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Fired/not recruited for playing the wrong brand.

Have you been fired of a band because you were playing the wrong brand if bass?

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    597
#102
I've had BL tell me that they really enjoy the sound of X bass or X amp. I always consider it when packing up for the gig but most of the time I just take whatever is speaking to me. As I have become a more established (at least in my head) bassist who is more comfortable with "my" sound, I take what I prefer and have spent my time really making sure it's the sound I like. That being said, if a guy told me to bring a P bass, I would just say "Okay!". I have spent a good amount of time ensuring I have some heavy hitters that are set up well regardless of usage percentage.
 
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#103
lug said:
My guitarist has ASKED me not to ever show up with the stienberger spirit at any gig. :D
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That's just sad. They are very good instruments and people who play them do so because of superior weight, balance, and they save a ton of space in the band. The higher end steinbergers are some of the greatest instruments ever made. Ignorant morons are everywhere.
 
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#104
dalkowski said:
Fire me because I suck or because I'm a bad fit, fine.
Fire me because of the gear I use, also fine because you're doing me a big favor by ejecting me from your ecosystem of utter jive.
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This. Mostly when I'm declined from a band it's probably because I'm honestly socially awkward and can seem standoffish. Takes time to get used to me and vice versa. At least that's my best hypothesis because they tend to just ghost me and I show up knowing any material needed ahead of time, and I've done paid studio work a few times so I'm pretty sure I'm a decent player, and I've got my own gear and transportation.

It used to feel unfair but honestly - in one way or another it wouldn't have worked out, it's probably better just to be rejected before it gets too involved.
 
#106
Gilmourisgod said:
I had a friend in college who had briefly been in the Bass program at Berklee. He told me he showed up at his first Jazz class with his bass, a Rickenbacker, and the professor told him to get the f#%k out and come back with a "real" (fender) bass. Not really surprising at Berklee in the 70's, I guess, it was All Jazz, All the Time.
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Let me guess, a JAZZ BASS?
 
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#108
Dynacord said:
I had similar once when playing with a blues band. Had a new toy that was a Dingwall 5 string and the guitar player/BL did comment at the end of the night, "That bass sounds great but could you bring one of your Fenders or something more vintage next time?" It was a look/image thing and I got his point - and that it was a preference, not something to get fired over.
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Exactly...it's almost always a image thing and not a mean spirited bandleader...The more difficult band members a group has, the worse the situation. I do my best to never be one of them.
 
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#109
I never have been requested to play something else. But I did request it of a guitar player. He built parts guitars. He used nothing but the cheapest parts he could find. They just sounded horrible. Great guitar player with lousy equipment. The 400 pedals he played through didn't help at all.

He had a nice MIA Strat that he just wouldn't play at all. When I asked him why he said: "Because I built these". Someone else built the Strat. He used to brag about how cheap he built his guitars. He didn't have to remind me. I heard them every rehearsal. Sound checks were unnerving. Only difference, I didn't fire him.
 
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#110
I'd have to say F*** U if I got canned because of the label on my headstock. Maybe do the McMahon snub at Rozelle for wearing an Adidas headband and getting fined. Tape "RICK" written in Sharpie on masking tape across your headstock. Life is too short, rock on somewhere else :bassist: I think we all play the best gear that fits our budget, if that be Yamaha, Squier, F-MIM, or Epi... so be it.

upload_2024-3-26_18-30-21.jpeg

​
Look at these guys... not bass players but... These may have already been posted, I doubt those guys could cut licks with these guys.

David Lindley | Vintage Guitar® magazine

The most famous guitarists to play a Squier
 
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#112
Never fired since most of the time people's eyes pop at my basses. But here's a story no less.

I was playing with a band, and the vocalist was foaming at the mouth about this one bass player who would be at the open mic we were attending. He knew him personally (from multiple times frequenting that same venue), and thus he kept talking at me about how good this dude's bass is.

I ask him what type, but he doesn't know. But he says "yeah, there's nothing as good as that thing, you should get one", right in front of my bass.

Now, if you look at my pfp, that's a Mayones Viking. It's my main instrument, and I'd put it up against Vic's Foderas. It's perfect for me, and it feels like I'm playing something ancient and druidic, like a piece of living art.

I love my instrument.

But my opinion aside, it's a great bass.

So I show up to the show and I'm waiting to see this unfathomable leviathan with no name. I wanna see how high the mountain goes, how far off greatness is.

I'm looking for this dude and finally he arrives.

He's playing a Sire. A V10 DX to be specific.

Hey, I'm not gonna yuck his yum, Sire's got good publicity, and it's not like he's playing a starter model, it's a mid bracket bass (as opposed to boutique), one of the highest quality instruments in that brand.

But I go "ah. A sire", not mad, but sorta like mmm well that's certainly underwhelming

My vocalist is filling his pants as he's telling me everything that bass can do, and that he's never seen a bass that can "tap the coils", which....my Viking can in fact do (it has Fishman fluence pups, goes between single coil and humbucker, and has the vintage>slap>modern toggle).

So that guys band is done and he comes over to our vocalist who wants to kiss his feet. And our band is next, so the other bassist goes, confidently "I dunno what you got, but would you rather play this?"

I humbly smile and say, "I appreciate the offer", before unsheathing my war sword from its fitted scabbard.

He goes "oh....poopie."

My vocalist only then was beginning to realize that I'm packing heat, and he pretty much never talked to me again. If it wasn't evident, he's no longer my vocalist, and our band unanimously removed him for reasons unrelated to the bass I play.
 
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#113
I would tell them that I'm apparently playing with the wrong brand of as *holes.
I showed up at my last audition with a EBMM Stingray so they knew I was serious. And they definitely noticed. But after a couple of rehearsals I switched to my BBP35 to show them I could fit the mix of anything. Nobody has had a single complaint, and I wouldn't ever entertain one.
 
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#119
coy garcia said:
Exactly...it's almost always a image thing and not a mean spirited bandleader...The more difficult band members a group has, the worse the situation. I do my best to never be one of them.
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Posers!! I dislike posers. The folks who are there to listen to your band could care less what brand/style instrument you play!!
 
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