JTUK

[quote name='Romeo2' timestamp='1476904327' post='3158390'] we hear you JTUK, now drop some names so perhaps others can discover something they've been missing for years! [/quote] Ethan Farmer, Jerry Barnes... and the reasons would be because both have a very modern take on traditional styles.

Not sure there is anyone I wish I'd discovered earlier..??? or not by many years at all. I might wish I'd picked someone up a year or two at most. I prefer current bass players moving things forward rather guys who have been doing the same thing forever.

A local venue put on cover bands but the economics of that gig meant you have to sell tickets ... Most cover bands just can't do that, but you need to be getting £1500 plus a gig to begin to make a living at it...and you need to do that every week, pretty much. The way round that is functions and tribute bands.... which is exactly what that same venue now fills its dates with. I know a few tribute band players, and they don't do much else...or have to. They get to fly around and are busy... they have a few pick-up jobs but by and large they make the bulk of their yearly salary from those bands. They do ok.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1476891578' post='3158189'] From what I've seen being better is not always the case. There are marginal bands out there touring at the headliner level. I think it's more about being networked, being prepared,being in the right place at the right time and exposed to these opportunities. Blue [/quote] And one of the best ways to be all that is to be called a lot..or known, so when some one knows of a position, your name is in the frame. This is a disdvantage of sticking in the same band...you have to break that circle of aquaintenances. A friend of mine asked how he could get into a function band.... and the answer started at getting known outside of his home town..and then being regarded. The playing side had to be taken care of too... but that is another story.

The double thumb only has to be 16ths on the root... you wont need anything else. Get that right and solid and it cleans up the track and gives it edge. Tell the band it is a cool new technique ..they wont know any different. And also, isolate each instrument and see if it works. If it does, you add to a solid platform. If it doesn't you are building on sand. Always try and play a bassline that sits great on its own... and get away from having to have a great mix in order for what you play, gel. A good bass player always sounds good solo'd..even it you don't actually want to be solo'd. If the bass and drums don't get it between them, the track is a no go so if you aim to play the part and sound good on your own you are 80% there already. This is what we should practice, IMO.

Well, the drums are too racy for my tastes and give everything a hurried feel. That never helps. Sort that out and immediately it gives everything else a better chance I don't think you want to be too busy with that drum part, so I'd be trying to get it to hold back. If you are going to play a slap part, it needs to be funky.... but for me, a double thumb part works better if everything else stays the same. ...as in using it as you would a plectrum. A general lesson here would be, to make the song work with what it needs rather than what you feel you want to play. Try slap...it isn't working, try something else. That is not only your goal, it should be everyone elses to. But back to slap... that is too full a sound... your pulls want to be spikier. IMO, slap sounds pretty awful with an 80's approach unless you have it Right down. Most guys double thumb those parts now... with much better effect.

I'd use this .... seems to have the essense of it. That is all I'd need or be interested in tbh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B-5x4dFaFo

Depends on the P.A and the room. If the monitors are marginal in a room for 300 plus then you can take care of the stage with a good rig, the FOH engr, if you have one, can make his adjustments. If you don't have anyone outfront, you are self mixing so you may just have to accept what you sound like on stage will have be what you sound like out front. No biggie, if you have your stage mix sorted. I never get why people get all concerned about what goes thru the P.A if you have so little control over it...ie, no one mixing for you. Don't get started about sound check levels either :lol;

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1476815750' post='3157562'] I'm not better than the band I'm in. I'm not better than anything. I'm saying I feel I should be making more money and playing at the national headliners level doing 80 minutes instead of 4 hours. I'm really interested in how other currently value themselves as a musician. Blue [/quote] The way I'm readiing this is that your goal is to play up a few leagues than your current band... otherwise your current band would be able to make that step. So, in that respect you do have to be better than the unit you are in... you have to bring something to the party to make a new outfit pick you. I think you should give it a shot but you have to be ready and able... There is a reason some bands are better...!!

[quote name='Cestrian' timestamp='1476798837' post='3157329'] I use the Christmas tree ones. Have made an appointment with Boots having read this thread but now wondering if I really need to shell out £100+ We rehearse once a week and gig about twice a month in pubs. If I can cope with what I can hear using the Christmas tree plugs, is it necessary to upgrade? [/quote] I never liked the xmas tree ones but I'd say the sooner you start wearing plugs the better...and £100 plus is no money at all for what it saves.IMO.

I'm trying to convince a drummer friend and Vox of ACS, but they say they don't like the sound even though they now know there is no option to wearing them. I say you'll adjust and get used to them...but you need to keep trying them. I hope the message is getting thru...

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1476735700' post='3156865'] ............... Asking a forum, based in Britain, what they think about you doing what you want to do, in the US music business, seems a bit odd.......... [/quote] However, a friend of mine decided he wanted a life change and would give music a go. He was up and running well within a few months and he is very much in demand in his niche market. He was 'bemoaning' have a gig/wedding in Stockport or Southport and getting 2 hrs sleep before being back in Kent for another gig. I reminded him this is what he wanted to do, but he knows his market, and can pick up gigs. All the bands knows he will dep them out or not be available and they seem to understand that. He doesn't live 'well' but he is happy. He can do mini tours in Europe which pay ok, but I'd think his average gig pays less than $125...but he plays 2 hrs max. He will have some good payers but he can't set his fee...others detemine how much they can pay him and he has to juggle and play all sorts. I take my hat off to him and it wouldn't be for me,,,plus he is getting hearing problems...but he needs (and has) 5 or 6 regular gigs. He is a sideman at a certain level... but if he decided he was 'worth' a certain fee he would most likely lose a few gigs that would just get someone else. Setting the bar works if you can tell the guys, thanks but no thanks, to their offer. If you can get to a stage where people must have you, then you can set your fee.... as these guys come looking for you, you don't look for them. That is rare ground indeed...

