icastle Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 [quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1329731488' post='1546362'] For us it's the drummer disappearing down the back of his kit wiggling and tightening things every other song. [/quote] You can get yourself arrested for just watching that in some countries... Seriously though, the same thing applies to drummers as it does to guitarists, or indeed any other musician. If your gear needs constant fiddling with you either need to set it up properly, get it fixed or throw it away. There really is no excuse that I can think of that requires repeated 'adjustments' to be made during a live performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftybassman392 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 In defence of the guitarists brotherhood, some guitars do go out of tune: My Gibson 335 has to be retuned after every song - no idea why (yes, I have had it checked), it just does; Ditto my Heritage 175 clone (until I sold it, that is..); My '72 Tele reissue is never completely [i]in [/i]tune strictly speaking although it is pretty stable once set - I just had to teach myself to stop fiddling with it (no, it's not a problem with the guitar - they're all like that unless you swap out the 3x2 bridge saddles); The Ibanez RG470 is steady as a rock (probably why it was my main working instrument for so long) - if your guitarist is getting problems with a Floyd Rose system, then it definitely needs looking at. Or else he does... Takamine acoustic always needs slight adjustments (because I like to work it pretty hard, that's why) - it has it's own dedicated tuner clamped to the headstock. From the sound of it, your guitarist is either trying to tune by ear every time or hasn't worked out how to use an electronic tuner. If he doesn't have a tuner he needs to get one pretty sharpish. If he hasn't worked out how to use it or doesn't trust it then he probably does need a slap to be fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Voice of Experience: Tell your guitarist to NOT keep his guitar tucked behind the sofa up against the radiator. It will take several hours to come back down to normal room temperature, and will not hold tune while doing so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mep Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 1. Air on a G string by Bach. The hamlet cigar advert music. It will sound fine with electric bass and a simple drum beat. A subtle pi55 take at the guitarist as it's his fault that you need to cover for him? 2. A wild freaked out slap bass solos with a funky drum beat. On second thoughts maybe 1 or none of the above! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Those quiet moments can be real gig killers. Its not generally a good idea to loose the attention of the audience. I'd be asking my guitarist to get tools that were adequate for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I'm a great believer in keeping the amount of messing about between songs to an absolute minimum and that includes chat. Just because you're a musician or a singer doesn't mean that you have anything interesting to say other than the songs you are playing. If you are a covers band most of the audience will know the songs you are playing (and if they don't and are really interested they'll come and ask you afterwards) so all you need to say is what the band is called somewhere at the start of the set and again near the end and then tell them where you'll be playing next. If you're doing original material and have something to sell then mention that at an appropriate point in the set otherwise shut up and play your guitars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1329691432' post='1546127'] Get a guitarist who can actually keep the guitar in tune. Anything else is just not good enough. [/quote] Meanwhile he must be lashed until he drops, then sprinkled with agricultural chemicals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1329750173' post='1546701'] I'm a great believer in keeping the amount of messing about between songs to an absolute minimum and that includes chat. Just because you're a musician or a singer doesn't mean that you have anything interesting to say other than the songs you are playing. [/quote] So true. When I see bands do this I cringe on their behalf. Get the fark on with it, you bunch of corksucking iceholes!! I don't want your bleeding life story - you suck giant horse parts!! And so on. My current band has a time limit of 15.27857 nanoseconds between numbers. Approximately. Edited February 20, 2012 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 a 2nd guitar is a must, and if you're guitarist doesn't have a spare... oh hang on, i've never me a guitairs without at least 3 ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Rap battle Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Just sing along to him with the lyrics "tuning song, tuning song" in as atonal a singing voice as you can muster, while sternly eyeballing the guitarist. If he doesn't get the message and sort his tuning problems out then get someone else. There's no reason to put up with this kind of crap, neither your band or the punters who paid to hear you should have to put up with it. If it's a problem with the guitar, he needs to get it fixed. If it's a problem with how he strings the guitar or if he's doing something stupid like tuning down to the note, he needs to get fixed. Either way, trying to cover it up is the worst solution, it makes your band look amatuerish and not up to the task of playing a set of music in a professional manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayben Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 [quote name='ead' timestamp='1329729579' post='1546330'] Stwike him woughly and thwow him to the gwound centuwion. [/quote] Fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Playing covers one after the other with no banter inbetween or anything else to differentiate between one band or A.N.Other - or - play the originals at home on your hi-fi with a few mates around & pay a lot less for the drinks? How many pubs a week was it were we saying not so long ago that are either closing or doing away with bands in preference for kareoke? