someone messing with your tone onstage...

[jomahu]

went to a concert put on by one of my favourite bassists. this person wasn't playing bass too much on this gig - primarily guitar. there was another fantastic bass player holding it down for most of the set.
awesome set, but what made me think was when bassist/guitarist in question stated fiddling with the bass player's amp and messing with his tone in the middle of a song.

now, i like to fiddle with my knobs during songs, but i dunno if i can handle someone else fiddling with them for me, especially during a set. oh, ego...
taught me something about humility....i guess.


how would you react if you were gigging with an undeniably accomplished player, and he/she started playing with your tone during a set?

[buzzbass]

that action would result in a swift kick to said twiddlers junk

[txbasschik]

Nobody...and I do mean *nobody*...is allowed to mess with my tone settings, no matter how good they are. They can *ask* me to adjust the settings, but if they try to touch either my amp or my bass and do it themselves, they'll get hurt. If they are playing my gear, and they change the settings, I expect them to be polite and say, "Do you mind if I change your settings?" I will always say "no problem" when asked politely.

I'm serious. I used to work with a woman who liked to just go up and adjust people's tone. She tried that with me, once. As she reached her hand out to adjust the pots on my bass, as I played, I told her..."Touch it, and you'll lose that hand right now."

She told me later that she was trying to "help" me have better tone. I told her to stick to singing, that I do not require her help, and if she ever did that again, she'd lose her hand and her bassist in one stroke. That she was free to suggest a different setting to me, but she's not free to just decide for me and adjust it on her own, period, end of discussion.

Sorry, but that's just a real good way to pi$$ me off. If Eric Clapton tried it, he'd get the same reaction from me.

Cherie

[mjolnir]

I'm with Cherie on this. If you give me a suggestion I like, I'll do it. If I specifically ask you to mess with it, that's fine.

Try it under any other circumstances and I'll brain you with the nearest mic stand.

It's just as much respect for another's property as it is anything else. Don't **** with my **** unless you got my permission.

[bkbirge]

Ha hah, good replies, I usually don't mind people requesting a change but I don't like an unasked for adjustment by someone other than me. I did mess with a guitar player's tone on occasion but it was a joke not a serious thing + he was using my amp. I'd go up right before a song when he wasn't looking and turn the tremelo all the up in speed and intensity. This was only during practice and I didn't touch any other controls (he never used the tremelo anyway).

[txbasschik]

Originally Posted by mjolnir

I'm with Cherie on this. If you give me a suggestion I like, I'll do it. If I specifically ask you to mess with it, that's fine.

Try it under any other circumstances and I'll brain you with the nearest mic stand.

It's just as much respect for another's property as it is anything else. Don't **** with my **** unless you got my permission.

Ayyyyyyyup. The difference between getting brained, and not getting brained, is one of courtesy. Use courtesy, ask politely, and you get to keep your brains and your hands!

Cherie

[Lazylion]

Originally Posted by jomahu

...bassist/guitarist in question stated fiddling with the bass player's amp and messing with his tone in the middle of a song.

Any chance it was an intentional part of the song?
Was the bass tone better or worse afterward?

[jmcgliss]

I agree with the hands-off policy. But one time at rehearsal it was justified. Turns out our vocalist was standing in a node where she must have been swimming in standing waves to the point of nausea. She took a breather outside rather than bash the bass amp while we repositioned her mic stand. Peace was preserved.

[Howlin' Hanson]

Originally Posted by txbasschik

If Eric Clapton tried it, he'd get the same reaction from me.

Cherie

Be afraid, Eric. Be very, very afraid.



And the same goes for my tuning pegs, too. It's already it in tune, so leave 'em alone.

[Munjibunga]

... do you mind if I ... "change your settings"?

[Spector_Ray]

I'll go one step further. If I'm in the middle of a set and someone asks to "adjust" my settings, I tell them to take a flying leap. That's like saying, "can I change your tone to what I like?" We can talk about and tweak tone knobs after the show but when I'm on stage, stay the hell away.

[need4mospd]

Depends on how much they're paying me. I certainly don't mind if they know what they're doing. Unless they're making it sound terrible, I wouldn't have a problem with it. They obviously hear something that needs tweaking so I'll entertain them just to see if I like what they would do.

But I'm FAR less picky about my "tone" than most guys.

[Pacman]

Originally Posted by need4mospd

Depends on how much they're paying me. I certainly don't mind if they know what they're doing. Unless they're making it sound terrible, I wouldn't have a problem with it. They obviously hear something that needs tweaking so I'll entertain them just to see if I like what they would do.

But I'm FAR less picky about my "tone" than most guys.

I'm closer to this. It would also depend on who it was. If it was, say, Prince - tweak away! At the rate he's paying, and with the experience he has, he's "paying the cost to be the boss" so to speak.

Bar gig - I'll break your arm....

[jomahu]

Originally Posted by Pacman

I'm closer to this. It would also depend on who it was. If it was, say, Prince - tweak away!

you're kinda close.

[neuromancer]

Presently I don't allow this...ever. I actually caught the drummer in one of my bands turning up the bass knob on a combo I was playing during practice - which wasn't even mine. First off, I don't like using other people's equipment because I'd feel beyond awful if I gave it back to them damaged in any way.

I once filled in for a band where the singer and guitard kept waiting for the other one to turn their head so they could keep adjusting my volume up and down (guess who did which)......drove me nuts....even if I don't need much help in that dept.

Ultimately, if there's something that someone truly feels needs to be tweaked, they can ask me. I'm open-minded enough that I'll at least consider it; doing it behind my back's definitely grounds for a shooting....or me not showing up at the very least.

[dave64o]

Originally Posted by txbasschik

Nobody...and I do mean *nobody*...is allowed to mess with my tone settings, no matter how good they are. They can *ask* me to adjust the settings, but if they try to touch either my amp or my bass and do it themselves, they'll get hurt. If they are playing my gear, and they change the settings, I expect them to be polite and say, "Do you mind if I change your settings?" I will always say "no problem" when asked politely.

I'm serious. I used to work with a woman who liked to just go up and adjust people's tone. She tried that with me, once. As she reached her hand out to adjust the pots on my bass, as I played, I told her..."Touch it, and you'll lose that hand right now."

She told me later that she was trying to "help" me have better tone. I told her to stick to singing, that I do not require her help, and if she ever did that again, she'd lose her hand and her bassist in one stroke. That she was free to suggest a different setting to me, but she's not free to just decide for me and adjust it on her own, period, end of discussion.

Sorry, but that's just a real good way to pi$$ me off. If Eric Clapton tried it, he'd get the same reaction from me.

Cherie

Just make sure you ask for his autograph FIRST. If you asked afterward you'd look like a pretty big doofus when he holds up his bloody stump up in front of you with a sarcastic "Duh!!!" look on his face.