DogHammer

I own a Corvette Neck Thru $$ and also a Spector. I loved my Warwick for a long period from when I bought it. But I was looking for something lighter/easier to jump around with and after buying a Jazz, and then the Spector....... The Spector does it for me hands down. Spector plus points are light weight, wider more comfier neck, snappier sounding. Warwick plus points is the Warwick tone. I would offer for you to come and try out both, but they are leftys!

[quote name='Freddy Le Cragg' timestamp='1412630717' post='2570685'] I have one starting up next Friday.... [/quote] Where is this Open mike/jam night starting up? in the Shire?

Fantastic Idea. Just added one of my own.

Had a great gig on Saturday night. Headlined the Klub Kakofanney 23rd anniversary, at the Wheatsheaf in Oxford. Its basically a night that has run for 23 years on the first Friday of every month in Oxford, and each year they do a whole weekend. Its always a busy night and a great crowd. Also was the first time I have played synth live and it went down well. Loads of people going crazy and dancing and copping off with each other in the crowd. An amusing point was, we saw my guitarists twin brother necking this very fine lass on the dance floor through our last couple of songs. When we spoke to him after, she was only with him because she 'fancied' our guitarist and his brother looks just like him, so next best thing I guess..... Couple of badly taken photos from peoples phones. Was pretty hard with all the purple lighting apparently.

Wow, your ex-keyboard player does sound like a massive annoyance. You kept much more of a cool head than I would have. Our singer has a bit of an issue like this when hes really drunk. He will forget words, sing slurred and mess things up. But he knows how he is and its very rare that he gets drunk before a gig. Only if its one of those low key forest or barn festivals where everyone is smashed.... I seem to be blessed with getting absolutely smashed and still being able to play bass. My guitarist is the same. Though I am also starting to play synth live in the band aswell as bass, so I may need to keep a clearer head from now on!

Thanks for all the replies! Yes I agree this pay to play garbage is definitely a No Go for us. Playing a gig for free is one thing, paying to play is just silly. Just a massive downer that these promoters can actually get away with it.

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1409050349' post='2535743'] ...tell a promoter that 'yes I do have a bass amp but no it's not for all and sundry on the bill to use, I bought it, it's mine to look after and I don't know the other cheds from adam so they're not chuffin using it'...? ...any ideas? [/quote] I have this on a regular basis. We gig a lot in our city, and we all have decent valve based equipment. If a promoter asks to use my bass rig, or my other band members rigs, its a flat out: [i]No, I wont be lending out over a grands worth of equipment to another band. [/i]Then on the night of the gig, I will tape over the input socket on the amp so its clear. However, if the bassist in another band asks me before hand, with a genuine reason, I know them or we can work out some cab/amp share arrangement then its all golden.

I cant believe someone would just walk over and pick up another persons bass! I wouldn't even dream of touching another mans bass without asking. I get annoyed enough when someone plugs into my amp without asking!

Recently I have been trying to find a few gigs in London. Being an original Rock/Pop outfit from Oxford, we always gig in the same places around our home town. Its good to branch out and London is only a short trip for us. We have secured the odd gig, one coming up on the 20th of September supporting another band in a Pub/music venue. But the main problem we face is the damn pay to play promoters. Even the big ones do it for all bands outside of London. The old 'You buy 25 tickets from us to sell to your fans before you play' malarky. For them to be doing this I presume a lot of bands actually take the gigs and try to hock this ticket allowance out, just for a chance to play a gig in a London venue? Does anyone else have any experience with these damn pay to play promoters? am I being to negative about it? Anyone got any tips for getting gigs in London when your not from the city?

This: [quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1408515869' post='2530829'] you'll have to start one yourself and control it (within reason) ie, arrange rehersals, do the promo and get the gigs pretty much yourself if you want "the band" to keep going, members can be replaced, but unfortunately the playing bit in a sucessful (ie for most people that means gigging) band is just a minor part. Most bands don't really get off the ground because most musicians are pretty lazy and can't be arsed to get it together and sort the boring stuff out. [/quote] And This: [quote name='gjones' timestamp='1408516231' post='2530835'] If you do start a band, keep it small. I was in a 9 piece band a couple of years ago and trying to get them all in the same room for rehearsals was like herding cats. We had one gig in 18 months. [/quote] Someone really does need to be the driver of the band. Make it 'your' band. It can be a lot of work doing Gig bookings, Rehearsal bookings, Promotion, online media, artwork etc.. but it needs to be done by someone in the early stages. And as gjones said, keep it small. Getting 4 people to rehearsal and gigs is hard enough!

[quote name='spaners' timestamp='1408199539' post='2528029'] Don't ignore the EHX Neo Clone and Small Clone, both sound great. I sat down for two hours in Absolute music with there entire range of chorus pedals and although I had a budget of upto 200 quid I walked away with the Neo as it had the sound I wanted with min fuss . I have a TC combo with tone print and love the chorus on that too but I still think the Clone sounds best. [/quote] I have had the boss chorus, and didnt get on with it. Just sounded pants to my ears when everyone else was in the mix. But the EHX Small Clone is an awesome chorus pedal. No Fuss, one big dial on it. For cheap as chips. Never leave home without it.

