I'm really beginning to dislike my guitarist...

[Lazarus.Bird]

Glad I play in bands with friends for the love of music and not for money. I would have told that guy to **** right off!

 

[lowfreq33]

One way to deal with people like this, if you can keep your cool, is to be incredibly nice and accommodating in the face of all their abuse. When they don't get the desired reaction they get even more worked up, and eventually the entire room will be thinking "What is WRONG with this guy?".

 

[bjabass]

Actually, he texted my later that night after the gig and told me that he has "a bassist lined up that doesn't **** around on bar gigs when his (my guitarist's) name is on the line, and that I can't just show up to a gig whenever I feel like it."

Sounds to me like he wants this other guy....I'd let him have him.

 

[fep]

Is it really that easy for a bass player to find a new band that is gigging regularly?

Some posts on this thread make it seem as though it's a simple thing to do. There just aren't that many good paying gigs these days and there are plenty of musicians to play them. There is some value in being in a band that is already getting lots of gigs. Right?

It is simple to do. As long as you are a solid bass player there are always paying gigs. I could be in 5 different bands right now if I wanted to.

Although I don't get out to venues that often, it seems in my city there are maybe 10 to maybe 15 guys that get more than 90% of the good paying gigs leaving the other 1,000 of so bass players with less than 10% of the good gigs. (I'm not including gigs were the bass player might make $50 or less.)

And those guys getting most of the good paying steady gigs are kind of special in that in addition to playing real well, they might sing really well, and/or went to Julliard or Berklee, heck for that matter they may have taught at those places... etc. Nathan East for instance wouldn't have a hard time finding gigs (he grew up in San Diego, I think he's probably in L.A. now).

So, if you are one of the top 10 bass players in this city, then yes I can see that it would be easy to find good paying steady gigs.

 

[otherclef]

you guys should smoke a fatty and make peace

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Glad I play in bands with friends for the love of music and not for money. I would have told that guy to **** right off!

We actually are pretty good friends. We hang out quite a bit outside of the band and things have (almost) always been peachy between us (at least over the past 8 months). I'm just confused by this whole thing. Given his recent actions it does seem like he's got an agenda. He may be trying to get rid of me because I'm one of the few guys who will stand up to him and tell him 'no'. He seems to always want to get his way, and he has a certain knack for manipulating people to go along with what he wants.

Not only that, but he's also been trying to get us to kick out our second guitarist in our original band. The second guitarist will usually tell him no and will argue with him over how we should run the band, as well. Granted, the second guitarist has been messing up some lately with showing up to rehearsals late, but I can't help but think that part of the reason why the first g wants to get rid of the second g so bad is so that there would be one less voice to argue against him...

Having thought about it for a minute now, it really seems like my guitarist is trying to take over both bands

 

[scottfeldstein]

Having thought about it for a minute now, it really seems like my guitarist is

... a jerk.

And the other guitar player is probably showing up late to rehearsal because of it. I might drag my feet, too, if I knew I was heading off to spend another evening in a power struggle with an egomaniac control freak.

There's jerky people in every walk of life, in every setting you can think of, in every kind of workplace you can imagine and in our families. There's some settings, however, that give these folks more free reign than others. The university is one. Because they work so independently in that setting these folks have few restrictions on how jerky they can be to others. I believe music may be similar. People expect musicians to be passionate, quirky, overly dramatic and even downright odd. If the guy in the next cubicle at the insurance company acted that way his peers would quickly rein him in--or have HR do it for them.

I say just because it's rock 'n roll doesn't mean you get a free pass to vent your neuroses on everyone. Let's resolve to shut these jerks down. Confront, quit--or both.

 

[mcblahflooper94]

Completely irrelevent, but scottfeldstein, has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like Pete Townsend? Every time I see your avatar, it really sticks out.

 

[scottfeldstein]

Heh. No, I don't believe I've ever been told that. I put this photo up to flash my douchebag hat to everyone on TB a couple of months ago. I meant to replace it with something more subdued (like my new Will Cady viking hat!) but I keep neglecting to do so. Perhaps it's adding to my Townsendian appearance.

 

[fishdreams]

Heh. No, I don't believe I've ever been told that. I put this photo up to flash my douchebag hat to everyone on TB a couple of months ago. I meant to replace it with something more subdued (like my new Will Cady viking hat!) but I keep neglecting to do so. Perhaps it's adding to my Townsendian appearance.

I thought you were Richard Thompson

 

[saxdragon]

I went to your site. Dig your sound. Just out of curiosity, which of the two guitarists is the dick? I hope it's the guy who wears his hat backwards. That's my pet peeve...wearing your hat backward (if you're not a mechanic).

 

[ibateur]

Maybe he has health issues like early-onset dementia or something like that.

 

[NWB]

As he's standing there berating you for "unprofessionalism", I'd keep looking at his face with big smile and take a piss on his foot.

That'd be pretty funny.

 

[Tat2dHeart]

Need anyone say more?

 

[mellowinman]

This forum really needs an Ignore button.

Or a sense of humor.

We seem to have some very important bass players here.

 

[mellowinman]

That's nuts. It took my band less time to set up 10,000 lbs of gear - instruments, kit, mic, FOH (including flying the mains), monitors, all of it, including a sound check.

How many people did THAT setup?

And how long do you spend on sound check?

I say four hours to give us time to get done and eat dinner, and I also say it hoping to leave a TON of time to spare!

What do you do if something falls off the truck, or just picks that moment to stop functioning?

 

[mellowinman]

Need anyone say more?

I will say that I've worked with dozens of guitarists, and that doesn't describe any of them.

 

[Graham Monette]

^ Brilliant, perceptive & well thought out responses as always from you. Congrats, you're the first person to make my ignore list.

 

[Pacman]

How many people did THAT setup?

7

And how long do you spend on sound check?

30-45 minutes

I say four hours to give us time to get done and eat dinner, and I also say it hoping to leave a TON of time to spare!

What do you do if something falls off the truck, or just picks that moment to stop functioning?

We carried redundant gear, and were all professionals. Sure, sometimes things stop working, but we had pros that knew what they were doing.

 

[mellowinman]

7 30-45 minutes

We carried redundant gear, and were all professionals. Sure, sometimes things stop working, but we had pros that knew what they were doing.

Well, I envy you that. I've been playing many years, and I spend a lot of time on set up and sound check, and I wish it was shorter, but I almost always wish I had more time. We usually have three people unloading sound gear and lights; we let the drummer do his own thing; and we've never set up in under two hours. I wish to GOD we could afford redundant gear. I mean, yeah, I have an extra mixing board now, and could even get by if one of the power amps fails, but that's about it, for the main setup.

Anything worse, and we'd be on the horn to friends, going, "HELP!!!"

Anyway, I've continued going off-topic, so that's all I need to say on the matter.