PaulWarning

we bought a PA out of band funds, I know the singer uses it mostly but we do have backing vocals and occasionally mic up the bass drum, when the guitarist and drummer left the band, we all agreed what it would be worth if we sold it (about £400) me and the singer gave them £100 each, of course it could have got silly, but if we'd have to had sold it because of petty squabbling but who would want the hassle of selling it? fortunately they were adult about it, asking a for a new member with a PA (who isn't the singer) is just plain stupid. Oh yeah if one person owns it guess who gets to cart it around to gigs?

buy a second hand Squier and save some dosh, I've never bought a brand new bass you'll never get your money back ( you lose 20% VAT for start) if you don't like it

just a promo exercise to get your details and sign you up for Reverb I suspect

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1473588012' post='3131344'] Yep, I came to exactly that decision a few weeks ago. I put in my order last week. [/quote] cheers guys, a conundrum, no doubt about it

after a weekend soul searching I've reached the conclusion that spending the best part of a £1000 on a bass that I would have no idea what it sounded like is something I can't do, I've tended to buy second hand in the past which means you stand a fair chance of getting most of your money back if you don't like it, the chances of picking up Marusczcyk second hand anywhere near the spec I'd want is pretty much zero, but I'll keep my eye out

whose going to buy one and do review?, think we had a similar thing with Sue Ryder P's a while ago, being a lefty it won't be me

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1473449271' post='3130413'] Yes. Yes you should. [/quote]that's not talking me out of it

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1473323275' post='3128992'] Are they ok for bass? I've tried a couple of cheap tuners that really struggled with E and B strings Edit - actually, I guess for £2 it doesn't really matter, lol [/quote]just hold down the 5th fret, that's what I do

At the moment I've got GAS fro a Marusczcyk Jake P JJ, I heard a Fender Modern Jazz with twin humbuckers the other week sounded great but they don't do lefty's, in fact they don't do them at all anymore, I started a thread at the time http://basschat.co.uk/topic/290951-fender-modern-jazz-any-equivelants/page__fromsearch__1. The Marusczcyk seem to fit the bill as far as a bridge humbucker is concerned but I've never heard one, I shouldn't be spending a grand on a bass I'm not sure will fit the bill should I?

J J Burnel, loved the tone on the early Stranglers stuff but can't imagine using it on anything else other than Stranglers covers.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1473418179' post='3130001'] I'm not ashamed to use a stand if it's needed. I also feel like they don't look proper Rock&Roll on stage but they're a tool for a job, like a tuner (would people judge you as a bad musician if they see you using a machine to tune your instrument instead of using your ears?). I've done it in situations where i was dep'ing for another bass player or i was getting together with old bands for that occasional reunion gig. I allways knew the songs of my current bands from memory and don't/didn't need a stand but there are gigs where you can't just simply memorize/remember a 40+ songs setlist in less than one week. [/quote]that's fair enough, I'd use one if anybody was silly enough to ask me to dep for them

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1473416256' post='3129969'] I spend the night looking down bridesmaids cleavages. [/quote]can't argue with that, another reason to learn the songs, and wear sunglasses, they're never quite sure where you're looking

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1473374129' post='3129690'] How is being able to see all of me, any less entertaining than only being able to see just my feet and the top half of me ? You say you run a funk band, Surely the point of a funk band is to get people dancing ? When dancing do people generally stare at the musicians on the stage ? It's the music that's important, that's all people dancing are bothered about. And if it was OK with James Brown ? [attachment=227424:james_brown-1980-snl-12.jpg] [/quote]in that case why bother shelling out for a band, wouldn't a disco do the job for a lot less money? I have a little saying, "if the band don't look like they're enjoying it how can you expect the audience too" if you're standing there motionless staring at sheet music you are not interacting with your audience at all, in my opinion of course

seriously, if it's a serious question, he or she has to able to keep time if they can't they're a waste of time,

don't know how it works, I've ordered DR strings from the states on numerous occasions never been 'done' for import charges, told a bass playing colleague about them, he ordered some and got hammered with them

Jimi Hendrix, 16 is a great age to be for absorbing new music

how about the major and minor scales?

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1473174653' post='3127679'] I went to see a friend play at an originals night. They were second on of three. The first band were excellent the venue was full. They pitched it perfectly. Musically and showmanship. My friend's band were also superb. Musically and showmanship. However about half the audience left as soon as the first band had finished. Once my friend had finished the audience halved again but we stayed to watch the last band. Musically they were competent, they could play their instrument, but the tunes were terribly written. People started leaving. The singer/guitarist was getting more and more agitated as more people left. Eventually launching a tirade of abuse at the audience about not recognising good music. We left after that. Aside: I once went for a meal at a restaurant's opening night. Halfway through the meal a band started up. It was a small restaurant and the band were loud, people were there to eat. They were playing original songs. We complained to the restaurant several times about the volume level. Eventually the singer came over and told us we didn't know anything about music and it had to be loud when playing live. All 10 of us looked at her and burst out laughing. We were having a band night out with the 10 piece function band. [/quote]been there done that, get asked to play on a multi band originals night bill, first time we were told we'd be headlining, we thought great, second time it was "not we're not we're on last, it means they'll be nobody left"