Gigs have been coming thick and fast. Good old sweaty underground music venues, outdoor party's, rally's, festival, quick cancellation support gigs. Good summer all round. Some more gigs in London for September now the weathers going away.

Yes we are in the same boat. Still waiting for payment. Sounds to me like the 2 organisers have done a runner with all the ticket money.

Didn't he jump off a step ladder? And that bass, the Spector is the best bass I have owned. Better than my USA Fender Jazz, The Mex and the Warwick. Simple and punchy.

Post festival Post. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/242194-gig-breaking-in-backstage-festival-experience-post/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/242194-gig-breaking-in-backstage-festival-experience-post/[/url]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1406804842' post='2514828'] Sounds canny, but I can't see the pics? [/quote] Sorry about that, Have now fixed!

So I did a post last week asking for any tips on my first festival gigging experience, I got lots of great replies about being nice to all the organisers/soundmen, taking earplugs, spare batteries, hat... The gig went really well, it was at 2PM so the tent wasn't by any means full, but there were a decent amount of people in there. A lot of them were sat down but by the end of it were up and dancing, especially when I offered a free EP to anyone getting up and dancing. The sound guys were really good, really professional and gave us a really good sound out in the crowd and onstage, especially as I made sure I went and introduced myself the day before and was early on the day. Also we were the only band to send them an official documented Tech Rider. A couple of photos here: Notice the bass I use is the Spector Rebop MM bought from our very own WhyNot! The big acts that I saw were, Buzzcocks, Happy Mondays, Toploader and Glen Matlock. Didnt think much of Glen Matlock, Toploader were crap, the Buzzcocks were actually really good and entertaining, and my highlight was the Happy Mondays. They put on a good show and Bez is always hilarious. Also on a high after the Gig we managed to swindle ourselves into backstage when the Happy Mondays turned up. And met Bez. once we were in there, they thought we were part of the entourage and could come and go as we pleased!

Forever Sun in Dorset. Only max capacity of 5000 but was pretty good

Festival went very well. Got some good feedback. Will sort some photos out later on. Maybe in a how was your gig last night post, maybe on its own with some shots of the other bands. Thanks for the tips, got backstage and met Bez from the Mondays too!

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1406195022' post='2509154'] Ear plugs. Forget the rest ; ) [/quote] Already packed...

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1406132080' post='2508651'] One of the things I've noticed about playing outdoor gigs is the strings feel different to when playing indoors. For some reason they have a more tacky abrasive feel to them and hence your plucking fingers tend to drag rather than slide off,and your fretting fingers require more effort when you need to slide between positions. Both have the potential to affect your timing. I posed this situation on the alembic forum last year sometime when I was doing a load of festivals and Jimmy Johnson, advised me to rub my fingers on the outside of my nose in between numbers as this will make them slightly greasy and help with playing. Usually this works but sometimes when you are hot its a bit too greasy and you have the opposite problem where your fingers move too quickly off the string. Just be aware of it anyway. [/quote] JazzyVee, I have also experienced this. So much so that sometimes when digging in a bit my finger gets stuck on the string. Not like sellotape, but as its slightly tacky then I need to put more force into pulling away from the string. Hard to anticipate while jumping around, singing and playing at the same time!

Ha.... I Always wear sunglasses if I gig outside....

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1406118894' post='2508476'] Excellent, maybe some of the headliners are asking for what they are worth rather than what they[i] think [/i]they are still worth , spreads it round a bit more. I wasn't having a go, just a reply to the point about the £50 tickets and when you think of all the individuals in all the acts plus all the security/tech etc that have to be paid each day it can't go that far. I assume the food/merch stalls pay a fair whack for their pitches which will help put money in but then there is the hire of area where the event is held etc, the overheads must be pretty high. You can see why promoters for these kinds of events start getting twitchy if ticket sales are slow and they are only just into their break-even point. Hope it all goes well. [/quote] I see what you mean. I am surprised that we are on the festival at all to be honest let alone getting paid. We aren't known in Dorset or anywhere near there. They hired us based off a listen to our 3 track EP, and they asked what our fee was, and said yes to our first reply!

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1406117213' post='2508450'] Good luck with it! I've played at Secret Garden Party and Bestival - one was brilliant, the other terrible, and this was largely dictated by the weather. Fingers crossed for sunshine. [/quote] Its supposed to cool down a bit by Sunday but I'm sure it will be fine!

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1406112707' post='2508387'] Make friends with the stage manager, or whoever has access to your lock-up (you DO have a lock-up, right?) [/quote] Lock up I dont know..... We have a unloading and band equipment 'Storage Area'.... And the phone thing is a very good point! And as for playing for free, we are getting paid pretty well for it so alls well.