JTUK

lots of things to consider.. with no power amp...on what basis do they say the speaker is blown..?? If just the out[put stage of the amp...you may find a tech to repair that for cheap money but if you need a new speaker...then you are probaly into the relms of £100 or so... I'd get a second opinion...or write it off and throw it all away. For £250 you should be able to find a combo capable of running 300watts with an ext cab... and probably 180w or so as a combo on its own. I've seen a TE and Ashdown at that rating at my local music shop.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1329853328' post='1548628'] I refuse to comment on grounds that I might incriminate myself. [/quote] those 3 men and a dog might agree..!!

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1329834098' post='1548109'] I know this scenario JTUK, you feel caught between a rock and a hard place yeah? Maybe its not you that needs to do something else.. maybe it is. If the rest of the band are happy with the same old gigs and the same old set, theres little you can do to convince them I'm afraid. But if its just one person, who seems to have control of the others, try asking each person privately what they'd rather do. If you have the support of the majority then you need to find a new member, if you don't then you either need to find a new band or put up with it... Sure there will be some other bass player who is happy to come along ang do the same old set in the same old pubs, but if you ain't happy theres no reason to stick with it unless its your source of income. There are many many musicians out there - you just have to find the right ones. [/quote] I have decided to go to our next meet and put this spat on the burner. The band has come too far in too short a while to throw it away easily so I will settle for majority decisions on all things. I may also start to get my other idea in motion and since I know who is about and what they can do I will have reasonable hopes that that wil work ok as well. The only probklem would be that everyone there would have other things to compete with their time ( musically ) so that will be bring its own set of frustrations. Musicality not being one of them...as always it is politics and general stuff.. so no nuclear option on band A..I am not there yet..!

[size=5][sub]That is a strange price IMO.[/sub][/size]

I have liked a few in shops but not enough to take the plunge...even when I was seriously looking Personally, I think they could do with a good pre amp and go active but they do passive Fender J's quite well. They play well straight off the stand..IME..which is not always a given, even on expensive basses and before I would go into them any deeper, I would have to set it up for me. As with a lot of basses off the shelf, I can no longer trust a marque to be consistant so I would be prepared to visit a few to find the one that I wanted. This is not so strange a thing to have to do anyway Having said that..not in the market for one, nice try but no cigars

I think Sadwosky is right up there in terms of making very very attractive basses and has been the leader of Super J type basses for so long now. Of course he makes others fender type configs. If I were in the market..and I've seen some stunning pics, then I would complete the build with less plastic cavity covers on the back. If I paid for a fancy top..I'd probably want it front and back I think the HW works, they have their own market and it would have to be a NYC 99 times out of a hundred.to get all this, IMO But then that also puts the brand in severe competition with other makers..maybe over and above with the current exchange rate. After my recent trial..I thought they ( metros ) were well put together, the finish good, but the set-up negated all this. I might be able to find one that I could make work..I am pretty sure I could set it up ..but am still amazed that the shop didn't see fit to do this. It would make it a lot easier to sell a nearly £2000 bass, if they did... As it stands, I wouldn't go near one ( metro ) with £2000 to spend. With £2500 to spend on a J5, I'd want to look at NYC, Sei and Celinder but suspect the only one to get close to that price new would be Sei Depends where you think your money is best spent...if they are your thing, and you want one, then that's it

For me..it is simple. If I play the stuff I like, then I probably play it better..in that it will comes across better. But it is a fine line with what you want to do and getting a pub full to follow it... or rather no problem pleasing a crowd at all...just getting to them to turn out in the first place. To that end, we can sell out 3-400 plus tickets but then have a poor rish turnout at the wrong pub in another town. It is a minefield.

But will one member miss me...? he has already suggested that if I am not happy maybe I should do something else.. but I also know that the band would probably lose me and two others and wouldn't be able to survive that..IMO. Plus I know all the guys round here..as I put it together in the first place. If I let them loose on booking deps or replacements...the band would likely suffer, IMO. Maybe we will see soon enough, anyway..??

