roceci

I dunno, the OP says "the band that come to mind when when you think of who had the greatest impact on you" which is a different topic to "the band who first blew your mind". For me there's several who all have equal stake in what I regard as timeless, peerless & by extension as a musician, have fed the most into how I approach & play bass to this day. Mine probably goes KISS (up to '81 - yes including Unmasked & Music From the Elder for those in the know ) > Zep > Doors > Stones > Steely Dan > P-Funk > Pink Floyd > Bowie. They've all blown my mind the most, they're all still my go-to music when everything else gets tedious, I've learned tons of their songs & elements of what they do/did still come thru in my playing & writing. Many other bands & artists in many other genres have challenged them from time to time & a few are a close second to the list, but these guys win out equally for me when all's said & done. & yeah, music was so much better in the very late 60's & the 70s despite me being too young to enjoy it then Edit - I missed the bit about the "your band" thing Blue. True enough. The first three definitely felt like my bands & no one else's - I was pretty unique poncing around a Cardiff council estate in the 80s with big hair, flairs & a Jim Morrison complex. Definitely fostered a private siege mentality that probably only I was aware of!

Smooth Hound vibrated off the top of my rig, crashed to the stage, power cable came out & no bass. Wouldn't have been so bad but happened half way thru the only number I sing lead on in our set! Proper train wreck, had to stop the song, fiddle around in the dark for 2 mins odd to find my gear bag that the keys player had thoughtfully stashed, fish out a lead & start the song again. Horrible. Another time. Not mid gig, but just finished a wedding & thought I'd get started on the packing up straight away. Tilted my stack slightly to free a trapped lead from underneath & the whole thing went over sideways, two cabs & a head on to my two basses on a stand & the whole lot on to the DJ's lighting rig & decks. DJ was good as gold as I hadn't damaged his gear somehow & he just felt sorry for me. I felt like the biggest tool in the world & had major I've-f*cked-my-gear worries until I could get home & test it. Horrendous night. Most hilarious although not involving me - I was in a power trio nu-proggy thing many years ago & the drummer played like a juggernaut. Got so carried away one one number he literally drummed himself off the front of the shallow stage. I'll never forget the look of terror & confusion on his face as first his kick tumbled over the edge followed by the rest of his kit, leaving him sat there with his sticks held aloft & security rushing in to find out what the hell was going on. Still cracks me up now

Missed this. If putting your thoughts out there for comment is trolling, what's the point in a forum?

Yes on both counts.

Does every Beatles thread turn into a Ringo thing lol Although I do admit I played my part. Was genuinely just wanting to put my noob Beatles thoughts out to a knowing bunch of chaps. I've learned a lot & glad it's brought out a lot of opinion

Tight doesn't automatically equate with technical, so Neil Peart et al as Beatles drummer is absurd to me too. I do hear an absence of groove from Ringo tho, & I do like a bit of groove. The skiffle thing is helpful to explain this mind. I'd also posit that Ringo is an essential Beatle because he was in the Beatles. It could have been anyone else, he seems the most expendable out of the four.

As kinda stated previously Blue, no problem with your love for the Beatles. Great songs win out over *just* great music for me too, but chuck a tight bunch of players in there right across the board as well & that's when you get nirvana for me. Not that Nirvana you understand I genuinely don't understand why Ringo made such odd choices in what he played so often, & that he appeared to forget that he presumably had use of a hi hat, sometimes for whole albums seemingly

Ringo Starr & Bernard Purdie in the same sentence! Twice! Sid Vicious & Victor Wooten! Do agree on the undercurrent stuff, love that approach to songwriting. Big part of why I love the Dan actually, 'Everyone's Gone to The Movies' is a prime example of this. Creepy.

Fixed as they say

I was there tho! I was in my car when I listened to the Beatles in my car!

Indeed Although I'm not trying to be provocative here. I respect Blue's devotion, we've all got it for some band or other I'm sure. I certainly have. Just had these thoughts bumping around my head & had to give voice to them.

Great sloppy feel?? What does that mean? Are you saying he went into the studio every day thinking "I can't wait to lay down a big, sloppy drum part today!"? & the rest of the band commended him on his sloppiness? It makes no sense. He sounds more like he's hanging on for dear life for most of it to me. Now Charlie Watts is a sloppy drummer, but I can forgive him because he could groove. Ringo's all thwack & hope for the best.

