mcnach

Well, after last night's rehearsal, we have at least 8 new original songs added to our setlist, so things are looking good. Five were already known by everybody except the drummer, and he's picking them up fast. We haven't played those at least in a year. Three were works in progress that were never gigged. We are probably going to be able to include a couple more... so it looks like we will be doing only two covers, and three mini jams (one per set). One of them worked beautifully last time and people just continued dancing even when we were wanting to move on, so the initial 3min turned to 5-6min... cool What this is doing to us is make us realise we have TONS of material half baked, and some of it is really good (even if I say so [1]) so we are going to use the momentum to work on new stuff over the following months. [1] I was a fan of the band before I joined. The core of the band are the three guitarists (yes, three... but don't worry, they understand space ) and they've known eachother since school. Together they have hours and hours of home recordings which we sometimes listen back and discover songs in... so some of the material that I think is great has nothing to do with me (although, of course, my basslines take them to a new dimension ) I simply just like a lot this music. I also have hours of recordings on tape and the computer... but 99% is pretty uninteresting when I listen to it again a few weeks later.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1343829382' post='1755902'] Play "Comfortably Numb". "Freebird" is an acceptable alternative. I know this is a bit of a radical suggestion, but have you thought of writing a few more songs? [/quote] I like the Freebird suggestion although it does not really fit in our style (we're doing already one cover, possibly another one or two more max). you radical suggestion is a mighty fine one. There are MANY songs written, just not polished, we're going to be drawing heavily from those, but it depends on what our already quite busy drummer can manage. I'd be happy getting 12 or so new songs up to giggable level in two weeks. In our *to do* list there's already 7 of them, easy, and hopefully more... so it's not as bad as I made it look, it's not like we're going to stand tehre just jamming for hours... this is not the 70s anymore, or so they tell me

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1343760809' post='1754860'] I said the same about the video we did, there are better songs on the old album. I enjoyed it all the same, I'm going to have another watch! [/quote] Glad you did Yeah, filming was so much fun! I cna't wait for teh next one.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1343755003' post='1754718'] Difficult..but I think you are either set-up or you aren't and lashing together sets to make up time is a risky business. Keep the standard up and the times down.... I think 3 hr type gigs are fine if they just happen...but painful if instilled on an audience.. The last thing you should be doing is time-filling.for the sake of it.. IMO. [/quote] I agree, but when it is a choice between you do the gig, or you don't... A little pressure never hurt anybody It'll be alright.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1343757638' post='1754779'] Where is the next Sea Bass Kid gig, out of interest? The place that starts with W? [/quote] indeedy, at the corner of SB with the RM (whose real name now escapes me, HS?) Thursday 16th August. It's going to be a late one... so Friday morning is going to be tough.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1343751481' post='1754635'] Nice one Jose! Catchy tune that There should be more love for anything with white pickup covers these days too [/quote] Thanks we really should have done another (it's not exactly the best) but I think the idea of doing a video around Edinburgh seemed fun. White pickup covers... hmmm I have a set of Thumpers, black covers, for that bass, just waiting for the right time

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1343753329' post='1754677'] 2x45mins = QUADROPHENIA A [/quote] ok, ok, I'll get to it, I promise!!!

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1343738936' post='1754379'] Yeah, horses for courses, chief - wasn't a dig. Just my observation that, probably, the few times we've gone from "Hey, I've got 20 mins - can you do me a favour?" to "Yeah, you guys have 45 mins tonight, enjoy!" have probably been at the hands of people with problems of their own 3 x 45 sounds like a wedding gig; and I'd want those rates, for the effort. For everything else, here's 30 minutes and now I want to go and have a beer with my mates and watch the next band [/quote] I don't want to discuss rates publicly as I know they pay different bands different amounts But it's my favourite place in town, really easy gig: central, always guaranteed to have people, and if you are good the shift towards the part of the bar with the stage is noticeable Backline etc is all provided. Just show up, plug in, play and leave. I happily offer a discount for that alone, that and the fact that you say "goodnight!" and you could be in your bed within 30-40min (should you choose that, you can always try somebody else's bed Remember: originals, not a covers band. I don't know about you, but I have found it really hard to get gigs above 1h playing originals, and fees are nowhere near what you normally get with covers, usually, until you become "known". People don't normally book originals bands for weddings... although we were asked to do a birthday once

