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Brutal open Acoustic jam experience

#41
johnson79 said:
Awkward situations are awkward.

Nice jazz by the way! What is it?
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Thank you! The jazz is a parts bass, fender 60's CS pickups, gotoh 201b bridge, the body is fender, but that's all I really know about it, it's older though. The fretless neck is a squier. The neck btw, is the best fretless neck I've ever used. I just added or removed parts until I found the sound I was wanting. I have a Jaco sig tribute, but this bass honestly sounds better. I will put an old fretted p bass neck on it when I want to use it as a fretted bass, but lately I've been digging the fretted vibe.
 
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#42
Whenever I hear "acousic", I bring my Dean acoustic/electric and one of these (sans flames):
jvc-rv-dp100-kaboom-boombox--sold_8844164.jpg

Got it at Costco a long while back It's perfect for this sort of thing.
 
#43
two fingers said:
So, here's what you do.

Once you are set up.and dialed in next time, grab the mic and just scream in it "Boise, are you ready to rock and roooooooooooooooll?" :bassist:

Then sit down and play exactly appropriate bass lines to your buddy's songs. Straight face. Perfect intonation. Toward the end, make and excuse to use a pick if you don't already. Right at the end, throw your arms up and do your best Ric Flair "Whooooooooooo!."

Throw the pick into the crowd. Kick over Bob Dylan's stupid wedge. Walk around the room holding out your hand for a high five (That nobody will give you) saying "Don't leave me hanging, bro!!!" Point and wink at the women in the room on the way to the bathroom. Just before walking into the bathroom, stop and point at the bathroom door and scream "Party in the green room ladies!!!!"

Go in there and stay for at least a half our.


Stuffy bastards deserve it. :D



Or....... *sigh* Take an amp. Play nice for your buddy. Walk up after and thank the host for having you and all that boring grown up "right thing to do" nonsense. :sour:



:wacky:
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Brother, you are hilarious! I envisioned the entire scene in my head as a movie as you described it. lol I'd buy you a beer if I was close.
 
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#45
lfmn16 said:
That would have been the end for me. I'm not a prima donna, but I do have to be able to hear myself.
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I was playing a gig with iem's that had no bass. During one song I looked down and realized I had been playing two frets off. I put down my bass and walked off, in the middle of the song. It had been an issue with me and the BL a long time. It got fixed after that.

My excuse was "better not to play than to play in the wrong key."
 
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#46
morgan138 said:
Not saying they needed to be rude about it, but this is a reasonable position for them to take. Your friend definitely should've let you know to bring your own amp, or an acoustic bass, or whatever would've been appropriate for that particular jam.
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Honestly he was under the same thought process as I, just plug in and go. And honestly that would have worked perfect if they would have put me in the wedge just a touch. I'm not a fan of ABG styles, and I certainly won't buy one for a four song jam. I am a pro, and respectful of equipment. My way of playing with an acoustic guitar is quite different in the approach, and I do well supporting the guitar, and my tone is voiced in a midrange sound, with not much low end. It's perfect for a smaller pa and I know how to blend. I will try my amp next week and if it goes well fine. If not then I will chalk it up to a new learning experience.
 
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#47
Rickengeezer said:
I have a Dean fretless EAB for exactly this purpose. With some nice flats on it, I've gotten quite a few compliments on how much it sounds like an upright, and I think it was $200 new with gigbag.

And heck, here's a new EAB on Amazon for $79! Doesn't take too many gigs to pay for that! I'm sorely tempted to order one just to see if it's actually playable...

Amazon.com: Electric Acoustic Bass Guitar Black Solid Wood Construction With Equalizer New: Musical Instruments
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Yeah, I mean fretless, you don't have to worry about fret wear on a second hand anyway, there's too much thing to be wary of as fast as it has frets.
 
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#48
Even this guy was considered judas, and not welcome, film score composer Michael Nyman and his Michael Nyman Orchestra, everything classical chamber orchestra totally acoustic instruments, except one... guess which one? ;) :

BAND1.jpg


No double bass anywhere, the closest is the cello.
 
