TimR

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1496250149' post='3309958'] Sloppy Jazz band? How can you tell? Decide after you get an impartial second opinion from someone who knows about these things. [/quote] Exactly this. I played a gig two weeks ago with the guitarist filling in as the singer and a drummer we had never played with before. It was very sloppy. It was as a favour for our friend as a last minute thing for his birthday, only 30minutes and we weren't going to be paid. Apparently of the three bands that played we were the best and as the other semi-pro and pro band were being paid, he also paid us (more than we'd usually get!)

The bass guitar is notated an octave higher than it sounds to avoid excessive ledger lines.

[quote name='Bikenbass' timestamp='1496263744' post='3310099'] And just to wind up a few more who don't see the humour, I think you'll find Carol Kaye was the original bassist on MS! [/quote] I'm sure everyone saw the humour. Some just chose to have a serious conversation around the subject. Doesn't mean they didn't find it funny.

Mustang Sally is a cracking song, it's great to play, audiences love it. Even when played badly. The down side is we've probably all been playing and hearing it played for 30+ years and are bored with it. I think that's a more honest point of view.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1496063664' post='3308469'] Before this thread disappears into a whirl of alleged musical snobbery and confirmational bias (whatever TF that is), just thought it'd be worth mentioning that one of the most oft-quoted criteria mentioned in the 'Requirements for Joining a Band' thread so far is "music that I like/will enjoy playing". Is that 'snobbery' or just personal taste? [/quote] Conformational bias is where you fit the evidence to what you're expecting to see and discount evidence that doesn't confirm your beliefs. E.g. If you went to see a band that played two hours of varied music but also played those four tunes mentioned you would come away with the impression that it was yet another covers band with no imagination. There's a difference between; not playing Mustang Sally because you don't like it, and not playing Mustang Sally because you think your band is too good to play it.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1496068058' post='3308495'] I've played I Wish in my last 3 bands. Good number that always seems to go down well. IME Superstition gets chosen in guitar led bands, because they can pay the riff. IMO Superstition always works better when the keys take the lead and the guitar vamps on chords. Not many guitarists want to give up the spotlight though. [/quote] I play the keyboard line and the guitarist vamps. Sounds pretty good in a power trio.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1496052884' post='3308363'] I would sooner play Sally or Superstition than Dakota or Sex On bloody Fire any day of the week. [/quote] They're only tunes and it's only 3 minutes of your life. I just play the music, if people enjoy it, I've done my job. There's a lot of musical snobbery going on. These are great songs to have in the bands armoury in case they're requested. You don't have to play them all every week. The problem is, we are in bands that play these tunes and probably see other bands playing tunes we play. We've surveyed BassChat and found while there's lots of duplication, no bands are playing all the tunes and no band has an identical setlist. There's quite a bit confirmational bias going on.

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1496048126' post='3308292'] For me, it does! I love Stevie's as much as the next guy but putting superstition in the set is such a cop out. Stevie's got so many fantastic well-known tunes that punters would love just as much but people would rather stick with the lazy option, thudding away for 90% of a song on a single E (because nobody can be bothered to drop tune and do it in Eb like the original). I'd much rather see a band play 'I wish', 'Sir Duke', 'Master Blaster' etc something that doesn't take all of 5 minutes to 'learn' in a rehearsal one night because everyone knows it already and it's an easy set filler! [/quote] You'd get on with our singer. If we mention a song, he always says; "If we are going to do a song by X, I'd rather do ..." I can't quite understand this approach. We are choosing a song because of what it sounds like and how popular it is, not because of the artist. Although we are at point now where, because his favourite artist is David Bowie, we play 4 songs that David Bowie wrote. So I might be slightly hypocritical as when he asks "What about another Bowie song", I switch off before considering it. I think maybe the audience may also think along the lines of who sang the originals and think we are playing too many Bowie songs. I'm not sure. I suspect there's a balance and the two positions may be related but are not the same.

I bet he didn't even get paid!

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1495368998' post='3303246'] Sorry, but I disagree. What about the original artist that can't sing in the original key? Is it fine for them to do it and not anyone else? [/quote] Yes. Rush are writing new material all the time. It doesn't have the ridiculously high pitch vocals anymore. When you see them live, the number of old tunes they play is limited to the really well known, expected tunes.

Classic flying by the seat of the pants last night. A friend asked us to play at his 40th - mini festival. Unfortunately we had a gig booked and I had to turn him down. However in the mean time our singer is seriously ill and is undergoing chemo so we had to cancel the initial gig. So I told my friend we could probably now play a half hour with the guitarist singing. In the mean time the drummer having cancelled the initial gig booked himself somewhere else. Never mind. I pulled a favour from a drummer friend. We put together a list of 10 tunes we all kind of knew and jumped on stage with no practice. We played for an hour. No major car crashes but a few 'keep playing and smile' moments. Lots of nodding to each other to indicate changes. Seemed to go down well, I've had 4 messages today already from friends about how good we were. Love these random gigs. Can't beat a power trio.

