Fired/not recruited for playing the wrong brand.

[factory presets]

Tell him, "Dude, get some Ludwigs!" Or if he's playing on Ludwigs, "Dude, get some Slingerlands!"

When our mate had the Yamaha seems a good time to have lectured Billy Cobham about how audiences love to see a matching rhythm section. Not only do Yamaha make very nice drum kits but the are the only respected brand that makes both basses and drums.

The choice is obvious. He shouldn't even need to think about it.

 

[pb9717]

In the NYC market, when you audition for the bass chair in a busy club date band ( Tux, corp/private gigs, excellent pay) many times you’re competing against 10-20 other cats. Schooled guys. Orchestra pit guys, jingle guys. Of course your playing is extremely important to getting the gig, but… the way you look, how easy you are to get along with, your ability to be on time, have reliable transportation, all carry weight in the decision to win the chair. if I pull out some kinda crazy bass for said audition, like say….a Conklin 7 string….I am certainly creating a question mark as to my musical tastes, playing style preference, and my ability to stay in my lane ( i.e. the money frets) So, yea……you wanna “be you” and pull a zebra striped double neck outta the case…..knock yourself out. Me, I’m throwing on my sadowsky four, and groovin that bossa till the bride is grinning in her seat….and until the check clears, and I get called for the next gig.

 

[BlueTalon]

In the NYC market, when you audition for the bass chair in a busy club date band ( Tux, corp/private gigs, excellent pay) many times you’re competing against 10-20 other cats. Schooled guys. Orchestra pit guys, jingle guys. Of course your playing is extremely important to getting the gig, but… the way you look, how easy you are to get along with, your ability to be on time, have reliable transportation, all carry weight in the decision to win the chair. if I pull out some kinda crazy bass for said audition, like say….a Conklin 7 string….I am certainly creating a question mark as to my musical tastes, playing style preference, and my ability to stay in my lane ( i.e. the money frets) So, yea……you wanna “be you” and pull a zebra striped double neck outta the case…..knock yourself out. Me, I’m throwing on my sadowsky four, and groovin that bossa till the bride is grinning in her seat….and until the check clears, and I get called for the next gig.

I'm curious. I notice the Ric in your profile picture. Would a Ric be considered "some kinda crazy bass"?

 

[amper]

Just so we're clear, the OP was not talking about showing up with a Conklin 7-string, they were talking about a Yamaha BB434M. a perfectly normal instrument.

 

[amper]

Exactly how "weird" does a bass need to be in order to be considered out of bounds?

How about a Yamaha BBNE2? Is this "weird"? Is this "not a real bass"? Why would it be acceptable for the drummer to turn up with Yamaha drums, or the keyboardist to turn up with a Yamaha keyboard, or the marimbist to turn up with a Yamaha marimba, but not OK for the bassist to play a Yamaha?

 

[Delsan]

Just so we're clear, the OP was not talking about showing up with a Conklin 7-string, they were talking about a Yamaha BB434M. a perfectly normal instrument.

View attachment 5413654

Let's just be perfectly fair here, the band apparently thinks Gibson is the only brand that makes real basses.

Hot take, Gibson hasn't made an exceptional bass since the early 1980s. So unless they wanted OP to shell out +1500 for a gently used 40 year old bass, they must've expected him to play a Thunderbird or a EB. Real basses, and the only real ones at that.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Never been fired from a band, but I was told 'never bring that thing again' when I showed up to a rehearsal once with a Kala Ubass.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Like any other business, you know that the decision may be made on non-essential issues. Theres nothing wrong with having an armful of tats, and it shouldn't factor into whether you get an office job. But it's probably smart to wear long sleeves to the interview.

 

[JesterR]

In my experience, it does not matter what was the formal reason, when someone left a band or kicked off. But usually it is actually not just ONE reason.

 

[pb9717]

I'm curious. I notice the Ric in your profile picture. Would a Ric be considered "some kinda crazy bass"?

When I started doing weddings in 91’ I only owned a Ric and an SVT head and cab. I showed up on my first gig in my newly purchased , formerly rented tux, with that rig. The drummer looked at me like I was insane. What was I doing rolling an SVT into a wedding?

So yea……I immediately borrowed a friends flip top ampeg until I could afford a small rig.

But I tell, ya… the guitar player said about the SVT…..…”dude I can hear the “1” from across the building in the bathroom”…yea. Thats right.

 

[LennyJ]

I just did an image search for Otiel Burbridge, and most of the basses he was playing in the resulting photos were not FSOs.

Here are two of my favorite pics of Oteil with ABB. Trucks is at the kit in one of them - but in the other I know he was ABB, but do not know his name.



Just found this page on NO Treble about Otiel with the ABB - and the picture is him with a MIM jazz Bass - in the smaller picture.

Bass Players to Know: Oteil Burbridge – No Treble

 

[Aussie Player]

Interesting topic. I've been playing since the mid '70's, and have always seemed to have the right bass I guess.

I do have a Thunderbird that gives me some playability issues do to the onset of arthritis., fretting the low "F" can be a challenge.

