TimR

Better sound? Tone? No. Not 'always'. Some players conjure up a fantastic sound but I like what I sound like and don't want to sound like them. I want to sound like me. Technical ability, note choices and feel? Now that's a whole different ball game.

Sounds more like Big Time. But then a lot of the Steam numbers have that distinctive guitar sound.

That's the best thing about jams. The audience are there to see what happens. Whatever noise comes out they'll be interested. They're not really there to get drunk and jump up and down to Dakota. Although they will (It's an easy number, chart it out )

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1452712046' post='2952814'] yep...I know which would easier to wing... and it wouldn't be a bar set [/quote] It was just an example of what musicians can do with some talent, experience and application within a limited timespan. Drumming is slightly different but I've had a pro drummer stand in for a gig. I sent him a list in the morning and in the evening he played a three hour set. Bass wise, I've played pit from sight reading and gigs from charts while the guitarist gave me cues. It's not impossible to play a gig with only a few hours notice.

Two recent gigs spring to mind. First one; a very drunk guy puts his pint on top of my stack and leans very drunkenly on it. After the third time of telling him to stand somewhere else he finally get the message. No harm done, it was near the end of the evening. My last words to him were "If this gear falls on you it'll hurt quite a lot and the night will stop for everyone in the pub." I'm not one for violence and smiled while I talked. Second one: a very drunk woman celebrating her 50th kept coming up and twerking in front of me. Her friends finally came and got her when she'd backed right up against me and ruined my concentration. Gigs can be fun, if you have the right attitude. .

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1452867161' post='2954255'] Let's imagine that our biggest musical influences do happen to us, we first hear them, between the ages of 11 and 25. That really would not mean that our biggest musical influences were necessarily alive/recording/playing during that period of our lives. Because, maybe, one of Eric Clapton's biggest musical influences is Robert Johnson, but Johnson was dead seven years before Clapton was born. Nor would the 18-25 rule (even if it were correct) preclude other big musical influences at other stages of our lives. If you were born in 1975 or 1976 or 1977 or any other year, it remains eminently possible to become acquainted with Bowie's work (even after he is dead) and even have him turn into a big musical influence. This is happening to some people right now. Do you think [i]ALL[/i] Bowie's biggest musical influences happened before 1972 when he was 25? [/quote] I agree entirely. But it's most likely for you to be exposed while there was a large amount of publicity and media attention. The other way is to be introduced by someone who was a big fan and had some influence over you. It's not an exact science, we're all different but I'd suggest that's how it works with the majority of us for the majority of the music we like.

I wonder how big Motörhead were/are on the other side of the pond.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1452855101' post='2954069'] Agreed, probably true for most. I guess I never grew up. Probably the reason I can be so misunderstood along with being more obsessive than most guys. Music is still the most important and exciting thing in my life.I'm still calling up my buddies playing some new record or playing some new riff over the phone. When I'm getting ready for a gig on a Friday or Saturday night it's like I'm still 17. But I guess that's wrong too. Blue [/quote] I don't see why it's wrong. However, I think you demonstrate this really well with the Beatles. They're your biggest influence. According to you no other band since have got anywhere close. So regardless of what you listen to now, or whatever new band comes along, nothing can ever eclipse the Beatles. That's not wrong, it's how it is for you. It's not that we 'don't get it', it's that you were massively influenced at an important point in your life. We are all influenced by different things. Other people are influenced by other styles of music and other bands according to whoever was in the charts and how else they were exposed to music during that period of their life. Edit: I think I'm kind of echoing Bilbo but being more specific.

[quote name='interpol52' timestamp='1452786382' post='2953513'] I was born in 1975. I know exactly who David Bowie was (is? I don't know which to say and be respectful) and I know some of his songs. I meant that the majority of his music I don't know, like album tracks and those songs or performances that mean you feel you really know an artist. I haven't avoided his music, I don't dislike what I know of his songs. It's just that I have never dug deeper into his musical output for whatever reason. It might happen, maybe tonight I will listen and I will be hooked?! Who knows? I might have a go. [/quote] Ok. I've put a bit more thought into this. Maybe our biggest musicial influences happen between the ages of 11 and 25. The big Bowie moment for me was 1980 with the Scary Monsters album. I would have been 11, in 1984 he did live aid, by 86 he was pretty much done in the mainstream. If you were born in 1975 you would have missed all that. By the time 1980 came the Beatles had been surpassed by thousands of artists who were standing on their shoulders. Listening to the Beatles for me would be just an academic excercise. Just like it would be for a lot of other people for a lot of other artists, unless the music particularly grabbed them and they were introduced to them at those ages.

[quote name='interpol52' timestamp='1452782118' post='2953462'] Yep that's kind of what I meant. Acts that for whatever reason have slipped under your radar, no negative feeling whatsoever. [/quote] I don't know how David Bowie can have slipped under anyone's radar unless they were born in 1990. I mean I was born in 1969, I've heard loads of Beatles tunes but never bought anything or actively listened to them other to learn a tune.

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1452764994' post='2953157'] Make sure it stays friendly and welcoming. I went to a jam once, there was a clique of regulars clearly "in charge", I got glared at for making mistakes, the whole atmosphere was rather unfriendly. I never went back. [/quote] Definitely. That's why I think the OP will do better to try and get it going through word of mouth as I tend to stay away from established or generically advertised evenings. The one I attend on boxing night at our local is full of locals who have known each other for years. They're friendly but it's not particularly organised to suit all comers. We had a guy who left it until 11:40 to ask if he could play his harmonica. He was really good. Shame he hadn't stepped up an hour earlier.