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#49
I use to play in a celtic band and of course weekly Irish sessions. I was playing banjo, CBOM, and guitar at the session and once and awhile I would bring my Alembic and a GK200MB. It went down fine with the stuffy types if you're somewhat sympathetic in your playing. So, bring an amp. Of course you now have a great excuse to obtain and learn UB.
 
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#51
Honch said:
Even this guy was considered judas, and not welcome, film score composer Michael Nyman and his Michael Nyman Orchestra, everything classical chamber orchestra totally acoustic instruments, except one... guess which one? ;) :

BAND1.jpg


No double bass anywhere, the closest is the cello.
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Aaah, Mr Martin Elliott and his unique ash bodied Wal 5 String bass. Top player and top bloke. If it's good enough for Michael Nyman...
 
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#52
SteveHeissner said:
"To top it off, there were some really, really bad players and singers that got up after us. Yikes."

LOL! That's the beauty of open mic. It's like karaoke. It allows really bad players to get up and play really badly. It's one of the few outlets available to them.
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Yep, and if you happen to be a more accomplished player, you ought to provide support, encouragement and inspiration. Not ridicule or disdain. This is one of the things an open mic is for... new or unlearned musicians to cut their teeth and look for feedback from listeners or other musicians.

It's not a competition folks.
 
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#53
JGbassman said:
Agreed, and I will. I was just taken back a little by it all tonight. I'm not really a fan of jam nights, and honestly I'd rather spend the time working up more songs to play our own show, but if that gives him his live fix for now, I will endure. The worst part was sitting through the rest of the night.

One can only hear "Brown Eyed Girl" done poorly a certain amount of times in one night before I would have to seek counseling myself.
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Ha,ha. I sick of hearing "Brown Eyed Girl" period. Good one.
 
#55
You got got by the Acoustic guitar snobs association. They run most of the open mic throughout the country, and sabotage anyone who brings anything but a single acoustic. Accompaniment? Acoustic. Banjo? Well........erm, ehhh....you don't need to mic that or plug it in, hurry up and get it done we have a lot of people to go on tonight.
Bass? Yeah, just dangle the cord over there, I guess.....are you sure you won't just leave?

A crappy out of tune acoustic with rusty strings? AWESOME BROOOO.



Im my experience people that run open mic and aren't extremely pleasant to work with, work for the bar, don't make enough money to live on reliably, and their main interest in the thing is that its the only thing in their life they have any control over. So, they're dicks to people. This is also the reason they aren't in charge of anything else in their lives, of course, but they take what they get.

Without fail, at least in my experience, the "Good" open mic where people don't throw shade, its just a regular guy that wanted to do it, and set it up with the bar as a "labor of love". Maybe he gets paid for the night like its his gig, and that makes him even happier. He wants you to come back with your bass, because the more people the better he looks and the bigger his project gets.
 
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#56
Downunderwonder said:
I guess they will move this to BM or Live Sound. My 2c, if I didn't have a HPF for you there would be no bass in monitors from me either. I love fretless bass but those lows are killers of monitors.

If you are going to carry on with it you earned a Ubass. The ones without preamps neeeeed one for going direct into mixer.
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No intent on hijacking this post, what do you mean when you say "I guess they will move this to BM or Live Sound"? and what is a "HPF"?
Thanks,
Jack
 
#59
I know this is a bass site, and not an AA meeting, but kudos to you for supporting your friend. Alcoholism isn't something that one ever fully recovers from. It's a permanent monkey on your back that you have to deal with daily, hourly, and sometimes minute to minute. And every time something doesn't go right, having a drink is the first thought that crosses the mind of an alcoholic. So your being there for him, doing something he wants to do with him, is exactly what he needs. You're the kind of friend we all should aspire to have surrounding us.

Take an amp, or the powered wedge you mentioned, and don't have a second thought about what anyone thinks about you or your playing an electric at the acoustic jam. There's a deeper, nobler purpose at work here than playing the "wrong" instrument at this jam.

Stepping off my soapbox now...
 
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