Musician's Thread

Unfortunately, this is the kind of prat we have to contend with in my area these days:

https://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/an-open-letter-to-join-my-band-admin-t1073322.html

I've got to meet quite a few good guys from that forum - some good players and singers, too. However, there is a rising amount of complete wasters in there, too, and this guy is something else. He's obviously in the wrong place and doesn't seem to realise why he hasn't had any response from the forum owners. He needs to read the T&Cs as well as the friendly info that new users are given when they sign up.

The place is getting a bit of a rep around here, though, for time wasters and wannabes. Fortunately, there are more serious sites (such as bandonkers, bandmix and Partysounds) where you are more likely to find musos with 'better' attitudes - but you might have to wait a while for an offer.

I personally don't have any recorded tunes available (well I have, but none that I would normally share - just here on this forum! :D ) according to this guy, that alone means I'm an amateur and shouldn't be on that forum. :s

I've never had to use local classifieds to meet other musicians - as my band has stayed together and any of the other musicians I have met along the way have either been at jams or gigs.

However I read through most of that guys post - and he sure does have a lot of rules he wants to foist on other people. I am not really sure how recruiting band members works in that forum - but I can't imagine wanting to join his band based on that post.

As for being an amateur - that has nothing to do with skill level. Being an amateur just means that you are pursuing a skill on an unpaid basis. I don't really get when people use the terms professional or amateur with regards to skill - because they are terms that simply describe whether money is involved or not. There have been plenty of great amateur golfers who are every bit as good as a professional golfer and that cross applies to any pursuit.

Also - when it comes to being a musician, I have known plenty of great musicians who do not have recordings of themselves on hand. I think that it is much easier now a days to make a decent recording (whether it is just a single track of you playing your instrument, or something more complex like a song recording), but it is not something everyone has the passion to do.

Besides if I was auditioning an additional musician for my band - I would more want to see how the person plays live in person.

Yup - sums it up ;)

I didn't respond to his post because I didn't want to justify it or to keep it at the top - just hoping it will wither away down the list.

I do agree with a couple of his points, but he has a very poor attitude. I think he just made sure no-one will be making him any offers. The forum mostly attracts newer musicians or those who want to be musicians anyway and they are mostly pretty young - so you make allowances. They need somewhere to go, too - and to try and get started playing with others.

I've been an amateur musician since I started playing - even when I was teaching, I was just an amateur guitarist teaching other amateur guitarists. Problem? I don't see one.

Brixmis said:

I've been an amateur musician since I started playing - even when I was teaching, I was just an amateur guitarist teaching other amateur guitarists. Problem? I don't see one.

That seems to be the right attitude. 

@@SimonSays28
Tasty jam and the pig looks tasty as well. Congrats on the clear live sound you guys have. On a further note, the YT thumbnail needs some Death Metal typo over it...the dead pig just screams Grindcore or Death Metal ::dizzy:

And now that I get around to it, I can post some pics of instruments I made some weeks ago while visiting my parents and brother.


The tiger striped guitar was a project from 12 years ago. I got a hold of parts from a bancrupt polish guitar builder who specialized in ripping of Jackson guitars. Bought the body and the neck (unfretted but flamed maple) for chump change (considering the build and wood quality) and spent another 300€ on the hardware for it. Took me about 6 weeks to build that thing. I'll never to a fret job again XD. After that I knew while refretting is so damn expensive. I also scalloped the neck from the 9th fret down to the 24th. Spray painted the Tiger Sunburst in the hottest summer for years in a closed room. Damn I got high and permanent brain damage from the fumes.

The Yamaha is the first guitar I ever had (mentioned before)...looks not very special but if you ever get the chance to get a hold of one of these take it. Great workhorses

Also snapped some picks of some of my brothers more interessting basses. The last one, the Maverick is a very special instrument. Only a small amount of these were ever built and the one my brother has belonged to the former bass player for the UK Death Metal powerhouse Bloodshot Dawn. Very unique and beautiful instrument. And a heavy thundering sound and easy to play like a guitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40PMzd-xjos

I do like the width of those necks at the nut. Look just my size!

Thanks @lord_of_shred - the mix for the sound in the video is a little bizarre. It is the 16 track recording from the gig as well as both camera's interal mic recordings mixed underneath the main mix (which is why you can hear a dog barking, lol). I also am taking this particular jam and layering it into another song to create a studio song - so if you listen carefully you can hear a basic one take through of me playing rhythm guitar to this - although there is no other guitar player on the stage. lol
As for the dead pig - yeah that was like the first pig roast I have ever been to when I saw it I knew I'd use some slow motion footage of it in a video project at some point it just looked so creepy. lol

Tasty guitar pic's! The tiger sunburst paint job is well worth a few brain cells lol!

I like the look of that Yamaha though - I can't really tell from the pic, but the natural wood grain is showing through on the body right? I love that look on guitars - I have a cheap guitar that I got from a friend. It's a Gypsy Rose strat knock off - it is covered in gross glitter with pink trim and such (it is marketed towards girls who are beginners - but I could also see it being used in an "ironic" way by a punk guitar player).

