Being in a tribute band

[barroso]

Honestly in the past years of my "always struggling always amatauer" bass player "career" I have never considered the idea of being in a tribute band nor I have ever had the opportunity to consider that idea.
Recently, being without a band, I started doing some research and posted on a local musician on line community looking for a band in bad need for a bass player. I was lucky enough to receive several proposals. Mostly coming from juke-box top40 cover band with a really long list of songs to learn in a really short period of time. That was too much for my playing level; also considering that unfortunately I am not able to dedicate enough time to study and practice our instrument. Also I prefer to have a band more focused on a certain style, according to my playng level and to music I like to listen to.
Among the offers I was really happy to receive the request of a tribute band. Maybe one of the most unusual request a bass player could receive is to join a tribute band when the originals were without a bass player! My happiness was mainly due to the fact that this band is one of my all time favourite. It was a rock band with a prominent soul bass lines, even without an official bass player.
You surely understood I am speaking about a tribute band of The Doors.
Just started some reharsal with them and things seem to work out quite good and promising. What I really appreciate musically speaking is that the songs (which I have always admired as listener) really makes space for the bass lines which are really old style soul/ R&B inspired. It's a well balanced of rock & soul. Other than this, lines are really melodic, quite easy and excellent to be played. It's really becoming both challenging and positive experience.
This morning during my daily train trip to the office, I ended up thinking about this new musical situation and some thought/questions came to mind, exactly as the intention to post about them on the board, to collect Tbers playing an tribute bands experience.
It's not unusual for tribute band to be as possible similar to the originals not only in music & sounds but also in appareance and gear. I guess that's a good thing and a respectful act for the audience.
My case is as said unusual, I do not have an original to copy. The Doors did not have a regular bass player. So I just have to find the mood and look more from my bandmates. Concerning the more interesting gear point I can draw from my small collection of Fender, Danelectro & Reverend basses. All of them are usable for the look and for the sound. At this stage I really find that Fender P and Danelectro Longhorn nail the sound exactly. I am using them with my TECH21 Sansamp BDDI. Not that the J and the Reverend do not fit, I just feel that the P and Dano Longhorn are more adequate being less present in the high register. Also if I remember correctly Mr. Jerry Scheff who worked on several The Doors session was using Fender P and Danelectro Longhorns and maybe this is biasing me.
Funny aspect is that my previous band was a rock'n roll cover band where I played several Elvis Presley tunes arranged in accordance to '70s versions where Mr. Jerry Scheff was the bass player.
Would you like to share some of your experience about being in a tribute band?
Are there on the board some guys who play in a “The Doors” tribute band?
Cheers.

[iamthebassman]

Been playing in a Beatles trib for the last 15 years.

www.eggmen.com

[chakah]

Sweet - my dream gig. I'm a huge Doors fan.
Not in a tribute band right now - but have always wanted to startup a Doors or Police Tribute band in Houston. Right now I'm in an 80's cover band.

[Willem]

My band used to be a Metallica tribute...
I didn't really copy one of the tree bassplayers they've had in respect of gear (i don't have $$$ like they do ), but my playing style comes closest to that of Jason (hardhitting picstyle).

[Phantopeth]

I was in a Tool tribute band once, and that was a lot of fun. Especially considering our drummer could actually hack it!

I would love to be in another tribute band, but it would have to be for one of a few certain bands. I don't think I could jump into just any random tribute band and be totally happy. Who knows, though...

[The Golden Boy]

Round about the beginning of the year I started playing in a Rolling Stones tribute band.

The guy who had hired me has known me for 15 years, seen me play a few hundred times in a dozen different bands, played with me in a few projects and set me up with my wife. He said "I don't want you to do Bill Wyman- I want you to do your take on Bill Wyman." I suppose that's about the biggest compliment I could ever get...

I've gone through a few epiphanies with playing this stuff.

First, the amount of space. Man, it's so counter intuitive to leave so much open.

Second, tone- I never even considered using a mute until I started hearing it with the Stones stuff- even if it isn't really there.

Third- ugly, short scale, thuddy basses...

I'm still in the process of working out "my" arrangement of the parts for these songs. It's fun, it's fresh, it's learning a whole new style of rock bass playing. It's cool.

[iamthebassman]

Do you use a fretless much in the Stones band? Wyman was most likely the first bassist to pull the frets from a bass and play it fretless, used that bass on most Stones recordings.

[The Golden Boy]

Originally Posted by iamthebassman

Do you use a fretless much in the Stones band? Wyman was most likely the first bassist to pull the frets from a bass and play it fretless, used that bass on most Stones recordings.

No-

I know that chopped up bass was what he used on a lot of the earlier stuff- I didn't know it was de-fretted.

I'm using my Thunderbird with a foam mute and mostly playing with a pick.







One of the things I'm trying to do is tweak up my old EB-0. I just wired it up "sorta" like a Jazz bass, there's independent volumes for each pickup- allowing the SCPB pickup to be the main sound, with that definition and add in the depth of the mudbucker, and not suck out or overpower the SCPB.