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eBay have shifted their focus away from the auctioning that was their hallmark (IMHO) and are trying to compete with A'zon and family - this is clear from their market studies (I follow and sometimes participate in those).
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04-04-2022 07:53 AM
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Hi, W,
Originally Posted by wintermoon
I only had that happen once, as a solo, when an idiot from the crowd, during intermission, pulled my Artist Model Classical guitar from its case and started playing cowboy chords. It never happened in any of the groups when I was a saxer since the protocol, as you stated, was to ask permission of the leader before being invited on the stage.
Marinero
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Buddy Rich would not sit in with any band he didn’t know, and he never let anyone except known top pros sit in with him. He said that if the audience hears something that’s not quite right, they neither know nor care which player caused it - they just think the whole band is off. Originally Posted by citizenk74
That often applies to employers too. We have a responsibility to both the audience and the employer as well as to ourselves and our bandmates.
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This happened to me: I got a call one Saturday afternoon from a bar I had played and booked many times with several groups. They needed a band that night. I said "Can do" and got on the horn. LSS, I put together a trio from guys I had gigged with - 3pc; a C-note per man. Spent the rest of the day putting together set lists annotated with Key signatures, thumbnail chord charts, tempos, rhythmic feels, etc. We rendezvous an hour before showtime and I find out the bass player has invited a harp player, without consulting me. No consult = insult in my book, but the show must go on, and it's my cred on the line. We got through the job, the harp player was okay, but if I wanted a harpist, I'd have hired a harpist. I told the guy at the end of the night this was a one-off, and I wasn't interested in continuing our business relationship. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
The next week I got a call from another bar (second verse, same as the first) three days hence. Again, with the phone routine. Last week's line-up (B&D) were busy, and I managed to get my first choice on bass (we'd gigged a lot) but no drummers were available. Bass player from first gig recommended a kid he thought could do it. I called him and crossed my fingers.
Showtime: we're set up and set to go, and in comes the harpist from last week. The venue had managed to get our name in the paper, and this guy was expecting a paid gig. Here's the catch - his wife was the "new girl" in the office of my day job. Telling him to bug off would have been impolitic, at least. I said "One Set. One." He agreed and we ran through our first set with the (un-paid, by mutual agreement) harp guy soloing on every song. I should note I'm not fond of middling harpists, they tend to harsh my mellow. Guy was okay, had his own amp, etc. We just got off on the wrong foot, and stayed there.
Upside: the remaining three sets were dynamite - the new young drummer kept to steady tempos and tasteful fills, no grandstanding and the bass player was as always solid and swingin'. We went over like gangbusters. It was one of those nights the stars aligned and we had a record crowd that danced all night and loved our mix of Blues, Country, Pop, and Rock & Roll. At the end of the evening the owner gave us every open date she had for the rest of the ear. "Big Tone and the Revelators"* were off to a good start.
TLDR: Sit-ins-by Randos is for me a no-no,
*See my sig for music from the eventual line-up.
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Originally Posted by citizenk74
This happened to me: I got a call one Saturday afternoon from a bar I had played and booked many times with several groups. They needed a band that night. I said "Can do" and got on the horn. LSS, I put together a trio from guys I had gigged with - 3pc; a C-note per man. Spent the rest of the day putting together set lists annotated with Key signatures, thumbnail chord charts, tempos, rhythmic feels, etc. We rendezvous an hour before showtime and I find out the bass player has invited a harp player, without consulting me. No consult = insult in my book, but the show must go on, and it's my cred on the line. We got through the job, the harp player was okay, but if I wanted a harpist, I'd have hired a harpist. I told the guy at the end of the night this was a one-off, and I wasn't interested in continuing our business relationship.
The next week I got a call from another bar (second verse, same as the first) three days hence. Again, with the phone routine. Last week's line-up (B&D) were busy, and I managed to get my first choice on bass (we'd gigged a lot) but no drummers were available. Bass player from first gig recommended a kid he thought could do it. I called him and crossed my fingers.