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1343726114' post='1754090'] Hmm... I'm always a bit dubious about promoters who ask for more; and more; [i]and more[/i]... In some ways, you have a set - and that's crafted to give the best performance. Tinkering with it doesn't always produce the results you want. However, it sounds like you've got it sorted. Where we have had to extend the set we've done much the same - picked a choice cover or two, and put some effort into a combination of revamping older material or finishing those songs "nearly there". I wouldn't consider adding any more banter or gaps into the proceedings. Could go very wrong. I'd rather repeat a song than add in a couple of minutes of padding. [/quote] absolutely re: gaps and chat between songs. I hate that. as for the asking more and more... I am for one glad to be in this situation. It's pretty hard to play originals and being asked to play longer than 45minutes. Covers? sure, all you want. With the covers bands I have been in, no problem, and we even get decent fees. BUt the minute you say originals, you are worth nearly nothing... at least until you show you have a LOT of fans. So because of that, we had tons of songs, but never really had more than an hour's worth "ready", and with changing drummers twice in teh past 18 months, it meant that while most of us knew many songs, we could only really play a fraction of them. I see this as a good push to get us to perfect our repertoire. In addition, if this particular venue realises that despite being originals, we can entertain people for 2h and the bar is busy... that would be great. We just want to play and get people dancing and having a good time... and hopefully have a few of them thinking later at home "Sea Bass Kid, eh? they were awesome, I must go see them again and tell my mates about them". The CD is finally recorded, so hopefully we'll be able to distribute a few during these gigs. Remember it's festival period here in Edinburgh. It's going to be really busy

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1343727795' post='1754132'] are you in marketing and PR by any chance ? [/quote] ha ha, no. A mere biologist here... but I do like to share

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1343729308' post='1754161'] Hey Hey That Ryder looks pretty good . Love the fact its a real cheapy on a pukka vid Looks pretty fun to make to. Must have been great wandering around looking miserable all that time hee hee A [/quote] Yeah, I was supposed to be serious to start, and then I am the first one to get mugged, so that was me for teh day but oh yes, it was fun. I hoe we get the long version soon. I took a spoonful of raspberry jam, so that I could spit it when I am on the ground after getting hit. But I kept swallowing it as it was so yummy... we had to repeat the take a few times Once I was full I was ok

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1343730772' post='1754201'] you know for years I wondered what was above that Scotmid [/quote] Now you know! But the sign is fake, however the gym is real. We got the keys to it and had an absolute blast there

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1343718061' post='1753961'] Thanks to Mr Lozz, I now have a set of Chromes on my Precision They feel very strange, and I've had to lower my action as the tension was much higher than the elixirs. They sound great so far. I'll have to play along with some metal tracks to see how they fit. One thing that concerned me is I had to tighten the truss rod by 1/8 turn - would have turned it more but I can get it to move any more... uh oh [/quote] If you decide you like the sound of the Chromes but not the tension, have a look at the Fender flats. I switched to them for that reason and I really like them.

I think I'm going to have a T-shirt printed

[quote name='jackers' timestamp='1343687169' post='1753835'] I've been looking at a G30, and I was just wondering how many people actually use the cable tone switch. Does it make a difference? [/quote] It makes a difference. I have it at the 15' setting, I think. With the switch in the off position it's clearly brighter than using a cable. I use 3m or 6m cables usually, but I chose the 15' (nearer to 3m) setting and it sounds pretty much the same with cable or wireless now,

Here's a video for our track "In the city"... featuring a Sue Ryder P-bass! OK, I admit that the recording was done with my Stingray... but hey. It's really confusing... there was a story that made a lot of sense, but a 5-part screen and a 3 minute song does not help. I hear there will be a much longer version where the story will be clearer. Here's the "trailer" first. [url="http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2451262435055"]http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2451262435055[/url] It was fun And here the video itself: [youtube]http://youtu.be/jeaWrBImVUk[\youtube] that's one of our earlier tracks, and not very representative of what we sound like now... I'm not sure why we chose that song, actually It was filmed last September, when our trumpet player had just joined us. The "script" was devised by our singer's brother, who did not know we now had a sixth member... so he does not feature heavily in the video... but he is there, in the background, everytime we get mugged. There may be a simpler version out soon.

