blue

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1452100384' post='2946423'] Personally I wouldn't want to use a Zoom B1on on the road. Not because it wouldn't survive, but from an ease-of-use perspective. It's a great unit for learning about effects and home practice, but it's quite fiddly and would frustrate me in a live scenario! [/quote] Agreed 100% Blue

Compression, Overdrive Chorus or Phase covers most of the bases. I might add Bass Octave. You can't go wrong with TC Electronics or MXR pedals. I'm still not convinced that multi effects units are all that great for live performance. Blue

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1452111364' post='2946616'] At the end of Get Back, I believe. [/quote] I'm conjuring up black/white early footage when I hear that line. I could be wrong. Blue

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1452101971' post='2946440'] really? no response to Thundercat? you guys need to have a listen, he's pretty much the perfect response to this thread, he's a sh!thot bassist, and has a fan base that stretches way beyond the bass community. I'm not a huge fan but many young hipster types are, and they're the ones that decide where popular music goes in the future. [/quote] Very talented guy, great voice, but not my type of bass playing.I'm not sure why. I feel Larry,Chuck and Rocco. I couldn't feel this guy and I listened through head phones. Maybe it was this particular tune. I'm sure he can inspire the next generation though. I'm a 70s guy and pretty much stuck there. Blue

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1452111984' post='2946632'] It's not rubbish, it's just a sweeping generalisation. I know plenty of pro-musicians who teach for free and write scores for amateur orchestras for free. They love the sound and wouldn't get paid for a proffesional orchestra to play their arrangements. However, they have a very low boredom threshold when it comes to practicing. They get it right first time and don't enjoy playing the same tune correctly several times while someone makes mistakes. [/quote] I'm really talking about rock guys playing 1.5 fest and fairs and 4 hour bar shows. Not lessons or orchestrations. Blue

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1452104285' post='2946483'] I know a few of those too. I know one guy who has been a pro musician since the late 70's and more or less stopped touring full time about 8 years back and he says he is now very selective about what gigs he does because he doesn't see the need to waste his time with people who do not have a professional attitude to what they are doing. I hope I always find a way to enjoy playing music at whatever level I can play competently. [/quote] I think the term pro means different things to different people. I play for a living primarily at the bar band level ( I think we have established that bar business in the States is different than your pub business.) I wouldn't say because I play for a living I'm a pro. I've always felt maybe our peers or other people decided if were are pros or not. I am not sure where this notion comes from that if you do this for a living and it's a business it's no longer enjoyable? I think that's rubbish. When I started playing for a living , I became a better bass player and entertainer. It also became a lot more fun. For some of us earning money from a craft we have invested a lot of time and effort into is fun, Blue

[quote name='Behlmene' timestamp='1452110501' post='2946597'] Literally the quote is: "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope [b][i]we've passed[/i][/b] the audition." I took the liberty of doctoring the tense as the line was spoken [i][b]after[/b][/i] an audition (actually a free roof top concert). [/quote] Cool Blue

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1452080665' post='2946132'] 1. 😊 [/quote] One gig or one bass? Blue

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1452052207' post='2945929'] I would love to do that and have been trying to find like minded musicians for a good few years to do something like this. Unfortunately for me, musicians for the genre I want to cover are really only interested in doing session gigs so joining a band taking a long term view like "rehearsing the band till its absolutely right" is not usually on their list of priorities. They see music as a job that has to pay. Whilst I understand and respect their stance I sometimes wonder why some pro musicians aren't able to separate their music activities into those which are to earn a living and those for enjoyment or a hobby that does not necessarily need to make money. For example, if my day job was a freelance programmer writing software for corporate clients, but as a hobby I decided to learn to write apps for mobile phones and tablets. Both are writing software but I only expect to get paid for what I do for a living and would not expect to get paid for the software I write as part of my "hobby" even if there is a cost outlay to do it. However If I became competent at mobile phone app development then i may indeed get paid but that would be a bonus not a driver. I hope that makes sense. [/quote] If you have a skill a product or a service people want, I say charge them. Blue

76 gigs annually. I have 7 basses and I gig all of them. I usually bring 2 to every show. 1951 Re-issue MIJ P Bass ( purchased used w/case ) 1955 Re-Issue MIJ P Bass ( purchased used w/case ) G&L Blue Burst ASAT Bass (purchased used w/case, Active Pre-Amp ) Gibson 1991 Thunderbird (purchased used w/case, ebony fret board ) Gibson Gold Top Les Paul Bass Gibson Custom Shop ES-335 in Vintage Faded Cherry Hofner Limited Edition German Made Hofner 500/2 Club bass If, I never buy another bass I'm happy. Blue

