chris_b

Both bands that I gig with at the moment play a mix of their own songs, covers with their own arrangements and straight covers. One guy is gigging his latest all original album. It goes down very well. I presume your covers were hits or at least very well known songs? There are no pitfalls in replacing some of them with originals other than the strength of your song writing. Audiences don't care who wrote the song. All they want is a song they can like. Don't lose your objectivity. If you've written a dull song make it better or don't play it.

I'd start with Bergantino. Wembley loudspeakers are good but this is a custom unit so they will probably have to go to Berg to source one anyway.

All Right Now can't sound good on a Fender? You can't play a Cure song without the help of half a dozen pedals? I guess JJ Burnell should have played Walk On By on double bass because that's what the original hit was recorded on. How can this be making any sense? You guys are so stuck in your tunnel vision you should take a step back. . . and. . . breath. . .

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+1 . . . . and your next band leader might be standing in the audience, so make that guy notice you and be impressed. Play every gig like you're auditioning for your favourite band.

In answer to the question, all of the above. Bend your fingers to get the tips even and work at it until it's second nature. On the other hand. . . . do you really [i]need[/i] to change anything?

[quote name='Steve Browning' timestamp='1501072040' post='3342242'] I guess there a few here who wouldn't have wanted to stand next to Peter Green and play Albatross. [/quote] . . .. or ZZ Top, Status Quo and U2. I'm still waiting for their call!!

Professional musicians or semi-pro's . . . . this is played out in many spheres. There are photographers and those who take snaps; gardeners and those whose idea of heaven is to pave the whole thing over; rally drivers and Sunday drivers, etc etc.

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1501060423' post='3342089'] I would say anyone with decent technique and a professional level bass and amp/cab can pull these off adequately. However to be more than adequate you will need possibly a little more from the bass in your hands [/quote] My view is that anyone with a decent technique and a brain can nail these songs by the power and presence of their playing alone. Playing Motown sounding like Lemmy or JJ Burnell would be an interesting interpretation but if you can play the songs right then [i]your[/i] sound will work. Some of the songs in your list were recorded on a P bass so no onboard EQ and only 1 pickup on the original. If you are saying that not copying the tone on the record makes your playing just adequate then I'd strongly disagree. As I said before, you can play every song with a different tone if you want to, but that isn't necessary. It's your playing that will make or break the song and make you a good or just adequate player.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1501053034' post='3342006'] . . . . as my partner says when I ask her about the sound of a new amp or speakers or I mess with the settings "bass is bass, all sounds the same to me" [/quote] Maybe she is right! It's all the same to me too. As long as you sound good then I don't care either. Whichever way, I'd always prefer the truth. I played both my P and J basses on a sound check last week and the drummer, who's also a bass player, said he didn't hear much difference between them. So it seems I really do sound like me no matter what I'm playing!

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1501022201' post='3341932'] Aren't there other seniors here that are in the same boat as me?[/quote] Me too. Easily done with the right attitude, ability and contacts. It's getting tougher but I'm hanging on.

If you want more tone how about a pre amp pedal? Probably better result and flexibility .

+1

Develop your sound. Make it a good one then use it on everything. No really, everything. Make those songs yours. James Jamerson, Duck Dunn and Nathan East have played on a thousand hit records (I'm grabbing that number out of the air but it's closer than a few hundred) and probably several thousand that weren't hits, over the last 60 years and between them they have used 3 tones. That's one each for all those different songs they played for so many different singers on so many records and over so many the decades. If someone wants to play 20 songs on a cover band gig and use 20 different sounds, that's OK. Totally unnecessary, but OK. IMO you'll be a better bass player if you sound like you. That's what the pro's do.

If your are in Joe Dart and Nathan East's league then more is more and that is always a good thing. For everyone else, less is more is just a polite way of telling you to stay neat and tidy and don't stray into a musical version of verbal diarrhoea.

My main strap is a 3 1/2" (90mm) wide Harvest strap and isn't padded. Funnily enough, my padded strap isn't that much more comfortable. IME the width is important to spread the load but if you really need a good strap to help with physical limitations you really need a lighter bass. My main bass these days weighs less than 9 lbs (4kg). I've sold some fantastic instruments because of the weight. It is what it is. A 7lb (3.5kg) Sadowsky is looking pretty inviting these days.

I know what Ivan is getting at. I have preferred US musicians since I started listening to music. They usually had/have such a great groove that wasn't/isn't always readily available over here. I put it down to the long hours they had to play, like Blue's usual 4 hour bar gigs. If you're playing for that amount of time you either get good or quit. Like our band that played 5 3/4 hour sets Mon to Thu and 6 sets on Fri and Sat for nearly a year on the US airbases in Germany. We were bloody good at our job when we came home. In the US they did marathons, in the UK we did sprints.You play less and more effectively when you know you've got another 4 hours to go. IME the guys Ivan talks about were more prevalent in the 70's. I generally find better players around these days but I mostly play with pro or ex-pro players and that really is a big difference, not in ability but attitude and effectiveness.

At 1.02, and throughout the video, there's a bass player with a beard. Kat? Your letting yourself go!

For 10 years now I've been posting about the positive effect that "less is more" has on most bass playing. Don't overplay, get a great tone, embrace the spaces in between the notes and make every note effective. I've also seen Nathan East and several of the LA session guys say that on every session you have to "leave something on the table", ie play something memorable, a hook or line that grabs the attention. There's so much more to playing simply than just simple bass lines.

He probably [u]is[/u] talking about serving the song and not overplaying. . . and I agree, but if that is his point, that's what he should have said. My last gig was a Reggae band and the one before that an SRV Blues/Rock band. I always serve the song and rarely overplay but on both gigs you would have heard me loud and clear 2 post codes away. Never be unheard on any gig or go unnoticed in anything you do.

You have to hoover out the inside of your amp? Really? I've never done that. I can see through the ventilation slots in my amp of a few years, TH500, and it's clean. All my gear lives in cases when they are not being gigged. Seems to be enough protection.

Yep. Very slow.

[quote name='LeftyP' timestamp='1500845949' post='3340622'] [b]Kat Ades[/b] of the band [i]Other[/i] [i]Animals[/i]. She says, "The secret of playing bass well is to not be heard when you're there, but be missed when you're not." [/quote] Really? I don't believe in that one at all. He wouldn't last 5 mins in any band I listen to.

So you're playing all the right notes in all the right places. That's a good start. Many people struggle with that one for years! Try and play what other players play but don't try to sound like them. Do it all sounding like you and in the end you'll have developed your own identity on bass. Keep playing and building up your mind/ear/hand coordination. It sounds to me like you're ready for the next step. Playing with other musicians. Find where your local jam nights are and start checking them out. Join a band. Don't be put off by anything. Just keep working at it and you'll be improving every second you're playing.

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1500730857' post='3339853'] Last night after a (moderately successful) gig I exchanged pleasantries with a few punters, got paid, loaded up the car and then had a 45 minute drive home. Not at all unpleasant, but hardly party central...! [/quote] Well, yes. Same here. . . I was remembering the old days. Some days the high point of the evening is looking forward to R4 or the World Service on the drive way home.