It's current appearance does nothing for me - but I do like the way it sounds and I have used it in the studio. My plan is to strip the finish and sand off all the paint and then just do a wax oil finish and then get it setup to play nicer.

@SimonSays28
Haha I was wondering where the rhythm guitar was coming from :D. Thought maybe (because I saw the iMac) a backing track. I also heard the dog.

The tiger sunburst looks good from afar but if you get closer you can see that it's quite bumpy...but hey Eddie didn't care about his stripes so why should I ;).

Yep, the Yamaha is just 3 pieces of alder, glued together with a satin finish that's now a highly glossy on a lot of the body from playing it so much. As I was younger I hated the look of it (I was so in love with the 3 color sunburst of my dads 70s Strat) but nowadays I don't mind it. Also you can't see the many dongs it's gotten over the years from playing it nearly everywhere and some drunken stage antics ;-).

Just googled the Gypsy Rose...JEEZ. I love my neon pink guitar but this is an atrocity. If I was playing in a 70s Disco Funk outfit and was coked out of my mind maybe then...but at least then it should have gold hardware.
Have fun stripping away the paint. I've done this one...its lengthy and painful (also you should wear some good breathing protection) but can be worth it...in my case it wasn't. Found the cheapest looking "wood" underneath it.

I just bought a "project" guitar for the son of a collegue of mine. Super ebay bargain. Nearly unplayed Yamaha Pacifica 112V (new price is about 250€ over here) for 100€ with a nice 30€ gigbag. Hope the little guy will take good care of this one.

Yep - no backing tracks, I find they take away freedom and also sound out of place. One of the things we like to do when we start a show is just jam for a soundcheck - one of us will start playing and then we just follow where it goes. It is also a good ace up the sleeve if you need to fill a few extra minutes of set time.

I have about 10 or so of these jams recorded through various live shows or rehearsals - maybe a few more. My plan is to take them and use them within studio songs I am work on. I released this one because I found the matching video on my camera's and wanted to see if I could get everything to sync up in Vegas Pro without much work.

I have a few projects coming to completion right now - should have a couple live albums (no extra over-dubs) released to our bandcamp soon and another youtube project I am working on that I can't wait to finish.

That Gypsy Rose wouldn't be so back if someone hadn't puked glitter all over it. I am going to either strip the paint or just sand the body and see what I get from that (it was free so I am not to worried about damaging it, lol) - even if it is cheap looking wood underneath that is still much more workable than what it is currently. My hope is that the wood grain looks decent enough that I can pair it with a matching pick guard. The neck actually is really nice to play - and the neck bolt on the back looks awesome. But I don't think there was enough coke in the entirety of the 80s to make anyone willingly go out on stage with it the way it currently looks. LOL

That's awesome about the Pacifica - I just took a look, if that was one of my first guitars I'd be stoked. My first bass was a starter Ibanez bass - where as a couple of my friends from richer families all got really expensive guitars at the time they started playing (my one buddy started on a PRS signature model). I am the only one who is still playing guitar 20 years later lol.

I played a six string banjo last weekend - they go for about $750 Canadian at the store I go to. That is the next guitar I get - I have no interest in learning how to play the banjo, but I love the tone of a banjo and this thing will work great for that in the studio.

Unfortunately they sold the Fender Bass VI that they had on hand the last time I went there - they had a couple of baritone guitars, but they are different than the Bass VI. I want one so bad - LOL

Yeah, I'm really happy for him. They haven't got much money and wanted to buy a super cheapo set which I can't just recommend. But a new Pacifica (which is my go to for every beginner, you can't get better value for your money imho) was way out of their price league...and finding this one nearly new on ebay for that price was cool. Should be arriving in the next few days so that I can clean it and set it up properly...just spent the last weekend getting my 3 guitars I have at my place set up and restrung...these locking bridges always make it more of a project that you think. Disassembling, cleaning, oiling (of the screws and the necks) and setting it back together.

Banjos are dope, I really admire good banjo players. But it's a very specific sound. A friend of my father was an avid Banjo player. When he passed it was sad to see all of his banjos getting sold of. I would have wanted to pick one up but they were way to pricy for just some playing around.

Bariton guitars are a special kind of beast. I was really set on this one 
The George Lynch model from the mid 2000s when we were experimenting with downtuned stuff. But the price was to high for me to pull the trigger on a guitar I'd just be using for 2 or 3 songs.

Talking of selling gear - I would like to sell all of my guitars except one, which I would keep to play through my GuitarPort and the PC, seeing as I won't be playing in any more bands.

Trouble is, there's no market for them any more - not in the UK, anyway. If I could sell them at all, (and my amps and effects etc) I would get a fraction of their value. So they will probably hang on the wall until they put me in a box, whenstupon Mrs Brix will probably give them to a charity shop or get royally ripped off by the local guitar store.

Sux.