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The Mrs just showed me this on Reddit, so I found it on YouChoob to share.

Back in the early 90s I was in a punk-funk band. We thought we were going places, had headlined the Marquee, supported Carter USM and Gaye Bykers on a number of occasions, when our drummer left. So we advertised for one; we had a number of assorted chancers who couldn't play, or didn't have their own gear and expected us to buy it for them, then a Dutch guy turned up... He had long hair, denim, was obviously from the 70s (!) and didn't really fit in with us (mohicans etc) but wasn't a bad drummer. His only problem was a tendency to put the "EastEnders"/Phil Collins drum bit into everything, but we felt we could perhaps funk him up a bit. He turned up for the 1st rehearsal with his girlfriend. Who was called Janine (you know where this is going!). We started teaching him our songs, and she kept stopping us to say things like "I fink the guitarist should do a little peggio there", or "what this song needs Is a flutey sound on the keyboard". We politely declined all her suggestions, then she said she'd do a better job than Mikey, our manager (and m8 of many years), and she could get us a great gig in her local pub... We managed to struggle through 1 gig with him before he left to (as she said) "join a proper rock band".

We picked up our 735A cabs for £900 the pair in mint condition, that included quality covers and a pair of pricey winch stands (£115 each online), we also got our matching Art subs for just over £500 for the pair, again with quality covers. Surprisingly we found them on a PA selling page rather than a bass forum, they tend to be more popular there! I dare say you'll find quite a few for sale on PA/DJ forums and probably on metal guitar forums too.

I think this is actually the most annoying thing in the world (first world, that is). Nothing worse than having to push and pull your playing to try and keep a crap drummer somewhere near the beat. Makes the whole business of playing bass a terrible chore, instead of the great pleasure that it should be.

Just to clarify, there shouldn't be any RCF worship here - the word RCF could be replaced with any competitor brand... Yamaha, QSC, EV whatever... HOWEVER when it comes to the RCF 735 and 745... they are stand out cabs because of these things - VC size and resultant performance of the drivers and the horns that they are used are not used in any other ABS cabs - they are only usually found in wooden cabs. VC size and resultant performance of the drivers and the horns that they use are not found in any other cabs at this price point. VC size and resultant performance of the drivers and the horns that they use are not found in any other cabs of this weight. Smaart shows the DSP to be a true FRFR with a pink noise test - and these cabs will actually handle so much lows that a lot of users could (and do) use them without a sub. So those two cabs in particular are cabs that should not exist - and therefore are worthy of mention because for the reasons above, they smack all others (comparable but ultimately non comparable) into the ground. Are RCF the cabs the best in the PA world? No. Far from it. Are the 735 and 745 the best compared to their non-existent competition? I'd say so. If that makes them flavour of the month, I'd say given the reasons above, it's fully justifiable.

Only ever done one audition, way back in the 60s, when I sat behind a kit. Not an audition from Hell, but it turned out fine for me. I answered an ad for a drummer wanted for a re-forming showband, there were three or four blokes turned up, which were quickly reduced to just two of us. We were using the band's old drummer's kit for the auditions, but chatting it transpired that the other bloke and me both had identical kits, red silk Premier, and he was left handed, so set his up as a mirror image of mine. Well, it was a showband, (sax etc) so they decided to offer us both the job, to have two drummers, and left it to us to get together to swap notes etc. When I phoned him to arrange, his dad answered, and told me in no uncertain terms that his son wasn’t going to be one of two drummers, and he, Dad, would make sure his son got the gig. I phoned the band leader, who said he’d just heard from the Dad, and was about to phone me, to ask if I’d have any problem being 1 of 2, to which I replied no problem. In that case you’ve got the job, he said.......

They love it, since it's far smaller than my previous rigs and takes up less space in the band van. It sounded great at the first rehearsal and the sound has been getting even better with every tweak I make to the various patches. These days I'm playing what could be best described as post-punk/gothic music which is a modern take on 80s influences, so unconventional is the order of the day. TBH (apart from short stint playing covers) The Terrortones are by far the most conventional band I've ever been in and they would have probably been OK with this too. I got a few worried looks from the bass player of the band that supported us at the last gig, but I plugged him into the Helix and was about to run through some of my patches to find a suitable sound, but he thought the first patch was fantastic and that was that.

I'm keeping myself busy at the moment with this. Bwahaaahhaaa!!

It's back on eBay!! The BGM award winning bass. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F132586830399 Another high quality well worded ad by the seller. At least they haven't called it an Elwood this time......