Showtime: we're set up and set to go, and in comes the harpist from last week. The venue had managed to get our name in the paper, and this guy was expecting a paid gig. Here's the catch - his wife was the "new girl" in the office of my day job. Telling him to bug off would have been impolitic, at least. I said "One Set. One." He agreed and we ran through our first set with the (un-paid, by mutual agreement) harp guy soloing on every song. I should note I'm not fond of middling harpists, they tend to harsh my mellow. Guy was okay, had his own amp, etc. We just got off on the wrong foot, and stayed there.
Upside: the remaining three sets were dynamite - the new young drummer kept to steady tempos and tasteful fills, no grandstanding and the bass player was as always solid and swingin'. We went over like gangbusters. It was one of those nights the stars aligned and we had a record crowd that danced all night and loved our mix of Blues, Country, Pop, and Rock & Roll. At the end of the evening the owner gave us every open date she had for the rest of the ear. "Big Tone and the Revelators"* were off to a good start.
TLDR: Sit-ins-by Randos is for me a no-no,
*See my sig for music from the eventual line-up.
I was once the bandleader on a Gypsy jazz gig when the bass player told me that a well known local pro pianist (I am not going to mention his name here) was in the audience (this piano player toured for a few years with Norah Jones). At the break, the bass player went and chatted with the pianist (I had never met him, but had heard about him). The bass player brought him over and introduced him to me. The piano player told me that he had an accordion in his car and would love to sit in for a tune in the next set. I agreed to that. The tune went poorly. The guy's chops were not great on the accordion and after the tune, I thanked him and he just sat there. Good manners would have been to thank me and leave the bandstand. I then called an obscure tune that I figured would send a message that the "sitting in" was over. It did not work. The cat tried to play over a tune that he clearly did not know and it was bad. At the conclusion of the tune (which I cut short for obvious reasons) the reeds player whispered to me "make it stop". I made it stop by asking the cat to leave the bandstand. He acted insulted, telling me that he was a better player than any of us as he exited the bandstand (That was not true considering his accordion chops for sure). What an asshat! To this day he has not spoken to me or the reed player, and that is fine with me.
The lesson that I learned is to vet anyone that I am going to let sit in for both chops and personality.
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My apologies to the OP for derailing this thread. Just old and venting!
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Laugh it off Originally Posted by jads57
This thread does offer a suggestion what to do with unwanted sit-ins who've outlived their welcome ... try to auction them off on the spot!
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The next time someone you don't know walks up to the bandstand carrying an instrument as if to sit in, just say "oh hey, you're the guy that's selling that used guitar. We're about to play a set but I'll check it out after. Just have a seat and enjoy our set!" and then immediately count off the first tune before he can reply.
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a good way to get unwanteds off the bandstand is to thank them on mic and shake their hand.
most, not all, people will get the idea and split.
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Do you mean they are hosting retail sales – like soap powder sold at a fixed price? We don't really have eBay in New Zealand, but I took a look recently and was surprised they had so few amps up for auction. Originally Posted by RJVB
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Well generally for how much work there actually is, there’s plenty of gear available. I think people are referring to Great Deals rather than the higher prices we’ve all seen lately.
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No, I think they're trying to become more of a vending platform but indeed with regular promo campaigns to focus on certain products/services, or to promote local vendors. I mostly get to see the client-facing side of it all. Originally Posted by Litterick
I have no idea to what extent amps are auctionable items for which people might be interested to compete through their wallets. It's been pointed out before that there are now other sites for selling stuff that's more likely to see its price negotiated downwards; putting something up for auction on eBay takes time and at least sales cost something. I have a few items I should sell that might be appropriate for auctioning but I keep putting it off... (read: forgetting).
Also, there are now sites specialising in selling refurbished gear, usually also via a marketplace concept. My 1st two iPhones came from eBay, but the current one via such a site, in part because it had a 6 month warranty.
FWIW, I won 1 auction last year, and lost another - the former for a preamp that arrived with a debilitating hum (and was reimbursed), the latter for a set of Grado SR80e headphones (I subsequently got a new and nearly identical SR60x for less).
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I found more of the type I was looking for – Hiwatt combos – on Reverb. I think owners increasingly are more interested in specialist sites, where fellow enthusiasts will pay good prices, than auction sites – where so many suffer problems.
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