musicbassman

Bass player, very experienced mature ex pro. Currently depping with long established 60’s band in Surrey, this due to finish end May. Looking for further dep work any style Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, or a permanent position in top quality well established functions band, ideally 20 - 25 dates a year, or would consider job share with another bass player if much more than this. Absolutely reliable, good appearance, good ear, very quick learner. musicbassman@hotmail com

I've had exactly this issue recently with a band I'm depping with - it's all straightforward 60's covers but line up includes two guitars plus keyboards, drums, bass, vocals - we've been squeezing onto fairly small stages lately and this means I have one of the guitarists amps right next to my bass rig. Both guitarists are very very loud and the drummer is possibly the loudest drummer I've worked with in a while - result is that I really have a problem hearing myself - but roadie says bass is plenty loud enough out front. I'm having to work by eye on the fretboard sometimes rather than my ears! The bass tone is very nice when isolated, so that's not the issue - quite a bit of the bass is pick playing also, so I think there's plenty of definition there. Maybe it's just having the guitarists amp so loud and so close that it's dominating what I can hear, and maybe you were in the same situation? Next gig I'm going to raise my cab up about 40cms by putting it on a heavy box I have - I'm hoping this will help a bit. Top of the cab will then be chest height rather than waist height as at present.

Wow - the ultimate humiliation - being pulled off stage by your Mum! He's not a singer, he's just a very naughty boy..........etc.

Well, we've all experienced the dreaded 'hollow stage' effect where the whole of an insubstantially built stage is acting as a giant resonating soundbox for the bass and sending out all sorts of false information to your ears about tone, volume and harmonics. Some bass players might claim that putting castors on your cab (i.e. the same as a dolly) can really exaggerate this unfortunate effect. Personally I don't think this alone would make much difference, but other BC'ers may have different opinions. Discuss.

Half from the Jazz, and half from effects used judiciously and discreetly, I would say Always like listening to this guy, he's a master of fluency and precision.

Serious respects to you for doing this - sounds like very hard work.

Thanks for the heads up on this casapete - nice one.

...........audition two bass players at the same time?????????????? This is truly just about one of the most bonkers things I've ever heard. Muppet doesn't even begin to describe this guy.

Yep, this is so true. And, at an audition, NEVER tell the keyboard player he's playing a wrong chord - even if it's clearly wrong. You'll never get the gig - you're a threat. And always look for the positives in any of the players in the band you're auditioning for - a couple of gentle favourable comments can work wonders. "Hey, Mr drummer, I like the way you didn't speed up in that number" Wow, that guitar solo was REALLY loud - I love it when my ears bleed like that!"

Cue a very old muso joke: How do you know when it's a drummer knocking on your door? ...........the knocking speeds up.

What's with this obsession with tuners? Don't you trust your ears?

Here's something from a couple of months ago on another thread: So, for a covers band, always try and join an already well established band with solid gig and personnel history If a recent 'audition' for a new start up covers band I went to is anything to go by, I'm going to be looking for decent gig for a good while yet.................. So, I turn up on time at the audition, having learnt (or refreshed my memory) of numbers the bandleader says he wants to run through for my audition. - Drummer listens to song for first time ever, and starts trying to work out drum parts. - Keyboard player announces he might already be leaving the band because of work pressures (!) - Lengthy argument between drummer and guitarist about someone else's wife, and what she did or didn't do. - Huge sulks from keyboard player when I merely suggest that one of the chords he's playing might not be correct? And these are guys in their 50's, who apparently have been gigging for years in various bands...................a complete waste of time, they're never going to be gigging.

