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Oh gosh, Scott has really struggled with it, Victor must have a great coping mechanism

Thanks for the replies, guys. Nice to know I have an early model rather than a home custom job. BTW my Electra sounds great and is really well made - I really can't see how a California series would be much of an upgrade?

I'm wondering how many more strawmen / whataboutery / false equivalence comments that could be made. The proposed law is nothing to do with any of your post. It is to stop people moving / building / developing within earshot of a venue knowing or should have known that it is a noisy venue and then being able to complain and have it shut down. That's it. Nothing else. Land within ear shot of noisy venues often gets bought by developers very cheaply. They then build homes on the land and don't mention the venue nearby. The buyer of the new home doesn't do adequate searches about the location when they should have done as part of a survey, or does them and decides to buy the home in the anticipation of complaining enough to shut the venue. The developers know this will happen - in fact they are probably banking on it and it will likely make the venue fail and be up for sale too. Venues are often on the brink financially so they don't have the ability of say, an airport, to tell the new resident to sod off. And generally nobody can claim they didn't know an airport was there. All this law will do will make developers tell the truth about the properties they are selling, and it will stop new residents moving into a noisy area and then complaining about the noise they were already aware of. It will stop new residents lying that they didn't know about the venue / noise / etc. That's it. Nothing like any of your post at all - all of which can be avoided by not buying a home in earshot: "Your neighbours" made their own decision to move next to a live music venue. That is their choice and for them to move there, and for them to then try to change the behaviour of the people who were there first is the selfish act.

I've used backline a couple of times of late (not my idea), and both times it's reminded me of how hard it can be to get a decent stage sound without over- or under-whelming the room with bass; I've been spoiled by a mixable feed to my inears, where I can hear exactly what's going on at a reasonable volume, something that's often elusive with backline. Oh, and the ability to turn the guitarist down cannot be overstated... I should add here that for 90% of my gigs I don't care what the FOH sounds like: I tried for a while, going out front to call it, but the singist/guitard didn't listen and just turned up anyway, because from where he was standing behind the mains (without his inears in, so no monitoring at all at that point) he 'wasn't loud enough'. So I gave up. I just get the drums and me to a level, after that, whatever...

Tragically, the last time I went to see the Stranglers (admittedly a couple of years ago, the first tour with inears, so they may have got it sorted now) at the Manchester Apollo, the soundman did exactly that to JJ Burnel...

I know we've drifted a little off topic but it seems as though the soundguy in @YellowLedBetterBass's post is actually up for pretty much any other preamp? They have even offered a house Sansamp if a bassist doesn't have one of their own. Being told "any preamp you like, or I've got one here if you want" is probably more than most us get at most gigs? Can't say I understand the hatred. Although some of you are relating some other horror stories. I guess I do understand the general hatred!

The best soundguy I ever had was for a village fete / beer festival type thing. The stage was used for a variety of acts during the day. There was a kit share with a bring-your-own-snare option and they did prefer that every body used the same bass rig. It was an actually very nice sounding Laney combo and extension cab. FOH took the di out of the amp. I used my little board (preamp / octave / tuner / little bit of dirt for richness). I plugged into the Laney and it was horribly bright - not great for big band jazz, but nice and rocky for the guys on before us. The sound guy just said - change whatever you want, every setting, I'll make sure it sounds good out front. So in the quick soundcheck I did change everything on the amp and also experimented with going into the FX return instead. I had a wireless on my board so I played a bit from out front as well during the SC. FOH insisted that I used the octave a bit in the SC just to make sure there wasn't a sudden explosion of low end. The guy did a great job. Sounded just how I wanted it out front. Thick and chewy with no flub and no excessive treble. Still left enough room for the trombones and the bari saxes. In 30 years of gigging I've never had anyone that good. I do wonder if he was also a bassist. Some of the band thought the bass was too loud - but you know, f*** 'em.

I think if we listened to all the complaints and moans from disgruntled folk and acted on them we would live in a very boring sterile non human kind of existence! The fact is so many things happen now in society that are far more horrific and offensive compared to occasional noise issues Some folk have forgotten what it’s like to have fun !!

