The Dark Lord

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1349799032' post='1830701'] ...... (of course if you're a bunch of eighty year olds playing trad jazz or registered sex offenders they may be more difficult to persuade). [/quote] Doh.

Does anyone know where I can go to hire a couple of dancers? We'd like to add dancers to part of our act - probably burlesque type dancers. Ideally, we'd like them to be sort of part of the band - where they get booked with us, are part of the show and get paid with/like us. We're in the Sussex area and play in the West Sussex / Hampshire area normally. Any pointers would be useful.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1349788091' post='1830511'] .......My band is a decent band, but we struggle to break onto the local circuit of 'prestigious' venues ...... [/quote] One thing you might want to try. Have a look at who is playing at the "prestigious" venues and see if you can get a support slot with them. Of course, this is a time when you WILL have to play for free. Offer to play a 30 to 40 minute set before the start of the set. Make sure all of your best stuff is in there - and make sure you put [i]everything[/i] into that performance. You'll find the landlord will be more keen to book you then - as you will have his ear. Lots of bands like to do that (some don't) .... as they get the kudos of playing top of the bill with a support act. The landlord is getting more for his money ...... and you're not doing anyone out of a paid gig. You'll find those a hoot - as there will be a bigger crowd and there is less set up time as you generally won't have to set up the PA and lights etc. Just make sure you don't act like prima donnas (as did one act who supported us until we put them straight) and make sure that you are willing to help with the set up and tear down if asked ..... and make sure you stay to the end and don't get lost after your own performance.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1349786413' post='1830481'] Fair enough, but were there no points in my post that you agree with? [/quote] Good point. I do agree that smaller venues can be a good starting point for new bands. However, there is, to me, a problem with this playing for free thing - which is a broader topic than ..... "it's up to them if they want to play for free or not". I play in a three piece covers band doing sort of up-tempo pop/dance stuff ..... generally well-received everywhere we go. Here's the issue. There are three of us. I'm a financially comfortable old git for whom £50 to £100 won't make any difference. Our guitarist, a late thirties software developer, has had to take a pay cut through lack of software work and has to support his wife and three kids. He relies on the £50 to £100 he gets twice or three times a month to make ends meet. He's very talented and a great frontman so is worth that £50 to £100. Our (newly recruited) drummer is a pro musician. By that, I don't mean Phil Collins, I mean a bloke who teaches drumming, plays in sessions for a couple of recording studios, does corporate workshops - does drum tuition at schools. He says with cutbacks all over the place, things are getting tighter. His gig money is an essential part of his earnings. We have definitely noticed that there are less venues putting bands on - as they the pubs can't make ends meet. I understand the landlords' problems - which I guess are mainly economy based. And, a lot of the well-known music venues are cutting their fees as things are tight. So, it is really not helpful when bands tout themselves around for free - just because they have fun playing. This has a few effects: 1. It reduces the number of paid gigs around. 2. It reduces the fee that landlords will pay for pro/semi pro acts, as they "know a few bands who will do it for free" 3. ...... and can reduce the quality of music being played out there .... and lower the reputation of the local music scene in general (which has an additional effect on points 1 & 2). Some of the "I don't care" comments (not yours incidentally), I find disrespectful to fellow musicians. Especially to the musicians who need the money to pay the mortgage. I think we have enough issue to deal with - and don't to have our worth devalued by the actions of other musicians.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1349783722' post='1830393'] I'm now going to change the washer on my leaking tap now, [b]hold on![/b] maybe I should get a plumber in to do it instead, as I might be doing him out earning a bit of cash. [/quote] Although this is a poorly thought out analogy. A better one would be if there were a few plumbers out there offering to come and do it for free - thereby doing the normal plumbers out of work.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1349725548' post='1829753'] How about if we applied this sort of logic to other forms of paid work? Every time you clean your own home . . . . you spoil the market for cleaners who [u]need[/u] to be paid. Every time you change your own strings . . . . you spoil the market for luthiers who [u]need[/u] to be paid. Every time you decorate your own home . . . . you spoil the market for painters who [u]need[/u] to be paid. Every time you [[i]insert job example here[/i]] . . . . you spoil the market for someone who [u]needs[/u] to be paid. That's life - get used to it. [/quote] The more of us who play for free - just to be able to play - the lower we all get paid ..... hobbyists and pros. If you want to miss the point, be my guest. Just sayin.

