gjones

Start with some easy songs, by status quo or ZZ Top, or whatever. Then once you've got the hang of simple stuff you can try more difficult songs.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1500107855' post='3335634'] No more than others bring up they're not in it for the money. Blue [/quote] I'm with Blue on the money front. If your band is any good, you will be in demand. It's irrelevant whether you need or want the money, if people value your music, they will pay for it. My opinion is that, if you have an amateur attitude to whether or not you get paid for your music, you'll also have an amateur attitude to the music.

Excellent. My bass was stolen out of my car years ago (I don't leave my gear overnight in my car anymore - I learned my lesson) and a year later I found it in a pawnbrokers window. I was well chuffed, so I know how you will be feeling now

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1500496456' post='3338308'] I'm about to start with a function band. Are wives / girlfriends / partners allowed at private functions. Never done those knd of gigs before and i'm just curious as its a similar theme to OP's Dave [/quote] At any wedding, birthday, corporate event, etc, etc, that I've worked at, they usually provide hospitality i.e. food, drinks etc. The event organiser may wonder why they are setting up an extra place for the wives/partners of the band, when they aren't actually involved with producing music. The rest of the band may wonder too. Probably best if you treat it as a professional job, not a night out.

If you're looking for comfort, what about one of these? I used to have a Levey's stretch strap many years ago and it was incredibly comfortable. I saw this video, the other day and it reminded me how great it was. I have a comfort strap with lots of padding but after a long gig it can still get uncomfortable. I'm going to try one of these again (my original got lost along the way). They're not particularly expensive either. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ15SF_9f44

My old band got offered a gig at the HMRC fraud team's Christmas party. I kid you not. We made our excuses and wriggled out of it. I wonder if they would have paid us in cash?

[quote name='JimBobTTD' timestamp='1499754868' post='3333274'] There is an awful lot of conflicting information on the net about this. Does anyone here have any experience of importing a neck (or a whole instrument) from the US to Europe since the start of this year? I understand that the rules changed in January. Any information gratefully received. [I am looking to import a Warmoth neck. They have the accreditations and will provide certificates...I am looking for information about what I need to do. I want to import it to the UK.] [/quote] I've imported quite a few necks from The Stratosphere in the States. But it seems they've stopped exporting because of the hassle. See Link [url="https://stratosphereparts.com/blog/regulations-for-rosewood-species/"]https://stratosphere...sewood-species/[/url]

I play with the same musicians in two different bands. The first band plays in bars, and our definition of a rehearsal is the guitarist and myself going through the chords to a new song, 5 mins before the gig starts. The second band plays festivals and ticketed venues and is a much more serious proposition. We actually rehearse new songs and decide a set list before the gig. It really does depend on you and your band's level of ambition. If you want to perform in professional venues for professional money, your band needs to put the work in.

The guitarist in my band has a 15 watt valve amp. He's very well trained.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1499760748' post='3333342'] I saw the Killers along with Tears For Fears and Elbow at Hyde Park this weekend and the bass sound was awful. It's not the first thread on this topic but why do they do it? The PA at these big events is out of this world, they can pretty much have any sound at any volume they want, the control of dispersion is so good as is the integration of the relay speakers, you pretty much get the same sound at the back of the arena as you do up by the stage. So what was wrong, the bass was too loud and the kick drum even louder. The bass sound conveyed very little information. Tears for Fears used a Hofner look alike (Taylor I think) but you couldn't tell it from the P-basses we saw most of, and you really couldn't tell a P from a J even though some bands were swapping out between songs. You couldn't really tell a pick from a thumb. The bass was probably 10db above the rest of the mix and was distorting like hell on all the louder passages. Kick drum was at least 6dB up on that for a lot of the time, though less distorted because it was compressed to hell. There was almost a complete lack of mids and top for bass and drums. Kick and tom drowned out the cymbals snare and hihat. It just sounded like one of those in car systems with a boom box in the boot. the only band that got anywhere near a decent balance were Elbow though even then the synth bass was running into distortion. The Killers had the worse balance you could barely hear Dave Keuning's guitar if the rhythm section were playing and it stayed the same all through the set. Honourable mention goes to whoever was running sound for Callum Beattie on the smallest stage. Lovely kick sound as he was setting up but too loud in the first number. Then one by one the vocals and guitars slowly came up until by the end of the third song he had nailed the mix completely. I don't suppose anyone in the audience noticed it happening either, which is how it should be. You'd think the headline band would get the best sound guy, not someone who doesn't notice a missing guitar or his speakers hitting the stops. The bands were fabulous by the way. [/quote] I know Callum, I'll tell him to give his sound person a pay rise.

