louisthebass

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1427931852' post='2736129'] If you're talking about the place I think you are, I've played there for over 12 years in other bands and doing various deps, but I just can't get my band in! [/quote] The public house on the corner at one end of the Carshalton Road.... Yep, I've tried getting in with a couple of the bands I've played in - no chance....

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1427907827' post='2735778'] I think that is good... as it sets the standard and if you can get in there, you'll be regarded as the same, treated the same, paid the same-ish..!! [/quote] Agree - the landlady at the venue gets inundated with bands wanting to play there and won't budge an inch. The place is usually banged out on a Saturday night, so it's obviously a winning formula!

I doubt the 5 string will ever completely replace the 4. A common thing I seem to read is that the P Bass is still the most favoured bass by studio engineers because it sits in the mix so well. The 5 still has it's place too, but only when the music demands a low Eb (or lower). Switched to using a 5 in 1996, have rarely picked up a 4 since then, although I would be tempted to get a nice Jazz or P 4 string just to see how I'd get on without low B.... .

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1427884387' post='2735358'] The live music scene isn't dying, but it is seriously contracting. If you're feeling the "heat" and want to continue you've got to raise your game and get better than the competition. [/quote] Yep, agree with this where the "covers band scene" is concerned. If the band is lacking in any area, they will very rarely be asked back (unless they bang the place out). There is one venue in my part of the world where there's about 6/8 bands (mostly pro players or ex pro players) that have got the place completely tied up.... In some cases, that's what a lot of bands have to compete with.

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1427359984' post='2729232'] No one mentioned Joanne Shaw Taylor yet. I suspect most of the blues followers are 40 something to sixty something, very few young kids follow it. In this connected world, no one learns to play Key To The Highway anymore from a record when there is so much other stuff around. [/quote] Have just checked out some of her videos, really like her playing and singing - thanks for the heads up!

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1427375391' post='2729523'] I liked Bonamassa when i saw him live. Can`t comment on Robert Cray though. Never seen him [/quote] Have seen Robert Cray a few times over the last 25 years. He's not a flashy Blues guitar player by any stretch of the imagination, but what he does play is always tasteful and appropriate to the song. He's also a more soul / R&B type vocalist as opposed to the more Bluesy guys like John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. Got a nice tight band behind him too, have always been a fan of Karl Sevareid and Richard Cousins' bass playing .

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1427311131' post='2728788'] Good point with the jazz reference that shows that the new can come along and doesn't have to kill off the old. Robben Ford and Robert Cray are both great, and Cray certainly moved things on, but, wait for it, that was 1986!! Scary to think where those 29 years went! [/quote] Yep - tell me about it I first heard "Young Bob" (now the not so "Young Bob" anyway) back then with "I Guess I Showed Her". "Strong Persuader" is probably still my fave Cray album Another outfit a couple of mates of mine have introduced me to is the Tedeschi / Trucks Band: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9I6lQNK6Ok"]https://www.youtube....h?v=R9I6lQNK6Ok[/url] Really like this band

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1427301757' post='2728599'] Louisthebass - nothing wrong with you or I liking the traditional stuff, I just genuinely worry that the new generation of players are seeing us as an audience so are playing to us, not their peers, therefore the Blues isn't going to continue to develop and will never reach the level of popularity it enjoyed when the likes of John Mayall brought it into Rock & Roll for the first time. [/quote] I take your point, and I assume what you're describing in your article is probably what needed to happen to Jazz when it broke away from the "Standards" and went from being an acoustic art form to being electric, thus spawning off Jazz Rock / Fusion etc.? There was (maybe still is) a lot of opposition to that change - maybe it was a good thing to happen (I like both sides of it by the way) and it's probably kept Jazz alive, but maybe that's another discussion for another time. Guys like Robben Ford and Robert Cray, have moved the Blues from what it was back in the past era so it's not the standard 12 or 8 bar format (in most cases) - I just can't help feeling that anything too far outside that would be a bit like putting too many flavours in a really nice dish?

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1427288583' post='2728294'] So you missed Bernard Doherty's 'Ladies Night' on PlanetRock last week. He does have a weekly blues-power show. Last week's show was female blues artists. If anyone caught this show, do you know who sang Can't Find My Way Home, the last but one track? It was playing as I drove home, Doherty Pi**ed off at 7:48 ("See ya") and the last three tracks played unannounced. [/quote] Thanks for the heads up on this show - TBH I didn't even know it existed, I'll give it a listen :-)

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1427307276' post='2728688'] I can't help thinking that blues is alive and well, just not in the UK. Take a look at Robben Ford's current touring schedule, plenty of continental and US dates but only one in the UK. This is also true of other blues based music acts, lots of gigs in Europe and North America, but bugger all here. Having not been to any of these offshore gigs I can't speak of the audience demographic, but this more, non domestic weighted touring scenario has always been thus and can only assume that they have a new audience always coming through. So I think it's not a matter of loving the blues too much, rather not enough. [/quote] Yep, agree with this - the UK doesn't really appear to be on the radar for a lot of visiting U.S. Blues acts any more. I know Joe Bonamassa has done a string of dates at Hammersmith recently, and Robert Cray was over here and did a few dates last year, but that was probably about it.

