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I stopped going years back, mostly due to it always ending up being a constant round of twelve bar blues type stuff, while an Eric Clapton type wannabee showed us all what a total rock God he was and that we were so lucky to be supporting him

I'd have to have a 'Wrongo' decal made for that!😊

If it's OK to have frets instead of simply learning where the notes are, then it's OK to have a music stand instead of simply learning what the words are.

Chuck my tuppence in... I've been running blues jams for many, many years, and there are as many ways to run a jam as there are stars in the sky. Most of the basics have been covered, but a few things to bear in mind from the hosts point of view: We are there to attract punters; musicians and non-musicians into the venue to spend money on alcoholic beverages (and crisps). If alcoholic beverages (and crisps) are not purchased then the chances are the Jam won't be there for long. This is a careful balancing act Musicians want to play. Punters want to be entertained Get the balance wrong and you end up with a room of musos nursing a pint all night, or the house band playing a 3-hour gig for thruppence. What may look like a clique to you, looks to me like my reliables. They turn up every month without fail and without them there probably wouldn't be a jam. If you are new come and say hello Tell me what you like to play Be honest about your ability, if you're a bit unsure say so, I'll get you up with some experienced musos to help you along. Put your name on the list of jam and you WILL get called up Everyone WIll get at least 3 numbers, I can't guarantee when (see the balancing act), see above if you need to leave early, again let me know, I'll accommodate you in the grand scheme of things if I can I run Jams because I love playing with friends I don't get to gig with. I love watching something come together from nothing, from musos that may have never met let alone played with each other. I most certainly don't do it for the kudos or the money. So if you attend a Jam and it seems a bit cliquey, consider the internal political bollocks that may be in play to ensure that the Jam is there the next time you fancy a little no pressure play. Of course, some Jams can be really cliquey, I don't go to them either :-)

Hi Torby, That's not good. Can you let us know a few more details and we will have a look at what we can do to get you sorted. Amp Model - Serial Number - Date Purchased - Retailer purchased from -

Also where are you based? Would likely be much easier and in fact better for us to sort directly for you rather than shipping unnecessarily to the retailer and back etc if they are a distance away as you say...

Music stand for a singer? Seems a fair swap, where do I send the singer to?

I have played with a singer who regularly uses a music stand. He was by far the best singer I have worked with. No-one ever came up to me and said 'your singer has a music stand, thats terrible'. Many people came up to me and said 'your singer is fantastic'. Most audience members won't even know what a music stand is.

You're the bass player, and would maybe not like to have to change instrument just because the band feels it's not 'acceptable'. He's the singer, and should have the same privilege and respect, I'd suggest. Of course the 'issue' could be discussed, but he decides what he needs (or wants...) for the gigs. For my part, I've never bought into this 'acceptable' stuff; I've seen too many bands with all sorts of stuff on stage for it to count for anything. As long as your show is good, such props are of no relevance. Just my tuppence-worth.

Whereabouts are you (I'm not a stalker, honest). A few years back I was told that Bob n Toyah lived just outside Salisbury in one of the many posh villages. Just a rumour like, never actually saw them in Waitrose or owt (just the drummer from Dodgy, which was good enough for me)

Pimped a Squier Bronco I got recently. Changed the tuners (elephant ears), bridge and added a hotrails, cream pickguard and pickup cover - to be extra pimpy!!! Super fun to play, the neck is very comfortable and fast. Gets big and thumpy. Depending on the amp can get a nice 60s p tone thump, but it can also dig in and growl when I want it to. Think my full scales may be taking a back seat for a while.

I have played with a singer who regularly used a music stand. No-one ever came up to me and said 'Your singer has a music stand, thats terrible'. Many people came up to me and said ‘Your singer is gorgeous. Is she single?'.

Exactly. They just see another piece of bent metal, together with mic stands, cymbal stands, etc, etc and ignore it if the music's any good. As far as the "learn your parts" comments on here are concerned, that's fine if you play the same 20 songs every night, but if you take requests or have a large repertoire (some items from which you may not have performed for a while), you need parts, words, etc. That's why orchestras, jazz bands, etc, use the dots.

Stop sitting on the fence. . . . !

Depends entirely on the type of show. Big Band type thing with complex arrangements where the players are pretty stationary - stands are pretty common. Rock band - Nope. Not now. Not ever. Everyone else in the band has to learn their parts so they can tart around and put on a show. The singer is the most visible element of any band. A music stand completely ruins the performance for that type of show. Imagine any good rock / pop / funk band you like. Queen / Iron Maiden / Metallica / Prince / RHCP etc etc and think how bloody awful it would be if there was a music stand up there. But even if we ignore those - most of the other local rock bands won't have stands and your singer is going to look like a twonk next to them. If the rest of the band can learn a 30 song set list then so can the singer.

No need to alter the tuning.

I've no doubts that a frontman/woman is better if they are concentrating on the audience than looking down but in the end the most important thing is that everyone is enjoying themselves. Most bands aren't full time professionals so expecting some sort of ideal isn't really sensible. Having the singer going to the wrong part of the song or breaking time when they mess up is pretty disruptive so it all comes down to compromise. iPads are less obtrusive and I'm seeing them more and more, do it if you have to I guess.

There's no jam at an open mic. Mmm... jam.

Gratuitous fretless Jazz Type bass pic

The Beyma that Phil uses costs around £90 from Blue Aran now, although if you order it directly from the UK distributor it's under £70, which is great value. If you want to go lightweight, the neo Faital Pro 12PR320 is similar in performance and costs £128. If you're on a budget, the older version of the Celestion Pulse 12 , the B12-200X (which seems to have an identical specification), is currently selling for £45 at Watford Valves and Lean Business and is definitely a budget "best buy". If you go for the Faital Pro, you should be able to convert your cab at a later stage to the two-way design currently being finalised in the 12" Cab Diary Continued thread on here.

