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First Gigs....some lessons learned

Fret Boiler

Fret Boiler

Pity World
Apr 12, 2004
98
1
Purdue University
www.myspace.com
#1
So I had back-to-back gigs Friday and Saturday night, the first one(s) for me in a very long time....so long, I was essentially a gig virgin. I wasn't nervous or anything, however, I made a few mistakes I will pass on.

1) First night, the stage was really small so there was not much room to move around. Result: I kept inadvertantly stepping on random pedals on my Boss Effects Processor. Random reverb and delay out of nowhere. The really stupid thing is that I wasn't even using it for anything except compression.

2) Second night, For the first two-and-a-half tunes, nothing was coming out of my cabs. I could hear the monitor no prob, and luckily I was DI-ed through the PA, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the hell was up with my amp. What was up: Dumb@** me forgot to un-mute the amp after tuning an hour earlier.

Anyone else with first time mishaps/lessons?
 
#2
The tune-mute is a classic, happens all the time.

This happened at practice yesterday...I detuned my bass for a song, and forgot to re-tune for the next one. I was wondering through the whole 2nd song why things sounded weird.

I think for a gig, I'll detune my 2nd bass, and just switch basses for those songs. Quicker transition, and less likely to mess up.
 
#4
Yeah don't feel bad about the tuner thing. I've pulled that, more than once. Think I told this story in another thread but....I was playing with a modern/alternative rock band a few years ago that did a lot of detuning, and specifically dropped down a full step on one particular tune. I would also drop for that tune....well anyway there was this long guitar intro with vocals that I would typically just leave my mute on after tuning. Might light a smoke and just kinda hang out towards the side of the stage until it was time for the drummer and I to crash in. Needless to say, one night I had had more than a couple of pops before and during the set, and when time came to crash in............errr, duh..........your mute is still on d00shbag.
 
#5
Yes, the mute thing is kinda the equivalent of pulling away from the store with a gallon of milk on your car roof. You can't believe anyone would be that stupid...until it happens to you. lol
 
#6
The old mute switch LOL...been there once on a song with a big intro chord..i hit it with he guitarist and we get just guitar. The Drummer , singer, guitarists heads all whip my way with a *** look...left the mute on when i retuned between sets :smug:

Lights, I still forget to have the lights set up so they are not right in my face at head level and so close it feels like im in a desert in August! Last show we did the opening 2 songs back to back in which I was blinded and suffered thru what felt like burns before we stopped and i could have the soundman adjust the lights...small stages :scowl:
 
#7
My first "real" gig was with a thrashy metal/hardcore band a few years back. I was playing my only bass at the time, a Frankenstein P-bass with a hard ash body that weighs around 14 pounds. I still have it, and it's a total beast of a bass. It sounds great, but it is freaking HEAVY. Well, my first gig, I was rocking out pretty hard, throwing my bass around, all that. I ended up being so sore from that show that I could barely walk for two days. Now I stretch and warm up before I get on stage so I don't kill myself.
 
#8
I thought there was a previous "Stupid Gig Tricks" thread, but I can't seem to find it.

Considering the wealth of experience on this board, this thread could go forever.

2 weeks ago I was playing a gig in a confined space and had to set up on the drummer's right. He hit the G string machine head on a cymbel crash and broke it completely off. I had no back up. I left my back up bass in the practice room and decided to not go get it.
 
#9
5andFretless said:
2 weeks ago I was playing a gig in a confined space and had to set up on the drummer's right. He hit the G string machine head on a cymbel crash and broke it completely off. I had no back up. I left my back up bass in the practice room and decided to not go get it.
Click to expand...

That's grounds for a beating! :D


here's mine from a few weeks ago - I didn't have my Aguilar DB750 Rackmounted, so it sat on top of my guitarists rack which was on top of my Bergantino NV215...it didn't stay there - about three songs into the set, it decided to jump down from its perch...luckily my other amp and cab were the ones being mic'd...

never again :rollno:
 
#10
Ah yes...the old spotlight in the eyes syndrome...

A band I played with used to have a couple of lights fixed to the upright pole of the lighting rig as well as on the top bar, they used to beam straight into my eyes when they were switched on and dazzle me completely - I had spots before the eyes for ages afterwards.

