NancyJohnson

Don't particularly want to rain on anyone's parade, but I'd actually be interested to know the names of some of the bands you guys were playing in rather than, 'Oh, I played here, here and here.' The biggest I played was a lunch set at Richmond College, Twickenham about 25 years ago with a band called Mai Mai. It was during a week long music festival thing and none of the band were students there. There was over 500 crammed into a room that had a capcity half that. It was raining heavily. Amazingly, we were the only band that hired in a PA for their gig. I remember one unsavoury female member of the academia shouting, 'Laser show! Laser show!' when we were doing the load-in and after the gig pretty much trying to push her tongue down our guitarists throat. People are strange. Happy days.

I think our regular audience is 20-40 people. Happy enough with that. I like playing mid-bill; the meat in the sandwich...hangers on from the openers, people in for the headliners. Usually get a few Facebook likes off the back of it. I'm done with the headline -wannabee malarky. I really don't want to play to 2 people anymore.

The vocalist records everything. Everything! I've been at breaking point for a while, the guitarist (who has only been in the band for a couple of months) is more vehement than me. Tipping point for both of us came after the singer circulated some of the 'better' recordings from last week.

In answer to Roger2611, I'll be straight and say he's a lovely bloke and would say that on a friend only basis, we'd all get on with him famously. To reply to MacDaddy, his comment supports mine in as much as things seem to come together for gigs, although there's a great chasm (my favourite word at the moment) in ability in comparison to every band we've played with. Interestingly, the last 24 hours have proved quite cathartic, almost therapeutical. Rather than bottling it all up and getting angsty, the matter is out there and being discussed openly between the rest of the band, plus the guy I'd like to get in is clearly chomping at the bit to come and play with us. Just need to get him fired.

The singer, guitarist and myself have had a discussion and while the guitarist is on my side, the singer thinks he's OK, but will go with the consensus. Ive also had a quick word with another drummer (a very decent player) who's biting my arm off for an opportunity to play with us. At least the silence has been broken...moving forward.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1472894423' post='3125094'] What is slightly confusing me is this comment "The thing is that live, he redeems himself somewhat.". Does this mean at gigs he is playing in time and remembering the songs? If so seems a case of not putting the required effort is and just going through a shift. [/quote] Rehearsals are an absolute nightmare; he's so blinkered, frustrating and unproductive, but by and large when we gig, generally he does seem to be able to pull things together, but again we're subject to the same ups/downs and lack of dynacism. Literally, just going through the numbers. MacDaddy saw us a couple of weeks ago...his opinion might be useful here if he's willing to chip in.

Let's just cut to the chase. Drummer has zero flair, regularly forgets the songs and can't keep time; he's a nice guy, all over the place and my gut tells me he knows he's on borrowed time. The thing is that live, he redeems himself somewhat. What do I do? It's pretty much my band...the guitarist is all for giving him the elbow, the vocalist thinks he's fine. I'm kind of with the guitarist. Things pretty much came to a head when he was late for soundcheck recently and we did a couple of songs with the amazingly adept (female) drummer from the headliner we were playing with. He actually came in when we were playing. I want to suggest he works with a click/metronome so it's at least in time. There's a lot of things I want to suggest. I fear that firing him may cause the singer to jack it in too. I'm even toying with trying another drummer I know for one rehearsal just to get my point over about the chasm in ability. Suggestions?

My Lull was £3.2k (probably more now considering post-Brexit exchange rates)...I have a Hamer for which I was offered £3.5k from a guy in the US. Despite these ridiculous valuations, there's got to be owners here with gear way over this. US Spectors, Ritters.

I may be right (I may be wrong), but I believe that if you have an Adobe account, you can download Audition 3.0 for free now. It's officially unsupported now (superseded by newer Creative Suite versions)...I still use this iteration for home demos. Worth a look?

It was Kiss. Don't know whether that makes me feel proud or a little embarrassed.

The TC Helicon Harmony Singer doesn't work without a guitar being plugged into it to detect which key to harmonise to, so that's off the list.

