Adrenochrome

They charge what people are willing to pay. Having seen the quality/sound/playbility of other instruments on the semi-pro scene, I find the prices of Fenders and Gibsons to be absolutely hilarious.

Angel Of Sin are playing at one of our favourite venues, the Crimea Tavern in Castleford tonight. This could be one of our last gigs at this classic rock venue which is scheduled for demolition soon so someone can build flats or another supermarket... We'll be on sometime after 9, all invited

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='339488' date='Nov 28 2008, 12:10 PM']I earn nearly £40k in my day job (+ pension, holiday and sick pay) and all the gigs I do are on top of that...[/quote] Bilbo, could you do less hours in your day job and do more music? It's something I wouldn't mind doing when I'm a bit older.

No. no one's ever said that to me. I don't think they'd last long in the band if they tried...

A few thoughts: My cousin is a fantastic and dedicated saxophonist based in London. She toured North America with Roger Daltrey's band before the recent Who reformed and she's toured twice with Micheal Bolton (I know, I know). Anyway the point is when not doing tours like that she's still had to teach for 1 or 2 days per week on top of her normal gigs to make ends meet. Another point is that it's great being a weekend warrior. I'm not the only person here who has a steady 9-5 job who basically live for playing live. I treat the covers band as a p/t job in terms of having an 'almost' professional attitude to performing and dealing with venues and promoters etc, however I still get a massive buzz from playing live at the same time as getting better and better (and better paid) gigs. ARGH - yes the circuit is definitely contracting but the good bands are still very much in demand and the venues are being more discerning about who they book. The Lion (Cas) for instance has only booked us once for next year so far (based on our perceived ability to pull punters in) but generally we are getting some very good bookings for '09.

I'm with Jennifer on this one. The bassline may seem boring to you but the sound of the whole song is crucial. Maybe concentrate on playing it really well with the best feel you can possibly give and try adding in the odd passing note as described by Happy Jack above. But note that this may not actually improve how the song sounds.

I use fast fret and get very long string life, despite being very hard on my basses and grinding frets down fast. I'm not entirely convinced that it's not the fact that I'm wiping the sweat/crud off the strings regularly rather than the lubing qualities of fast fret itself. I know our new guitarist doesn't rate it but it works for me for whatever reason.

[quote name='ARGH' post='335482' date='Nov 24 2008, 02:00 PM']You know if I told you ,I know it would just filter out to ALL the ROTN...and thats a rumormill if there ever was one.... The irony is Ive just got into this group,and only now ..like 3 months later do the calls and texts of.."Saw your ad.." come through,its a weird world,cant get a gig and all the rest of the functions guys get one in a breeze,and me all on my Jack Jones... Whats local? Mansfield? if yes then thats local....[/quote] no worries - you're right if I told 1 other person it would spread fast. A lot of people in bands seem to be 'keeping their options open' generally and seem to get sorted with indecent haste when band's fold. To be fair Banger's only filling in a band due to illness isn't he so they're not all sorted with permanent bands? By local I mean West Yorks really, Have fun! I take it the Helvis gig didn't interest you?

Who you playing with then and who are the headliners? (If you don't wanna say then let me know if the headline band is local or not and I should be able to work it out)

...should be banned from owning basses for 10 years!

Thanks for your thoughts guys. There are better basses for a bit more money but spare money is something I haven't got. My main bass is still at Peavey having the preamp fixed under warranty but I've got plenty of gigs in the meantime.

Item number: 120334885212 Okay, so I'm after a very cheap passive backup bass. There's a Westfield Jazz on Evilbay currently standing at £30 which is only a few miles away from me so no postage costs etc. It finishes at 11:43 this morning. Anyone any idea if this would be up to gigging? (I'd be happy to throw on a better bridge and strings and do action/intonation if needed)

Like it! I always favoured the 'marbles in a biscuit tin' description of slap.

Last time I looked at musician adverts in Leeds the emphasis was strongly on being the right age and having the right 'look' or 'image'. A Scenester's paradise! We're not all like that around here.

I have the fretless version of this bass, previously owned by [b]Born 2 Be Mild[/b]. It's absolutely fine, I have flats on mine and it gives a fairly thuddy sound. It's light, comfy, reliable, stays it tune etc etc

Yes, he's well known. He's given me a few laughs over the years though, so entertainment value is there. Most of his gear seems to be expensive garbage so I hope he hasn't taken money from less discerning buyers...

I think you're in the right area with the Jam etc., there's a few Police songs that are quite fun to play. A lot of 80s pop/rock has fairly interesting basslines that are a bit funky or move around a bit. What about some Peter Gabriel, Bauhaus, Gary Numan (last 2 might be a bit too alternative...) jon

I generally don't change my volume at all during a gig. I adjust my attack more than anything: pick (plam muted or not), fingers, a bit of thumb for the ballads maybe.

Out of work I spend a lot of time looking after my boys and with a wireless laptop I do a lot of band admin and surfing whilst looking after them. I'd rather practice more but it ain't easy whilst chasing after the monsters.

[quote name='tauzero' post='324159' date='Nov 7 2008, 01:05 PM']...and now apparently you also need to have your horn on fire. What happens when there's a hole in the pocket?[/quote] You can get creams for that now

Cherry Tree 1.11.08