Can you believe this??

[Lowner]

I saw an advertisement for a band looking for a bass player. they were a metal band and I thought I would give them a call. I called and spoke to the drummer. I asked when I could set up an audition and he said that he needed to know what kind of gear I had and why I used what I have. I asked what this had to do with my audition. He said everything. I said I am not going to give you a rundown of the gear I have and why I have what I have. he said we are had a certain sound with our previous bass player and we ar trying to find someone who has that same sound. Because our fans expect us to sound a certain way. Well I am still not going to tel you what kind of gear I have. Well if you dont tell me what kind of gear you have then you dont get an audition because we have to know. I said then I guess iam not going to audition and hung up the phone.

[Lowtonejoe]

Originally Posted by Lowner

I saw an advertisement for a band looking for a bass player. they were a metal band and I thought I would give them a call. I called and spoke to the drummer. I asked when I could set up an audition and he said that he needed to know what kind of gear I had and why I used what I have. I asked what this had to do with my audition. He said everything. I said I am not going to give you a rundown of the gear I have and why I have what I have. he said we are had a certain sound with our previous bass player and we ar trying to find someone who has that same sound. Because our fans expect us to sound a certain way. Well I am still not going to tel you what kind of gear I have. Well if you dont tell me what kind of gear you have then you dont get an audition because we have to know. I said then I guess iam not going to audition and hung up the phone.

Bizarre.

I think you're better off without the audition.



Joe.

[Eric Grossman]

Why didn't you just tell them what you had? I don't see the big deal. He gave you a reason, why not just reciprocate?

[Lowner]

Originally Posted by Eric Grossman

Why didn't you just tell them what you had? I don't see the big deal. He gave you a reason, why not just reciprocate?

Because I should be given an audition regardless of what kind of gear I have. After all my geting in the band should be based on how well I can play NOT what kind of gear I have. I dont see what my gear has to do with the audition?

[Bayou_Brawler]

yeah i've had a guy do that. pretty silly........and like most metal drummers or guitarists even know anything about good bass gear......

[Lowtonejoe]

Originally Posted by Lowner

Because I should be given an audition regardless of what kind of gear I have. After all my geting in the band should be based on how well I can play NOT what kind of gear I have. I dont see what my gear has to do with the audition?

Well,

you DO need to have the right gear in terms of things enough power or cab etc. but it sounded like they were brand name shopping the way I first read your account.



Joe.

[Slater]

I don't think there's anything wrong with asking what type of gear you have, as long as it is to determine if you have adequate tools for the job. But if it's just to see if you have the same type of gear as the last guy, then that's just a good indicator that these guys don't know what they're doing.

Also, "Tone is in the hands" applies here. You could audition with the previous bass player's rig and still not sound like him.

These guys seem like clueless @#$%'s! You're better off without the audition.

[Dkerwood]

Originally Posted by Lowner

Because I should be given an audition regardless of what kind of gear I have. After all my geting in the band should be based on how well I can play NOT what kind of gear I have. I dont see what my gear has to do with the audition?

How many times have I auditioned guys who come in with their 50W 12" combos and crappy Japanese basses that don't tune well...?

Ick. You gotta have at least some gear with some muscle. Yes, you might have PA support, but what if you don't?

Now, if they were brand shopping, that's one thing. But maybe all he wanted to know is if you could crank up the 1500W that the old bassist did.

Or frankly, maybe it's just their clarifier to iron out the "pros" from the "hobbyists". I just saw a band who came up on stage with a 100W Fender Bassman and an Ibanez Soundgear bass, a Peavey solid state combo and Ibanez $150 special... and their drummer was playing a CB drums kit, complete with Pearl brand crash cymbal... To be perfectly blunt, I decided that they sucked before they hit the stage.

Turns out that the guitarist was pretty incredible, their bassist was capable, and their drummer was above average. But they had to change my mind, and I still came away with this overpowering flavor that they were a "hack" band... How much of a better opinion would I have if they were using an Ampeg and a Schecter, a Mesa and a PRS, and a set of DWs with Z customs?

Aesthetics and first impressions are important.

Meh. Just another opinion to throw out, I suppose. Take it for what it is.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by Lowner

Because I should be given an audition regardless of what kind of gear I have. After all my geting in the band should be based on how well I can play NOT what kind of gear I have. I dont see what my gear has to do with the audition?

You must not have heard what he said. They want the same kind of sound their old bass player had. If he was playing Yamaha through Ampeg and you're playing Rogue through Behringer, there's not much point in holding an audition. I was surprised when I read in your profile that you're over 30 years old ... I was guessing 15. Must be some other factor. I think the band is lucky.

[Kael]

That actually sounds like a fairly reasonable question to me. I have frequently used similar questions to help quickly weed out people who aren't serious. In general serious musicians are invested to a reasonable degree in their equipment. Also, if they are looking for someone to fit into a specific frequency range without them needing to change their mix, then it would help them to know that you have the tools to get the job done.

If you were interviewing potential contractors (for example painters) it would be a completely legitimate question to ask them what equipment they would use. Same reasoning applies here.