I had a read of the article on the link, and I think the Blues would be diluted far too much if elements of trip hop and dubstep and any of the other modern stuff came into it. It doesn't need it - I'd rather see a band knocking out a raw, gritty, traditional Chicago Blues than something that has moved it on into the 21st Century and (IMO) doesn't fit the genre. It comes across that I'm being too much of a traditionalist, but I was born about the time of the British Blues Boom of the early 1960's, and didn't get into it until about the late 1980's, so I think it is possible for a younger generation to get into people like Muddy Waters, the Kings, Paul Butterfield, Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield, John Mayall, etc... The main problem is that there isn't any programming on TV and radio (apart from Paul Jones show on R2 on Monday nights) that promotes the Blues in this country.

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1427119556' post='2725927'] If you're commissioning one, then consider Bernie Goodfellow's GB Spitfires or Overwater. [/quote] Agree with this, I'd probably add Sei, Limelight, and Shuker into the mix. If you're definitely looking at a custom build by a luthier, it's just a matter of looking at their websites and seeing what really ticks all the boxes for you. Maybe email the ones that you're particularly interested in and see how they can help you make your decision? Chris May at Overwater was great when they built mine, really helpful guy when I spoke to him on the phone.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1426945108' post='2723776'] The lessons in a the Scott's bass academy are a lot better than the free ones. He does some great courses on chords and harmonic layering. [/quote] I'm assuming the Academy lessons are a lot more in depth than the YT ones? Will look into signing up for it eventually, when I've got the funds available.

[quote name='Maude' timestamp='1426942219' post='2723720'] How dare you come on here with sensible opinions [/quote]

It's a bass that divides opinion judging by some of the comments on here. I remember when I first started playing, all I wanted was a Ricky - mainly because Bruce Foxton used one in the early days of The Jam. When I eventually got to try a couple out I remember feeling quite disappointed - didn't get on with the shape or feel of them (especially the fingerboard). However, it doesn't mean that it's a poor instrument - the number of top name rock bass players who have used it successfully in recordings proves that it has its place in music.

Don't know if Scott has taught any high profile bassists, but his lessons on YT are top notch, and he's a really good bloke. Met him at the LBGS a couple of years ago, and he was very approachable.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1426852661' post='2722695'] Anyone know of a good rehearsal room (pa only) situated somewhere between KT10 (elmbridge, esher area) and the west side of Croydon ? [/quote] You could try Tweeters in Leatherhead? (studio is just off the M25 or the A243 depending on which direction you're coming from). They've got three rooms on the ground floor which are PA only. http://www.tweeters.ltd.uk/Tweeters/Tweeters_Rehearsal_Studios_Home.html Have used them in the past, and they've usually been pretty good.

I probably rate myself as an intermediate standard player, definitely no more than that. I've seen some videos of some of the members on here who are very good players who don't do it for a living.

[quote name='Bassistclem' timestamp='1426629377' post='2720193'] Second bass legend to leave us this week. Both definately had an influence on my playing. RIP guys [/quote] +1 To this - RIP Andy & Mike .

I'd recommend keeping a couple of your basses and one of your rigs. It sounds like it's not your gear that's boring you - I think you're not enjoying your music. What about trying a different project, or working on your playing if there's something about it that you're not happy with?

Saw the video a few weeks back. I think the fact that she's female - is immaterial, a good player is a good player in my view. She plays well, got a nice tone going on too.

I'll add Chris Chaney (Alanis Morrisette, Jane's Addiction, Robben Ford): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfi6ilQdsU8

[quote name='Simon.' timestamp='1425466455' post='2707548'] I was punted, by e-mail, from a band. [/quote] That happened to me last year - I didn't have the necessary skill set to do some of the things the band wanted me to do, and my replacement had already been put in place. To be fair at the time, I had two other projects on the go, plus I was going through a tough time in my personal life so it kind of did me a favour.

I'm on a break from it, mainly because I'm working night shifts at the moment (which isn't conducive to playing in bands). I also needed to stand back and take stock of my life, which hasn't been great in some places over the last couple of years.

I think on Carol Kaye's website she favours playing triplets with a downstroke, followed by two upstrokes?