Monkey Steve

Personally I've never had a problem playing my 4001 with fingers...possibly because it was the only bass I had when I started to move to that from playing with a pick so I didn't have any other technique or bass to compare it with, I just got on with it. two practical suggestions: A wristband for your right forearm to stop the body chaffing the skin off (actually more of an issue for me playing with a pick than finger style) I suggest extra long ones, like this: https://www.prodirecttennis.com/products/Nike-Swoosh-Doublewide-Wristbands-Black-White-Accessories-NN05010-60188.aspx?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy5XC4bfC3QIVT-WaCh0pZgVKEAYYBiABEgJlf_D_BwE I gaffa taped down the muting foam in the bridge/tailpiece almost as soon as I got mine, and screwed it down so that there is no muting whatsoever. Thirty years on and I have never revisited that decision. Lots of treble and clank! YMMV

It's one of my major bugbears (and this isn't the first time I've moaned about it here) that people all say they are "really committed" to being in a band but everybody has a different definition of what that actually means, from "I'll rehearse every night of the week and jack in my job if a tour comes up", through "You can have all my free time apart from when I'm playing in my other band and they will always come first", to "As long as I haven't got the kids, Arsenal aren't at home, Eastenders isn't on that night and the wife doesn't want to do the weekly shop, I'm definitely there...apart from Tuesdays because i always play squash on Tuesdays, and definitely not at the weekend, which includes Fridays, because the weekend is for family stuff..." Doesn't mean that any one is wrong in isolation, but the closer everybody is to the same definition the better.

plenty of empty-sh gigs, which aren't much fun, but at least there's nobody watching if you play badly, which is far more of a concern for me. Although there are a couple of close contenders this one is head and shoulders the winner as the worst of the worst First gig with a new originals band, based in London. We're ready to gig, but who is going to put us on when we don't have any following? A couple of our band members are from well known-ish bands in extreme metal, but this is far more classic/hard rock and they don't want us exploiting their meagre fame, plus none of their mates' bands are going to put us on as support because we're a very bad fit. An old band of mine used to play a pub out in Essex on a regular basis and on the first Saturday of the month the landlord's son was given the night to promote as his own punk/metal/rock/whatever-as-long-as-it's-got-a-loud-guitar night. Ideal - he'll have a crowd for us, no pressure as nobody out there would know us, a great low key start, we'll owe the pub a favour if we take off, and it's a great venue if a bit of a trek but we'll be happy to come back at a later date. Only one of us actually had a drivers licence and he didn't own a car, but we'd scraped together lifts and borrowed a car, and were actually providing a lot of the backline, so most of us arrive fairly early, and set up, knowing that we are third on out of a four band night. OK sized crowd, and everybody we know in Essex has come along. The singer arrives looking a bit, er, tired and emotional. You OK Dave? Yes, just haven't eaten all day, I'll be fine. Dave then has a few pints (rather than any food) to add to the bottle of wine he'd necked in the car on the way up. he almost certainly hadn't eaten that day, as long as you don't count the massive pile of coke he'd undoubtedly have had before setting off (he denied it, but it became such a feature of his later behaviour that we now know he'd have been on it earlier that day). It's not really a "soundcheck" sort of a place - with four bands playing and the pub being open all day, it's more an expanded line check before launching into your first song. The singer is sat at the end of the bar, next to where we are set up. the noise he's making for the line check isn't encouraging. We start, and he doesn't appear to remember any of the lyrics or melodies of the first song, and rather than getting up to join the band is instead still sat on the bar stool, making a noise like a dying moose. This continues. The band is playing great, but by song three we just want to end the set. The singer is now standing up, although not very steady on his feet. The moose is still dying, and any attempt to sing into the backing mics by me and one of the guitarists is drowned out by this awful bellowing. He is speaking into the mic between songs, but not making any sense. On to song five of a six song set, a couple of us are asking "why are we bothering?" but we decide to give it one more try. Thirty seconds into the song and the singer loses his footing, tumbles back head first into the drum kit, and mercifully puts and end to proceedings. The rest of the band downs tools and starts packing away, leaves the singer floundering in the drums, and I address the crowd: "can somebody pick Dave out of the drum kit please". The 60-something landlady obliges. We then have to sit around until the end of the night because the band on after us is using our backline. We actually got a lot of sympathetic comments from the crowd - "you were great musically..." It doesn't help at all, and i can barely look any of my mates in the face I'm so embarrassed. The landlord wants to give us petrol money and I refuse to take it. Before we depart, the singer sobers up a bit. He thinks it went OK, not brilliantly because it was our first gig and we can't expect to be note perfect first time on stage, but OK, these things happen at gigs, that's the magic of rock n roll! However, he doesn't understand why our lead guitarist is so very angry with him, he's never seen him angry before, and he's really, really angry and he's not looking forward to the drive home with him. As a postscript, the singer was unbelievably good at our next few gigs - he knew he'd let us down and that he had a lot of making up to do. Then he repeated his dying moose impression at the Water Rats and that was the end of him in the band.