Current theme... I tell them I think the set is tired but then don't think many new suggestions are upto scratch... but that is more because one guy has picked them. If he did that by consensus, we'd be better off, IMO. Also, a few decisions seem to have been taken about pulling out of certain venues..to aim for better paid ones, which I don't think is the be-all and end-all, at all..plus this means many people will have to pay ticket charges when they could catch us in a pub occasionally. We aren't a function band at all..in terms of the set we play, but I see the trouble ahead if there is no band consensus. I think we should have 3 sets..a pub set for fun and easy time of it. A function set for those few gigs that really need this..and therefore we charge accordingly. Can't be doing with too many of these though, tbh and a festival set which is all about the band and the show..and something a set on from a pub set/date. The songs are the more interchanagebale, but it is the show, we need to up the ante on.. Otherwise..goes my argument, how do we justify a step out of the pub arena and the associated costs we want to run....?? Plus...when I talk about tired old sets..from my POV and a few of the other guys in the band..I am seen as difficult, whereas I see it as a way to improve the band and push on. I agree I am very picky about things like this...and can't or won't want to let it wash over..... but I do it to an end, not just complain for complaining sake. The simple fact is that I think we should be, and can be ..way better than we currently are...and it frustrates the hell out of me. Basically it is time and effort I am asking for...and others or the other, thinks everything is fine. If I wanted to just turn up and run through the songs..there are loads of deps gigs I could do... I am pretty sure... It is a war atm............. but this is the investment I made when I started all this. Otherwise, why bother..??

I think contempt is too strong a word.... but their spin on music is different from mine. They can or do relate to a song they know the chorus line to...and that is enough for them.

[quote name='subaudio' timestamp='1328971012' post='1535448'] Thanks folks, great advice, will deffinatley listen to all of them. Could anyone shed any light on what a 16 bar blues is and what someone should do at a blues jam, do you ask to play a certyain song or just go with what the band are doing? Cheers [/quote] The lenght of the bar count is for the lenght of the turnaround but 12 bar is generic for 3 chords in a 12 bar sequence. There are zillions of variations but most people mean just the one thing when they call it up. The form is generally for a jazz standard where people play the rounds...in a 12 bar format of chords and bar lenght. The vocals start and sing the 1st verse to chorus and then the solos go round the band and every one gets lenghts of 12 bars... The gtr ignores all this and solos for as long as the leader will let him A 12 bar should not only have 3 chords though but again, a piano player will know and adhere to this as will the horns, but gtrs struggle to get out of the key of A. :

The band I refer to...pulled in the biggest crowd in our local pub all year, over xmas. But I kid you not, they are truly terrible. They call themselves a function band, but words fall me there. It may well have been a night that only this pub put on music btween xmas eve and NYE and that the pub got it right and everywhere else got it wrong...but it was incredible. It still makes me laugh now....

I always liked that model. Glad it is back.

and...I have seen some woeful bands round here pull in great numbers of people.....but you can't tell me the people who like them know anything about music when they accept such stuff... The only thing that some of these bands do in common with the tune they are trying toplay is get the chorus sort of right...ball park. It is quite funny in a weird way...!! but music it isn't...or not of the kind that most would/should know it :lol; :lol;

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1329768224' post='1547088'] +1 I know a very good pro drummer. He was given a CD so he could learn the songs. He asked how much they were getting for the gig and was told £50. His reply was, “Ok, I'll give it a £50 listen!” [/quote] ha ha ..for £50, I am surprised the CD ever got played. I don't think anyone is going to break their back for that gig...altho I know a mate of mine who was expected to learn a 44 song set..of which the band would pick to play 2x45mins, put on stand-by as the bass player MIGHT not make it back from holiday in time for the gig.., and still wasn't offered any money. As it turned out the bass player did make the gig... but I told my mate to forget it, tell them to make up their mind about whether he had the gig ..AND the money or not..before he even looked at the set. Some people... I think the band thought they were doing him a favour letting him have a sniff of their gig ha ha

sure... why would I want to play songs I can't stand? If we are entertaining in any way, then they may end up hearing a bunch of new songs from artists we are turning them onto. So, basically, I am doing the gig for me and hopefully we all get something out of it

