EssentialTension

A twist on this ... the vocalist in one of my bands has brilliant intonation. I've never once heard him hit a wrong note, falter over a note, or have to search for the note. He just sings with perfect intonation; he can't help it. However, the piano player and I do, occasionally, have to put him right on his phrasing which can sometimes leave something to be desired.

[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1446811535' post='2902511'] McCartney doesn't count. Even if he died today, everything he's ever done has "trite" and "banal" and "cliche-ridden" stamped all over it in 20-foot letters. Iconic? Never was, never will be IMHO [/quote] [quote name='silverfoxnik' timestamp='1446814250' post='2902550'] With respect, I can't think of a comment on Basschat in recent years that I fundamentally disagree with as much as this one.. [/quote] Well, there are all the other times someone has expressed a similarly bizarre viewpoint about McCartney ... like every time he or The Beatles are mentioned.

I am similar. I can, on odd occasions, get away with a shouty kind of backing vocal but I have even got worse at that as I get older. Many years of abusing the ear, nose, and throat areas can't have helped. But I've played fretless and upright and never had serious complaints about my intonation and I always know when I or someone else is flat or off key in some other way. My son is vocally somewhat better than me but he has limitations too. Nonetheless, he improved his singing radically by having a few singing lessons. He has since developed a kind of cross between Tom Waits, the bloke from The Streets, and Rex Harrison in [i]My Fair Lady[/i] doing dub toasting.

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1446751438' post='2902115'] Guess I'm the only one that thinks those clip on tuners just look wrong! ... [/quote] I only use it on the bridge of upright to tune up when practising unamplified. Thats it.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1446804727' post='2902436'] Off course you do have to trust your tuner and hope that it hasn't been moved from the reference point your band use (generally A=440). A previous Terrortone guitarist managed to accidentally alter theirs about a quarter-tone flat and played a whole gig that way. The sound on stage was terrible which meant the out-of-tuneness between the guitar and bass was only audible in a few locations and so I'd put it down to some freak of the acoustics. Our drummer who could hear the problem perfectly from is position on stage kept shouting at us to check our tuning, which we dutifully did, both being perfectly in tune with ourselves but horribly out of tune with each other. It wasn't until the next rehearsal that we discovered exactly what the problem had been. However the audience didn't appear to notice anything wrong and we picked up a really good gig review from that night! [/quote] I had a similar experience but fortunately only at a rehearsal. Using a clipon tuner on the bridge of my upright bass I had inadvertently tuned two semitones flat. Embarrassingly, and for a moment, I was accusing everyone else of being being in the wrong key. I did apologise.

[media]http://youtu.be/6gwLQAuHJv8[/media]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1446737751' post='2901903'] ... Boss TU12 (bought in 1983 and still going strong) ... [/quote] I have a TU12 bought second hand in 1990 (£6) ... and still going strong. Before 1990 I was using either a tuning fork or a harmonica. Plus ... Boss TU2 Mooer Baby Meisel clip Takamine B10 has built in tuner. TC BG250 has built in..

Smokey Robinson in the background conducting.

The OMD bassist Andy McClusky learned on a lefty Watkins Rapier bass and that's why he plays right handed upside down - or so i have read - there's a thread about it somewhere here.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1446479556' post='2899667'] ... Give me Pinky & Perky any day ... [/quote] Pink and Perky were a mere tribute band?

Is anyone else old enough to remember this one with fondness? [media]http://youtu.be/06hB4oep4XY[/media]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1446305501' post='2898500'] ... Concertgebouworkest tribute band Berliner Philharmoniker ... [/quote] Going to hear them in Berlin over Christmas/New Year.

Even 1mm is not heavy, maybe 3mm is heavyish.

I really don't care a jot whether a band/musician/show is tribute/cover/original (although there's very little that actually qualifies as original and when it does it's usually not that great). I'm only interested in (1) 'is it any good?' and (2) 'do I like it?' and (3) 'am I entertained by it?'

Good luck to the kid but I was bored as soon as I saw the drumkit.

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1446146939' post='2897365'] I know some of you guys play in tribute bands, but I wondered how many of you have seen a band called the Dutch Eagles. I've never seen any other tribute band come as close as they do to recreating the sound of the original band. Not only do they have the music and the voices down pat, but they have the accents down too, which is rather an impressive feat as they are singing in a foreign language. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d1SbC0Jly4"]http://www.youtube....h?v=6d1SbC0Jly4[/url] 'Fraid I can't get it to embed...... [/quote] I actually didn't mind them despite my comment above. Same for The Eagles themselves [media]http://youtu.be/6d1SbC0Jly4[/media]

So here's an Eagles song with the life not sucked out ... [media]http://youtu.be/DVa4oOX4xWE[/media]

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1446147564' post='2897374'] Funny, and I'm not tribute band bashing here, but to me there is something wrong with these guys. It is almost like it is so polished and finely honed that they have sucked any life out of the performance. [/quote] Some people said the same about The Eagles themselves.

I don't actually mind unusual designs but not this one.

Seen this before. It's rather unpleasant. Give me an ordinary Fender please.

[url="http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2013/12/05/sketches-of-bob-an-interview-with-bobby-vega/"]http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2013/12/05/sketches-of-bob-an-interview-with-bobby-vega/[/url]

[quote name='Thunderpaws' timestamp='1445971719' post='2895834'] ... And definitely my favourite bass player who isn't in a band I like. [/quote] I get the feeling that he could be in any band and he would just play whatever was right for that band.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1445934600' post='2895435'] yep, I use the black 1mm ones, never worn one out yet, keep losing the little buggers though [/quote] I occasionally use a pick and usually those 1mm black nylon Dunlops and they are hard to find when lost. My guitraist son uses the 0.94mm bright green ones which are much easier to find.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1445880168' post='2895007'] The one that really pisses me off "will travel 25 miles radius for petrol money" [/quote] ... and that's about 60 pence at present prices,

,, and on the P bass ... [media]http://youtu.be/5-Z8T1B8-w0[/media]