thebrig

If the majority of punters don't notice bad tuning and mistakes, I guess we don't need to rehearse or practise anymore.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1496308816' post='3310346'] Getting serious for a moment, and picking up on a couple of comments about being one age while 'thinking' much younger, something really has changed. I'm 60 (but 17 inside) and I have pretty clear memories of my parents and grandparents back in the 60s and 70s, plus of course people like teachers and neighbours and shop assistants etc. When they hit 40 my parents were definitely "middle aged" with all the accompanying cliches. They were already going out of shape physically at depressing speed, their minds were travelling in some pretty deep grooves (I'm trying not to call them ruts), they dressed and acted like their own parents, they were increasingly concerned about behaving in an appropriate manner. My grandparents were in their 60s by my earliest clear memories of them and they were, inevitably, even more so. In his mid-60s my grandfather (after whom I'm named, and who lived in the flat above us) was, quite simply, old. He dressed and moved like an old man, talked like an old man, and already had - at least metaphorically - one foot in the grave. I was amazed that he made it through to 76. Like I say, something has changed. Maybe it's medicine, or lifestyle, or attitude, or everything, but in every way that matters I have a more youthful outlook at 60 than my Dad had at 40. I'm in better shape physically, more flexible and open-minded in attitude, and I still barely think of myself as being even middle-aged, let alone getting old. My parents were unusual people for their time; they were considered to be forward-thinking and perhaps even a bit risque. If I then think about the people the same age as my parents - teachers, neighbours, shop assistants, etc. - it just gets much worse. At one level I find myself thinking - like so many others - where did it all go. But at another level I more often find myself thinking "Gone? Who says it's gone?". [/quote]I've [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#545454]read and heard on the radio recently that up to two thirds of [/color][color=#6A6A6A][b]babies born[/b][/color][color=#545454] in the last year – more than half a million newborns – could live until they are 100.[/color][/font][/size]

I can clearly remember my first day at school aged 4[size=2], [/size] [size=2][size=4]and I can even remember who I sat next to in the class on that day, I'm now 65 and retired, and I can't remember what I did last week! [/size][/size]

I was 15 when it was released, and although it was certainly "different" and the production was great, it was probably my least favourite Beatles album.

And did he get some girlies up on stage to sing the chorus?

I appreciate that we all have different tastes, and that's great, but for me, I found tonight's show totally underwhelming.

Well I've just got home from the rehearsal and we were tuned half-a-step down from the off and the singer sounded fine, and he didn't appear to be struggling too much, but because the guitarists weren't willing to tune down a whole step, he then asked if we could try them in higher keys, and quite honestly, it sounded awful. We are not actually an AC/DC tribute band, but we do want to play quite a bit of their material, but personally, I would rather not play them at all than play them in keys that just don't sound right.

[quote name='mentalextra' timestamp='1495358047' post='3303146'] This is the problem when you are an enthusiastic fan and know every note of every song, when you hear a cover band that makes changes, it can be painful. [/quote]Exactly, that's my fear. Well I'm off to rehearsal now so I will find out soon.

I appreciate all the advice so far, and I do agree that the singer's needs comes first, but it's not just about the bass lines not having the impact, if the guitarist are playing different chord shapes etc, the overall sound just won't be right.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1495356753' post='3303129'] . . . . or choose another band to copy. [/quote]Ouch!!!

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1495355516' post='3303107'] My thoughts are that songs are written the way they are for a reason. By all means perform them in whatever key you like, but a lot of them just aren't going to sound the same inverted. [/quote]That's what I'm fearing, AC/DC songs are what they are, and I think that if we start messing around with them they will lose their impact.

[quote name='No. 8 Wire' timestamp='1495356068' post='3303115'] What drop tuning are you trying to get to? I think the rule of thumb is that you can increase your string gauge by 1 for every semitone you drop. So if you use 100 gauge, increase to 110 for a D tuned bass. You might even get to a C tuning that way. What is the guitar player doing? It seems to me that he is going to have bigger problems. ACDC uses a lot of open chords that aren't going to sound right transposed. Another way would be to play up the neck with an octave down pedal applied. [/quote]We've tried half a step which was still a struggle for the singer, I suggested we try a whole step but my guitarist friend says it's too much and the action will be too sloppy, I did suggest heavier gauge strings but he's not keen on the idea.

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1495355036' post='3303102'] I use a Digitech 'Drop' pedal. My basses are tuned in standard pitch and I use the pedal to drop to Eb. The pedal drops in half-step increments. It tracks really well. I'm in Sedgley. If you want to pop over, I'll give you a demo. Link to a YouTube video below [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ux3pEIpxjc&t=55s"]https://www.youtube....x3pEIpxjc&t=55s[/url] [/quote]Thanks for the offer MoJo, not too far from me, we are actually rehearsing this morning, so I will find out soon what keys the singer is happy with and see how they sound, I will let you know if I need to take you up on your kind offer.

My guitarist friend and myself have just formed a new band playing lots of AC/DC material, and he's brought his brother-in-law along as our vocalist because he said he can do the Bon & Brian vocals, as it turns out, he can't do them in standard tuning, we tried tuning down half a step and it was still a struggle, so now we are thinking of transposing them. First of all, I don't play, or have a 5-string bass, and I don't particularly want one, so how do I get round this? A vast majority of their songs require the low E, going up to the high E is just not going to sound right, and I feel the songs in general won't have the impact if I'm playing up the board. Any advice would be very welcome.