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1343559253' post='1752001'] Well, I'd be careful about mixing in early originals that weren't already in your setlist - there's probably a good reason why early material was left on the shelf. But it's certainly worth taking a second look at early material to see how it can be improved, and brought up to standard. Extending some of the stronger songs currently in your setlist is a good idea - but not every song in your setlist! Look at arranging the songs with an extended break section and a few chorus repeats. Similarly, look at the song in your set where you can do an "introducing the band" section - where you can all take a turn in the limelight. I'd certainly avoid the more freeform, improvisation/jam approach. Finding the right cover versions is also a good idea - if you're particularly fortunate you'll identify some obscure songs that you can look at taking and reworking to give these a new identity in line with your bands, and play these alongside the instantly familiar covers. But, as an originals band, looks like you need to find the time to write some new material. Not your style, perhaps, but take a look at Crowded House. Those guys know how to involve an audience in a gig - extending songs, audience participation, story telling, and covers. Was at a CH gig where the guys played for over two-and-a-half hours before doing half an hour worth of encore. [/quote] Good suggestions, thanks. The old material that was left behind was not necessarily "worse", but you know how it is: the new songs always seem more exciting than the ones you've played for years. In our case that was coupled with having been recording a 10 track CD... we had a couple of demos with 4-5 tracks each, and we did not want to re-record them all, so only a couple of the old ones made it into the new recording. When the new drummer joined, we asked him to learn the new CD... and it sort of stayed there. In addition, we got a sixth member now, after being a 5-piece forever: a trumpet player. So, again, the newer tracks were adapted for trumpet... and as a result, our whole style has evolved a bit, so the older things are different. But trumpet player is happy to get a break every now and then, he says We're revamping "the rest of the best" so that we can play them with trumpet. It makes a big difference to our sound. I think that's why they put us with ska bands so often.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1343559499' post='1752005'] We had this problem last night at a pub gig. The singer booked the gig, then we found out last week that they wanted 3x 45minute sets. We have just enough material for maybe 2 sets. Fortunately, as it was a pub rather than a ticketed gig, there was enough turnover of punters that by the third set, the barman was the only person in the room who'd heard the first set. The landlord seemed happy enough and actually paid us slightly more that we'd agreed (always welcome!). We had a big group of Norwegian army lads (in town for the Tattoo) dancing to the second set, so he was probably pleased with the takings. We might start doing a select few covers to bulk out our pub gig set in future though. [/quote] and that pub's name starts with a W?

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1343669348' post='1753449'] For anyone worried about the neck profile, IF its anything like the Musicman Sterling (USA) neck that is on the Sterling 4 and Big Al 4, it is a brilliant profile. Fender Jazz necks make my hands cramp a little, but I can deal with it. The neck on the Sterling (USA) is like a step between a Stingray and a Jazz...not TOO thin...and extremely fast. IMO, anyway. [/quote] tch tch, you're not helping!

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1343650657' post='1753051'] Except I think its the other way around... maybe you could put some collars in them? [/quote] if this is teh case, this can be sorted more easily...

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1343632525' post='1752778'] Thought I'd bump this rather than begin a new thread since most of the people who have commented have the Line6. I stuck between the G30 and G50. I've read a lot of reviews where the battery door on the G30 is really fiddly, in some cases broken off, and other stories where its opened during a gig sending the batteries flying. I know the different features and plastic v. metal housing but its the battery door thing that would make me go for the G50. Obviously I'd like to save myself £100 if possible. Has anyone here had any issues with the battery door or solutions to avoid anything happening mid set? [/quote] The door on the G30 is just a bit hard to open... and close. The slidey thing works well. I don't have problems to open it, two years on, and if you close it properly (i.e.: look at the slidey latchy thing -and yes, that's the technical term- and make sure it's pushed towards the closed position) it will not open by itself. Like I said, two years of usage, not a single problem with it. The belt clip, however, doesn't inspire me confidence... so I use a Levys strap thingy for it.

I have to say that what puts me off slightly is the slim neck. I love Jazz basses *despite* the thin neck, not because of it. I wish they came with the regular Stingray neck dimensions... Not that I need another Stingray style bass...

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1343558426' post='1751991'] As long as you don't mind explaining that to every bass player you meet [/quote] I'll make a T-shirt and a sticker for the bass.