Franticsmurf

Me too. Could be out instrument of choice - often the bass isn't the most distinctive of sounds in a mix. Also, having been working through some old rock 'n' roll recently, the recordings aren't the best because of the tech available at the time, and in a few recordings, the bass is all over the place (in a bad way). What @Linus27 said. Also, just experimenting with your set list in the comfort and privacy of your own home. Try runs to link the simple bass lines. If it works, practice it. If it doesn't, try something else. Try playing thirds or fifths instead of the root notes so you're harmonising with the bass notes of the chord. If your walking lines ascend, make them descend instead (and vice versa). And remember that sometimes the simple bassline is the best bassline for the song. 😃

The dream. 😃 I would expect a drummer to be able to play competently to the level of the band they are seeking to join, and by that I mean have a sense of timing and ability to play appropriately to the song. I would also expect decent kit and the means to get it reliably to the venue. Edit: Those are givens. The attributes I would look for once the above has been established is the same as I would look for in any musician and which I try to show myself. In no particular order: 1. The ability to get on with the rest of the band. This includes being able to take and give constructive criticism and willingness to try things that they wouldn't necessarily play have done. 2. Self awareness - for example holding their hands up to a mistake without trying to shift the blame. Everyone makes mistakes and I wouldn't expect a perfect performance every time. The measure is not if you make a mistake, but what you do to minimise the chance of it happening again. Also realising without being told that their superb fill is not appropriate. 3. Commitment.

We had a similar arrangement with two pubs. One booked us every 6 weeks weeks for about 18 months, the other was roughly every two months for a couple of years. I liked the familiarity and the certainty. We had enough material to vary the set, keeping a core of favourites to which we added as required. It was a good chance to try out new material on a known audience. Beware of becoming too complacent - it would have been too easy to treat them as easy gigs. We tried to approach them with the same attitude as other gigs, i.e. play well and we'll get another booking. One benefit was getting additional special occasion bookings at the same venue - Halloween and New Year's Eve were regulars even after we finished the residency. Another was getting bookings for private parties and functions from the regulars who saw us often. It looked good on our publicity, too. One downside was that we had very negative responses when trying to get gigs at other venues in the local areas of both residencies (which were themselves in different towns) which extended beyond the residency period. In one this was due to a rivalry between the venues themselves, we later discovered. Overall, I found it a positive experience and we gained more from it that we lost. Good luck. 😃

Harley Benton Landrover. Cool. 😃

It's more that undefined 'something' about the way a long scale Landrover shapes the body of the towed guitar. And, of course, you can get more basses into a LWB, which means more distressed instruments on each outing, thus reducing the unit cost. 😃

I just googled 'TE elf cab cover' and there are several UK suppliers of after market covers. I have no experience of any of them, hence no links here. I think the Elf 1x10 combo has a TE cover available, which should fit the cab only, but the handle cut-out will be different.

I prefer the long scale Landrover tone personally. 😃

For a couple of years I was in an Eagles tribute band called 'The Long Road' as a result of our agent suggesting there was a market for that kind of thing. Do you have to be a fan of the original artist, or maybe you become one? I wasn't. Our regular band was playing a few of their songs on rotation and I could take or leave them. I found that making the effort to learn the proper arrangements made me appreciate the music and musicians more, but I never became a fan. How important is it to be visually/musically identical? How much latitude are you allowed? No amount of digital manipulation would have made us look like them, so we styled ourselves as an evening of 'music by the Eagles'. 😃 Do you ‘get into character’ or is it just a gig? Given the above, I think an attempt to get into character would have been a disaster. At the time, my main bass was a Steinberg Spirit headless, which I thought wasn't in keeping with the 'spirit' (sorry) of the Eagles, so I borrowed an Epiphone EB0 and ended up using a Cort Jazz bass copy. The rest of the band continued with what they had, (which wasn't too out of place) and we didn't really try to look or act like a Southern Rock band. Does it feel musically limiting, or is it fulfilling your needs? (Maybe you have a side band?) The Long Road was our side band. The regular band (The Insiderz - same line-up, different set list) continued in parallel. I personally found playing a set of Eagles songs limiting as it's not my cup of tea, and the bass lines weren't varying enough for me. I'm not the best singer, so backing vocals were a big challenge. The two bands together worked for me as each generated work for the other with re-bookings etc. Do you have any qualms about tributes ‘stifling original music’? No more than I have any covers band 'stifling' original music. We were playing agent-booked venues that wouldn't consider an original band, and no self respecting original music venue would have booked us. 😃 Have you ever met or been seen by a member of the ‘originals’? What did they say? No. Thank goodness. I'm sure they would have been appalled and given their roots I'm sure we would have been run out of town on the end of ropes tied to horses. 🤣 What is the overriding thing being in a tribute act has taught you? 1: It's a lot of work to do it properly (our singer didn't put as much effort in as was required and it didn't last long). 2: Personally, it's too restrictive as I like playing a variety of song styles in a set. 3: Whether or not I like the act being tributed, I have the utmost respect for those of do put the effort in and do it well. 4: Most of the venues we played (South Wales clubs booked by an agent) didn't really want a whole night of one band's songs and we were often asked to add a few 'extra curricula' songs in the second half. I'm not sure that at our level a full tribute act is realistic. Having done it once, would you do it again? If so, would the musical angle be very different? Good question. I guess I wouldn't count it out completely but it would depend on circumstances - mainly the people in the band with me. I think my preference would be to do a genre tribute rather than a band tribute, and only with band members who i know would commit to putting the effort in. I've just been told 'The Long Road' are gathering once again with the same singer and a bunch of new musicians. I was half expecting a phone call but it doesn't appeal to me and I'd say no.