maybe... I was not impressed with the other basses in the shop as well as I looked through almost their entire rack to find one I wanted to play. So set-up aside...which I agree, is a huge thing and especially for someone who is as picky about that sort of thing as me, I still didn't think much of any of their basses. I would say they had about 7or 8 4 and 5st's. There were also Sandbergs, Warwicks, Laklands which was the bass I used as it was the least worst set-up, AFAIWC. Pretty poor day allround and I never got to the bottom of the Amp selection either. I will be in no hurry to go back to the shop and if I do find myself there by some strange mistake, I'll take that allen key with me... if they'll allow that. I came away with the impression that this was a store that ended up with a load of Sadowsky cast-offs..!! Shame, but that is the tale I have to tell...and I so wanted to like them on the day

Not that humble..that is a typical understated Sei bass you have. Looks f**** great to me. I really do think Martin has such a good eye and does things that are just right.

Recently went to a shop that has a lot of Metros in stock. I have to say I was shocked about the playability of the Sadwosky's which I was pretty keen to demo. I thought the finish was ok upto a point but I could have sworn the black blocks on the maple were stick-ons..!! I have to say the the whole stock of basses..which numbered around 50 or so ..was pretty poor in the set-up and I struggled to find ANY bass that was worth playing. I went there to demo Aguilar amps and cabs so didn't take my own bass and what a BIG mistake that was. Considering the Sadowsky's were just shy of £2000, I'd have to say I was hugely disappointed. The general finish was ok..but deffo nowhere near a £2000 bass IMO. I could maybe have made the bass better for me with an allen key, but should that be necessary on this price-point..??? A I said Sadowsky basses were no means alone in that. If I was Sadowsky, I was would be very unhappy about letting basses out to a shop like this..as the set-up was poor and the display non-discript. I am pretty sure that NYC's would be way better.. they would have to be..

A proper Overwater can be a stunning bass so I wasn't that impressed when I heard they were going to dilute that marque with a budget range. Others say it works.... but I guess the only one who will know is you and your tastes. I wouldn't have put a Tanglewood Overwater in the league of backup spare job bass. I get the impression it will be better than that. If I was looking for a bass to throw around and stick in the corner andf forget about it, I'd look way lower down the scale. But then, I couldn't see me using a Tanglewood Overwater either,

Isn't it loud enough..?

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1329689092' post='1546081'] Not sure what the plans are. Like I said, I'm just trying to help a mate out here with speccing the kit out. I do think he's going to be operating things in a slightly "classier" manner though, as it's going to be used as a teaching facility for local schools, youth groups too. I'll have all the info when it's done though. Just a shame I'm all the way down here in London, I won't even be able to make the opening doo Eude [/quote] The problems I quoted are all from that sort of establishment, which is basically a teaching school turning over their rooms for rehearsals... and he has been through 3 P.A's in one room along. I can quite see the desire to step up, but he has learnt to run from the lowest common denominator. If you put new kit in there..I'd expect to have to pay a hire charge for that kit over and above the hourly rate... and I can't see the premium being worth it..to me, for the type of kit you'll put in. Boomproof TE's PV's etc would be my choice. People can always bring their own kit if they don't like it. After all..we all have lightweight rigs these days...

Good idea in theory but not so much in practice, IMO. In reality, you'll just have to ban anyone who can't be trusted, but getting money out of some people for cancellations is silly season. It will come down to how picky you can be with 'clients' but no one round here will want to be bothered with giving CC details. £10 ph is affordable for benefit users, but CC's would be a step too far. Can you afford to turn them away if they don't have this..?? BUt sure, things like mics and cables need to be itemised after every session but you'll still 'loose' stuff or get it damaged

I would agree that you need to dumb down gear..so that means a bass combo putting out at 8 ohms....no ext cabs. That will help save the speaker when people flatten the dials. No seperates by choice and I'd work on the basis that the amp provided will do if the user hasn't got his own...but I wouldn't put a great deal of money in it. A studio round here has had to replace 3 P.A's ... and this is not a rough area..just people obviously don't know much about kit.and break it. Good knows what they do to it as it should only handle vox.. but there you go.