uk_lefty

They're not addictive if you buy a Brice, which are utter carp.

Surely in a nostalgia act where the overall sound is key they'd either bring or hire their own gear? Crazy. If you're borrowing stuff you have to respect the owner. When I've done multi band things if I have to plug in to an amp I don't know I don't play with the settings unless it sounds absolutely terrible, you never know where you might end up!

If I was looking for a new rig I'd probably go for that in terms of bang for buck. I'm on the fence about TC stuff, there's something nagging me that it's not that great but I think that's completely irrational and I don't know where I got that idea from. When you see who does and even who used to recently play them they can't be rubbish.

How would I react to being told I need a new bass at £2.5k? I'd laugh it off and say I have good enough basses thanks, you worry about your own gear. If I was discussing gear and a band mate said "mate, you need fanned frets, a dark glass pre-amp..." and a very specific list of stuff they think a bass player should have. I'd probably just think they're a gear obsessive and next week it will be all about Moolon P basses with flatwound strings that have been washed up on Skegness beach. The week after it will all be Wishbass, OK maybe not those, custom made coffee table basses... And so it goes on. Tell him no guitarist ever sounded good without a 50s Tele. A real one, from the 50s. Through a genuine original Fender Bassman amp with a serial number starting.... You want to upgrade your bass. You like the idea of a Jazz 5 and a Ray 5. Get what you want to play, it's your cash, your instrument and something you have to live with. This band could go under any second and you could be left holding an instrument worth 2.5k that just one of that band recommended to you once. A Sterling Ray 5 covers fractions of that. They may have been forceful in recommending it, some people are like that. And it's easy spending someone else's money.

Is it a case of you need your band to stop cranking up their amps so you can actually hear yourself? No IEM required, just everyone turning down so you can hear each instrument sensibly. Apologies if I've got the wrong end of the stick or misinterpreted something said tongue in cheek.

This is exactly what I am aiming for in terms of band ethos, though a different cut of tunes. I admire your bands ability to work like this!

I respect that they've had a good career. I just can't fathom why, I wouldn't buy anything of theirs and I certainly wouldn't want to listen to their endless three chord chugging nonsense. But I understand lots of people like them and that's their choice, if it makes them happy, fine.

We will consider what fits the vocal range of the singer and the construction of the set list. Agreed, there's a huge range of stuff to choose from.

Good point. I wouldn't want to rub people up the wrong way. It should all be fun, exciting to see what we can make next, not a (very low paid) additional job.

Not quite. Drummer has stayed on the fence so far but I sensed he was uncomfortable with some of the discussion. He is yet to vote on possible set list/ what to learn next so I'd be interested to see what that does once he chips in.

Run to the hills?

I don't think there's anything malicious going on, I think the guitarist is one of those people who has a million ideas at once and as he's worked with the singer before it's easy for them to dig out their old set. It's a tough one as I think there's potential for a good band there, will keep trying to persuade!

I think you're right. Maybe just get one or two of these other songs in as long as they aren't difficult ones to help us all gel as a band and maybe for live use in future, maybe not...

Yes, have been in a good quality covers band for 5 years now. We describe it as "rock and soul" but really it's an Irish stew of all sorts of songs with no real theme and some really bizarre ones creeping in more and more. Due to personal circumstances for a handful of the group the enthusiasm is waning, we are all good mates but there are flaws in the thinking behind the band. Health issues also might force the singer to quit which would be awful. Regardless, I've had my eye on doing something a bit different for a while. When I got the 80s band started the guitarist was very different, not a "blues w*nker" but someone who can really play and loves a bit of electro synth stuff to the point he's probably just as good a synth player as guitarist. His view is "nobody wants to hear another flipping guitar solo, they just want to dance" and he plays great big delay and chorus sounding stuff that sounds fantastic. The drummer is rock solid and a really nice easy going chap (odd, I know). The problem has been bringing in the singer the guitarist knows from an old band. She's very good, she's gigged a lot, if we stuck to a theme and styled it right (I mean dress the part, create the right visuals for online advertising, the right band name) I think it could be a solid band that could pick and choose its local gigs. I just fear being another "three middle aged blokes and a girl singer do random songs off Radio 2" which you see everywhere and are usually disappointing. Whereas "three middle aged blokes dressed like Miami Vice with an awesome girl singer play 80s sing and dance along songs" is a much more appealing proposition for an audience and for someone booking gigs. That's my view at least.

Yep, tried that including voting, looks like collusion on the voting plus the problem with democracy is everyone has a say 😜. Point is its straying from the original concept, I'm just not a fan of "bit o this, bit o that" covers, it makes it hard to market the band and can be a bit naff. Also, I'm already in one like that! Really wanted to nail a concept and style with this band, the players are right, just got to get on the same hymn sheet so to speak!

So, during the break in lockdowns last autumn I advertised to start up an 80s band and recruited a drummer and a guitarist all bought in to the idea. We tried with me doing lead vocals but it's not my strong point and it restricts what songs can be played bass wise as they need to be playable and singable. Guitarist knows a singer so we agree to give her a go and then lockdown happens. We met up, and it went well, except we are now suddenly in the position of too many competing opinions. It's disappointing because there's an overriding movement to move away from 80s ranging from doing disco to mostly 80s but include some more recent songs. They're good songs but it's going off script somewhat and while I'm usually willing to try most things I've got my reservations, here's why: 1. A band that plays bits of this and bits of that is hard to market. I know because I've been in a few and am in one now and I can't succinctly describe it. Whereas "we play 80s pop" is easy for everyone to get their heads around and makes you a potential go to "get that 80s band back!" is better than "get that good band back... Can't remember which one they were" 2. I just think it's a bit sad when the band members are aged 37 to 50 and they're playing recent songs, it's like "here's one our kids enjoyed before they left for uni!"