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1451989040' post='2945189'] Not normally as they already have names (and when the names are as fine as Ripper, Victory and Thunderbird, why change them?), but my Gibson RD Artist is often referred to (only in house) as "the Bass Fairy bass" - my wife bought me it but said it came from "the Bass Fairy" and it kinda stuck [/quote] Yup, All my basses came with cool names; Thunderbird German Made Hofner Club P Bass Tele Bass Les Paul ES-335 Would change a thing. Blue

[quote name='Behlmene' timestamp='1452047993' post='2945916'] [b] I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we'll pass the audition.[/b] [/quote] For the under 50 crowd; [i]"[b] I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we'll pass the audition."[/b][/i] [b]John Lennon[/b]

[quote name='TomRandles97' timestamp='1452029878' post='2945775'] I think I did go a bit off subject from the original post, I was referring to what someone said in a previous comment about 'band' music not being popular with young people and went off on a bit of a tangent! But to answer what you said about new names, the ones sticking in my mind are Rick Barrio Dill, Robin Eberhart, Mike League, Alissia, Hadrien Feraud, Mark Michel, Nick Oliveri/Michael Shuman. Then of course you have a lot of players coming to light through Youtube channels such as Scott Devine. [/quote] Never heard of any of those people. Are they in the same league as Chuck Rainy, Larry Graham, Rocco Prestia or are they more pop based? Blue

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1451989603' post='2945196'] There's got to be a backlash against all the beardy sensitive singer/sonwriter guys with acoustic guitars at some point, there always is when the market becomes over saturated with one type of genre. Who knows, 2016 could be a great year for bands, a whole new crop of inspirational young bass players could be right around the corner... [/quote] Don't get me started. LOL Blue

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1452037666' post='2945883'] Except in the Tri-state area where Twisted Sister were continuously breaking attendance records for an unsigned band. [/quote] Agreed. Hey wait a minute, I'm from Jersey and Albert Anderson. ( The Wailers ) and his brother Armel lived across the street from me.Those guys exposed me to rock in the mid 60s. I believe Armel Anderson was the original drummer for Twisted Sister. Edit: Ok, here is a pic of TS around 1973-1974. That's Al Anderson's brother Armel on the far right. The others are vocalist Michael Valentine, guitarit Billy Diamond and Kenny Neil on bass. Guess he was called Mel Starr at the time.Armel lent us his copy of Are You Experienced to listen to, me and my guys were a little younger than Armel. The other pic is me with Armel's brother Albert back stage at Shank Hall last year with my youngest son and his GF. Small world Macdaddy. Blue

Funny stuff, sad but true. It's unbelievable how some guys think they're band ready and they're not even close. Rule of thumb, you want to say very little at auditions and if you don't know the material like the back of your hand, cancel your audition. Always make sure they can hear you and the sound or tone your using is cool with them. They're not always going to comment on volume or tone until it's to late. "Thanks we went with one of the other candidates. We couldn't hear you at the audition" Also if a band can't provide me with files or links to the audition material, I don't audition. I think we as musicians and bands in general struggle with the audition process. Bands aren't necessarily good at screening out candidates (prior to the audition) and players are not good at knowing what they want or the kind of band they're a match for. Really the thing is, the public is never going to hear about the really good opportunities. The pro bands with money and top teir gigs have guys on the inside they call. 9 times out of 10 advertised opportunities are "start ups" that will never see their first gig.If a band doesn't have gigs on the books, they probably never will. Blue

[quote name='itsmedunc' timestamp='1451941190' post='2944918'] Once auditioned a drummer who said all the right things. Before the audition we went and picked his kit up. Carried it all up the attic steps. He set it all up. That's when we discovered he had never played drums before. He didn't know it would be that hard apparently. Why he had a kit i will never know. Our guitarist told him to go away and practice really hard for 6 months and get back to us. I felt like throwing him down the attic steps with his kit behind him! [/quote] Picked up his kit? Wasn't that a hint something was wrong. Blue

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1451923096' post='2944625'] "band" based music really isn't that popular anymore (among the under 40s) compared to the 60s, 70s and 80s so there isn't a whole lot of high profile bass players around to inspire anyone kids are far more likely to be inspired by DJs etc. playing the music they like [/quote] Many of us have been saying this for a long time. In The States when disco music hit big in the late 70s, overnight it was no longer cool to go to concerts and see live bands. Blue

