Bassfinger

It was getting that way for us, and that was a part of the reason for me leaving. A huge investment in time and money, only for no bugger to be available to rehearse, much less actually get out there and perform. Word travels fast. I've been tapped up for a job in a tribute band a chap I know (another one I know via the rehearsal studio). I've not said no. I'd just got my mind used to the idea of spending some time working on my own playing and then maybe hunting around for a band in the spring, so it was a bit of a surprise. Told him maybe, but I want to know who else is coming on board before I commit.

As it happened I had a sub in my garage, probably close in value to my share. Nevertheless, I didn't want to go down the road of holding equipment hostage. I was hoping for an outbreak of common sense. The problem is we all have egos and there's no doubt I put people's noses out of joint when I went (I was genuinely polite and not seeking an argument confrontation, but I did tell them why I was going and they probably didn't like to hear it!) but we go there in the end.

I'm sad how it ended but I do want them to carry on and have fun, although for various reasons I think the project is about to fizzle out anyway.

I nearly always try before I buy, particularly with Fender. The onky exception was my Mike Dirnt, which were in such short supply I had little choice but to buy from whoever happened to have one in stock, which turned out to be Anderton's, too far to reasonably travel for just a test play. People prattle on about US Fenders being better than Mex ones, but that's not automatically so. Their QC is so variable that best Mex ones are an easy match and the worst US ones would embarrass Squier. For example, I tried 3 Geddy Lee's before finding one with a perfect finish, and the one I chose was a peach. I tried 2 before plumping for my Meteora, and the final choice was a perfect plank. I test drove 2 before choosing my Precision Ultra, the one I discarded having a nine to snug looking neck pocket. In each case the discarded examples, a mix of factories, had visible flaws, never mind feeling, playing and sounding different, so it was worth taking the time over it.

Get your facts straight. I didn't threaten them with anything. It was something I quietly considered and ultimately discarded.

Oh no, I appreciate that while the gear was very expensive high quality kit it is now well used. With that in mind I was only asking for 25p in the pound.

I feel your pain. All had been well with my band for 4 years until this week when something happened that was very much to my detriment. I expressed my displeasure and offered a compromise solution. That was met with an "if you don't like it you know what to do" type response. They were doubtless expecting me to grumble but ultimately fall in line. I very well did not like it. They'd called my bluff , something to which I never ever back away from when people do, and they suddenly panicked when it backfired them and it got a bit silly. It's put me off being in a band of my own for good so I'm doing some dep work, all agreed and authorised by the guy I'm covering for, and I'm going to try my hand at teaching (for free) to see if a different approach will hold my interest.

An interesting foot note. I know who my replacement is, but dont really know him. He uses the same rehearsal studios that I sometimes do so I know his face and I've seen his name on the chalkboard on the rehearsal room doors. The reverse is probably true of him in that he knows my wizened fizzog and name. The rehearsal studio is coincidentally owned by a guy I worked with in the petrochemical business going back about 15 years, so its a smallish local music community int he sense that we pass like ships in the night and pretty much know who each other are, if nothing else. The proprietor is thus at the centre of it all, gossip central, and hears everything from all. Anyway, I've heard that he was a bit annoyed at being invited to dep with a view to joining only for them not to tell him there was a bit of a dispute with me sill lingering like a stale fart. He refused to work with them until they'd sorted it, which probably explains their welcome but somewhat unexpected change of heart after giving me a polite but emphatic "no" only a few hours ago. If I'm honest, @Heathy is bang on. I was a bit of a diva in my leaving, although I genuinely wasn't rude. I apologised directly to the band 'leader', so while I was a stupid tit I was a magnanimous one. I do appreciate that I've put their noses out of joint, but I made it plain it was an artistic decision and that I have no personal beef with them. I know who is the main architect of the response I received and I simply won't work with him again, although id happily buy him a beer if I ever bumped into him.

