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SPECTOR® Club - Part 40

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#864
smadder said:
So I had an audition scheduled for 6pm this Monday. I've been trying to find auditions but it seems like (at least in all of the local "artsy" and "scene" papers) no one is looking right now.

Out of the only two I found, one has returned my call... sort of. It's the lead singer who calls himself "The Rocker" (I sh1t you not) and is the only guy who's been in the band steadily since they started back in 2002 and have never been able to keep a regular group together long enough to do full-bore touring or even recording (he just hires out studio guys). His v-mail was full and so I texted him. He texts me back and the first question he asks is "how old are you?" Now I'm 39, 40 in November, and I can pass for late 20s early 30s (baby face), but I'm not gonna lie so I tell him. A day later, he texts me and tells me I can audition on Monday at 6pm. I return the text asking what songs he needs me to learn, where the audition is to be held, and how much gear do I need to bring? He texts back "learn the first 5 songs." That's it. That's all he wrote. The first 5 songs of what? the playlist on the web site? The EP? The promo CD? The iTunes tracks? The sample disc? The 4 self-produced full-length albums? What? What am I supposed to learn? Also he gives me no location (and let me tell you that driving around at 5pm-ish for a 6pm audition in downtown Atlanta on a Monday is not gonna be a good time) and no word about what gear I should bring or that he prefers. I text him back asking again and he says he'll call me that night night (yesterday [Friday] night). No call, no text, nothing. I text him today, still asking which songs, where to show up and what gear to bring and that I'd really like to talk to him before showing up. He texts back today that right now he's busy "jewing down a guy on a Les Paul" and that he'll get back to me and "don't [you] hate dealing with Jews?"

Now, if you read his band's site (and I'm not gonna list it because I don't feel like starting anything if it were to somehow get back to him), it isn't CCM or even CC metal or hard rock, it's just rock. All of it very reminiscent of 90s AIC and STP. Nothing you haven't heard before, but a decent enough groove and it would give me something to do. But on their site they say their manager is Christ and that they are endorsed by Jesus and his father the almighty God. So I am instantly even more shocked because God and Jesus don't exactly approve of mocking other faiths and cultures. So this guy is a total f%cking hypocrite on top of possibly just being stupid.

And I (being Jewish) find this to just be so very, very sad. I didn't even get angry at first. It just made me sad. Most of my friends are Christian and they hate guys like this because it's people like him that give Christians and Christianity a bad name. I mean, I'm one of my my nephews' Godfather, so I had to read up on the Episcopalian church so that I could not only participate in his baptism, but so that as he grows up and has questions, I know how to answer him appropriately.

Personally, I'm a horrible back-sliding Jew and don't practice nearly enough or observe holidays regularly enough. I date women of all faiths and I simply just don't consider the religious part of being Jewish to be as much a part of who I am as I do the cultural aspects. But what I cannot tolerate is racism and bigotry. And I just got to experience it from a musician who's trying to put a band together. He didn't just use a turn of phrase, but actually said he hates dealing with Jews. I'm so glad it was a text and not an actual conversation, because I'm able to delete it and not have to engage this a$$hole about his bigotry and racism. Don't call yourself a Christian and say that Jesus and God both manage and endorse your band and then sling bigoted prejudicial and downright demeaning and cruel epithets around casually with someone you don't even know. Or even someone you DO know. Why in the hell would you want to put more of that Sh!t into the world? Isn't there enough hate out there? You call yourself a musician and you say things like this? That's just absolutely pathetic.

The problem with me is, whenever stuff like this happens, I get mad later, not right then. In the moment I am mostly shocked and that is immediately followed by sadness. Later on, I get angry. But this f$cking guy... unreal. I sincerely doubt God or Jesus want anything to do with him. I was raised to respect people of different faiths, skin colors, nationalities, etc. I'm not asking everyone to join hands and sing We Are The World with me, because I know I'm sure I have my moments where I am also bigoted and sexist and homophobic... take your pick. All of us are guilty of this at some point and none of us are perfect about this part of being here in America. I don't think anyone can grow up in this country and not be a little bit racist or sexist simply because it's a part of the culture around us and it cannot be avoided.

But to have it thrown right at me by someone I was going to go and play for... I feel so dirty and angry and flat out disgusted.

I apologize if I have offended anyone in my Spector family by posting this, but it really, really bothered me and I needed to get it out and process it some with my community of brother and sister Spector players. This bothered me almost as much as my experiences with Warrior from way back in 2001 when I was trying to order a bass from them and got similar commentary and slurs. How can you call yourself a musician and still actively participate in this kind of behavior? It goes against everything I believe in as a bass player, as a person and as a musician.

Ugh. I'll stop now. At least I know who gets this week's 602 pound bag of flaming sh!t.

But this douche bag actually said this to me. It was bad enough that as a leader of a band, he couldn't answer simple questions about an audition (questions any musician would ask before showing up to one), but then he busts out the anti-Semitic remarks and I resent him for it right now. I resent the hell out of it. It makes me mad because it makes my Christian friends look bad, and it makes me feel that I've been demeaned and attacked and sh!t upon because of who I am and what I believe and what culture I come from.
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Steve, its better you don't even deal with this *^%*. Its good he showed you his true colors before you even waisted any more time with him.....see God showed you his character before hand......:bassist:
 
#865
cableguy said:
Smadder move on quickly. (very quickly) As a Christian I'm tired of d-bags like this. They give all religion a bad name. I'm far from perfect but I do pride myself on being nothing like him. I try to respect all people, color, religion, etc. But when people open their mouths and spew out things like this, they can quickly lose my respect.....
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I doubt he even is Christian...Probably some dude trying to mock religion....No Christian has a head that big.
 