I'm playing with one now. We're the same age and came into music during the mid 60s and have the same tastes. Guy came to us with years of gigging experience. He knows the business and how to be in a band. Blue

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1451993305' post='2945243'] My most recent project is a mostly instrumental rock band. It's crazy music with a crazier image. I honestly never thought we'd win over any audiences as it's all so weird, but it's been very successful so far! So, you never know what's going to go down well I wonder what causes some of these threads to turn into an "originals vs covers" battle? I play in 4 originals bands but I really don't care what anyone else does. As far as I'm concerned, once the song is written, we're all the same, out there playing to audience, trying to win them over I'm really surprised by this! Where do we get the CDs? [/quote] I know we sell them at gigs, they were recorded before I was with the band. They might be on iTunes I'll find out. Blue

[quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1452010741' post='2945497'] Hi tim yea take your point even if it is their version of a song, that to me is in the same ball park as evolution, some times maybe if your sound is so diverse its prob the best way to do it, just to get people use to hearing your sound, then slip in originals. JTUK yep again good to see/hear these bands, but as you say once you have seen it then what? " in the style of" bands to me are not really ground breaking rather than cashing in on someone elses hard work, tho sometimes it works and worth watching, take "Osaka Monaurail" its original stuff in a jap james brown band, just a clone of everything james brown did sound, moves, suits, style, looks,everything.... would he have got the work he is getting without that assocation ? but his songs are good and i like it and yep payed to watch it, even tho i know its JB. all in all to me if you doing a cover or an original in your own style no matter how diverse you think it is some will like it some will hate it this is all a part of creating YOUR audience, but you will never know unless you try. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1QFLzBan30"]https://www.youtube....h?v=R1QFLzBan30[/url] [/quote] That clip is crazy, if anything it tells me more about how far reaching James Brown's music was and still is. Blue

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1451981352' post='2945108'] Also I don't really understand why people are getting their knickers in a twist in this thread. The OP wants to start a band to play some unconventional covers and is wondering what the reception might be like. IMO, the reception from a normal pub crowd will be rubbish but they'll probably have lots of fun and kudos by playing songs that they really really like. Blue; in the UK a lot of people have second jobs. I have three! Playing in a band for £150 a month is one of them. That money is food in my kids mouth and you're insinuating that I'm taking work from other 'real' musicians who do it for a living. That's not cool. My needs are just as valid! [/quote] I think your confusing me with someone else. My position has always been, I"m not in competition with other bands and no bands are taking business from us. Blue

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1451947694' post='2944990'] Yeah, it's like when my grandmother was in a home & they'd all sing Vera Lynn songs & think they were about to be bombed by the Germans. [/quote] Not funny, and you missed my point. Blue

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1451903404' post='2944347'] You're still creating something. Regardless whether it's a copy. Doesn't matter how closely you think you're copying the original you'll always be putting your own feel on it. A better word might be 'making'. [/quote] Undercover is on, he gets it. Many of you, have opinion and definitions about creativity I can't agree with. I'll break it down for you; [size=4][font=Arial]You take a bass line from a song, put it up on it's feet and then bring it to life, but add your own flavor, you don't just go note for note from the original recording, you know the map but you get there your own way.[/font] [font=Arial]Once you get the line on it's feet and your interacting with other competent musicians other creative things happen. That's the intelligent way to deal with cover bass lines. [/font] [font=Arial]So you guys can tell these other bass chatters about creativity and and playing covers ain't sh*t, but leave me out. I'm not buying into it. [/font][/size] [size=4][font=Arial]After 50 years of playing I don't know everything but I know a few things.[/font][/size] [size=4][font=Arial]Sorry but I had to speak up on this one.[/font][/size] [size=4][font=Arial]Blue[/font][/size]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1451945368' post='2944966'] If he is that good, that happens. This is why bands aren't equal...IMO. Nice idea but not really practical. Any decent guy will likely know their worth and if they know they are the diference will be telling you what they go out for. It just depends how much of a potential arse you are prepared to put up with... but then they could be the difference between £750 a gig and £1250 or whatever so it costs you more per head to 'tolerate' but you end up grossing more. So, in principle, I'd consider paying it ..if the gig could afford it... etc etc .. [/quote] I say at the bar band level where the whole band fee is $400.00-$500.00 it should always be an equal split. It's not enough money to futzing over somebody getting more or less. If your in that 2k and up range then there's a margin you can play with. Blue