peteb

[quote name='ARGH' post='468868' date='Apr 21 2009, 06:02 PM']ahhh..the birds in lycra years...its making a comeback fella!! AND BIG HAIR!!![/quote] There's probably some towns up in the North West where they are still waiting for it to happen first time round!

[quote name='LWTAIT' post='468873' date='Apr 21 2009, 06:06 PM']i think they both are and aren't. somtimes i think some people care so much about being technically good that they forget what music is about - being fun to make and listen to. so in that way, they are opposites. but also theyre not opposites because you have to be technically good to play good music (not necessarily good at deep theorey, but you have to be able to identify when a certain note doesn't sound right, and also need good technique, be able to get a good sound etc. which i'd all class as part of being good). it's a balance, really.[/quote] Yep, I pretty much agree with you there – you do not need to be a virtuoso to play a great music and some great players are tedious beyond words to actually listen to! However, a band does need to be able to play together to some degree….

[quote name='WILD FROG SHOT' post='468509' date='Apr 21 2009, 02:06 PM']Doubt this will be the last time but, once again, music is not a competition. There are technically bad players in all generations; is it really a crime for younger people writing their own music to be below par? At least they have time to develop and improve. Surely it is more of a "lazy" crime to play solely in a covers band. +1 on the comments that bands should act as a unit rather than a group of individual fret-w***ers. I cannot really comment on nu-metal; wasn't the point to remove the face-melting solos and add some hippity-hop to get some groove back into heavier music? Also didn't it open up Metal to a new audience of kids who weren't the sad greasy-haired B.O. fuelled loners at school /adults (that never grew out of it)? Arguably, isn't being technically good (as in near-perfect theoretical knowledge and knowing what one "should" play here and there) and having "standards" the complete polar opposite to what music is supposed to be about?[/quote] NO, being technically good and having "standards" is NOT the complete polar opposite to what music is supposed to be about – if you truly believe that then I really hope that I never accidentally have to see your band play! Music is absolutely NOT a competition to see who can play the fastest or most technically, etc but the OP was suggesting that young original bands these days do not play as a unit as well as their counterparts from 10 or 20 years ago, regardless of the quality of the performance of any solos (or fret w**king as you prefer to call it) - and if a band can't perform their own music to a reasonable standard then who will be able to appreciate the quality of their material? And as for “the sad greasy-haired B.O. fuelled loners” – you obviously were not around in the 80s when there were always plenty of women around rock clubs and their main complaint was always that they could never get near the mirror the following morning!!

The Precision bass is probably the bass reference tone and I have read of session players saying that many producers always ask for that particular sound If you read the Guy Pratt book, he says that Gilmore wanted him to play a P bass when he joined Pink Floyd

Sass Jordan (Rats period) - Tony Reyes, Carmine Rojas among others

Beefy Cool idea – should be lots of fun and you WILL improve, if only because you will be gigging more regularly! I’m assuming that you will be looking to play pubs rather than corporate / function type gigs, which are more hassle and requires much more work, more initial investment, dealing with agents, matching stage outfits, etc (but on the other hand will earn much better money). You will need a decent quality vocal PA with plenty of headroom (i.e. is loud enough) – spend your money on good quality speaker cabs and amps with sufficient power rather than a fancy desk. I would suggest that at most venues you will have vocals and a little drums (bass drum and an overhead) thru the PA and rely on backline for everything else. This generally works better for smallish venues than trying to put everything thru the PA. Therefore you will need a decent quality stack (minimum 300w) with something like a 4x10 cab. The best idea is to work out what type of audience you will be playing to and pick a set that they will all know but without too many blindingly obvious songs that every other band does. Don’t be afraid to throw in a couple of slightly more obscure choices – these may not go down as well as your very well known ones, but will be the ones that certain people in the audience will remember and make you different from all the other bands on the circuit and help to build a following. I could suggest a set for a hard rock audience, but I’m guessing that’s not what you will be aiming for somehow! The good news is that pub audiences love Oasis, so you should be OK there! Gotta go now and get a shower before setting off for a pub gig tonight………….

One last thought about Jeff Berlin – he should definitely get himself a woman, or at least a mirror! No one should go out in public, let alone on stage, dressed like he does......

