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Bass Player Pet Peeves

Add pet peeve #1) adds like this on Backpage:

"Mark F******, located in west Fort Worth, seeks drums, guitar, bass, and backup vocals for new music project. Must be willing to practice 6 days a week. Serious inquiries only, please. Original music is varied, some melodic, some rythmic, but always strongly vocals based. Call me at 817-7**-****.
Location: west Fort Worth"

What the f*** is he thinking,must be willing to practice 6 days a week?? Next thing you know, he will be complaining on some forum that his band members have other priorities.
 
will33 said:
I don't mean the singer has to have some big pa system with enough channels to mike a full drum kit and all that. Also if the singer is also the guitar player, bass player or God forbid the drummer, the pa will be the responsibility of the band but if you're going to call yourself a singer/frontman and that is your sole responsibility you need to have a PA (amplifier) to amplify your instrument (your voice). If the places you play provide a PA fine, you still may need it to rehearse with the band, if not you should have one anyway because you might need it to be heard wherever you might sing.

You should own a powered mixer one step up from the really small ones, a pair of two-way speakers, a monitor for yourself, one mic, one stand and all cords and cables needed and you should know how to hook all this up and make it sound decent. Likewise if someone who plays an instrument claims they can sing harmony they should own a good vocal mic, a stand, and a fairly long cord. We're talking stuff you can take to the gig using the backseat and trunk of a small car and still have the passengers seat open for your girlfriend.

I am a bass player, I can see where my gear is going, roll it in, set it up, tune, make initial sound adjustments and get a beer in 6 minutes, I'm also a pretty good sized guy and always help carrying in either parts of the pa or parts of the drum kit, sometimes out of kindness, usually because they are late and we're running short on time.
Weird. I've never heard of a singer with a PA. Heck, I rarely see a singer who owns a mic. And as far as instrumentalists who bring their own mics? Well, heck, aside from me, I've never heard of that either. And I only bring my own to my own gigs.

I guess I just don't see the point of a PA that can't support the whole band. I figure why bother? Might as well just grab a keyboard amp and plug the mic in there...
 
jsbachonbass said:
Add pet peeve #1) adds like this on Backpage:

"Mark F******, located in west Fort Worth, seeks drums, guitar, bass, and backup vocals for new music project. Must be willing to practice 6 days a week. Serious inquiries only, please. Original music is varied, some melodic, some rythmic, but always strongly vocals based. Call me at 817-7**-****.
Location: west Fort Worth"

What the f*** is he thinking,must be willing to practice 6 days a week?? Next thing you know, he will be complaining on some forum that his band members have other priorities.

:D That's a good one. I love seeing "We're serious about touring".... yeah.
 
Dkerwood said:
Weird. I've never heard of a singer with a PA. Heck, I rarely see a singer who owns a mic. And as far as instrumentalists who bring their own mics? Well, heck, aside from me, I've never heard of that either. And I only bring my own to my own gigs.

I guess I just don't see the point of a PA that can't support the whole band. I figure why bother? Might as well just grab a keyboard amp and plug the mic in there...


I'm a bass player who owns his own pa but it hasn't always been the rig used by my band. I'm quite happy to let others handle that problem but if there is no other option ......The other pa IS owned by our singer. Whats more...SHE sets it up and pulls a great sound out of it every time.It's great to get to a gig and find it all set up ready to go for sound check.

As far as mics go we all supply our own.I like to know where the thing I'm singing into has been between gigs and it gets a clean every couple of gigs.No more colds and sore throats from playing a gig into an infectious mic!
 
harmolodic said:
When a bass player from another band wants to borrow your amp at the gig. Then being asked to come to the stage because he's "not getting a good sound" and discovering the GAIN and MASTER nobs are both on 10. :rolleyes: :eek:

I HATE THAT SO BADLY!!! WITH VENGENCE!!! The guy was like, "Dude, your amp sucks." and I walk over there to look and he's got everything cranked up, whatever had a knob/trigger he turned it up all the way. EVEN THE EQ!

