How was Your rehearsal last morning or night ?

[Woodinblack]

35 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Yeah, and it’s also the fact that we have to be self contained, with lights and PA. They are used to it all being supplied. I laughed when the lead guitarist said about mic’ing his toy amp up. 

 

Yeh, when I joined my current band, the old band had lights and PA. This one had PA but no lights. The 3rd gig we did was an outdoor gig at an old farm house. In the dark. I bought some lights.

What is so special about his amp that it needs to be miked up? can he not go straight into the desk with a di or something if he hasn't got anything particualr

 

35 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

I don’t mind arguments if it gets things sorted, but this guy is very pushy and stubborn, so im going to let him have his way and just be a bass player from now on. This band isn’t worth stressing over, i had all this when i joined my main band and it was a very frustrating time, but most of us got through it.

 

Yeh, some times its just nice to step back and enjoy something for what it is.

[dave_bass5]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Yeh, when I joined my current band, the old band had lights and PA. This one had PA but no lights. The 3rd gig we did was an outdoor gig at an old farm house. In the dark. I bought some lights.

What is so special about his amp that it needs to be miked up? can he not go straight into the desk with a di or something if he hasn't got anything particualr

 

 

Yeh, some times its just nice to step back and enjoy something for what it is.

I think until they get much closer to the giving stage I'll keep quiet about my PA etc.

The lead guitarist has a Boss multiFX so can go directly to the PA, he just hadn't thought of doing it until I mentioned it. He seems fixated with IEM, but has no clue whats really involved. Every conversation i have with him its 'well me and you can use IEM, if the other don’t want to f%%k them'. It's like he has read up on what a few big bands use and thinks its as easy as plugging headphone sin to a mixer. 

Ill be civil to him but wont entertain any conversation as far as sound etc goes. I know before I joined he was trying to get them all to go IEM and he felt that having me there would help push them towards that, but I cant see any reason to, and I know what will be involved if we did, and it would be all on me. 

[dmccombe7]

5 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Thanks. Yes, he just thinks he is right because he knows it all. He really doesnt. Keeps going on about IEM's etc, and as I said, we are in a living room with 25-30wats amps. Absolutely no need for IEM's, but as he knows the pro's use them, he is going to. 

Definitely not a team player. To be honest I dont think the band will go anywhere anyway. Singer/Guitarist has a Boss 30watt busking amp, and the lead has the small 25watt. They both think we can mic them up  at gigs 😂

They have done a lot of open mic nights over the years, but never a covers gig where the band pretty much supplies everything. 

I just enjoy the songs and playing with  them. Im not going to stress about it and happy to walk away at any point, but im trying to bring a bit of experience to the band.

Personally i think you're fighting a losing battle if the amps they have are that small and they can't understand how bands function at live gigs. 

Out of curiosity what ages are they ? 

I guess if you're enjoying the songs its no different from "forever rehearsal bands".

I'll wish you all the best with it and hope things improve for you Dave.👍

Dave

[dave_bass5]

1 minute ago, dmccombe7 said:

Personally i think you're fighting a losing battle if the amps they have are that small and they can't understand how bands function at live gigs. 

Out of curiosity what ages are they ? 

I guess if you're enjoying the songs its no different from "forever rehearsal bands".

I'll wish you all the best with it and hope things improve for you Dave.👍

Dave

Like I said, mostly inexperienced but only one not willing to listen. I guess the youngest is 40 and im the oldest. Others probably mid 40s. Al have gigs, and the drummer is in a part time gigging band (he has experience and we are on the same page). This is the singers first covers band, he has been a singer/song writer for years. The lead just this he has dont it all and knows whats what, but his attitude stinks. 

 

Thanks of the support. like I say, its neither her nor there what happens in the future, its more for me to get back up to speed on bass after 4 years away, but it would be nice if the hard work paid off. 

[steantval]

3 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Yeah, and it’s also the fact that we have to be self contained, with lights and PA. They are used to it all being supplied. I laughed when the lead guitarist said about mic’ing his toy amp up. 
I said im happy to let them use my PA, but now going to retract that offer.

I don’t mind arguments if it gets things sorted, but this guy is very pushy and stubborn, so im going to let him have his way and just be a bass player from now on. This band isn’t worth stressing over, i had all this when i joined my main band and it was a very frustrating time, but most of us got through it. 
i can’t imagine this lot getting out of the living room so all this other stuff seems irrelevant anyway. 

Walk and find some experienced players to work with, time is very precious, don’t waste it.

[dave_bass5]

26 minutes ago, steantval said:

Walk and find some experienced players to work with, time is very precious, don’t waste it.

I do play with experienced players, just not in this band. 

 

Any idea where i can find another band that will want me?

 

Edited September 23 by dave_bass5

[MacDaddy]

This is from my status update:

 

I've programmed some patches that sound great through headphones on my multi FX. I just hope they won't take too much tweaking at band practice tomorrow when going through an amp.

 

And after rehearsal on Wednesday:

 

And the result from last night's rehearsal - inconclusive.

 

I went through an old Ashdown head through an old Ashdown cab. The synthy patches needed more fuzz, nothing cut through quite right, and levels were not consistent between patches. All issues I did not have with headphones (a cheap Behringer pair). Should have taken my own gear. Next time I'll at least take one of my own amps.

[dave_bass5]

That will be the old Ashdown ‘blanket over  the speakers’ effect 😎

Edited September 26 by dave_bass5

[Franticsmurf]

Last night's rehearsal was meant to be the first sight of our 'Country' set list for a dedicated Country & Western gig to raise funds for the hall we rehearse in. As usual, the band leader kept the list secret until about an hour before the rehearsal (annoying but not insurmountable) and we turned up only to find that he and the sax player had been called out on an RNLI shout. They are both members of the volunteer crew for the local inshore rescue boat and for gigs they are listed as 'unavailable'. For rehearsals, which take place in the hall about 300m from the lifeboat station, they are on call and it's pot luck whether they go out or whether they are covered by other volunteers on a first come first sent basis. 

