TorturedSaints

AARGH! Back to searching . . .don't you just love singers? The vocalist gave us the boot by text (well, her boyfriend did) 2 hours before a rehearsal that we had arranged specifically to suit her: Oh and my phone didn't ring once that day before getting the text. "hi I'm ****, ***'s boyfriend. Been trying to call you but can't get through. I know you're having a band practice tonight. ***'s been in bed all week with a virus and is still horrendous. She feels terrible and embarrassed that she has to let you down again, with that said, she did admit that it's probably better that she pulls out and you find a replacement for the band. She doesn't want to let you guys down again and admittedly she is going to struggle with evening band practices. Hope you understand". It didn't really surprise me as she pulled out of the previously agreed rehearsal at 15 minutes notice and couldn't make the replacement rehearsal. Shame really as she had a cracking voice. Onwards and upwards. Back to sifting the chaff from the chaff on Glasgow gumtree.

Obviously a common problem! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lfuSRsAgJI

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1359072469' post='1949652'] We have auditoned a few singers recently one of them was simply dreadful and could not sing at all. A few others were just guff or didn`t turn up. I think the problem is they see the x factor and their mate/girlfriend/relation says that they are a great singer after singing at a kareoke bar and they decide to join a band. [/quote] I think we have probably auditioned the same singers! There are a lot of timewasters in Glasgow, it seems. I remember one 'audition' where 4 singers definitely confirmed that they would be coming to try out - none of them turned up or even had the decency to text to say they weren't coming. +1 for requiring a demo on soundcloud or some evidence that they've sung with bands before, although that's always open to a bit of 'interpretation' in my experience. It probably helps if you have some of your ideas/demos posted online, at least prospective singers can't then say that they don't like your music. Good luck in your search.

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1355173912' post='1895097'] I can believe it. 'Guigsy' didn't exactly have any chops,and was probably told not to do anything other than roots anyway. In fairness, it worked in context but the fact that he did nothing post Oasis says quite a bit too. I actually like the first 2 Oasis albums. [/quote] According to the Producer/Engineer for What's the Story, Owen Morris, quoted in Sound On Sound magazine Nov 2012: "Noel would usually put the bass down. I thing Guigs played bass on a few tracks, but God bless him, he wasn't the greatest musician in the world. So, although he was really good live, it was just quicker for Noel to do one or two takes on the bass, with drop-ins here and there relating to the timing. . ." From the horse's mouth, so to speak. FWIW, I don't really get Oasis either.

Glad it's sounding good for you guys. I was tempted to buy one, but couldn't bring myself to because of previous experience with the guitarist in the last band who had the Guitar version. The sound he got from it was far worse than his old Boss effects pedal, and it put a really high pitched 'digital' squeal to his sound which drove the drummer and I mad. He obviously couldn't hear it (deaf), but that was definitely one of the factors in her leaving that band. It was painful to listen to. If the good reports on here keep coming, I might be persuaded to get Father Christmas involved . . .

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1352060898' post='1858354'] Add to that 'learn the words'!!! Our singer still has the words on a bit of paper which he gets out of his pocket and looks at in not so subtle manner! :-0 [/quote] At least you've got a singer! Be thankful for small mercies

I've been looking for a decent singer for an originals band for 18 months, for the first band we found an inexperienced but keen singer who did one gig with us and then said "I've written one song, done a gig and that's something I can cross off my bucket list. Bye and thanks for the fun". We couldn't find another singer, and things just got stale and grumpy, so that band folded. I'm now in another originals band where we have some great songs, but no singer, and we are having exactly the same problems finding someone who can: 1. Sing. 2. Sing in tune. 3. Read an advert 4. Make rehearsals (personal record is having 4 potential singers who said they would turn up for an audition on a specified night - none turned up) 5. and so on . . .. end of rant!

