peteb

I have Barts on both of my passive Fenders (Precision & Jazz bases).

oops, double post

To be fair, it's only a fact because you say it is - we haven't heard the guitarist's side! Now, I think that you are probably right and what he is doing is totally unreasonable / incompetent and that he is pretty clueless. For me, the interesting thing beyond your own particular circumstances, is how musicians in different but similar situations can navigate band politics when these types of things arise.

The thing is that I don't know whether you are right, because I haven't seen your band play and I don't know (by reputation or otherwise) any of the musicians involved and you can't point to any past track record to say that you are the one who is in the right. Everyone commenting here is taking your side because you are a regular poster on this bass forum, but no one really knows. For what it is worth, what you say rings pretty true and I image that it's likely that you are right, but I certainly can't say that for certain. But the bottom line is that you find yourself without a band because of a falling out with the de facto band leader for whatever reason. For me, the interesting thing is what an inexperienced bass player can take away from this thread and how they can learn from your hard-earned experience.

Well the OP has been forced out of a band because he has had a fallout with the guitarist, who was in effect the band leader. This seems to be because of the guitarist's timing issues, but I don't really know who was actually at fault there because I've never seen them play.

That was my point about six pages ago! It is very hard really know how to take these types of thread - I've never seen these guys, so you really don't know how good / bad they are so you don't know who is in the right! I've played with guys with big egos, but never where they have issues like this. It was inevitable that it was going to end this way.

Well, that was sadly inevitable

I think that it has been pretty well documented that Page's drug use and Bonham's drinking had taken their toll by the time In Through The Out Door was recorded.

Page was by all accounts on a bit of a downward heroin spiral at the time and the band was starting to fall apart. I would love to have seen them at Earl's Court in 75, when they were at their peak.

Page was by all accounts on a bit of a downward heroin spiral at the time and the band was starting to fall apart. I would love to have seen them at Earl's Court in 75, when they were at their peak.

Page was by all accounts on a bit of a downward heroin spiral at the time and the band was starting to fall apart. I would love to have seen them at Earl's Court in 75, when they were at their peak.

Page was by all accounts on a bit of a downward heroin spiral at the time and the band was starting to fall apart. I would love to have seen them at Earl's Court in 75, when they were at their peak.

Page was by all accounts on a bit of a downward heroin spiral at the time and the band was starting to fall apart. I would love to have seen them at Earl's Court in 75, when they were at their peak.

I really wanted to see Zep at Knebworth in 79. Unfortunately, I was just a little too young...

This sums it up pretty much. I have played in many 'power trio' types of bands and the secret is getting as full a sound as possible and learning when you play busier parts, when to keep it simple and when to leave gaps. It also needs the guitar player to develop his approach to playing in a three piece. Some guitarists love the freedom it gives them, but some prefer to have another guitar there and the possibilities that gives to work as a team. Pedals are not the answer (at all) and the type of bass is pretty much irrelevant. It is just something you learn how to do and a slightly different approach to playing in bands with more instruments on the bandstand.

That used to be my local back in the 80s! I do like a decent blues jam - shame that they didn't start the jam there 20 plus years earlier...

Yea, I sold my 78 P bass to buy a Guild Pilot in the mid 80s. Not the best move I ever made, although I did recently buy my old P bass back (for 5x what I sold it for)!

Probably the best thing for it and certainly easier than carrying it down the stars. I assume that he gigged it the next night without any issue...

Yes, it can quickly become a bit Spinal Tap. I know one band (not exactly the best band on the circuit, but I did dep for them a few times for my sins), where the BL's girlfriend used to come to gigs and rehearsals and then started to email band members with notes on their performance, good and bad. To be fair, he did dump her not long after she started doing that...

Catch 22 again - do you want to leave the band and pull the gig and for them to blame you and tell everyone that it was your fault? I would do the gig and see how it goes.

To be honest, that all sounds a bit chaotic. I agree with Mart to do the gig and then reappraise the situation. The trouble you have is that you haven't done a lot of gigs over the years, so you are not known to a wide pool of musicians who might want you to join their band. It is a bit of a catch 22 situation, do you stick around to get your name better known or do you leave a dysfunctional band?

I wasn't in the room so I don't know exactly what happened. But then again, I've been in rehearsal rooms where far worse than that has happened and everyone managed to stay friends afterwards. Peter has said that he generally gets on with the guitar player apart from this issue, so just sort out this issue.

But is that what he is doing? The drummer, who seems to gig a bit seems OK with the guitarist's approach, so presumably he can follow and I'm guessing that 'a couple of bars' is actually 4 or 8 bars. If not, there is not much you can do and he's just a cr*p guitarist, but if the others can follow what's he doing then presumably that isn't the case. If nothing else, getting him to start giving cues will make him think more about what he is playing and not get too random. I've played a lot of blues gigs, where when you start a song you have no idea if it will last for three minutes or twenty minutes. But the main band leader / guitarist I am thinking of here was very definite in his cues (and could also read the room, so he wouldn't go too long if he was losing the audience), so there was never any car crashes.

So, the real issue is that you need to chat with the guitar player and work out how you are going to cue things like extended solos. There is no point in running away from a band every time you have a minor issue, or you will never get anywhere. Better to sort out a way of dealing with those issues.

I think you can see what’s going on here, especially the looks between the drummer and guitar player! The others have all played together and are pretty much on the same page. They also seem to accept the guitar player as the band leader. Therefore, in the context of this band, the issue is you! If you are going to play in bands, you have to accept that most good musicians (and a lot who are not very good) have egos to some extent. So, you have to learn to deal with it. You can come on Basschat to moan about things and you will always get the same sympathetic response telling you to either leave or to confront the band leader in such a way that you will get fired. But if you want to play in bands then you have to learn how to deal with things like this. I would reckon a way forward is at the next rehearsal you suggest that you think the band needs cues from the guitarist, either visual or he plays an agreed phase to signal that the solo is coming to an end. You can point out that this is how pro bands generally do things. This will at least make the guitarist think when he is going off-script, make it easier for you and hopefully make any car crashes onstage less likely.