can give a good run through as that is all they will need to decide if things are going to work and vice versa. The rest you can busk if you get that far..but if anyone expects you to learn a set for an audition, that tells you all you really need to know about them

Had an interesting chat with a rep for a distributor and he said that there are only two major string factories around. One in France and one in the U.S and all the name strings come out of one or the other. You will get small makers who wind their own...Newtone, for exmaple, but the difference mostly between many makes is the metal grade, gauge and the designe quirk. Major plus for Newtone then, IMO, who are making the cleanest strings I've tried in the last two years.

[quote name='Floyd' timestamp='1347976402' post='1807494'] I'm not ready yet. I know the numbers but they need some polish. I've still got a couple of weeks so I 'll be ready. [/quote] Depends how you play as to whether the polish bit is important. If you aren't that confident then you'll need to be as prepared as you can.. but if you come across and can also deliver a convincing take on the song, then the polish bit can come later. Also, depends what you know about the other guys... the standard isn't likely to be roasting as those sort of gigs aren't mostly auditioned, they are 'invites' so if you think you can hold your own at a local level, then you just need to connect. We know different, but other band members just want a bass to do the basic things and be there in the majority of cases.. they don't want a bigger playing personality than the gtr or singer, for example. Connect with the guys on a personal basis and don't stuff up the music side and you stand a pretty good chance. Good luck

Not saying it a bad tone... it is a tone you are after and should be able to get relatively simply with decent gear.

Do you think you are ready?

You struck out on the ad, move on.