blue

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1471028643' post='3110144'] Yes,in a covers band. Would you be welcomed into a group of 16-20 year old's band hoping to make it big? [/quote] We're not a covers band. We have released 2 cds of originals. We're a bar band. We do play some blues rock covers from Nancy Sinatra to Peter Green to Robin Tower. Cover bands over here play Bruno Mars and Katy Perry. Blue

[quote name='spike' timestamp='1471032460' post='3110175'] Hobbyist here, but gigging enough to make a noticeable difference to my income. Does that make me semi-pro? [/quote] Maybe, who knows. We've haven't been able to define pro or semi pro. Blue

And having a decent PA is not where it ends We're lucky we gave a dedicated sound tech with us. Yes at the bar level we have a paid sound tech. My point, what good is a good PA if you don't have someone with the band that can run the board, understands sound and how to manage and maintain it. Blue

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1470995680' post='3109816'] In my opinion if you have a great animated front man with a good voice that is what most of the punters focus on , & if you don't it doesn't matter how good anyone else is , it's not going to go well . [/quote] Yes, in some cases if a band doesn't have a "Star" it can be tough. Not having a "Star" meaning someone that can entertain, is personable and can engage the crowd with the band.is a weak point for a lot of local bands. Blue

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1470993128' post='3109781'] "Jumpers for goal posts", that will probably be lost in translation but as ever it has nothing to do with when you were born, do you think there would have been as many young bands looking for a 62 year old bass player in the swinging 60's? Believe it or not there are sill young people enjoying making music today, none of them will want a 62 year old bass player now just as they didn't then! [/quote] My point was, in the States in the mid sixties there were more young people like myself getting into rock and roll ,playing electric guitar and bass and starting bands then there are for young musicians today. I have no idea what your talking about or what your reply has to do with my post. By the way my band leader is female and in her late 20s. Blue

I'm not sure what a "Pro" is. I don't have or want a traditional 9-5 job. I make a living from playing music, however I would not consider my band a professional band because we work a lot. So, I would say the band and myself have a professional attitude and we conduct ourselves in a professional manner. Blue

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1470967812' post='3109714'] The Hal Lenard books are fine. I would stick with those. Your at a slight disadvantage, most of us old timers came along at a time when everyone was playing in a band. In my neighborhood you could hear bands practicing in every other garage or basement. We were all the same age and we didn't kniw what we were doing ,but we were all at the same level and we learned how to play our instruments from playing with each other. Aim for what you want to do with music and it might take time to figure that out. Concentrate on learning your major and minor scales and how to use half and whole steps. Don't get hung up in gear. If you gave a bass with good action and intonation your good. Scott's Bass has some excellent tutorias for beginners. Blue [/quote]

The Hal Lenard books are fine. I would stick with those. Your at a slight disadvantage, most of us old timers came along at a time when everyone was playing in a band. In my neighborhood you could hear bands practicing in every other garage or basement. We were all the same age and we didn't kniw what we were doing ,but we were all at the same level and we learned how to play our instruments from playing with each other. Aim for what you want to do with music and it might take time to figure that out. Concentrate on learning your major and minor scales and how to use half and whole steps. Scott's Bass has some excellent tutorias for beginners. Blue

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1470940874' post='3109541'] In my view, Blue's problem is not his limited range of influences but his expectation that anyone of his age will have a similar limited range of influences. However, he's unavoidably at liberty to hold his view, as are you or indeed is anyone, but the price of expressing said position is that others may disagree or disapprove. Shocking maybe, but that's life. Please feel free to disagree or disapprove if you feel that my view is in any way inferior. [/quote] I think there are a few guys my age that are as selective as me in terms of who gets through the "influence" door. Not all but a few. I'm a local guy and so fortunate to have enough work to get by without a proper traditional 9-5 job. I did that for 35 years. I sincerely hope that other bass players my age are having as much fun as me. This is really a great time in any Rock musicians life to be out there and still active. Blue

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1470930755' post='3109443'] The bass is moving on at a frightening pace, IMO... guys who were vanguard 30 yrs ago probably can't keep up. That is not to say those guys don't still have valid and great careers but there are loads of new things of interest. Strangely, ..considering another thread, one of the most timeless, IMO, is Jaco. That to me marks a true giant or great. I'd add Larry Graham to that as well... he still sounds as funky as f*** and you just can't ignore him. IMO, of course. And no, by today's standards, they aren't that technical, but what they have went beyond that anyway. Both DEFINED a style, I'd say. [/quote] Good points. Don't get me wrong, I'm very well aware that the new young bass players are smarter and a lot more technical than some of my heroes. In defense of my heroes, they don't need to play 50 million notes at lighting speed to make a point. Blue

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1470911175' post='3109276'] It's got nothing to do with your age. If you want to say somethign about your own very narrow grasp of music and its history then that's fair enough. Own it for yourself. But I'm in the same age group as you (I'm 64) but have totally different attitudes to music. So don't blame your narrow mindedness on your age group. [/quote] Probably nothing to blame on my age group, but more me and my age. I'm constantly learning new things that are helping improve my stage performance. I guess we're all different and doing different things with music. Blue

