Franticsmurf

I was 25, it was 1989 in a well known pub venue and as I recall I was obsessed with getting my guitar tuned correctly and spent far too long with the tuner. Only to have the sound guy (who introduced us) knock the headstock and tuners just as the drummer was counting in the first number. 😃

As I suspected. Ah well, it was good while it lasted. 🙂

I'd be grateful for a ruling. I've recently bought a HB Stomp Control unit, which allows for the connection and selection of up to four effects loops in any combination. Yes, it goes in the signal chain but it doesn't actually affect the signal itself other than routing it. Am I in or out? 🙂🙁🙂🙁

Confirmed Yes fan. I found that when Jon and Chris were no longer in the band, the thing that made it 'Yes', disappeared. Before that, when Rick was out, it wasn't the same but for me Yes was always the distinctive bass (lines and sound) and the distinctive vocal. Listening to the new song/video, I find it a bit bland. Very, very competent but not interesting or exciting. It's difficult to compare it with the second video above of Jon and the Band Geeks as they are doing a cover version of a well known Yes song, but of the two Close to the Edge was the track I played in its entirety while the other one went off after about 5 minutes. To me, the current Yes is a completely different band and not one I would have listened to much as the music doesn't interest me.

In addition to the advice above, I've found that we've picked up some gigs through contacts on the night. So some nice business cards (IMO looks better than fliers) with a logo and contact details, including any online content, allows you to make the contact. In the past, we've played a pub or small club and picked up a function or wedding from it.

Not a gig as such, but the first rehearsal of a new three piece, 'The Rip', last night. I've played with the drummer and guitarist/singer individually, but never in this line up. All competent musicians but great to have something that works from the start and for everyone to be on the same wavelength. It was formed to play a one-off gig at a festival but we all agreed last night that there's more life in the project. 😃

I've just signed up to singing lead on several songs for a one off gig in June. They're simple songs, but never having been a lead vocalist (I've sung the odd song now and again but not on a regular basis) I wonder what I've let myself in for! Rehearsals start next week so we'll see. I struggle with this as well when singing BVs. I find singing along to the original track at home helps - I can warble in and out of unison until it sound ok without anyone else having to suffer. 😃

I have an MS60b on the board for special effects (by which I mean combinations of filter/modulation/compression) that are song specific. I use a B1Four as a silent rehearsal tool and I occasionally use a Boss ME80 (at one point several years ago it was my main effects unit).

On mine, there's a knurled knob on top of the bridge above the E string. (It's in the photos of the OPs XT2 above). With the detuner flipped up (i.e in detune mode) use the knob to tune the string to D. It should return to E when you flip the flap back.

And an ache in the pelvic region! 😃 I used to love their live versions of this. Back to the original topic - if I play a lower mid heavy bass solo, will that free me of fear and guilt and ultimately lead to a longer bass solo - with all the vicious circle implications that generates. 🤣

I can (and do) sing basic backing vocals but the bass lines tend to suffer and I try and modify them to keep them simple. As has been mentioned above, most punters listen to the vocals over the bass so where I am doing Bvs, it is those that get priority. I have taken a few lead vocals on songs but generally where either I know the song backwards or the bass part is simple and on the beat. I don't enjoy singing and I don't have a great lead vocal voice, so taking the lead vocals is a very rare occurrence. Which is probably a good thing for band and audience. 😃

I was in a band called 'Fragile Earth' and it came to a planned end with one gig left to do. So we formed a fun band to do it with ex-members guesting and called it Frantic Smurf. I've used the name across social media ever since. Some time later, I found one of those little Smurf toys playing a bass guitar - hence the photo. (I know, you thought it was me. Sorry to disappoint). 😃

I feel your cringe. About 10 years ago we were booked to play a function with the local mayor et al in attendance, supporting a well known local comedian. The venue was a large upmarket bar. Our singer/guitarist at the time was taking all the bookings and sorting the times but he failed to mention the dress code. Not being stupid, the drummer, other guitarist and I turned up all dressed smartly for such a gig. The singer arrived late and was dressed for a rock pub gig. The bar owner (who was the MC) had a go at him (as we had done when we saw him in his pub gear). We played the first half but it wasn't good and sometime during the break the singer had managed to further p*** off the MC. We were told to pack up and leave. The singer tried to bluff it out to us by claiming he was refusing to play but we'd seen enough to know the truth. Packing up was the worst bit as people were watching, well aware of what had happened. It started a run of gigs where the singer managed to get on the wrong side of the venue owners and our local gigs dried up. We survived for a while on agent bookings but the band no longer exists.

Hi Mark.

Hi Kevvo.

Mine too - I paid about the same as you for it in the mid 80s from one of the shops on Tottenham Court Road. I'll always remember it because as I was trying it out, a bloke tried to pay for something expensive with a dodgy credit card, got rumbled and made a dash for the door with a couple of sale assistants in pursuit. He didn't get away with the goods. I decided to pay cash. 😃

My band mates sometimes say that to me! 🤣

How about a headless bass? Not everyone's cup of tea but full scale and easy to transport if necessary?

I've never left a band over specific songs, but I did leave one because the set list hadn't changed for several years and wasn't likely to. 😃

It takes me ages to learn songs properly. I usually use crib notes in early rehearsals and wean myself off them by showtime, but it can take weeks. 😃

I don't think there's anything that I like listening to that I don't like playing. I became jaded with 'Comfortably Numb' (which I used to sing as well) and that's still one of my favourite Pink Floyd tracks but I haven't done that one for a while so I'd come to it refreshed, I think. From my days in a duo it was always the songs that we had to play as they were temporarily popular - 'Hey Baby', 'Alice' and 'Achey Breaky Heart' spring to mind. My heart sank when they appeared on the set list. In the bands I play with now, it's the likes of 'Bad Moon Rising', most of the slow Eagles songs, 'Help Me Rhonda' and 'Then I Kissed Her'. I'll give almost anything a go and with the aforementioned songs, if they're in the set for good reason then I'll play them. But I don't have to like it! 😃

That reminds me of my first band, in which I was the guitarist. I had a decent amp (A Peavey Bandit) but as we were doing more proggy stuff, I decided to experiment with stereo. I had a Yamaha FX500 half rack multi effects unit and reasoned that I could plug the lot into my Pioneer hifi amp and speakers, which were about 50w per side. Testing it at home at low volume, it sounded quite good. At rehearsal there was a moment of stereo echo and chorus bliss followed by many more moments of silence. Both speakers went at the same time and the hifi amp was never quite the same. 😃

Good luck!

My first studio experience was in the place we used to rehearse - a properly converted basement beneath a terraced house. The neighbours must have been deaf. We'd been rehearsing there for a few months and spoke to the owner about recording a 4 track demo. Next thing we knew, we were introduced to a guy called John (as a reminder, his mustache and beard were in the shape of a 'J') and his 8 track reel to reel machine. He set up the mics in no time and we played through 4 songs, overdubbed guitar solos and the main vocals in a three hour session. We had a very relaxed and laid back mixing session after which we had several cassette copies and the master tape. My mate, the drummer and also a graphic designer, created the cassette box covers and hand coloured 10, which we sold in a local record shop. Years later, seeking a new singer for a version of that band, we found the guy we took on had bought a copy of the cassette. Alas, we'd dropped all four songs by then.

My dad had a couple of old reel to reel tape recorders and I used those in a similar way to your cassette recorder pair. 'Drums' were whatever sounded right, often empty plastic food containers. A large rubber band stretched over an open container for a vaguely bass-like sound. Like you, noise played an integral part in my mix. 😃