Guildford, early 2000's Not exactly an audition... A mate who had a band, mainly with people he knew through work, had booked a gig without really considering that they didn't actually have a bass player. They didn't play very much and I'd never seen them, but he had a knack of playing pubs near work on Friday nights so their mates (apart from me) and everybody they worked with would come along, the pub would sell a lot of beer and the band would go down pretty well. He was the BL, and being a mate I said that I'd come down to a practice, see if we gelled, and assuming no disasters I'd cover for the gig... The lead guitarist had been to GIT in LA and had lessons from Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. The BL, on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, was a triumph of enthusiasm over talent. Quite a contrast. The drummer had previously left the band to move to Spain with his wife, but having found out that she'd been cheating on him almost as soon as the plane landed, was back a year later, in a slightly fragile emotional state. It was difficult to tell if he was any good as he hadn't played the drums since moving to Spain, and was extremely rusty. There was also a female singer who did BVs and a couple of lead vocals, who was OK, not spectacular. That the drummer very obviously fancied. Really not subtle at all. And despite her being happily married. The previous bass player was someone at work who liked the idea of being in a band and owned a bass from when he was younger, but now had better things to do. I'd got a list of half a dozen covers to learn, some unusual choices but fairly mid-paced rock from the Beatles to Radiohead, nothing too trying, all in the original keys. This'll be fun... It rapidly became apparent that the position of BL was purely ceremonial, with no actual leading going on. If everybody started and stopped in more or less the same place, it was a success as far as he could see. the main problem was both his very average guitar playing, and his below par vocals. The odd song would be in the right key for him, and it wouldn't sound bad, but most of them weren't, so rather than changing the key, or letting the girl take those ones, he would screech his way through. And think he'd done a great job. We rush through the covers and the BL wants to move on. I suggest that we weren't sounding very good, how about we work on some of the issues...I politely point out a few parts where the drums were out and the BL played the wrong thing at various points, and it's really lacking in any dynamics... The drummer takes this OK, and apologises that he's a bit rusty, plus the previous bass player wasn't really one for any dynamics (his strength seemed to have been playing the root note of whatever chord the BL was playing) so he's not used to the bass trying to do any more than that. The BL concedes that he isn't playing all of his parts correctly, what with some of them being quite tricky for his standard of playing, and made more complicated because he is singing at the same time, but he thought he'd covered them OK and I'd only noticed because I'd been listening to the songs to learn the bass parts, nobody in the crowd would spot it. I also pointed out that a lot of the vocals would be better if we changed the keys to better suit his voice. Or did different songs that were better suited to his voice. He actually took that very well because he knew when his voice was straining, and was genuinely interested in the idea, but thought it wasn't worth trying right then as he'd need to go away and work on which keys were the right ones. Fair point. The BL insisted that we'll be fine with another couple of practices, and he wants to move on because he's written some songs and wanted the band to focus on playing those at future gigs rather than just covers. He shows the band how they go and we work our way through them. They are all dreadful. Nobody else in the band seems very enthusiastic, but out of politeness nobody says anything, so the BL thinks that they are dead keen to play them. The lead guitarist seemed completely bored, so I had a chat with him during a break. He knew exactly how bad the band was, but like me, the BL was a good mate, and with a couple of very young kids and a wife who clearly wore the pants in his house, this was his one excuse to get out and play his guitar. they didn't play very much, and he was happy to remain at a very low level weekend warrior level. We ran through the set, such as it was, one more time. the drummer was even worse, the girl has joined the lead guitarist in looking very bored, possibly because she is clearly the best singer in the band but only has a couple of lead vocals and none in the new songs, and only the BL is showing any sign of enjoying himself. He's given me a lift to the studio, and on the way back he asks me how I think it's gone, and would I be interested in joining full time rather than just doing the one gig? Didn't seem to mind in the slightest that I'd spent the night telling them how bad they were (actually, I did try to do it as positively as possible), my bass playing is a definite improvement on the previous incumbent and the band was sounding really good... I politely decline, say that it's not really for me but I'll do the gig if he wants me to. But I am not really very keen. He rings me the following day to say that the girl singer has decided that she'd rather stay in with her hubby than come to any more practices, certainly while the drummer was still there.. They could cope with that by cutting the couple of songs that she sings lead vocals on, but probably wouldn't need to as the drummer had decided that he wasn't in any state to be playing in a band at that time so couldn't commit to anything. They wouldn't find a new drummer in time for the gig, so it was off and I never had to return.