Sounds like an elephant caught in a barbed wire fence.

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1495183660' post='3301878'] This meter reader = idiot. Smart Meters: There was a program on radio 2 Jeremy Vine about these. They all have a compatibility problem from one supplier to the next. They don't work properly and the program highlighted several customers being overcharged by thousands as a result. (although they did get it sorted out). One expert they had on said the tech was already out of date and it would be too expensive to upgrade the whole network so that they would work satisfactory so the whole concept as it stands is flawed. So really its a "Not so smart meter." [/quote] Jeremy Vine makes my teeth itch. His skills as an 'investigative journalist' are extremely lacking and his show is sensationalist. Of course GSM is old technology but it's only sending numbers to a central control. I was of the understanding that Invensys collect all the data independently and the power companies just get the data from them. So the comparability issue is really the power companies complaining they can't collect it directly.

[quote name='dyerseve' timestamp='1495133518' post='3301593'] Are you sure about that? My understanding is they can be read remotely but only by a person coming round to your property. The idea being that the person doesn't need to enter the property. But a bit like blutooth or Wi-Fi you need to within a certain proximity of the device to read the data from the device. I just can't see how else they would work without piggy backing into the homeowners Wi-Fi but that would be a real can of worms. [/quote] Not sure about domestic but the water, gas and electric in the building where I work have GSM modems in them. The get breakdowns of half hourly energy readings.

Anyone who tells you they're a musician and then immediately qualifies it by telling you exactly what make and model instrument they own. Isn't.

[quote name='linear' timestamp='1494943189' post='3299811'] Is there anything that lasts longer than Servisol? I find it works great, but after about 6 months the pot is back to how it was. (I know I should replace it, it's on the todo list, and has been for years now) [/quote] Turn your knobs all the way anti-clockwise when you turn off your amp/bass. The scratches are often from where the contact sits on the track leaving dirt and starting corrosion.

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1494414043' post='3295720'] Before tuners it was tuning fork, pitch pipes, piano, wild guess? [/quote] I try to tune by ear at home as much as possible. It gives you an advance of being able to adjust tuning mid song if it is a problem.

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1494269158' post='3294585'] ... Unfortunately, ears can be rather unreliable! [/quote] Mine are pretty good. What did all of you guys used to do before we had tuners?

Might just be a dodgy screen connection.

I tune when I can hear it's gone out of tune.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1494175979' post='3293801'] I play with silk gloves, they play really well, and you don't get cold. Works for Scott Devine, works for me! [/quote] Scott has focal distonia that makes his hands tremor. The gloves fix it. http://youtu.be/wOVGrGBeqiI

Your identity is all about your actions and what you say. You can change your identity whenever you want and only your name stays the same. When you take up a new hobby/job then your circle of friends alters and often you find out that you were only friends with some people because you have a common interest. It's quite profound. It's something a lot of my running friends find hard to do when they're injured. They can't run so unless they come out and support at races they lose their main interest in life. Best have several hobbies and different circles of friends that occasionally meet outside of the hobby circle.

I got snowbound in Toronto once on a flight from Detroit to London. We all had to leave the plane but weren't allowed any baggage as it was in the hold and had cleared customs. I had changed into London clothes, t-shirt and hoodie. We had to queue outside in -20'C waiting for a bus to a hotel. I thought my ears were going to snap off.

[quote name='Frank Grimace' timestamp='1494151847' post='3293623'] I suppose my thought was around wave frequency responses of the size of the speakers and split the signal to accommodate that, in an attempt to clarify the sound by letting each cab handle its own frequency range, not that there's anything wrong with my sound. I just thought low frequencies would be better handled by the 15" and so on...I'm no expert but it was one of those thoughts you get from time to time, it may have been fueled by alcohol ! my apologies to the moderators for my sense of humour Re: interests [/quote] No. The cabs will have similar frequency responses. They're not hi-fi cabs, they're bass cabs.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1494140561' post='3293495'] Interesting but might be under rated for the OP. "Suitable for Cabinet Powers up to 250 Watts & 8 ohm Systems" [/quote] Maybe. It's only £35, worst case it explodes and kills everyone in a 50mile radius. But I suspect that's continuous rating for music, the bass cab won't be anywhere near that. It'll give him a quick idea of whether or not it gives him the desired effect. (I'm sceptical) .