All Activity

Nice one. Since that first post in 2021 I've moved house to Chichester. I'm in a ska/reggae band that plays local pubs/small festivals about once a fortnight, and in an original reggae band that is just doing rehearsals and recording to try and get an album and gig amount of songs. So I'm all good for being in bands right now.

Bought a Fender Custom '62 pup off of Pete yesterday, it arrived today. Great comms and well packaged. Thanks Pete.

Sorry, I just saw this. I'm far from being an expert in these matters, so take my comments with that in mind. Whenever my bandmates and I brought up the subject of IEMS there was usually some confusion between two different aspects: 1) how to get a personal monitor mix, and 2) how to send that to our ears (often the assumption is this is done wirelessly, but it doesn't have to be). I've tried a few different things in order to get some kind of monitor mix. The best is, of course, when you can get a dedicated mix from the desk, but this is only guaranteed if you're having your own band mixer. We've had a Behringer XR18 and lately an X32 as a 'band mixer'. When we're doing our own sound, that's the core of it. As a 6-piece band, the XR18 is enough as it can provide 6 individual mixes (more if you use the Ultranet system). When we have a house engineer, we use a couple of 8-channel splitters (Behringer MS8000) and that way one half goes to our mixer (controlling just the monitor mixes) and another half to the main desk for teh sound engineer to do their thing. However, that requires the most £££ investment and also has to be a bit of a band effort, in order to get everything into the monitors, so I've tried other ways that are not as 'nice' but can still work pretty well, in fact I'd say they all work better than having wedge monitors and a loud stage. Basically I use a small mixer (Behringer Xenyx 302/502) to blend two signals: my bass, and "whatever I can get". With earphones with a good seal you get a good amount of isolation, as if you were using earplugs (comparable or better than my ACS 17db) so you still get a LOT of sound from the stage, just attenuated. All I do is add a bit more 'me'. The 'whatever I can get' signal varies a lot... I've used a microphone stage (Zoom H2), placed strategically so that I can capture guitars/vocals strongly, as drums I can hear enough anyway, and vocals and guitar is the only thing I really need to hear clearly, as we go 'off-script' a lot). That works, but it's better when I can get a feed from one of the wedge monitors. Most places have active monitors these days, with a 'thru' XLR connection. Take an XLR from a monitor, into the mixer, done. Many PA systems have the same on the main speakers, so you can often get a feed from there too. Yes, I'm not getting a dedicated mix there, but it can still be very useful, and it'll still sound way better than a loud stage does. I'd recommend ensuring you can EQ the 'whatever I can get' channel, as I find it's often better to turn down the low end in there, makes the mix clearer with my bass. This is not going to give you a "CD listening experience", but that's not what I am going for either, I want something that allows me to monitor what's going on, which it does. When we use the XR18/X32, you can use a PM-16 connected via Ultranet, which does not use the standard monitor channels, so you get better easier control, but also free a monitor channel for others, which can be useful. The PM-16 is basically a little 16-channel mixer connected to the main XR18/X32 via a single network cable using Ultranet. The output from that can feed your earphones. If you use a small mixer for my ghetto approach described above, its output can then feed your earphones. You can use a Behringer P1/P2 too. These are basic 2-channel mixers designed to be worn on your person. I have used a P1 to blend my bass with the "whatever I can get" signal, but I like the minimixer more, as it gives me more controls, EQ, etc. Again, the output from that goes into your earphones. Now we have a mix. We can use a wired method to send the signal to our ears, in which case we're done. For a drummer or keyboard player, wired is probably the simplest and easiest, and you don't need to worry about anything else, interference, dropouts etc. For others... it will depend. I have used a combined cable that carries both my bass and earphone signal (Ernie Ball,£45 or so) which sounded like a great idea, but the cable is thick and heavy and a bit of a faff. Ok in a small stage where you can't move much, but not comfy if you're moving around. I'd use separate cables. If you don't want cables... then there's wireless, which is a different subject. For wireless, live I've only used the MiPro58 system, which was around £400 (stereo, very low latency, 5.8GHz). At home I've tried the ultracheap Lekato WS-1 (£40, also stereo, but higher latency and operating on the 2.4GHz band that is more prone to interference), which didn't sound as good as the MiPro, but in all honesty, for a band mix it would do the job. My only concern is the higher likelyhood of dropouts and the high latency. The latency on its own is unlikely to be noticed, but the problem is we're using a lot of digital devices and they all add some latency... so it adds up: it can work very well for some people, but if you have a lot of additional digital processing it can get tricky... but you need to try and see. Wireless is nice, but I'd still prefer a wired IEM over no IEMs, in general. On a big stage, wedges can be great. With a considerate band who understands noise, wedges can be great in a smaller stage too, but my personal experience is that I encounter stages that are too loud too often, and IEMs just give me a combination of a quieter & clearer sound for the bits I need in order to play well. I hope that makes sense! I'm not claiming any of this is THE WAY, but it seems to work. Other methods may exist

Essentially, you need to be good enough to be worth the hassle. The drummer in my band doesn't drive, but is both less than 10 minutes away, and ridiculously good so I have no issue at all. Similarly, I'm in a van so no chance of wrecking the interior. You're expecting someone to add considerably to their evening. Jam nights and rehearsals should be ok as amps would be there. Gigging is another matter entirely.

EBMM Stingray is 17.5mm bridge spacing. Ibanez SR basses are 16.5mm

Listen, recognise patterns, play, repeat. Depending on the gig, I might write charts.

Moore or less.

Very good point. This is so common issue, if the drummer hasn't got a metronome. I bought a metronome to our drummer, and it is far easier to play gigs. He did a (long) list of songs and has written tempos to every song. Tama RW30 costs £30 and setting the tempo is quick.

Nice. Played both over the last couple of years with Katy Hurt. Next time I’ll drag you along 😀

Great! I’ve just brought the book too. I’ll have a look for the PDFs. Thanks

Whenever I hear harmonics on the bass, they always seem to lift the bass line and create a feeling of space with their ethereal quality. Amongst other things, Jaco was the master of harmonics and he used them softly and sometimes aggressively to match the vibe of the song. From his 'bell-like' natural harmonics in 'Portrait Of Tracy,' to his false harmonics in 'Birdland', he really stretched the limits of the bass guitar. I've made a lesson to help get you started with playing harmonics, they aren't too technical, unless you're attempting to play Portrait Of Tracy, or playing false harmonics high up the neck, in which case you're gonna be in the woodshed for sometime! Click the link below to find out more in my latest YouTube video. Enjoy!

Trousers, jeans or such like and no belt.

I own 3 BF112's and use 2 on 99% of my gigs. I run the amp at the same volume no matter how many cabs I use, but IMO 2 just sound better.

while testing It would be rude not to try all 4 at the same time wouldn’t it?

Never underestimate the power of branding.

Half The Day Is Gone And We Haven't Earned A Penny - Kenny Lynch