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when people act weird about your gear...
- Thread starter friendlybass
- Start date
Great question, I cranked the nuts on the wheels down so it takes a fair bit of oomph to move it. I actually love the height and prefer the flat angle. I originally intended to remove the trucks and bolt the wheels to the backside to tilt it but this was so elegantly simple I fell in love. I find it way more functional for me than when I used pedaltrain
I don't care how much or how often I might catch crap for this...but, WRONG CHURCH...WRONG BRETHREN. Get yourself to a place and people who truly believe in the lord's intent rather than the collective narcissism of local religion. Sorry to offend some...but, it's real.
Need and want are very different. I have a churchy sound for those dramatic worship moments where people start falling out and stuff and crying all over. The holy spirit must live in my delay pedal
I crank the wheel nuts down so it rolls when I want but not otherwise. The only time ir disobeys is when I set it on the tail of my car. I actually have more issues keeping the Velcro on the pedals when it gets hot than the skateboard rolling
A fancy church got mad about your Jag? That thing is like the tuxedo of basses, all classy and understated. Ask what they'd prefer you play, and then have them buy it for you. Then, just put the skateboard behind the monitor.
Alternatively, tell them to eat your shorts and kickflip outta there, Bart Simpson style.
Alternatively, tell them to eat your shorts and kickflip outta there, Bart Simpson style.
I appreciate the critique man, I actually moved from pedaltrain products because I wasn't happy with the weight, angle, or price. They work for most everybody but my little 20$ board works for me. I'd never received this level of criticism on it before in a church setting and so was caught off guard, most churches don't really fuss as long as your sound is tasteful
Not plugged in at all we were playing as a favor. We're a relatively well known gaggle in our network of churches and often fill in for small events. He was standing next to me and understood my upset look. He set me up for a dope solo and bought beer and sandwiches later so all was well
That's really fascinating. I suppose if you've less pedals you can use a pennyboard too. Coolest DIY pedalboard idea I've seen in a while.
And yeah I reallly really hate the velcro-glue-melting thing ARGH.
Bro my name is also Nathan. I appreciate the sympathy and wise advice, to all not just a fellow Nate dawg you rock TB
First off, I am going to buy a bashed-up old skateboard and make me a pedalboard. Of course, then I'll have to buy pedals. I'm seeing potential here for guitards... I live near a good snowboarding mountain!
But I think I'd have left it home for the liability reasons mentioned. Technically speaking maybe not your problem, but it's a risk you don't need and the church doesn't need. I'm not sure that's why the guy objected, though.
Incorrect, sir. The trombone is the devil's instrument. There's an augmented 4th built right into the slide! What could be more diabolical?
I've played several basses at several churches. I cannot believe yours was an issue for anyone. That's on him, not you or your gear. I guess if I had been in your shoes I'd have either ignored him if possible or said 'I see' or 'that's interesting' or something totally non-committal that says nothing at all, and I'd have the mindset that unless he's the gal/guy who hired me or the guy/gal who's leading me, his opinion just doesn't matter and I can ignore it. He thinks he knows something, or he's trying to yank your chain or pee in some corner to make sure his territory is adequately marked.
More than likely he'll go away at that point. A lot of these people just have an inflated sense of self-importance and if you don't react, they'll return the favor by not bothering you. The church I used to play at / do FOH for had a very strict policy about ANYONE pitching crap to the band or tech folks. Not even pastors got to do it - everybody ran complaints through the BL or the tech director. Obviously the people in the pews could say what they want, but all of us referred them to the BL or tech director. Those two were responsible for filtering the noise from the legit comments. If there was something we needed to hear, they'd pass it on.
Move on. Either mentally or actually.
But I think I'd have left it home for the liability reasons mentioned. Technically speaking maybe not your problem, but it's a risk you don't need and the church doesn't need. I'm not sure that's why the guy objected, though.
Incorrect, sir. The trombone is the devil's instrument. There's an augmented 4th built right into the slide! What could be more diabolical?
I've played several basses at several churches. I cannot believe yours was an issue for anyone. That's on him, not you or your gear. I guess if I had been in your shoes I'd have either ignored him if possible or said 'I see' or 'that's interesting' or something totally non-committal that says nothing at all, and I'd have the mindset that unless he's the gal/guy who hired me or the guy/gal who's leading me, his opinion just doesn't matter and I can ignore it. He thinks he knows something, or he's trying to yank your chain or pee in some corner to make sure his territory is adequately marked.
More than likely he'll go away at that point. A lot of these people just have an inflated sense of self-importance and if you don't react, they'll return the favor by not bothering you. The church I used to play at / do FOH for had a very strict policy about ANYONE pitching crap to the band or tech folks. Not even pastors got to do it - everybody ran complaints through the BL or the tech director. Obviously the people in the pews could say what they want, but all of us referred them to the BL or tech director. Those two were responsible for filtering the noise from the legit comments. If there was something we needed to hear, they'd pass it on.
