Fired/not recruited for playing the wrong brand.

[logdrum]

I was also scoffed for my modded Squier in an open mic. I did redeem myself when I started playing.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

You should count yourself lucky that they didn't want you. If they're actually saying things like that they clearly don't have a clue what they're talking about. And even worse, they also seem like the type of people you definitely don't want to be in a band with. EVER.

 

[chris_b]

Within reason band leader requests don't bother me. It's his band and if the gig is good enough and the players are good enough, why not?

About 15 years ago I was close to the edge when a band leader suggested we all dress up a clowns!! Fortunately he changed his mind before I had to decline.

 

[factory presets]

Got some suggestions, but not ultimatus, around the EB3L. Cranking the bridge pickup helped out.

I think if you join a tribute band there's a case to be made for using appropriate gear. Hell if you join a Van Halen band I think there's a case for asking you to gain a few pounds.

 

[Tommygun_ted]

Never fired specifically for it, but I'm sure it was a contributing factor. Joined a folk band ( auditioned on an epiphone explorer and got the gig) owned the explorer and an epiphone classic pro thunderbird at the time, strung the explorer with flats and used both depending on the vibe of the song. Band leader and guitarist kept pushing for me to get a fender (because they used fenders and if we all played fender it would sound better, not kidding) Eventually caved and traded the t-bird in for a jazz bass. Suddenly, the band leader (singer) was complaining that I "didn't know how to use dynamics/was too loud/too present in the mix". The jazz bass was just too honky and bright for the sound they wanted, where the thunderbird sat in the mix better. After about a month of butting heads with the singer (she always blamed it on my skill vs different instruments with very different sounds) she insisted I should play an unplugged acoustic bass. I put my foot down with that one, as the band was made up of 2 electric guitars, a full drum kit, and the singer with an acoustic guitar (usually plugged into the PA). I didn't last much longer after that started. The singer fired me. The drummer quit not long after, im sure once I was gone he was the new source of her sonic grievances.

 

[Axtman]

 

[retslock]

I was twice.
The first time, the band I was playing was on an upward trajectory, I was in that band for two years, playing the band owned Squier Mickey Way Mustang Bass when at some point the band leader wanted me to change that bass for a more serious model as we were getting traction. So I brought my Yamaha BB614 just to be laught at, the band leader wanted a Rickenbacker (as the previous bass player used to own...well a cheap copy really). As I said that at that time I could not afford a bass that was two month salary for me, he showed me the door.

Second time, I show up to give a try to a band, nothing too serious, weekend warrior type with a few paying gig a year. I showed up with my Yamaha BB434M and was immediatly told "you do not have a real bass?". That band was loosing gigs because they cant find a bass player and they didnt wanted me to play with them because only Gibson is good enought for them (actual quote).

So I was thinking about that these days (the tread about the guitarist requesting the bass player to change his gear comes to mind, standing your ground) and I wondered if that happened to other peoples. I have noted Bass Brand, but it can be anything really, like people wanting you to play a certain rig.

I would not want to be a member of either of those bands. I could never support their values and it's values that matter more to me than how smart/clever you are.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Maybe its because I show up with the " golden ticket" of a P and an Ampeg that I've NEVER had to listen to one word regarding my gear.
But I'm a little "prickly" about such nonsense.
If a band member, who's likey to be a good friend, wants to respectfully address something sonically lacking in my gear, I'll listen.
But if its a " dosen't look right for our band" thing...well..
Thats not gonna fly.

 

[Jack Butler]

gotten fired/not hired because I'm fat. One idiot accidentally texted me instead of his band saying, "we've got mat or the other guy, other guy knows our stuff but isn't a great player, mat is a better player but he is pretty heavy" or something like that. Called him out for it and he had to eat some crow.

I could not even imagine having a thought process like that when choosing a musician.

 

[deesonic]

Nope. Heck, I even once played in a death metal band rocking a Candy Apple Red 4 string Fender Jazz Bass. Nobody cared.

 

[Jack Butler]

I’m happy when this happens early because I didn’t waste much time with clowns. I wonder if it ever occurs to them tons of iconic pros use relatively humble gear. Joe Dart with a mim jazz and robelli mm, etc etc

 

[mikecd1]

I agree - the wrong brand = the wrong band. I'm going to try and use that line in a song.

 

[cxcxcx]

I’ve never been fired for a hardline stance of playing a certain brand - this is a game most mature working pros do not engage in. If you show up on time no the material, aren’t a jerk, and whatever bass you have works and stays in tune, those are the big concerns.

