Dr.Dave

If I could be on bass and vocals I'd love to have Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and vocals Don Powell on drums Dr John on piano and Roy Wood on whatever he cares to show up with. I'd listen to every word and suggestion each of them says - I have massive respect for each of them - but I wouldn't be intimidated at all. They all put their socks on the same way as I do.

I pickguard is almost unique in it's ability to hugely alter the appearance of your instrument without damaging it in any way - and it's 100% reverseable. So......... why not choose a pickguard that has the effect of William B Punter waking the morning after the gig actually remembering you. Maybe not by name - cartainly not by performance (because , sadly , the aforementioned william is as thick as a canteen cup when it comes to music appreciation) - but by being remembered as 'that fat twat with a massive nob drawn on his banjo thingy'. It may not be perfect (and it being a nob design is not compulsory , though it is a bloody good idea) - but it is a start. I believe a certain W Punkdude esq. of this parish uses checked pickguards for these reasons. I'm a silly flowery one with dice knobs man myself. Remember - a visit to Mr Subtle is your ticket to obscurity !!

Easy answer from me. It's a certainty that they restrict playing ability. If you have , I dunno - maybe a foot and change of right hand plucking area and you take 5 or 6 inches of that away - you're left with much less playing area. No brainer really. Not opinion - fact. Factor in mid gig string change. Maybe not a huge concern for most - but.... With the bridge ashtray on a Fender you can't put a new string on without removing it. In fact you can't even get the old one off. Mine got tossed years ago - and rightly so.

We've had this before - and in fact it's the same as the mustang sally debate.There's room for everyone and everything in entertainment. We all have choices whether or not we want to get involved in some of the methods of doing that. It's all so very , very simple. If you don't like playing to backing tapes - don't. If you don't want to watch someone else playing to backing tapes - leave. Just don't be an arse and gob off about it being less valid than whatever it is you choose to do yourself.

I don't care so long as the steps are the same. I have a d-tuner on my Shuker but I can't use it. All my patterns are instantly jacobsed and I haven't a clue. I suppose concentration might help but I gave that up for lent in 1988. I keep meaning to try a Kubicki - that seems a better solution to me. I used to keep my Status tuned down to D just for that low D note. Never needed or wanted a low B - it has that springy , farty quality that irritates me. So far as staying in tune - I never have any problems because I stretch them almost to destruction when I change them (not often - we're talking years rather than months). In fact I have destroyed several new strings putting them on. I sit down and bounce the bass up and down on my lap by yanking each string to the ceiling a dozen times - really lifting it off my legs. If it survives - it's good for years and will never go out of tune.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1352994167' post='1870290'] I can't give you a reason why you wouldn't play it, only the reasons why I wouldn't play it. I'm quite content to be called a snob if it's the worst criticism that can be levelled at me. I also don't watch X Factor and don't buy lottery tickets - throw me out of England. [/quote] Matey - snobbery doesn't occur when you're being different to somebody else - vive la difference , as they say in Switzerland - snobbery occurs when you think you're being better than somebody else.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1352991164' post='1870249'] You don't ever think you should strive to do more than that? [/quote] I don't think you should ever settle for less than that.

[quote name='fumps' timestamp='1352986875' post='1870157'] I'm lost at how anyone can see not liking a song that is so over done as snobbery......I love shortbread but if i eat it every day for a month i'd get sick of it......does that make me a shortbread snob ? [/quote] You getting sickend of shortbread would not make you a shortbread snob - BUT - were you to say 'I'm a proper foody who only eats some load of Frog sh*te and I'm too good to eat shortbread' it certainly would. My point has nothing to do with the song being good , bad or indifferent - the song being over played - the song being cheesy or played well or badly or whatever. My point is that there are people who think 'I'm a proper musician and it's beneath me to play it'. Well - that's bollocks , that is.

[quote name='StephenFerguson' timestamp='1352904239' post='1869149'] sigh, it does go down well, my covers band (the one I fin sing in) used to play it and I died inside everytime I had to do it, but yeah the crowd loved. The crowd are also the same people who bought mr blooby and crazy frog. [/quote] True , but the crowd are also the same people who bought my G K rig , my new reclining leather suite and my 3 weeks island hopping around the Greek Islands.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1352903054' post='1869129'] I'll play any number if it gets that kind of response. [/quote] More to the point - the songs that came after that got the same reception which absolutely would not have happened had we not done Mustang Sally.

Leeds would be good. I can turn up in my boat then have somewhere to kip if I get mortalled.

Jesus H Wossisname - can't players be a bunch of snobs. Mustang Sally - played as we do with gusto , knob gags and any damp gusseted totty we can persuade on stage to do backing vocals with us ( we call them the 'Blue Jobs') has dragged more flat gigs out of the mire and into the realms of dancing on tables than I can remember. Just two weeks ago - Knaresboro - flat as a witches tit. Williams not interested. Not even Jimmy Saville gags worked. Started up with Mustang Sally........ they had to bring the bouncers inside to control folk before the revelling got too silly.

I had a pint with him in a Pontefract pub once and a nicer and more unassuming chap you couldn't wish to meet. Great one for the scrapbook - enjoy.

[quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1352135655' post='1859198'] Does Geddy Lee ever have an off day? [/quote] I guarantee that if you asked him he'd say 'Yes , of course' - though the nearest actual evidence I have for that was a Neil Peart sleeve note on one of the live albums where he says that many recodings were unsuitable because ' we forgot how to play'.