Nah! All educational banter. Cam and I are good buddies. He's just taller, better looking and a better singer than me. However, despite that I'm in two much better bands than he's in! And I have a massive amount of respect for the other guys I've been exchanging views with, although I might not always have had the time when crafting a quick reply to be showing it! +1 Let (polite) free speech reign. Besides @JSB is clearly a big fan of my Markbass combo so maybe I can sell my DG M900 and Vanderkley cab and spend the money on an FRFR

When the band can turn up on time, I'll then consider a metronome!

No, its a ballache!!

Our drummer *is* a metronome. His tempo is so consistent I was recently able to mix and match bits of the multitrack from three different takes of the same song. Was impressed.

Hooray! New strings have completely solved the problem. The Warwick Black labels arrived so I fitted those. Not only can I get the E-string action down with the others, I have been able to lower the action on all the strings by quite bit as well. Not sure if it is just a one off rogue E-string, or if this is a systematic problem with the 'Red labels'. Tension in the black labels seems slightly higher than in the Reds. They seem slightly brighter than the Reds, which may well be because they're new, but fundamentally sound much the same. Physically the Black label B and E strings have a significantly finer outer winding than the Reds. The only thing I'm not yet convinced by is that the Blacks have a taper wound B string. It seems to sound a bit 'hollow' compared to the original (non tapered) Reds. BUt whether that is the taper or something else I really don't know. Newtones are on the way and I'll report on those when they're fitted. Thanks for all your suggestions on this.

Hey Basschat, I've just started properly recording this bass and loving the bite from it! Anyone else here using a P-elite and want to share some photos/videos?? Cheers, Bill.

You don't want to know. 😁 Blue

It's a Wounded Paw Battering Ram Q. https://www.woundedpawaudio.ca/fx/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=29&zenid=99a32393a9736460d2ca46ea79dfc03f I don't even like fuzz pedals and this is genius. Truly. Genius. The parametric EQ is great. The distortion in parallel with the fuzz and octave up fuzz is brilliant. Very flexible and just great. In that respect better than Darkglass, but the sound is very different.

I had one of them - the Roland D-bass 210 - I'm not quite sure why I moved it on it was very impressive in the 'ultrA flat" mode. At the time I had a hellborg pre into a poweramp and a ACME B2 which again was even cleaner sounding. Sold them both and ended up with a walkabout which is like the diametric opposite of FRFR - but the MB AC combo is something I would like to try some point

t's not going to happen. I'm still trying to get the band to play songs that were written this century. I don't think any of them know what in-ears are.

With a 12" main driver, the ideal crossover point is between 1.2 and 1.5kHz, which is where the driver rolls off off-axis. Anything up to 2kHz will be useable, but above that and you get a dip off axis because of the way the bass driver beams at higher frequencies.

But when you are using the subs, you are using a crossover that takes up the bass duties away from the tops... actually making your tops more potent because it hasn't got to struggle with the harder to amplify bass frequencies. For bass guitar, subs are actually generally too subby for bass guitar in most smaller venues!

Lots of sales and yet none come up second hand. Kinda tells you what you need to know.

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Cool looking guitar! Peerless stuff is great - I've got an older Epi Jack Casady bass which is made in the Peerless plant too, and its flawless.

I've got one of those. It's pretty good. Same issue as with a lot of vibration sensing tuners though - if your band mates don't shut up the bass body can still vibrate at whatever freq the PA / guitar amps are pushing and make the tuner reading very dodgy. It does seem to get through batteries a bit too.

