peteb

SAHB possibly - don't think that Dumpy's Rusty Nuts & Pink Fairies were that big in this country, let alone anywhere else...!

That one wasn't Scott's finest hour

Very much so

It depends where you are playing. It is self-indulgent to play a set full of unknown original material on a pub gig where the audience wants to hear classic rock (or whatever) covers...

I have to disagree, to an extent. Our job is, first and foremost, to entertain. However, there has never been a great band (even at a covers level) that doesn't have an element of self-indulgence. Of course, there is a line - no one wants to hear a seven minute bass solo version of Chromatic Fantasy at a wedding gig, no matter how good you are! But as you say, the better you are the more you can get away with. It helps if you can judge things on their own merits and not get too precious - for example, I quite like that Toploader song...

I generally won’t audition these days. Everyone local has seen me play and if they want me involved in their project, they can ask me and I will do it if I’m interested. If it was a bigger artist from outside of the area, then obviously that would be a different thing but that doesn't seem to happen unfortunately. I can’t remember the last time I auditioned anyone for one of my projects either – invitation only! When I did do auditions, I generally did pretty well at getting gigs. I’m pretty good at busking, which always helps at auditions, even though I would obviously make the effort to learn any songs that they gave me. I’m big on listening to the drummer and trying to lock in right from the off and I have always got a good bass sound, both of which help as well. My main problem was always that I don’t have strong BVs, which has cost me a few decent gigs.

A lot of U2 and Foo Fighters tributes around

I usually play with a single guitar player and tend to boost the low mids a little and cut hi mids. Sounds nice and full and there is no problem cutting through a pretty sparse mix. I did the same last Saturday when I was playing in a band with loads of big keyboard sounds and I wasn't cutting through, so I took a little low mids and bass out and it worked fine. It all depends on the room and (especially) the makeup of the band you are playing with.

Yes and no. What we've done so far for the Magnum tribute is to take the arrangement from a live performance from the 'classic' period as a template, but not stick slavishly to it. For example, the arrangement for Midnight just didn't work, so we combined the live version with the single one. As far as I'm concerned it's a tribute rather than a copy and I've approached the bass parts as what I would play if I actually got the call to play for Magnum. If you saw the clip I posted above, the guitar player very obviously isn't playing the same part for the solo as Tony Clarkin, but hopefully it is sympathetic to the original.

This has been suggested already - we're looking into it...!

Hi Dave - yeah, we are aware that's how it usually works and are talking to various other tribute bands. There is an issue of finding the right bands to work with to put a show on. There is certainly devoted Magnum fans, but it would be nice if there are enough for us to headline the better venues on the circuit. Would be great to see you at a show sometime...

Brilliant first gig for the Magnum tribute band (A Storyteller’s Night) last night, supporting Backstreet Thunder in Rotherham. A decent sized audience, great crowd reaction, and quite a few came specially to see us (some from as far away as South Wales and from Co Durham). I’ve put a clip over on the tribute thread if anyone is interested.

All in all, a great night. The band was pretty good for a first gig. The main issue is going to be finding the right venues to play. There is obviously a devoted Magnum fanbase and a lot of them seem interested in the band, but can we get enough to pack a place to be able to headline in our own right??

First gig for the Magnum tribute band (A Storyteller’s Night) last night, supporting the excellent Backstreet Thunder in Rotherham. All went really well: great crowd reaction, lots of positive comments (both from the audience on the night and on social media) and quite a few came specially to see us (some from as far away as South Wales and from Co Durham). Clip of ‘How Far Jerusalem’, filmed by a student of the guitar player – a bit up close and personal but gives an idea of how it went…

Scott lives only a few miles down the road from me. I’ve never met him but everyone who has says that he’s a lovely chap. I would never pay money to join SBL (I don’t suppose that it is really aimed at guys like me) but I have no problem with the way he runs his business (in fact I applaud his enterprise). I do subscribe to his email newsletter / YouTube channel, which is sometimes interesting and sometimes just get closed down after a minute or so. I do have a couple of issues with SBL though. First, his emails are getting a bit spammy these days: last chance to enrol for this wicked course, definitely the last chance to enrol, I know I said it was the last chance before but now it really it really is definitely the last chance, etc, etc. Secondly, I’m not sure how useful some of his lessons actually are to the type of guys who subscribe to them. He says all the right things about groove and so on, but everything I’ve seen seems very much geared to playing fusion / jazz, with an emphasis on being able to solo. I mean how many people really need to be able to play like Gary Willis?? I sometimes think that teachers often take this approach as it can be a never-ending journey to keep students on their programme forever, whereas you could teach someone what they need to take away to become a decent bass player who could get regular gigs much quicker. I know he does do other things in SBL, but I saw his introduction to his blues course and, to be honest, it didn’t seem that great. I’m sure that SBL is a great focus for many of his students to focus on their playing and they get something out of it, but equally I think that many would be better advised to learn from other sources…

I quite like Gerry's bass solo on Bad Penny (plenty of clips on YouTube)

Wouldn't buy a ticket then if I was you...

If you are going for a Fender then I don't think that you can go wrong with an American Standard from about 2012 to a couple of years ago - CS p/ups and graphite rods in the neck, etc Personally, I would avoid those made in the 80s and be very careful with 70s models - some great, some complete dogs (I've had one of each)!

My pet hate was salesmen talking nonsense to sell what they happened to have in stock. I have always trusted Mark since he advised me to buy a cab that he didn't have from someone else because he reckoned (quite correctly) that it was just what I needed.

That's great value. If I was looking for a new amp that would be the first one I would be trying out!

That's a great video with some very useful concepts. Are you thinking of doing a follow up concentrating on note placement and how to 'feel' when you are playing on top of the beat, behind the beat or bang on the middle of the beat? To me, being able to control note placement and if you want to play in front, behind or on the beat is the mark of a top bass player.

PT has just released his follow up video in this series. Another great video, even a lot of this is pretty much just common sense to me, but it seems that it might not be to a lot of people (including plenty on BC)

We have had a bit of contact with Al, who has helped us with a few copyright issues on merch, websites, etc. He does seem like a nice guy. We've also had some positive feedback from other members of Magnum, which is cool. No gigs booked in the north east yet, but I would imagine that we will get up there sooner or later. If you are interested, hit up the Facebook page, which will keep you notified of any gigs we have coming up. Who knows, we may end up on the same bill at some point??

Good video, should be compulsory viewing for people who complain that they can't find bands. It's not rocket science really - be a good player, play with as many good musicians as you can, get on with people and don't act like a d1ck, make contacts and network...