chris_b

Very few session players at our level are being hired for their sound. We are being hired because they like how we play. A studio will have more EQ and "features" than the rest of us put together, so you start with a Precision bass and let the studio sort the rest out. In interviews I've read, A List session guys usually turn up with 5 or 6 basses, Precisions, with flats and with rounds, a Jazz, a Hofner style semi acoustic and maybe a couple of modern basses. The general feed back is, 99% of the time they are asked to play the Precision with flats. Your own band recordings are different. You get to use everything you bought, but sessions want meat and potatoes players, like Sean Hurley, Nathan East and Lee Sklar etc.

I know a drummer who has used a stage name since the70's, for tax purposes, he says. I'm the shy, retiring type, but I'm happy enough to be introduced at the end of the gig. I do prefer anonymity on the internet though.

I've had TI flats on my PJ5 for about 8 years. They're still sounding great. I have an old set of GHS flats on a cheap jazz, and they improved the sound 100%. If I bought another set of flats I'd be looking at Labella this time.

The question is how many basses do I need. I have a one in, one out policy, so no collection here. My basses are tools, so the answer is two #1's (each is a backup for the other) and maybe one more for variety. YMMV

This. My version is, every gig is the Albert hall. Several times I've been asked to join bands because the band leader liked what he saw, and one of them was the proverbial man and a dog gig. Every time you have a bass on your shoulder you should be giving 110%.

And the 70's. I used to go up to Denmark Street on a Wednesday afternoon, to buy the early edition and get to the good adverts before the rest of the country.

No. . . . if the audience doesn't turn up you are playing to the promoter and trying to prove to him that you are worth booking again. . . . on a better night or in a better venue.

We were on a wedding and the singer was playing his usual, blues/soul set and not going down well at all. He kept complaining about the disinterested audience. In the interval I took him aside and pointed out they were not an audience, but wedding guests and his second set should reflect that! Talk about the bleedin obvious!! He dug out some proper songs and the second set got a much better response from the guests.

I felt sorry for one couple whose wedding reception we played. We were a pretty authentic Chicago blues band and they said we've got a gig, a wedding!!! Me, alarm bells ringing, "A wedding? We can't do weddings, we're not a wedding band!!" They said, Yeah it'll be great. The bride's father is a big fan of the band. We set up in a big barn in mid Surrey and played the whole night to an empty room. As far as I could see, the reception took place in the car park!!

Ahh Melody Maker!

I gig with a band who plays Hi Ho Silver Lining, All Or Nothing, Hi Heel Sneakers and others because of the reaction. The crowd goes crazy!! The landlord loves them, other landlords see that and give the band gigs, and so it goes. We also play "better" less popular songs but the guaranteed floor fillers are always in there. If you're in a cover band maximum audience reaction should be the goal.

I've played hundreds of gigs at The Grey Horse. It used to be run by guys who were only interested in selling beer and didn't care about the music. Some bands could pack the place to illegal levels and others couldn't get half a dozen in. I've done both! The pub did no promotion at all. It was then taken over by a landlord/musician and things improved a lot. Our weekly jam nights were usually packed and Sunday lunch sessions in the front bar were always full.

I'm not sure about that. Many years ago we had a slot at the Reading Festival that was a real poison chalice. We were on between Status Quo and The Faces. Quo fans didn't want them to stop and Faces fans didn't want to waste time with us, so we were being booed by everyone in the festival! A Party 7 sailed out of the darkness, bounced off the piano and, fortunately, over our heads. At least in a small venue you can see who the enemy is!

Depends on the musicians. Obviously a full room is preferable, but I can play easily to an empty room if the band, the drummer and the set are good. Also, if the only person watching is the promoter then you've got to give 110%, to prove that the empty room is not your fault.

Very sensible. Most people underestimate how bad they look on a stage wearing shorts. I used to gig with a guitarist who had ultra thin, ultra white and hairless pipe cleaner legs. With his rotund torso he looked like a joke in his shorts. It was beyond embarrassing. I've done many stupid things in my life but gigging in shorts was never one of them.

Diplomacy is always the best option. All questions like, "Does my bum look big in this!" etc are better left unanswered. IMO there is no good part of a sh!t sandwich. So leave the autopsy for the band.

That's why I emphasise buying good cabs. The best cabs will combat that woolly/boomy-ness in bad rooms.

I've done charity gigs that I've been paid for and I have no problem with free charity gigs, as long as we are not being taken for mugs. So far I've never met a band that where playing in other bands was forbidden. I've been in a couple who insisted their gigs came first, but that was understood from the outset. Back in the day, when I was on a retainer I did more gigs with the pub band than I did with the main band. The drummer was also in a second band. As long as we were available whenever the phone rang, it didn't matter what we did with our "downtime". I wouldn't have anything to do with someone trying to control when, where and with whom I played.

Was it a one-off bad gig? Why do you have to say anything? He was a friend before you knew how bad this band was, so just continue being a friend and ignore the band thing.

My playing style is a mix of John McVie, Duck Dunn and Bob Babbitt. The sound in my head is those guys, with a massive dose of Nathan East and all the guys Keb Mo has used on his albums in the last 30 years, especially Reggie McBride. IMO buy the best gear you can find, especially the cabs, and make sure each part of the signal chain compliments all the other parts. I am terrible when faced with an amp full of sliders. I have no idea what to do with all those frequencies and it all swims before my eyes!! I'm happiest with 3 controls. If I can't get it done with bass, mid and treble I bought the wrong amp. My Aguilar amps are perfect. Whoever designed them had the same sound in his head as me. All the controls are set at 12 o'clock. I rarely change the amp EQ from one gig to the next and never once the gig has started. I don't use pedals. I'll always bring 2 basses, usually a Jazz and a P, and I'll play the one that sounds best on the night. I'm usually sound checked in less than 20 seconds.

All you have to do is turn up on time, know the songs inside out, find out what they want of you, be pleasant, efficient and to the point. I haven't done many auditions in the last 25 years but one stands out. I arrived on time, to find I was the first one there. Only half the band bothered to turn up and when we started, nearly an hour late, I discovered I was the only one who knew the songs! Even the guy who wrote the songs couldn't remember the arrangements on the record! The record company guy who was in attendance spent most of the evening apologising!! @MacDaddy is right, you are auditioning them as well. They failed!

The "what then" is not very comforting. It's one of the risks of owning such products.

You guys are lucky I sound like Kermit gargling with porridge.