molan

[quote name='Rumblebass' post='922364' date='Aug 12 2010, 09:38 AM']It's a tough call Barrie, in my 13pc Soul band days, we doubled our fee for NYE (£4k), but this was at an established venue which we'd played many times & always packed out. The same venue coughed up £10k for Millennium eve! If nothing else comes in, & you want to be out NYE, I'd take the money & play. If you hold out for more, you run the risk of ending up with nothing as you've already said. Put it to the democratic vote & go with what the majority of the Band want. (Mind you, this WAS always easier when there's 13 of you!) Hope you're well anyway,, long time no see! All the best, Grahame (FBB)[/quote] Cheers Grahame - are you back out giging again?

I must admit that the band views on this have been really split. Couple of us think it would be fun to be out playing on a NYE instead of sitting at home watching Jools. One person said he'd much rather be doing exactly the reverse! Two people saying £175 minimum. The gig is tops of 40 mins drive for anyone so not a big hassle in that regard. I have a distinct feeling that some ban members have aspirations above the band's capabilities and that this is going to be an ongoing battle. . .

[quote name='garethox' post='922136' date='Aug 11 2010, 11:09 PM']We're getting £600 from a small pub and we are a 3 piece.... I reckon £200/band member is reasonable to expect for NYE.[/quote] That was my start point actually I thought about asking for about £175 each as a mid way point but maybe that's still a bit light - I'll get negotiating! Part of the problem of course is that there are so many of us so £200 each is £1,400 minimum. I've also just discovered they want us to provide PA so that's another £150 or so.

Our band has been approached by a large(ish) restaurant for an NYE gig with an offer of £1,000 plus a couple of drinks and a decent meal. There are 7 of us so that's £145 per person. I thought this was Ok really - it's less than my old functions band used to play for but it feels like average prices have dipped over the last couple of years. However some of the band feel this is a rubbish rate and that we should ask for double. I don't have details of get in/out times and length of sets required & I know this will make a difference but just wanted to guage general thoughts about the going rate for an NYE gig.

I've got a couple of basses that came installed with East pre-amps and my only real criticism is that there's too many tonal options & I find it hard to stop fiddling with them!

Sounds like you need to pop round my place for tea given that I'm flogging loads of basses at the moment - I'm about 15 mins from Maidenhead, lol. Actually you might want to try Dawsons in Reading. I think they only hold main brand stuff like Fender, Warwick, Ibanez, Yamaha etc but not a bad place to start

I really like watching him with Wilko Johnson - he gets quite a different sound to his, recorded, Blockheads tone. Really big & punchy through a Trace rig that looks like it came out of the ark, lol.

Is there a reason why you want to buy brand new? A used DJ in black with maple will set you back way less than £1,100. I think I sold mine for less than £700. . .

Hey Bilbo - you have inspired me! I've been close to joining a few bands over recent months but have (for reasons I won't go into here, given the 'public' nature of the forum) decided against them. However, having listened to the various discusions about setting the bar higher I was galvanised last night to discuss forming a wholly new band with a very good guitarist friend of mine. We both have very similar views on standards of professionalism & performance skills and had a really good natter about we'd like to see in any band that we might both be part of. We've vaguely nattered about doing this before but sat on the fence about really making a go of it. We've now both decided we're definitely going to try and work hard at something - just need to find a drummer & singer who share the same views / ambitions now I'll keep you posted. . .

As something of a 'seasoned campaigner' on the buying & selling trail (check my Sig for my current status, lol) then I'd consider owning both side by side for a while if you can afford it & then selling the one that you like least when you've really had a chance to compare them. If you buy wisely and don't pay over the odds then you should get back something close to your initial outlay when you come to sell. You'll just be out of pocket for a while in between time. There are also some good interest free credit card deals around - I'm not suggesting simply getting into long term debt though, lol. I've been fortunate enough to have one particular bass on trial for about a month & have decided I pretty much have to buy it, I'm now selling more or less any of my basses that anyone wants to buy to fund it but I'm pleased I was able to have the trial period first

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='920741' date='Aug 10 2010, 03:53 PM']I'm sorry Clarky, but WHAT? You're going to play a punk gig on an Alembic? I'll be sure to light a candle for you at the Sid Vicious Shrine & Souvenir Shop ...[/quote] A friend of mine is on the road in the southern states of the USA with a full on country outfit - he's playing an Alembic too, possibly his Mark King signature

[quote name='dr1' post='920706' date='Aug 10 2010, 03:00 PM']that's nice of you,molan. pitty that people here hestitate to buy from "oversea" people. that's why i stop use for sale section... [/quote] Not me, lol. I've bought from Spain, Finland, France, USA & (soon) Australia! Meanwhile I've sold to France, Spain, Italy & Czech Republic (maybe others as well but my memory is failing!). I must admit that my biggest purchases have generally been direct from USA but that's just an 'availability' thing as I have a seemingly never ending desire for boutique US built basses! There have been quite a few pricing issues with buying from Europe over the past couple of years but that's just the relative values of the Euro vs the £. European imports have soared in cost because of this & often make US buys more attractive even though we have to pay a high import duty.

