Adrenochrome

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1429977098' post='2756900'] Love Walked In by Thunder, i hate playing it with a passion but the singer always dedicates it to his mrs (the soft git) so thats never going to leave the set. [/quote] Do you dislike it because it's dull/easy to play? Just asking because we used to do this with 3 part harmonies (female lead vox and me and the guitarist) and to do that well was a challenge.

One basic sound (slightly overdriven) for all gigs, varied by playing pick/fingers, further/nearer from the bridge, digging in/playing gently etc etc.

I know it's off topic but I think there are some great suggestions for a regular gigging bassist's rig/cab: USB slots, bass rest etc etc.

Bad attitudes, not so much to be honest. There are a number of Old School sound engineers who prefer a muffled thud for a bass sound, who you need to work with to get something like 'your' sound out front. One of the nicest and most helpful guys I ever met and worked with, Italian Tony, was a bassist and sound engineer - sadly missed .

Bad ergonomics. There's no excuse for a bass that doesn't balance well and feel comfortable to play - we're not in the 1950s anymore!

I'll talk about Delirium as 'my' band - even though I'm technically only filling in at the moment - it has been my main band for 6 years. Our lead singer (and 2nd guitar) Rich is a genuinely gifted vocalist, and can hold an audience with the passion and commitment of his performance. He does very little banter and chit-chat but it doesn't seem to be needed. The other 3 of us probably do a better job of talking the p1ss out of each other and general banter and one-liners.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1429088953' post='2747777'] There are a whole collection of factors to take into consideration when considering what goes on at these low frequencies. Individually none of them is difficult to understand but as with any situation with many variables you have a nearly infinate series of possible outcomes. One of the most significant is the way ported cabs behave. At their tuning frequency the port air acts as a load on the speaker reducing it's movement with the sound coming from the port mainly. Below the tuning frequency (typically around 50Hz) the cone excursion rises dramatically as the cab is effectively an open box with little resistance to the cone movement. Ported cabs are very liable to 'fart' because of this. You shouldn't really get this problem from the low mids though. By the time you get above 100Hz excursion shouldn't be a problem for most speakers. Using a sharp filter below 40hz should stop most of these problems hence the Thumpinator. Another factor is room resonances, which boost apparent bass and also make everything sound a little woolly. Cutting bass can avoid this and clean up your sound. A 24dB/octave filter may do this better than a more gradual tone control whilst affecting other frequencies less. We really don't hear deep bass very well at all and 'bassiness' is a very subjective thing, just cutting treble and boosting the volume so the subjective sound level is the same sounds bassier for example. Very little truly deep bass is present from the pickups and most of what we hear as bass is a rich harmonic content rather than deep fundamental tones. [/quote] That's a great summary. I have a hard time convincing other band members etc that the really low frequencies are barely audible and often muddy sound, for guitars or my bass through the PA. The 'bass guitar' sound that they like is more of a low-mids emphasis IME.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1429018663' post='2747068'] Hey Blue my goals have changed every so often as i make improvements. I think at the moment my goals are simply to continue improving. I don't need other bass players to think im a great player and so on but i do want others to think that i can play a bit, if that makes sense. [/quote] The respect of your peers is a reasonable aspiration

Peavey Millenium Active BXP bass, eq totally flat, pan control centred. Zoom B2 with footswitch, used as a mute/tuner 99% of the time. Hartke HA 3500 active input, tube preamp set about 2/3 full for a bit of grind, EQ with frowny face to counteract the bass's slightly scooped sound. My sound is quite middy and bright compared to many local bands and how many sound engineers like. People sometimes joke that I play 'mid guitar' rather than 'bass guitar'.

I put this on Rock Of The North's Facebook page and I'll keep my eye open as I'm only a few miles north of the incident.

[quote name='Bobthedog' timestamp='1428741384' post='2744159'] When I read other posts of people playing in bands after only a couple of months of picking up the bass I struggle to believe it based on my abilities. [/quote] In my case I'd had a classical music education, and had played guitar a bit as well. So I'd had many years of music experience including performing in public, so although a novice bassist I wasn't a novice musician. I'm sure there are quite a few like me.

