RockfordStone

when i'm at the mic with my bass i feel godlike...... other times i feel like i'm just going trough the motions to achieve aforementioned godliness

you have no ties, if you can find a band that will allow you to do it then go for it. as mentioned before, touring is a young mans game, but apart from your age you are in the same situation an average young person is, so if you can physically handle it you should be ok. i would however make sure you have routes back to the bar band route, the bigger the act, the bigger the money of course, but the more risk of getting cut from said act. as you have said, there isn't much in milwaukee so you want to make sure you don't burn all of your bridges on the way up and have no safety net if you should have to fall back down.

i learnt by listening to albums and playing along, sometimes using tab from websites. it wasn't until a few years later that i went for lessons

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1476279228' post='3152967'] Another innocuous topic turned wierd [/quote] That's the basschat way

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1476259509' post='3152690'] Some disparaging comments about bedroom warriors do surface from time to time, and I don't like the condescension. [/quote] i've noticed this before i have always found it strange that on a forum of bass players where we talk about bass, there seems to be groups that look down on those that aren't fully working musicians at times.... surely the point is that we ARE playing bass, regardless of if it is at wembley or aunt fanny's back room?

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1476210248' post='3152401'] If you did this for a living meaning ,you don't gig you don't eat. Your genres of choice are not available what would you do? Oh under this scenario you can't get a traditional proper job, you must remain a musician who's lively hood depends on gigging. Hint there's only to answers. I'll give you one of them. Starvation Blue [/quote] We have established previously that I don't do this for a living. If I did, then yes I'd probably think differently, but I made the choice not to be so I can play music for myself, not for a band leader who I rely on to pay my bills. I salute those who do it for a living, I know how hard it can be, but as hard as it is for you to understand it's not why I and a lot of others play music

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1476144362' post='3151801'] Every musician I know who is, is gigless. Blue [/quote] i couldn't join a band playing music i don't like just to play a gig. i have an addictive personality so when i'm in the right band i'm all in, but when i'm not i find other hobbies that i am equally as addicted to and put the bass down for a while. i'd rather have no gigs and do something else i enjoy than play music i dislike just to play a gig... i've done it before and didn't enjoy any minute of the 6 months i was doing it (even though i was getting paid) and i ended up quitting for 18 months.

i haven't gigged since 2014 since my last band broke up, since then i have been in a couple of projects that didn't go anywhere. i play bass to make music and play gigs, in fact i started it cos a band needed a bass player to gig, so if i get to a point where there is no sign of gigs anywhere or i don't want to make my own music at home anymore than i will jack it in. but im only 32 so i still have time.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1475488126' post='3146223'] My aim is to be simple, effective and to get the best sound I can. [/quote] like this i am to be simple, my aim is to tie in with the drummer to keep a strong foundation for the lad instruments to work off.

my friends, yes, anyone else then no.

Last year I bought a sandblasted fender jazz in blue. Had to search Europe for it and dropped a grand on it purely because I thought it looked cool. Beyond that I've not spent more than 600 quid on anything

I would ask how long my gigs were... And if they were free. If they were 4 hours and i had to haul gear for free I wouldn't bother

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1474930166' post='3141667'] That might be a good debate, however what happened to The Shadows, why didn't they have the international fame "the boys" have. I know from you guys The Shadows were huge in the UK, but not so much in the States Blue [/quote] Are we taking fame or pioneers? The shadows (and cliff Richard) defined rock and roll in the same way Elvis did. And without those the beatles wouldn't have existed. I won't ever deny the impact the beatles had on the music we play, but I wasn't there so I don't really know what I'm talking about I suppose

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1474667019' post='3139817'] or something to that effect [/quote] i think it was that regardless of age or musical knowledge/background "you had to be there" to appreciate artists like the beatles, jaco etc...

i probably have, but i don't care

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1474489461' post='3138417'] What am I missing. I can imagine a 17 year old metal kid looking at live Beatle footage from the mid 60s ,saying " what the hell is this old crap" With no appreciation at all and rightfully so. Blue [/quote] i was a 17 year old metal kid about 17 years ago but i never referred to the beatles as "old crap" i appreciate what they did for music, even tho i'm not a massive fan of them as band (or individually as it happens) i don't think you had to "be there" to appreciate what they have done to the landscape of music.

[quote name='lefrash' timestamp='1474306921' post='3137005'] It seems the av40s have been replaced with the av42s... but there is also the av32s which are just the 3" version. At the moment these seem to be the favourites. Decent reviews online too plus they have everything I need. [/quote] i suspected that would be the case, if the are anything like the AV40's, for your budget they won't do you wrong.

i've just got one i bought from staples for about 30 quid (maybe not even that)

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1474382472' post='3137535'] IME people don't normally like it when bands change direction, which is probably why modern bands tend to stay on a similar tack [/quote] i find that bands these days get stick for changing their sound, but if they don't they just get accused of doing the same old thing. i quite like it when a band takes a chance and does something different, especially if it is done well.

[quote name='rushbo' timestamp='1474311163' post='3137052'] It's OK to say "I don't like the Beatles", but to deny their influence and colossal importance is foolish. [/quote] we had this same discussion about jaco pastorious... it soon descended into "if you were not there you don't understand" kind of argument...

give the m-audio AV40's a look. i have a pair which im currently getting repaired but they lasted me 6 years and gave me some satisfying results, under 100 quid now i believe

i just read that the shed is being taken over by new management... perhaps there has been less of an effort (if there was one) to push gigs recently with that in mind?

i jumped off stage and twisted my ankle one gig. still continued to run around afterwards to finish the set... regretted it after tho...

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1473622082' post='3131765'] Bizarrely he was on loose women other day and could not speak very well. He claimed it was down to a trapped nerve and an inflammation of the tongue. Very bizarre [/quote] i read this also, but it looks more like he's had a stroke. still, he was pretty sharp mentally it seemed, just very poorly

I watched this and thought something was very off. I know he collapsed in stage several months ago. He's been on another few programmes and commented he's not allowed to talk about it. So I wonder if he's had a stroke and his management/publicists don't want it known for some reason.