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1473151684' post='3127322'] Surely all that still happens today? There are plenty of artists being signed up and subsequently promoted and toured by record companies. Obviously they won't or can't sign up [u]every[/u] wannabe artist but to suggest that whole model is nowadays broken is simply not true. I suspect what has changed in our 'digital age' is that those wannabe artists who don't get record deals now have more scope for self-promotion, something almost impossible in the 'good old days', so there are now more wannabes out there trying to make it and everyone more aware about how the music scene is actually a pretty difficult way to earn a living. [/quote]not on anywhere near the scale it used to be, Record Companies are very reluctant to take a chance on an artist these days, and the rewards are nowhere near what they used to be with CD sales falling off a cliff, trouble with self promotion in the digital age is anyone can do it with not much effort which means it's very difficult to stand out from the huge amount of bands doing it

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1473147560' post='3127266'] And I'd agree with your definition of making it, and about enjoying yourself. For the rest of it, TBH I don't really know. Right now I'm happy with the situation where the band pretty much pays for itself. The way I see it, is that the easier it becomes to do things for yourself the more you price yourself out of a "record deal" should such a thing even exist anymore. It might be possible if you were a solo artist who didn't need a band in order to perform live, but as soon as you add up the band members the cost start to spiral. IME in order to be able to take the band beyond the level we are currently at we would need funding to allow us to spend more time being a band and not have to rely (so much) on our day jobs in order to live. Plus a massive amount of promotion and publicity to grow our audience beyond those that are interested in the punk/psychobilly scene and therefore already know all about us. In the end it comes down to "luck"/persistence (I believe you make your own luck by being persistent and visible as a band). [/quote]Which in the old days was the record companies job, you got signed, got an advance, got put on tours with established acts and got the record companies publicity machine, oh, for the days of the big nasty record companies, we all thought it was a hoot when the got a bloody nose with the coming of the digital age, the law of unforeseen consequences eh?

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1473113016' post='3127128'] All this selling tickets stuff, that's part of the originals band scene, right? Blue [/quote]not entirely, some of the better tribute acts can charge admission, the Bootleg Beatles is about £40, an outfit called Fred Zepplin costs about £10 at my local music pub that is usually free, but I can't think of any covers bands that charge, might be wrong though

actually I've just thought of a band that's doing very well without a record deal and some older looking members, Ferocious Dogs, the first unsigned band to sell out Rock City, wonder how they did it? nothing too original, bit like the Levellors

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1473084676' post='3126727'] I don't think that songwriting is the problem. There's at least a couple of decent songs in every originals band. And remember that very few "signed" bands are much better. How many albums (that aren't greatest hits/best of) do you own where every song is a classic, and how many times have you bought an album on the strength of a great single only to find that is the only good track on there? The problem most bands have is that they simply don't have the ability to perform those songs in a way that is entertaining to an audience. The number of times I've seen bands struggle to project beyond the edge of the stage or simply play as though they are still in the rehearsal room and the audience might as well not even exist. And with the "product" now being the live performance it should be easier than ever to be able to hone your act so that it entertaining on stage. After all you just need to use your rehearsal room time properly. That's relatively cheap compared with what you used to need in order to make a recording that could compete with what was in the charts. [/quote]no, it's not just the songs, or the performance, and I agree with you about putting on an entertaining show, (although it didn't seem to do Oasis any harm) it's exposure as well, right place right time and all that, and the right age, although I know you don't agree with me on that one, you say you've been gigging all over the place for 6 years, putting loads of hard work in, and fair play to you, but do you really think you are going to progress any further? I know other originals bands who travel all over the country playing gigs and they've got their hard core support but then it's like hitting a brick wall, they never seem to get any further, you need media interest, and I'm not sure what that is anymore apart from TV (Jools Holland?). I've said it before, apart from Sea Sick Steve how many unknown bands 'make it' past 30? But if you're enjoying yourself, great, that's all that counts at the end of the day edit, it depends on what your interpretation of making it is, I suppose mine would be earning enough money from the band to live on without having another job

I'm afraid the majority of newly written music is not very good, as a bit of a songwriter myself, I know, we all think it's good, but it probably isn't, I don't know what the 'x factor is' nobody does otherwise we'd all be writing good songs, as an open mic friend of mine put it as we were watching the performance of a particularly tedious song, "most singer songwriters aren't" doesn't make much sense but I knew exactly what he meant

what's the age of your band? I'm afraid with very few exceptions bands tend to attract the same age group as themselves and older folk, generally, aren't interested in new music, I've said it before, but as rule of thumb, if you've not 'made it' by the time you're 30 it's very unlikely that you will. That's not to say you shouldn't make new music, but it'll be only for yourself and a few followers, my band are working on our next CD but I don't really expect to sell more than a few hundred.