From the perspective of somebody who has auditioned loads of people, and what I was looking for/what massively annoyed me (repeats a lot of what has already been said above): Turn up on time. If you're unavoidable delayed then ring one of the band or ring the studio to let them know. So get some contact numbers and work out exactly how to get to the studio, how long it's likely to take, and add on at least ten or fifteen minutes to allow for unforeseen problems on the day Make sure that all your gear works properly, and isn't likely to break or need replacing on the day. Also, no new pedals that you haven't used before or new techniques that you want to try but haven't yet mastered completely - remember, it's not your rehearsal Learn the actual notes to the actual song that they have sent to you! You'd be amazed at how many people arrive saying "I didn't have time to learn what you sent me three weeks ago so do you know any of these songs..." and all I hear is that they are too arrogant and lazy to bother with the one thing they were expected to do, and probably not a good enough musician. If you think you can make improvements, do that but still learn their arrangement, play it their way first and then suggest that you try it again your way. Ask them ahead of time if they have any notes (no pun intended) for you - are they looking for a note for note recreation of the recorded version, are they looking for inspired changes? And regardless of what they say, still learn the original arrangement. And on the day, listen to their comments and adjust for them, particularly if any of your changes affect the feel of the song If you haven't already done it, have a chat ahead of times so that you're clear on any issues that might affect your ability to be in the band - how often do they rehearse, are they planning to gig, what level of commitment do they expect from you? They might be happy to make minor tweaks to what they already do, but if, say, they want to rehearse every Saturday afternoon and you only have spare time every third Tuesday in the month, then it's better to find out in advance. Also, don't be a Richard on the day. Unless you generally are a Richard, in which case let them know what they're getting if they do hire you.

My parents never liked much/any of my music (Dad quite liked Thin Lizzie, and in fact I liberated his vinyl copy of Jailbreak) but accepted that parents aren't supposed to like what their children enjoy, that's how the world works. After all, they never liked what their parents listened to... And they were always happy that I could listen to whatever i want Also, my Dad was drinking pals with some musicians in the '70's - his best mate at the time plays acoustic guitar on Your Song by Elton John and is on a lot of Alan Price's albums of the period. he quite likes the softer end of '70's rock, which isn't my thing entirely but I don't hate it all (I have a lot of early period Elton John albums) An odd offshoot of this is that I now dislike some music on principal because my Dad enjoys it - weirdly he is a huge fan of Talking Heads and David Byrne who i can't stand. But we do share some things - I introduced him to Ben Harper

Thomann for me - while you can spend stupid amounts on, for example, PRS knobs, they also stock a lot of very reasonably prices stuff - for example Warwick knobs are pretty cheap