I consider myself pretty well-rounded/versed when it comes to musical knowledge & listening experience past & present but there's always been a big Beatles-shaped hole in my knowledge. I've got massive appreciation for what they represent musically & culturally, but just never taken to them & so have never taken the time to seek out their tunes or do much reading up on their history generally. However, inspired by a combination of a recent BBC4 show which explored the musicality of Sgt Pepper, Blue's detailed declarations of worship on here & my daughter constantly bigging their songs up, I've rinsed each of their albums from Sgt Pepper onwards in the car throughout the week & thought I'd share my thoughts on em. Cos there's simply not enough examples of people sharing their thoughts about the Beatles on here, or anywhere So, for no particular reason & all IMHO etc... They did lots of amazing, groundbreaking stuff both musically & just sonically, & should always be respected for this alone. They had some really, really great songs (Here Comes the Sun, Come Together, Sgt Pepper (both the first one & the reprise), While My guitar..., Let it Be, Day in the Life to name some, basically the well known ones from Sgt Pepper album onwards. Hey Jude & so on. They had some shocking songs that others consider sublime. Mostly Lennon's stuff. Lennon's songs annoy me, they're either sneery or just all over the shop in a bad way. Strawberry Fields is a massive exception here. Lennon just annoys me full stop. McCartney is a fantastic bassist in both his approach & execution, an excellent all-round musician & an often-genius songwriter. However he's guilty of dicking around with whimsy & styles too much on a lot of tunes & it's annoying. George Harrison really blossomed as songwriter late on aye, but his geetar solos were second rate. Their entire catalogue is ruined by sh*te drumming. "It wouldn't have been the Beatles without Ringo" blah blah blah...if Ringo had raised his game, they'd have still had him & they'd have sounded better. I can't comment on stuff before Sgt Pepper, I realise it was game-changing stuff but the sound leaves me cold. Anyway, there's my two pennorth, & I can now comfortably pursue the remainder of my days in the knowledge that I've contributed to the greatest debate that no one actually wants but ultimately can't resist in chiming in on, ever

Song rather than album - Funkin' for Fun, Parliament. Glenn Goins lead vocal, terminally ill young man singing his last hurrah. Tragic. Cheery thread btw!

I say just enjoy what's in front of you for what it is & don't overthink it too much. If the band's great & it's cooking, fantastic. If it's an ensemble playing off dots, dig their craft. If the whole thing's dire, sit back & have a giggle. There's always something interesting to focus on.* *Except for acoustic duos, solo singer-songwriters & gloomy indie bands regardless of their talent. I can't abide sitting thru that stuff lol

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1510164942' post='3404431'] Quite. I just can’t stand that corporate stamped out function band. Usually made up of professional musicians on rotation, playing note perfect renditions and dressed in whatever uniform the band leader has chosen. Awful. Total cheese, regardless of the tunes chosen. Give me a band playing with passion, that have obviously been playing together for years, playing their own versions of a mix of tunes across the decades. Awesome. [/quote] There are a whole bunch of wedding bands in the middle of your binary. We play a lot of the soul/funk standards but we rearrange some, always keep a rocked-up edge & I for one never copy a recorded bass line unless it's the signature part of the song. We play with tons of passion, even on the numbers we don't screw around with. I play in originals outfits too & it's a different kind of fun but they're both about equal. I guess in my world it ain't so black & white, & I like that.

The wedding market is really saturated. Your band need to be really on it & you'll need to stick at for a few years before you start making a name for yourself, getting a healthy amount of bookings & commanding a decent fee. It's worth it if that's what you want. Don't bother asking other bands what they charge as they generally won't tell, kind of an unwritten rule. A bit of a nonsense as 99% of wedding bands in a given area end up pretty much charging the same...once you know what that amount is, you've arrived XD