And they've acquiesced and agreed to buy me out, rounded down to the nearest hundred quid. I don't know why it was so difficult to get that far, but I guess egos were bruised all round. It's a happy ending. They get to carry on, I'm out their way, a new guy gets a crack at it and a worthy charity gets a decent pay day, so everyone comes out with something. I'm going to try something different. I'll do a bit dep work but that aside I've decided to concentrate on improving my own playing skills for a bit and do some teaching.

I can't stop them playing and don't want to. The whole point of me ofrering to cofer the imminent gig is so theg could play. I'm not bothered about playing the gig for myself, the point is I offered so they wouldn't be disadvanted by having to cancel. However, I can document payments and ownership agreements and the sum involved would be worth taking to small claims, and id include in that rental for the new guys use. Sister is a solicitor, albeit in a different speciality, and reckons my case would be fairly solid. But I don't want to. I just want them to do the honourable thing, I'll gift the money to the Epilipsy Society, everyone moves on. Oh, and one of the subs is in my garage so they will struggle if I held it hostage. But I don't want the damn thing.

Team, I recently quit my main band. I wont go into the reasons, I freely admit it was as much my fault as theirs but I work on the basis that I do it for fun and if it should no longer be fun then it's not worth doing. So I quit. Politely, no hard feelings, wishing them all the best. Having done so I immediately mesaaged the unofficial band leader, the guy who'd set it all up, to apologise to him. He was fine about it. I also said that I'd cover one last gig on the 13th, as that'd be short notice to get a dep, for him to learn our arrangements and different keys etc, then I'd shake their hands, wish them the best and be on my way and they can buy me out my not insignificant share of the bands equipment (all documented who paid for what.) For reasons I don't understand (not that it matters) our drummist doesn't want me there, and wants to use another bassist. Fine, if he doesn't want me there then it's not likely the atmosphere would be brilliant so I'm happy to stand aside. However, if they're bringing in a replacement who is going to be earning a reasonable sum per engagement they need to buy me out of my share of the gear first. You can't expect me to pay for lunch and someone else to sit down and eat it, particularly as I'd already offered to eat it myself. They've clearly done the maths and realised buying me out would wipe out the new guys first fee and more, and he'd essentially be playing for free. They either don't want to do this, or he's not willing to play a gig or two for free, and are trying to guilt trip me that they'll have to cancel the gig, etc. Well, no they don't have to cancel because I specifically offered to cover that engagement so they wouldn't have to cancel and their reputation as an act wouldn't be damaged amintlocal venues. So it's a stalemate. They dont want me to play, I won't let them bring in a replacement and allow him to earn decent money using geat that I paid towards, and want buying out. I've told them I don't want to argue, it's a simple binary choice. They're going to have to buy me out at some stage and I'd rather not get MU legal services involved. Am I being unreasonable in not wanting to simply gift them hundreds of pounds worth of gear so that someone else can make money using it? I'm not hard up and plan to donate it to a worthy national charity, so it's not even like I'm insisting upon being bought out due to some sense of greedy avarice, but I feel they're trying to extract the wee wee and I'm not willing to just roll over.

Walk by a pleasant boy band called Foo Fighters.

I've just quit my band today. Something had been annoying me and I mentioned it the other day. They got slightly arsey with me, accusing me of making ultimatums. I told that wasn't the case and I was willing to find a compromise position that would give us all a little bit of what we want and was given an emphatic "no". So I quit with no notice, leaving them in the lurch for two forthcoming gigs (which I'm not proud of, but I did my best to propose a compromise.) So instead of them getting some of what they wanted they now have 100% of nothing, and they're probably thinking of me as a band wrecker. But another door almost immediately opened, and I'm doing a few dates with a local country act. Not my thing, but more palatable than some of the pop pap I was having to play with the old outfit so it'll be w nice change of gear while I decide what to do longer term, ie, find another band, devote some time to home studio recording, maybe teaching, or whatever.

I have a 12 year old GB10 that's been used almost daily since I bought it and which has been unceremoniously bundled into my hand luggage during travels in literally dozens of countries, and a 26 year old Tascam DAT deck that has led a less travelled life in its rack at home. Both still work perfectly, and on that basis I'd buy Tascam again. Indeed, it makes me wonder what you're doing that I'm not (or vice versa.) It shows how easily our perceptions are coloured by personal experience.

