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Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence. (I enjoyed looking up Hanlon's Razor, some variations can be quite rude ) These venues are probably barely breaking even and are giving a chance to musicians who can't organise their own gigs or get their own gear to a venue. A few turn up with no instrument. Some of the musicians will show litle respect to the gear provided. The 'roadie' doing the sound may have had little or no training and not be the person who set the gear up. They won't want to unplug anything because they won't know how to reconnect it for the next act. They may be there because they are the only person available and not because of any skill they have. The logistics of running a multi band event with people you've never met are overwhelming at times and with little or no funding the options of buying in or hiring equipment out of the question. The best thing you can do is look after yourself at these events. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Take your own gear and have it set up so you can do a quick change. Take your own DI and ask them if they want to plug into yours or where you can plug into theirs. If they don't put the bass through PA be prepared for that. If possible just set your stuff up next to or in front of their bass amp and do it quickly. Arrange a signal so you can turn up or down if they need you to. Give them confidence that you know what your are doing and that they can trust you to be helpful. Arguing with someone who is already anxious and under time pressure is never going to come out well so avoid giving them a decision to make.

I use the Linsoul KZ ZS10 Pro IEMS too. Apart from I think one person who paid himself for very expensive custom moulded IEMs (they are otherwise bought for us by the church), every other singer and musician still uses the Shure SE215 that we started out with. I found them quite unreliable - I had one earpiece cut out randomly, in the end it was happening so frequently that they became unusable. I also had the earpiece of another set break apart just while I was trying to replace an earbud, they are very fragile and you have to be quite delicate with them. Also the cable ear hook was always stiff and would rotate constantly, I just found them very annoying. The ZS10 are way better, especially considering they are half the price of the SE215. For a budget IEM, the ZS10 are a no-brainer. Multi-driver, rich and deep sound, for bass they blow the single driver SE215 out of the water. I play through a Tone Hammer DI with a little drive - from memory the SE215 would struggle with any sort of gentle drive, cab sim, etc, it was the same when I used a VTDI, the ZS10 has no problem coping with this. Are you using the stock silicone ZS10 earbuds? Whilst they're not too bad, upgrading to foam buds made a big difference to me. The sound isolation and comfort is so much better with the Comply Isolation foam tips - it's worth getting a mixed pack with one set each of the small, medium & large sizes, then order a pack of 3 pairs of whichever size you prefer. Sonicfoam also do foam buds to fit these IEMs, you get a bigger pack, so they are better value, but I'm yet to try them. @LukeFRC just beat me to it, but I believe that the triple flange 'Christmas tree' silicone ones are the best if you want to stay with silicone, but I'm very happy with using foam tips. The only downside to foam tips is they only last so long - in time you'll be able to tell the isolation isn't as good as it was when new, and they will also start to look and feel a bit worn out. But when new and early on, the foam tips give an incredible seal. You can feel it as well as hear it - when you insert them, over the first 20-30 seconds they'll expand to fill your ear, you can hear and feel this happening. Over time when you're not noticing this happening as much, if at all, that's another indication that it's time to replace them. If you've already got good IEMs (which you have), trying out better tips is a fairly cheap way of making them even better, and giving you the best seal possible. Another popular upgrade on the ZS10 is to replace the cable (the stock one is very cheap and flimsy), I use the 'Tripowin Zonie' 16-core cable, and have the stock one in my bag as a backup. Whilst the cable & earbud upgrades bump up the price, I'd still take the ZS10 with upgrades over the SE215 as they sound so good and seem to be very durable. £40-50 for multi-driver IEMs that sound great for bass, with detachable cable, is very impressive. I've raved to the sound guys about them, I don't see why they would spend £100 on SE215 when the ZS10 are half the price and sound better. I think if you have good tips with a good seal, this should minimise bleed from FOH. We have 2 services, and I'm pretty sure that for the second one (the one that's streamed) the FOH volume is set higher due to the increased number of people in the room. I do sometimes notice some bleed - there are times when I can hear and/or feel the bass in the room (we have a sub on each side of the platform too) to the point where it interferes with the bass in my IEMS, but I tend to take this as another sign that I need to break open a new set of foam tips. All this has reminded me that I need to treat myself to a new pair of Comply tips before our pair of Carol services this Sunday. I think I've been using them since Summer, so got around 4 months out of them. For playing 2-3 times a month, 2 services each time, with practice before, and some midweek practices too, I wouldn't expect them to last longer than that, in fact I should have probably replaced them a month ago really. Our practices have been very efficient, and the sound guy has been wonderful and has put up video footage for us to review after every practice. It's been fantastic to see the improvement every week - on early practices we were somewhat tentative, musically and vocally, as we learned the songs and what we each needed to bring to them. It's been rewarding to see everyone getting more confident with each week that passes, the last 2 practice videos were very encouraging. We've put a fair amount of time into it, so hopefully it all goes well on Sunday. The practice videos were also really useful, as I made notes on things such as what strings / pick I was using, my Tone Hammer settings, etc. At one point I was trying to break in some new nickel rounds, but the videos made me realise I really didn't want the new rounds zing & finger screech for these services, so I went back to my Fender flats that are nicely worn in. I can get away with a fair bit more gain on the THDI with flats, there's just enough growl & a little grind for it to sit well in the mix, and cut through just enough without being obnoxious (the bass came through a bit too aggressively for my liking on last years carol services, with GHS Pressurewounds on and I guess a bit too much gain on the THDI), and obviously without the finger noise of rounds. If the bass sounds exactly like it did on last nights practice for the services, I'll be very happy.

