chris_b

I wasn't on the gig, but 10 years ago my band turned up to a gig (can't remember the name) in Sussex to see the security staff and the management having a fraught and loud "discussion".

At  the end of that the management told the band they had given all the cash to the security guys and wouldn't be paying the band! They could play or go home! The band were already setting up, so they packed up and went home. I felt sorry for the bass dep, and we never went back.

A couple of my gigs have a low key and laid back vibe to them. I perch on a bar stool for those and we all sit on a wine bar trio gig.

I stand for the covers, reggae and rock/blues stuff though. I bought a great 3kg bass for those gigs.

I did a gig last week with a drummer who forgot to pack his snare stand! He spent the night balancing the snare between a stool and the bass drum!  I have a terrible memory, and given half a chance would forget my head. I fixed that by never unpacking my gigging gear at home. I also count 8 boxes/bags into the car and out again.

My permanent home practice gear is 1 or 2 Barefaced One10's, a TH500, whatever bass is at hand and headphones from the laptop. I am thinking of going silent with something like a Palmer Pocket Bass amp.

Does anyone know if Sandberg make a Superlight 5 string P bass?

I've been searching the web and can't find any indication that they do.

ps

If the band doesn't mind you sitting on a stool (chairs would be out IMO) then do it.

Have you tried the Mbrace Stage Guitar Stand? It's going to be my long stop if my back gives out.

https://www.imuso.co.uk/itm/mbrace-stage-guitar-stand

Just now, diskwave said:

Im not a bad player, read etc, good ear blah blah but four years ago I got a call from guys I had played with many years ago...anyway they needed a dep for a very well paying posh private party in a flippin grt manor hse in Oxford...two weeks away, only catch, it was 60 odd tunes from the 60's...Tons of tricky old Beatles that type of stuff....No charts, nothing. Probably about the hardest I'd ever worked...Great fun but my old brain was treading water like crazy and I made a few muck ups which the lead didnt miss either...oops.

I was asked to do a wedding and the BL sent me a list of 96 songs! I asked if we really were going to play all those songs, and could he list the songs he was likely to play. A new list came back of 80 songs!!

There were a lot of classic 60's hits and Elvis and other 12 bars, so I only had to chart about a dozen songs. Not that bad, but when we got to the gig I discovered the guitarist sang half the set and I hadn't been told about him or his songs!!

I still get songs thrown at me that weren't on the list, but most bands I dep with are pretty good at sticking to the set lists and arrangements. . . .

. . . . but there's one bandleader who seems to make up the songs as he goes along! That was a problem on the first couple of gigs. I was unfamiliar with the set, the stage volume was unbalanced (guitarist too loud!!) so I had trouble following. I got an email telling me to learn the songs! If I didn't put in the hours they wouldn't be able to use me in future!! What an a-hole. I know the songs better than he does. No toys out of the pram, I asked the BL to get the guitarist to turn down (he only did it!!) and that fixed everything. I can hear when he's gone off piste and now I'm their favourite bassist.

I'm in 3 bands, but regularly dep for about a dozen more. I like playing most of the songs, they are all great players and I like the variety. If there's a good drummer (and there usually is) then I can deal with anything that crops up. I'm usually digging them out of a hole so I'm already in their good books and if I get the gig right I get called back. I also get a fast track into any side projects. Every gig is an audition.

Depping is all about keeping the phone ringing, expanding your list of contacts and having fun.

We got short changed when we were on a percentage of the bar take. At the end of a well attended gig we discovered they were only counting cash purchases and didn't include credit card purchases, which were the majority of the take for the night! As you say, B*stards!!!!

DOB basses are God's way of telling you you have too much money.

Buy a bass because it does something better than your current bass, not because of a date in a calender!

I'd say it was James Jamerson.

4 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

I've changed the pickups in every Sandberg I've kept. Aguilars if it's passive, EMGs for active.

I'm interested. What Aguilars in what basses?

Hate bad people, don't bother to hate songs!!

In the last 10 years I've played at least 50% of the songs listed so far. Played but never "murdered". 

If it's a good band, good audience and we're getting paid, I'll happily play them as many times as I'm asked.

I have to admit, I do a mean Mustang Sally.

What you need to do is stroke the strings.

If the cross section of the string is a clock face you need to be playing between 5 to and 5 past 12 o'clock. Play with a light touch. This technique isn't an aggressive way to play.

Maybe tastes are different in Lithuania, but as you are already doing session work, I'm surprised that you're not already being asked to bring a Precision. I'd already have one, but I'm biased.

I'm 6'2" and would rather have a Mono M80 Vertigo hit a door frame than any other gig bag I own.

They are total protection.

1 hour ago, Dad3353 said:

 

. . . .  High brick walls made it a rather insalubrious place to wander, and in the dark, even frightening, with a tunnel through under the railway line back towards Staines centre. How things change, eh..?

Now rebranded as Staines on Thames!! That probably didn't change it much, though.

2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

I think the list of unacknowledged/unappreciated but hugely talented musicians goes down the road and around the block several times especially $h!t hot pioneering guitarists outside the rock genre e.g. Tommy Emmanuel, Lenny Breau, Danny Gatton, Leo Kottke, Adrian Legg, Peter Huttlinger, Roy Buchanan, Isaac Guillory, Martin Taylor, John Jourgensen, Pierre Bensusan, Davy Graham, Andy McKee, Tony McManus, Bryan Sutton, Scotty Anderson...

. . . . and one of the best, most overlooked guitarists of all time, Reggie Young.

15 hours ago, Gasman said:

Ah, Kingston! I went to school there (Tiffins) and used to loiter around the music shop by the bus station before getting the 406 bus home to Ewell.

I went to school in West Ealing, just down the road from Jim Marshall's shop in Hanwell. Spent many lunch times ogling the basses on the wall and annoying the staff, Chris and John.

Everyone's choices are valid. I only play 5 string basses because I want to have the same geography under my fingers every time I gig.

We don't play all the strings on every song on a 4 string bass, and the same is obviously true on a 5 string. Songs of any era don't "need" a particular number of strings.

I played 5's on a 60's/70's cover band gig last night. No one noticed or cared. Why would they?

4 hours ago, jazzyvee said:

Even when i use a 5 string on classic reggae tracks for gigs i tend to stay off the B string just to keep the tone closer to the original.

The bass player in Toots' band used a 6 string Warwick.

My unsung heroes are not band members but the session guys who worked in the studios pumping out the songs that influenced the rest of the bass playing world: Tommy Cogbill, David Hood, Mike Leech, Bob Babbitt, Jerry Jemmott, Jesse Boyce, Junior Lowe, Olsie Robinson and Vernie Robins etc etc.

1 minute ago, neepheid said:

76.3% of statistics are made up on the spot...

I'm sure it's 86%.

I've been playing  5's since 1996. Back then you belonged to a secret society, but now they are mainstream in many musical genres.

They are more than a necessary evil, more than a 4 with a thumb rest, they are flexible and just sound good.

4 minutes ago, chriswareham said:

 

The Hawley Arms burned down in 2008 along with a bunch of other nearby buildings

The Caernarvon Castle also burnt down in that fire, although I don't think it was a pub at the time.

In the 80's and 90's the CC was a great music pub. My band had a weekly residency on Sunday lunch time and then Friday evening for about 4 years.

You might have more luck if you include some photos.