Adrenochrome

Not at all anal. I mainly look for things like fret wear as I put a lot of wear on frets during gigs. I clean strings regularly and clean the bass fairly often. Dings are fine in my book.

Yep, if the gig's going okay I dance around as much as space permits. Our singer (F) sometimes does things in reponse to the lyrics and pretends to flirt with the rest of the band and generally mucks about. If the gig isn't going well I'll hardly move as I tend to be the one giving cues to the rest of the band... we really should be a lot more consistent by now...

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='247102' date='Jul 24 2008, 06:17 PM']Just collected mine so will have a listen ( also looking forward to the Rush article !! ) Tony[/quote] Tony, if ever you get bored of the Geddy Jazz, I'd be more than happy to 'look after' it for you for a while..

Good work fella!

...help me Rondo, help help me Rondo... 1. Don't know anyone that's reported on one. 2. Bolting a neck back on is so easy even I can do it, I wouldn't let that put you off buying one.

...my MP3 player at work, so last 3 Tool albums, Troublegum by Therapy?, and odd tracks by Lacuna Coil, Type O Negative etc. Also a few covers I like such as the Ukrainians version of Anarchy in the UK, Rachid Taha's version of Rock The Casbah.

Sing it LOUD and PROUD - we're all rooting for you to do well! Jon

Biggest stage was probably the big marquee at this years East Leeds Lions bike rally [we were booked by ARGH's drummer], but there wasn't an enormous amount of space to run about because of all the gear onstage. Great gig even though we didn't get a soundcheck and our set was cut short due to the previous band overrunning... Most space could have been The Studio at Hartlepool but the atmosphere was flat 'cos it was so quiet. Smallest stage is definitely Bar Mojo at Wakefield - up 2 flights of stairs as well! 50 people in meant it was packed! Don't have a preference, whichever gig has a good crowd usually works for me.

[quote name='OldGit' post='241506' date='Jul 17 2008, 09:00 AM']Well that all comes back to your drawing power and that comes back to how entertaining you are and how well you play the game. If your originals band stuffed the venues to the gunnels with enthusiastic punters you'd be treated very well indeed by the promotors.[/quote] Fair point. The original music probably didn't have wide appeal regardless of it's quality. The covers band at that stage were quite ropey but we had a blonde female lead singer and played songs people wanted to hear and so were successful quickly. The originals band were certainly never interested in 'playing the game' [and still aren't in their current incarnation].

[quote name='OldGit' post='240999' date='Jul 16 2008, 04:02 PM']Just use the Shrek approach: From Monday to Thursday you go out as yourselves; the apparently "ugly" green hard to get to know obnoxious underpaid under appreciated originals band then Friday-Sunday you go out as the Hollywood style instantly approachable witty shapely princess Fiona covers and function band ..[/quote] ...done that for a while, right up until 2 years ago in fact. How well treated and looked after my covers band was just highlighted how badly my originals band was being treated.

Both. Your amp/cab should basically be an onstage monitor for you and the band. I often soundcheck with the master volume on my amp switched off to check the PA sounds good out front - I then bring up my amp's volume so I can just hear myself when the guitar and drums are playing. This also helps me hear my backing vocals properly because the onstage levels aren't ridiculous.

Home practice is usually with my cheap Aria ABG. Sometimes I use an electric bass and I put it through my Marshall microstack thing [MS2?], often then with headphones.

I was pretty sure it was the FenderBird. I reckon I'd get on well with one of the non-reverse Epi Thunderbirds....

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='238981' date='Jul 14 2008, 10:41 AM']Will there be a ball pit? Please, say there will be a ball pit. Helter skelters? Ice cream factory? Paper hats on birthdays?[/quote] Has to have balloons as well or I'm not going.

Pretty much all the semi-pro bands I know won't undercut other bands even if they don't need the money. There is a fair amount of solidarity between the bands in the Yorkshire area. I think this also applies the full-timers but I hardly know any in person.

Maybe you're paying for better materials? My PV millenium AC [£195] sounds fantastic and is incredibly comfy to play - but the fret wear for an 18month old bass is quite worrying.

Bass by a long way. The audience mainly hear the sound of your bass through the PA.

It's going okay around here [I mainly gig in West Yorks]. Venues starting/stopping music every week but overall it's stable. We currently turn down more bookings than we accept.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='237388' date='Jul 11 2008, 03:33 PM']I promise not to post on forums any more when I've been out on the lash. Can't say fairer than that. Sorry. [/quote] Forgiven! Have a great weekend everyone - mine starts in 35 minutes and I'll be gigging at a new venue later this evening.

I'm with BBC ['cept the pot noddle and extras...]. My cheap PV bass [both pups full, EQ flat] goes into my cheap Ashdown MAG or Ashdown/PV rig. The soundman makes it loud through FOH. That's it - my bass sounds great as long as the audience can hear it clearly. If you diddle with your basic sound too much you're always re-adjusting to compensate for something else.

First played - Sun P-bass, Fender licensed made in India First owned - 80s Squier Jazz, MIK, lovely neck, awful heavy plywood body with no sustain or balls [I probably should have kept it and got a solid wood body... ah well].

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='237006' date='Jul 11 2008, 01:19 AM']I can't believe people can be smug about playing sh*te for a living. I may not make a living playing bass, but at least when I pick up a bass it's not to make money out of it. I still do it for the right reasons.[/quote] I absolutely can't agree with that [he said politely]. My reasons for playing bass [in public] are the right reasons for me at this stage in my life. I spent years doing my time in originals bands getting nowt for playing, getting messed around by venues and promoters. Even when we were doing well [small distribution deal etc] and had supported a very large US band we still struggled to get gigs and when we did we got next to nowt even when playing fairly busy venues in Leeds with punters paying to get in. With 2 young kids, I couldn't justify playing now if I didn't get paid [excepting the charity gigs we do of course].

If you've been looking for gigs in the Leeds area... then you're right it's full of horrible scenesters and the standard of music generally ain't great. The adverts onLeedsMusicScene often ask for 'the right image' etc. Maybe just write some stuff at home while taking a break?

This is very very common indeed. The other option seems to be to have your bass too quiet in the mix. I actually have my bass sound quite bright onstage, so the FOH mix [even at small pub gigs] is always a lot deeper for my bass but I generally keep plenty of definition which is fine by me - the audience are not usually there to marvel at my bass tone. My bass is always 'present' in the mix and I'm usually more concerned about the whole band sound and my backing vox sounding okay and being in tune.