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1510056284' post='3403558'] This thread is an interesting read to me. I play a lot of weddings/functions etc, and I find them easy. Yes of course they're more structured, there's more waiting around, and you have to deal with some strange requests and people trying hard to organise everything to within an inch of it's life. But really, it's simply about knowing how to deal with those things: [b]Songs: [/b]If you market yourself as a band with a specific set-list, then it makes song requests easy to decline. Typically a client will have seen you play elsewhere and so book you for how you sound/the songs in the list. We don't offer any song requests (unless we already know them) other than learning a first dance. Easiest way to deal with a song request whilst you're playing so they don't continue to hassle you whilst you're vamping around an intro? Say "Yes sure, it's coming up later". They'll forget and/or be too drunk to remember. Or "We've already played it". Best one we had was "can you play sweet home alabama"......whilst we were playing sweet home alabama. [b]Waiting around: [/b]You're somewhere with your instrument, and hopefully a relatively quiet room, get practicing, take a walk, talk to your band members....you're still getting paid. [b]Versatile:[/b] It's easy to be versatile. "Oh can you play a little later and not have a break?" Fine by me, prefer it actually, really get into the groove over two hours. Some singers need to pace themselves in these situations, but I'd argue if they can't do it, they probably aren't match fit, or the keys are wrong. Weirdest one we did was a function in a terminal at Heathrow, some marathon they run on the runway. It was like 3-4 songs every 20mins over the course of 3 hours or so. Very odd, but fun, and got to chat to some interesting people, eat free food/drink and hang out in a closed airport with 400 runners. Getting through Security was a bit of a ball-ache, but whatever, there are worse things. [b]Standard requests:[/b] "Can my son/daughter/wife/dog/boss play your drum kit" No....'it's an insurance thing', no guests on stage/playing instruments etc etc. Just a case of being firm. The most prevalent request we have is "oh let me wear your hat".....because people apparently never see hats in real life. Answer: "Sure, it really smells though, maybe don't smell it, needs a wash"....they'll forget about it pretty quick in most cases, and if not, good luck to them. To me, most of the above are basically the same as pub gig requests!! 'Possible hassle' seems like an odd reason to give up a gig that is likely paying you £150-£250. If you consider that you're playing for free (because it's fun and helps you improve) and realise that you're being paid £41 an hour (£250 over 6 hours) in some cases (more or less is possible) for lifting some gear/listening to people talk at you/eating free food.....you start to realise it's not too bad. I mean whatever works for you, if you want to play £50 in pubs, absolutely fine, but if you can get them, I consider weddings functions easy wins. There's the odd total dud, but I think I've probably had two or three in around 10 years. Si [/quote] This all day long. If it's a slick operation it's a decent-paying doddle. If it's not something you enjoy, it's not for you aye.

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1510084396' post='3403909'] I'm not a fan of U2 by any means, but I'm secretly rooting for them simply because of the level of hatred directed at them simply for existing and for being fiscally rewarded for their efforts. [/quote] ...and stashing the cash in off shore tax havens it would seem whilst begging you to part with your Dog & Duck pay to help the starving kids in Africa, nice XD They deserve all the crap they get for Bono alone, never mind the music

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1509454929' post='3399021'] I play mostly over the back pickup and favour it over the front. My action is fairly low too as that makes it a lot easier to dig in. My pickups are angled with the E string side low and the G string high. You have to muck about with this in rehearsals and between sets at gigs to get it where you are happy with though. Once you find the right balance its very much leave it alone from there. At very low volumes and on its own, the G string can sound overly loud but in the band context its just right. The compromise however is you might have to adjust your touch when playing over the front or between pickups but I think it becomes obvious and natural over time as to what you need to do. You still have the option of dialing in the front so if anything this is another string to your bow. String gauge is a matter of personal choice. I've bounced to and from 40-100 to 45-105 depending on my mood. If any of that helps.. [/quote] Really helpful ta. I since raised my pups at the treble side and it's helped a lot. Your point about adjusting my attack when moving back towards the neck is spot on...there lies the next challenge

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1509106353' post='3396664'] I'd say it's fairly normal, the higher tension nearer the bridge requires a bit more clout [/quote] Yeah, I think finger strength is a factor here. We did Proud Mary at a show earlier in the week & I really felt the burn after gunning those eighth notes off the back pup...bit of toughening up wouldn't do any harm. [quote name='Sammers' timestamp='1509112151' post='3396725'] Why not float your hand towards the old position when hitting those notes? [/quote] Hmmm thanks for the suggestion but I'd be losing efficiency moving back & fore, plus I'd be missing out on that sweet tone I'm enjoying atm.

Cheers guys, will try messing about with pup height & EQ over the weekend.

I've played Jazzes for probably 90% of my 20+ years playing & until recently have always plucked between the neck pup & the neck itself. Over the last month or so however my right hand has moved itself steadily back & I find myself playing mainly over the bridge pup now. I'm loving the clear tone I'm getting as well as increased control on fast runs & less clack & clang generally. The only downside I'm experiencing at the moment is I'm finding that notes played on my D, G & high C strings are not coming thru as powerfully as those played on the bottom two. This wasn't a problem in the old plucking position. The tension feels much higher on the top strings now compared to the E & A, & I'm having to dig hard to get the volumes anywhere near equal. Anyone else made the switch & had this issue? What worked for you? Wondering if it's a matter of strengthening my fingers thru practice, lowering the action on the top strings, trying a lighter string gauge or something else I've not considered.

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1508213790' post='3390503'] An original band is a real band [/quote] This is an intentional wind up isn't it...you're not really that stupid.