peteb

I played a biker rally at Pontins at Southport in December once (The Rally In The Chalet)! The main hall was ok, just full of drunk bikers, but the rest of the company was something else. You can just about imagine what type of people who would go to an old holiday camp in northern England in December - like something out of the night of the living dead...!

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1476383764' post='3153882'] I only ask because we're opening for Morland & Arbuckle a national act that does that Delta and Mississippi Hill Country blues stuff this weekend. I noticed they have a gig coming up at the Great British Rock and Blues Festival in Skegness, UK. Should be a fun gig, sound, lights and back line provided. We only have to play an hour set. I'll be home early for a change. Blue [/quote] I've played that festival - headlining the smaller stage (Jaks) on the Friday night in 2013 It's a good event, nowhere near as grim as some of the other holiday camps I've played...!

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1476144362' post='3151801'] Every musician I know who is, is gigless. Blue [/quote] I'm pretty fussy about what I play and who with and certainly won't play music I don't like but I'm pretty busy!

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1476142228' post='3151784'] Way ahead of ya, Blue. First actual paying gig in 1954 (on banjo but who is counting?) and I am still playing all the gigs I can get at 72. So don't worry about how you will be coping in 10 years time. You will be just fine. [/quote] That's really cool - gives hope to those of us hitting middle age

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1475932898' post='3149877'] To play devils advocate. Surely playing from music is more akin to mimicking what others have played? In fact it is playing exactly what others have already played. To use another analogy. Its like learning a language by reading books, its ok for theory but you only learn to converse with other by doing it. [/quote] First point - you seem to be confusing knowing some musical theory with reading music! That's not to say that it is perfectly valid to play a line as written in many musical situations. Second point - yes

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1475700767' post='3148158'] It's interesting to see that people class being able to copy or learn to play a bass line, as being able to play. Whilst I totally understand that for many it's all about the playing with others, and doing gigs. To me it's kind of like buying a painting by numbers set, and saying you can paint. [/quote] [quote name='ambient' timestamp='1475706324' post='3148196'] By painting by numbers, I mean someone learning a song/cover without really having any understanding of what they're actually playing. Getting a piece of TAB off a website, sitting down and watching someone play it on Youtube, or listening to it on Spotify and just copying it, isn't playing a musical instrument, and least to me. It's like painting all the number 2s red, all the 5s brown and ending top with the Mona Lisa or something. [/quote] Whilst I completely disagree with your first statement, I can see where coming from with the second. To be a decent musician you do need to have a reasonable understanding of how music works beyond merely knowing where to put your fingers on the fretboard.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1475455236' post='3146079'] Never. No one touches my bass and I never lend my back line. They are the tools for my job and represent a substantial investment on my part. This is one rule that is fixed in stone. [/quote] I really don't understand that. I'm sure that I have pretty similar type of gear to you and while I wouldn't let a drunk punter have a go on my bass, if you were at the gig I would be more than happy to get you up to sit in or try out my bass / rig if you wanted to (or use my bass as a spare if we were on the same bill). Similarly, I have on a few occasions lent my amp to mates when theirs has been in for repair to help them make a gig and similarly I have borrowed amps that belong to friends a couple of times when mine was in the shop. Obviously it always has to be guys you can trust, but sometimes you have to help people out and in return they will help you when you need it...

[quote name='louisthebass' timestamp='1475358255' post='3145416'] I've got an iGig515 bag - not light, but offers great all round protection especially if you've got a bass with a 35" scale. Mono Vertigo (lighter bag) is also a good bag - have got one of those as well. [/quote] Is it still possible to get iGig bags in this country?? I've got the double bag that has done hundreds of gigs and still going strong. Great bag with loads of storage.

[quote name='spiltmilk_2000' timestamp='1475339431' post='3145205'] Sorry to hijack but does anyone have any experience of the gruv gear gig blade?? [/quote] Yep, I've got one! A very nice gigbag with some good features but not as easy to walk with it over one shoulder as I thought. Still, a good bag.

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1475185224' post='3143943'] I had that book as well. The flexi disk was a pain and sounded dreadful. Must have worked though, still playing after 30-odd years. I learned by reading the book, playing along to records & joining bands. [/quote] Is that the book with the picture of the cool looking black dude with an Afro and a Precision sat on a stool?? If so I followed exactly the same course as you with the addition of a handful of lessons above the local music shop with a keyboard player who doubled on bass, which were quite good actually and gave me the confidence to keep going...