I went up to the guy and smacked him in the back of the head and told him, "You're going to remember me smacking you for a good reason because if you did this to anybody else you'd be beaten and owe a lot of money."
 
People who use the word "guesstimate"

Edit:
On a more serious note, I would also reiterate all the guitarist pet peeves. In my experience, the level of musicianship is often much lower for guitarists. Plus most of them I've played with don't even know the damn notes on the fret board. It's also really hard to find one who has any sense of time or taste. I'll stop there...
 
bevel19 said:
I'm a bass player who owns his own pa but it hasn't always been the rig used by my band. I'm quite happy to let others handle that problem but if there is no other option ......The other pa IS owned by our singer. Whats more...SHE sets it up and pulls a great sound out of it every time.It's great to get to a gig and find it all set up ready to go for sound check.

As far as mics go we all supply our own.I like to know where the thing I'm singing into has been between gigs and it gets a clean every couple of gigs.No more colds and sore throats from playing a gig into an infectious mic!



Your band sets the standard for all to follow.
 
bevel19 said:
I'm a bass player who owns his own pa but it hasn't always been the rig used by my band. I'm quite happy to let others handle that problem but if there is no other option ......The other pa IS owned by our singer. Whats more...SHE sets it up and pulls a great sound out of it every time.It's great to get to a gig and find it all set up ready to go for sound check.

As far as mics go we all supply our own.I like to know where the thing I'm singing into has been between gigs and it gets a clean every couple of gigs.No more colds and sore throats from playing a gig into an infectious mic!
How long has your singer been with the band?

Lol, dude, I wish there were more people like your band. It'd be really nice if I didn't have to provide mics for everyone... Of course, then I wouldn't have the excuse to own 3 instrument mics, 8 vocals mics, 2 recording mics, a condensor, and a set of drum mics...
 
Dkerwood said:
How long has your singer been with the band?

Lol, dude, I wish there were more people like your band. It'd be really nice if I didn't have to provide mics for everyone... Of course, then I wouldn't have the excuse to own 3 instrument mics, 8 vocals mics, 2 recording mics, a condensor, and a set of drum mics...


About three years.She joined after our last singer decided he wanted to give up smokes and drinking and was having trouble being in pubs all the time!!!!!He was also a lazy piece of @#**&^%%% who would let the rest of us learn a new song and at rehearsal then decide he didnt want to play it after all.
She's a babe and she works well as a front person.Really keeps the guys in the crowd interested!!! Happy drinkers means happy publican!!

another pet peeve.......pub owners who insist on telling you how good they were as a muso, but decided to pull drinks instead.Then they start on the rampant sex lives they had as a failing muso........BORING!!!!
 
bevel19 said:
About three years.She joined after our last singer decided he wanted to give up smokes and drinking and was having trouble being in pubs all the time!!!!!He was also a lazy piece of @#**&^%%% who would let the rest of us learn a new song and at rehearsal then decide he didnt want to play it after all.
She's a babe and she works well as a front person.Really keeps the guys in the crowd interested!!! Happy drinkers means happy publican!!
Did she own the PA before joining the band?
 
I personally think that if you're really serious about live playing you should have all bases covered in house ..so to speak. When you have to rely on people outside the band for gear or transport, eventually it will all come crashing down around your ears!!

I have found that a lot of pa hire companys personnel work there because they cant get a job anywhere else.Call me cynical but all they seem to need is the ability to lift heavy boxes.
 
Back in the late '80s or so, a good friend of mine was showing off his latest Ensoniq/Mirage synth(gotta admit, some of the bass samples were to die for)...eventually, he laughed & said, "See, you're obsolete".
Well, in the end, he failed to see the entire picture; eventually, his killer house band(& trust me, they were a great Top-40/Dance band) became obsolete...replaced by a DJ & a karoke machine.

EVOLUtiON - you got to love it.