HamerHokie

Even if they won't, I forgive you. I could listen to "Just Got Paid" all day long I think. I feel that way about "Waiting For The Bus" and "Heard It On The X."

And? -Austin Yup, that IS the real P-90 tone!

Happy Birthday!

First line of his last blog post - warning, foreshadowing! "Oh, how quickly things can change."

After reading the last Les Paul thread, I'm convinced there are more Les Pauls owned here than Hamers.

See, this is what I get from being busy this week. This thread starts out like someone cut off the first three or four posts. Can anyone say what happened to cause this thread?

Most of the places we played had jukeboxes. One had a DJ that did dance trax between sets. That was an odd room.

We were a half-hour break band but our sets were 75-90 minutes long. Our clients never complained, but I wonder what would have happened if we scaled it back to 1 hour play - 20 minutes break.

Turdus make good points. Let me define 'unsuccessful' - when you have been playing 6 gigs a month, then it goes down to 4, then to 2, then to 1.... And some of the rooms were terrible from the start, while others were going very well until boom, no more gigs...so no matter what the situation, the results were the same. But again, Turdus make good points. In our case, I have only been in the band for 7 years. The band started in '95 and the front man (former drummer) is the only original member. They went through about 5 guitarists until they got me. Up until then, they were a two-guitar band, all guitarists singers. After me, the drummer moved out front, we got a keyboardist, and the front man was the only singer. We rotated drummers, had a permanent one for a couple years, then rotated again when he didn't work out. Our current lineup has the best chops, by far, of any past lineup. But the least vocals. To me that is a huge reason. Another is, although getting the keyboardist opened things up, probably our set list didn't evolve with the times. Another is that we played a lot of different kinds of rooms but didn't have sets tailored for each. The band was at its peak in the 2000 timeframe, when they built up enough of a following to produce a CD. They were playing up to 9 gigs a month at that point. I remember the first time I saw them in 2002, each singer had lead duties on a different song, and the other two backed him up. Thought they did that very well. So this band probably ran its course, and we were lucky to keep doing it for as long as we did.

All great replies. One thing that hasn't come up (unless I totally missed it) is the need for a booking agent or manager. This was always a big sticking point in our situation, because the lead singer insisted on doing all the bookings (due to bad past experiences with agents).

Chops may be overrated, but they're on the list. Song selection is above chops on the list. People do give a shit though. If I think that, it doesn't mean I need to get over myself or that it doesn't matter. There are musicians that we all know that have inflated importance and what not, so I "get" your flip-ness about it, but I think your total dismissal of chops and audience reaction to stuff played well is OTT. You guys play stuff well, you know it, and "act like you've been there", which in the end is cool enough. Chops is a red herring in my mind, because it's not a reason people come out to see us. I get compliments over the course of the evening, but those giving the compliments are nowhere to be seen the next time we play there. The 'getting people to dance' thing is important too. Another thing is, 'don't play the same stuff every time you play there.' My lead singer was bad about that at times. Not only the same songs, but in the same order.

Yeah, I remembered 'front person' at the last minute. I think we were a failure ultimately because the last couple of years we were in a tailspin and nothing we did corrected our descent. We started investing in a soundman and things got worse. We rotated pro drummers and sounded better as a result - but got no bounce from it.

As my seven year participation in a cover band draws to a close, I'm looking to gain wisdom from failure.* My thinking now - here are the top ingredients (some of these are genre-dependent): 1. Excellent vocals - three part harmony minimum 1.a. A market - people willing to come out to see your kind of music - and the ability to tap that market 2. 'The Look' for your genre 3. Credibility in your genre (in other words, you don't expect to see 60 year olds playing System of Down) . . 6. Deliver a great experience (sound mix, volume, etc) . . . . 15. Great musical chops EDITED TO ADD - Charismatic Front Man/Woman belongs up there in the Top 3 I think. *acknowledging that there are things out of your control, like the economy, nimrod bar owners, etc

Ronnie James Dio, because he sounds like one of the 'Superfans' from the old SNL skits.