I'd be interested to know how kids of today compare with what us men of a certain age were like back in the day. I never had any lessons, picked up a bass at 18, joined a band immediately, and spent my 20's playing as much as possible...never got anywhere but didn't stop trying for a while. Two friends with kids who are 16/17 and apparently very talented at the guitar, having accumulated grades and playing in school bands, etc tell me that: one has no interest in being in a band outside of what school make him do, and he actually much prefers playing trumpet in the school jazz band - it infuriates his mum that his two best friends play bass and drums, and none of them show any interest in forming a band either. The boy himself loves going to gigs and festivals with his mum, but apparently has very limited desire to do it himself. Instead, he is interested in music technology, and wants to be a soundman or lighting engineer (which, in fairness, is probably a better income stream) one loves playing his guitar, it's all he does in his spare time (and apparently he's no academic star so it's good he has one thing that he excels at). He's never been in a band. His ambition is to get a job in a music shop so that he can be around guitars all day. I don't want to launch into "it were all better in my day" rant, but after how things have changed over the last 30 years - far less chance of making a million by being in a band, fame from talent shows not from learning you craft or writing songs - I wonder if the excitement that we all had at that age, the sex, drugs and rock n roll possibilities of being in a band, just aren't there any more.

in my 20's it was all about being in my first serious band, affording strings, beer and better gear (musical, not, ahem, other substances) and we were definitely going to make it. Had a girlfriend that I was with for most of that decade, who knew me through the band first so that she never looked down on it or demanded that I dump the band to give her my full attention. Spare time was spent playing in the band, going to see other bands, drinking with band mates, and behaving as badly as possible. As many gigs (seeing and playing) and as much drinking as possible, then get up for work the next morning, repeat to fade. That said, none of us had the first clue what we were doing, so despite being in the band for a good long time, we never really got anywhere. Mates that got further on than me were much more just making ends meet, kipping in squats and on sofas, ready to go on tour at a moment's notice. I was always working in a good career, paying the rent, etc. Nowadays, not a huge amount has changed in how I behave, except that I'm further up the career ladder, so can far easily afford strings, better beer and better gear. Playing is still fun, but what has changed is that there is no expectation that whatever band I happen to be in is going to "make it" beyond getting a some decent gigs and maybe earning enough to pay for the beer. Spare time is still spent drinking and seeing bands, and sometimes practicing or gigging, but I now appreciate the weekends where i have nothing to do except doze on the sofa...and having to do stuff midweek is a bit of a faff and a late night will usually be followed by a day off, or at the very least working from home the next day.

yeah, this. Start at the source and work backwards from there. Not had any experience with Kef but a lot of high end manufacturers are used to dealing with these sorts of queries on old gear

well, yes and no. We were all very glad to see him go, and it wasn't actually my idea, it was the BL's wife who pushed him into doing it when an opportunity arose. So I was pleased to fully endorse that decision (and the rest of us had been complaining about him behind his back for months, waiting for the BL to agree to do something. But he hadn't seen it coming at all, and actually sacking him was like kicking a puppy in the face, him thinking that we're discussing how we take the band forward and not realising that we're telling him that the future has more space on stage right about where he always stands: Us: so, we don't think we need two guitars any more Him: Great, so I'll only be playing guitar on the old stuff, and I'll be playing keyboards on the new stuff? Us: Er, no, we don't really want any keyboards either Him: so, what? I just play guitar and keyboards on the old stuff? Do you just want me to play lead guitar on the new stuff, or just play the rhythm guitar when the BL is playing the solos? Us: errr, no, not really... Not a conversation I ever want to repeat

well, yes...it is perhaps fanciful to expect there to be any actual money, but on the off chance that some actually appears...

Been there, done that. In my case a second guitarist who also played keys, who at every practice would make a point of reminding everybody that he could play lower than my four string and that I wouldn't be missed if i couldn't make a rehearsal (and by implication, if i couldn't make a gig). It was his ham fisted attempt to devalue my contribution to the band, because he could see that since i had joined (I was the last one in) the balance of power had completely shifted away from him. He never forgave me when we sacked him - apparently it was all my fault and the rest of the band had nothing to do with it. Never seen him since. Not bothered.

