1 hour ago, skankdelvar said:

@thebrig - I may have misunderstood what you've tried so far but have you attempted playing this like a guitar barre chord?  That's to say,  with the index finger laid across the G D and A strings at the tenth, the ring finger holding down the D at the twelfth and hammering on with the pinky.

I've got freakishly short fingers and using a barre was the only way I could play these Sparko shuffle parts. Forming the interval by placing individual fingers on individual strings was too hard for me and a barre gave me the extra little bit of stretch I needed.

Yes I have tried that but its still too difficult and painful, unfortunately, I have a very short pinky.

Here's a photo of a hand similar to mine

Apparently Sparko developed rheumatism in his hands in 1997 which meant he could no longer play, so I think my mind is made up, I will do it my way because I already suffer from a bit of arthritis in my fingers and I certainly don't want to aggravate it 😮

11 hours ago, chris_b said:

I understand the "tribute" thing and the need to get close to the original, but hurting your self to play exactly like another player is just silly and isn't required. Get as close as you can to the sound and feel but change the lines you can't play to ones you can. An audience isn't going to give a damn what frets you're playing on and how many notes you can play at once. If Sparks played those songs now would he play them exactly the same way? I don't believe he would. He'd probably change them, so you can to. 

Whose band is it? Ask this singer if he's going to have a fag on all the time like Lee Brilleaux. See, even in the best tribute bands some things are not the same as the original.

I agree with everything you say here, as I have previously mentioned, I've played them before just like almost every other bassist in a cover band has played them (the easier way), and they've sounded fine.

And I love the point you make about asking the singer to have a fag on, I will put that to him 😉

1 hour ago, phil.c60 said:

Just play it however you can that sounds right. Any issues, ask your guitarist if he's going to get his hair cut just like Wilko's in the video.......

Played these songs in a previous band in a simplified way and they sounded great, and certainly gave the songs a bit more energy imo, I will play them at rehearsal with my back to the singer to see if he notices 😉

4 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I'm confused...you don't need to stretch, you need to pivot off your thumb...or am I missing something??? 😕😕

My index finger is planted on the 10th fret (3rd string) and my ring finger is planted on the 12th fret (2nd string) whilst my pinky is stretching to the 14th fret (2nd string), I don't see how else it can be done 🤔

Can I learn to stretch further than it seems physically possible for me to stretch my fingers?

The reason I ask is because I'm forming a Dr Feelgood tribute band and the singer wants the bass lines played as close as possible to Sparko's bass lines to help us achieve the authentic Feelgood sound, I have no problem with 95% of the 40+ songs in the set, but on a few of them, Sparko plays sort of blues shuffles much like Quo and Chuck Berry played, it's no problem for me on a guitar, but the wider fret spacing on a 34" scale bass makes it impossible for me to stretch far enough, a lot of the shapes are played on 10th fret of the 3rd string and alternating between the 12th and 14th on the 2nd string at the same time and obviously going round the 12 bar sequence on the 1st and second strings as well.

I can just about do it while sitting down with the bass on my lap and almost touching my chin, but I just can't do it on a strap standing up, I genuinely think that it is physically impossible for me because I have tried pulling my pinky to the furthest fret but it just won't stretch that far.

So is it possible with persistent practise to eventually manage it, and if so, how would you advise me to achieve it?

Sorry about my terminology, I can play, but I've never had any musical training.

Here is a good example of what I'm talking about.

It's now been deleted

Along with all the time-wasters, Join My Band seems to be full of these sort ads these days, does anyone ever monitor this site?

Buy counterfeit money, Buy fake pounds UK, Buy fake dollars

https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/buy-counterfeit-moneybuy-fake-pounds-ukbuy-fake-dollars-t1125651.html

Just thought I would update you.

I put an ad on Join My Band the following day and had two singers message me almost immediately (Friday), both saying how much they loved the sort of stuff we play and would love to audition with us (their words, not mine), so I replied to both of them straight away with a bit more info about the band, I also said we can set up auditions next week if they are still interested.

It's now Monday and I've not heard a thing from either of them, I know they both read the messages on Friday because you can see on JMB when they read them, I don't mind if they've decided against it, but why could they not spend a minute or two replying to say they are no longer interested, then we can dismiss them as potential candidates and move on?

This has happened so many times over years when seeking musicians, it would seem that courtesy doesn't exist much these days I'm afraid. 😐

We auditioned a singer last night, and to say he was awful would be an understatement.

Normally we would ask someone auditioning to learn five or six songs for a 45 minute slot, I sent him a list of 16 songs to choose from, and he said he knew them all and would be happy to do all of them on the night, so we thought that we might as well have him there for the whole two hour session seeing that he is familiar with them all.

So we left it to him to choose the running order, guitarist plays the intro, singer comes in over it, next song, same thing happens, third song, he doesn't come in at all, and all night he was singing over solo's, singing chorus's when it should have been a verse and vice-versa, and to make matters worse, he was just about the worst singer we have ever heard, the type you often get doing a drunken karaoke badly.

