chris_b

Gigging was all I intended to do when learning bass. Played at home or the Albert Hall, the bass is the greatest instrument. Whichever venue you choose is fine. IME nothing in the world feels as good as standing in front of 500 watts with the room rattling and your trousers flapping. And breaking news. . . . The 20th November is the 50th anniversary of my first gig.

I'm not the best person to ask for advice. . . . my basses get gigged or sold. They are not ornaments to me, they work. But if [i]you[/i] can't decide don't do anything until [i]you're[/i] comfortable with making [i]that[/i] decision.

So. . . . I've just spent 2 hours checking out Louis Cole in all his guises. I'm loving it even more.

[quote name='grumpyguts' timestamp='1475925310' post='3149793'] Should the dep express an opinion? [/quote] Not usually. [quote name='grumpyguts' timestamp='1475925310' post='3149793'] The whole two set thing doesn't make sense. Get the punters warmed up, disappear for 1/2 hour and start all over again. Why not stick with it for 2 hours? [/quote] Because they've got to sell beer.

Even rich people don't get any change from "aggressive forms of cancer".

No discussion. You hit them with the best you've got. Not your favourite number but the audience's favourite and you do that in quick succession with the first 3 or 4 numbers.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1475883904' post='3149584']As to old quality vs new... Let's face it, Paul knows Wals. He started working there a few months before Ian Waller passed away in the late 80s and was working there until around 2000 so most of the basses around will have had him working on them anyway. [/quote] Pete Stephens wasn't very well towards the end but thank goodness he still cared enough about his company to ensure that its heritage and pedigree was maintained, and not sold off to the highest bidder (which was on the cards). Paul Herman was/is the best person to take WAL on and maintain the continuity and quality for such a world class brand.

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1475882606' post='3149573'] Who is balancing FOH from behind the PA when your not wearing them ? [/quote] That's not an answer. You can always hear the PA, even from behind it. When you're using IEM's you're shut off from all of the FOH so how do you maintain a balance out front through out the gig? I'm asking the question because maybe the guys using IEM's have solved what to me seems like a show stopper, unless you have a sound man. I've not been in many bands that were able to maintain a balance using backline, but you can hear when the band and volume is going out of balance, but how do you address this with no backline and when you're cut off from the PA using IEM's.

Love it.

To all using IEM's. Who is balancing the FOH throughout the gig while you're wearing them?

In music is good to know stuff. It's even better to know a lot of stuff.

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1475836501' post='3149068'] No, he didn't, Chris. Barry did the falsetto, Robin did the high lines with his unmistakable vibrato, and Maurice, whose voice was admittedly not as good as his brothers', did the choruses and harmonies. [/quote] I was delving into the recesses of my memory for that one. I must have Maurice mixed up with one of the others.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1475846555' post='3149191'] In many areas we're getting more 'human-friendly' replacement materials and they're often not performing as well as the classic ones. [/quote] +1 I can't buy creosote or proper varnish any more. The water based products we get these days are not as good as the old "nasty" stuff.

Mo did all the high vocal lines on Bee Gee records as well.

If you haven't played it yet (the singer might turn up and want to do it in 3/4), I'd start with playing what's on the recording and see where you might go from there when you've played it with the band.

Being realistic custom made basses usually involve an extended wait time. WAL is 2 years and some and apparently with Carl Thompson you get it when you get it. I understand the irritation, but to be honest, no matter what you were told at the start, 12 months doesn't seem like a long wait for a hand made bass from a very small outfit. Hassling the guys will probably turn out to be counter productive.

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1475831099' post='3149004'] If it was just about tone/groove we'd all be using P-basses & sending everything DI'd through the PA. [/quote] Isn't that exactly what the good bass players do?

As Stevie said, mostly 1 root note per bar. Play what this guy plays. He's done all the hard work for you. If you have to beef it up play the dum-de-dum pattern the bass drum is playing at 2.08. Serve the song. Think of a bass line then throw 80% of it away. What you're left with will work. This band's playing is perfect for this song. If your band can't sit back and play as simple as this then I'd suggest it isn't going to work.

[quote name='Marty Forrer' timestamp='1475806918' post='3148912'] The point is that not a single one of the punters paying to see you play gives a rats about the grill and logo. It's the sound and your groove they care about. [/quote] . . . . that also goes for the guys you play with.

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1422646346' post='2675195'] I tried a Kala bass uke up in Newcastle over Christmas and though it sounded immense and was fun to play. The £450 pricetag was a bit much for me to handle though. Anyone got one and reckon they're worth it? [/quote] Jon Banks of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is holding one in the promo pics but doesn't seem to play one on gigs. He gigs a proper acoustic bass guitar.

I was in the Bass Centre one day (late 90's) when someone came in trying to sell a Wal, it was one of the Pro's. He only wanted £350 for it and they turned him down. They didn't want it! How times have changed. I bought my first mk3 WAL 5er in 2002. The owner spent about 6 months trying to sell it on eBay and when it finally dropped to less than half of his starting price I grabbed it. . . . for £750!

His was a name I vaguely knew but didn't know why. In going through his songs, I find I know nearly all of them. What a great song writer. Sad news.

I noticed that on the SE Bass Bash videos, John Bentley's bass is "clacking" away on almost every note. I would expect extraneous noises to disappear in the mix on a gig.