Can't afford to be in a band

[stingrayPete1977]

Expensive gear in itself certainly isn't a guarantee that the gear will be right for the player even if it's well made gear loved by others, in all seriousness I'd take an olp 5 string and a Genz contour combo over a real Rickenbacker and an Ashdown evo, I really would if I wasn't allowed to sell it on.

[Bolo]

Two fumps up!👍

[the boy]

It sucks not being able to afford the gear you want or need. However there is no advice to be given here. You seem to have it Sussed. You are torn between buying the gear and your commitments to your family. There is no choice then as far as I am concerned. You will simply have to send your children out to work. If they love you they will understand.

Edited August 13, 2014 by the boy

[the boy]

Seriously though.... The gear will come in time and when you get it you will probably miss the "bad" old days. The new gear will feel soulless and plasticky and you will yearn the pain and sacrifice associated the old gear. Think of an amp you really wanted 5 years ago (obviously not top top end but you know what I mean) now look it up on eBay and you will be surprised how cheap it is second hand. Good luck mate you seem to have your head screwed on, I'm sure you will be fine.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1407931290' post='2525423']
You will simply have to send your children out to work. If they love you they will understand.
[/quote]

Not so easy though is it, now that 'elf 'n' safety won't let you send them up chimneys and the evil milk snatcher closed down all the mines, plus you can't drag the little urchins away from their Xboxes.

[the boy]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1407932028' post='2525430']


Not so easy though is it, now that 'elf 'n' safety won't let you send them up chimneys and the evil milk snatcher closed down all the mines, plus you can't drag the little urchins away from their Xboxes.
[/quote]
Lol....

[Dad3353]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1407932028' post='2525430']
Not so easy though is it, now that 'elf 'n' safety won't let you send them up chimneys and the evil milk snatcher closed down all the mines, plus you can't drag the little urchins away from their Xboxes.
[/quote]

No, but times have changed. Get them blogging and doing YouTube videos and you'll all be rich as Cresus in no time. Finished, all that manual labour stuff. Link in to the networking age, that's where the money is earned this week.
Next week will be different, however; there'll be a 'new kid in town' and YouTube will be 'old hat'. Oh well. Sigh..!

[KevB]

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1407885891' post='2525152']
Howdy neighbour. We rehearse at KATZ and know Jane well
[/quote]
I still have a pair (currently out on loan actually) of 'MAJ' wedge monitors, very well made and bomb proof.

[bonzodog]

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1407941674' post='2525554']

I still have a pair (currently out on loan actually) of 'MAJ' wedge monitors, very well made and bomb proof.
[/quote]

Yes there was a time when almost every band and singer had MAJ speakers around here. He doesn't make them any more though

[discreet]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1407876374' post='2525027']
...its a dangerous assumption that I have seen a trend for where people tell tale after tale about this guy with the £50 P bass that are on a world tour etc as if all people with budget gear are going to play John Patattuci off the stage with it, much more often they are not
[/quote]

More often they are not, true - but I think the point is that the possibility is there. I played some of my most prestigious gigs with a Sue Ryder Precision (because I was waiting for a custom bass to be finished) and not a single person batted an eyelid or made a comment. Mind you, I played pretty badly... ha, ha, ha!

[scoobystig]

When I first started I had a 50w un named amp sat on 2x cabs that I built myself out of chip board with 2 15" speakers bought from RS
And used a Hohner copy of a p bass

Then I was young and no commitments and so new shiny equipment was easily bought, ended up with 2x 15 cabs with 2x 410s on top and 2x heads, full wireless packs a fender precision lyte and a bass I constructed myself from a tangle wood pattern
when the band broke up I sold the lot except the basses

Now I've started again and my rig consist of a 10 yr old peavey 115tvx and a firebass head which is my dads and on a sort of loan

I too am lusting after some new kit ( well at least something a dam site lighter), but I know it will be a long while until the gig money comes in enough to buy something as I have a family now and commitments, but I am having great fun jamming the music again

That said I do drive a shiny new audi coupe !!!, but it's not mine it's a company car and if they want to give it me who I am to say no, and then I to can sprinkle the w***ah dust if needed

Edited August 13, 2014 by scoobystig

[flyfisher]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1407932663' post='2525437']
No, but times have changed. Get them blogging and doing YouTube videos and you'll all be rich as Cresus in no time. Finished, all that manual labour stuff. Link in to the networking age, that's where the money is earned this week.
Next week will be different, however; there'll be a 'new kid in town' and YouTube will be 'old hat'. Oh well. Sigh..!
[/quote]

Funny you should say that. There was a report on R4 this morning about Vine, which is basically a hosting service for 6 second looping videos complete with a 'views' counter. Part of the report was how some US kids are using Vine to earn enough to pay their uni fees, with some earning 6-figures a year (presumably dollars) and there was speculation of when the first 'Vine millionaire' will arrive.

[darren]

Not sure if it's been said already but could you get away with using a behringer BDI21 and going through the pa. Save your back and cash

[uk_lefty]

An old mate of mine was briefly a pro bassist with a group on a record deal. He played a JHS Vintage active bass and a Behringer amp - didn't even own effects. He sold a Warwick to pay for a few nights out and was a sh!t hot player.

I have gigged more with my MusicYo fretless Kramer, as inapproppriate as it looks in a lot of situations, than anything else - it cost me about £275 new but i LOVE everything about it. I had a Warwick Streamer LX with gold plated hardware, and because it was never quite "perfect" for me i sold it for far less than it was worth - it was probably a £1,000+ bass new, it looked amazing to me but to people who don't care about Just-a-Nuts (anyone who doesn't play bass) and so on they complimented the Kramer more because it looked more badass. I've had loads of compliments on my modified Fender Jazz too - nobody knows its modified and most just say "woah! that's shiny!" or "wow, what's that metal thing?" or best of all "nice bass playing, mate!". Nobody has ever said to me: "good playing, but why don't you get a pedulla?"

