bassjim

...................ive been playing in cover bands for 30 odd years now. apart from a couple of near misses with pop stardom its all been cover bands playing in pubs,clubs and functions ive noticed over the years that people who go to the pubs and clubs most who are aged between 18-30 just dont have the same interest in bands that i did growing up especially in bigger towns. yes there are still young folks that are into it but its just not as much. also you can buy all this entertainment and booze for next to nothing and stay at home i play classic funk, soul, disco old and new plus stuff you can dance about to from recent charts like bruno mars for example. i will go as far to blow my own trumpet and say the quality of my band and musicianship within it is very high. we do ok for gigs and money is between £250 - £350 with functions being the main big earner. this has been more or less the template since i started. good players + play what they want to hear = good regular gigs. I have played in a rock indie cover band at one point for about 3 years and that also had very good, high musicianship type players.same template but different style of music also = regular gigs now if im a 18-30 year old punter and i walk in a pub with my mates and there is either a bunch of geriatrics playing staus quo badly or some bunch of amater have a go at it band i probably will leave. the change from when i was young is that the young crowd would rather be in the pub with a sh*t band than at home watching 321 or the generation game and would have put up with it cause at least all the girls are doing the same but now they have more choice. be that stay at home or go to bar full of young birds with thumping disco music it doesnt matter as long as they arent being subjected to some old farts personal music collection. Now you could say these days i am that old fart but i know through years on experience how to play,how to entertain and when to stop playing irrelevent tunes. never learnt how to spell though. maybe we could all put our set lists up here and compare. might help us all freshen it up a bit. oh and another thing whilst I'm ranting........I never had an xbox so all I had for entertaining my self at home was my bass to practice on and my k**b!!

heres my 2pence worth. really you need to learn how to do this yourself as action,string height neck tension ect are all personal. go out and get a cheap bass thats got a bolt on neck. take it apart and put it back together a few times. this will help you lose the "fear" of mucking about with your instrument. Turn the trust rod as far and hard as it will go to the right without breaking or snapping anything and see what it does on the cheap bass. I found out for myself on a cheap squire I brought some 20 years ago no matter how much you tried to straighten the neck it just wouldnt. it doesnt mean all cheap squires will be the same but at least i could get a proper look and feel for what was going on. On my fender jazz (my now only bass) i probably give the trust rod a slight tweak about once a month cause these days if some one so much as farts next to it i can tell the difference. Over the years you may well become more sensitive to these things. Its no good getting a ruler out as its how it feels in your hands. The weather can change things a fair bit.Hot then cold ect. Its worth the learning curb as im my opinion the perfect set up for you can make all the difference in getting the tone you want

still got mine as a back up amp. used it whilst ebs were sorting me out with a 350 to replace the 360. imo the reidmar sounds better than the 360 and if you want more power than this you might want a different rig altogether. its not as good as a 350 for sure but it is a nice plug and play job with a fender jazz.(obvs i use a fender jazz so cant say what it does with ant thing else). having had an old 350 die on me (it was about 20th hand after all and one of the first 350s so im not saying the ebs brand is unreliable at all) im just a bit paranoid so keep it as a back up. im gonna get the closest to the sound i want on a gig should it be needed. all in all i like the reidamr. they had to come up with something in the lightweight category and for the money vrs what you get its a winner. i had a mark bass before and by comparison its more plug and play. less constant tweaking all night!

2 pence worth....................... i have 2 bands and drummers differ in terms of ability and time keeping. because both are cool people we have an understanding that if i make a pre agreed guesture to speed up we do that and likewise to slow down. if a tune gets counted in at a tempo no where near where it needs to be i will actually stop the band playing,make light of it and start again.even sometimes blaming myself for not tuning up or accidently muted my self via the tuner to keep constant embarisment away from the defendant (at pub gigs mind not a wedding/function ect) this usually hits home enough for both to go away and get it sorted next time. so no getting heavy and every one is happy and we all get to where we want to be long term but................................ there was this guy at a recent that turned up to dep and was a complete w...ker. nothing was his fault,tempos all over the place,dont tell me what to do kind of attitude. if this guy was the perm drummer and couldnt be reasoned with and the rest of the band didnt care then kepp going for the money whilst looking for something else and then as soon as you can politley bow out. that way if the band wake up at some point and get a new drummer you could go back as no bridges burnt!

and here is my conclusion: after two gigs this weekend back with the 350 I can honestly say hand on heart in my opinion the 350 is very different to the 360. i could get what i wanted straight away with a minimal tweak and got what i call "my " sound back. i am sooooooooooooooooo happy with the outcome.

just in case any one is interested this is where I am now. had a moan at EBS about the amp. they have very kindly found me a new HD350 to replace the HD360 and are sending it over.(should be here now) they are going to check out my 360 when it gets back to them as there could be something not right with it? they say that lots of players have turned to their brand because of the recent changes.this tells them its a way forward for them. so swings and roundabouts i guess. you cant please everyone at the same time! anyway I thought i would share this with you all because it shows that they are still listening,still interested and obviously still a very nice bunch of chaps.

thanks for all your replies. really started to think i was going mad i just knew it was different but when they tell you nope its just the same you start to question yourself! In hind site i would have taken a different route. i needed a back up amp as i do so many gigs these days(functions,weddings,pubs ect) so i thought swap the 350 for a redimar and to treat myself.............. buy a 360. Which i did. well im now considering either getting a second redimar (so far in 30 years the only real plug and play amp I have ever come across.blown away by this) and selling the 360 or swapping the the 360 with any one who has a 350 that goes to 2 ohms cheers all. much appreciated

hi all just wondering........................... i recently upgraded from the ebs350 to a 360. i was expecting the sound of the 350 but perhaps some extra? what i find is where i used to get amazing highs they are now buried when the bands playing. i got a component sent over from sweden and this was fitted and i thought all would be ok. when i sound checked it all seemed to be there but when the inevitable every one turn up a bit once the gig gets going i was forever reaching for the treble and bright. just could not get this amp to sound good (or should i say as good as the 350) on its own it all seams ok so this is very much an issue when the gitard,keybads,drunkerd and ego are all making a noise. now ive played this venue many times before with the hd350 and never an issue. right from the start the 360 wasnt quite cutting it. a lot of poncing about with the eq when with the 350 i hardly ever needed to touch it. the amp is 100 percent working and there are no faults with it but.............................. any other 350 users out there that "upgraded" that would rather have the old 350 back? Ive since decided to use my reidmar back up as a main amp now cause it just sounds better. and no need to ponce about all night with the eq! any ways is it just me or have they gawn and fxxx it up?

Hi session standard bass player available for covers,functions deps ect Prefer funk soul type stuff but can do rock indie and all in between.plenty of experience.own transport and good gear. good listener. no heavy metal though. 07889652007 jim