[quote name='51m0n' post='453561' date='Apr 3 2009, 05:54 PM']I know what you mean, his tone even weirds me out and I'm the polar opposite of you tone wise. His playing sometimes seems a little too clinical and overly clever for me too (probably I'm not intellectual enough to 'get it' - whatever), although it is brilliantly executed. He looks like a very middle aged American tourist, and some of his statements are totally nonsensical to me. Yet I profoundly respect his ability to get to the nub of what he is trying to say. Also his musical knowledge is clearly way beyond mine, so it would be stupidity incarnate to just ignore him (as if you could). I thought his entire Talkbass thread was superbly executed on his part, the exact right amount of humour in his responses, and a really good effort to defend his position on things. I certainly agree that to be a really good bassist you need to be a musician first, but a lot of the other stuff he comes up with (the usual: metronomes, warm ups, fretless) I disagree with. His school certainly teaches what he preaches and is excellent at producing really top quality pro level players. The weirdest thing I think I've heard from him is he considers Billy Sheehan to be the best rock bassist in the world. Now just the fact that Billy S. knows virtually no theory, harmonic or otherwise, and cant read a note would suggest that Jeff would really not think that of him. I really struggle to get my head around that! (For what its worth I tend to agree with Jeff on that point too, esp after hearing the Niacin stuff)....[/quote] Agree with all that – sh*t hot player, awful music, talks both a lot of sense and a lot of crap! One thing that I will say about Jeff Berlin - I don't get the impression that he is a delicate little flower who will run off in a strop if someone has a go at him! I thought that he handled the talkbass thing really well, but I got the impression that he was a touch disappointed that no one really challenged him. I get the idea that he is definitely not afraid of an argument.....

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='453568' date='Apr 3 2009, 06:00 PM']I'd do him too.[/quote] Would never have guessed that about you!

[quote name='The Burpster' post='448507' date='Mar 29 2009, 08:38 AM']Pete, If you beileve my g'tarist there has been little 'talented' music made since 1975......... In some ways I have an elemnet of agreement with him but otherways, he is sooo wrong. I feel the fundamental differance between now and then was that rather than know the physics of sound creation, artists honed their craft to perfection and played more..... Now music is broken down into channels and frequencies, and can be 'cleaned up' digitally..... negating the need to be perfect craftsmen of thier tools.... does this make young musicians lazy? No just different...... I feel that now is just a diferent time, with WAaaaay more information available, and in some ways its too easy..... Just my view FWIW.[/quote] Just to clarify, we were not saying that young musicians are less creative than they used to be or that they can’t write good songs. It was just a narrow conversation about a general lowering of standards of live performance of young rock / metal bands and the lack of the technical ability these days required to create the type of music that thisnameistaken hates! I’m sure that there are many reasons for this: new technology, emergence of types of music that require different skills, other distractions (games, etc) and just that type of playing going out of fashion. For example, I think that Oasis are a great rock and roll band (you may disagree but that isn’t the point) – exciting, great songs and above all they inspired lots of people to pick up an instrument and play in a band. However, to compare them with say a band like Extreme (to pick a name out of thin air); well there are no Nuno Bettencourts or Pat Badgers in Oasis! If you were motivated to start playing by Oasis it is unlikely that you will aspire to the same level of technical ability than a kid for whom the spark was first lit by listening to Decadence Dance!

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='448260' date='Mar 28 2009, 06:13 PM']so the segment of the industry that he's involved in has shown a (perceived) drop in talent, when what he's lookin for is the right haircut, clothing labels, and a sound cloned from the the MOTR bland, soulless, flat-packed indie-pop bile that clogs the airwaves...and NOT the musicians who try and master their instrument and produce different, new, interesting music. ...and he's suprised? It's Darwin on a shorter timescale...reward the safe bets, and the extremes will fall to the wayside.[/quote] He's actually talking mainly about nu metal rather than indie! The industry has always been more interested in image and ambition than in musical ability, that hasn't changed at all!

