mrtcat

I go to a local one reasonably often to play drums. I'm a relative newb behind the kit and its good fun. I play probably 50% of the night and a real drummer does the rest. Never played bass at one tho as I have plenty of work on bass already. It generally depends on the regulars tho. Some are really welcoming but I've experienced another that was a really closed shop where only the house band and their mates seemed welcome.

I like to be middle of the road gear wise. A yamaha trb5 from the 90s I picked up for £450 on eBay, a genz stm head and homebuilt cabs. That's more than enough for me. I totally understand people who enjoy having nice gear. It goes for most pastimes - look at golf with people hacking up courses with £2k worth of clubs or sunday morning footballers in £180 boots. If you can afford it and want it then why not. I also totally understand the other side of the argument too. Our guitarist just played to over 100,000 people over the course of two weekends as he was in the house band for both rewind north and south. He used a fender all transistor 2x12 amp he picked up off ebay for £80 and a Mexican strat with about £200 worth of pedals. He sounded awesome. There's no right or wrong just what works for the individual.

[quote name='Raslee' timestamp='1441138612' post='2856444'] Pretty much every first dance my wedding band has played...the majority of those were utter tosh - especially 'I only want to be with you'...I feel sick [/quote] Yes it's always a depressing time when a week before the gig you get the email saying "we want you to play and then he kissed me by the crystals as our first dance"

Must Bang Sally is actually one of the songs I don't mind playing. Loads of room to mess about in it and generally well received.

Its the growl of the B string that gives it the distinctive sound for me. Lots of people play the riff starting with the D on the 5th fret of the A string but to me its only when you use the D on the third fret of a B string that you get the growl and depth of the original. As has been said it's also a very modern sounding bass on the recording. That said I've heard loads of people cover it well on a 4 string and punters are unlikely to care.

All of the below turn my stomach. I dep quite a lot and when I get pub "classic rock" bands approaching me I know that pretty much all of these will feature and it makes me sad. Oh well - think of the cash. [b]Black Night[/b] [b]Can’t Get Enough[/b] [b]Alright Now [/b] [b]Born To Be Wild[/b] [b]Paranoid[/b] [b]Doctor Doctor [/b] [b]Black Velvet[/b] [b]Brown Sugar[/b] [b]Honky Tonk Women[/b] [b]Tie Your Mother Down [/b] [b]Shook me All Night Long[/b] [b]She Sells Sanctuary[/b] [b]Whole lotta Love[/b] [b]The Chain[/b] [b]Sweet Home Alabama [/b] [b]Rock And Roll[/b] [b]You Really Got Me Going[/b] [b]Highway[/b][b] to Hell[/b] [b]Sweet Child[/b] [b]Boys Are Back[/b] [b]You Give Love A Bad Name [/b] [b]Summer of 69[/b] [b]Sex On Fire[/b] [b]Dakota[/b]

Set up a Skype / YouTube recording project. You just need a pc/Mac/laptop and an interface then you can ping recordings back and forth around the world with like minded players.

Count me in. I'll bring two BFM Simplex 1x12s (one with tweeter one without) for the shootout to give a bit of DIY representation. Travelling from Silverstone in Northants if anyone wants a lift / car share.

Totally your call as only you know the full ins and outs of the situation. Personally I never dep for free as the whole reason for depping for me is to earn. I wouldn't want to get a reputation as someone who'll dep for free because there's every chance I'll get bands trying to get me for lower rates as a result.

Many of Lidl's "Parkside" brand power tools come out of the same factory that also produce Bosch tools. When you open them up lots of the parts are identical. Not necessarily ideal for pro use but far better quality than the usual Black & Decker, Worx etc that you find in big box diy stores.

Yep happens every now and then. As long as it's all agreed at time of booking and they're paying accordingly its fine. we get the occasional Bridezlla who emails two days before to tell us she's decided she wants us to be there at 9am or similar to set up but unless it's in the agreement or they want to pay extra then she ends up disappointed. Usually theres a sound engineer and PA hire company so pack down for us is a breeze.