London, late 1977. I’ve been working as a ‘pro’ bass player (not having to get up in the mornings) since ’73, but am frustrated at having to keep on taking gigs just because they’ll pay the rent, to hell with finding a band with talent or potential. So here’s yet another band doing the smarter end of the functions circuit – well paid work in those days – looking for a replacement bass player. They don’t want to give me a set list – fair enough, they want to see how quickly I can learn a number on the spot, including quite complex harmony arrangements. So I’m asked to go to rehearsal studios in Walthamstow. The band seem OK, although the front singer seems very intense, to say the least. The audition is pretty demanding but going OK, until it comes to ‘Jive Talkin’ (BeeGees) The bass on this is all synth bass, and has a low C as a root note (first fret on the B string on a 5 string these days) Back then I was using a standard 4 string like pretty well every other bass player, and after they’d played the song to me on a tinny cassette player I said I’d obviously have to play it an octave up from the record…………..whereupon the singer suddenly goes absolutely apoplectic, throws his mic down, calls me a useless c*** and storms out the room. It all goes a bit quiet, and then the guitarist says………”yeah, all the bass players we’ve tried come unstuck on this one”………………………… turned out the vocalist was insistent that the bass should ‘sound just like the record’, and had vowed to keep searching until they found a bass player who could make a bass guitar sound like a Moog bass. Tall order. – I mean, why not just get the keyboard player to play it? Cheap mono synths were readily available by then. I never quite understood what was going on there, and needless to say I was relieved not to get to gig with a possibly slightly unhinged singer. .

Regardless of whether you're playing an upside down RH bass or not, the 'one finger per fret' concept is pretty well essential, IMO. So if you have a smaller hand, you'll really need a shorter scale bass to make progress.

............and platform shoes...................

I was gigging pretty solidly throughout the early '70's in various bands, but have very little photographic evidence. Similar story for other musos of that era I know. Such a shame, I really regret this now. Why no pics? - well, buying a roll of film and then having it developed was quite a big deal financially, and there were usually other more important things to spend gig money on - like food, and petrol for the Transit.

That 'lesson' with Carol Kaye.....................is he for real ??? Jawdroppingly appalling and clumsy technique - and he allows someone to put this up on Youtube ??? Carol Kaye is so polite.......like to imagine what she was really thinking............................

No changes seen here - Windows 10 + Firefox

Some PP9's are made up of 6 x AAA batteries, others are made from 6 flat cells. This might explain the slight difference in size. https://www.quora.com/Why-is-a-9V-battery-made-of-6-AAA-batteries

Thanks for your thoughtful remarks, SpondonBassed. Well, chris_b, that sounds a bit harsh to me, and I don't think they'd offer me the gig on those terms - I'm sure they won't want to be phoning round trying to get another bass player if I feel like missing a gig or three. The material is quite tightly arranged and they would expect someone who had learnt the set fully and was absolutely familiar with it - segues etc. I think I would have to offer the band a good potential working arrangement - and then they would want to approve the other bass player (i.e try him/her out on a couple of gigs) before committing to this on a permanent basis. PS - I have already had a couple of BCers contact me about this - they fancy the idea of a job share also!

Thankyou for your valued contribution, fleabag Maybe we should all heed this sensible advice from The Serendipity Singers:

Well, this is either really quite sensible or absolutely bonkers, depending on your point of view................. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43571144 ...................."acoustic shock", eh ?

Well, this is a bass players forum, and bass players are practical and realistic people, so we can easily agree that we're really just doing 'a job' Playing in a pub or a bar is mainly about entertainment, you're not playing a b*****y Arts Centre. And don't forget some bands or individual band members might like to view themselves as strictly 'musicians' or 'artists' and regard the grubby business of whether the sums add up for the venue as completely beneath them. And as a result have a problem accepting that their jazz noodlings in 7/4 aren't likely to bring that many punters in ..........................

No, it's early days yet Les - I'm just depping with them at present. They may not offer me the gig in any case, but I don't think their current bass player will be returning - he's very ill indeed (Big C). It's rather a delicate subject - he's been in the band a very long time, and the guys are very upset about the situation........... I'm just trying to get some feedback from BCers about the pros and cons of job sharing if I'm offered the gig. Most responses have been along the lines of - yes, if you and the other bass player are super organised, then this should be good. And all bass players are super organised, aren't they ?

The problem is, bazzbass, (and I expect many other BC'ers would agree) - it's pretty tricky finding a regular reliable well established gigging covers band, whatever style, and I would certainly rate playing 60's covers way above C&W or strict tempo. So I'm very pleased to be offered this gig, and quite happy to do it, but it's really just too many gigs to do without erasing most of my social life and the patience of Mrs Musicbassman. I know some peoples social life revolves around their band in any case, but I'm not one of these.