Really wasn't sure whether or not to post this one, since there never was an actual audition. This one crashed and burned before ever getting that far! The advert was for what was clearly going to be a Dad-rock outfit playing in Herts. and the only really off-putting thing was that the guy wanted to rehearse on Friday nights, which struck me as very odd. What follows is verbatim, although I've changed all names. Yes, I really did keep a record of this. Day #1 Are you fixed on Friday night rehearsals? What other night do you suggest Anything that isn't a gig night, i.e. not Friday or Saturday. Personally, I can do any day except Tuesday evening. Trying to get a Thursday night at the rehearsal rooms but so is every one else lol sorry forgot to ask where you live mate I'm in Sudbury Hill, Harrow. We mainly rehearse in kings Langley and three live in Hemel Hempstead one in Barnet, I know Sudbury Hill used to go to the rising sun Hah! I lived in Highfield for years. Have you guys got any YouTube you can share? No nothing on youtube mate are you still interested we rehearse at Debras in KL KL is not a problem, rehearsals on a Friday would be! Got to be worth an initial hookup though, see if we work well. What's your set list? I'm in the middle of reorganising it 6 rock n roll up to stuck in the middle, proud Mary, cocaine, one I love make me smile, honky tonk, black magic woman, killing floor, new rehearsal, still got the blues for you, no love in the city, human, hope your still interested, There's obviously a few more but that's the heart of it oh yeah free bird Human? Rag and bone man, recently a hit, LLL Not Human League then ... No mate LOL OK, most of those I can play without prep time so a first hookup still makes sense. When do you want to do this? Waiting to hear from the rehearsal rooms for a Thursday mate Did you like Human It's OK. Not sure how it fits with Killing Floor or Stuck In The Middle, mind ... How do you plan to sell/promote this band to venues? am gonna get Robert lead guitar to talk to you have to get on with Sunday mate will talk later, LLL OK, I'm around all day. Later that day I take a call from Robert, a lovely chap, very easy to talk to, happy to share. He has some contacts at well-known local venues and will be the chief gig-getter, he sounds like someone I'll have no trouble being in a band with. He is as puzzled about Friday night rehearsals as I am, and agrees that it's a silly night to be in a rehearsal studio. Day #2 Hi jack, how does Thursday week sound, can't get a rehearsal room Thursday this week, LLL Thursday is fine. Where and what time? What keys do you play those songs in? Which version of Black Magic Woman do you do? Could you ring Robert please Spoke to him yesterday, is this a new call? Sorry what is a new call, same guy No worries. Hi Jack, hope you didn't think I was being rude, LLL. No! We're all good. See you in 10 days, but do confirm where and when, OK? {post code} Ta. Should be 7 to 11 mate I call Robert and he starts taking me through the set list. It's completely different from the one that LLL has given me. Instead of the 12 songs listed by LLL, Robert lists 30 more songs with no common theme at all and which seem to have been picked with a pin. When I ask him about the 12 that LLL listed for me, most are greeted with the proverbial sharp intake of breath followed by "I thought we'd agreed to drop that" or "he hasn't mentioned that one" or "but he knows we can't do that with this line-up". Day #6 Hi Steve, as you come off the roundabout you take the first on the left and immediately first gate on the right, the gate is normally open, the rehearsal rooms are tucked away to your left, see you late mate, LLL Wrong guy, LLL. Jack Sorry mate still ready for next week Yup. I'm a half wit nothing to do with my age lol Day #11 Are we still good for tomorrow? Do I need to bring a bass rig? Yes please to both mate OK, I'm struggling to find this place. I can't find Debras on Google, and Maps says that {post code} is a Wedding Car hire place! Where exactly am I coming to? Kings Langley, Watford I know that, I used to work in Watford and live in Hemel. What's the name & address of the place I'm coming to? Will sort it soon, couple of hours I'm up to my eyes at moment {obscure streetname} lane {post code} how's that mate I don't think Debra advertise's [The lane in question is a mile-long country lane leading to a dead end, with yards and properties all along both sides, a sort of rural industrial area.] Sorry LLL, I don't think God intended us to be in the same band. Don't want to waste anyone's time so I reckon I'll just back away now.

I've ditched combos and gone back to head and cabs, same head but 1 x 12 or 2 x 12 cabs depending on the venue. More flexible, easier to carry, and I am not convinced that many combos are as efficient as a well-made cab.

wait, what? my suggestion actually worked? I mean, oh yeah, I knew it would

Don’t you mean microfarads. nF is Nano and pF is Pico.

It's called finesse. Some drummers have it, believe it or not

I must be lucky as I've never experienced anything remotely like the scenarios described here. I played with some "interesting" people in my early bands, but back then I was barely competent on any of the instruments I played, so I wasn't really in a position to criticise anyone else's shortcomings in terms of musicality or personality. Besides it was era of punk and post-punk and having characters in your band was almost a requirement. It certainly didn't hurt the chances of my first two bands both of which managed to do pretty well with limited ability and to a certain extent limited ambition. Since then I've been careful about which ads I answer and how I describe myself when advertising, and have only had positive experiences. The Terrortones had a couple of less than appropriate drummers audition but that was mostly due to our original drummer being one of those extremely talented musicians who made everything he played look easy even when it wasn't, and the fact that we thought the auditioning drummers were just being overly modest about their abilities (they weren't).

Fixed it for you

If you can't remember that you shouldn't be gigging.

