All Activity

Hi Leo, a 4x10 is likely to be pretty efficient (loud) depending upon which model it is. Back in the day they packed lots of cheap but efficient speakers into big cabs to make lower powered amps loud enough to be heard over anything. You could almost certainly use a 100W amp and get away with it so the likes of the TE Elf, Warwick Gnome or tc BAM would probably be enough for rehearsal and are also cheap and fit in a pocket (OK a big pocket but they are tiny and fit in a bass case.) If not then go for one of the 300/500W amps, you really don't need the Minimega a Peavey MiniMax would do but just about every brand does an amp of this size. If you want something cheap then the Bugera Veyron works well.

Having bought a filter pedal off Paddy, he's now returned the favour 15 months later and bought one off me which I've no doubt he will be putting to far better use than I would ever manage to! Another quick, straightforward transaction and a pleasure to deal with.

What’s everyone’s thoughts on this one? I’m not sure about either finish or P/G. I thought factory black would have come with a white/ mint guard and only sunburst or white would have tort… https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass-new-arrival/products/fender-p-63 too beaten up for my taste and the sticker residue/ mark would really annoy me.

I put an East MMSR 3 knob in one. Then used the switches to do pickup selection between Series/Parallel/ Single, Active/Passive and Neck/Both/Bridge. It was wired so that the inner coils were the ones activated when in "single" mode. I did this to make it not like a Jazz but it can be configured to mimic a Jazz if you wire it for the North coils. It's all very different from original but it gives a lot of tonal options. For someone who plays mainly PJs with everything on 10 it was overkill for gigging but endless fun noodling at home.

The return jack is a mono 1/4 inch. It won't work with a stereo input.

Interesting to note that this very unit now costs £39 ...

Y'see, to me that implies that Lennon's guitar now has two Bigsbys on it ...

Beat me to it by seconds 🤪

Not that it matters 3 months later, but yes!

What cereal box cardboard is best for metal?

Could be, but plugged in? the last time I saw ZZ Top they had two dozen or so Magnatones on the stage. I asked their road manager how many they were actually using. He told me Billy and Dusty were using two apiece, the rest were 'eye candy for the kiddies'. 😄

I tend to have our PA speakers facing inwards until we are ready to do a full sound check. It just saves anyone out in the room listening to ( '1...2..is it on?...I can't hear myself....yeah the switch on my mic is set to on, oh wait....)

Which cardboard is best for metal though?

Bottom right are the guys from the Searchers , I believe they only just retired after 70years touring .. Bass player stayed the distance of course 😁

Also running our own small PA with just vocals/keys and kick drum going through it. We try and arrive at an earlier time if doing Social clubs. Sometimes the room is closed so it's fine, other times there are people in it so we have to look professional about it. This is where most of my band struggle. Setting gear up on stage but not turning it on, making sure it's all connected etc until the moment we all stand up there for a sound check. Ive also been fighting to get my lead guitarist to play for the audience and not himself. He angles his combo towards his head/ceiling. When I ask him to turn it up so it can be heard out front, I get 'then it's too loud'. No bloody idea!!!. So yeah, 2, but done in a professional way, but sometimes the result is as if it were option 1 anyway.

The same happens with the 1950s rock 'n' roll band, but we didn't go through a phase of actually playing an extra song 10 minutes before the start. (Audiences tended to think the gig had begun in earnest. ) What is extremely important, and we can't do without in any band, is a line check. I'm fast enough in fixing any problems to the actual sound once the gig has started, but if I'm missing signal from a channel or a speaker that's another matter, and the performance has to be interrupted, which does look unprofessional.

Let me know what you need. Do you have a model to work from? Printing is the easy bit...