I don't see how a bassist wanting to play bass on a song for which he knows how to play bass is being obstructive. We sometimes swap instruments about - I play mandolin some songs and our rhythmist covers bass, and I do lead guitar on Sultans of Swing and our lead player covers bass - but it's all by mutual agreement among grown ups. Even our drummist plays a little bass, but not with the band. I'd suggest doubling up, and if they won't go for that I'd be asking why they want you there at all if they're going to start playing that game. It depends how much you like the band and really want to be there as to whether you call their bluff and threaten to walk, and I personally would,don't threaten unless I meant it.

I got offered £100 to dep at a local holiday park gig a few weeks back. Id only gone in to buy some strings so was a little taken aback when they popped the question. I wasn't available so never got as far as finding out if it was a four or five piece band, so couldn't calculate the band fee accurately from that. Nevertheless, I suspect the final sum is somewhere adjacent to 'not a lot' if they were offering me a one-er.

A 3 pack of Dunlop Tortex Triangle?

Dancing? Looked like he was having some kind of medical episode.

Jesus H Trump. And that's a grown adult male! Having a laugh is one thing, but being an utter prat is quite another. You have my sympathies.

But what if tue best sounding bass - to your ear - was inexpensive? In terms of sound, tone, call it what you will, my modified HB is a match for some of my basses costing 15 times as much. Unlike items such as the standard of finish, the quality of the finishing kit, or simpky the prestige of the brand names embossed on the parts, etc, the relationship between pricce and sound is not a linear relationship. Indeed, the link between price and sound is so loose its downright bendy.

Right bunch of piss heads last night. Silly little boys that drinking pith weak lager and and are wobblier than John Inman's wrist after 2 pints. One got up on stage and tried to sing into my mic, earning him by best Rugby style hand-off to the face. He clearly didn't like it, but at a foot taller and nearly double his weight he wasn't inclined to argue the point,. Then a few minutes later another twit tried to grab my spare bass so he could mime along. I managed to stop him, and our singist told the bar manager that any more of that and we'd be packing up. She came on the mic and gave them a bollixing and they did calm down slightly. The would be bass nabber apologised as we were packing away, and said he felt like I'd been giving him the daggers all night. "That's because I was", I replied. That's the last time we play a football club.

He could well be, we'll never likely know. Nevertheless, the incident illustrates a point; MIA models are made on identical tooling, very often by staff from the Mexican plant. And conversely, you'll find the opposite, MIM models made on the same gear, often by murican staff, and signed off by the likes of Henry and Martin (on both of mine). The only real difference (other than the make of finishing kit on the real high end models) is the location. So what did the extra £600 get him beyond a geography lesson? Ultimately, nothing tangible. That £600 could have been spent on HBs, which was the point of the observation.

An acquaintance of mine has just spent an extra 600 sheets on an MIA precision over the MIM equivalent. He was most shocked to see the QC signed off by "Pedro", who with a name like that was very likely an employee of the Mexican factory working overtime (they're about 60 miles apart and staff flit betwixt the two for OT.) So the extra money could have bought him 5 or 6 Harley Bentons, but he actually gained nothing more tangible than a geography lesson.

My backup bass for live work is a modified HB MB4. While the finish is decent it isn't up there with my more expensive basses and the components don't have flashy brand names embossed upon them, it does sound every bit as good as my poshest basses and feels comparably decent to play. So my answer would depend on whether I wanted a bass to soune good but also to look at, admire, or show off to my chums, or... ...whether I wanted it to work hard for its living and give a top flight performance without leaving me constantly anxious about theft or damage.

If you want an East Devonian Mesozoic core sample analysed then I'm your man. If you want someone to quickly calculate a restaurant bill five ways then you're best looking elsewhere. Sadly my training presents precious few opportunities to make me look remotely clever.