gjones

I recently left a band because of the behaviour of the guitarist. Weirdly, within a couple of weeks he asked me to join two other bands? I declined the offers (he obviously just didn't get it that he was the problem).

Yes

6 months ago I had trigger finger in the morning when I woke up, where my finger would not unroll after going into a fist while I slept. I started to put tape over my finger joint every night before bed and it has worked very well and I haven't had any further major issues with it. Prevention is better than cure.

That's a very valid question I really fancy playing with a Soul band, as that's thing I'm into but there's not many of those around these parts.

They sound very good. Is this a songwriter's band? I ask because when a band has a leader, who is also the songwriter, then the other musicians can slot in around them and any new members know the score. When an originals band have multiple songwriters within it, then it usually means there's friction, especially when one songwriter is head and shoulders above the others. All the bands I've been in, which have played original stuff, had one main songwriter. It definitely helps with band harmony and longevity of the band. Good luck.

You only have to be one page ahead of the person you're teaching

I have 3 friends, from Edinburgh, that completed music degrees. One is a piano tuner in Berlin. One is the drummer for Texas. One went to Nashville to be a session drummer and ended up in a boyband (as the singer). He left the boyband and got himself a publishing deal and will soon be putting out an album under his own name in the US. They all seem to be happy but their income situation (including my Nashville friend) is pretty precarious.

I have a feeling if all that ancient electronic gubbins was bypassed and the bass put through the Tech 21 and one of those GKMB800s, I doubt Steve Harris would notice the difference. He's probably deaf by now anyhow

Sometimes my mind will wander off to think about the pizza I'll be getting after the gig but that's about as near to an 'out of body experience' I've ever got.

That's great, I hope you will actually get some use from your Hartke. Most of the players with amp endorsements, that I can think of, play on a silent stage and use IEM to hear themselves and the band, so lugging an amp and cab around is no longer strictly necessary. One rather famous player, who endorses a high end amp manufacturer (who I won't mention), uses a Porter and Davis kinetic transfer platform, to feel and hear what he is playing because his amp is turned so low onstage and he can't hear anything directly from the amp he endorses (he's endorsed by Porter and Davis as well). You should see if you can get Porter and Davis to endorse you https://www.porteranddavies.co.uk/products/kt-platform/?fbclid=IwAR1D4Q7s17-kK0QSbSM64t7t19raQ0XZ11I-L7tb5nhP8U8bGH2yFEnxdyc

Is that Creme Brulee?

Technically challenging, mostly due to the stops, starts and changes in time signatures but, although I like a bit of Rock, not my cup of tea. I like Geddy Lee though - he seems like a nice fella.

I think it shows contempt for the band he's in and the music you play. I've never been in a band where the guitarist, or any other band member 'fiddled about' between numbers, other than when I was in a school band. I assume the guitarist is an adult and this isn't a school band?

I'm sure Mr McVie was personally involved in making sure the engineer got him a good sound at every venue. John Entwistle would have been the same. Pino, in the end, was just a hired hand. So he probably didn't get too hands on with the FOH sound.

Yes, it took me a long time to realise that everybody who was saying they were great, for years, were right......they are great.

I'm starting to accumulate amps, like my basses. I've got two GK MBs, one is 500 watts and the other is 800 watts (I bought the 800 after the 500 wasn't quite loud enough through my Barefaced Super Compact). I bought a Fender Rumble V3 100watt combo because it is so light. I could take it on the bus no problem and it's come in very useful when I play with quieter bands. I also bought a preloved, old, Ashdown ABM a couple of years ago, as I've always loved the sound and it was going very cheap. I bought a Markbass CMD 121 P combo during lockdown, and it's as loud as the GK MB 800 with the Super Compact and not much bigger/heavier than the Fender Rumble. If I was forced at gunpoint to keep one and get rid of the others, I'd probably go with the Markbass Combo.

Great stuff.

Sounds like a vicious character. I wouldn't want to get on their bad side.

Nervousness before a gig is good, it means you're not complacent. I rarely get nervous these days, because I've played whatever set I'm playing that night, a million times (and am probably a bit complacent).

My Rumble 100 V3 is a great little amp, it cost me £165 secondhand. I've used it on a few band gigs with quietish drummers. It's so light I'd love to be able to take it with me on gigs with my main band, but the first (and last) time I attempted it the drummer played so loud it looked like I was miming.

On stage sound is an interesting topic. At a venue, that I play at regularly with my band, I usually keep my bass amp at quite a low level (I use it just as a monitor as the bass is going through the FOH), as I like to hear the guitarist who is at the other side of the stage. Recently he was particularly quiet for some reason and I asked the sound engineer to put him through my monitor. I could hear him much better but it meant I had to turn up my amp significantly so I could hear myself. His loud guitar and my louder amp gave so much more balls to the onstage sound and we all had a great gig, which was full of onstage energy. The crowd really reacted to us that night and when I asked people, that I knew in the audience, why they enjoyed themselves so much, they said the sound was great (possibly my bass amp was so loud they were hearing that rather than the FOH). So next time I played there I set up the onstage sound just the same, yet again there was a great onstage sound and a lot of onstage energy, and we got the same response from the crowd. But as you say, I've never had a member of my band ask for any bass in their monitor, even when we've playing on a very large stage where we're playing far away from one another. I think many musicians are afraid to ask for a specific monitor mix and just go with whatever they're given, even if it detracts from the enjoyment of the gig. So don't take it personally......and next time just take your amp and turn it up

I wondered about that. I assume the shipping is included in the cost of the bass and is done to reduce the import tariffs, which are calculated on cost of bass and shipping. The Pound has increased significantly against the Yen in the last couple of years and I'm seeing some real Japanese bargains on Ebay. But, like you say though (call me a cynic), when it's too good to be true......it's because it usually is.

I was asked to play in a country band and even though I really wasn't into country, the female singer was exceptional which made all the difference, so I decided to join. I'm still with them and enjoying it, 6 years later, even though I still don't listen to country unless it's to learn a new song. But then I'm also in a blues band and I never listen to blues. I was, until recently, in a heavy rock band and.......well you guessed it.