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You think the audience doesn't notice? Think again!

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#82
JimmyM said:
I consider it a high compliment.
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That's 'cause you're edgy! :woot:

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#83
depends on the audience, type of music etc, ive played in places where they didnt know what a bass guitar was, prob still dont, played at a place where the sound guy thought the bass notes were generated by the kick drum lol its a big world still, maybe, just saying.
 
#84
troy mcclure said:
I think it is technically is in 2 counties. It had the #1 Wal-Mart by sales in the state of FL for a while and has the highest percentage of STDs. I know I am retiring there , if i can...lol.
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Ya, Lake and Sumter counties. I don't know if that STD thing still stands, though they're still a horny bunch of old folks!
 
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#88
joke aside, I once played for an artist at an outdoor stage. Then a little girl came with her mom, passed by the artist and the guitar player etc. and asked if her mom can take a picture of me and her.. That really happened nobody in the band believed what they just saw :)

Edit: now I think, maybe she just thought I was the guitar player who played the solos...:meh:
 
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#89
JimmyM said:
EDIT: Sorry if posted in the wrong forum. Had no idea where to post it.

Did a gig last night at an outdoor venue at The Villages in Fla (a big giant retirement community) that I play once a month, and we get a lot of regulars. I've been using my Hammersmith with a very dead set of Dunlop Super Bright Nickels there pretty much exclusively most of the year. Tonight I got a wild hair and brought out my modded 76 Precision with a newish set of the same strings instead. Both these basses have Geezer PJ's, and to me they sound about the same when the strings have comparable wear. Everything else was the same as usual...REDDI into the PA, same pedals I've been using all year set the same way and used in the same songs, same sound tech we usually have there and the same PA, which is a decent but not particularly great PA (a souped-up and somewhat customized Bose PA...one of the bigwigs of the Bose family lives at the Villages and has the ear of the family who owns the Villages).

I probably had 20 people who are regulars at our gigs come up to me on break and ask me how come the Fender sounded so much edgier and aggressive than the Hammersmith. Only one of them plays an instrument, and while most were guys, plenty of women said the same thing.

So if I ever hear any of you jokers try to claim that the audience doesn't know or care about your sound again, I will tell you that you're a very arrogant person who has zero respect for your audiences. Of course, I have been saying that for years, but now I've got proof. A big outdoor venue with about 3000 people there in various states of inebriation, and several non-musicians noticed that the strings on the Fender made it sound edgier.

The lesson I learned is I need to change my strings more often :D The lesson YOU should learn is that if you think your audience is so stupid that they can't tell the difference in your sound no matter what you use, maybe they're not the stupid ones.

Happy holidays, everyone!
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With all due respect, you just confirmed what many have been saying: 99% of the audience don’t notice things like this. Twenty people out of 3,000 is less than one percent.

Happy holidays!
 
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#91
mobdirt said:
depends on the audience, type of music etc, ive played in places where they didnt know what a bass guitar was, prob still dont, played at a place where the sound guy thought the bass notes were generated by the kick drum lol its a big world still, maybe, just saying.
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Listen, I'm not saying that there aren't people in the audience who aren't clueless, but to assume that everyone is based on a couple random comments from drunk girls or meth heads is IMHO arrogant.
 
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#92
MYLOWFREQ said:
joke aside, I once played for an artist at an outdoor stage. Then a little girl came with her mom, passed by the artist and the guitar player etc. and asked if her mom can take a picture of me and her.. That really happened nobody in the band believed what they just saw :)

Edit: now I think, maybe she just thought I was the guitar player who played the solos...:meh:
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Gene Simmons would have got her number for ten years hence. Seriously! He told me once his philosophy regarding womanizing is a method he calls "Johnny Appleseed!"
 
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#95
JimmyM said:
EDIT: Sorry if posted in the wrong forum. Had no idea where to post it.

Did a gig last night at an outdoor venue at The Villages in Fla (a big giant retirement community) that I play once a month, and we get a lot of regulars. I've been using my Hammersmith with a very dead set of Dunlop Super Bright Nickels there pretty much exclusively most of the year. Tonight I got a wild hair and brought out my modded 76 Precision with a newish set of the same strings instead. Both these basses have Geezer PJ's, and to me they sound about the same when the strings have comparable wear. Everything else was the same as usual...REDDI into the PA, same pedals I've been using all year set the same way and used in the same songs, same sound tech we usually have there and the same PA, which is a decent but not particularly great PA (a souped-up and somewhat customized Bose PA...one of the bigwigs of the Bose family lives at the Villages and has the ear of the family who owns the Villages).

I probably had 20 people who are regulars at our gigs come up to me on break and ask me how come the Fender sounded so much edgier and aggressive than the Hammersmith. Only one of them plays an instrument, and while most were guys, plenty of women said the same thing.

So if I ever hear any of you jokers try to claim that the audience doesn't know or care about your sound again, I will tell you that you're a very arrogant person who has zero respect for your audiences. Of course, I have been saying that for years, but now I've got proof. A big outdoor venue with about 3000 people there in various states of inebriation, and several non-musicians noticed that the strings on the Fender made it sound edgier.

The lesson I learned is I need to change my strings more often :D The lesson YOU should learn is that if you think your audience is so stupid that they can't tell the difference in your sound no matter what you use, maybe they're not the stupid ones.

Happy holidays, everyone!
Click to expand...

Thanks JimmyM for all the experiences and gig info you share

I enjoy your posts and opinions and that you stand firm and I’m not even an Ampeg user

I still recall playing through a friends Ampeg fliptop SB12 in late 60s realizing that was THE sound I had heard on all the hit records

You have remained a true friend even though we’ve never met in person

Happiest of Holidays to you and Yours
 
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#96
I have to say that the one time out of how many gigs you ever played does not add up to everytime (even though you did not state that). So I would not overthink this. I am glad someone noticed your sound but for for the other 100,000 gigs going on that night the rest of the boozed up people didn't care about how the bass sounded, as long as they could hear it.
 
#97
Gorn said:
If I had a sample size of one event and claimed that was proof of anything I'd probably avoid calling skeptics arrogant. Different strokes for different folks.
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Meh, his calling skeptics arrogant was just a "hot take" and not really a meaningful and sincerely felt diss, I think. Also, in proving that these people noticed at this time, he's proved that "people notice" bass tone. What the proportion is remains debatable, but if some people notice, it's advisable to tend to this element of your presentation. You want to do it right every time, so that the one time you need for it to be done right when somebody is listening that matters, it's done right.

Every once in a while I have a fleeting urge to phone it in, or say "yeah, I messed that part up, but these people don't notice these things" but then I think about that bass player in the back who may be my equal or better, listening. Then I remember that you should always conduct yourself as if someone knowledgeable is listening, and listening closely, because more often than you think, they are, when you don't know it.
 
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#100
bdplaid said:
I agree, have always said that, especially that they hear a difference, don't know what it is, but they know it's different and they either like it or don't. However...

I've been the victim of many a sound guy, and many times it wouldn't matter if I played a P bass, or Jazz, or MM, with or without flats. A friend once described the FOH bass tone as a "comfortable thud."
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I hear that. Studio engineers too. They can take any instrument you bring in and suck all the character right out of it.
 
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