Definitely can be. I'll always give one a chance but if the dreaded clique (usually involving 30 minute renditions of Hey Joe) rears it's head then it's a one-visit thing.

Ah! the old music stand debate, I don't like it at all, especially for the singer, he's the focal point of the band he should be interacting with the audience not staring at the lyrics, like you say it's crutch if it's there he'll use it, I used to have one when I started doing open mics, I got rid of it, if it's there you'll look at it. Our singer will sometimes have lyric reminders on the floor of new songs we're doing but soon gets rid of them The only time a music stand should be used is if you're depping, otherwise, learn the songs

Do it, you don't need to spend a fortune either. Definitely consider a piezo bridge, even a cheap one will add an amazing tonal quality to the bass and I wouldn't have a fretless without one now, I think this one was £25 new when I originally bought it and I have a 5 string Fishman version tucked away for when I find the right bass to put it on! Here's mine, a bitsa with some simple modding. It's an old Hohner body (Korean Cort) with a Mighty Mite P neck (ebanol board), Wilkinson tuners, Duncan Designed Jazz pickups and a cheap piezo bridge with a Bartolini buffer circuit. One of the best basses I've ever played and probably the nicest sounding. I had a nice cheap fretless jazz and a fancy Warmoth Pau Ferro jobbie, neither are even close to this. Total spend was under £300 after some patient online shopping, excuse the terrible pics - it's late!

Best if just one of us suffers

Picking up on what others have said, there are two types of earth 1) A safety earth designed to blow the fuse quickly if there is a fault 2) A signal earth - often the return path of your signal circuit, or a screen to protect your signal circuit. The green/yellow wire in your mains plug is type 1, the screen in your instrument cable is type 2. The earth lift is designed to break the circuit of a type 2 earth where it might conflict with a type 1 earth, as with a DI signal between two items of mains-powered equipment. Hum can be caused by having two earth paths to a piece of equipment, ad DAD3353 mentions, but can also be caused by noisy electronics on the same circuit, or close by. The fact that the hum is location dependent, and also affects the guitarist's passive instrument, makes that the most likely culprit in my opinion. So, in those problem venues, try and identify any local lighting, gaming machines, etc, which may be plugged in to to the circuit you use, and see if the hum goes away when they are switched off. Fluorescent lighting would be an obvious candidate. David

I had the exact same same problem once with a drummer. He kept complaining the bass was too loud. This went on for quite a few rehearsals and I turned down, changed the EQ but he still complained. So one rehearsal we went through it and I kept asking if I was too loud and he kept saying yes and it got to the point where I turned my amp off and still played and I was still too loud. So I pointed out to him that I'm not even turned on. Turned out it was the rhythm guitar that was too loud 😂

Definitely. In my experience they seem to start out with the best intentions but then quickly become little more than a social gathering where the usual suspects are given a platform on which to inflate their already sizeable egos and share jokes with the in-crowd. I think it’s destined to happen as when these things start the organisers often rely heavily on such folk to get the thing going. Once it’s up and running, it can become a monster! Do I sound bitter??? 😂

I thought he was blue, stop calling him Shirley.........

Good singers are hard to find so I would cut them some slack. Having said that, an ipad on a mic stand looks a lot better than a A4 folder.

Thanks, I’ll update everyone by this time tomorrow to let them know if they are at least with me / on their way to you all etc. “Nearly at the station” as it were...

It's a shame they've not written a good album since this Just been listening to Dance Of Death by Iron Maiden, which is (at least for me) a neglected gem in their back-catalogue

Take him there on Pancake Tuesday and sit him near one of the stands. I bet it'll get his little nostrils twitching in short order.

+1 for this, I was a little dubious at first but it's been working just fine for the past 6 months.

I think the two get confused too easily. I'd make the following distinction: a jam is where people who are not already in a band together can meet over mutually agreed numbers an open mic is an opportunity for bands or individuals to try out their material in public.

I really like Marbass heads (which is why I own too many of them!) because they are pretty neutral and really let your playing technique and bass come through (not always good). I notice your EQ settings are pretty much flat and filters off, which is where I end up on 99% of my gigs. I'm sure from everything I read that Schroeders are brilliant cabs but I also know that at stage volumes (where it counts most for me) those larger format Markbass heads really come alive.

I read it as this week too.

from my own very limited experience of singing you can sing the song better if you know the lyrics without having to think to hard about them or even worse, read them

Indeed... We almost had customers fighting for it!

Another possibility; a gig bag for a half or three quarter size classical guitar.

I've been using a Schroeder 1212L for over 2 years. It's capable of being incredibly loud for a cab of its size. I've got it paired with an Aguilar TH 350 I must admit it's taken some time to like this set up, but I've found a tone now that really works. I've tried the cab with an Ashdown ABM and that sounded good, so if I were to change either it'd be the amp not the Schroeder cab. I've been toying with a Markbass amp recently, just haven't got the funds.

I can vouch for the vendor as I recently bought a body from him.

Book delivered today. Already packed in the case for my hols along with either Jenson Button's autobiography or Bob Daisley's book ???? Dave

One of the issues I have. Is with venues that leave their TV’s on. I get so distracted by call the midwife etc. Drives me mad

She's no looker, that's for sure!

I was just about to post that! Toola's band! Think that was not long before Sheep Farming in Barnett?

I don't know how she does it.... It's a mystery