Mine didn't.

Welcome to the site.

A new setlist with a new band - about 35 Blues and rock covers including Riders on the Storm, Mojo Working, Need Your Love So Bad and Nutbush City Limits. I love working on new stuff. And with the other outfit, as we're heading towards the Xmas season, we're about to ditch half the set in favour of festive classics. Oh Joy.😃 Maybe I can persuade them to do 'Christmas Wrapping' and 'Ring Out Solstice Bells'. 😃

Similarly I have one that has been with me for more than 10 years. In all that time, despite gigs, recording, rehearsals and practices that probably average out to around an hour a day, I have yet to wear away any finishes. It's picked up a few accidental dings along the way but nothing that would be noticeable from the front row. Maybe I don't sweat enough? I don't mind genuine wear and tear but I'm not interested in paying for it.

Not so much a gig, but my first formal audition ever! I've been playing for 30+years but always in bands that I've either formed or joined as a mate of someone already in there - a kind of "yeah, he's ok" free pass. When I've depped, it's been through word of mouth. Last year I had an informal audition for a band I now play with but that was very much a friendly chat and a once through of a couple of songs. Last night I tried out for an established band getting back together after lockdown having lost their rhythm section to Covid. I was one of two bassists and two drummers, each pair with an hour to prove themselves. I've posted elsewhere that playing live doesn't make me particularly nervous, but last night the nerves made themselves known. Add to that not being able to find the rehearsal room (it was hidden inside a large warehouse) and having to ring one of the band for directions. But as with most things, it was fine once I'd set up and played the first song. The opposition and the other drummer didn't turn up so we had a two hour jam session (I'd learnt most of their set rather than just the five they said they try with me) and it felt good. And this morning, I got the nod that I'd made the grade. 😃

I came from guitar to bass many years ago - that was a simple choice based on the duo I was in at the time occasionally getting band gigs, for which we brought in a drummer and being the least competent at guitar, I played bass. For a few years when we were a 4 piece I swapped bass and guitar duties with the rhythm guitarist but eventually I saw the light (or read the large writing on the wall) and became a full time bass player. Mostly I only play guitar when writing or recording. I find that between bands, or when gigs and rehearsals are thin on the ground, I tend to play more guitar. It seems to be a 'keep it fresh' kind of thing. Change or new things give me motivation. As for moving between playing musical styles, that's very much band or recording driven - whatever i need to practice at the time.

Glad the bass is ok. I had a cheap one from Amazon go on me as I was putting the bass on not so long ago. Luckily, the bass was balanced in one hand so no slow motion juggling. I've replaced them all with proper ones now.