Move on. Either mentally or actually.
Haha try one tattoo reading "MOM" totally covered by my button down shirt and cardigan, my AR670-1 military hairstyle I maintain cause I'm an army reservist, and a short well trimmed in between training weekends beard! I'm a punk rocker at heart but taste and versatility maketh the bass player.
It's all cool, man. You asked for opinions and why you got some backlash and I can see why the skateboard may have been off putting. But the remark about the bass was mean spirited and ignorant.
The unfortunate thing is some TBers made an example out of one particular deacon and gave the old '...and that's exactly why I stopped going to church...' attitude.
I can only speak from my personal experience; I've heard of church bands having internal politics, but I've never experienced it personally.
When I play at church, I dress business casual, like the rest of the worship team. The pedal board, yeah, I can see an issue with the look, if you're up on a stage and everyone can see it. (We don't have a stage- the altar is raised but we're against the rear wall behind it. Nobody can see our feet.) As for the bass- there's tons of variation, obviously, but the current trend is towards 5-strings with active pickups. So an inexperienced deacon may have seen the 4-string and thought it was for a beginner. (I play a $350 4-string MIM Squier Jazz bass, at least till my Warmoth comes in, and nobody's complained. In fact, most lay people don't even know how many strings a bass has.) I have heard of worship leaders being a bit snobbish, but it's usually the silliest snobbery- like someone who pans American beer, then drinks Becks (yep, the Becks in the USA is made in the USA.) They hear name brands, and expect all the "best" musicians to play them. The deacon probably didn't see the Fender logo on the headstock, or he wouldn't have said a thing.
When I play at church, I dress business casual, like the rest of the worship team. The pedal board, yeah, I can see an issue with the look, if you're up on a stage and everyone can see it. (We don't have a stage- the altar is raised but we're against the rear wall behind it. Nobody can see our feet.) As for the bass- there's tons of variation, obviously, but the current trend is towards 5-strings with active pickups. So an inexperienced deacon may have seen the 4-string and thought it was for a beginner. (I play a $350 4-string MIM Squier Jazz bass, at least till my Warmoth comes in, and nobody's complained. In fact, most lay people don't even know how many strings a bass has.) I have heard of worship leaders being a bit snobbish, but it's usually the silliest snobbery- like someone who pans American beer, then drinks Becks (yep, the Becks in the USA is made in the USA.) They hear name brands, and expect all the "best" musicians to play them. The deacon probably didn't see the Fender logo on the headstock, or he wouldn't have said a thing.
Never played a gig where I've had that kind of interaction but I look at it like this. I will make accommodations for certain things depending on the gig. For example, I am currently playing in a working cover band, bars, clubs, etc. Those crowds and venue owners don't usually care what gear we play as long as at works and sounds good.
Now if a wedding comes up and they requested some coordination in that we all play the same color instruments, provided we have uniform color guitars available to us, I would absolutely comply with the request. At the end of the day a wedding gig, much like a church gig is a different entity. The bride and groom are going to have a vision for their event and as the band it stands to reason that modest requests should be accommodated. The pay is often higher so there are likely to be more requests made of the band, a number of requested songs, input on appearance etc.
There is also the recording session dynamic, those are cases where a producer or the song writer might outright say, I want a passive bass used, when 99% of the time you play active.
It just comes down to what kind of gig it is. Original band where all have equal say, play what you like. Bar gigs, same thing. Weddings, recording sessions for a singer songwriter, or a church where you are a guest player, make accommodations when possible. In fact in those situations I tend to ask about requests and expectations ahead of time and the client usually appreciates that.
Now if a wedding comes up and they requested some coordination in that we all play the same color instruments, provided we have uniform color guitars available to us, I would absolutely comply with the request. At the end of the day a wedding gig, much like a church gig is a different entity. The bride and groom are going to have a vision for their event and as the band it stands to reason that modest requests should be accommodated. The pay is often higher so there are likely to be more requests made of the band, a number of requested songs, input on appearance etc.
There is also the recording session dynamic, those are cases where a producer or the song writer might outright say, I want a passive bass used, when 99% of the time you play active.
It just comes down to what kind of gig it is. Original band where all have equal say, play what you like. Bar gigs, same thing. Weddings, recording sessions for a singer songwriter, or a church where you are a guest player, make accommodations when possible. In fact in those situations I tend to ask about requests and expectations ahead of time and the client usually appreciates that.
Yep, that's always been my experience as well. I offered to play for my youth group back when I still went to church. What a bunch of arrogant snobs.
I haven't read the entire thread so forgive me if someone else has mentioned this but that Jag is a fine bass. We play this tune in our church a lot and I am constantly admiring this guy's JAG (awesome tone)
I started building mine today! Thanks for the inspirition. Rock on!
If you guys keep this up we'll have to start a club!
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