Well, that band folded for various reasons. But the new band I'm in is looking for a vocalist! Here are some details: Male or female doesn't matter to us as we are already a M/F band, you must be able to sing in tune, be easygoing and creative. We would like to hear a demo of your voice, and we are unlikely to be interested in singers without some experience. We are all in our 40s, so singers with a mature attitude preferred. We don't really have a fixed genre in terms of how we classify ourselves, we just play music we like but in the main it's rock music but we're not afraid to venture outwith this boundary. It's not really relevant to list our influences as everyone is different and we don't sit down and say "let's write a song that sounds like ****" for example, we just write what sounds good to us and everyone gets involved as a group. We all write and accept input into our songs,we have a few songs that don't have lyrics or vocal lines, indeed the vocal lines that we've written are up for grabs too so if you want you can change them. If you're a songwriter, then we'd like to take that approach to your songs too i.e. we don't want to be told how to play your songs note by note, but to work on them together and allow us some creative freedom too. Having a vocalist and another songwriter may well crystallise some of the songs and define the direction we go in as a band. We don't argue and are very understanding, tolerant and aware of the others. We have all previously played in bands before with each other and for reasons various we found ourselves between bands and wanting an outlet for the creative stuff. We rehearse (Glasgow at Berkeley2) when we can (we all work, sometimes strange hours) and meet regularly for a coffee and chat about band stuff. Our intention is to gig when we have a singer and a 40 minute set ready We've all been in 'rehearsal-only' bands before and it's a waste of time for all. We are not really interested in covers, we've got enough ideas of our own.

28/27 from me. From the discussion of results and Amusia after you complete the test, it seems that the average is approx 25/25, so speaking as a nerd, a lot of bass players would have to get very high scores to show a statistically significant difference from the 'general public'.

Bought one - 10 String from ebay. Now the hard work begins!

I bought Ian's GK MB500 amp. Top bloke, friendly, helpful and quick to despatch the goods. The amp was in the original packaging, even down to original sale receipt, and looked almost brand new, it had obviously been well looked after. Everything was as described and I would not hesitate to buy stuff from Ian again. I am very pleased with my purchase! cheers Ralph

Hi there, the band I'm in has just lost its lead vocalist. We're looking for someone who is confident, easy to get on with, with some ability. If you can write lyrics or create your vocal topline then so much the better, but that's not essential. Genre is rock/pop originals with leanings towards both heavier tracks and longer tracks. The last singer was a fan of Pearl Jam, other band influences are the normal suspects i.e. Led Zep, Who, Floyd, Rush etc. Although we don't sound like any of them lol. Age range of the band is 35-48. We're a nice bunch of people. Rehearsals every fortnight when established , normally at Berkely2 and hoping to gig once a month once up to speed again. some tracks here: www.soundcloud.com/torturedsaints Any questions, get in touch. cheers Ralph

New band [b]Sun Dog[/b]'s first gig at Harburn Hall, West Calder, near Edinburgh. Vocalist's first ever gig! First band on, Nice hall, nice stage, (small vocal PA and lighting rig), nice people. Private party with 5 bands, BYOB etc (we got fed), no money involved, just pleased to be out gigging again - normal long and winding road to getting out there. When we got there, we found out that guitarist had been asked to bring amps/cabs, unfortunately he didn't pass this on, so we had to borrow some guitar/drum stuff from other bands. I had taken my Eden head but the only cab was a 1x12 woofer (supposedly 250W 8ohm) cobbled together by the sound guy. I stuck the Gramma underneath it, and actually it didn't sound too bad. We played 5 of our songs (originals including our 10min 41 second epic "Dogs of War") and 'Keep on rockin' in the free world" - it was meant to be the 'encore' but guitarist had forgotten that his spare guitar which needed to be tuned to drop D for one of the songs hadn't got any straplocks on it. So we had to play that one last as our 'encore'. It was lucky that that song is a good one to finish on too. Excellent first gig, really enjoyable, all of the practicing paid off, only minor mistakes, lots of nice comments (which for a band with 'prog' leanings is encouraging). Only fly in the ointment was during the second band's set, when they stopped due to the electrical burning smell coming from my Eden WT405, so that and subsequent bands changed to the sound man's brother's Peavey combo that was previously hidden! The smell dissipated, the amp still works quite loud (tested it today), bit disappointed as it is the amp's first outing since a repair by Dennis Marshall. Ah well, life's like that. Win some, lose some. Rufus Dog [attachment=105738:WP_000015.jpg]

Ayrshire!

