dmccombe7

CD's for me. Still have all my own and wife's vinyl collected over the years including my first Beatles single at age 3 in 1963 for my birthday Prefer CD quality and ease of use to vinyl tho. Some music i have downloaded usually if no other options available. Use my ipod in car altho that's full of my own collected albums saved on my laptop. Converted all my cassette albums onto CD's yrs ago and then uploaded them onto Windows Media few yrs back too so i can use on my Ipod in car. Dave

Me too. Most bands have a PA anyways and a basic lighting rig for a band is only a few hundred quid upwards. 👍

When you say sound and light contract are we talking solely for the band use or is this a contract to cover all areas of the event. I know some US weddings can be quite lavish to say the least with several hundreds of guests invited. Dave

True, poor choice of words on my part Blue. Really odd how things are so diferent over here. Weddings bands here have all their own gear incl PA and lighting and can charge up to £3 or £4k depending on wedding event but i believe typically you will pay a minimum of £1-2k for a decent wedding band. Its possible you might be spot on with regards playing full time. I have a feeling my current band might go down that route or as close to it as poss keeping in mind they all play in other bands except for me. One band is enough for me. Once the money starts coming in and the gigs are enjoyable fun (Glam Rock covers) i can see them wanting more gigs with this band. Their other bands only bring in a few hundred pounds a gid between 4 or 5 of them. If we end up playing once or twice a week i don't think it will be so difficult for me as being retired for 2 yrs now i don't regard weekends as anything special to look forawrd to. Every day is a weekend for me Dave

Never heard of Kayak before but they sound pretty impressive. Will give them a bit more investigation.. I was a big prog fan from late 70's too including Camel and Alan Parsons. Thanks for the heads up on them. Dave

Blue Would it not be worth your while lookng at wedding or function bands as they generally make good money over here and the bands i know are in great demand every week with gigs paying several thousand £'s a gig. If i was playing for money i think that's the route i would be looking at and with your years of experience surely that would be quite easy fro you to play. Dave

We've had this debate before Blue. We are both In it for different reasons. Worked out Approx £100 a gig so looking at circa £700 - £800 a month. That's roughly$900 - $1050 USD a month. I just want to keep playing as my hobby rather than as a job. I have a fear that if it becomes more like a job it will become more of a chore and i won't look forward to all the work and effort that goes into playing gigs. That's just my own personal viewpoint of course and it may be that i would love gigging twice a week but will never know. Dave

Its something i always make a point of asking nowadays. How often do you intend gigging. I'm in the 1-2 times a month with occasional extra gigs. Some band have said maybe every 6-8 wks or just special occasions like local festivals and others have said they gig minimum once a week but usually twice a week. That was the band that surprised me. As much as i enjoyed the music and they were all exceptionally nice guys i just found twice a week every week a bit too much. There were other reasons for leaving tho. Asked to learn 34 songs in 3 weeks (no probs< did that) but then asked to learn another 20 songs in 10 days without rehearsals and different keys from original recordings was all just a bit too much for me and it had become a chore learning that amount of songs a 2nd time around. Dave

Anyone on here ever changed out the pick ups on their Overwater Contemporary J4. Mine isn't the Tanglewod version but was put together by the Overwater guys from parts prior to the deal with Tanglewood. Doesn't even have a serial number. I believe the pick-ups and pre-amp to be same as Tanglewood one tho. I like the bass, its really quite nice to play but the pick-ups sound nasal and lacking depth if that's the right description. Hard to describe even with new strings its always lacked something. Like a MM without the guts and depth even turning the bass up it just becomes boomy but not sharp and clear like a MM. Was wondering if anyone has replaced them and/or the pre-amp to what and what difference did it make to the sound. ? Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful. Dave

Sod that. Dave

I've been playing for over 40 yrs but my memory for remembering songs is not so good. I have no problem with my current set list but once i leave a band and move on i shut out the songs from the old set list. It stems from my type of job where i have focused on getting things repaired as fast as possible and get Gas plant back on line ASAP. As soon as one prob sorted its forget and move onto the next. Been doing that for 40 yrs. Its just rubbed off on my song retention. It only takes a quick refesher and i'm back on them tho but i'd struggle with anything more than 2-3 yrs ago without going thru them at length to refresh myself. That's why i learn the songs by ear and also write down every note i play along with song structure. It gives me 2 options of song recall. My memory of what i heard and with what i have written down. I visualise the notes on the page. All helps a failing old memory Maybe its an age thing.

Perhaps i worded that incorrectly. Just meant there's no right or wrong way to learn. Its down to what suits him and again this debate is now taking away from what the OP asked for. Dave

There's a debate going on about what each other thinks is correct. Surely offer the advice and let him decide for himself whether one way or another is right for him rather than a continued debate about which way any other individual thinks is right or wrong. All i'm saying is offer the advice and let him decide if its right for him. So far the advice has been really good no matter what anyone thinks and each has its own merits but its not up to us to dictate what is right and suitable for the OP Dave

The OP asked for advice and moral support to help him stay focused on what he wants to do. Lets not turn this into another "He Says, She says" arguement. We all have different views on how to learn and improve. Offer him the advice and support and let the OP take from it what he will. Dave

That is so nice and what a great bass tone.

