Pet Peeves

[Cory T]

I was tuning up my bass while putting new strings on it and an odd thing happend. The screw that holds the open back tuners together came out. I had not noticed it loose before or anything, anyway, It was in a dark pretty big rock club, and so it was gone. It was about an hour before the show started, and I was beyond frustrated. Thankfully the other bass player in the opening band played an SR5. I called Customer service the next day and they took good care of me. Anyway this got me thinking Nothing frustrates me more than having equipment problems during shows. I've almost become paranoid about it even though it happens maybe once a year. I carry 2 of absolultey everything except another bass and cab. So hopefully this doesn't contriubute to my paranoia.
Anyway so i thought I would ask you guys what bothers you the most when you have to play?

My top 3 would be

1. Equipment Probs. Most of the time Pedal Board Problems
When somthing isn't working on your board, It is a pain in the ass to figure it out, somthings not plugged in good enough patch cable went bad.. etc this seems to happen to me the most.

2. Opening bands not wanting to share drums and bass cab.
I have a 8x10 Mesa boogie cab, and when the opening band is only playing 30 minutes, ill be damned if im going to move it. What makes me even more upset is when A. They are rude about it. or B. They insist on using their cab and expect me to stage it.

3. Sound men not paying much attention to the bass.
It seems to be the trend that most FOH guys i work with never pay much attention to how the bass sounds, especially out of the mains, when i played with a smaller rig it was very frustrating to go out front and hear my tone as simply mud.

Ok done bitching.

Thoughts?

 

[Hutton]

Cory I can appreciate that you are concerned that 'your' tone is heard properly. That I can absolutely understand. You have thought carefully about the combination of bass, amp, and cab and you want it to be just right.

Is not reasonable therefore for another bass player to expect that 'his' tone is heard which is a combination his bass, amp, and cab? Would you be happy using another players rig?

 

[koogie2k]

1. Equipment Probs. Most of the time Pedal Board Problems
When somthing isn't working on your board, It is a pain in the ass to figure it out, somthings not plugged in good enough patch cable went bad.. etc this seems to happen to me the most.

2. Opening bands not wanting to share drums and bass cab.
I have a 8x10 Mesa boogie cab, and when the opening band is only playing 30 minutes, ill be damned if im going to move it. What makes me even more upset is when A. They are rude about it. or B. They insist on using their cab and expect me to stage it.

3. Sound men not paying much attention to the bass.
It seems to be the trend that most FOH guys i work with never pay much attention to how the bass sounds, especially out of the mains, when i played with a smaller rig it was very frustrating to go out front and hear my tone as simply mud.

Well, I have some. First, i don't use pedals with my bass rig. I like the sound as it is. My rack is perfect and I just love a nice fat clean bass sound...so, I don't have that problem

Opening bands...I don't let them use our stuff. No band out here does that. I have leant my cab to a guy before because his went down and we are fairly supportive, but I won't let someone else beat up my gear just because that is what I do!

Sound guys. That is one. I am constantly on them about the bass sound and we won't go until all instruments are coming through to our satisfaction. I figure, the people who pay to see us, we pay the sound guy, he better do his/her job.

My biggest pet peeve...my lead guitar player. He has more equipment issues sometimes that can really be taken care of if he knew how to use it properly. Case in point, he just HAD to have a wireless. Well, he kept dropping the remote out of his pocket (he has used it once thus far) and it kept coming out the jack and then we would here the great sound of hiss, static and what not. Really got me mad at our last show.

My lead player again....dude loves to noodle between tunes. I absolutely hate that. To me, not very professional. So, I told him I would cleve off his hands with a meat clever if he did it again. I even put a meat cleaver on my amp....somehow, it seems to work.

Lead player again....turns himself up. I did what Luke suggested and wrote down his settings. I have yet to buy a beer.....but, it still irks me.

The one that takes the cake...drunk people trying to get on stage with me knocking over my stuff. More than one show has ended with said person getting escorted off the stage and out the door. Nothing says WAR like some drunk idiot knocking over my rack and cab.

However, most of the time....99% to be exact.....things go well and we put on our show to the best of our ability and have fun.

 

[Hutton]

Opening bands...I don't let them use our stuff. No band out here does that.

Absolutely agree. Too many stories of abuse of gear to even think of sharing anymore. If you can't turn up to play with your own gear don't turn up.

