skankdelvar

[quote name='Doddy' post='795377' date='Apr 3 2010, 10:55 PM']on this occasion the guys in the shop wouldn't let me go look upstairs where the Basses were because I was wearing an ankle length coat[/quote] [size=1]Under pressure from their label, Doddy's band debuted their new 'image' with mixed feelings. [/size]

[quote name='gilmour' post='790812' date='Mar 30 2010, 05:12 PM']It's a little known fact that speakers that are a non-standard colour (i.e not black) sound better.[/quote] Fantastic! Let's start the " 'Vintage Blue' speakers are [i]demonstrably[/i] better" voodoo myth right here! Six months from now it will be a globally accepted fact.

[quote name='Hamster' post='794941' date='Apr 3 2010, 11:40 AM']Oh, it was you who came from the escort agency the other night - nice dress! Same time next week?[/quote] No worries. 8:30pm - 8:35pm, Wednesday, £45.00 cash or trade for a gigbag.

Geezer Butler rarely seems to get mentioned on BC. Or Roger Glover. Or Joe Bouchard. Or Cliff Burton. Or Cliff Williams. Enormously contributive bass players in scrillion-selling bands. How strange.

[quote name='Hamster' post='794208' date='Apr 2 2010, 12:48 PM']I was very tempted to set Off Topic to invisible for a few hours................. [/quote] [i]And so it begins...[/i] The accumulation of power, the midnight knock on the door, the iron jackboot on the neck. Mark my words...

Danelectro 'Dead On' 67 Baritone - £250-300

Looks like something you'd buy from Woolies in 1971.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='792827' date='Apr 1 2010, 01:25 AM']We'll be deleting the group at midday today so if you want to save anything please do it before then.[/quote] Really? Blimey. I mean, I know it's your train-set, but a bit of consultation might not have gone amiss. Plus your page-count's going to halve. Sorry Kiwi, but with all respect, I think this is enormously short-sighted. Surely there's a bit of room in the world for compromise. Maybe firm up the rules a bit. A very bad day, all round.

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='792439' date='Mar 31 2010, 08:44 PM']"Can i [u]bust a groove [/u]on that Les Paul..."[/quote] Good Lord! Does [i]anyone[/i] really talk like that in a non-ironic sense? I'd give them a playful clip round the ear with a keyboard stand and send them off for English lessons.

[quote name='thedonutman' post='792285' date='Mar 31 2010, 06:45 PM']I didn't get any of the usual "Are you actually going to buy it?" attitude that you get with these chain stores. They were bending over backwards to sell me this guitar. The reason why? I was wearing a suit[/quote] ... and asking to try a £3k PRS. "Oh, ho!" they thought. "We got ourselves one of those millionaire bankers here, of which one reads in the popular tabloids! It's [i]payday[/i]!" IME, the only way to improve on this scenario is to visit around mid-afternoon, reeking of fine wine and babbling about "clinching the Hamburg deal".

Sold Steve a Marshall powerbrake. Problem-free transaction and paid fast, as befits the Gentleman he is.

[quote name='urbanx' post='791523' date='Mar 31 2010, 08:47 AM']IMO I think it's vital as to how you present yourself as a band.[/quote] Spot on. If you're in a hobby band that never gets out of the rehearsal room, you can wear and play what you like. Once you're in front of an audience, there's a transaction going on, even if it's a free gig. Audiences have expectations and fulfilling them is all part of the job. Unless you're a radical Arts collective out to subvert the process, our task is to convert an audience from disinterested observers to willing participants in our musical vision. Wearing the wrong clothes or sporting the wrong instrument simply introduces an additional obstacle. If success is achieved not simply by doing 'good' things but also by minimising 'bad' things, then getting your image right is just part of the groundwork before you even play a note. Let's face it. In most bands the question that follows "Wow, a gig! Are we getting paid?" is invariably "What are you going to wear?"

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-1971-Gibson-Les-Paul-Custom-Guitar-ALL-ORIGINAL_W0QQitemZ360246171744QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item53e0585860"]Here[/url] from Tune-O-Matic, E-Bay's happiest and most modest seller. [size=1]Would you buy a Les that's been up his auntie's bikestand?[/size]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='791372' date='Mar 30 2010, 11:56 PM']Quoted for posterior. [/quote] Fixed.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='791357' date='Mar 30 2010, 11:48 PM']Random aside - when did 'ass' replace 'arse'? No-one says 'arse' anymore, and it makes me sad. [/quote] Don't be sad. I'll say 'Arse' for you. Arse. There. All done.

