icantquityoubabe Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 I would like to direct this question to some that I know already are involved in bands or have been such as Leddy, Rock Action, Honeydripper, Evster and others-please dont be offended if I didnt mention you specifically. I am in the process of getting good equipment first. What are your thought on forming and keeping it as inexpensive as possible? PA systems for instance? Minimum amp wattage (will go with Marshall for electric-any thoughts on acoustic amps?) Also, do you think it is absolutely essential to play cover material or is it possible to write your own material and give it a try? Obviously it has to be good or its going nowhere. It can be good and still go nowhere Im sure. Just looking for advice. I tried with some years ago. Had a great drummer, no trouble finding a bass player but the roadblock was always finding a vocalist. Would like to see some of your opinions. Would ask some of the members here with a strong dislike for me to restrain from bashing me if possible. Want to do it for fun and the love of music-not to try and be a rock star or make a million dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leddy Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 I would like to direct this question to some that I know already are involved in bands or have been such as Leddy, Rock Action, Honeydripper, Evster and others-please dont be offended if I didnt mention you specifically. I am in the process of getting good equipment first. What are your thought on forming and keeping it as inexpensive as possible? PA systems for instance? Minimum amp wattage (will go with Marshall for electric-any thoughts on acoustic amps?) Also, do you think it is absolutely essential to play cover material or is it possible to write your own material and give it a try? Obviously it has to be good or its going nowhere. It can be good and still go nowhere Im sure. Just looking for advice. I tried with some years ago. Had a great drummer, no trouble finding a bass player but the roadblock was always finding a vocalist. Would like to see some of your opinions. Would ask some of the members here with a strong dislike for me to restrain from bashing me if possible. Want to do it for fun and the love of music-not to try and be a rock star or make a million dollars. I think you sum it all up in your last sentence "Want to do it for fun and the love of music-not to try and be a rock star or make a million dollars". I think if your worried about what PA and stuff to get, then join a band already going who would have all of the equipment and all you need to do is bring your guitar,amp and pedals along !!! Starting your own band up is always difficult and I always find it hard to find a decent keyboard player !! Yes go and do some covers and your own stuff too, once you stick a few ideas down to the other band members you will be surprised in what they come back with (musically) !! it kinda snowballs . I use to get away with a 80 watt amp in my first band !! it kicked out enough for a pub !! depends on how big a gig you intend to play ! last but not least (I would guess your about my age of 41) you need the permission of your other half as I have known some people getting it in the neck because of this (not me thank goodness), because even just being in a pub band you need to have a degree of commitment and that means being focused and sometimes selfish practising and rehearsing....Good Luck !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Action Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 As far as the material goes- I think the best approach (what worked for us, anyway) is to perform originals, but also squeeze in some covers that are suitable to your band's style. Stuff that people love to hear. For instance, our band has sort of a Zep/Stones feel to it, because that's what we all grew up on and love. So we cover stuff like No Quarter (our longest song in the gig, more on that later), Midnight Rambler, Gimme Shelter, The Crunge, When The Levee Breaks, etc. We also throw some Crowes in there for good measure. Typically our set is a long sucker! Now, my recommendation for covering the covers. Don't just play by numbers, off the studio albums. What we do is play them similar to our favorite live versions. Which is why NQ is over 20 minutes long, and Midnight Rambler exceeds 12 minutes regularly. But don't hesitate to add your own touches, as long as they don't distract from the song. Be sure to leave time for those originals though! Get your tunes heard! It's too easy to just fall back on playing your favorite songs and forget about your own stuff. Our originals are probably 50% of the set. Gear-wise, I don't have anything fancy myself, just an old Marshall amp and an effects pedal, as well as a vintage Crybaby wah. Our lead guitarist owns all the PA shit, monitors, BIG stacks, etc. I'll leave that aspect of it to those more in the know. And the most important thing is: HAVE FUN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Action Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 How many watts is your Marshall?? Maybe Ill name my band "Living In The Past". Ill do that song that starts out: "sitting on a park bench. eyeing little girls with bad intent" My amp is 100 watt. Great for shattering eardrums in a small pub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redeyedrichard Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Make sure when you start out that you fully check out each member of the band for mental issues. Me and my brother had to recently kick out our bass player of three years because his mental issues were destroying the good spirit of the band. We recorded one album with him, some of the stuff will be up on MySpace soon when we decide on a new band name. But seriously, make sure your band members are of a similar mindset to you. If you say that you don't want to be a rockstar and make millions then make sure your band members share that viewpoint otherwise one of them might start booking a tour without you knowing etc. But things became hellish in our band because of the bass player....so make sure you know who you are getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Action Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Wow. You really dont need 100 unless you want to knock down your neighbors wall. They would have be in jail so fast your head would spin in this town. I am going to get a 50 at the most. I may check out E-bay for the hell of it. Wish I could buy a guitar online but I just dont trust doing it. Have to try it out first. Yrs ago my ex wife and a friend who is no longer of this earth bought me a studio Les Paul for my B-day. They didnt know what they were doing. I always wondered why even though it was in tune when you played chords on the higher frets it didnt sound right. Finally I found a repair guy that told me that it was defective. Gibson company when they made it pitched the neck wrong where it goes into the main body of the guitar. I wound up trading it in to one of the rip off stores around here for an ovation. Im sure they thougth they had gotten the best of me. Score one for me. Guitar stores 4 Rick 1. The reason for the 100w amp is because we play a lot of outdoor gigs too. You can always turn the sucker down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leddy Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Make sure when you start out that you fully check out each member of the band for mental issues. Me and my brother had to recently kick out our bass player of three years because his mental issues were destroying the good spirit of the band. We recorded one album with him, some of the stuff will be up on MySpace soon when we decide on a new band name. But seriously, make sure your band members are of a similar mindset to you. If you say that you don't want to be a rockstar and make millions then make sure your band members share that viewpoint otherwise one of them might start booking a tour without you knowing etc. But things became hellish in our band because of the bass player....so make sure you know who you are getting. Yes if they don't have the same mindset as me they can all F*ck off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Action Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Yes if they don't have the same mindset as me they can all F*ck off It's terribly difficult to play in a band if everyone doesn't see eye-to-eye at least the vast part of the time. I've tried getting together with some local people here, all they want to play is "classic rock" crap. Styx, Foreigner, Blue Oyster Cult and so on. FUCK THAT. So...instead I travel on the weekends and play with the band I started with. It's worth every penny of travel expense, believe me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leddy Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 It's terribly difficult to play in a band if everyone doesn't see eye-to-eye at least the vast part of the time. I've tried getting together with some local people here, all they want to play is "classic rock" crap. Styx, Foreigner, Blue Oyster Cult and so on. FUCK THAT. So...instead I travel on the weekends and play with the band I started with. It's worth every penny of travel expense, believe me. When you say Classic rock crap, wouldnt you class Zep as classic rock ?? in that case what the fuck you doing here you tit ??............nah don't worry only pulling you pisser !! but seriously Zeppelin is classic rock although 2 of the bands you mention are alwful and the other i only know one song by them so can't really judge !!! I posted that No Quarter link for the dude on the other forum. The problem with guitar tabs is that thay never tell what key the songs in, you cannot see the dynamics and tempo etc the song has to be played in, its ok if the music score is above then its very useful to have tab !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Action Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 OK. Zep and Stones are obviously an exception to my "classic rock" rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leddy Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 OK. Zep and Stones are obviously an exception to my "classic rock" rule. Ok we get that one out the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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