skankdelvar

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1396976148' post='2419380'] And yet I don't see them inviting electricians and caterers to work there in exchange for a free ticket. [/quote] I may do no more than reproduce Silverstone's tweet: [color=#000000][font=Arial, sans-serif]We defo don't have all the money in F1... They will get tickets but if bands don't want to volunteer they don't have to![/font][/color] [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1396976593' post='2419388'] Seems to me that too many people are too keen to tell other people what they should or shouldn't be doing. [/quote] It is the social phenomenon [i]de nos jours. [/i] In the old days the response to a proposition of this nature might have been 'I'll pass on that, thank you' while perhaps silently observing to oneself that the propositioner might poke his offer. The contemporary style goes along the lines of: 'How very f**king dare you? I am outraged on behalf of hard working families up and down the country. I shall start a Facebook group to demand your company be shut down by the guvvinment' with no actual intent of doing anything at all. It is self-display gone mad. [quote name='icastle' timestamp='1396977248' post='2419396'] My understanding is that many breweries have a entertainments budget which is used as a tax write off anyway. If that's the case then the gamble for the landlord isn't quite as large, or indeed, clear cut. [/quote] Firstly it depends whether the landlord is an employee of the chain [i]or[/i] a tenant / free-house landlord who does not have access to a centralised budget. In any event, while such expenditure may be set against profits for tax purposes, no amount of tax breaks will overcome an absence of profits. In such cases it merely reduces the loss after tax; which in the greater scheme of things is precious little use to the loss-making landlord or company.

In fairness, Silverstone Circuits Ltd is a loss-making business currently owned by the British Racing Drivers Club, itself a not-for-profit membership association. Silverstone is not part of Mr Ecclestone's Formula 1 organisation with whom it has until recently enjoyed an adversarial relationship. Far from being a rich player, Silverstone is pretty much on its uppers and- rather like the impecunious pub landlord - will seek to cover its costs in any way possible. In the last couple of years Silverstone and the BRDC have attempted to cover the circuit's enormous debts by selling certain parcels of land for commercial usage. The BRDC is now alleged to be in discussions with an un-named party to sell the track; the purpose of the sale is presumably to reduce the financial drag on the BRDC's other activities which include race driver educational programmes. In any event, the situation is the same as might pertain elsewhere. If one does not wish to play for free, one may politely reject the invitation.

Whether right or wrong, the impetus behind the issue is clear-cut. The hospitality business (pubs, bars, restaurants) may appear to be highly profitable, yet it is not. Let's take pubs. The sector has been kept afloat for years not by landlords' beer profits but by the rents charged to the landlords by the chains. There was, until recently, a queue of hopefuls who fancied the idea of their own little pub. Once installed, they found themselves in thrall to the brewers. They'd lose their money and a new [s]sucker[/s] 'hopeful' would move in. Against this backdrop it is no surprise that landlords will seek to reduce their costs by hiring free bands. The alternative is to pay a band and pray they cover their costs. The statistics vary wildly but I've seen profit per pint quoted as being between 12p and £1.10. Even at the higher figure a landlord will have to sell an extra 200 or so pints to cover the band. That's around 50 people at 4 pints each or about 66 people at 3 pints each - just to break even. Now there may be local bands who can regularly pull 66 punters whenever they play. But can they guarantee it? If not, the landlord loses money. The way I see it, any landlord who agrees to pay a band is taking a chance on the band's pulling power. This is why so many pub guv'nors ask first-timers 'Do you have a following?' Most hobby bands don't, so why should the landlord volunteer to lose money? The reality is that there are few local bands who can assuredly draw enough punters to cover a landlord's costs. Those who cannot should agree to play for free until they have built a following sufficient that they can point to a full bar and ask for their due. Too many of us delude ourselves that we are semi-pros when in truth we are amateurs - that is - 'someone who does something for free because they like it'. At root, most of us are far more interested in playing in front of an audience than we are in delivering that audience. Why this insistence on getting paid if we neglect the business side of things? When the landlord's objective is to increase pub traffic then I see no problem in a landlord paying one band because he knows they can pull while denying remuneration to another because they are an unknown quantity or known to be unprofitable. As for having background music - harpist, cocktail piano, gloomy minstrel - that's a different thing altogether.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1396709716' post='2416659'] What's new here that we haven't beaten into the ground already..? [/quote] Perhaps we might erect a sign to this effect over the doors to Off-Topic.

