Grassie

Another precision. But last week it was for a jazz. The week before that it was a Thunderbird. I've been looking at fretless basses too recently. And 5-strings.

[quote name='Samashton12' timestamp='1391105383' post='2353367'] Any of Jared Followill's Thunderbird's: [/quote] That's lovely. He's a really great player too, has a certain amount of funk in him.

Bobby Vega "The Shark" jazz bass.

I had a 2002 Mex jazz bass and it was fab. I sold it and I miss it.

If they do a Fiesta Red jazz with a tort pickguard I'm having one.

I've seen these on Ebay and wondered how good they would be for £119, sounds like you got a decent bass for not a lot of money. I'd put a white pearl pickguard on there though...

The one bassist who made me want to pick up a fretless. I have been spending the weekend in our dining room varnishing woodwork and have had various albums playing while working. Today has been a "bass masters" day - Jaco, Mark King, Marcus Miller and Mick Karn's "Titles" album. Just amazing. A true artist - inventive beyond belief and fearless in execution. Greatly missed and I'm sure there will never be another like him. I will be buying another fretless this year I think.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1389477070' post='2334682'] I play in a band where the singer and the guitarist are married. They never row at home, but as soon as they get on stage and it's time to pick a song to play.......they're off! A couple of years ago, at an open air gig in front of 1,000 people, Dana (the singer), saw that her husband (the guitarist) had bummed a fag off somebody and lit up on stage. She strode over and slapped the thing out of his mouth. And then went on to harague him in front of the crowd. The punters loved it and thought it was part of the act. I've played a couple of gigs where they've rowed about a guitar solo going on too long and she's called a taxi and effed off in the middle of the set. Leaving the rest of the band, and her long suffering hubbie, to struggle on without her. Since then, if she gets into a strop on stage, I just shout 'Taxi for Dana!'. They love each other really.......!? [/quote] I really have nothing to complain about then, do I?

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1389137837' post='2330658'] The bass player should just lean back slightly, rest his hands on his bass, smile confidently and wait for normal service to resume. [/quote]I've done this. And I will continue to do it... Just to add something else that I've remembered, there has been a couple of occasions where sing/guit has turned to his left to tell the other two which song is next but hasn't turned to his right (where I stand) to tell me, and I've had to tap him on the shoulder to ask him. To be honest, it's only now, while I've been typing all this for this thread that I realise how utterly ridiculous the situation is.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1389134648' post='2330602'] I don't understand it! I've [i]never [/i]in 35 years been in a band that don't use a set list. In fact, our rehearsals before gigs involve cutting the dead time between numbers to an [i]absolute minimum[/i]. I've never even considered the remote possibility of not using a set list and have never encountered or even imagined such a thing before reading this thread! Surely not using a set list and publicly debating which number to do next at a gig can only lead to a total fecking omnishambles?? I don't even like so-called 'banter' between numbers and if I'm watching a band and there is any sort of delay whatsoever, I'm usually the first to shout, 'GET ON WITH IT!' [size=4]So, if at your next gig you hear that from the back of the room - it was me. [/size] [/quote]Omnishambles. Isn't that Pete Docherty's band? Bet even he has a set list...

Good stuff eh? It all started off so promisingly too...

Lots of interesting comments folks, thank you. I need to add a few things though. We are all tuned down half a step right through the gig ("to help with the vocals") but an interesting point is that there are at least two tunes (by the same band) where the singer will play these songs two steps up, which means that the song is now being played half a step [i]above[/i] the original. There are also other songs in the set where capos are used by the singer but not the non-singing guitarist. My tuning does not change at all during the set, nor does my bass. Amp settings and PA settings are fiddled with mid-song. We rarely rehearse as our drummer works odd shifts throughout the week - I do alternate earlies and lates and have always made myself available during a week of early shift. I have tried to explain to the others that there really isn't anything stopping them from rehearsing without me when I'm on a late shift. We are the LOUDEST F***ING BAND I've ever played in - feedback is a constant problem, as is the level allowed for the drums. The guitars are turned up so they can be heard over the drums, the vocals are turned up so they can be heard over the guitars and drums. I've had to buy an extension cab for my GK MB210 combo so that I can hear myself and also because I don't want to blow the thing up trying to compete with this lot. I'm now up to 500w. We play in small pubs, nothing bigger than your average social club, so why the volume levels have to be so high is beyond me.