Not exactly what I needed with a 5 string fretless to contend with at the same time. Fortunately, my intonation is quite good playing blind and my fretless doesn't have markers - but even so I prefer to see what I'm doing
 
#12
bassbully said:
The old mute switch LOL...been there once on a song with a big intro chord..i hit it with he guitarist and we get just guitar. The Drummer , singer, guitarists heads all whip my way with a *** look...left the mute on when i retuned between sets :smug:

Lights, I still forget to have the lights set up so they are not right in my face at head level and so close it feels like im in a desert in August! Last show we did the opening 2 songs back to back in which I was blinded and suffered thru what felt like burns before we stopped and i could have the soundman adjust the lights...small stages :scowl:
Click to expand...

My eyes are pretty light sensitive, so I wear shades since the guitarist thinks it's cool to aim the scanners at us and not the floor. Got tired of standing there jamming out, then catching a bright light to the face, point blank. :scowl:
 
#13
Hadn't been gigging for years - decided to get into a cover band for some extra $$.

First Gig:
first set = all is well.
second set = amp sporadically starts cutting out... all is not well...
third & fourth set, more of the same... gig was not well.

I had no idea what the problem was. Was it my bass? I don't know... was it my head? I don't know... the cab? clueless... The cord? um....

Lessons learned:
1) know your gear
2) bring back-up gear
3) keep a gig-kit with extra batteries, tools, band-aids, small flashlight, extra strings, deodorant, gum...

It turns out that my amp was overheating because I stupidly stuffed my SVT II Pro into an SKB 4-space rack case that ended up covering the vent on the left. After a good set, the thing got hot enough to start cutting out.

I started carrying my little GK RCB 200 as a backup. I also started carrying a second bass and the afore mentioned gig-kit. From that day on, there was not a single gig/gear issue that I couldn't deal with.
 
#14
Here's another alternate tuning fiasco:

I was playing Black Water (Doobie Bros if you don't know) at a gig with two guitars, one acoustic and one electric. Both shared vocal duties. For Black Water, the acoustic guitarist tuned to drop D. Song went fine, but the next song which was in Eb of all things sounded terrible. We were all giving each other looks but couldn't figure out what it was ;)
 
#15
Ah yes the evil lights in the face.......hate em..... learned to move out of the way of the floor lights we have. Also got good at adjusting them with a foot when no one was lookin :).

Bought some glow in the dark fret board markers after one sit in where it was so dark I couldn't see the fretboard.... didn't realize how I use the dots until then. They lasted long enough for me to get more comfy with the fretboard :). Nothing like finding out your gig bass has a *much* darker fretboard than your practice bass! Sheesh........
 
#17
First time on stage ever, high school talent show. Played one song, and I snapped my 110 E string 4 bars into the song.

First actual gig...had to go on without a drummer because he got a horrible case of food poisoning right beforehand...but its not like there was anybody in the crowd to notice. The crowd consisted of the band that played after us, 2 girlfriends, a sibling and a mother.
 
#18
"IanStephenson-You don't think these things might be connected? ;-)"

LOL Naw, different gigs. Although, the dark stage was partly because the floor lights (which I detest) had stopped working. Without them it gets *really* dark in the corner. It's just those 4 lights in a black box that you get for like $50, cheap but it works. I now own a couple clamp lights with colored floodlights in em (home depot) and I point the blue one at me :).

You gotta watch it though, we found out the hard way those little light boxes get hot.....one of the speaker cables started smoking after sitting across the box, luckily we spotted it before any damage happened. And *always* let the lights cool before you put them away!
 
#19
Backup gear is essential! I remember years ago only bringing one lead (apart from patch leads) which gave up the ghost at the soundcheck. A scramble before the gig itself found a lead for myself, which was quite very much shorter than my original one. I was almost doing a Jon Paul Jones and practically sitting on the drumkit for the gig, except at the chorus of the first song, where I forgot myself, stepped forward, and out comes the lead from the huge Trace Elliot behind me. Between trying to keep the amp from falling off the stand it was on and trying to re plug my lead back in, I apparently looked quite unusual on stage (I came back just in time for the next chorus).

Although, on that occasion, I think I got away with it as the bar man commented on my Jimi Hendrix style of bassplaying.

Anyhows, bring workable leads etc. Pre test them before leaving the house!
 
#20
1) Bring extra strings
2) ALWAYS use a tuner, even if you have perfect pitch
3) Bring extra cables, the more the better
4) If you play more than one instrument on stage, get an A/B box (for two) or if more, a small mixer, makes the transitions smoother, saves your speakers too.
5) Flashlight and small toolkit are a plus!
 

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