[quote name='Stickman' timestamp='1329071916' post='1536806'] I know what you mean - I bought mine from someone I was at college with so was lucky enough to try it out first and see if it was for me. You could try posting on [url="http://www.Stickist.com/"]http://www.Stickist.com/[/url] to see if there's anyone local to you. [/quote] Thanks for the suggestion Steve, cheers Ralph

I'm intrigued by the Stick - I've seen the youtube stuff with Emmett Chapman, Rocket Scientists and Nick Beggs. It's just a lot of money to shell out to find that you're no good at it or don't have an affinity with it. Anybody in West/Central Scotland with one who would let me have a go?

Still my practice bass in daily-ish use, EB Super slinkys on, other than a tweak of the bridge for string height and intonation, nothing else done. Plays well, records well. It seems churlish to complain . . . but the strap that Sue supplied is rubbish, and about to fall apart at one of the business ends!!

+ 1 for Ebay complaints. I don't think you or the seller will get anywhere with Parcelfarce, I seem to remember a disclaimer in their T&Cs that say they won't accept liability for damage to guitars if not packed properly.

[quote name='chardbass' timestamp='1321389886' post='1438671'] Life's far too short to play music with people who don't want to be there. That's not what it's about- we have fun, we entertain, we get paid to do both if we're lucky enough. Band 2 all the way. [/quote] +1 to this . . . and if Band2 doesn't fit the bill, there's lots of adverts for bass players required on Glasgow gumtree. all the best Ralph

Not normally a buyer (for the following reasons): Staff not interested in helping or too interested in looking 'cool' 18 year old staff not considering that a middle-aged person might wish to buy a bass Being made to feel like the village idiot by aforesaid 18 year old Uninteresting or little stock A disinclination on my part to pick up and try basses that I have no intention of buying When there is something I'd consider buying, there's invariably somebody demonstrating their slapping and 'prowess' on it already for extended periods Examples: Last time I took my bass to a 'specialist' guitar/bass shop for a setup/restring, 18 year old got it out of the case, slapped it a bit and said "the action's fine, plays nicely for me, dunno why you brought it in". I saw one of the Tanglewood Overwaters in another music shop, couldn't afford it at the time, so didn't play it. Came back a month later (with money available if it played well) to be intimidated by somebody playing it for what felt like 30 minutes. No sale. Another music shop, Markbass dealers, I was interested in (and had the money for a LM). Totally ignored by 18 year old staff, and when I asked if I could try it (didn't have my own bass with me as I was on a trip) was told no, come back later. Another music shop off the list. Result: I haven't bought new from a 'music' shop in a long time. I'll take a punt on something on ebay or from gumtree for a sensible price. I see McCormacks in Glasgow has gone bust recently. Actually, they weren't one of the shops mentioned here. And no, I don't have a thing against 18 year olds, honest.

Another action shot . . . I've had mine since 2005. It's my main bass and a lot of fun to play. It's especially suited to people like me with short fingers because of the thin neck profile. I haven't had any tuner problems at all, it keeps good tune in its gig bag. I'm just about to fit a Hipshot BT2 D-tuner to it so I might notice a difference. Only problem has been the pickups are a bit prone to picking up 50Hz mains interference, so next time it goes for a setup will get the body cavity lined with copper foil and everything earthed. It's not apparent in normal use but if you ramp up the Sansamp gain, it shows there. [attachment=81056:RWgigphoto2.jpg]

I've been out of a band for 2 years or so. However, I'm just starting writing songs and getting a band together. I was in Berkeley2 on Friday and met a few guys in the corridor I used to play covers with, I think they said they were looking for a bass player again. You could ask them if you're interested in covers and weddings. [url="http://www.thedancettes.co.uk"]http://www.thedancettes.co.uk[/url] It's not much fun being out of a band, but I am a better bass player for it. Hope it all comes good for you mate. Ralph

Up to £140, 5 days to go. Not going to be a cheap project

Sorry all, would love to come but working. have fun!

[quote name='gafbass02' post='1111501' date='Feb 1 2011, 07:40 PM']Hah hah. Ace :-D it's pretty fat in all dimensions.[/quote] Yep, pretty fat for me, used to playing a Geddy Lee Jazz. White one arrived on Parcelforce 24. Sue Ryder replied to my email saying that they would make sure it had a bag and cable. Slackened the truss rod, adjusted the saddles, new EB slinky strings, quite a lot of adjustment for the intonation, adjusted the p/u height, ferrules too small for the EB ends, still a good bass for the money. Good fun noodling was had by me! Wife wasn't so keen tho'.