Nicko

I agree with most of the above, although at our level the idea of a stage tech or a rack of 5 or 6 guitars is maybe a bit beyond us.. My take on the pauses is that the vocalist should take that as an opportunity to bond with the crowd. The other point is that we play fairly high intensity covers and sometimes we actually need a few seconds to catch our breath. I'm not talking about minutes here. Our 1st set is timed at 56 minutes on the original recordings (about 15 songs) and we take an hour to play it.

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1470654601' post='3107315'] If you think you are ever likely to want to fly with an instrument to Europe, or want to be able to see European artists perform in the UK, then yes. At present, the problem is that airlines have widely differing rules, and the rules they have are not always applied correctly or consistently. Some will not even allow passengers to buy an extra seat for their instruments. The aim as I understand it is to ensure a consistent approach which balances the needs of musicians with those of the airlines. If you are happy putting a prized instrument in the hold and leaving it to the tender mercies of the baggage-handlers, then good luck to you. [/quote] You pays your money, and takes your choice. Theres plenty of airlines that allow you to travel with your instrument as hand luggage. Theres a whole thread on here about it. I assume we wouldn't want a whole plane full of double basses or sub-contra bass tubas so there has to be discretion by the airline. In practial terms the instrument would need to fit in the cabin storage somewhere in any case.

I would never suggest defrauding the Govt . However, a bloke I know did this in the past,and he factored in the sales tax which is not normally shown on the price tag and the VAT and import duty so that if customs stopped him and he had to pay VAT and duty he wouldn't end up paying more than he would in the UK for the same bass. Given the fall in sterling recently theres a signifiant risk that you would end up worse off if you get stopped. Theres a tiered import duty as well, anything under £390 is free to import for personal use but its unlikley you'll save much on low end gear. If its value is between £390 and £630 you would pay 2.5% on the whole value, plus vat at 20%. Also be aware that some companies (notably the big F) will not carry warranty on unofficial imports, and you wont be able to register the purchase. It also works out very cheap to buy a bass in the UK, and claim the VAT back when you export it, but you need to be out of the EU for 12 months and have some way to prove you are living abroad. This I have done legitimately whenI worked overseas. It wouldn't take a genius to work out a way to take advantage of this (as with most tax rules), but deliberately defrauding HMRC is illegal. You have been warned..

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1470656809' post='3107342'] Three times on different occasions I have driven miles to buy (different) Gibson SGs only to be underwhelmed by having the thing on my knee, mind blank as to something impressive to play in a music shop, and have left feeling deflated but richer for the experience. Must be my mood, but three times??? [/quote] You must really want one to have tried three times. I guess you ike the idea of one, but not the feel. Happened to me with Strats and Les Pauls. Dont liike either to play. I've now given up lusting after particular gear and tend to decide what kind of thing I want, and go to the shop with an open mind. If I dont bond with what I try the money says in my pocket.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1470558103' post='3106646'] Good luck this afternoon. Let us know how it goes. [/quote] Well, we arrived at about 6.30 and there was another band on, and the place was busy. They finished about 7pm and the place strated to empty out. By the time we started at 8pm there was only about 50 people left - I reckon 15 were ours. Most of the people seemed to be enjotying it, but some had clearly been there a while and I'm aftraid some ran out of stamina. I think by the time we finished there were about 30 people or so left. Apparently not many Sunday bands get invited back. The venue gave us some fairly strong feedback, liked the setlist, didn't like the pauses between songs (we have a few numbers where the guitards detiune - not sure what we can do about that). They said we would be great in a years time, as long as we practice. I must admit its not the best we have played, and we made a few mistakes - probably because we weren't really bouncing off the crowd. It looks like the quality of bands they are expecting is pretty high. Having said that they pay pretty well for a Saturday. The good news is they liked us enough to book us for a paid gig. The bad news is that - its not until next August,(yes you read it right) - it will be a bank holiday Sunday - so at least its not a school night. We spoke to the sound guy after the gig, and he reckons we might have a chance of Saturday cancellations as well if our diary is free. Overall I think the fact we have a booking here will be a good indication to other places nearby, but this is a fairly long payback time for a free gig.

I thnk ours is Vistaprint too. We had the artwork done by a graphic design student and it all worked out very economical.

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1470305984' post='3104886'] Why not advertise it on here. You never know, it may produce a few more faces. [/quote] OK, for those of you local to Watford [url="http://www.lemonrock.com/firefly?page=gigs"]http://www.lemonrock.com/firefly?page=gigs[/url] Don't forget to wear your BC tee shirts just to put the pressure on.