[B-NoteCowboy]

Not to be a jerk, but they are auditioning you for their gig. Asking what your rig consists of is a perfectly reasonable question.

I'm pretty sure they are on a message board somewhere posting about this guy that hung up on them after refusing to answer a simple interview question about his rig, and are getting a lot of supportive replies.

[agreatheight]

I'll be honest, when recently auditioning some musicians for a project I asked for an equipment list.

Reasons:

1) sound in the hands and all that, a $400 drumkit does not sound like a $4000 drumkit.
2) sound in the hands and all that, but a single coil fender strat into a vox ac30 may sound great but it can and will never sound like a les paul into a mesa dual rectifier.
3) amount of money spent on equipment can often, but not always, reveal something about a person's professionalism.

Anytime I can avoid a waste of time situation I do. Finding out about a players equipment can help that. But finally, adn most importantly...

4) it's FUN to talk about gear.

My guess is that both sides probably overreacted to the situation, at least a bit - oh well! I wish you the best of luck in your next audition situation!

[georgestrings]

Originally Posted by agreatheight

I'll be honest, when recently auditioning some musicians for a project I asked for an equipment list.

Reasons:

1) sound in the hands and all that, a $400 drumkit does not sound like a $4000 drumkit.
2) sound in the hands and all that, but a single coil fender strat into a vox ac30 may sound great but it can and will never sound like a les paul into a mesa dual rectifier.
3) amount of money spent on equipment can often, but not always, reveal something about a person's professionalism.

Anytime I can avoid a waste of time situation I do. Finding out about a players equipment can help that. But finally, adn most importantly...

4) it's FUN to talk about gear.

My guess is that both sides probably overreacted to the situation, at least a bit - oh well! I wish you the best of luck in your next audition situation!

What he said...



- georgestrings

[tplyons]

IMO, it comes down to professional courtesy. You were asked a question and you denied to answer. Strike one. (No offense)

I personally like talking gear, and if someone WANTS to talk gear, I'm all ears, willing to chat, try some stuff out. But in the end it comes down to their gig, and they're hiring you. If they care more about the tone than the playing (what if they want you to play the previous basslines note for note instead of caring if you can think up anything yourself?) then it's their call, not yours.

If you don't want the gig because they care about gear, it's your call.

[Dkerwood]

So, uh, Lowner...

What kind of gear do you use?

[guy n. cognito]

There is nothing wrong with the question. Asking about your gear will not only tell them something about your tone, but will also tell them something about your dedication to your craft. An established band SHOULD be concerned about tone when replacing a bassist. Being excessively defensive like you were probably sent the message that your gear was crap. Maybe you should have asked him what kind of tone they needed.

You should be honest if your gear is less than sufficient. You can counter this by discussing your experience and then letting them know that you may be willing to upgrade your gear if you get the job. Unless your credentials are surperb, then you have no right to get a 'tude when someone asks about your gear.

[Justin V]

This reminds me of my band's current search for a second guitarist. We had two guys contact us who didn't even have AMPS. I blame myself on one of 'em for not asking about his gear, but I figured he would have SOMETHING.

We also had one guy who was playing a Peavey bottom-of-the-barrel guitar that was his "friend's" through a solid-state Marshall half-stack. All sorts of bad tone were coming from that amp. And I could just imagine how tacky it would look next to our guitarist's Brian Moore.

Just considering this particular stretch of "luck" we've had, I think asking about gear is a completely legitimate thing when auditioning.

[DaftCat]

Sorry OP but I am with the majority here too.

When I left my last rock trio my old Celtic buddy asked me TWICE to come back to the Celtic band(I was on mandolin). I said no but I never told him directly why.

The bassist he has is a dandy fellow(and loves my selection of gear) but I don't care for his choice of amp, how he runs his signal and how he maintains his equipment. It would grind me silly having to tolertate that.

My .02 worth,

[bassbully43]

Yea...the present guitar 2# in our band as well as the last one had crappy gear the first one had a no-name china strat like guitar with a floyd rose knock off that wouldnt stay in tune for one song to the next...he played thru a old peavy 50watt this was up against my GK rig and guitar1's marshall 1/2 stack his sound was He also had no money to improve his gear let alone buy strings.The second guitar 2 in the band now has a decent washburn guitar but a real crappy dual Peavy that just doesnt get it with the other guitarist and me...i fear he will have trouble when we play out...amp is very noisey grounding issues etc...our guitar 1 has a good amp if we need it for him but has yet to ever offer him to use it. This guy also has no money to upgrade. So equipment can be a huge problem off the start...i dont blame them for asking..i know we will if we need to replace guitar2 again. By the way I'm not knocking Peavy I use one myself 15" bottom that has been overhauled...its good and cheap and last forever...but thier amps sounded old and had problems.

[McHack]

Plain & Simple, they interviewing you... & you denied them facts about your capability to gig. For all they know, you could be playing an SX thru a Peavey Microbass. That setup wont cut it for a metal band.

Now you're out of a possible gig. This could've been handled much better, IMHO.