Sansamp GT2. It's more a guitar dirtbox, but superduper for bass. I do love the BDDI/VTBassDI, but this is a little less controlled. Loads of shizzle. Cheap too if you can pick a used one. P

I don't think it's necessary to go as far as taking vocal lessons...I've never really had an issue singing off any key, my pitch is pretty good and I breathe well, it's just the thickness of my singing voice that's amiss. (I do not sing from my diaphragm.) We recently changed guitarists and when the old guy stepped up for choruses as well, it was just fantastic. I always alikened his vocal quality as being like Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, it gave everything a powerful, gruff, aggressive quality, whereas my vocals come over like a whiney Liam Gallagher! We were good for each other in that sense. I'm sure the new guy will step up when he's ready, but for now I need some kind of stomp box to give me some help.

Unsure whether this is the right place to post, but here goes. I generally handle backing vocals for my band and I'd say that while my range and pitch is decent enough, I'm honest enough to say on record (m'lord) that my timbre is quite thin and nasally, so things need phattening up. I'm looking for recommendations for a vocal harmoniser box of some sort. I've watched a few You Tube videos and they all seem much of a muchness, but detrimentally they only seem to be demonstrated by solo acoustic artists, rather than in a band environment. So I'm looking for advice really...we play punky/rocky stuff. I'm really unsure whether it's actually throwing good money at something that's a bit crap.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1471882958' post='3116688'] ... like Henry Ford got it right. I keep telling you; go buy a Model T and you won't wish for anything. "There's no better bridge on the market than a BBOT" [/quote] Baked beans on toast?

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1471876590' post='3116604'] I don't. I was well into my plans on how I could corner the market in making small oval plates! Foiled! After 2 whole days of market research and and R&D! [/quote] I'm pretty sure there's a market for oval playes, Rich. Reading through the Fender forums, I'm amazed at the attitude of a number of posters just stating that 'Leo got it right,' and saying nothing else. I favour a right-angled jack and the Hamer is the only bass in my arsenal that utilises this arcane connection. The flippage is a means to an end!

A rather inelegant solution...I trawled a load of Fender sites and found a post saying that Alex Lifeson had simply reverse loaded the jack plate on one of his Strats. Bingo! Works a treat. Bertbass; I may hit you up for a plate at some stage - I'll see how this mod pans out. Don't really want to start making up new leads, especially for a bass that rarely leaves the house. This'll do for now. P

First bass...CBS/Arbiter SG shaped thing. Had flats on it. G-string broke and all I could afford on my paperboy wages was a cheapie roundwound. Couldn't believe how bright that string sounded, so I used that string almost exclusively. It was rounds from then on.

[quote name='Karl Derrick' timestamp='1471730059' post='3115466'] http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OVAL-electric-guitar-FLUSH-jack-plate-NEW-UK-stock-LP-TL-all-colours-/122073274526?var=&hash=item1c6c22589e:m:myR-y26FIjIj_IGypYYThkw Any good? [/quote] Tried one of these already. There seems to be a few of these about, but either the holes don't match up or they don't cover the actual rout in the body. I'm going to try flipping the existing Strat-style plate over. The whole reason for my search is because all my cables terminate in right angled jack plugs and it's a bit of a pig getting the plugs in and out!

Nope...it's already got one of those! I'd like a flat plate, like one of these:

I have an unused B-string if anyone wants it. It's off a set of XL EPS170-5. Gauge is .130. Shoot me a PM and I'll mail it out. P

I'm looking for a black/flat/oval input jack plate to replace the Stratocaster style one on my Hamer. I know Schecter used to make them, but they're impossible to find, so I guess getting one made is another option.

Indifference here. My amp is set up in the extension, generally with one bass in that general locale. The rest of the guitars are in a rack on our spare bedroom/computer room. I think the general indifference started after I moved on a Bongo 5HH, to fund my first Thunderbird (of many). There's no way she'd tolerate hanging basses on the wall...I don't think I'd want to turn them into dust collectors.

Anyone remember the Tube special? Unsure whether is was from the north or south, but the two standout bands were The Bankrobbers and Cruella de Ville. The music business is a cruel mistress; neither of these bands made it past a couple of singles.

I doubt I'll be buying much from Thomann until such a time as Sterling recovers against the Euro. Pound for pound it's quite possibly cheaper buying from UK retailers at the moment.