4-string-thing

Some very interesting and useful posts, keep 'em coming! I can't really sack the guy, and do the gig, as he's the one organising the bands for the thing in the first place! I guess, I'll see how it goes on Sunday, I've text them both suggesting we do "gig mode" rehearsals from now on.... Might get boring just playing 8 songs for 3 hours but at least we should get them right by the end of it... If not, it's probably time for plan B!

He uses chord/lyric sheets as and when needed Urbanx, trouble is they are quite often wrong (I got given copies, and some of them are really not that accurate)

I was planning on doing that anyway Discreet....

You could be right Jonny, he seems to spend more time on youtube looking for more material, than learning the songs we've already agreed on.

It's very easy for me to criticise I suppose. After all, I have a bass, lead, amp.... No effects to mess around with between songs etc. I can see a lot of delays where he messes with pedals, amp settings, guitar swaps..... Oh Jeez, the hot flushes are starting again

Still not clear as to who paid for the bass in the first place, or have I missed something? (quite possible)

ezbass, you're right.... Putting the band into gig mode seems sensible. Use our own amps at rehearsal, stick to the 8 songs we've chosen (he keeps suggesting new ones, before he's learnt the original 8) And generally tidy up intro's endings etc.... Sounds like a plan!

I'll see how it goes at Sundays rehearsal, we've had a couple of weeks off due to holidays, so maybe he's been putting some work in while I've been away? If he's not got his act together, I'll have a word on Monday. I guess I like the idea of a relaxed attitude, but in practice I'm a control freak who likes things to be as good as possible. I see what you're saying about if he can't get it right in rehearsal, he's got no chance at a gig, but it could go the other way and he could step up to the plate and surprise us all....

Discreet, you have both made me LOL and crap myself with fear at the same time!

I think the chords/keys are on his lyric sheets... It's just his general "dizzy" attitude that bugs me! We're doing a few songs of his choosing because he claimed to know them from previous bands...

So, after a few years of looking, I've finally managed to find a couple of like-minded souls to put a trio together doing stuff I like. We've been rehearsing for a few weeks and have been offered a gig at a village fete type thing at the end of June. All well and good, 30 minutes on a proper stage with decent P.A etc. Problem is, the guitarist/singer! He can play well, sings ok but is really casual and amateurish. I can just about excuse the music stand with lyric sheets (though tbh, I don't like to see that) but I find his inability to remember songs frustrating. We have a short set list of around 8 songs so far, he can play them all ok, but at rehearsal, someone says "lets do song A" and his reply will be "which ones that?" And then, he'll get his phone out, listen to the first few bars so he knows which song it is! He has to do this for almost every song, even the ones he suggested! He's also prone to starting things in the wrong key, getting his intro's mixed up (it's 60's RnB so a couple of them are similar at the start, so that's probably understandable) He seems to think this would be funny if he needed to do it at a gig. I despair! This gig isn't much, I know that, but I still want to appear professional (it's actually in the village where I grew up, so there will be people there that have known me for over 40 years) I don't mind jamming, but I don't want to be doing it in front of an audience.... Any thoughts? Am I being too fussy? Uptight? Anyway, rant over....

I've just bought a 12" combo from Ambient (great guy and a great amp) got it home, sat it on a cheap Skytec PA sub in the living room and tried it out.... Sounded great, so I plugged in the 1x15 sub..... Still sounded great, added something (not really sure what though) Obviously it was only at living room level and the Skytec thing really isn't a great bit of kit but even so, it will definitely work!

Just bought a Markbass combo from Ian, top guy! Buy/sell with confidence. Hope your cat came back mate!

Haha, nothing worse than new strings! (imo)

I think the strings on my precision have been on for at least 10 years (possibly much longer) it sounds brilliant!

I've been in a few bands with crap names: Private Party, Iron Python, Lovelorn and Rick Lamoure & The Corduroy Kings to name a few.... I'm now in Dr K's Gastric Band, which let's face it, is not much better!

Surely a lead balloon would never get off the ground?

For covers bands, I reckon playing well known songs (well) that people don't hear every other band playing, is probably key. As is putting on an entertaining show (playing well whilst looking at your shoes/fretboard and having long gaps between songs is not going to keep people interested for long) A band is the evenings entertainment, so entertain and you'll do ok. A few years ago, I was in a spoof 80's hair metal band. The music was pretty horrible to be honest, but we played it well, got some silly spandex, leather, wigs etc and devised a completely OTT stage show. Our debut gig was at a local bikers pub. The week before the gig I watched another band in the venue, total audience of 8. Total audience at our gig, 350-400. The place was rammed, you couldn't move in there and it was all down to a bit of a facebook campaign and word of mouth. The band are still going and do well. If you're a little bit different, put some effort in and go about things in a professional manner, you'll do ok.

I can't abide anything by Queen, Led Zeppelin or Stevie Wonder.... All completely overrated in my opinion. I could probably think of quite a few more if I put my mind to it!

[b]Studio 1 they forgot to mention is where the great John Otway recorded “House of the Rising Sun” the B side of his hit “Bunsen burner” with a 1000 piece choir. They were all very well behaved and only got hammered later in the day at the Astoria…… except for one or two, obviously.[/b] Yup, I was one of the 1000, and stood at the side of the stage at The Astoria later that night..... A great day Seymour!

I can't say I have noticed a click, but usually I have the gain turned right down and I switch the amp on a minute or two before plugging in and turning up (which is why it's taken me so long to notice that it does this) I can't find anything in the online owners manual about it, but I'm guessing (hoping) it's to protect the speakers from that "thump" and not a fault....

I noticed a bit of distortion whilst playing through my desk along to youtube earlier, and upon inspection, found the foam surround on one of the drivers was in bits (that's another thread maybe) Anyway, no problem my little-used Markbass Mini Mark has an aux input, I'll use that thinks I. Once I'd found a suitable lead, I plugged in my bass and laptop, switched on, turned level up a bit and.... Nothing! I bought the amp s/h off here and the seller told me it was brand new and used for less than a couple of hours. I've barely used it too, despite owning it for about a year. It's probably only had a few hours use max! I had noticed in the past that it took about 30 seconds after switching on before anything came out of it, but today it seemed to take ages. It got me wondering if Markbass build a "soft Start" into their amps? I should say that once I get a noise, it works perfectly and doesn't cut out or anything like that, it's just that it at start up, it takes a while for any signal to get through! Any ideas? Cheers!

These: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4WGsMplGxU"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4WGsMplGxU[/url] [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzzOBv7RPbw"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzzOBv7RPbw[/url]

Did the keyboard player leave the same time? Maybe the singer left the case, and the keys player saw an opportunity? A case of leads etc would be more use to him than the singer....

Back in the 70's when I started, I had a Top Twenty Bass, by todays standards it was truly shocking. I upgraded to a Hondo Rick copy, which was better but by todays standards probably crap as well. In 1979 I bought the bass in my avatar, a s/h Fender P, which I still own and maybe about to bring out of retirement! I don't know how it compares to other 70's Fenders, but I like it and will probably never sell it. Todays starter basses are so much better, I've got a few cheap basses and they're all really good. My favourite is my Harley Benton 50's P, total investment £140, which includes having the headstock re-shaped, some chromeware and a cheeky F****r decal.