 

But the show must go on, as they say, so we made a start with me singing 'John Henry' and 'Achy Breaky Heart', the trombonist singing '9 to 5' and one of the Uke players doing a sterling version of 'Ghost Riders in the Sky'. We also tried 'Man I Feel Like a Woman', not on the list but one we all through should be. They worked surprisingly well. We kept getting text message updates about the ETA of the BL and sax player but it became clear that the rescue was taking longe than expected (sea conditions and lack of light) so we called it a day around an hour early. 

 

I used a recently acquired Squire PJ through my recently rediscovered Laney Digbeth pre amp into the desk.  

 

The two idiots who got themselves cut off on a tidal island, despite signs showing the tide times and repeated warnings from the local Coastwatch volunteers as they set off, were rescued safely thanks to the actions of two lifeboats crews (6 volunteers in total).  

[Stub Mandrel]

Good rehearsal tonight.

 

Boys of Summer requires a lot of concentration! I took a five string which was just as well as we ended up playing it in multiple keys.

 

For the himass bridge fans my stock Flea Jazz had no difficulty sustaining the notes when we played Em.

 

And for people who worry about flabby b-strings, my Harley Benton Marquess was sounding awesome. We ended up settling for Bm but I'll probably use an octaver (as does Tim Schmidt when playing it in Dm on a four string).

 

Aside from four new songs, most of the evening was tidying up arrangements. 

[Ed_S]

First proper rehearsal (after the initial meet and jam session) with the new covers band went really well, and we've very easily agreed on a couple of simple rules of engagement; [1] we want to make the singer sound as good as possible, so we'll play it where he needs to sing it and if it ultimately doesn't suit then we won't waste time on it, and [2] nobody has to play anything they hate. Plan is to get an initial set together and do some open mics to see what response we get, but the main drive behind it is that we play what we like and have fun doing it.

 

With that in mind we went down the initial list, booted the couple I just wasn't going to have anything to do with, swapped some others with better suited songs by the same band, added some to look at which are my influence and they'd never heard of before, self-assigned some homework which are their influence and I'd never heard of before, and even chopped up and reordered a tune on the spot to get rid of a keyboard solo and make 'our' version. We have a better list for next time and it feels like everyone is pulling in the same direction.

 

It's been ages since I've had to explain my odd (so I'm told) musical ways to new people, so that was fun, but they had to understand that keys / notes / dots / tabs / chord charts / number systems are all meaningless to me - I play by ear, have no idea which notes I'm playing, 'know' a song if I can literally hear it in my head, really don't care which key you move it to.. etc. It felt like one of those initial dating conversations where you start to question whether it'd be easier to just stay single than go over all this again, but at least they know now!

[MichaelDean]

A mixed bag. We had our second practice at a different place. The first room we got was all good and we were pleased with it. Today, the room was quite a bit smaller and just so bass heavy. Guitars and bass. We all had to change things up. So, not the best from that perspective. 

 

Did get a new song finalised in time for our gig a week on Saturday though. I love having a multi effects. I needed a variation on a sound to really cut through on one section. Ok, load up a mid booster. Bosh! Oh, I need something ambient and weird? Wah with delay and reverb, but the expression pedal is also moving around the feedback and delay times. Bosh! The sky is the limit!

[kwmlondon]

Met up yesterday in Pirate, Dalston, with one of my bands. Lovely guys and they're getting better! The drummer is definitely coming on leaps and bound. The songs we know are getting tighter and working better. We're gonna have one more rehearsal then do a band open mic in November, maybe do a split bill with the guitarist's other band (he's retired so he can dedicate his time to music).

 

But... the big eye-brow raiser was my sound yesterday. I had a Blackstar 250w 15" combo and blow me if it wasn't one of the best sounding rigs I've had in a practise. So punchy, deep and clear. I was running my Dingwall ABZ into it through a Sansamp VT-21 and the dirty sound was sublime. The Neve preamp on the Dingle is the best active circuitry I've ever used, seriously. I don't often use the bridge pickup on a bass because it lacks low-end but taking the bass up a few notches to balance it and tame the low end gave me an incredible rich, burpy sound with oodles of attack. I even whacked the treble up for one tune with distortion to get a really nasty, clanky sound. Unbelieveable how versatile and useful it is. The Blackstar did make me wonder how many of the other bass amps I've used in rehearsal spaces have just been buggered though! Maybe this one was new...

[Richard R]

On 30/09/2025 at 10:22, Ed_S said:

I play by ear, have no idea which notes I'm playing

 

I would love to be able to play by ear. The closest I get is the old joke 

"Do you play by ear?"

"Yes"

"Well clear off and play somewhere else then!"

 

[Staggering on]

We had all five members of our bluegrass band together yesterday for our only rehearsal before our Tuesday show at a Legion hall in North Bay. We usually play festivals with the audience seated on the grass in front of the stage but some distance away from the band so it will be interesting to see how it goes when we are right up close to them in a long narrow hall where the bands set up against a long wall. This will not be a real bluegrass crowd so the BL decided to do a show that traces the history of the genre and we will play songs from the 1930's to more modern bluegrass and I will be explaining how the songs fit in as we go. I just got the "script" from the BL yesterday so I am working on smoothing it out and doing a little research as well as trying to memorize as much as I can. Excellent musicians and it should be fun, just hoping the sound man will get us set up so we sound our best.