Those low notes are a bug for the rotator cuff when going for agressive low slides even on a 34" I would think it quite possible to aggravate something. I need my strap button over the 12th fret but even so those low note stretches show up a tweak easily.

What one is willing to pay.... and no one says or could argue it is fair. I know some amazing musicians, IMO, and if I pick the right day when they are free I can get them for easy money. They aren't going to be able to pay the mortgage on this money tho...

Yes, I have that amp and I run it into a pr of S112's with a jazz. The S112's are great cabs but I wouldn't say they are typically 15" like... I'll use a peaky sound, with a horn, the pickups wide open so nothing is stilted or nipped sound-wise. When I want to sound to bite, it is there and will be heard. The DB sound is more of the same but the 212 is a tad fuller. I don't want anything dub like but the sound underpines a band. It isn't a raspy sound that has to cut thru to be heard, it sits underneath... if the mix will allow that, or rather the players allow that. Neither a 750 or Demeter will offer a myriad of different tones, and the controls are more subtle. You just want to hear the sound of the bass, which is what you get. I hardly ever EQ the amps from gig to gig and if I do feel the need, it is a small notch of one of the knobs....nothing more is ever required. This saves a LOT of confusion.

What does it sound like in regular tuning.... Could be a duff string, could be it isn't wound on the peg very well..?

I did a gig recently with a couple of ABM 600 EVO's ( I think) and 2 8x10's and the sound was good. Just plugged in and turned up the volume. It isn't hard to get a good sound quickly if the basses sound good in the first place, IMO.

I like them and I like playing them... if they weren't good to play or it felt like a chore, I wouldn't play them..and there would be no point in scenario, IMO

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1476369332' post='3153713'] i expect the money men are "shorting" the pound Everyone keep calm, stop reading the loss making guardian, things will be ok once we free ourself from that dying thing (with its ageing population more inclined to save than spend and it's fast reducing proportion of the worlds GDP) called the EEC And I say that as someone who is old but neither racist or stupid, who lives diversity, travelling to Europe (la plagne skiing shortly to be enjoyed) Yes my friends we will be better off out Just you wait and see! [/quote] Nooooooooooooo avoid la Plagne and the French maga resorts. whisper it carefully but far better value going to the larger but 'smaller' French resorts. I'm not a piste skier but how much more than 300kms do you need..??

Hmmm but nothing has changed except a vote. No conditions changed so some currency houses have deemed the £ must be weak...?? when the economy has defied all the pundits and is much stronger than europe's whose powerhouse is sitting on a banking time bomb and Greece, Spain, Italy AND France have a showdown on the cards pretty soon. I know which position I would rather be in. On a wider issue, this may encourage home producers to start up in market conditions that weren't viable a few months ago. I don't see how we would get poorer producing some home produce--food-- for example, than having to import it. The idea is that the UK becomes a more attractive exporter and the stronger our economy is..and compared to some, this is the joke...then the £ will rise again. You could argue on what real basis it should be so valued at this current time anyway... But as a massive buyer in of goods, no one is liking seeing our ability to buy good diminish in anyway whatsoever. Ask the Germans...

To replace Aguilar DB sound, I run a Demeter 800w head and 2 TKS112's. I would say the DB rig is more 'there' but soundwise I'm pretty close. I've gone on about class D (and NEO) so wont repeat it, but this is my closest yet.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1476257978' post='3152676'] ... by definition [/quote] But that is bad... in context

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1476212164' post='3152419'] Well, I am sure they do, and I don't change the whole thing, I am just never happy with the way it sounds so I play around with it a bit.. Anyway, they are all listening to the saxophone at that point. Its not a filler. We have some generic blues songs for that, and it is quite lively. [b]Not sure what you mean by put away? We are playing pubs, we are not a function band.[/b] [/quote] I mean it is a standard that so many bands do...for their own reasons--being a bit short set-wise might be one of them but you need to put it away well and truly with a very good rendition. That way people wont mind the cheese of it.. That and 'Aint no sunshine' and the like are songs that you really have to kill otherwise people wont understand why you do it and they've heard it a billion times before, and most of them done in a pretty average way.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1476204990' post='3152320'] A lot of the music I play I would never listed to, and a couple of them I just winged as I really didn't want to listen to them. However, a lot of them are good fun to play, and I like playing live. Moondance, as you say, isn't a great song, but [b]I generaly explore different scales when playing it to see what works, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, noone ever really notices. Pretty sure I have never played it the same twice.[/b] There are a few songs that are just dull to play, but enough to make the overall experience good. [/quote] The band don't notice...???? pretty sure that would get you minus points on a lot of gigs, IME, if that is the case. It is one of those songs you would be expected to put away and also liven it up beyond being a filler. Even if the band hasn't played together before it is cardinal to sound like it... The thing that gets you a very big cheer right from the off is the band going thru the gears on the first number, whatever it is

I'd be more inclined to say the bass is the biggest influence re a modern sound rather than the cabs... Since my preference is for a woody Jazz sound (RW) but clean and toppy in a sound that doesn't/wont hide, both the DB ans TKS cabs work for me. I would agree they aren't a vintage vibe only although there might be 'cleaner' cabs but whilst people say they want this, they tend to want grit in their chain anyway. The PF500 driven hard into S112's gives you enough break-up as well...not really my sound at all, but done well, was glorious.