The Dark Lord

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1334874221' post='1622892'] I think you'll find you're talking to yourself here as the ferret was banned from this forum a couple of years back! [/quote] It is the first sign of madness. I do it a lot. I suppose he was banned for daring to take the name of the Meninblack in vein?

[quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1335187287' post='1626856'] Eh, I'm no mathematician, but isn't that four? [/quote] Err. Yes. Flip. See, I have too many to count already. I should get rid of one ..... or was that two?

I have three. Two Precisions, a Jazz and a Warwick. On refelection. For me, that's too many. Three will do. One main bass and one back up to take to a gig or rehearsals and another waiting in the wings in case I need to put one in for repair upgrade. I think I'll dispense with the Warwick soon.

[quote name='bass_ferret' timestamp='1233165805' post='393887'] I know the Stranglers jumped on the punk bandwagon cos the first time I saw them was supporting AC/DC about 1975. [/quote] You don't know that. You just think it.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1334753413' post='1620675'] The questions you ask seems to indicate you haven't done much of anything in this regard..maybe..?? Not that that in itself is such a bad thing, but it might not be too useful if you try and achieve others fees without knowing how they justify those fees...and that is mostly knowing the standard that they play and pitch at.. Plenty of bands round here who have all the admin down and hit you with contracts ect etc and all very correct, but then don't actually play that well... In pubs and clubs it is about numbers through the doors that tend to drink and subsidise the bar.. Parties ..and you might be part of the venue/food/extras cost..and you'll maybe find the band/music will be the smallest single apart. Some weddings for example..might run into £10-15k and then they go and spend £500 on a band and baulk at anything much higher....which is VERY risky, IMO. [/quote] Lots of great responses to my OP - but not this one. This is a not a great post in a number of ways.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1334735928' post='1620308'] The thing is..if you have to ask what you should charge then you don't seem to know your own worth..... [/quote] If you look at my original post, you'll see that we haven't done parties before - so, can we not be excused for not knowing what the going rate is? This thread ..... and this other similar one [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/173663-whats-the-going-rate-for-a-5-piece-covers-band/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/173663-whats-the-going-rate-for-a-5-piece-covers-band/page__fromsearch__1[/url] have been very helpful.

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1334707860' post='1620212'] an interesting and timely article on this very subject: [url="http://www.publicemilie.com/post/20223649899"]http://www.publicemi...ost/20223649899[/url] [/quote] All true

[quote name='gub' timestamp='1334517257' post='1617144'] Just reading another thread where it seemed £200 was the going rate for a duo and that's why we are charging for 5 pelf us playing , this is for mostly pubs but we have also done some private party's for about the same , I am always saying to the rest of the guys we should ask more but most of them think this is about right ! What are your guys thoughts ? [/quote] Hi. I'm the original poster of the other thread which you mention (above). There are two things that I originally thought ...... which I think have been confirmed by all of your answers to this thread and my own. 1. There is a difference in going rate depending on the type of the event. You would expect to get more for a party than a pub gig (generally speaking) .... with weddings and corporates being on a higher scale still. I wouldn't be surprised if the scales are: Pubs £150 to £300 Parties £250 to £500 (or maybe slightly more) .... with weddings more expensive than that generally and corporate gigs maybe even slightly higher than that. Of course, there are a lot of factors to take into account which will vary the above ...... perhaps the most important being skill and reputation. But, in my neck of the woods, I don't guess the above would be too wide of the mark. 2. Someone said that there is no difference in pay between a duo, a trio, a four-piece, five-piece etc. I understand the logic behind that comment ..... as the client is just paying for a show after all. But I guess there IS a difference and that clients WILL expect to pay slightly less for a duo (or indeed a soloist) and they would expect to pay more for a "big band" with lots of members. But I don't guess they will care if it is a 3,4 or 5 piece. In pure pounds per hour terms, I guess there are benefits to being a soloist, or in a duo or trio.

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1334534736' post='1617417'] I would take this as an opportunity to remind all people that gig, but not really for the money, that there are lots of us that do (I've been pro for 20 years) work your fees out on the basis of trying to pay your mortgage/feed you family etc, that way we will all be valued the way we should. Try to get 2 plumbers to your house at unsociable hours on a saturday night and see what they charge!! [/quote] Good comment. I am acutely aware that musicians who "don't need the money" should not go around charging very low rates - as if we all did that, we would harm the income potential of those who do need the money or who did it for a living. That's part of the reason that I asked the question in the first place.