From the OP's description, my reading of it is more miscommunication than a despicable plot to undermine you: you thought you were joining a band; they thought they were getting a bass player who was happy to help them out when needed. Although... I suggest that it's worth having a clear the air discussion for a couple of reasons. First, it's just not polite to be kept out of the loop of where "the band" is playing, and as a minimum they should at least be telling you of the gigs they are taking on where your services are not needed. Clearly that's a big driver in why you're not very happy at the moment. And if they are choosing when to play as a duo and when to play as a band based on maximising what the two of them get paid rather than the needs of the venue/promoter, then it's an issue. Second, it does make we wonder if they see you as part of "the band" at all. It smells very much like you are the hired hand, and if the band ever takes off and there is serious money at stake then you'll find yourself excluded from any participation in the band's profits. There's a long and dishonourable tradition of band members finding out that technically they aren't actually band members after all when there's money to be made. Perhaps there's a fundamental question at the heart of this, that if you're only ever going to be the hired hand then you should be getting paid now, not pitching in and doing festivals for nothing to help promote a band that doesn't think they'll need to share the money when it starts coming in. I'm not saying any of it is specifically wrong, more that the band needs to make it very clear what your position is, and then you can make an informed decision of whether you want to continue.

Exactly this - if you don’t have enough free time to commit to a band properly then you simply shouldn’t be in a band drives me mad when people say they are completely committed to being in the band but don’t actually seem to want to give up any of their precious time to be in the band

There's a mate who I still see a lot of who was the singer in my first serious band, who has never said a good word about any of the bands that the rest of us have been in since he left 25 years ago. He's never been in another band (purely because of his remarkably low level of talent - we actually went for a celebratory drink after he quit, we were so pleased that we no longer had to listen to his awful vocals) and he doesn't seem to understand why the rest of us have been in bands pretty much constantly ever since and he hasn't. I was comparing notes with the drummer a few weeks ago, and over those last 25 years the singer has been to see two of my subsequent bands and none of the drummers: for the first one the only comment he's ever made is how somebody that was also there said that the vocals weren't very good (they weren't but they were a lot better than him singing); and the second one was a gig that he knew a girl he fancied was going to be at and he's never made any comments about that one...possibly because she really enjoyed it so he can't say anything bad about it,but he can't bring himself to give us any praise either. For the drummer's subsequent bands, he cut and pasted a bad review of the last band's album from Metal Hammer and e-mailed it to the drummer. The drummer asked whether he'd actually heard the album, or looked at the 8/10 reviews that everybody else was giving it? No, he'd only seen the bad review so thought he'd share it. Everybody's got a friend they hate. And usually it's him

Organising musicians is like herding cats. Brain damaged toddler cats. Thankless task, and you're a complete mug for taking it on. For a new band I've always tried to get a regular rehearsal agreed in advance - everybody should be able to make one day of the week, and that becomes practice day. the only time I've ever lived with a looser arrangement was the one band that agreed to practice every weekend, and we'd decide on the day and slot week by week depending on our personal lives and studio availability - rarely caused an issue and at worst we had the odd week off. I can make allowances if people can bring a note from their Mum asking to be excused because of holidays or whatever, and I can be grown up around band mates with more complicated lives than mine, but I can't put up with band members who only want to turn up as and when they fancy it (and then usually get annoyed when not everybody can make the day that they want to do). I put up for far too long with one lead guitarist (isn't it always) who was always late, and thought it was unreasonable for the rest of us, who had all come straight from work, skipped an evening meal, and gone well out of our way to get to practice on time every week, to expect him to come straight to practice without him going home, getting changed, take the girlfriend shopping, cook and eat his tea, before setting off for the studio. It didn't help his cause when we were thinking of sacking him. If you can't get four people to agree on one day then some of them probably aren't worth bothering with because clearly they aren't going to commit to actually being in the band on a regular basis...just wait until you try and book gigs...