 

[silverburst]

I would never show up for a gig without a spare bass. Guess that's why I want to have two of everything...

 

[phatduckk]

ya i dont like letting people use my stuff... and i dont want to use anyone else's stuff either.

if another band's bass rig breaks ill let em use mine. ill act as nice as possible and be supportive but inside it'll kill me and ill pray that he doesnt beat up my amp. now, using my bass? wow, it would be really tough for me to let a "stranger" beat up my bass. i totally play the hell out of my gear, but thats me, its mine, i paid for it. its not that im mean or anything - but if something goes wrong with my gear i wont be too upset if its my fault. if i have to buy a new head cuz mine blew (for example) it would be OK if it was my fault but it would be a sticky situation if someone else did it... especially if i dont know em and they insist its not their bad.

my main pet peeve is that our guitarists have whack settings/gear. our rhythm guy's gig sound how our lead guy's should and visa versa.

 

[cdb]

my pet peeve is the singer... last gig, he was pretty intoxicated and kept knocking into my headstock and whacking the keys outta tune.... now, understand that he does this even when sober (not that he is ever completely sober) but this last show was just too much. I had to perform a ballet dance to keep out of his way. And he refuses to apologize, worse yet. Thats it. I have decided to kill him.

 

[brooklynfall]

I hear what you guys are saying, but it's very tough in NYC to get your stuff to a gig. Every club I've played at here has at least the basics: a drum kit sans snare, cymbals and hardware, and a (usually horrible) cabinet or bass combo. Most of the time, big cabs will not fit in taxis (which are too expensive anyway) and we bass players are stuck. If the club doesn't have something, we're all pretty much aware that it's our responsibility to contact the other bands and get some kind of sharing situation worked out. Really lame, but so is attempting to get your gear to a show without a vehicle. I can't remember the last NYC rock gig I played where I got to use my own head AND my own cab at the same time!

Most definitely a situation exclusive to NYC though. Everywhere else in the country, SOMEONE SOMEWHERE has a car.

 

[shamus63]

Pet Peeves:

*Opening band expecting us to provide the backline; not gonna happen from the bass side.

EDIT: NYC the exception.

*Being called for a hired-gun gig, accepting it, then being told at some later point that it involves jammers coming up. Give me the chance to say no before accepting the gig. As mentioned earlier, too many horror stories.

*Band members not being able to get themselves and their gear to and from gigs; especially irritating with singers who don't even own a mic!



*Guest jammers coming up on stage too drunk to maintain balance...

...and my all-time favorite:

*Lack of communication from the band leader, especially in regards to pay.


Sometimes, I really appreciate the home practice routine.

 

[Chris C]

Mine is probably when the other guys in the band say, "Hey... you mind if Fritz Whozamafrazzle sits in for a couple of songs and plays YOUR BASS?"

The YOUR BASS part is what really ticks me off the most. I don't care if Fritz sits in for the whole gig--I'm still getting paid. But I do care if he uses my bass. It's not that I'm being mean or a jerk... but I paid for the bass. I treat it like a baby. It's like a family member. It's like some guy asking if he can mess around with my wife.

I assume that most bassists won't trash my gear. So having my bass splintered before my eyes is not my biggest worry. The real problem is that it seems some folks out there don't know what a bar of soap is. Bass strings are not cheap. I've had new sets being totally destroyed and gunked up by guys sitting in for one or two songs--the strings are dead, buried, and in a disgusting state of decay by the time they are done. I HATE H*A*T*E that! Twenty bucks down the toilet.

I really should bring a cheap bass with dead strings as a backup... then rather than being the bad guy... the grinch... I can just point to it and say, "Sure, bud, there it is. Tear it up, dude. Don't forget to eat some fried chicken and greasy ribs before you sit in."

 

[shamus63]

The YOUR BASS part is what really ticks me off the most. I don't care if Fritz sits in for the whole gig--I'm still getting paid. But I do care if he uses my bass. It's not that I'm being mean or a jerk... but I paid for the bass. I treat it like a baby. It's like a family member. It's like some guy asking if he can mess around with my wife.

Yeah, that's way too nerve-wracking for me!

Luckily, if I do get pigeon-holed into letting a non-equipped jammer up that I don't know, I keep a junker bass around...

...beggars can't be chosers.