Has anyone painted their cab with the Armacab from Penn-Elcom? Interested in the drying time, mins, hours, days or weeks? As it's 7-8c here, it could be a long time.

Whatever method you use, you'll need to clear coat over the top to prevent the "binding" from wearing off.

This is generally known as "faux binding" and there are several techniques (do a search). Easiest may be to find some thin self-adhesive vinyl. If you want to paint, it will need to be compatible with the existing finish. Disclaimer: I've only ever done real binding.

If the band is tuning that low the guitarists will already have most of the bass frequencies covered. Got some bass pedals for some additional bottom end and then unleash your inner Peter Hook on the bass guitar!

I had a Vester Clipper that had been defretted - the Warwick copy (not exactly a faithful reproduction).

Here you go: I Believe In Father Christmas by In Isolation: We also got Matt Pop to do a banging dance mix: Both are available on Spotify: My current band have also released an original Christmas song called December Snow: Which is also on Spotify:

OK, this is about as non-rock'n'roll as you can get... I've been trying a new instrument of a type I have never played before. As you know, I play cello as my main instrument and I also play sax (mostly tenor and baritone). Well, I've never played a brass instrument... I started looking because of my challenge in trying to find groups where I could play sax. After a certain amount of looking around and assorted e-mail trails, I landed at Kirkby Stephen's beginners' group with their brass band... The culture of brass bands is interesting. They are very keen to recruit people of all ages from young children to much older people. They will lend you instruments. They have stocks of good quality - but older - instruments to lend. The provide free tuition. There is a strong focus on community. So, I end up with a 1970s Boosey & Hawkes Imperial silver euphonium. My recent Fridays has been a 6pm session with the beginners' group in a back rom whilst the 'training band' rehearses in the next room. On Friday, the main band gave its community Christmas concert. The training band plus beginner me played three items as part of the concert. I have the advantage of being able to read music and I've played in groups before. Just the slight matter of getting the right note out when you blow... Someone caught me not doing much... And yes, GAS attack, I've bought a second-hand Besson Sovereign (B&H were bought out). In case you're wondering - the range of a euphonium is similar to cello and baritone sax.

Vester were one of those brands that came in very low pricewise and were pretty well made. Maybe 20 years back, I had a Vester Strat-thing, pointy headstock with dual humbuckers generic Kahler-style whammy. It was a quite lovely thing. More than capable. Less interesting were the circumstances surrounding purchase. I was looking at a pair of guitars at the time, the Vester was shiny and new, the other one - for not dissimilar money - was used, battered and tired, so I bought the Vester. Of course I did. I often wonder where the other one, a 1961 Les Paul Junior single cut, ended up.

If you look in the iem bible thread it Depends on the seal you get - the tighter the better as you get more low end and can run them quieter. with my iem I use the triple flange Christmas tree type ones which give a good seal and last ages - time to investigate earbud tips…

@BigRedX did a version of I believe in father christmass with his old band that is superb, hopefully he'll post a link to it

The intro argument is just for the video, the streaming versions go straight into the song.

What's the added switch on the MXR?

So we had our big Christmas service yesterday pm and during the pre service rehearsal it was impossible to hear my bass though my IEM I think because everything else, including choir, drums, electric, acoustic, keys were so loud in front of house. i ended up borrowing a cheap pair of closed cup over ear headphones, which worked well although I looked a bit stupid !! I think IEMs have their limitations unless you've for custom moulds for your own ears? I'm using the KSZ10 or something like that!!

It surely has in your case.

Either do it an active up, and still have no 40hz audible, or revert standard 4 banger ( with no 40hz audible ), and punch the mix in the guts.

Honestly, this sort of tuning only really works through a direct-to-PA solution like running it through a QC or other modeller, as it's the only sort of system that can come close to doing justice to notes that low, and that's only if the PA is running multiple 15s/18s with loads and loads of power. Most regular bass amps, no matter how much power they have and the size of the speakers, tend to roll off below 40HZ (E1) anyway. If you go down to E0 (20Hz) there's no bass amp out there that will come close, unless you're using servo speakers or other such tech. Properly EQ'd, a regular low E will sound fuller and clearer than using a string tuned an octave lower. The exception to this would be if you played the string up around the 12th fret, which gives you the regular E1, but with that thick tubbiness you only get when you play in that position.

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/395084-the-reggae-thread/

Long story short after a fairly long time not playing live and having not recorded anything in about 8 years I'll be recording shortly and (hopefully) gigging again soon. Previously I have been in bands that always played in standard tuning (BEADG for me but not using the B string much) and these bands have always been more on the RHCP side of things so fairly easy to cut through the mix. This band however tunes in Drop A but with a lower E string below it so I'm tuning in EAEAD. Using a Dingwall NG2 for this so scale length isn't an issue thankfully. Ive got a fairly decent tone for cutting through set up but would love to hear advice from others who have more experience playing in these (quite frankly absurd) tunings! Should say as well, gear wise I just put everything through a Quad Cortex.

Re Hartwood Delta arriving tomorrow.

Fender have instructed dealers NOT to I bought a new Fender MIK on a personal impurity from Japan. When I enquired about another I was told the had been stopped by Fender. Apparently not illegal in Japan.