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1349270336' post='1824040'] The new improved 2010 and onwards basses ply nice sound good and don't need any after market upgrades such as bridges, pick ups etc unless there is a specific brand you prefer. I understand that they have put new pick ups in the 2012 models? If you can buy one used it's even better value. [/quote] A point of order. It is not possible for anything to be "new AND improved".

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1349706733' post='1829357'] I will never feel guilty about playing for free. I made my career choices and "pro" musicians have made theirs. One of the benefits of my choice is having enough money to subsidise my hobbies - and that has included playing gigs in bands for free. If that causes issues for those "needing" to get paid for doing the same, it's up to them to provide something so much better than what's on offer for free that people will pay the extra for it. If they can't do that, they are in the wrong business. [/quote] That sounds very selfish to me. But, as you say, you are free to be as selfish as you wish ..... unfortunately.

...... and Matt Allwrigh - the smarmy one from Rogue Traders off the TV. Not the other one who was jailed for fraud (ironically).

[quote name='mushers' timestamp='1342878319' post='1742270'] i shall be playing for free this year at least 2 gigs sorry if it pisses some people off but i dont care [/quote] Well, you should care. There are musicians who perform for a living and depend upon being paid for gigs. These are generally the higher-quality acts who provide pro entertainment. Every time some of us play for free ....... we spoil the market for other who [u]need [/u]to be paid. It's not that difficult to get paid gigs. You won't get a fortune, but you will get paid if you have a decent enough act and go to the correct places.

It won't clip.

[quote name='Shambo' timestamp='1349555091' post='1827788'] Arguing about which Fender is better than which has always struck me as being a bit like arguing about who's Ford Transit is the best. It's just a tool with a specific task and as long as it reliably gets you and stuff from A to B, it matters not where it was built or if it has electric windows and a nice stereo.. [/quote] The ones that are made in Southampton are much better than the ones made in Turkey.

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1349464847' post='1826800'] Nah. [/quote] ...... and I nearly forgot. Your bass amplifiers should be Danish (of course).

To be serious for a moment for the OP ............. the point I am making is ......... it really depends what floats your boat. Bass ownership is a very personal thing. To me, it's string thru MIA Ps. To other people, it's another bass or lots of different basses. You need to find [u]your[/u] bass. I suspect, if you're asking about MIMs (or for that matter MIJs) vs MIA P basses, then you do indeed need to own a MIA, for at least a bit, and see what you think. Does it have that extra bit of sound/feel/mojo for the extra money? You can pick up an MIA P for between £500 and £600 on here ..... and you won't lose much at all if you resell it on here. Not a great deal of a jump from a MIM or MIJ. Maybe, you'll not get it and you'll sell it on and recoup the money? Maybe, like me, you'll fall in love and nothing else will do. I say try to find the extra cash from somewhere and own an MIA P bass for a while.

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1349475382' post='1827003'] Apparently I'd be much happier. [/quote] In fact ...... Happiness !

This should be a sticky topic really. This topic comes up as regularly as Jimmy Saville's pecker in a room full of schoolies. This is how they usually go. Somebody asks what's this about MIA Precisions. Someone else says they're pukka followed by a load of hard up people with MIM or MIJ Fenders who pretend they once had an MIA but it wasn't as good as their cheaper thing. Then someone comes along and says a load of tripe followed by the word Sadowsky and then somebody says Yamaha and someone with questionable judgement then claims that having fretwire flowing in the wrong direction on a bass with a P bass pickguard is in some way good. It's quite entertaining.

Your lover should definitely be Italian though.

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1349460072' post='1826693'] Correct. [/quote] Your car should be German. Your chef should be French. Your architect should be British. Your lover should be Italian. Your guitars should come from the US of A. Go ahead, buy a Mexican bass .... but only if your lover is British, your chef is German, your car is French and your architect is Italian. And good luck with all of that. Especially the French car.

