Machines Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 Take a guitar stand... propping your up against the amp never works, and it WILL crash down. Plus it looks cool of the instruments are waiting on stage for you.. Quote
bobbassguy Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 I think the kind I bought was called Duck Tape too, but I always just assumed it was a knock-off from some other brand called 'duct tape'. Hence why I never used Gaffa Tape in my post. Quote
lateralus462 Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='Machines' post='251056' date='Jul 30 2008, 09:47 AM']Take a guitar stand... propping your up against the amp never works, and it WILL crash down. Plus it looks cool of the instruments are waiting on stage for you..[/quote] +1 - learnt this the hard way - you should see the dent in the headstock of my Les Paul - ouch!!!! Quote
Mr. Foxen Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='johnnylager' post='251055' date='Jul 30 2008, 09:45 AM']Never bend down to plug anything in without checking the drummer isn't about to batter some part of his kit just as you lean forward. Eh?[/quote] That isn't an option, drummer is always about to batter some part of his kit. If you take a guitar stand with you to a gig, make sure you take one home with you after a gig. Quote
yorks5stringer Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 A lacksadaisical performance should be enlivened at the break by checking your 9 v batteries in your active bass with your tongue...... Quote
Machines Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='251062' date='Jul 30 2008, 09:54 AM']If you take a guitar stand with you to a gig, make sure you take one home with you after a gig.[/quote] Yeah - nearly didn't manage that once ! Quote
cheddatom Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 I've had 2 guitar stands and at least 5 decent planet waves leads nicked at gigs. Drummers have the worst of that sh*tty situation though. Quote
johnnylager Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='cheddatom' post='251087' date='Jul 30 2008, 10:32 AM']I've had 2 guitar stands and at least 5 decent planet waves leads nicked at gigs. Drummers have the worst of that sh*tty situation though.[/quote] Nicking off each other to weigh it in down Crack Converters for some White Lightning / Special Brew, I'd wager! Can you confirm this chedda? Quote
thepurpleblob Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 Some more.... Take a basic toolkit, including (and learn to use) a soldering iron. No matter how much spare stuff you take the cable you don't have will be the one that breaks. Obvious maybe, but always have a setlist and give everybody a copy. There's nothing worse than having a "discussion" about which song to do next mid-gig. People make mistakes. If you do it, pretend like nothing happened or, even better, you meant it. If somebody else does it never ever glare menacingly at them - it looks really bad!! If you are getting paid, always act like professionals. If the dog died, the girlfriend walked out, there's only one person in the audience and they're spitting at you - doesn't matter. Play your full agreed set and do a proper job! If you're not getting paid, be even better! Quote
waynepunkdude Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='cheddatom' post='251087' date='Jul 30 2008, 10:32 AM']I've had 2 guitar stands and at least 5 decent planet waves leads nicked at gigs. Drummers have the worst of that sh*tty situation though.[/quote] Agreed I have had a few leads and whatever stolen but our drummer had £250 worth of hardware half inched. I hate musicians (that includes drummers) that steal off eachother. Quote
beerdragon Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='lateralus462' post='251061' date='Jul 30 2008, 09:53 AM']+1 - learnt this the hard way - you should see the dent in the headstock of my Les Paul - ouch!!!![/quote] There's a Les Paul bass? Quote
waynepunkdude Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='beerdragon' post='251558' date='Jul 30 2008, 07:16 PM']There's a Les Paul bass? [/quote] Quote
beerdragon Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='waynepunkdude' post='251561' date='Jul 30 2008, 07:20 PM'][/quote] yeah, i'd forgotten about that one. Quote
Paul Cooke Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='The Funk' post='250424' date='Jul 29 2008, 01:38 PM']Wash your hands with warm water before you go on. That's what I like to call the "ghetto" warm-up. Handy when the rest of your band tells you you're on now and not in an hour, like you thought.[/quote] pee can double as an extremely effective emergency screenwash... or radiator coolant... amazing the things you learn in the military when you have to... pee can also be used to warm your hands up in a hurry if there's not hot water, just give a very quick rinse off with cold and dry them off... Never eat yellow snow... always keep your drink with you, never leave it unattended... you never know what some tosser might think is funny to put in it... I nearly got done for drink driving because some idiot thought it would be a laugh to spike my coke with vodka (I was designated driver) luckily I smelled the vodka before drinking it... Quote