Thanks for the responses. I should say we are essentially a start up cover band and have no real following other than a few friends. We have played a few gigs but not really local to this place. The venue has trialled at least one band I know and told them they weren't good enough (and they probably aren't). I saw their video from the gig, and it looks like the venue stream the vid to screens so we have asked for the footage as a condition of booking. They DO have regular bookings of bands on multiple dates so I'm assuming if you get in there it will be great which is why its attractive in the first place. The band are doing the FB thing as much as possible, but this is a few miles from home and short of laying on a coach it's unlikely anyone other than close friends and family will turn out.

I'm not naming the venue, doesn't do to publicly slag off a potential customer.

Yes, that's my thoughts. Maybe they are looking for an excuse not to book us.

No. Looks are not important. Unless it has gold H/W and LEDs, in which case I would give it a wide berth.

We are playing at a local music venue. The deal is we play Sunday for free, and if we are considered good enough they will bok a regular slot. Personally I think this is a bit f a liberty being taken, but we have been struggling to get gigs and the rest of the band think this is worthwhile. h venue has asked us t play a cancellation - they gave us les than a weeks notice. That's fair enough I guess, but thy are now indicating that not only will they be judging our performance, but they also expect us to bring a crowd and will decide whether to book us based on our pulling power. We might get a few family and friends, but bearing in mind this is Sunday gig, and the venue has not advertised the band because we are a late cancellation stand in, I think this is totally out of order. Isn't getting an audience in the venue's job?

I think the only way you can use it is by grouping patches for songs together so user defined preset 1 and 2 could be verse and chorus of a particular song, 3 would be a different song, etc. Trying to skip patches in a live situation will have you prancing around like Michael Flatley.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1469613670' post='3099692'] It's the only relevant part. The whole idea of a cover band is to play tunes that the audience knows. [/quote] Well, now that's controversial. Does that mean the term "band" only applies to groups who are actively gigging or seeking gigs? It also means that while we are a band for most of our set, we are not when we play the obscure ones we chuck in because we like playing them. Theres audiences like you get in the local boozer, and audiences that will travel to see the obscure. Mod revival covers, Northern Soul covers are all valid and in the right context would go down well.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1469450396' post='3098350'] Is it producer Phil Thornalley on double bass? [/quote] It could well be. Still, suggestions for getting a sound close to this with an electric would still be welcome.

Stop sniggering at the back...... Just caught the studio version of Love Cats by the Cure. Any suggestions for re-creating that woody hollow tone? I assume this is an electric bass despite the video showing someone arseing about with a DB.

Damn! I seem to have read all the way to the end in search of the point - and Blue's promised follow up question and must have missed it.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1469089592' post='3095586'] a band that plays songs made famous by someone else. [/quote] Except if you are the Zutons or Billy Bragg I guess

We recently had a cull of songs that had been suggested to add to the setlist but never quite got around to being learnt and practiced. We had about 30 songs on the list and rather than a veto we tried to see how much interest there was in the songs. We ended up dumping around 25 songs, and surprisingly there were 10 or so that got no votes - so even the member (and I use the term advisedly) who suggested them decided they were wrong. I was unfortunately unable to dump "Are You Gonna Go My Way" or "Rocks" which were already in the ready to gig list.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1468615848' post='3092236'] We have employed a one person can veto a song choice rule in our band, we've decided that there must be enough songs that we all like and hopefully the audience will too, it's a bit of an odd set but it's getting tweaked at each gig. [/quote] ^^^^ This. With a well chosen set list theres no reason why you can't please both the band and the crowd most of the time. I must amnit though I end up witholding my veto for the really crap stuff which means I end up playing crowd pleasers that I personally dont like. What started out as a 90s set list now includes some very modern stuff and a few classics thrown in as an encore. Our target audience is 30 somethings, but we have never had anyonne complain that thy don't like the set..

Although I already had a few guitars, I got into bass guitar, bought one and a practice amp for about £500. Then I bought another for about £900, and an amp/speaker for another £500. And some pedals, maybe another £300. I haven't sold any of them, but had to sell my house and buy a bigger one. I reckon that cost me about £200k, plus the solicitor fees and stamp duty.

It would be great if someone occasionally recognised me as the talent in the band, and described me as f***ing awesome, but I fear it may be a long time coming. As long as they say the band is tight I'm happy.

All for different reasons: Geezer Butler Andy Rourke (The Smiths) Mike Durnt Flea John Entwistle

I'm in a band. The fact I play bass is irrelevant TBH. In between bands I find myself playing more 6 string and composing (badly). Outside the band I only play bass if something particularly sparks my interest, or when I'm looking for a bassline for a composition.

Thanks guys, looks like this may indeed be french polish as the problem as the damage does look a bit cloudy.