He did say after a few songs that it wasn't going too well, so we asked if he wanted to call it a day and finish early, but he said he wanted to carry on and we didn't have the heart to tell him to go, I know a lot of bands would have told him to go after the first song, but he was so bad, we actually felt sorry for him, and we know it takes a lot of guts to audition with strangers, and he was obviously nervous, but he was totally under prepared as well as not being able to sing at all.

Has this ever happened to you, and if so, how would you have handled it?

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

I've just auditioned for a band where drummer is in his 30's, the guitarist is 27, and the singer is 29 and she has the most amazing voice I've ever heard (think Joplin, Beth Hart, etc), when I applied, I did mention that I might be too old for them, but they offered me the gig after the audition even though I am 66, they said that they are not bothered at all by my age, they felt I fitted in well and liked the way I played, so don't be put off at such a tender age of 39, you've got many years left to rock! 😊

Not really questioning whether this is genuine or not because it probably is, but it is listed at a "Buy It Now" price of £1300 which seems very reasonable, then I saw it again listed as an auction item with a starting bid of £1800, but what puzzles me is the fact that it is listed by TWO different sellers, one is in London, the other is in Bourne, both have 100% feedback so are probably genuine sellers, one is charging £20 for shipping, the other is charging £28 for shipping, all seems a bit odd to me.

Your thoughts?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Precision-Bass-Genuine-1978-Great-Condition-Olympic-White-aged/323392507716?hash=item4b4bb20f44%3Ag%3AzUIAAOSwX4dbbSZ8&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sacat=0&_nkw=fender+precision+bass&_from=R40&rt=nc

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Precision-Bass-Genuine-1978-79-Great-Condition-Olympic-White/332762824639?hash=item4d7a35bfbf%3Ag%3Av9sAAOSwX3FbHq7Q&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sacat=0&_nkw=fender+precision+bass&_from=R40&rt=nc

In the West Midlands there are a couple of Led Zep tribute bands, one is called Fred Zeppelin, and the other band who is fronted by a female vocalist is called Miss-Led.

21 minutes ago, Agwin said:

How about an “acoustic” bass and a small but good combo at a suitably subdued volume?

Or is it actual number of musicians that’s the issue?

Or both?

Or just plain plugged in phobia?

Just a thought......

It's definitely the number of musicians in my area, most venues don't want to pay the money anymore so are hiring duo's and solo acts more and more, I know a number of landlords and they admit this themselves.

Full band = £200/250

Duo = £100/150

Solo act = £50/100

FENDER ROAD WORN 60s JAZZ BASS - SUNBURST - 2013/14

SOLD!!!

This bass is in great condition and one of the best looking "roadworns" I've seen.

You are welcome to try it out in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

1 hour ago, Jonse said:

Still available? Pm'd. 

Yes, still available. Pm'd

3 hours ago, Daveyboyrooster said:

PM sent

Replied

We might have considered taking him on, but we rehearse Tuesdays, and he "Can't do Tuesdays" 

Another JoinMyBand classic!!!

Ding ding, who wants me?

Triangle player seeks band. Can play any style. Own transport. Can't do Tuesdays.

2 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

Thanks. Should have read the spec more closely ‘cos you said that.....

No problem, I've done it many times myself 

1 hour ago, Grahambythesea said:

Is the neck width P or J?

It's a Jazz width (38mm)

I remember a few year's ago we auditioned a singer, we gave him two weeks to learn six very well known songs, anyway, when he turned up, he had his girlfriend with him who sat in the corner of the rehearsal room, we asked him which of the songs he wanted to start with, he hesitated and after a long pause, he finally suggested one but then said he would have to have listen to it on his phone first to remind him how the song went, obviously we all looked each other fearing the worst, and sure enough, he didn't have a clue how the song went, so we then suggested trying one of the other songs and exactly the same thing happened, luckily for us, his girlfriend stood up and said to him, "come on, let's go, you haven't even learn't the songs, have you? you are wasting these guy's time", she then apologised to us all and proceeded to march him out of the room, I don't think I would have wanted to be him on the way home.

VOCALIST REQUIRED FOR TERRIBLE BAND

Unreliable egotistical diva required to sing badly before their voice fails half way through the second song of each two hour set. 
The ability to come up with various poor excuses and not turn up for gigs and practices less than half an hour before they need to be there is a must. 
Must also be able to argue equally with ALL other band members and have tantrums on and off stage whilst maintaining a drunken and/or stoned condition. 
The ideal applicant won't even turn up to their own audition and preference will be given to applicants who have extremely poor personal hygiene. 

If you think you can live up to these high expectations you probably won't be arsed to respond to this advert, if not please feel free to message me here.

1 hour ago, Rick's Fine '52 said:

Fab bass in the OP, I have a near mint '53, it looks like its never been played, the neck is brand new. Investment wise, you can't go wrong, the best examples of the rarest things will always appreciate. And you get the pleasure of owning and playing it in the meantime. Here's mine;

 

Fantastic!!!