[quote name='Clarky' post='920699' date='Aug 10 2010, 02:49 PM']Think the stealth black Alembic may get its first punk gig airing[/quote] None more rock than stealth black

Gonna use the Willie Weeks - go on, you know you want to. . .

Personally I love that fact that there are a few people here on BC from overseas I've bought & sold basses & exchanged views with lots of people I probably would never have got to meet in the 'real' world. A lot of them have much better English than some people I know over here as well!

[quote name='Machines' post='919496' date='Aug 9 2010, 12:29 PM']What do they start at, what cost for options etc ?[/quote] [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk"]BassGear[/url]Bassgear has three in stock at the moment - I know becuase I've played all of them I dropped off some of my basses for them to sell & Phil let me have a play with all the Foderas (which is going to end up being quite an expensive experience for me!). I had one at my house for a while and ran a few back to back tests on it against my 'reference' Celinder & an NYC Sadowsky. All three sound different (in equally good ways) but the Fodera certainly matched the other two in build quality & fit and finish etc. Really, really nice bass to play. in fact a friend came round and performed the same test and claimed the Fodera to be his favourite so that says a lot about how good they are. N.B. The build sequence for these is: Body woods supplied from the Fodera stock in USA Cut to shape, routed etc & finished in Japan (by three guys who were trained at fodera in NYC) Returned to USA for all hardware and electronics to be fitted Assembled by the same team that make the custom USA instruments and set up by Vinnie, Joey or Jason (the only people that set up any Fodera prior to sale) These guys really know how to set up a bass, each of the ones below was really nice straight out of the box! Also - I did ask about options and you can get a choices of finish, maybe three different pickup configurations (SC / DC / PJ etc), deluxe versions with quilted maple (like the red one below), different fingerboards etc. They are just not as 'custom' as the full on 'made to measure' range, lol.

Nice thread Bilbo - really got me thinking I am, at best, an enthusiastic amateur when it comes to playing bass but I've been generally fortunate enough to play with musicians who are more talanted than I will ever be. I remember in an early band thinking just how much better everyone else was & discussed this with the MD (who was about half my age!). I told him that I was contemplating leaving the band becuase I was, by some distance, the least able musician. He was really cool about it and said that he'd noticed I was improving every week and that, although I lacked the technical skills, he preferred playing with me than with his other bassist. His reasoning was that I was better prepared, turned up on time, helped to organise band stuff and, most importantly, played in time & didn't 'widdle', lol. Turned out the other guy could play some very clever stuff but his attention wandered and his timing would drift & he would frequently over-play and get in everyone's 'space' (this was a 13 piece soul band so finding your sonic space was quite important!). He taught me an important lesson about attitude and ability; being able to play alongside him improved my playing and understanding of live music immensely. He also passed on some other wisdom - never play in a band that you wouldn't want to be in the audience watching them. I've pretty much kept to this maxim ever since and it's stood me in good stead and really helped me to be proud of the bands I've been in and the music I've played. I've walked away from four bands that fell below this minimum requirement and not regretted any of them. It's meant I've played less gigs than I'd like but I'd feel a bit of a fraud standing up there going through the motions & not enjoying myself. Of course I am in the advantageous position of only ever playing for enjoyment and not money so maybe I'm not really qualified to be part of this discussion! I totally understand how different someone's mindset would be if they were genuinely earning a living (or loving) from music. . .

Calling Clarky

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='919258' date='Aug 9 2010, 08:12 AM'] It needs a badass.[/quote] Are you volunteering?

The quality of basses I own are of a far higher standard than my playing It's really never bothered me that I'm able to play on high end pro quality basses whilst having the ability of a bumbling idiot. I have [i]generally[/i] found that the better the bass build quality the more it enables me to play things I couldn't manage on cheaper instruments. I have nothing against lower priced, mass market basses and they can sound fantastic in the right hands The most recent example was a Fodera that I've had on loan for a few weeks. I thought I'd reached up to about the best I was going to get with a Sadowsky / Celinder / Spector / Sei string of basses & then this Fodera Victor Wooten came along: It's beautifully put together and I like the looks very much, however it's the sheer playability of this that just blows me away. I really can manage things & play more fluidly on this that anything else I've ever tried along with a great core tone and a very sweet on-board pre-amp that gives lots of tonal flexibility. Is it 'worth' twice (or even three times) anything else I own - almost certainly not. Am I selling all of those other basses in order to try and afford this - absolutely. . .