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 just as a bit of a drummer - quite often i'll get to venues where the shared kit is a disaster which won't stay still, or even if it's my own kit sometimes the venue won't have carpet to put it on (I used to take a mat but lost it). sh*t happens, so better to be prepared for it. In my old band we would arrange the set so that every song flowed into the next one and made sure there were breaks on guitar/drums/bass at various points so we could tune/move stuff without there being a break in the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) I just start playing the next song. Ive actually work out quite a few intros that are normally played on guitar but the bugger takes so long to start them that i now just tell the drummer what we are going to play and we get on with it. It is very embarrassing when both singer and guitarist are tuning up (audibly in the singer/guitarist's case) and then need to take a swig of water, one after the other. Edited February 20, 2012 by dave_bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 [quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1329752256' post='1546755'] ...It is very embarrassing when both singer and guitarist are tuning up (audibly in the singer/guitarist's case)... [/quote] I can sympathise with this. Bad enough to be tuning between numbers, but there's no excuse for doing it audibly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 two things will help here - kindly direct your frontman's attention to the BC 'Bad Jokes' thread (that way they'll NEVER be short of material), and secondly - electric shock therapy for the guitarist. This may include running ample amounts of current through the tuners of his 'axe' - he'll soon stop fiddling with them. Or at least it worked with our old drummer; cured him of his habitual masturbating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329752590' post='1546763'] I can sympathise with this. Bad enough to be tuning between numbers, but there's no excuse for doing it audibly! [/quote] And still being out of tune lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 [quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1329752613' post='1546764'] Or at least it worked with our old drummer; cured him of his habitual masturbating. [/quote] Shocking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 [quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1329752613' post='1546764'] secondly - electric shock therapy for the guitarist. This may include running ample amounts of current through the tuners of his 'axe' - he'll soon stop fiddling with them. g. [/quote] Or get him one of these [url="http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/"]http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockfordStone Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 the drummer and i usually noodle something random, but theres only 3 of us so we don't need a lot of time to tune, and i usually manage to fill the space with crowd interaction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftybassman392 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I've been lucky enough to work with a couple of great frontmen, who both had a very natural rapport with the audience. It may be a bit of an age thing but as has already been said, if the guy with the mic can do it I've always found a little bit of banter helps warm the audience up. I'd agree there's no excuse for taking an age to do it, but guitars do sometimes go out of tune, y'know? If the OP's guitarist isn't quick enough to tune then that's an issue I guess, but sh*t happens and it's the band's job to deal with it. What's he supposed to do, play it out of tune fer chrissakes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 [quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1329766548' post='1547040'] What's he supposed to do, play it out of tune fer chrissakes? [/quote] Make sure he does all he can so it doesn't interfere with the flow of the gig. If its constantly happening with just one guitar then i would expect that guitar to be used as a back up only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essexbasscat Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Double neck guitar ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Alsatian Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 1. Eat plenty of roughage leading up to the gig. 2. Have a mic hidden on the stage near you at arse-height. 3. When the guitarist is tuning up, have another bandmate visibly hold another mic near the guitarist's arse, so the audience can see it. 4. Start farting. 5. Keep farting until he's tuned up. 6. Try not to retch during the next song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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