when I was 18 me and a guitarist friend were sat in my local discussing putting a band together (we were already in a band but everybody else was away at Uni) but where were we going to find a drummer? The landlady pipes up "my son plays drums, shall I get him?" 30+ years later he's my best mate, been in loads of bands with him, and even though he now lives far, far away we're still in touch and swap e-mails every week or two, meet for beer whenever he gets in to London, etc. In fact quite a large chunk of my mates are people who I've been in bands with over the years. And while I have lost touch with a few here and there, there are only two who I actively avoid...and yes, both lead guitarists (who I sacked and have no desire to ever see again)

My memory of it at the time was that it was bloated - over long songs that didn't have the spark of Master of Puppets or the energy of the $5.98 ep, didn't sound great (possibly the combination of the two - songs that didn't sound great but went on for a really long time) and after giving it a fair go, I relegated it to one of those albums I owned but never listened to. If anybody remembers when Master of Puppets came out, the original 1 x 33 rpm pressing sounded awful, so they re-pressed it on 2 x 45 rpm and it sounded amazing. I was hoping that there was a similar trick they could apply to & Justice but it never came. Saw them on the tour, that was fine, but for me it was the first of the run of disappointing albums that continues to this day. My damascene moment was seeing them at Reading, what, a dozen years ago. hadn't seen them for more than a decade, but my then girlfriend had never seen them and was very excited, despite my mumbling about how they were no doubt going to play four songs off the first three albums and I'd hate the rest of it. I've never been more wrong - only played five songs that weren't off the first four albums and the couple from & Justice were fantastic. What a difference the bass makes

woot - another gig to add to the official live releases that I'm on (on the Super Deluxe version) Still, sometimes it's better if you can't hear Metallica's bass

very true, but I have to say (and I know others on the site have a less generous opinion) Amazon do at least have a very easy to use Customer Service dept who tend to lead with "so sorry, here's how we put it right" - I've never had an issue with getting busted or missing stuff replaced or refunded

I was going to suggest using Trustpilot instead - I've given seriously awful reviews against companies where their CS depts are messing me around and they almost always respond at lightening speed to public criticism. Net Promoter Score (NPS) is the latest thing that companies have decided to care about, effectively the difference between good and bad publicly posted comments, which indicated whether somebody doing a Google search will see that they are great and everybody loves them, or everybody hates them and they are not to be trusted. If it makes you feel better, the amount of negative comments on this thread will not be doing UPSs NPS figure any favours. Then I read Skol's comment and he may be right - if all couriers are bad, they may not worry too much about awful Trustpilot feedback. Still, nothing to lose - log on and give them one star

Never been a huge fan. I find the necks on all the Fender Ps I've played functional but uninspiring, which reinforces the fact that I find the design a bit cliche'd - I fully realise that this is hugely unfair because it's an original design and it's other people copying it that has made it so ubiquitous. One man's cliche'd is another man's classic. For all that... P's do have that sound - bit like the design, solid, no nonsense, does a job. They work especially well in a lot of punk stuff that I listen to, being both "right" and easily identifiable as a P. So I'm happy to put it down to personal preference without needing to slag off the instruments as somebody else's bad choice. Just not for me.

one of my favourites

Not helpful for the OP, but I've got an Ortego KTSM-5 that is massively loud (and if i was anywhere near Evesham the OP would be welcome to borrow it) - way louder than my acoustic guitar. I never have to play my guitar softly to avoid annoying the neighbours, but am rarely able to play the bass without having to restrict how hard I'm hitting the strings. I suspect a combination of it being very large, jumbo style body, and the fact that I hit the strings really hard

The shame is you didn't reply and tell him that you didn't fancy it because you'd heard that he's a complete nasty pasty to be in a band with...(let's see what the swear filter makes of that)