It depends on what kind of music you play but the two classically trained players need to break free. If you're playing stuff that repeats sections and you don't have a problem remembering it, then they need to step away from their score and learn the music. They have no excuses. Edit - After I wrote the above, I googled on the subject and came up with this. It seems many classically trained musicians find it incredibly difficult to drag themselves away from the dots. http://blog.brillkids.com/?p=126

[quote name='pnunes76' timestamp='1499623247' post='3332563'] Yes, I'm compiling as much information as I can, from websites to videos. Now, I'm choosing my first bass guitar, isn't easy. [/quote] These days there's no such thing as a bad bass guitar. They are all made to a pretty decent standard. Once you have it, I recommend learning a bit about setting it up so that it's easy to play (search for bass set up on google). It took me 20 years of playing, before I figured out how to set my bass up properly

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1499560455' post='3332236'] Last time we saw him he was there at another of our gigs, he was completely drunk and fell asleep on the side... and it smelled like he had sh*t himself. We never saw him again... [/quote] Rock 'N' Roll!

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1499541798' post='3332120'] Busy gig at Whistle Binkies last night in Edinburgh. Bittersweet. Sweet because it was (mostly) fun and people were really into it and dancing etc. We seem to have a group of Spanish followers who start sharing our gig announcements when we play in town which is awesome, as they are very highly energetic and very appreciative. However, yesterday a group of them showed up for our second set, already in very 'high spirits'. The thing is this bar is small... and it was already a bit crowded. I'm all for dancing and pushing a bit (lots of ska) but when it's so busy you need to be a bit considerate and watch what you're doing, so you don't just kick and punch people around you... You're not the only one dancing there. My girlfriend was there with a group of friends and they were very much pushed to one side. No great, but hey. But it wasn't enough apparently. I saw her being pushed quite hard a couple of times. The third one, she turned around and pushed the guy in question... I wished she'd just tell him, in first instance, to please be more careful. But she didn't. Well. The guy reacted by pushing her hard again. It took a lot of self restraint to not jump out and punch him. My girlfriend then just went to the far side and stood there, not dancing anymore. The guy, to his credit, moved away to the other side, clearly not wanting to escalate things. But I was very annoyed at his reaction. I carried on playing but I was just watching and trying to see my girlfriend. I didn't manage until the song was over. She looked at me. She wasn't happy and touched her back as if to say it hurt. I mouthed a "you OK?" which was silly as she clearly wasn't. She pointed at the guy. I knew who he was. But I saw him there laughing, and her in pain, and I snapped. As my singer was introducing the next song, I put my bass down and came off stage to the guy. I asked him if he was Spanish. She said yes... Perfect, so I could communicate very accurately in my mother tongue what I thought about his behaviour, and that if so much as grazes any one of that group again, I'll come out again and punch the lights out of him. Not my best moment. I would have achieved a lot more by at least initially offering him a nice way out: he was probably just not aware of how their aggressive dancing was affecting others that had been happily dancing there before in the same busy floor. I could have just asked him to please be careful, that I loved their energy and all that but that he had clearly hurt someone, who happened to be my girlfriend, and we want *everybody* to have a good time, and that I would not tolerate inconsiderate behaviour, or something along those lines... but unfortunately I was in 'seek and destroy' mode. So I directly threatened him. He didn't take it very well and said that we should go outside maybe. I laughed and I said that I'd happily do so once we finish our set, and warned him once more to stay away that group. Then went back onstage to the bemusement of my bandmates... and we launched into the next song... and all was ok. The guy stayed there, and after a minute he was again smiling and having fun. Cool. So was I. Then we finish. He was gone. Just as well. I really didn't want to get into that kind of thing. Although I did want to tell him that my approach had been a bit heavy handed and I regretted my manners, but not the message. A separate 'incident'... another guy leaned onto the stage and took the beer from one of the guitarists and drank from it. The guitarist was amazed and amused... "what are you doing? do you just walk into somebody's home, open their fridge and eat their food without asking???" They bought him another beer. They guy was a bit out of it and I guess he just saw a glass and didn't think. I like playing in bars, but sometimes... it's a test. [/quote] Mercy, the singer from Size queen, got dragged off stage by her hair at Binkies last month, by some crazy woman. We've never had any aggro from punters,while playing there, but had had the odd drunk attempt to get on the stage. We usually just boot them off and when they get smart call the door staff who escort them off the premises. It's worthwhile getting to know the bouncers, they can come in very useful when the audience gets a bit too high spirited:)