spinynorman Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 (edited) [quote name='spinynorman' date='Jul 29 2008']If the guitarist starts to play a song in the wrong key, never ever attempt to transpose the bass line in your head. If you get it wrong people will assume it's your fault. The correct procedure is to stop playing, wave your arms above your head and shout "What the f*ck are you doing" as loudly as possible. [quote name='cheddatom' post='250517' date='Jul 29 2008, 03:47 PM'] I would say that if your guitarist is prone to that mistake, learn to transpose your lines! You make the whole band look sh*t by stopping a song once it's started. It doesn't matter who's fault it is, you all look as stupid as each other.[/quote] [/quote] That was a joke, but with a bitter truth behind it. We were playing "America" by Razorlight. It starts with a strummy verse with no bass, the bass comes in part way into the chorus, just a couple of bars, then back to the verse with no bass, and so on until near the end when the bass comes back for a few bars of repeated chorus. So, I picked up my cue, started playing and realised something was wrong. But was it me or something else? During the next bit of downtime I established it wasn't me and then remembered the guitarist uses a capo. So either he'd forgotten, or it was in the wrong place. Which? I couldn't see. So I guessed, wrong as it turned out. There was never enough playing time to work out which key he was in. I think I mimed the last bit. Afterwards, the landlady, who didn't like us anyway, said "and in one song the bass was out of tune." PS. I did once see Sir Simon Rattle stop the Berlin Philharmonic a few bars into the Rite of Spring because they didn't start the way he wanted. So if it's ok for him .... Edited July 30, 2008 by spinynorman Quote
Paul Cooke Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 [quote name='budget bassist' post='250981' date='Jul 30 2008, 01:36 AM']I thought gaffa tape was black and duct tape silver.... maybe that's just me picking things up from nowhere though?[/quote] Duct tape is silver cloth based tape used to seal the joints between sections or air-conditioning and ventilation ducts... great at the start, but goes all horrible and powdery after a few years and the ducts start leaking... a real pain to fix later on in the life of the building... we would use speed tape when installing ducting because we knew it wouldn't fail in the lifetime of our support contract... a little extra money spent up front saves loads later down the line... speed tape is aluminium sheet (not too thin) backed with a heat sensitive adhesive... we used it for battle damage repair on aircraft in the RAF. Cut it to size with scissors, slap the piece over the hole, smooth it down and set the adhesive with a hot air gun... I did a spell as a commissioning engineer after being in the RAF, my suggestion to use speed tape instead of duct tape got me a big prize for saving the company a fortune... Quote
wombatboter Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 If your band is hired to play in the garden of a hotel and the manager insists that the band doesn't come anywhere near the swimming pool : before you jump into the water during the gig as a sign of protest..be aware of the fact that jeans suck up the water and that it's not easy to swim the whole length with heavy wet trousers... Watch out for electric shock when you plug your bass back in after the swim.. Quote
tauzero Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 [quote name='cheddatom' post='251087' date='Jul 30 2008, 10:32 AM']I've had 2 guitar stands and at least 5 decent planet waves leads nicked at gigs.[/quote] Is there such a thing as a decent Planet Waves lead? Make a checklist that you can forget to go through when loading up. Spare PP3s are even more useful if you have the right tool to get into the battery box (if you need one). Either work out the optimum way to pack your gear in the car, or get a Mondeo estate, an Ashbory, and a GK microbass/Roland cube 100. Don't buy Planet Waves leads. If you have problems with a lead, make sure you coil it up and put it back with all the others so you can have exactly the same fun at the next gig. Make a note of which basses have dodgy jack sockets so you can enjoy the crackle from them next time. You might even consider changing them at some point in the future. Quote
thepurpleblob Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 When playing a wedding, never perform the "beast with two backs" thing in the band van with the bride's younger sister. However good idea it seems at the time, people will find out, and it will give the band a bad name. (and it wasn't me, by the way) Don't buy Planet Waves cables. Those expanding bits on the jack break your input sockets eventually!! Don't let me post any more tips. Quote
cheddatom Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 Me and my guitarist have been using planet waves for the last 5 years, doing around 30 gigs a year on average, and at least 100 practices a year. One broke when he plugged it into a cheap guitar that had a weird small jack socket. It was replaced for free - lifetime warrantee. I did break another, but that was because I closed some cymbal stand legs on it, cutting it in half. Quote
pockethammer Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 Never allow the drummer near any cables or power suppies after gigs, our drummer has a really annoying habit of just pulling the plug out the wall before we've had a chance to turn volume's down & switch things off in some kinda order resulting in popping etc....... man, I hate that! AND HE'S A FOOKIN SPARKY! ARRRGGHHHH! Quote
alexclaber Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 Ah yes, don't buy Monster cables because the oversized plugs cause correctly sized leads to form poor connections and the Monsters eventually knacker your sockets. Alex Quote
Paul Cooke Posted August 1, 2008 Posted August 1, 2008 [quote name='tauzero' post='252524' date='Aug 1 2008, 09:58 AM']If you have problems with a lead, make sure you coil it up and put it back with all the others so you can have exactly the[/quote] I keep my dodgy leads separate so I can lend them to guitarists who've forgotten their lead... same with PP3 batteries that are nearly dead... Quote
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