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1474791326' post='3140446'] Thank goodness for the high quality replacement and upgrade industry that grew out of the reality of owning and playing a Fender in the 70's. [/quote] Yep - I've never had a Fender that I have kept stock [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1474791692' post='3140451'] Exactly. Fender have finally addressed their issues and then they bin the model. Strange decision, but this is where they should have been in 1975. I was going to say that Fender know their business, but, after getting so close to Chapter 11 maybe they don't. [/quote] Ironic isn't it - 40 years to sort out QC issues then they stop making them (if it's true of course)! [quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1474792661' post='3140461'] I get the 'Fender' sound and how many people want it but so many builders now do it better at a lower price. [/quote] You and I know that - unfortunately there are so many others who don't...!

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1474750051' post='3140295'] People see a badge and want it. Like wine, tasting with their eyes. Snobs as most people call them. [/quote] But there is more to it than that! Fender created such an iconic image and the reference sound for so much of popular music that many band leaders and producers (not to mention audiences) just want to you to turn up with a Fender bass. I pretty much started out on 70s precisions, but after a few years decided that there were better basses out there and sold them to get a variety of instruments over the years (some great, some not so great). However, I have recently got a couple of American Fenders as that is what people seem to want to see me play in certain genres. When I got a 57RI Precision a year or so ago the drummer / band leader of one of my bands was going on about a gorgeous bass it was and saying that his (very good) bass playing mate was saying ‘Pete’s got a proper bass at last’! The guitar player (who should know better) was going on about how it sounded better in the mix, etc. Now there is no way that it was better than the Xotic jazz that I was using in that band before, but you cannot deny the appeal that a traditional Fender bass has to so many people, who just think that is what a bass guitar should be…!

I recently played an American Std Precision in a music shop and was surprised at just how good it was, easily on a par with what you might expect from something like a US Lakland. Even the CS pickup sounded great (I’m not normally a big fan of stock Fender pickups). At the same time, I tried one of the more expensive MIM P basses, which was very poor in comparison. To me, Fender’s strength is in producing the classic models that helped to define most genres of popular or rock music over the past 60 years, essentially an American built 4 string passive workhorse bass (either a Precision or a Jazz). I’ve got a Fender P bass, mainly because other people prefer you to use one a lot of time on certain types of gigs. Like others, I would prefer them to concentrate on a limited range (with a few optional upgrades) and to ensure that quality control (a problem in the past) remains high. Discontinuing the American Series would seem to be a move away from that…!

[quote name='spencer.b' timestamp='1473806619' post='3133353'] Can't imagine them working much as a pop cover band doing those tunes anyway mate [/quote] I'm sure that they will get plenty of pub gigs if they're any good. Still not sure bout [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Bohemian Rhapsody though...![/font][/color]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1473314841' post='3128904'] The current US standards are bloody good basses. I have both types (P & J), the P is 2012 and the J 2016, both are excellent. I also have a CiJ P (60s style) and a Classic 60s J, both good basses but not as good as the US standards. [/quote] I recently tried out a new Am Std P bass and I was really surprised at how good it was! By comparison, a MIM roadworn P bass I played at the same time was pretty poor.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1473094382' post='3126886'] Don't particularly want to rain on anyone's parade, but I'd actually be interested to know the names of some of the bands you guys were playing in rather than, 'Oh, I played here, here and here.' [/quote] But surely that would be terribly vulgar?? Biggest crowds I've played to have been a handful of main stages at some of the bigger northern bike rallies, about two to three thousand (bands were Spank The Monkey, or most recently Balls To The Wall).

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1472569952' post='3122214'] I've made comments about keeping a professional attitude. Even though I personally don't drink alcohol,I wouldn't drink at a gig any sooner than drinking at a traditional 9-5 job. [/quote] It should be noted that this is not necessarily the attitude of many top professional musicians. A singer that I've played the odd dep gig for was lucky enough to land a tour with a some well known musicians who used to be in a very famous British rock band. These guys certainly drank before, after and during a performance but could still play to a suitably high level . My mate (who it must be said, likes a drink himself) found it very difficult to keep up with them in the bar and then perform at a level to do himself justice. I suppose that the point is that it is not necessarily considered unprofessional to drink on a gig, but you are still expected to perform at the highest level regardless.