 

[Psycho Ward]

Owning only left handed basses almost totally eliminates the urge for anyone to want to borrow my bass…. Hehehehehehehe!

 

[strummer]

For me, I don't "have" to play, I have the privilidge to play! So, not many complaints here

Ok, maybe when part or parts of the band "dissapear" after the show, and I end up carrying all the stuff myslef.

 

[cdb]

Owning only left handed basses almost totally eliminates the urge for anyone to want to borrow my bass…. Hehehehehehehe!

I find that a 5 string fretless has the exact same effect

 

[Chris C]

I find that a 5 string fretless has the exact same effect

Ha! Yeah, a fretless generally sends them running. That has worked for me. Also, I used to tune my bass in fifths at times--that didn't go over so well for the "jammers" either.

 

[high mileage]

I find that a 5 string fretless has the exact same effect

Even 5-string fretted can do it... I hadn't thought about gigging in NYC but can see it being a big hassle. Something can always happen to any piece of gear, and of course it will be at the worst possible moment (Murphy's Law). I don't gig without two basses even though I've never needed a backup bass that I can remember. Maybe a double gig bag would be a great way to deal with that, but they do get heavy to carry.

Every couple of string changes I go over all the screws on the bass to make sure they're tight. Once in awhile you'll find something that has gotten a little loose and you've taken care of it before it became a problem. I just found that two of the 9/16" nuts that hold the tuners onto another one of my basses (different brand) were a little loose. Don't know how that happened but after eight years with that one it's not a big surprise. It could have been a problem down the road and I'm glad I caught it.


I use a pedalboard but no problems (yet!). I'm thinking about getting a single looper to use as a master bypass switch if I ever have a problem - one tap and the whole board is bypassed. No effects for the rest of the show unless it's an easy fix, but it beats losing sound until you can move your cables around and run straight into the amp. The show must go on...

Sound guys - I'm a little spoiled here, my band usually only works with one guy and he's very good. It hasn't always been that way so I know what you guys are saying but there really isn't anything you can do without getting on their bad side (totally the wrong place to be). My rule is that I don't say anything unless I can't live with the situation. The sound guy doesn't tell me how to play and I don't tell him what FOH should sound like. Not being a singer, it's pretty rare that I can't hear enough to do a show.

 

[cat_empire]

hahaha yeh i have pet peeves. I guess for me my main peeve is playing in my band and whenever i try and spice up an otherwise simple song with a few extra runs here or there, having the lead singer/guitarist spin around and start mouthing off at me to play simple, but then watching him 30 seconds later busting out massive long drawn out guitar solos.

another one of mine is the sound guys not giving a rats ass how the tone of the bass sounds I hate playing at gigs or watching gis where the only way you know there is a bass guitar present is by this semi-audible low rumble that lacks any sort of tone or definition.

I also hate the idea that the bass is just there to mimc what the rhythm guitar is doing. The way i see it the bass has just as much importance as any other instrument. Now i dont mean i want the bass to be hogging all the attention, cuz it wouldnt work like that either, i just think alot of people dont even consider the bass, its just all about guitar.

 

[prickly_pete]

Heres one -- and you don't see this much with EBMM bass people, mainly with the Fender crowd -- "my (whatever year) (whatever bass) is the best (whatever bass) I've ever heard. I got news for ya, it sounds like every other (78 whatever bass) out there. I guess its the same psychology that causes people to think that their kid is a genius. Just once I want a parent or grand parent to admit that their kid is a dumbass!

 

[midopa]

Loud, nasally noises from basses. I know people say mids are important and are a must to cut through, but sometimes I hear some bassists with no bass in their tone - just lots and lots of mids and maybe some highs. It sounds really nasty imho.

Likewise, loud, distorted/overdriven guitars really turn me off. That sound really ruins a song for me.

 

[high mileage]

another one of mine is the sound guys not giving a rats ass how the tone of the bass sounds I hate playing at gigs or watching gis where the only way you know there is a bass guitar present is by this semi-audible low rumble that lacks any sort of tone or definition.

True, but some of that has to do with EQ'ing the whole band. Bass and kick drum share the same area of the EQ and if they're competing for the same frequencies then together they sound like mush. Dialing up the lows on the kick and backing it off on the bass usually makes a better overall band mix. Bass obviously shouldn't sound like what you say but try listening to the whole band together and seeing how everything fits.