I like that idea 15mins reading every day. That makes a lot of sense and have now added the book to my wish list for Xmas. I can already read but nowhere near sight reading. I still need to sit down and work my way thru a passage but i use it as a tool for learning songs. I quite fancy polishing up on my technique tho. Been playing for over 40 yrs and its never too late to learn and improve what you are doing Dave

For me that's ridiculous. Did they give any reason why singer wasn't there. I would have doubts about them if the singer didn't bother showing up. At the end of the day he's the frontman of any band and without vocals at a rehearsal it becomes a free for all instrumental jam session. With reagards jamming i'm not a fan of that these days. Used to do it all the time when i was 18-20 yrs old but for me its a bit of a waste of time to me. Maybe on a rare occasion during a band rehearsal break i'll go off on a wee jam session with drummer or maybe in the Originals Prog band we might have done that but not at an audition. 5 or 6 people for an audition over a day is about usual i've been to. For me i just learn the songs as best i can and even if i'm nervous i want to appear confident in front of them. Hopefully you get the gig if its what you want altho i'm not sure about them with regards the singer not showing up. I've never heard that before. Dave

I live out in countryside so any rehearsals or gigs are usually about 40 miles from where i live. I have a limit of 1hr drive or 40miles. That takes me to one of the best Central Glasgow rehearsal studios. If i didn't drive i would need to get a bus that runs once an hour and then a train that runs once an hour and then a bit of a walk from station to rehearsal studio at the other end. There's no guarantee that bus and train link up so if you happen to get to the train station and train has just left you need to wait another hour so its not practical if you have a time slot at rehearsal. I currently rehearse on a Sunday so no peak traffic to worry about. I used to finish work at 5 and go straight into Glasgow at peak time. My work was only 18miles from the studios but it would take me an hour and 15mins nose to tail traffic on the motorway. Most i've done is 60 miles to a rehearsal but had relatively quiet motorway roads but that was just to help a band out during start up. My current band is well worth the travel as i'm enjoying it more than other bands i've been in recently. No ego's and just nice guys and all have an input into what we do. We all had a common interest prior to this band in Glam Rock music. Dave

I'd check out 2nd hand Ibanez BTB range. I had an ESP Ltd 6er to start with and string spacing was quite narrow at 16.5mm. I would try and keep string spacing the same as your 4 or 5 string basses. The width of the actual neck didn't really bother me when i went for my Overwater custom 6 fretless. I just couldn't get used to the ESP string spacing and kept missing strings when playing fast and changing a lot between basses. I did go back to preferring my 4 stringers tho and currently my Jazz is my goto bass for everything unless asked to use 5 or 6 for something specific. Dave

Bass is important to me and now that i have no work to worry about its probably my main focus in life but i like to balance it with other things i enjoy. Playing in the band will always take priority over the other things but i don't spend every waking minute playing or practicing. Its a hobby for me and i would like to keep it at that level. I don't want it to become a job that takes up all my time or brings in all the stresses that a job entails. I probably practice at home about 1-2 hrs a day, rehearse once a week with the band and hopefuly when we are ready to gig we will be lookng at 2-3 gigs a month. I'm happy with that. For many yrs up until i retired couple yrs ago at 55 my work was the main thing in my life. It got to the stage it dictated everything about my life. I stopped playing in bands because of the "expected" commitment from the company i worked for who wanted me to be available whenever they called and i fell for that c**p. Enough was enough and i retired early at the first available chance i got. No regrets whatsoever. I now believe in a better life balance and other hobbies like walking, cycling, gardening, Harley Davidson bikes, fast cars and sad to say model railways are just some of the other things i enjoy on a regular basis. Playing bass especially if i have songs to learn will take priority over any of them but not totally if that makes sense. All that said and done i'll do what my wife tells me Dave

Can't help i'm afraid but that looks great with the maple neck. I have the Rosewood active version. Dave

everywhere sorry couldn't resist that one

Cheers Ped. That's what i read before when the site changed. All clear and thanks for quick reply. Dave

Is there a charge for selling on BC ? Its been a few yrs since selling gear and was sure things had changed from a donation after selling to a fixed fee before selling ? I've decided to sell off some gear i'm not using and probably never will. Is it best to sell as individual items or all on one advert with seperate prices altho that would be a lot of pics in one advert ? Any help or advice is always welcome. I will advertise on BC first before going elsewhere if no takers. Edit to add :- i did read the short and long rules and FAQ but couldn't see anything obvious unless i missed it Dave