I always felt it was a pain in the ass, juggling with two volumes live. I bought a VBT setup from the excellent Mr Ki0gon and have never looked back. I have no idea why Fender doesn't have this setup as standard?

I've played a few festivals, where I've felt crestfallen when I've see the backline I'm supposed to play through. Saggy old ashdown MAGs through, saggier MAG 4x10s and elderly looking, Laney heads through unidentifiable speaker cabinets. Weirdly though, maybe because I had low expectations of them, they never sounded as bad as I expected them to. And some sounded pretty good.

The harmonica is definitely playing the G# note (probably to do with note bending on a harmonica), which confuses things, but the bass is playing the GAG. The single version was just the second take, so these little details probably weren't noticed at the time.

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1496739010' post='3313476'] I played a 60 minute gig with a brand new set last week and the E was absolutely wrecked. Sounded like a flat, only with no harmonics (although oddly, the other three survived on this occasion). [/quote] As somebody whose strings tend to last a long time before they go dead (I just put a new set of DR Hi Beams on my bass after the old set had been on for at least 4 years) , I'm curious as to how your E string could go dead after just one gig. What on earth are you doing to destroy a string so quickly?

[quote name='Froggy' timestamp='1499287017' post='3330589'] I think maybe I need to learn a bit about eq after reading this thread! If this works it shows my current set up, however if someone has the time and inclination to explain to me how to get the most out of my eq, I would be eternally grateful. [/quote] Billy Sheehan might help you. He has the same amp. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J1rxp_x5Rs

As long as it looks like you're getting into it, smile occasionally, move to the groove, make eye contact and interact with other band members, that should be enough. Not everybody needs to be Flea.

Fender are aiming for the 'Dentists' out there (ie people with more money than ability). *My apologies to any dentists who are actually very talented guitarists.

The singer in my main band has a good range but sometimes the songs she sings sound better in one key than another. Usually her problem is that some songs are too low for her, in the original key, and she'll change the song to a higher key, so that she can get some power into it.

My brother in law travelled to Norway for a gig recently by air. Both on his out flight and his return flight, his electric guitar got trashed by ground staff. Luckily he's handy with a soldering iron and managed to repair it before the gig. My niece, who has her own band, had the same experience when she travelled to Australia for a tour this May. It was in a professional flight case but somebody still managed to do serious damage to it. Luckily she had her dad with her (my brother in law) as her guitar tech and he managed to put it back together. I'd hate for my pride and joy to be damaged by neanderthal like, ground staff. Good luck......you'll probably need it.

Just bought some ASC earplugs today, after some very loud weekend gigs left my ears ringing. I'd be interested in people thoughts too.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1498939710' post='3328175'] This is a tough one, now I'm thinking I should use pre eq option because I'm changing changing volumes from song to song. Blue [/quote] Have a chat with the engineer and make him aware you will be altering your gain occasionally. He can keep an eye on the signal coming from your amp.