Yeah a sound man did similar to my sound, I gave him JJ Burnel and he changed it to J Jamerson. I didn’t have the heart to be angry with him as he genuinely thought he’d worked hard to do me a big favour.

What ? All of them? It doesn't help your arguement if you just make stuff up and then claim it as a fact. Next thing you'll be saying that everyone eats their neighbour's pets.

Somewhat of an overreaction. Resetting the fire alarm won't result in any liability. It shouldn't allow you to reset it if a break glass or smoke head has been activated.

Okay, yes, I likely deserve to be banned for life. I'm certainly not perfect. I might be a bad person, or even on the spectrum. My dad regularly yelled at me when I was a small boy and so deep down maybe that has something to do with it. BUT my interactions were with an AI chatbot, and to be totally honest with you I suspect the chatbot initiated the ban automatically based on keywords. I probably shouldn't be abusive to AI chatbots, but they have no feelings or emotions. A human only came on to the chat after the ban was announced, and at that point they clearly identified themselves. I did sincerely apologize to the human, and I have now also formally reported Pirate Studios for disregarding the fire alarm and for providing a customer with details for switching it off. The way that I see it, I am completely obliged to report this... they could ultimately kill people.

Sold Mark a pickguard, very easy going sale and some good chat along the way 👍

Yep, I live next to a licensed establishment, a bit of (always good natured) noise at closing time, and a bit of difficulty parking between 7pm & 11pm, but nothing to really moan about, though I’m sure some would try very hard to.

I haven't played a RB210 but I've owned a Rumble 500 for over ten years. Pros: if you like the sound, then the Rumble with 'Vintage' engaged is near perfect. Loud, light, reliable, sounds great in the mix. It's fine on its own for pub gigs but when paired with a second 2x10 it's epic. Good height to sit on at rehearsals. Cons: I don't like the drive setting, it's too harsh for me. A built in tuner would be nice. I would prefer side handles.

A few years ago I saw a (then) premier league footballer driving his matt black Mercedes AMG GT. I'm not a car person, but it was an amazing looking thing. In that moment I briefly became both Ford Prefect and Nigel Tufnel. "It's so... black! Light just seems to fall into it." "It's like, how much more black could it be? And the answer is none. None more black." A stealth bass in that finish would be awesome. But for this particular SR5, I'd vote for teal 😁

Based in East Lancs. Competent management agency contracted Clash tribute band looking for full time or equally competent dep bassist for paid work. The present bassist is leaving (myself) and gigs are booked and more are being lined up at venues across the country. You don’t need to look like Paul Simonon but a white Precision would be a nice touch 😁 It’s my job at the moment but I’m leaving due to arthritis creeping in. I’m ok gigging locally but travelling around the country, hanging around for hours, playing then travelling home for is getting a bit much. The other 3 lads are great to work with, we all have quirks that we all take the piss out of too 🤣 It’s an easy friendly gig. Know the songs. Play them well and have a laugh. That’s all there is to it really. Don’t be bothered about your age either, everyone is in their late 50’s. Please PM if you are interested or want any more info.

They're like Stingrays for me: I love everything about them except playing them, because they really, really don't suit me. I've had three of each, because on at least two occasions for each I thought 'I must have been wrong about the last one'. They are an iconic bass, and I really wish they suited me.

I have an EBS Microbass 3 - it hoofed the Sansamp off my pedalboard. That said, I do now have an MP40 on there too, but tbh it was to have a play and partly for the colour scheme.

I disagree. Most companies, quite rightly, have policies in place with regards to customers using agressive or abusive language towards their staff. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the situation ( and I agree that Pirate have reacted badly here and need to fix some stuff ) , I think a ban is entirely appropriate. A carefully worded and sincere apology might rescue the situation, and allow you to have a sensible dialogue with them about the issues that you faced, and how you move forward. I've used a Pirate facility once, was impressed by the setup, but had no need to interact with them beyond the booking.