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1334504300' post='1616918'] An obvious point that some punters seem to conveniently forget is that although it's "only" two x 45 min sets and therefore only 1.5 hours work, with travelling, set up, hanging about prior to playing, first set, break, second set, pack down and travelling home, unloading etc. Being realistic it's probably more like 5 or six hours work. [/quote] Yes. 1/2 hour travel on average to get there, an hour and maybe a bit to set up and sound check, 45 mins first set ....... hang about for 45 minutes in between 45 minutes second set, half an hour and a bit to tear down and pack up, half an hour to travel back = approx 5 hours per person x 2. Although it's probably more than that.

Some good advice there. Thank you. We recognise that there is a difference between playing in a pub to playing at a party event. In a pub, you will be playing to a lot of casual listeners that are probably not there to here you specifically (unless you are established with a following - which we're not) ...... but for a party, you are actually being paid, directly, by someone who wants you to play for them. So there is more pressure to get it spot on I guess. We'd play the same set in the same way probably, but I guess it is still different. We will ask the agent for guidance, of course, but want to get it right from the off.

I play bass in a (guitar and bass) duo in Sussex. We play a mixture of pop, indie and punk covers plus some our own stuff in pubs here and there - getting paid little if anything to do so. We have have been asked to do a couple of 40th birthday parties .... probably 2 x 45 minute sets locally .... plus a local agent has asked us if can play parties. We're up for that, but neither of us know how much we should charge for such a thing. We will be taking all of our own lights, PA, instruments and backing and doing our own sound. We have been asked to quote a price, but we have no idea. Can anyone give me a clue? PS: Neither of us need the money, we do it as a hobby (which costs us a fortune usually). We'd probably put any fees towards band outgoings like, professional photography, additional gear etc.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1332937802' post='1595089'] There's an acoustic duo round Nottingham that only do Beatles songs and they get regular gigs; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4mZWPDwHcE&feature=related[/media] [/quote] Yeah .... I don't consider our two-piece line up to be limiting in any way. It's kind fun and uncoventional and people are surprised just how big a sound comes out of just two guys.

I've used the same Samson Airline for yonks. Smallest thing out there. Looks pretty cool too. Doesn't rob me of any tone.

Isn't it great when you get customer service from a company which is top notch? We ALL like to complain when companies are rubbish, so, we should make sure, when people are good, that we say so too. I needed some replacement speakers for my PA and on the advice of some members on here, I contacted [b]Lean Business[/b]. They replied to my emails in double quick time. Nice, polite, concise replies. And they delivered at a great price the day after I ordered (even including an email telling me .... accurately ...... when my speakers would arrive). And I got a great price. £119 inc postage for 2 x Eminence 12" 500W 4 Ohm PA speakers. The service could not have been better. If you're looking for speakers. Give those guys a call. You can find them google.

If you buy one, you won't regret it. Best bit of kit I ever bought.

[quote name='bigjohn' timestamp='1333833129' post='1607253'] Where can I hear is lasted material? Any thicker than Peaches and I'm gonna need some thinners. [/quote] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_k1aE0Fvqo&feature=youtube_gdata_player ...... at about 40 secs, it becomes bass heaven.

If you're going to have only one bass ....... it has to be a USA Fender Precision. Don't accept any imitations. Fake is fake. Get a real one.

How much are they nowadays and how long would you have to wait for one?

Hi - do any of you guys play using backing tracks? I played in a three piece - bass, guitar and drums .... and then the drummer quit. But we carried on with a drum machine ..... and then created our own custom drum backing tracks. It actually works rather well and has opened up a few smaller (but still as lucrative) venues. Does anyone know of a foot controller which can be used to cue up backing tracks from an iphone / ipod / ipad? We presently attach an iPod to one of our mic stands and cue manually. It would be nice if we could do it by foot pedal which would be a bit more discreet. I've seen this [url="http://goo.gl/JMXO5"]http://goo.gl/JMXO5[/url] which might to the job This might also work [url="http://store.griffintechnology.com/stompbox"]http://store.griffin...gy.com/stompbox[/url]...... although I'll need to get verification that it will be able to cue the iphone / ipod / ipad music player. Anyone else got any experience of doing this?

You CAN go straight into a power amp - even with a passive bass like a Precision. I've done it a couple of times. You'll get surprisingly low volume though, even if you a big powerful amp. Active basses are a bit different. They interact with power amp somehow .... and hey presto, you get power somewhere akin to what you'd expect from the amp. I stopped doing it, as although my P bass is the ultimate in tone heaven, you do need to be able to tweak an EQ. Best to get a bass amp for that.