Coincidentally, I played through one of these last night at a festival gig. It was provided as part of the backline. Just the combo, no extension cab. Our line up was 2 guitars, bass, drums 2 ukes, a banjo and a trumpet - but we're not particularly loud and the drummer has good volume awareness. It gave me a lovely sound on stage. After the brief soundcheck, the input and output knobs were set to about 3 o'clock and 4 o'clock respectively. I only had a minute or so to set the graphic, so I cut the 50hz back and set the level at about 2 o'clock. After the first song I cut the 500hz a little to try and take care of some muddiness but left it alone after that. Our regular sound man was in the audience and he was happy with the sound I was getting out front. The previous band had an electric upright bass going through it with plenty of body and tone. The following band (I only heard a few of their songs) had a nice tight sound.

I should add that my recording experience above was pre social media. Just read @uk_lefty's post and 100% agree social media is what you're aiming for and video is the new demo tape. Short, punchy clips as well as more considered video, plus as much positive activity on the site as possible to show your pulling power is current.

We had some studio time gifted to us (we helped a local college teach students to record bands by being the band - in return for repeated set up/soundcheck/mic placement etc as each student had a go). We spent most of the time recording and mixing three original demos instrument by instrument but on the last day we decided to record the whole set live. Vocals in a separate booth and on separate tracks, everything else mixed onto two tracks. We went through the set twice and had a decent set of live recordings at the end.

My first Fender and I'm impressed.

Played a local cider festival with The Hulla Band last night. We were due on at 5pm but as with multi-band line-ups, everyone was running late. Each band had been allotted an hour and the sound guy said they were all playing their hour with no set up or break down consideration. We went on nearer 6 by which time the crowd had increased and the cider had flowed. We were the first band with a drummer, played a tight, rocky 45 minute set and had the crowd up and dancing from fairly early on. We were allowed an encore and were off stage within the hour, much to the delight of the sound man. A really enjoyable gig and free cider afterwards! 😃 And I found out this morning that we've been re-booked. In the pics I'm behind the Uke players. First outing for my Guitarbass VI through a Trace Elliot combo provided by the gig. I was happy with the guitar apart from an inconsistency in the volume in the higher register strings, partly due to not having set the equaliser on the combo properly but mainly due to the pickups which need replacing - something I was planning to do anyway.

I was looking at it this morning thinking 'a different pick guard, perhaps?' - Now I can justify it to get the sound just right. 😃

As above on the 2nd hand advice. I'd go for something that is nice to play, which will make it more likely that you will practice. A bass that you can take into your first band (if that's your goal) would be good. Scour the for sale threads here for bass amps and cabs (getting separates means you can upgrade one at a time). If you're going down the combo route, something that will hold its own in rehearsals would be a good first step. As for specifics, there as many opinions on what's best as there are choices of gear. 😃 The best things is to collect a load of suggestions and then do some research based on you, your goal (band/hobby/recording). I have a nice Cort Jazz bass which I bought new in my local music shop for £249 last year as a stop gap to gig with while I waited for another bass to arrive. I practice at home through a 2nd hand Vox VX50B which is a rather nice and small 50w amp for which I paid £100 2nd hand from the same shop. It has a headphone socket and an Aux In socket (so you can feed in a signal from your phone/mp3 player to practice along to). Add a decent lead and strap and you still have more that £100 of your budget left to spend on stuff. Good luck and remember to keep us up to date with progress. 😃

Spotted online on the Bax website, a 'B' stock Precision for £490. I expected scratches in addition to the damaged packaging that was listed on the site but I have yet to spot any. My first Precision style guitar and so far (about 90 minutes in) happy with sound, feel, neck and weight.

I've walked from a couple of bands, both because I was getting stale playing the same stuff over and over. 2nd time the BL was, by his own proud admission, 'winging it' (which in his eyes made him more professional that those in the band who wanted to rehearse and stick to agreed arrangements, because he was able to turn up and play anything). It was hard to take the actual decision because the band was busy and despite everything, I enjoyed playing but with hindsight I should have gone earlier. It turned out that the rest of the band were on the brink of going, too, and went within hours of me leaving. We're currently working slowly on a new band project. I went from busy to nothing at first, and it was hard to motivate myself to play, record or work on the new band. But gigs have picked up with the other band I was in, I've had some depping work and the new band has gigged (albeit only the once) and is making some progress. Like anything new, it takes time to adjust, particularly if you have invested your time and effort into it. But ultimately you'll look back and realise it was the best decision and move forward with a new project. Imagine what you can do if you find like-minded band mates who are prepared to invest as much into a new project as you are?

Gigging in the 90s Gigging in the 20s 'Gigging' in Morocco. 😃