Funnily enough I had an 'off day' too on Sat at a gig in Knaresboro. Dropping notes everywhere - licks and runs not coming off - right hand going for strings and missing them etc etc. Things is - I've been gigging for 35 years so have the experience to not panic and 'style' my way out using skills I've learned like simplyfying lines , playing more 'within myself' than normal and getting out of trouble without the punters even knowing. It's a confidence thing really. Yesterday - gig in Doncaster - was different again - everything I went for came off - all the tricks and show offs etc etc. Killer runs dreamed up on the spot - the works. I guess the real lesson I've learned is that the real me has a consistant skill set somewhere between the two examples above and that's all that can be relied on. The ups and downs are the top and bottom 15% - not the consistant 70% in the middle. I'm happy with that. I'm human. I'll continue to try and improve the quality and content of that 70% and that's all I can do. That's what matters.

Just a muse re. drum machines and metronomes........ Fine. No problem at all and better than nothing BUT...... I learned a lot from playing along to records (note to younger members - they were vinyl discs about a foot (sorry - 30frenchometres) across !!!). Anyway - being a child of the 70's most of what I bought and listened to wasn't as processed as these days and drummers were not inhumanly perfect in keeping time. I learned time - therefore - from the recorded performances of Carl Palmer. Don Powell. Cozy Powell. Bev Bevan etc etc. I think they were pretty good teachers for a youngster like me !

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1352114359' post='1858782'] Instead of trying to make it simpler, try to make it more complex. Set yourself a challenge. Even if you can't do it then you are more likely to progress. [/quote] Exactly right - nobody ever got better practising what they can already do. If you consider yourself a learner/improver/whatever I should think that not being satisfied with your current standard can be a positive thing. Apart from anything else it shows that you're learning to recognise that your playing CAN improve. Some people think that they're Geddy Lee the second they can pump out a root note - much better to learn to know where you are and where you want to be.

Before we play I usually get asked if I'm one of the band's Dads , which I think is hilarious so always say no and claim that the bass player's my gay toy boy.

My old Cambridge Audio amp and Tannoy 6 speakers are still working as good as new - both from Richer sounds in Leeds when they had the tiny shop.

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1351545642' post='1852527'] I do about two gigs a month. However, I find I can't be arsed to play my bass between gigs. I sell basses for my day job, so that doesn't help. Anyone else have this problem? [/quote] I play more gigs than that , never pick up a bass between gigs - personally I don't find it a problem. It's a long time since I found any pleasure in playing bass by itself so around the house I'd rather strum my Ovation and sing a bit - though I don't do that very often either ! On top of that my hands are always a mess from kitchen accidents , messing with my boat engine , DIY jobs etc etc and my fingers are often sore from cuts and nicks. I never notice it at gigs - adrenaline I guess - but it hurts at home.

[quote name='paulconnolly' timestamp='1351534934' post='1852324'] In this position at the moment learning a shed load of covers for a burgeoning classic rock band. Generally I try to get it as the original but some stuff is just not possible but I know someone will come up to me after a gig and say "you didn't quite get that bassline right" [/quote] Don't ever make the mistake of listening too much to punter's opinions on music. Over 34 years I've found them woefully lacking in knowledge. 90% at least wouldn't know a wrong note from a kick in the nads. The truth is - they want to be you , and you can't go back to being them.You know yourself when you're happy with your performance and playing - learn to trust that.

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1351527564' post='1852209'] Pah! You don't believe that for a second. You're not trying to tell me you haven't heard a band murdering a song because they're doing in their own way and not wanted to clout them with a nearby piece of furniture for being crap. If you are, you've gone down in my estimation [/quote] Bollocks. I've heard lots of bands being crap and wanted to clout them with a bit of furniture but tht's been down to technical execution of what they're doing - not the way they choose to arrange a song or their own parts , so don't go telling me what I believe or not. As for going down in your estimation...well - there's a body blow

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1351525368' post='1852159'] there could well be a distinction between the band who have the skill to play something other than the original line and create something. As opposed to those who are too lazy and/or lacking on skill and just bodge it. [/quote] There's no need for anyone to justify why they do things the way they do. If you want to copy the fine detail - fine. If you don't - fine. If you can't be arsed - fine. If you're just beginning - fine. If you've done a thousand gigs - fine. There's no right or wrong here - just an interest in other people's approach.

[quote name='witterth' timestamp='1351520973' post='1852080'] so you're in the "cant be arsed to learn it" camp then. [/quote] I'd describe myself as too skilled to need to.

I'm in a covers band and it's our deliberate policy NOT to pay any attention to the original other than to say 'We like this - let's do it our way'. Personally , I have no idea what the bass player in the original band played in any numbers we do. In fact I can think of at least 4 covers in our set that I've never even heard. Other band members suggested them and I just played along doing what I thought was best for the song. I don't listen to music much , as I often say - I'm a creator not a consumer. I can't imagine anything more mind numbing than listening to a bass line for the purposes of copying it. I'm interested in songs. That's melody plus lyric. After that I play what I want to play. As a young man self-learning the mechanics of playing an instrument of course I copied. Then one day it occured to me that just because I could do all the basslines on 2112 and Moving Pictures it didn't make me as good as the guy who dreamed them up. I haven't listened to a bassline since. In fact that was going to be my answer in the 'when did you feel you really became a bass player' thread.