My singer runs a pub which has a music festival. I've lent my amp out twice at this annual event. First time I arrived hours before our slot and he was in a flap because the bass amp had blown and they were borrowing something woefully under-powered so I lent my head and cab. I kept having a quick check that nobody was thrashing it until some band came on near the end and just before the first song the bassist cranked everything. The VU meter was screaming in the red and the bassist kept giving the amp dissatisfied looks and doing nothing to make it better (I. E. Turn down a knob or two instead of up, up, up). I did t want to be a nob and go straight on to the stage so tried to get the attention of the soundman (my rhythm guitarist) but no joy. I was nervous all through my set in case my amp packed in, luckily it didn't. The next year I was asked if my rig could be borrowed. I explained about idiots thrashing it the previous year and got firm assurance from the landlord/ organiser and soundman that nobody would be allowed to change any settings. I got there to headline day 2 and every knob was exactly where it should be. So I added another cab to give me more ooomph for my set and off we went!

Don't expect you will either. You got your goods back, any mess up in the middle will be blamed on the courier and therefore "not our fault, guv. Its in the Ts and Cs"

Slight tangent... How did you find the EQ? Mine has crazy thick and dead strings on it right now, got some Status 0.35s in the post, but even with the dead and stiff strings I'm not finding the EQ very inspiring, though the core tone has a lot of potential.

Used it for the first time with a band this week in to the practice rooms Trace combo with the shape engaged. My home made "fretlessness" patch, originally for fretless bass, sounded fantastic through a fretted Stingray, no fancy trickery in the patch but good full chorus and verb. The presets that come with the unit also sounded good. Free presets I downloaded mostly sounded dreadful. Hardly anything sounds the same as it does through headphones. Just want some good clean amp sounds to come out as standard now, an SWR preset would be superb.

I bought one on Sunday. Its left handed, it cost me £450 which I felt was a fair rate considering what I'd seen others go for in the last few years. Considering the price of a new Status they're a good deal, but second hand Statii can be quite good value, so might be worth holding out for one of those, though I have no idea if right handers hold their value better. There are headless, bodied, alternatives. Or does yours have to be the Washburn for any reason?

I would wonder about the whole arrangement and be very wary. Two long stories which may be of no interest below, suffice to say check what is and is not being provided to determine the level of competence the organisers have. There's a multi band thingy we used to do where a pro or semi pro band supposedly provided everything and ran the sound for the day, great everyone knows where they stand. Except the last time we did it we got told to bring all backline. When we got on the stage it was like a second hand amp shop. Amps EVERYWHERE. One guitarist had an unreliable amp of his own so he asked to use one of the many, many guitar amps on stage and said he just needs a clean channel and he won't change EQ or anything. It was like he'd asked to have a go on the bloke's wife AND a smoke of his cigs after. Weird set up. I also got asked last minute to dep at a "charity gig". Last minute being 10pm the night before an 11am set. I declined the dep invite having never even heard the band, but the drummer is a mate so I said I'd come and watch. The "organisers" provided an open door to a bar room with a stage area, no PA, and a gazebo in the garden for an "acoustic stage" which they'd put a solo act keyboard player in. No PA at all, no drums nothing. They just assumed bands turn up with absolutely everything, can manage with two plug sockets, or none in the garden, and all the gear comes out like a pop up play tent. Complete farce. The band were putting vocals through a 5w guitar practice amp, proper Argos job someone had run home to get and using their own amps and drums, then the makeshift "PA" speaker was being run down the garden so the keyboardist could start on time with a massive trip hazard electric extension. Keyboardist was shouting at the singer to hurry up and give her the amp so she could start. While he was singing. After his set Chris packed up all his drums and went home, no idea how the rest of the day panned out but suspect it got progressively worse.

Family got updated recently, and it's time for a spring clean... Can you guess what era of music I have a preference for?

My experience with Interparcel and Eurosender is that they are not worth bothering with at all. I use them to see market rate for the package and which courier would take oversized boxes. I find the intermediary does absolutely nothing to help when things go wrong, then the actual courier technically shouldn't talk to you they have to talk to the intermediary. The intermediary just reels off their terms and conditions: pickup date is not guaranteed. Delivery time is not guaranteed. Item not getting lost is not guaranteed. Item not having the sheet kicked out of it, not guaranteed. Upgrade to a faster service if we don't pick up on the correct day, or the day after? You can't do that, we don't guarantee it. Discount due to faffing you about? We don't guarantee against that. Pay for pickup tomorrow? Pay extra, if you don't pay up front nothing happens and that's a guarantee. Pay for faster delivery? Pay extra, guaranteed nothing will happen if you don't pay. So we guarantee our payment, if you don't pay you don't get, guaranteed. But you do pay, and get no guarantee back. The only way I found to maintain some sort of power in all of this was by payment through PayPal. When Interparcel kept shrugging off my queries because for two days running the pickup had not happened, and refused to upgrade the service, or refund so I could book with someone who could be arsed I said "fine, I'll just recover the money off PayPal because you haven't completed the service."