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1452764836' post='2953154'] As a rule, if someone wants to have a go on my bass (almost always asked during a break) I let them. I might be lucky but said people usually ask because they are interested in basses and haven't seen one like it before. They are also usually sober. [/quote] That last point is important. I was packing up after a gig, we still had music playing through the PA but I was unplugging mics and DIs on stage. There was a huge pop as I unplugged one input and I turned around to find someone playing with the desk faders. I went over and started to have a word, when his 'mate' appeared and said "It's ok mate, he is in a band, he knows what he is doing." Lesson learned. I now unplug at the desk first.

My advice would be to directly approach musicians you know and invite them down. Did you get the details for the three that were there? Call them, make sure they're coming again and ask them to bring people with them.

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1452643544' post='2952067'] Find some new music to listen to! [/quote] I agree. Or a change is as good as a rest. If you're playing the same tunes to the same crowd and the rest of the band aren't up for changing 5 or 6 numbers out, then it may be time to move on.

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1452691954' post='2952460'] No, I think your approach is entirely reasonable. You know what you think you want, and check to see if it really is. [/quote] Yes. I agree. There will be lots of factors that have already steered you in that direction. Maybe ones you're not consciously aware of of.

I think if we start talking about styles there'll be huge gaps. Most of us play pop. I think we should try and stick to msinstream pop artists or the list will be huge.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1452687447' post='2952378'] Then I would suggest not commenting on The Beatles. I had nothing negative to say about Motorhead or Lemmy. I know what and how the younger generation feels about The Beatles. You can't fool me. Blue [/quote] Nobody had anything negative to say about the Beatles. Other than they didn't like them and they were in a blind spot. Any other bands in our blind spots you think we shouldn't comment on? Just so that we don't offend you? Madness. Stop being so sensitive.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1452686893' post='2952367'] Not a blind spot at all. I got the name of the band wrong. However, I think I got the year right. Plus my point was merely that I watched a lot of Lemmys interviews and I liked him as well as his perspective on rock and roll. Not sure what your getting at. Blue [/quote] Well, you can't really escape Paul McArtney here. But you still would have to actively listen to the Beatles back catalogue to get into them and understand the music. That's not something I need to do. It's not being ignorant, it's being pragmatic in my approach to what I listen to. The thread is about which bands are you aware of that are very big and influential but who you haven't actively listened to. It's not about who is or isn't being ignorant.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1452685995' post='2952348'] I thought he started the band in 1975. I could be wrong and what if I am? I still like him. Blue [/quote] The point is Motörhead was the name of the band, not Megadeath. They're hugely influential. Span several decades (unlike the Beatles). They've made more than 5 albums. They're an artist you should have actively listened to. Especially as your band play classic rock. I suggest they may well be a blind spot. No one has called you ignorant. Yet.

I don't think I've ever emailed a manufacturer. I'll read online reviews and ask people if they've used the gear. And I'll try it out. I don't buy anything I haven't seen and touched in the flesh.

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1452683592' post='2952300'] There's an interesting philosophical argument buried in the question that, if you are aware of it, is it a blind spot? That said, musical blind spots for me (in the sense that my eyelids close either in boredom or irritation: Dylan Jazz Prog rock with tracks over 7-8 minutes long (Early Queen is okay, Yes is not) Reggae [/quote] Yes. It's a blind spot. It means you have to consciously move away from what you're normally looking at to see it. I'm aware that Dolly Parton has a massive following but I'm too busy looking at the numbers I have to learn to delve into her back catalogue and immerse myself in Country and Western. It's just something I'm not interested in.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1452676416' post='2952207'] I was never really interested in all that prog stuff, King Crimson, Yes etc. I only really listened to Genesis after Phil Collins took over. I know, I,m shallow. [/quote] That's a pretty good example. To me Phil Collins took them in a direction I didn't really like. I like their material up to about Then There Were Three/Abacab. It's not that I don't like the Beatles or Elvis, or even the Stones (another band I'm only familiar with hits from) it's just that I've never been grabbed by a single and thought that I should go and buy an album.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1452652145' post='2952099'] I'm learning more and that many bass chatters have no respect for the pioneers that set the ground work for them. For the most It's pure ignorance. Blue [/quote] It's not ignorance on by behalf. As the OP asks, What artists do you not have a great knowledge of. I used the Beatles and Elvis as two examples of artists that everyone else seems to know lots of material. Between them they produced 50 studio albums. That's 50 albums I'd have to actively source and listen to each several times to familiarise myself with. There are thousands of artists out there but very few have released more than 5 albums. Off the top of my head a few that spring to mind; Cliff Richard, Iron Maiden, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Marillion, Micheal Jackson, Simple Minds, Genesis Springsteen ... It's not possible to be familiar with all the greats. Edit: YouTube isn't particularly friendly towards the Beatles, learning their times isn't a simple exercise.

The Beatles and Elvis Presley. I only really know the tunes that I've had to play. Maybe 20 or so. No idea what albums are which etc.

Ah ok. Autism explains it perfectly. You'll only need to hear it once, or possibly only the first part and you'll know where it's going. My son is dyslexic. Some things (academic) he just will never get. Some things (physical, dramatic arts) he just gets straight away. Quicker than anyone else ever could. Just wired differently. But that's all the more reason not to dismiss theory for other people.