dmccombe7

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

When i audition i'm not necessarily looking for better musicians but lookng for guys to impress me with how they play whether that be the fact they are confident, competent and don't make mistakes or they simply gel together as an existing band and provided you've done your bit you run thru the songs first take. That's a nice feeling. I'm usually impressed by a well organised band. A band that turns up for rehearsals / audition and can't remember what songs they asked me to learn and then suggest we do something else that they can remember is a disaster to me and i'd walk from that. I like a band to know exactly what their intentions are i.e. how often they gig, where they gig and who is running the band. I hate when a band needs to ask each other what the main structure of the song is and what comes next especially at an audition Dave

If its an 80's metal band you'll already have these in your trousers.

I'm learning a lot from this thread to be honest. Dave

Think its all been said before on the thread. I've done so many auditions and only failed one in 40yrs playing. The one i failed was because i wasn't 100% into the style of music and from the word go just didn't feel right with the band members. Other than that i always learn the requested songs inside out. If its a covers band i'll learn the song exactly as the original. If i start playing and they are not playing exact to original i'll relax a bit and ease off to adapt to their style of playing. Some bands prefer bass to be exact and allows the guitarist to drift a little. That usually makes you the more competent player and gets a little respect for it. With originals material where the song they've presented for the audition has no bass then i would stick to holding the rhythm with the drums. If basic root notes is what it takes then do that but in some prog bands they are looking for a bit more and want to see how you can add to the song. If you have time before the audition learn different parts for the song and ask their opinion what fits best. I normally ask for their set list and learn a few more of their songs (time permitting) Shows you are keen to join. Take a bottle of water for the audition if its a ful rehearsal slot with the band and a snack bar of some kind. Make sure your gear is in good workng order and that strings are relatively new. If you have more than one bass take the one that you feel most comfortable with. (I usually take my Jazz as its my goto bass) Don't forget your tuner. Don't be late. Be friendly but never pushy at an audition. Listen to what they are saying and get a feel for their personalities. Who is the dominant leader type and make sure you connect with the drummer as he wil be paying attention to what you do. Don't ad-lib too much. I'd rather play root notes than attempt to show off how many different styles i can play. Never play between songs when people are talking either. That's one of my pet hates at rehearsals. Hope this helps and let us know how you get on. All the very best Dave

I remember learning this song when i first heard it and hadn't played it for many yrs. 6 yrs ago i was asked to do it again and while learning it from manuscript i was sent from someone on BC and by ear i actually cam across Neil doing a live festival type gig using his Kramer bass, The tone was so sharp and clear it was easy to pick out the bass part and you could hear the ad-lib. That was a better version than the album for me. The start of that song when the bass kicks in is instantly recognisable. An absolute classic song. Dave

Not heard that in such a long time. Was probably my fav YES album. That and Going For The One. Thanks for posting. Gonna have a wee listen to that album now. It just brings back so many great memories of that era.

I know we had silica gel bottles on our large transformers that electricians replaced once a year i think, so does it depend on what type of silica gel is used. No expert and just guessing. Dave

That's a good idea. I do have my basses on the wall right enough but could do it with my main goto bass. Cheers for that one Dave

Anyone know what bass he's using in that clip. Its like a Warwick with Di Marzio PJ pick up config. Dave Edit to say i think it might be an early Spector bass ?

Jack Bruce was probably my biggest influence yrs ago when i was learning. Over The Top and few other session albums he did were fantastic. Had the good fortune to see him at our local pub venue (held 300 people) during the 80's with Clem Clempson on guitar think it was simply called Jack Bruce and Friends tour. He was so loud the local police station a mile away complained of the noise. It was a summer evening and the venue had all the windows open. They had to close the windows but Jack was just phenomenal on bass and vocals. Using his Warwick fretless at that time too if i remember right. I have some of the official pics that were taken at the gig. Also great with B.L.T. Bought that album and it was quite a powerful trio. Dave

Like for like gauge i find they are a little tighter but its not horrendous. I'm trying to remember back to the day i first used them as to whether i needed to adjust the neck to suit them. Maybe someone else can comment on that. I would think they have the tension feel of a gauge up from my normal strings. I typically play 40-100 and recently tried 45 - 105 which feel more like the 40-100 Elixirs if that makes sense. I'm gonna try them on my Jazz when next due which should be end of the month. Not had them on my goto basses for some reason. I've also used them on my fretless 6 Overwater and they were pretty good on that bass I had to get a taperwound for the B tho but it was a few yrs ago now. I went back to Overwater strings on my Overwater fretless. Dave.

Nothing worse than rusty nuts.

Not tried that but worth a shot. Do they last much longer after doing this ?

Are you sure that its not day follows night Just following in the tradition of BC debate on everything Dave