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My main set of IEMs are moulded UE Lives which I keep for larger gigs. They are good but I'm not a huge fan of them actually. I moved from JH Audio Roxannes to UE a year or so ago, mainly due to poor aftersales service from JH (but that's another story!) For pub/club work I am happy with the KZs. There is of course a difference between them and the moulds (with seal and fit), but IMO the KZs punch well above their weight in terms of tone per £. The AS16 Pro X come with foam tips but I also have a supply of Comply which I change every 10 or so gigs. The ZAR is the most similar to the UE phones design-wise, as they have a dynamic driver as well as the usual bass/mid/treble apertures. The dynamic driver has a fairly significant impact on what the bass guitar sounds like, and not always in a positive way. I have learned that I prefer the sound of a more traditionally designed IEM without a dynamic driver. The AS16 Pro X fit this bill. A great sounding earphone for around the £50 mark on eBay. The first thing I did was upgrade the cable to one of those 8 core replacements, which cost around £20 in itself but certainly worth it.

A ground lift inserts a small resistor, it doesn't disconnect the earth. The issue is if a fault develops in the PA and a signal wire becomes live, there's nothing preventing the microphone casing becoming live. If the guitarist had touched any other grounded component in the setup while touching his strings, he'd still be getting a shock. Essentially, it sounds like it was his guitar that was live, but without a multimeter that would be difficult to determine. Usually opening the plugtop reveals a multitude of dodgy DIY wiring.

It can become a second output or left unconnected.

As electrical noise, not fan noise, is the issue the choice is very broad. For your needs you could be best off with an advanced di/preamp pedal for recording and then a fairly basic power amp for stage use.

Hi @LawrenceH - I don't know if that was aimed at me, but I was not suggesting moving physical earths from PAs or equipment. I was suggesting disconnecting the signal shield from the microphone. This would avoid a "bridge" between varying earth planes (existing or not) in various equipment plugged into various sockets in the building. A signal "ground lift" is a common option in DI boxes to isolate this to stop hum and no different to what I am suggesting here. I totally agree with the safety precaution of carrying a socket RCD and have one in my gig bag too. However, I think people need to understand the difference between serious electrical faults like mains voltage/current shorting to earth and small potential differences caused by less resistive paths to earth, which can happen due to bad connections, or some poor wiring in venues. Still not great and should be looked at by the venue and resolved, but if a microphone genuinely had mains voltage flowing through the casing, your mouth would have to be peeled away with a wooden pole once you'd burnt to a crisp (assuming a RCD hadn't tripped and saved you). These shocks are generally like static from your shoes or when you used to rub a balloon on your jumper. I am not belittling them by the way, I know they can bloody hurt, I have had a few myself in the odd venue over the years.

Welcome DS.

No worries, Sir. I would love to see your necks available in bigger amounts. Status no longer exists, but @Kiwi does!

pickups - blend - vol - tone stack - output Pickup hots should be connected to the blend (double) pot which most likely is in the centre of the picture. (It is followed by the Vol.) Neck PU goes to another centre lug, and bridge PU to another. You can start the trial by connecting the plain preamp with a battery to an amp. Turn the amp volume up a bit, and touch the lugs of the blend pot. You should get some hum. Turn the pot to understand which way it works. You can also turn the other pots to get an idea what they do. Most likely T/B.

Welcome Deaklet.

This is great advice. Don't worry if you have false starts, or falls apart. No one will be surprised. Above all, enjoy it. It's a celebration of life. We are assuming the 3 people are the rest of the band and you're not playing solo. If it's a solo piece remember not to go off too fast. Take your time. Nerves can make your heart race and alter your perception of tempo. Good luck.

Thanks for the mention!

I've recently got into jamming with some friends on weekends and the gas is driving me insane. I haven't played or owned any equipment for almost 15 years, and I'm very out of the loop on what's cool in this neighbourhood as I'm originally from NA. I practice on a harley benton 5 string that I got on a whim 3 months ago, and I jam on my friends veeerrry slick Fender Meteora. I'm hoping to find a nice amp and a good jazz-style bass in the coming months so I have something more practical to practice with, as fun as the 5-string is, it does not prepare me for the thickness (or the quality) of the meteora. Can you guys give me any ideas of how well buyers from Ireland do here? Reverb is like the only used classified I've found so far and they're full of chancers who'll take your left leg if you're not careful. I know it's a trying time for us all but it certainly feels like IE-UK online trade is strong, so hopefully I can make some friends while chilling here. Regardless, it's nice to be here. I'm a real noobie so it'll be a big help even just lurking with you. Cheers! deadshed

I'm tempted to have a few lessons with him. I've the time but not the budget for many lessons. Were your lessons with Ian in person or over the internet?

Spitballing here - after what is hopefully the final flatting tonight - an ultra fine Sharpie, then remaining clearcoat over it?

I've often wondered, in 3EQ to 2EQ conversions like these, what becomes of the original output jack?

Bit of a long shot but has anyone used the various cheap preamps available on eBay/Amazon? Bought one with good reviews but it came with no wiring diagram so I am at a loss!

I think Ibanez MC-924 (AJ) made for Alphonso Johnson was one of the first ones with a vertically half fretted neck. Ashula is a horizontally half fretted. I had a white Ashula, but as I converted it to a 5 string, my bandmates were asking why the sound was changing within a song. I converted it back to a six and sold it. I think the idea is nice but there are obvious problems. If the song requires quite a big area from the fretboard, the sound changes can be bad for the music (record something and listen to the result). Sound is dependent on the electronics, too. That's why the change between the fretted and fretless notes can be substantial: one adjustment may not be ideal for both worlds. Fretless board after frets in a vertically divided board requires neat work from the luthier. When the fretboard ages, it may be complicated to level everything to original specs. I am not quite sure if a two neck monster would still be a better option if the instrument was light (like Basslab?). Putting both instruments to one single neck is an interesting idea, but I couldn't live with it - I am too old to learn new, or even old tricks. And no, I am not a very good player. My thinking of the instrument is maybe ancient and slow: from 4 to 5, from fretted to fretless, all changes require changing my attitude to the song and playing.