Its hard to imagine that someone would want you to trade dexterity and clean playing just for looks.

There is a terrific thread on TB Cool Pics or similar and when you go through it, it shows decades old pics with the common theme of the bassist pushinh the bass body aside so the shoulder strap is almost verticle.

This brings that bottom fret closer to your body and makes it easier to play down low. They basses were carried low but not on the thigh like fashionable strummers. Try some different positions with a strap, even while sitting and you will find a technique and position that just seems a little friendlier.

The other option is a short scale bass. The F will be 4 inches closer by default.

 

[BlueTalon]

Let's just be perfectly fair here, the band apparently thinks Gibson is the only brand that makes real basses.

Hot take, Gibson hasn't made an exceptional bass since the early 1980s. So unless they wanted OP to shell out +1500 for a gently used 40 year old bass, they must've expected him to play a Thunderbird or a EB. Real basses, and the only real ones at that.

I dare anyone to tell you you've got a too-way-out-there bass when you show up with your Mayones Viking.

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

(...snip...)
But I tell, ya… the guitar player said about the SVT…..…”dude I can hear the “1” from across the building in the bathroom”…yea. Thats right.

 

[amper]

Showing up to a small wedding venue with an arena rock amp rig is a very different thing to being told
"you don't have a real bass" when you show up with a Yamaha BB instead of a Fender. It's absolutely valid to state that a player should bring appropriate gear and attire for the gig, but the idea that a Yamaha BB isn't a "real bass" because it's not a Gibson is just patently silly and deserves ridicule. It's up to the individual whether or not they wish to comply with such idiotic and immature demands. If it's the difference between paying the rent and not, I'm not going to argue with the bassist.

But, speaking from personal experience, as someone who has hired musicians to play events, both for my own wedding and as an events planner and organizer, I don't care what kind of instrument you show up with; what I care about is does it stay in tune, and are you playing in a fashion that is appropriate for *the music*.

The jazz band that played my wedding could have shown up with BC Rich instruments, or Conklin 7-strings, or Chapman Sticks, and I wouldn't have cared*, so long as they showed up in tuxedos and played "Fly Me to the Moon", "Peel Me a Grape", and "Besame Mucho" the way I expected them to play it. Nor did I even think to question the classical string quartet and trumpeter I hired to play for the ceremony and cocktail hour what brand of instruments they were playing, because I am a professional, and I expect professionalism from anyone who dares to charge what I paid without question (ie thousands of dollars, over 20 years ago).

*LIES, I'd be totally fangirling over their instruments.

Suppose the BL was expecting a Gibson EB-2, and I showed up with a vintage Yamaha SA-70? Would I be told I don't have a "real bass"? (not my picture)

 

[amper]

My local NAACP Chapter had a jazz band at last year's annual Freedom Fund Dinner, and I embarrassed myself by trying to talk to the bassist about his 5-string double bass, because I've never seen a 5-string double bass in person.

It was a *6-string* double bass. :shocked:

 

[amper]

There are people who would turn their noses up at this, because it's not a Fender and an Ampeg. (1995 Trace Elliot bass amplification catalogue front cover, Gibson EB-2 and Trace Elliot V-Type 220 W tube head with two 4x12 cabinets)

 

[ghiggin1079]

I previously said that it's only happened to me once, but I remembered a second time, I also play drums from. Time to time, and I was going out for this one band and I clearly stated that I can only jam on Fridays and weekends due to work schedule UNLESS there was a "house kit" there wasn't so I brought a 4 to 5 peice ekit bc it's what I could grab. When I walked in with a duffel bag of stuff and said it was an ekit they looked at me like I punted the baby Jesus across the country..

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

I once auditioned for a Rockabilly band, and didn't get the spot in large part because I played an Ibanez bass guitar rather than a DB.

Some music friends invited me to play bass in a Patsy Cline musical-theatre production. They asked me several times if I could play an upright bass.
I told them that I understood that theatre is visual and if an upright was key, then I'd be happy to step away. But I don't own an upright and have never played one. I played the gig with my Fender P bass.

 

[BlueTalon]

Some music friends invited me to play bass in a Patsy Cline musical-theatre production. They asked me several times if I could play an upright bass.
I told them that I understood that theatre is visual and if an upright was key, then I'd be happy to step away. But I don't own an upright and have never played one. I played the gig with my Fender P bass.

In fairness to the Rockabilly guys I auditioned for, my Ibanez was probably exactly the opposite of what they were looking for, in that it had neon strings and reflective fret markers. This is one of those cases where it might have made a difference if I'd brought a conservative looking FSO*, but in the end they hired someone with a double bass, so they got what they were looking for. They were certainly happy with my playing, and they didn't treat me any differently during the audition. For me, it was a really fun audition, and I was sad to not get the gig; but I saw them play later, and the other bass player really did fit the vibe they were going for better than I did.

*At that time, I didn't even own an FSO. Even now, the only P bass I own is a Pete Wentz signature Squier P. But shortly after that audition, my 3-pickup Warmoth jazz came into existence, and that became my main player for the next 7 years or so.