#866
Basstovsky said:
These days I can imagine being religious is pretty tough, there are so many people disgracing what they stand for by being downright evil, I don't think I have seen any religion that didn't have its share of wackos ruining it for all the other people. Maybe Buddhism? Buddhists seem pretty chill, they might not have extreme crazies that make the religion look bad.

The whole world's a pretty sad state right now.

Also for the sake of the thread I had a request so heres a pic of a Spector :D Wish the stains would come off the ancient pickups...
SAM_0653.gif


Also the J pickup doesnt quite fit and I had to shave it a little, odd the size of the stock NS-2A pickups...
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Looks like my old one...did you buy it from a guy in New Hampshire?
 
#867
Basstovsky said:
Thanks! Honestly the idea was to get as close to the sound of the original NS-2 bass on a seriously small budget. With the Spector 9V tone control COPY and the same Dimarzio pickups used in the first NS-2s (they were even made in roughly the same period, not the new black ones that don't quite sound the same) I think this thing sounds awesome, and it has to be close, like gotta be 75% of the tone at least, without having the same wood for the wings and being the copy of the preamp it must be off by a bit. Definitely a roaring mids machine, but it really depends on how you EQ the amp, as I can get a lot out of it.
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75%!!...I would take that and run to the bank!...Thats a keeper! :bassist::bassist::bassist:
 
#869
LimaGuy said:
Steve,

Regarding your post. Don't take this personally at all.

You have been through too much in life to even let this cross your mind more then once.

That is just a damn fool of a person.
You will eventually find the right band situation.

Can you imagine how much of a ****head this guy would be as a band leader. :spit: :mad: :scowl:

When I was in in College, (In New York City) the College Jazz ensemble I played in was a mixture of all cultures, races, religions, etc...
Italian, Jewish, African American, Haitian, Asian, Lesbian, Gay, Etc...

The Professor would always say how wonderful it was that "Music" would bring together all these cultures.

That is true music and musicianship. :hyper: :bassist:
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Wise words!! :bassist:
 
#870
sumgruuvz said:
smadder. definitely dont waste your time there. his track record is obvious why he cant keep anyone. if you want, its possible that i might have to quit my current band because im getting a new job and i believe weekends are a must for me to work. so you can move to kansas where i am and replace me ;) good luck with finding a good band buddy. c0cksmooches like that dont even deserve your time and effort.
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Cocksmooches?..never heard that.......Awesome!!!
 
#874
sumgruuvz said:
spector alert. good deal for ns-2a

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPECTOR-NS-2A-/271034083567?pt=Guitar&hash=item3f1ae3e8ef#ht_500wt_1414
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What is that weird thing sticking out of it on the right side bottom...some kind of weird freaky input jack? Looks like an extra strap button


ebradfordrich said:
Good in theory but running with which head? There have been numerous reports about the matching head not being able to reliably support dual cabs (do a search on Micro VR over in the amp forum). I owned that setup with for a bit as a practice amp with one cab. It was decent enough, though I'm loving the portaflex (PF500/115) combination these days.
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Oh I've got a couple amps already that I would use with the cabinets, like my A.M.P BH-420. I've also been toying with the idea of saving up and buying a good ol vintage Ampeg V4 nut that would be long after buying the cabinets.
 
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#875
celinder 72 said:
Smadder You will find a great gig i'm sure. Its a good thing this guy showed his true colors and you found out sooner than later! I was raised in Memphis and I'm used to dealing with this crap all the time. One former band mate was always preaching about being saved and being a good christian . This "good christian" would tell people he was "mentoring" me. I was newly clean and sober at the time. And found out later this guy was on pills ,coke, weed and alcohol and would try to pick up girls behind his wife's back! And he would tell me what was wrong with me and what i should do with my life! I know this is not indicative of all christians(my best friend is a devout christian ) but unfortunately I experience this often in the bible belt. The ones who talk the talk USUALLY don't walk the walk.
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Sounds familiar...I had a guy that always use to preach to me and my friends. He would always say how God wants us to bless people. So me and my friends use to always pick up his tab. One day I was short on cash and took him Mc'donalds cause he was with me. I said we can only get from the dollar menu cause I only had a few dollars....He turns to me in a mooking way and says,..."ok brother i guess I am going to have to eat from the dollar menu"..he said this so mockingly...after 2 years of me and my friends that had jobs (this guy refuses to work) paying from for this guy. We told him about him working and he says..."God brought friends in his life to bless him"???...Seriously????...haven't seen this guy in years, thank God!!
 
#880
iceboxbass said:
Who here uses Circle K strings and do they make flats? Thank you!
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I have. They felt & played great but were a little bright for my taste. But this was coming from using really old roto's before. I was also in the middle of changing over to a new cab & amp. (note to self-never change strings, amp & cabs at same time and expect to have anything close to "your" sound) :D

I still have the my circle k's and will string up my Legend 5 with them when I get a new B string. I don't think they make flats.
 
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