No, I've not found that at all. Maybe the different instrument just sounded fresher to your ears?

Good stuff! Tool's No Quarter is on my main playlist at work. I like Megadeth's NMMNG but I agree that's for the arrangement more than Dave's voice suiting it. One I like, Crowbar's Remember Tomorrow https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=w759AI7J8LE#t=2

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1427876753' post='2735225'] And who actually GOES to see covers bands? [/quote] Well, as you've said a lot of the core audience is pub regulars and friends of the band members. The strong impression I get from Landlords is that the bands encourage passing punters to stay for the evening instead of having one and moving to the next pub; and it's also a selling point for the pub that they support live music, sponsor local sports teams and generally be a 'community' pub . There are also a lot of punters that REALLY like the interaction with a live band, having being regular 'proper' gig goers or band members themselves at some point. Also a lot of live cover bands in my area have really improved with excellent PA systems and lights/lasers, backdrops, in ear monitoring etc etc. I've been quite shocked to hear how many bands are still doing it with small vocal-only PA around the UK. We were one of the first covers bands in the area (along with Razorback, Breed etc) to take modern hard/alternative rock and metal to ordinary pubs (from before I joined) and are lucky enough to have a following that travel to see us within their home town, and occasionally from Huddersfield to Bradford.

I think the scene is contracting at the moment as the pub trade is generally contracting. I wouldn't say dying. If you are good and willing to travel a bit, there are as many gigs available as you could want to play.

[quote name='stuckinthepod' timestamp='1427729402' post='2733555'] ...also pleasingly Children of the Grave! [/quote] Nice, 'Gravy' as I call it, was our penultimate song. Our lead guitarist sings it so gives lead vox/2nd guitar dude a little break before hitting the high notes.

I had 3 surgeries between late September and late November last year. I had a gig* about 3 weeks after my last surgery and that went fine, our drummer brought a bass combo for me in his van. I didn't do any heavy lifting and nothing above shoulder height. It sounds like your op was more invasive than mine. I think your target of this Friday is ambitious but might be achievable given all the help you've described in your post, without knowing all the exact details it's hard for us to judge for sure. * - I was actually depping as cover for my replacement, as I'd retired before my ops for health reasons. I've played 7 gigs in the last 4 months anyway.

[quote name='JoeEvans' timestamp='1427663999' post='2732879'] Why not go the whole hog and break out the KY Jelly? [/quote] I'm not putting a water-based product on my strings, they might go rusty

My old Squier jazz bass - I was young and foolish when I got rid, it would have been a perfect standard tuned do anything bass, neck was a dream to play. I was quite fond of my Shaftsbury R-faker, but it wasn't versatile or well behaved enough for the covers stuff I was doing at the time.

Hallowed Be Thy Name, a big closer. Creeping Death and Blackbird (Alter Bridge) went down very well, in fact everything got a positive reaction, just one of those nights

When you've used it for a bit it doesn't leave much residue on the strings (that's when it's new). It can massively increase string life, especially if you play long sweaty gigs. A lot of that is probably just that your strings and fretboard get a good clean regularly (as alluded to above). I've had similar results using WD40 with the same cloth and brush.

I'm not really up on modern UK metal but I quite like Sempeternal by Bring Me The Horizon. I like industrial and electronic stuff as well which might explain why I enjoy it.

I'm playing the Bridge Tavern on Saturday same as peteb's post. I'm depping for Delirium (who I retired from last year), I played there a few weeks ago depping for Breakout. It's a bit of a home gig for Delirium, usually busy with friends of friends and a few from other bands.

I'm a weekend warrior/semi-pro player BUT I've never had a lesson (on bass or guitar), I have very sloppy technique, and I can't read bass clef very well. So in many ways I'm at a beginner level, even though I'm a confident alround musician and can play pick/fingerstyle/fretless/some tapping etc etc