[quote name='BigRedX' post='448219' date='Mar 28 2009, 05:30 PM']I would to a certain extent disagree. My last band was full of teachers so we played a couple of times during "judges' deliberation" in schools battle of the bands evenings. The technical ability of the musicians that proceeded us was way above what I and most of my class-mates were capable of 30 years ago when we were of a similar age. However what was missing was innovation and musical risk taking. Not one of the bands played an original composition and instead kept it safe by playing well-known covers (even I recognised all of them). Of course I think it's much easier these days to to get technically proficient (if you have the dedication to put in the practice) there's plenty of aids available to show you how to play stuff - tabs, instructional videos etc. If I wanted to learn a song I would have to sit down with the record and my bass and work it out for myself by ear, plus my parents hated that I was wasting my time with such a low-brow for of entertainment as "popular music".[/quote] That’s pretty much what I was wondering. It’s easier now to learn to play for the reasons you mention, but do kids now have the dedication to take it a stage further! I genuinely don’t know, but according to my mate the general standard is a lot lower. Not that he is particularly bothered, he just mentioned it as an observation – he just cares whether they have commercial songs and the right haircut!

[quote name='slaphappygarry' post='448044' date='Mar 28 2009, 01:01 PM']Sweeping generalization from a pleb in a pub.... Wonderful. G[/quote] But a pleb who does this for a living and is in a position to judge! But is he right?

[quote name='mrdirtyrob' post='448120' date='Mar 28 2009, 02:55 PM']Anyone else note the spelling mistake in the title of this thread.... just putting it out there..... [/quote] Sorry about that - corrected!

I was talking to an old friend in a pub the other night who works ‘in the industry’, pretty much as a freelance A&R type (for both indie and major labels) and in artiste management. He was drinking with a guy who manages lots of nu metal type bands (some that you may have heard of) and who has had some degree of success. Anyway, my mate said that I would be shocked at the level of playing of the bands that he deals with (we’re talking about mainly rock and metal here) and that standards have dropped dramatically from when I was around 20 years ago! So, is he right? Is it true that the 20 somethings can’t play as well as their counterparts from 10 or 20 years ago?

I would hope that my rig could be described as 'punchy' (Warwick > Boogie > two SWR 4x10 cabs) I play in a pretty loud one guitar band and I need to get my sound to be heard thru a mix comprising of a loud frenetic guitar player, drums, vocal harmonies, etc I want people to feel the bottom end but hear the top frequencies. My job is to create a balanced sound out front and to fill the spaces left by playing in what is essentially a three piece

My favourite version of Addicted To That Rush - billy and paul gilbert playing in a rehersal room with just a drum machine: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wkh14D_UN4&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wkh14D_UN4...feature=related[/url]

It's a nice piece of music and there's nothing wrong with what you're playing - I suppose that you could perhaps try something that's a bit more like a solo or a few Stu Hamm type tapping chord things if that is what he wants? However, it does remind me a little of Vai’s acoustic stuff from ‘Passion & Warfare’, and Stu Hamm very definitely does not over play at all on that album!

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='425448' date='Mar 4 2009, 07:22 PM']IMO, that's exactly why it worked. If Sting had overdone it, it would have been unlistenable.[/quote] Very true - the reason that it all worked so well.....

I've always found the Rock Factory to be friendly and generally good value Try Electro in Doncaster, one of the few big shops left with lots of gear - friendly staff, sometimes prepared to do deals if you ask nicely!!

[quote name='yorick' post='418235' date='Feb 24 2009, 11:37 AM']Anyone for Marc Mendoza? except me, that is!!!![/quote] Good call - I will +1 you for Marco

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='413174' date='Feb 18 2009, 03:47 PM']Exactly. I'm a retailer (although not in the music sector), and there's little that irks me more than customers saying, "And what sort of discount can you give me on that price?" They usually end up on the end of a blank stare and an enquiry (polite, of course ) as to why they should get a discount. I have yet to hear a logical response.[/quote] The response is, my friend, once I have tried out the bass comprehensively and made clear my intention to buy, why should I buy from you and not ring round every other music shop in the country / trawl the internet for a better price! The mark up on big name basses is quite considerable (or at least it used to be a few years ago) so there is normally a bit of room to manoeuvre! I appreciate that the low volume of sales these days is unfortunately putting a lot of shops out of business, but then again, the money being paid at gigs is tending to fall as pubs / venues struggle in the present economic climate and you would be a fool not to strike the best deal that you reasonably can!

Cheers matey - very helpful

Does anybody have any suggestions for places to get two replacement pre amp valves for my Mesa Boogie M-Pulse 360? I'm prepared to pay for good quality valves rather than anything cheap, but wonder if there is anything on the market that are top notch without neccessarily paying for the Mesa name stamped on them? Cheers - Pete

Just to add that I bought a rack tuner off Paul a few weeks ago - great sale, no problems at all....