UFO & Thin Lizzy

the biggest gig I have played recently was a big bike rally last year. No linecheck or anything (headline band turned up late then took for ever to soundcheck so we didn’t get one) just straight on playing to 2,000 bikers. I hit the first note and nothing. Turns out I had damaged a connection when changing a battery earlier, a mate of mine fixed it in 10 minutes once we had worked out exactly what it was. I pulled my spare bass out of my gigbag and carried on as if nothing had happened. The drummer did not even realise there had been an issue until he saw a video of the gig and asked why I used a different bass! Only happened a few times in over 35 years of gigging, but for some reason it always seems to be at the bigger gigs! I know some pros only carry one bass and sometimes I do when there are space issues (always use a passive then) but I always take a spare whenever possible.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1471631294' post='3114666'] A mate of mine is a full time pro player, no teaching etc, he has a wall of fantastic basses but his us Lakland 55-94 gets all the gigs, to me the 55-02s feel a little less finished off than my 2010 Ray 5 and the 55-94s feel like a luxury Stingray to me, hard to describe but I find them just as molan describes above. If I could only have one bass it would be a 55-94, all the fun of my Rays (which have pickup switching as 5 stringers) but with the jazz pickup options I use from my Jazz 5. Proper working mans (persons!) bass. [/quote] Wasn't that their original selling point for the 55-94 & 4-94 - nothing fancy, just a deluxe stingray / jazz hybrid for working pros?? Always fancied one...

[quote name='markmcclelland' timestamp='1471338020' post='3112183'] Hey Pete Great to hear from you and really appreciate you keeping up. I hadn't thought about the tuning incident. That's a really good point in terms of being a bit of a microcosm. And yes. Let's jump to conclusions and blame the new guy. And make an issue of it right up there on the stage. And yes. I don't know their full bass player history but you might be right there too. I mean, they took that guy ahead of me in the first audition after, as they said, some debate, but then ditched him pretty quickly and came back to me. Also, when the call to end it came, I was asked if I could leave myself on stand-by if they ever needed cover in the future. I guess that says something too. Never thought about it at the time. Also, asking me to leave myself available for cover shows they can't have been that bloody unhappy with me. As for my set-up, you do also have a point but I will have to make a correction to what you've said there. First, in the original conversation before I joined, they confirmed they only played London gigs so as long as I could get myself to and from them, that would be fine - and with London transport being so comprehensive and given how well connected where I was living was, that was a total goer logistically at any time of night and day. That is until they suddenly decided they were going to play outside London with the first Luton gig. Their prerogative and an understandable move. But to then have a problem with me for not being able to get myself to and from those kind of gigs - as was quite clearly stated - was a completely unacceptable shift of the goalposts. Until then I had been able to get myself to and from all gigs. Alright there were teething problems but they would have been overcome. As for gear, this is where I have to correct you. What I had was absolutely fine. A nice big and sturdy 200w Trace Elliot. Spot on for just about any gig. That stayed in the van with them which is something I'd done with two previous professional bands in exactly the same ballpark with absolutely no issue. And to be fair, not only did I get the amp back pretty quickly, Craig also gave me a trolley to go with it which was a nice touch. And it's too late to edit it now as it's been quoted so I can't delete it so sorry. I did a spoiler. Yes, the PPs went on sabbatical not long after my time with them ended. For sabbatical I read broke up but I wouldn't rule out Craig and Matt forming a new version of the band at some point. And they have my very best wishes of good luck if and when they do. [/quote] The thing is that while they may have said that was OK for you to get to gigs by public transport, they were probably thinking it was less than ideal but that they could work around it. However, as soon as they got a gig out of town (which as always a possibility) then they seem to have decided that it was an issue. As an aspiring pro musician you ideally need to be in a position to be able to adapt to the unexpected, otherwise you are going to lose gigs to other bass players who can. As far as the amp goes, you might think that a 200w Trace combo is suitable for any gig but I’m not so sure. Put it this way, suppose that you and me had both been up for the PP gig. For the sake of argument, we will assume that we are at a similar level playing wise. You turn up for the audition on the tube with a bass and a borrowed 200w amp. I turn up in an estate car with a 410, a good 500w amp, a few pedals and a couple of quality basses (nothing unusual – pretty much the gear that every bass player in the better rock covers bands take out around here). If you can’t play then it doesn’t matter how good your gear is, but if there is little to choose between the guys who turn up then my guess is that they are likely to go with the one who seems to be better set up to play the type of gigs that they do! One of the interesting things about your blog is that we all find ourselves rooting for you, not least because the odds always seem to be against you (even more so than it is for any other aspiring pro muso). I am sure that you would agree that your prospects would be improved if you had some transport and a couple of grands worth of pro gear, but it is not easy when you are living in London working in a relatively low paid job. It is hardly surprising that the Punching Preachers decided to call it a day after it didn’t work out with you. They seem like a decent pub rock band that have just run out of steam, can’t find a line-up they are happy with and have nowhere else to go. From what you say, it seems like Craig was your champion in the band – perhaps you might work with him in the future if you decide to do a pub rock band again??