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1470899131' post='3109175'] So why do you seem to be so belligerently uninterested in musicians who weren't creating music when you were growing up? [/quote] I look at the bass heroes of my generation as the masters. I'm still studying mist of them. There are some fantastic new guys, I just don't have the time or like you say the interest. To be honest I don't know why I have little interest in them.I t might be that I'm not hearing anything that sounds new. Blue

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1470875123' post='3109150'] Actually ot depends on the audience. If you get a crowd in a city centre pub who don't normally watch bands, then anyone bashing out energetic but recognisable versions of songs they can sing along to will do. But play in a pub where you get the same crowd watching bands every week then, believe me that's another story. They may not know exactly the reason why one band is better than another but they are quite capable of telling the difference. There is a reason why better sounding, better quality bands draw bigger audiences and get paid more... [/quote] Agreed 100% Blue

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1470860097' post='3109060'] Considering my poor back & limited time to set stuff up on pub gigs , I have a resonable PA with powered subs & I'm happy with the overall sound quality .But recently I saw a local band that had very basic 300w PA Guitar & bass had entry level stuff & the sound quality wasn't great , but they had the place packed & were just pure entertainment . My question is, are the band the only people that appreciate the sound quality ? Or do the punters just want to recognise the songs & see a animated band & everyone just has a good old knees up . [/quote] I think punters like good sound quality, however I don't think they know what it is or how it's achieved. I would say , don't scale back because you heard a pub band on a good night. Any system your using that will give you more control and the ability to manipulate and adapt your sound to different rooms is best. Blue

[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1470787555' post='3108527'] If you could do it as well and as tight as Mr Clayton does it, root notes or not, you probably wouldn't still be playing in bar bands. In my opinion....... [/quote] Yeah, I agree Pub & ,Bar bands are a waste of time. Blue Pic,pretty nice stage for a bar .

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1470824566' post='3108713'] I'm sorry but IMO that's a really sad attitude to have. I'm only a little bit younger than you but I'm still finding all sorts of new and interesting music all the time and without even having to look all that hard. It doesn't matter if it come from the 70s when I was just discovering pop/rock or a brand new band who just stuck up their first recordings on Bandcamp last week. If I like it, then it's worth my time and money. If I felt like you I'd probably give up both playing and listening to any kind of music. [/quote] I love music, playing and listening it's how I make a living. Blue

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1470828961' post='3108748'] A very closed minded attitude, if you don't mind my saying. [/quote] I make a living out of gigging and no, I don't mind at all. Blue

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1470778344' post='3108476'] I have an 8ohm 2x12 if you can get to Sevenoaks? I know it's not the ideal spec per your ad but if it helps you out of a hole and nothing else is forthcoming I'm happy to be of assistance [/quote] Nice! Blue

[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1470787555' post='3108527'] If you could do it as well and as tight as Mr Clayton does it, root notes or not, you probably wouldn't still be playing in bar bands. In my opinion....... [/quote] Yeah your probably right. Bar/Pub band stuff is a waste of time. Blue

[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1470776637' post='3108447'] If you've ever experienced U2 live you'll know how incredibly tight they are. Adam Clayton is definitely not sh*te. There are loads of bass players with impressive chops who couldn't do what he does anywhere near as well. Less is almost always more [/quote] Now that is very debatable. I have never listened to Adam, however I thought he was one of those root note only guys. Blue

Their lead vocalist and front person is very good. Blue

No hate, however when your my age, these guys are not relevant to me. The guys I like and have influenced, me cone out of the 60s & 70s. Blue

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1462556300' post='3044059'] Closest pedal I own that has a really barking midrange to stand out in the mix like that is the Pike Vulcan with the colour knob over to the left. Sounds particularly awesome with a Precision or T-Bird with bright roundwound strings: The MXR Bass Distortion sounds like it could fit the bill too, cheaper and more easily available and gets glowing reviews (I've not tried one though): [/quote] I have the MXR-M85, however unless I get a gig with Korn, I'm not sure I'll ever use it. Blue

I think getting a band started is hard at the local level. It really depends in what the goal of the band is. If it's gigging it will take a strategic plan and all members on board. Am I wrong, it seems like pub and event managers make bands jump through a lot of hoops in the UK. Or is that for new bands? Getting an audience and inbound business for a new band is hard and the reason most start up fail. Don't give up. Blue

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1470556215' post='3106628'] OK gig last night, never looked like it was going to be busy (BBQ weather) and you do wonder why some of these out of the way places actually bother putting music on but we gave it our best shot. A few tech glitches with gear in second set (none of mine though) but nothing major, they ended up giving us more than the agreed fee at the end and will give us a repeat booking for next year which was nice. I had played there before with another band playing totally different genre of music but I don't think it was that busy then either. Bit of a break to recharge batteries then a few more higher profile gigs toward end of month. [/quote] We have had some event gigs like a BBQ and beer fest and yes, it's not really a music crowd and you wonder why they even book live music. We play and deliver our best either way, and were happy to take the $500.00 Blue