That said, there are certain vibes out there where any sort of active/boutique is strongly discouraged, with 5 or more strings only making the disdain worse. Bandleaders, producers, band members, and various other types of shot-callers and check writers will often let you know it, clearly and verbally. If they don’t say it, you’ll know it’s clearly expected.

You’re pretty much left with playing a Hofner or a P. With flats. Which I have no issue with. It’s against TB grain, but I self-identify by my creative musical output, not by a decal on a headstock or a silkscreened logo on a metal enclosure. I’d like to think I have a clear vision of what the mission is. If playing a P or a Hofner gets me out on gigs I and on recordings I want to do with the gifted people I want to do them with, I’d rather do that than stay home with my Dingwalls and Foderas and pout. I play those on corporate gigs, where a 5 string is appropriate.

The standard argument is “yeah, but Lee plays a Dingwall and Anthony plays a Fodera and Nathan plays a Yamaha” but those guys are exceptions that prove the rule, on top of a very narrow and tall pyramid that takes decades to scale. I can’t even consider thinking about dreaming of what players like that have achieved, so the defaults work for me.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Never fired nor explicitly not recruited, but on two occasions (in ~40 years) it was strongly suggested that I not show up with my Steinberger L-2 bass.

Perhaps coincidentally, it was the two highest profile gigs in all those 40 years. :::shrugs:::

 

[jdjk7]

I was twice.
The first time, the band I was playing was on an upward trajectory, I was in that band for two years, playing the band owned Squier Mickey Way Mustang Bass when at some point the band leader wanted me to change that bass for a more serious model as we were getting traction. So I brought my Yamaha BB614 just to be laught at, the band leader wanted a Rickenbacker (as the previous bass player used to own...well a cheap copy really). As I said that at that time I could not afford a bass that was two month salary for me, he showed me the door.

Second time, I show up to give a try to a band, nothing too serious, weekend warrior type with a few paying gig a year. I showed up with my Yamaha BB434M and was immediatly told "you do not have a real bass?". That band was loosing gigs because they cant find a bass player and they didnt wanted me to play with them because only Gibson is good enought for them (actual quote).

So I was thinking about that these days (the tread about the guitarist requesting the bass player to change his gear comes to mind, standing your ground) and I wondered if that happened to other peoples. I have noted Bass Brand, but it can be anything really, like people wanting you to play a certain rig.

I've not been judged for the brand I play, but I've been judged for the type of bass that I play. Walking in with a fretless, 6 string, or Bass VI has definitely turned up some brows.

 

[Greenman72]

Note - I am not a professional musician. Never have been on a gig or played in a band. So here is my completely uninformed and ignorant opinion.

"This is my bass. If you don't like it, then please hand me whatever you want me to play, and I'll see if I can (and want to) play it. If you don't have a bass, then we can use mine." That's a nice way of saying, "Take it or leave it, *******."

If they still don't get the message, then just be a little more upfront about it. "Hey--this is my bass. If you don't like it, then you're welcome to buy me a different one. Or let me play this one. Or I'll leave. Those are the three choices. Pick one." I mean--there's not really any other option, is there?

 

[beatdatthang]

The worst thing about gear snobbery is that it’s often perpetuated by those least knowledgeable about instruments, or about music in general.

It’s never happened to me but once at an event where we played with several other bands, a youthful bass player in one of the bands who was super proud of his MIM P bass made a comment to me about an older and much more experienced bassist from a different band about the “cheap” bass he was playing during sound check and “couldn’t he afford anything better”. I quietly pulled the kid aside and showed him the average retail price of a Warrior Dran Michael (the bass the other guy was playing) and it shut him down pretty quickly. I do love a teaching moment!

 

[Gaolee]

I usually play Thunderbirds. It hasn't got me fired yet. Dammit.

 

[RandomKaren]

I was also scoffed for my modded Squier in an open mic. I did redeem myself when I started playing.

This is why I avoid open mics like the plague. Full of judgemental egotists.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Yes, there was a soloist that I was working with. Had a short gig with him. Went pretty well. He complimented me doing good on a really rough song. But I played a Squier VM. We were talking right after the gig, he would look at the headstock then look at me, back to headstock back to me. He knew I wanted to play bass for him. He chose another bass player.
The next week I went and bought a Fender p bass, sold the squier for Pennies. Afterwards I was asked by several people to play bass.
I believe I was passed because the bass said Squier. Funny, I play a Sterling sometime at my gigs, no one pays attention to that name.