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1389012617' post='2328696'] Learn a few danceable grooves with your drummer that you can slip into while the two front boys sort themselves out. Make them tight and make sure the two of you can cue an ending with a milliseconds notice. [/quote] This might work. Going to try that I think.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1389011686' post='2328678'] Discussing the numbers on stage is very amateurish, arguing is even worse, and makes the band look bad. Why would you want to do that? [/quote]Yes. Right on the money there sir. It does look amateurish, [i][b]absolutely[/b][/i]! I'm sure there were a few sniggers from the audience too when the singer/guitar got his strop on loudly. I just wanted to go home.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1389011198' post='2328664'] Sympathise with the OP, I've had this out with our band leader (singer/front man) to no avail. He likes to supposedly 'keep it flexible, go with the feeling from the crowd' but in truth we often play very very similar sets so how flexible is it really? However without knowing for sure what he wants to do next (I suspect half the time he doesn't either) there are inevitably awkward gaps that in some cases seem to go on forever especially when [b]the guitarist is fiddling about with amp setting or whatever for a particular sound.[/b] One of the reasons (along with chronic lack of reinvestment in gear) I think the band has never got out of the pub circuit. Just coming up to my first anniversary of joining but at this rate I'd be surprised if I do another full year despite being reasonably busy. [/quote]Oh, our gaps between songs could be a lot longer if it weren't for the non-singing guitarist fiddling with his amp settings[i] during [/i]songs. Makes for an interesting dynamic when the rhythm guitar drops out....

Singer/guitarist is the only one who doesn't want to use a written list. The rest of us had to badger him into using one for NYE as we were playing for longer than we normally do, and we also needed to tailor it for the section post-midnight.

Recent gigs seem to have been a bit lacklustre. Not sure whether this is down to band apathy after a busy year or audience apathy due to the aforementioned problems. Whatever, it's causing tension which will also be picked up by punters. And it looks unprofessional too. Not to say that we are professionals, but that's what we all aim to put across isn't it?

[quote name='Urban Bassman' timestamp='1389007148' post='2328590'] Crazy, for all the reasons you state. 50+ gigs a year is good going though. Is there no way you, and perhaps the other member/s of band, could get them to agree to try doing some gigs, say a months worth, with a set list? Hopefully then they'll see the benefits - keeping the crowd dancing, better flow between songs, fewer guitar changes etc and so on. If they won't do that then I think you'd be justified in going sooner than that IMHO. [/quote] We do [i]occasionally[/i] use a written set list, but it's [b]never[/b] adhered to. Songs will be missed out or swapped about because "the crowd aren't up for it yet" or "the atmosphere isn't right yet" or some other BS. When the subject of a list is brought up it is usually answered with "well why don't you write one then? Why does it have to be me?" Fair enough, but it's not me singing them. I've been in this band for a year and another year is all I'm prepared to do. I have a holiday to pay for by May and all my gig money is going towards that. If I didn't have that financial incentive I would have finished on NYE. I've never before been one to say I'm only doing it for the money, because that's never been the case, but with this band it's sad but true.

The covers band I play in doesn't use a set list. We do have a list of around 40 songs that we can pick from, but we don't physically use a piece of paper with songs written on it in the order we're going to play them. This generally leads to some gaps between songs while the two guitarists (one of them sings lead) decide which song to play next. Add to this the gaps between songs while the singer changes his guitar for no reason other than a Les Paul or a Strat was used on the original, so that's what he has to play for that particular song. All this leads to a set that doesn't flow at all, and if we manage to get people up and dancing, the aforementioned guitar-changing-song-deciding-habit tends to kill the moment, and the dancers go and sit down while these two discuss the next song. This came to a head on Saturday when the guitarists disagreed over which tune to play. Singer wanted to play a Free song, non-singer wanted to play a Foo Fighters song. Non-singer started to play the opening riff, while singer told him "no, we're doing Free". This then led to non-singer getting stroppy and going "fine, have it your way", then started to play opening riff to the Free tune in a manner which suggested that he wasn't a happy bunny. Singer then decides to say quite loudly "Oh I'm not in the mood for this!" but eventually we all join in and finish the song. The mood then lightens toward the end of the first set and everyone is friends again. The joys of being in a band with no set list! We have 50+ gigs booked for this year, and I will honour every one of them, but at the end of the year I'm off. Anyone else have to deal with childish, ego maniacs while playing in a PUB COVERS BAND?

[quote name='BigBeatNut' timestamp='1388950086' post='2328047'] I have very similar plans. Start in April. Drummer lined up already, guy I really enjoy working with, and we have a huge overlap in music tastes. Galactic and Meters at the forefront of those. Not too bothered about having a vocalist, but I suspect that to get a decent number of gigs we may have to include some vocal numbers. [/quote] If I didn't have a holiday to pay for I'd have jumped ship and started mine by now...

By the end of this year I shall be done with my current band, no more "classic" rock (or rock in general) for me. My next band will be something like Vulfpeck, or The Meters, that kind of vibe. Originals, instrumentals, just some funky s**t all the way.

A Fender Herbie Flowers jazz bass would be cool.

If the question is "Which band would you most like to be in?" then the answer must be "Vulfpeck". Their track "Beastly" is my favourite. Class.

I see Mark D Phillips has started making video adverts......

The worst gig I've done with this band this year. Drums too loud, certain drums clashing and cancelling out my bass, vocals feeding back, songs played in wrong keys, and an ignored setlist. Horrible. New years eve better be an improvement or I'm off...