Just buy and fit the speaker yourself. £65 to fit a new driver is criminal. I hope some of the £65 was to cover looking at the amp although any decent tech should spot a blown driver within seconds.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1440421502' post='2850519'] The Bell. [/quote] First time I played there I thought it was going to be a nightmare as it really didn't seem like a music loving pub but turned out that the locals in there really like a decent band so I was pleasantly surprised. We were pretty much in the front window bay as I recall. We still play the Swan in Wantage quite often as it gets a good crowd and has in house PA & engineer.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1440363095' post='2850156'] Just back from our first time at a pub in Wantage. Got the gig as a result of a cancellation. Only found out when we got there that we were expected to play for three hours. Band was in top form, guitarist in particular was on fire. Place was packed, we went down well and they want us back. We'll need to pace ourselves better for the the 3 hours next time though. [/quote] Which pub? We play Wantage reasonably often and there's some good places. We played a wedding on Saturday in the hottest marquee on the planet. Drank 7 pints of water during a 3hr show. [attachment=199200:11953451_10152972731851372_8666383493687869712_o.jpg]

I do some BV's but mostly as a double up of the lead part in choruses etc- would be interested if anyone knows any good places on the internet for learning more about singing a harmony part.

Swamp Groove

Unlikely to bring gigs to you, unlikely to bring punters to gigs but does give a place to put demos / photos / videos if you haven't got a website or FB page. Essentially for me a total waste of time & £20.

You would hope that whoever designed these would have known all that. Makes you wonder what other daft things they've done. They look more suited to living in the front room than out on the road.

A BDDI is why I don't GAS after expensive amps these days. No matter what amp I had I always ended putting the BDDI in front of it and usually set amp and pedal flat with the blend and drive on the pedal both set at about 10 o'clock. I just use the level dial on the pedal to match up so there's no boost or loss of volume when it's on. Means every amp sounds pretty much the same. I need to get out more.

Reaper all day long for me. $60 and great online support.

PA ownership share is always something I'd avoid. It just leads to complicated situations like this. I own the PA we use but take an extra cut at gigs to cover buying, storage etc. Our old guitarist used to complain about this as he said "everyone helps set it up and pack it down" but I reminded him I load it into the car before leaving for gigs and then unload it at 1-2-3am in the morning when I get home and store it. I'd discuss it all at next gig / rehearsal / beers and 1)ask the singer for some cash and 2) tell him he needs to store his share of it. Problem is if you walk someone is going to have to agree to buy your share out.

So two years ago we moved into Northamptonshire and one of the things I really wanted was an outbuilding / shed so I could do lots of woodworking etc. At the time I was building pa cabs (BFM included) as a sideline income. The place we found fit the bill perfectly and had a huge shed and the house / garden was exactly what we wanted. So after being on the market just three hours we made the offer and bought it. [attachment=198777:IMG_6975.JPG] Last year we had a little girl and I also gave up cab building. I needed somewhere to practice without waking littl'un and the shed seemed like the perfect space. This spring I finally got round to pulling my finger out and making use of the space. The shed was already lined, insulated and had full electrics. I built a frame inside, insulated with acoustic insulation, used what seemed like 1,000,000 genie clips and floated acoustic plasterboard and then had my first ever go at plastering. The end result was pretty decent. I still have half of the shed as workshop and as you can see a really useable practice / recording / band rehearsal space. Found a drum kit for £80 on gumtree and with the addition of some decent drum heads we are up and running! I made some window inserts from an old memory foam mattress and some acoustic foam and used a whole mattress on the inside of the door. The result is we can have full band rehearsal in the shed and you can't hear a thing from the house. [attachment=198778:IMG_6969.JPG] [attachment=198779:IMG_6971.JPG] [attachment=198780:IMG_6973.JPG] Just finishing our first band demos this week

We never play for free. I wouldn't expect the guys in the bands I play with to do it and they wouldn't expect me to. NYE is a working and earning night or a quality time with the family night. Landlords can offer what they want (cash, beer, food etc) and in all fairness only they know what works for their business but I have no qualms in politely turning them down. The pub trade is in tatters largely which is why so many landlords try it on and why many of us look elsewhere for gigs.

The Swan in Wantage Oxfordshire is the easiest gig ever. Always a good crowd, pa, lights and sound engineer provided and the bar staff always friendly. Not a huge payer but a really good showcase venue.