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1349460306' post='1826697'] So, I ask all of you that have or have had shoddy Fenders, do you think was, in fact, your impression of their quality rather than their quality that was at fault? Are they in fact, all fine and if so why are there so many threads whining about the quality differences? And why don't we see similar threads about MusicMan? [/quote] The two bad ones of mine just didn't have the sound. One black and maple, the other black and rosewood. I swapped the pickups out on one - and it didnt make any appreciable difference. Didn't sound good acoustically. An MIA P should have that familar "clank and rumble" when you play it. I couldn't see any real difference to any of my other good ones. They just didn't sound right. Also, beware of the A string rattle. They ALL have it as the break angle isn't great. For most, you can avoid the problem by winding the A string 'round the post well. Some others - you just can't. Make sure the nut is fitted correctly for that too. Needs a bit of height. Basically - you gotta play it first .... which makes it difficult buying a really, really decent P on here or on ebay. Safest way ...... if you have the financial firewpower ...... is to go to a BIG music shop and try a new one off the rack in your colour. Most all of them are great. Walk past all of those Tex Mex Tiger economy and Jap stuff and get a USA one. You'll be fine.

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1349425504' post='1826060'] :-D I've wasted all that time learning to read, learning theory and technique and what I should have done was buy a US Fender Precision instead. [/quote] Yup. Shoulda got a Fender MIA P. It works this way. You turn up at the pub, and on your arm is Holly Willoughby all flushed and flustered telling everyone that you are the greatest lover she has ever had. Now, actually, there are lots of regular "girls next door" out there who have better figures than Holly Willowbooby are nicer looking and are (probably) better in the sack. Trouble is ..... they're just not Holly Willowbooby. It's the same thing with basses. For Fender P Bass - read Mrs W. When people see you got one - they think "cool, mojo, rock'n'roll". A copy is just a copy, no matter how much it cost. You don't find us MIA P owners jumping in like trian spotters to other people's forums about their "Sadmakersky Dingbat Yamamoto made in someone's garage basses" saying "my bass is better than yours because, because, because, because". We just know. I've had about a dozen and a half of MIA P Basses over the years. There have been a couple of bad ones. There have been a dozen really good ones. There are two perfect ones which I still have. That's no different for any brand of bass. The big thing though is ........ there is THAT Precision sound which cannot be replicated. It's most noticeable (to me) on the low G note. A sort of thud with a burble, which, if the sound could be translated into English........ would say "rock'n'roll". Accept no substitute. [u]Nothing [/u]even comes closes. Fender MIA Precision. Strap on. Rock.

[quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1344362778' post='1763428'] We've (or they have) changed the key to "no more heroes" so i can't do that lovely open g Burnel intro, we do it in A now. [/quote] We do that one too ...... but in the original key ( G ) and I delight in doing the JJ Intro. However !!!!!! The 4th string isn't used in that song*** ..... so you could tune it up a couple of notes for that one. Okay, you'd then have trouble doing the "F C" "double-stop at the end of the intro ..... but even JJ doesn't always to that. [i]*** [size=3]Okay so it is used for just one note which is part of a double stop at the end of the intro, but it's the other note ( C ) which is the important one of the two.[/size][/i]

[quote name='Richbass74' timestamp='1349439570' post='1826323'] Hi, What does everybody think of these, I'm tempted to get one but not 100% I've got a Marshall VBA 400 at the moment, It's incredibly loud but a bloody monster to lug around, I'm after that growly aggressive tone, Any opinions would be great. [/quote] As a monster Stranglers fan, I was (and probably remain) half tempted ...... but the size and weight of it would be an issue to me. I play TC Electronics now and they are brilliant to carry about. Also, Ashdown amps seem to clip a lot to me. Never liked that.

[quote name='thunderbird13' timestamp='1349426820' post='1826077'] Quite a lot of exceptions : Judas Priest (Rose tinted glasses. If you go back and look and listen to these people, you'll realise they were awful. Would sound better with no instruments). Iron Maiden (A bit noisy) Metallica (Very noisy and hairy) Lynard Skynard (Hippies now in nursing homes with their fans) Green Day (Doesn't need the other guy who doesn't do much. Great band though). The Pixies (Who?) Talking Heads (My Byrne is a hero, Tina is accidentally the hottest thing. Doesn't really need two guitars this stuff. Great band) G& R (Other guy does crash chords) My Bloody Valentine (Who?) etc etc although in fairness it seems to work better in rock [/quote] I jest (mostly) ...... as I said, I'd rather do it a different way. Most of us on here (I suppose) play the pub / club circuit. With a live drummer in a pub / club, there really is no need for a second guitar to fill the sound. It is very rare that I see a second guitar that is doing much to justify being there. Just not for me.