In my youth I did 'Evita' in London's glamorous West End. Every night (and twice on Saturdays) I had to run on and shout "Viva El Presidente!" I'll get my coat.

Fretted Flat Forward

* Everybody's got an 'image', even if they set out not to have one. One's image is how other people perceive one and, in the last resort, is beyond one's control. * Everybody's got a self image. That's how one perceives oneself. * These two images do not always coincide. * In my case, there is no bass on earth that will stop me looking like a sack of sh*t tied up in the middle.

FWIW, I'm currently using a MAG300 Combo with a lightweight-ish Hartke 410 TP as an extension. Cost me £290 for the lot and it sounds OK, in a classic-rock sort of way... Were I to trade up, I'd be swapping the combo for a louder Ashdown head and sliding yet another 410 TP underneath. I reckon something like that might be just about achievable on your budget.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='790566' date='Mar 30 2010, 01:38 PM']TBH if it was my band, I'd rather the review slagged us off then simply cut and paste from our press release, because at least it shows the reviewer actually listened to the music and formed an opinion even if it is one that I don't agree with.[/quote] I admire your honesty But, TBH, if it was my band I'd rather the reviewer took exactly the line I was trying to push. Next best after that is cut and paste. Truthful negativity should be suppressed by any means possible. Once you're at the level of sending out releases and soliciting reviews, it's about developing your commercial appeal. Whether the reviewer [i]genuinely[/i] likes it or not is almost immaterial. Ideally, you build a relationship with journos where they'll exult your best efforts, play down any negative aspects and reserve their [i]real[/i] criticisms for a matey late-night drink in a VIP bar. It's a dirty business, but someone's got to do it.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='789964' date='Mar 29 2010, 09:22 PM']Audience: "Why's that guitar bigger than the other one?" Bass Player: "Because it's a bass, not a guitar, you moronic [b]individual[/b]!"[/quote] So you saw the turn-out at our most recent gig, eh? Therefore - You [i]were[/i] the turn-out at our most recent gig?

[quote name='TheButler' post='790094' date='Mar 29 2010, 10:56 PM']It is actually the only negative review, but i guess one can't help but get hung up at first.[/quote] Sorry if I seemed a bit cold and cynical. It's only natural for you to feel a bit put out - after all, it's a very personal business, making music. But it's always worth remembering that: 1) Journos usually have an agenda and it's someone's job to work out what that agenda is 2) 'Handling' our inky-fingered mates is a complex task often best left to professionals working to a careful strategy, sometimes involving veiled threats, cajolery and recreational narcotics. If it makes you feel any better, the Music Press irrationally hated Led Zep for years. In an attempt to circumvent this obstacle, their management struck a deal with 'prestigious', high-circulation 'Life' magazine. Well-known journo Ellen Sander was invited to accompany them on tour. The interviews were high-flown and thoughtful. The blandishments were many and various. All was going well. Unfortunately for everyone, an insanely drink-crazed John Bonham 'propositioned' her rather forcefully on the private jet shortly before she was due to file copy. Best laid plans, least said soonest mended, clusterf*ck of biblical proportions, etc.

Range of possibilities re: the one bad review you mention. Careful scrutiny of what was written / not written may (or may not) indicate one of the following: * Publication target audience may not be aligned with your genre / approach - hence you're a cheap easy target for the journo to pick off * Journo may just have been having a bad day and didn't much like your output * Your band (or whoever's handling your PR) may be on the journo's shitlist. * They gave the review to a junior who's trying to make a name * Your output is below par and they were the only ones to be honest (unlikely) Either way, it's not something to get 'upset' about. This is business, after all. If 'Loud and Quiet' is essential to your development, whoever does your PR should be tasked to turn the situation round. If not, backburner the relationship with the mag and let them come crawling back when you get big. Reviews should not be used as a mirror; they should be used as a tool.

[quote name='paul h' post='789843' date='Mar 29 2010, 08:08 PM']But that's because you are dishonest, lazy and live in a fantasy world.[/quote] Guilty as charged, M'Lud. [quote name='paul h' post='789851' date='Mar 29 2010, 08:12 PM']It doesn't make me a bad person.[/quote] Yes, it does. You've got an evil streak in you a mile wide and you'll roast in hellfire eternal if you even [i]think[/i] about relic-ing a bass. And not taking it seriously? God will smite you as he smote the Cities of the Plain.