audition....bring my amp?

[Joe Nerve]

Bringing good quality gear with you shows you have invested in your career as a musician, also proves you can bring everything you need to a gig without depending on others.

That can be done with about 7 words in an email.

 

[guy n. cognito]

A few years ago we were auditioning drummers, and went to the trouble to provide a kit for them to play (a good one, at that.) All of the drummers were fine with using our kit, except one. He insisted that he had to use his kit to "get his vibe.". We put him last on the list. Prior to his audition, we had to break down and move the existing set, then wait about 30 minutes while he set up his kit. He spent that time telling us about how much money he'd spent on that kit, and how it was everything he'd ever wanted in a kit. We were annoyed with him before he even played a lick. Needless to say, he didn't get the gig.

When bands hold auditions, they usually have to deal with a number of bassists in a few short hours. If they have gone through the trouble of providing a back line, you should use it.

 

[jive1]

Personally, I'd just use the rig that's there. I like to think I can get a working sound out of anything, even though it may not be optimal. The reality is that most bands are concerned with whether or not you get a workable sound as opposed to "your sound".

The way I see it......
- If you get the gig, do you want to haul your rig to every rehearsal or use their's? Me, I'd rather use the one there, so I may as well figure out how to get a decent tone out of it.

- If the audition winds up being a waste of time, at least I didn't have to haul my rig.

- You may as well learn to get a decent tone out of any rig because in your gig travels, there's a good chance you will play at least one show where the backline is provided.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I agree. You should be able to get a usable sound out of just about any piece of equipment.

 

[Jeff O'Connor]

Update!
Well, we blew them away!
I brought the Aguilar th500, had speakon to speakon & speakon to 1/4" with me, plugged into their really rough homemade 15 cab w/ tweeter. Minimal tweaking.

Artist's manager/music director only asked for 3 songs, we learned all 5.
We zoomed thru all 5, left the artist in awe...! We'll find out next week if we're in. Thanks for all the advice people.

Important thread, right?!

 

[Rick Auricchio]

Update!
Well, we blew them away!
I brought the Aguilar th500...plugged into their really rough homemade 15 cab w/ tweeter. Minimal tweaking.

So much for the variety of amps they mentioned. You ended up using a crapshoot homebrew cab!

One more vote for "bring the rig and use it if necessary," but I agree about getting a good sound from almost any amp.

 

[Biggbass]

we auditioned keyboard players a couple of years ago and all but one brought a small rig...typical Korg, Yamaha, and small amp. The guy we ended up hiring brought a full Hammond B3 rig with Leslie, Yamaha Motiff, and his stage amp for the Yamaha.

If I were in your shoes, and really interested in getting the hire, I'd take my rig.

 

[mikegug]

So much for the variety of amps they mentioned. You ended up using a crapshoot homebrew cab!

One more vote for "bring the rig and use it if necessary," but I agree about getting a good sound from almost any amp.

Agreed. Bring the rig. Then make the call on the spot. If you're one of two auditions, bring it in. And if they can't wait five minutes for a pro to set up shop, you reject them. If you're one of 40 that day... leave it in the car. If you're on par with the other 39 players, win them with personality. An oldster once told me, "If you're playing I, IV, V songs, sometimes the nice guy gets the job."