Worst waste of money was buying an amp new - only made that mistake once. I only buy second hand amps and effects, being prepared to drive to pick up amps can get you some great gear amazingly cheap, and if you don't like it you sell it for at least the same as you bought it for - simple. When i'm not in a band i have a practice amp, when i'm in a band who doesn't rent kitted out rehearsal rooms i reluctantly buy a gigging amp second hand. By doing this I've played great amps for the bands and the basses they were needed for: old Peavey TNT and Marshall B150 for the loudest rock band in town, Torque 100w for something practical at Uni, a Vox Escort 50 watt for jazz and acoustic, a massive Carlsboro just because it was dead cheap, Warwick Sweet 15 for 80's ballad band, Hartke kickback for American blue-collar rock, and now a compact Gallien Krueger Backline 110 for living room bass-tickling. Whatever band i join next i have a good idea what power and what flavour of amp to go for - but it will be second hand

Crazy thing is at 17-18 i was a far better player with no chance of buying good gear. Now i can afford pretty much anything i want but i chickened out of a new Warwick $$ at £800 in 2006 and am currently chickening out of a new MIJ Fender P just because i don't think i'll use it. Now if i could buy it and give it to 17 year old me...!

[BetaFunk]

If ever there was a 'sign of the times' thread on here this it it.

It has made an old man happy though.

[paul_5]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1407881539' post='2525113']
Very true....but Patitucci would still play rings around the majority no matter what bass he played. The player is far more important than the instrument.
[/quote]

This. All of it.

[Geek99]

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1407968080' post='2525970']


This. All of it.
[/quote]
Jamerson used a dirty, stock p bass. Go figure

Edited August 14, 2014 by Geek99

[steve-bbb]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1407989870' post='2526037']
Jamerson used a dirty, stock p bass. Go figure
[/quote]
so he picked a lucky one then

[BetaFunk]

If anyone thinks it's difficult to be in a a band nowadays just spare a thought for anyone who wanted to do that in the early 60s. There wasn't the amount of used equipment around so new was usually the only option and the prices were astronomical compared to today. If you were under 21 you would have to persuade your parents to sign the hire purchase forms which for most was the only way to purchase such an expensive guitar or bass. Often amps were home built affairs because all the money had gone on the instruments. There were plenty of groups around though so despite all the obstacles it didn't put them off. Happy days.

[redbandit599]

To the OP

Don't forget to look at 'old school' adverts when looking for gear too. I only live in a small town but there's always stuff up on the board at the local supermarket (newsagents windows, local paper classifieds etc.) Often these ads seem to be from people having a bit of a clear out, who aren't actively playing/gigging and so just want shot of the kit. It also means there is less competition from others to purchase and push up the price.

For instance, I recently saw an add for the the 250watt version of my old Ampeg SVT-140TC 4x10 combo.Cost me £500 in the 80's, (that took some saving up for!) Heavy as hell, but a real gig monster that's never had or needed a service/repair/replacement in 20 years for £150. I suppose the thing is look for good quality but old school, simple, solid state, back crunching stuff and look in the places that are 'less obvious.'

Re Ebay, (where I got my EBS stuff from/with a bit of trading on Basschat too) if you are watching something that you like but can't quite afford, sometimes it won't sell. So drop the seller a message and say you are interested and can you talk to him/her about the rig on the phone? Not strictly within eBay rules I'm sure, but that got me my EBS for less than the guys Ebay reserve price because I turned up with the cash and he didn't have to re-list and incur the seller fees, and Paypal etc.

[flyfisher]

Funny you should say that. The school band I was in couldn't afford a PA system so we made our own. I built the amp using two 125W modular PCBs. It worked OK but the physical build quality was shocking really, with a butt-jointed bare plywood box, misaligned controls and sockets on the aluminium front panel (well you try filing out all those holes accurately when you only have one 1/4 inch drill bit!) and dymo tape labels for the lettering

As for the inside wiring, well let's just say that it wouldn't meet today's electrical safety standards

[the boy]

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1408002737' post='2526092']
If anyone thinks it's difficult to be in a a band nowadays just spare a thought for anyone who wanted to do that in the early 60s. There wasn't the amount of used equipment around so new was usually the only option and the prices were astronomical compared to today. If you were under 21 you would have to persuade your parents to sign the hire purchase forms which for most was the only way to purchase such an expensive guitar or bass. Often amps were home built affairs because all the money had gone on the instruments. There were plenty of groups around though so despite all the obstacles it didn't put them off. Happy days.
[/quote]
That's right and they had to walk twenty miles to school with no shoes and all they had was sugar sandwiches if they were lucky. And the headmaster would beat ya if ya was late and ooooh it would smart, but they were happy and you'd never hear em complainin.....(they decided to wait until they retired and then they started complainin). I didn't know Abe Simpson posted here under the name Betafunk.

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1408014663' post='2526240']
That's right and they had to walk twenty miles to school with no shoes and all they had was sugar sandwiches if they were lucky. And the headmaster would beat ya if ya was late and ooooh it would smart, but they were happy and you'd never hear em complainin.....(they decided to wait until they retired and then they started complainin). I didn't know Abe Simpson posted here under the name Betafunk.
[/quote]
How eloquent.

Sorry but i have no idea who Abe Simpson is.

[flyfisher]

[i]"But you try telling that to the young people of today and they won't believe you"[/i]

[KevB]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1407989870' post='2526037']
Jamerson used a dirty, stock p bass. Go figure
[/quote]
And if the stories are to be believed one with an almost unplayably high action. Though as a converted upright bass player Jamerson probably wasn't too fazed by that!