chris_b

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1477662664' post='3163704'] Bass players should never come out from behind the pillar that is installed in all pubs just for that purpose. [/quote] You've been to some of my gigs then!

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1477642429' post='3163479'] Playing with a really good drummer is, for me, the most liberating experience as a bass player. Everything just seems to fall into place. [/quote] +1 I played for the first time with a beast of a rock/blues drummer this summer. After all my years playing I found another gear when he started up. Never mind the grin on my face, the band leader had a grin on [i]his[/i] face a mile wide. Job done.

Unbelievable!!!

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1477510181' post='3162733']I always turn up early, even for rehearsals, so I am often the first to be ready to play. Also means I can claim my space on the stage. [/quote] I was late to a gig and found that the band had set up leaving no space for me or my gear! They then moaned and complained when I made them all move up to make room. What a bunch of dickheads. That was one of the very few times I've sworn at the guys in a band.

[quote name='AdamWoodBass' timestamp='1477554053' post='3162885']I often sit and watch drum lessons on YouTube just to hear different approaches to groove and try to apply some of the stuff I learn to my bass playing. [/quote] +1 As a bass player you can learn so much from the Bernard Purdy and Steve Gadd YT videos. Those guys are the masters of groove.

You guys are playing the song. Not the drummers version of it. If he cocks up you expect the rest of the band, 3 or 4 other players, to switch and cover the mistake? So the whole band risks sounding bad on the off chance that they will be able to cover for one player? That's not very professional! And yes, anyone that can't play in time and successfully count from 1 to 4 should be fired immediately.

I don't take many holidays, but I have driven back to do a gig when the holiday was in the UK. If you're abroad the band either gets a dep or reschedules around you.

Bill is a good, solid and under rated player. Unfortunately he ran into the crushing ego's of Mick and especially Keith. He should be applauded for maintaining a degree of sanity throughout his time with the Stones. They nearly finished off Mick Taylor. IMO he should have got out earlier.

I'm not understanding some of these posts. So the drummer drops a stick, has a brain fart and looses the beat or stops to scratch his bum in the middle of a number and you follow with the resulting cock-up? That is the worst thing any of you can do. If one band member makes a mistake the rest of the band carries the number until that player gets back on track. It isn't a problem if one of the players, even the drummer, stops playing for a bar or 2 while getting their bearings, but the train wreck of everyone trying to follow a mistake is not what should be happening.

He was a big influence on me and a "million" other bass players. Happy Birthday Bill.

Keep going as if it didn't happen, never look around and leave all post mortems until after the gig.

Leave it all in the car and have a chat with the pianist. Suss out his thoughts and take it from there.

I love the drummers I play with. In the Summer I did a run of 10 gigs with 4 bands and had to play with 10 different drummers. From a rock beast to a light jazzy player, they were all excellent players and great guys as well. I had the time of my bass playing life.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1477261199' post='3161020'] Which is the case for many other basses at a quarter of the cost. I'm starting to smell Wal-elitism (Walism). [/quote] If that was the case these other basses (any examples?) would be coveted and played by the good an great and have an equally stellar reputation. No [i]isms[/i] here. There are good basses and great basses. Wal is one of the latter.

Good news. This is why I often don't immediately sell equipment that replace. You can make some great discoveries when you go back to your old gear.

In the old days, in the Hi-Fi world, they used to say that you should split your budget, spending 50% on the speakers and 50% on the rest. Having only played boutique-ish (Dynacord, MM, Mesa, Aguilar, Epifani, Bergs and Barefaced) cabs since the mid 80's I'd say that a quality cab will have the greatest effect on improving the sound of an average amp, bass or player. It's the one component in the signal chain that can do this. If you don't have a good cab then everything else is fighting a loosing battle.

They are very expensive so I doubt they've sold many. The design is mainly for RSI sufferers.

I've just noticed Phil Chess died a few days ago. With his brother, Leonard, he kick started rock music by employing Willie Dixon as a song writer and record producer and then signing the strongest roster of artists, including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry to the Chess record label. This was [i]ground zero[/i] for modern music. Sad news.

I like the sound and feel of the original synth bass part. . . . but I also like that Bruno Mars, with easy access to more talent and gear than we could ever dream of, treats the live performance differently and doesn't try to copy the record. Big lesson there. I see the point in asking the question, but Jamareo Artis and Pedro Zappa make the bass guitar sound strong enough that I wouldn't want to sound like the synth if I was playing this number on a gig.

Not for me. . . I'm a Volvo man.

Little Richard, Jerry Lee and Carl Perkins got the ball rolling but Chuck and Bo made their music the basis for most of what came after. Right from the beginning (1955) Chuck Berry wrote fantastic and almost perfect songs. Like most of the guys back then he was treated very badly by the music business and the white community generally. Last month I was in Atlanta and went to the Civil Rights Museum and various Martin Luther King museums. It is quite upsetting to see what those guys suffered back then, but most didn't let it fester into the stupid behaviour that we've seen from Chuck since the late 60's. Even today, like Mustang Sally, a Chuck Berry guitar intro is an instant floor filler.

Drums, bass, keys and sax's was one of the Graham Bond line ups in the 60's. When I started I always played in bands with brass players. I even went as far as to check out starting a drums, bass and brass band but in the very early 70's no one was interested. I needed a vocalist which has always been my problem. Then Back Door appeared and blew my ideas into the weeds.

So they've quoted the haggle price without you having the hassle of beating them down. Sorry NJ, looks like you've lost out, not them.

[quote name='vmaxblues' timestamp='1476703456' post='3156382'] And, what can I do about it? [/quote] We're old. . . sh*t happens. . . speaking from personal experience, of course! Get a longer strap and play with the head stock raised a little, at more of an angle.

The YT's of recent Chuck Berry gigs are terrible. Approach this album with care. Better still buy a compilation from his 50's - early 60's material.