Quite apart from any useful advice you get here, go to the Basses For sale sub-forum and stick '£300' in the search box. Pulls up a really mixed bag of stuff

I'm physically repulsive so I learnt the Enigmatic scale so I could pull chicks. Save your money; it doesn't work.

[quote name='Michael J' timestamp='1396545288' post='2414964'] My mattress is an eight inch thick slab of foam. [/quote] That might do the trick.

Breath akimbo, a nation anticipates the revised textural melange. We may only wait upon events and ponder the while.

Unless a mattress is of the old-fashioned horsehair or feather type it will like as not prove useless. A modern sprung mattress is 99% air between wire loops; having recently cut one up (don't ask) I can confirm it is about as useful as egg-boxes. Acoustically enhancing the room is the only way forward but it does not have to be massively expensive. Acoustic materials come at range of prices and a trip round the home recording forums will help identify the cheaper brands and some minimum requirements. If nothing else, I have enjoyed a marginal improvement by rolling heavy removers' blankets and placing them on the floor in each corner of the room as rudimentary bass traps. Ideally, one would also sort the ceiling corners and the wall / ceiling join.

[quote name='Bloodaxe' timestamp='1396460925' post='2413996'] Don't forget to add "It's in Bb" as well, with any luck the guitarist's head will explode. [/quote] Ah, yes. Mentioning the key might be useful. That's me getting over-confident again

[quote name='Bloodaxe' timestamp='1396438188' post='2413552'] Here's a list I culled from a few threads over on Talkbass:— [/quote] Outstanding work, Sir, and thanks for all your work linking to the examples on YT. Really too kind. I've played most of those at one time or another so linking 'the name to the face' should be a doddle. Next time I'm in a blues outfit I shall bellow 'Flat tire shuffle, quick change, in from the five' and watch a few heads melt. [color=#ffffff].[/color]

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1396380666' post='2412991'] Excellent – I aim to entertain and inform! And when JT comes back and tells us what ‘henpecked 4ths’ are then we will all have learnt something else new… [/quote] Inform, you did. Y'know, I've never done one of these blues jam things. I'd probably have understood 'Quick change' but 'In from the five' would have left me cacking. A brief glossary explaining stuff that people suddenly shout out a pico-second before the count-in would be dead handy. I've had a lengthy Google and can't seem to find anything. Any pointers, anyone?

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1396379160' post='2412963'] Oooh please Sir, I know the answer to that one! [/quote] Thanks Pete. I have learned something new today!

While we're at it, what does 'In from the five' mean?

Liver let live, I always say.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1396304276' post='2412208'] Err, isn't this request for a Vegetarian Bass Player going a little Off-Topic? [/quote] Omnivores wouldn't think so but a veggie mite.

Hallo You may wish to also post your message in the [url="http://basschat.co.uk/forum/25-musicians-wanted/"]Musicians Wanted[/url] sub-forum. Plenty of traffic there. Good luck with your band.

[quote name='Bolo' timestamp='1396261299' post='2411414'] Rubbish comment. Ronny James Dio, Glenn Danzig to name a couple. HM is no more 'boy band image' affected than any other popular music. There are commercial acts whose image precedes musicianship (i.e. Poison, Motley Crue, Cradle of Filth) but they are far outnumbered by the people that try to make energetic powerful guitar oriented music and don't care as much about looks. [/quote] Quite so. HM is for individualist musos. Any homogeneity of appearance - white, male, long hair, tatts, black t-shirt - is just evidence of their rejection of bourgeois ideas of 'conformity'. We must excuse Bilbo for - as a Jazzer - he embraces a musical form which has absolutely no predetermined public image. Research conducted by the Winsley Institute For Policy Studies has indicated as much - see below: [color=#ffffff].[/color]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1396194751' post='2410817'] It wasn't a fire engine, it was a van. [/quote] You're both right. At different times between the 1920's and the 1950's the Speedwagon came with pick-up, panel van, fire truck, passenger bus, hearse, and ambulance bodies.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1396202841' post='2410935'] I'm surprised so many are taking this seriously. It's clearly a wind-up, guys. [/quote] As is his 'Testimony' [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuIf_9jA54M&feature=youtu.be"]vid[/url], where he explains how he went to Los Angeles to 'BECOME A [i]BIG ROCK STAR[/i]' with his band 'HBS - [i]HEAVY BURNER SOCIETY[/i]' and instead found the true path.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1396134348' post='2410385'] Rather you than me. I'd find it like the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head. [/quote] Some of us like having the Sword Of Damocles hanging over our heads. It's a good icebreaker at parties.

Joe bought my Hartke cab. Smooth deal and a very nice man. Transact with confidence