My problem is that every one of these I've seen on Ebay is in Gherkin Green. I want a broader color selection, and don't give me that 'they'll make it any way you want it for an upcharge' crap.

Spooky Creepy

Is he making money? Does anyone know his arrangement with the business end of things? Most of their royalties come from the albums he didn't play on, with songs he didn't write. The Stones didn't make Ron Wood a 'full member,' money-wise, for 17 years. I guess Viv is just a plain idiot and should walk away from playing in front of 50K live audiences... Damn fool. What kind of life is that? He probably wasn't getting the cut he well deserved with Dio. That is probably why he is so disrespectful to Dio. I'm sure he is very well compensated. He is laughing all the way to the bank and can care less what people think he should or should not do. When the Touring is done, or band breaks up, he'll have plenty of options to consider, one would be his bank account. Viv considers himself to be a success. I do to. 999.99% of guitarists never reach his level. He isn't concerned what pundits think. Where did you get that I thought he was an idiot? It was a simple question, not a value judgment.

Is he making money? Does anyone know his arrangement with the business end of things? Most of their royalties come from the albums he didn't play on, with songs he didn't write. The Stones didn't make Ron Wood a 'full member,' money-wise, for 17 years.

Then, by that logic couldn't you say that an Artist will get you most of the way to a Newport...? I THINK the order would be: Solid Studio Artist Chambered Studio Newport My reasoning is that I believe that there is more 'fluting' (lol) in a chambered Studio than there is an Artist. A Newport, as originally designed, is much more hollow but if sealed up should get closer to a chambered Studio. Just an opinion. The solid Studios and the Artist that I owned were not THAT different. The big difference between the Newport and the chambered Studio, outside of the hollowness, would be the spruce top vs maple top. And in my experience, chambers make a HUGE difference in Studios.

Turdus The Matthes's's Butcher BCR Greg The late Nightwolf Alpep I think I met Galejt at BCR once Elduave Stonge Kim Keller Matt Smith ...can't think of the names but others from Nightwolf's jams - JoeD, EvanD?

He's a white soul singer - make him break out the Motown!

"Hurt," of course. I could never perform this without crying. "Keep Me In Your Heart For a While" - Warren Zevon, basically his swan song to the world. "Shannon" - Henry Gross, about losing his dog to the sea. Much sadder than "Wildfire" IMHO. "Candle In The Wind" - Elton John "Empty Garden" - Elton John "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" - Jimmy Ruffin, redone better by Joan Osbourne "Eleanor Rigby" - Beatles "Without You" - Nilsson "Song to the Siren" - Tim Buckley, though This Mortal Coil's version is more haunting

I know what I like and I measure all guitars against that standard. Using this, I was able to eliminate solidbodies altogether, because I came to like chambered guitars better. From there, it's just a matter of mating the guitar with the right pickups, and judging playability. Looking at my stable, what makes each a keeper: Studio Custom - my 40th birthday present from my wife. That. plus the cool trans orange finish over quilt, and it has a monster fat tone. Artist Korina Custom - weight, and the fact that the corroded gold hardware makes this one nigh impossible to sell, IMHO. Still looking for the right pickup combo for it, it seems to be my rotating pickup test bed. Artist Korina P-90 - noticeably heavier than the Korina Custom, this one flat out rawks with those rude SD P-90s. Plus it has a nice trans yellow finish, not TV yellow but a true trans yellow, that livens up the natural Korina perfectly. Studio Custom - the trans black flametop I got recently is still getting pickup tryouts - but it plays better than any of my others, and it's the only one with an ebony fretbord. Right now it has a WCR Fillmore in the bridge. Might try a Rio.

I had a '94 and it didn't say Special on the headstock.

I like Korina better than mahogany. Lighter, better midrange. That said, both my Korinas are semi-hollow and I've never compared with a solid Korina.