[quote name='markmcclelland' timestamp='1471273526' post='3111712'] Hey Mr Stylon. Thanks a lot for asking. Do you know what, I was thinking about that very thing after rereading it before the post the other day. I didn't want to get into the whole he said she said thing but OK. The question's been asked so here goes. First off he said I wasn't learning the new songs enough which made no sense to me whatsoever as, as far as I was concerned, I arrived to practice the best prepared of anyone with new songs - when there were new songs to be learned. The last practice, I said to one of the guys it was really refreshing to see a band come together really well prepared and he said, 'If they don't they get let go.' Fair enough I thought but then immediately thought, 'And that would be a bad thing why?' If anything, it was often me saying, 'No, it goes like this. Or, no, it's in this key, it just seems to be in that one.' Maybe with me still being the new guy that didn't sit well with them. They also cited lateness to gigs which is kind of fair enough as I did arrive at a few late as I was having trouble negotiating the transport system to new venues - and one day I got completely buggered when the timetable overground train I was waiting for just didn't come. Just removed from the timetable with the next one in half an hour or something. To make it worse, for some reason my phone wasn't working so I couldn't call them. I know that didn't go down well. On the whole, you could say, 'leave earlier.' Yep, couldn't argue with that. Fair enough. But when I did arrive late I made absolutely sure I more than pulled my weight on the setup or take down. But anyway, there were normally one or two people who straggled and were five or ten minutes late themselves. It's not like the arrival times were bang on strict and nothing was ever said to anyone. I was even first a few times and I was nearly always first for rehearsal. On one gig when I was a little late I felt so guilty at getting there to find everything set up that I made up for it by carrying every single piece of equipment to the van after. But even on that gig I was only about ten minutes late but that night they'd got there extra early and set it all up so it looked a lot worse than it was. So no I don't really know what the real reason was. Or maybe they think it was what they said, but like I said, totally refuted by me. But as I also said, it was amicable and, minor spoiler, I went to their last gig and was greeted very warmly by everyone and had a great night. Craig in particular gave me a huge bear hug and a massive exclamation of delighted surprise when I arrived. And they specially invited me to it too which was really nice. As I said, there was nothing wrong with any attitude or preparation but given my own thoughts it's just possible I was subconsciously putting things out there. I really was thinking for a while that it wasn't working out and that I wanted to leave but I hadn't been there that long so thought that would be a bit out of order. So I was thinking quite a bit, 'I hope they decide it's not working and make the decision themselves. And that's exactly what happened. As I said, it is just possible I did or said a few things or acted in a certain way to push them to come to that conclusion but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what. I think the overall vibe was friendly and Craig was great throughout all the gigs and everything but I always felt something was just a little off in general. It is just possible they didn't like all the other stuff I had going on and felt just didn't have my eye completely on their ball and was trying to make something happen for myself outside of their thing. They actually would have been right to have thought that. But as far as it being a reason, I'm really just speculating now. [/quote] From reading the blog, losing the Punching Preachers gig is hardly surprising. It seems that they are an established band with a few core members and a troublesome floating bass chair. They would possibly feel more comfortable with the original guy back in the band and anybody else just doesn’t feel right! You could tell that there were problems with the onstage tuning incident, where they were all too quick to blame you. In a band with a healthy dynamic there would have been a few comical looks and a bit of mickey taking with the whole thing being passed off as one of those things that happens on a pub gig, not let’s blame the new guy! However, they do have a bit of a point in that you are not really set up for a band like that playing those types of gigs. To be fair, you have no transport and pretty minimal gear, which maybe OK for gigs where you always have PA support and backline supplied (or where you can use in-ears and DI) butit's not ideal for standard pub gigs with a rock covers band.

One thing - without giving any spoilers, to what extent is the main character autobiographical??

Just bought the Kindle version. A bit of holiday reading in a few weeks...

Actually ot depends on the audience. If you get a crowd in a city centre pub who don't normally watch bands, then anyone bashing out energetic but recognisable versions of songs they can sing along to will do. But play in a pub where you get the same crowd watching bands every week then, believe me that's another story. They may not know exactly the reason why one band is better than another but they are quite capable of telling the difference. There is a reason why better sounding, better quality bands draw bigger audiences and get paid more...