I had a Guild a while back. Much like the Gibson 3 point bridge, it's all in those three points. The saddles will be fixed in relative height to mimic the radius of the fingerboard. You have to set the whole bridge to the height you want. You can normally set the treble side a bit lower than the bass side. Keep it kinda level, but you can have the back a little lower than the front. Round the other way is bad - on Gibsons I have seen the posts lift out of the body if the back of the bridge is higher than the front, but that's not to say it'll happen on a Guild.

Oh that looks nice

If anyone is still interested, the vong hpf kit is now available: http://schalltechnik04.de/en/kits

I've used it in some very noisy rooms without any issues.

This isnt a "hell audition" but we did laugh. A lot. We were a fresh from school band. All of us between 18 - 20. Quite well known on the "local scene". Our set list was fairly heavy rock. Metallica, Free, RATM, Led Zep, Black Sabbath etc. One of our guitarists was going to university so we were auditioning guitarists. We had 3 or 4 people coming to a practice to audition. We sent them all emails with 3 songs to learn, and aid if they had BVs or vocals it would be a massive bonus. The songs were "Wishing well ", "Black dog" and "Enter Sandman". So first guy turns up. Long hair, pointy dimebag guitar, Tight jeans, big boots, a amp and cab that was far too big. You get the picture. Nice enough though, had a chat as he was setting up, got on fine. Looking good. He tells us he can sing a bit, and would be happy to have a go with "Wishing Well". Fair play to the man. So he starts.... "You hear me , so clearly....." He starts singing Wet Wet Wet's version of Wishing Well. Brilliant. We were all crying laughing. The guy clearly felt a little embarrassed, but we couldn't stop. Too funny! DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!!

I so much agree with this observation that I wish I could lay claim to its genesis. In the fullness of time, perhaps I will. Moreover, I would contend that the pasteurisation of rock music has been one of a number of factors which have contributed to its decline in popularity. Let us consider the two most currently dominant genres: rap (in all its forms) and pop R&B. Are the pre-eminent practitioners of these styles "over the top, flamboyant, tastelessly rich and contentious"? Why, yes, indeedy. These people are - to coin a phrase - absolutely fabulous. They exude excess, reek of sex and they are coining it in. Contrast the rappers and the pop-stars with their po-faced, middle-class pygmy cousins in Rock, weeping their bitter tears of empathy, flaunting their jejune isshoos and their terribly-worthy-but-oh-so-dull causes. In particular the British end of Rock reminds one of the sort of vicarage tea-parties one attended in one's youth where disapproving drabsters sat around in a circle, sporting faces like a cat's bottom and droning on about the fragmentation of society and how simply awful everything is and patting themselves on the back about knitting socks for the poor black babies in Africa. Of course, Metal's different but then it always is and always has been. Thankfully there exists still in Metal a spark of free-booting rebellion and roaring non-conformity. Metal fans are rather like Millwall supporters, I suppose; everyone hates them but they don't care. I digress. What it really comes down to is that by embracing the mimsy-ish, pursed-lipped sort of attitudes that would have met with the nodding approval of my Great Grandmother the rockers of today have utterly p1ssed on their own chips. At some point in the 1990's Rock (and its audience) turned its nose up at strong liquor, recreational narcotics, indiscriminate fornication and public urination; perhaps it's what genres do when they enter middle age. Rock entered a spiritual winter from which it is yet to emerge; as Mr David Coverdale once remarked: 'Dark days for a cocksman; dark days indeed'. With fun out of the window, Rock needed to find another driver; sadly, it alighted upon 'hope'. Brandishing a rag-bag of causes such as sub-Saharan drought, gender oppression and that awful woman in Burma who turned out to be a wrong 'un (told ya) the prosing rock bores and their ghastly celebrity chums ultimately laid the foundations for the anodyne little squirts who currently prance around rock, tearfully unburdening themselves of matters of conscience while studiously avoiding giving offence or frightening the horses. Commercially, around about 1996 rock cut off its own balls and it's been on the slide ever since, and no wonder. For while today's young people may very audibly bang on about their 21st century snowflake concerns I suspect that behind their masks of passive conformity they secretly yearn to lay beside a sun-drenched pool, counting their millions while an exotically tattoo'd midget shovels the purest cocaine up their surgically enlarged nostrils, this even as a giggling bevy of naked beauties of the opposite (or same) sex disport themselves in the jacuzzi, every one of them off their shining, youthful little faces on Kristal and ketamine, and frankly gagging for it. And that's why Rap and R&B sell and Rock doesn't. Rock doesn't seem to realise there's no money in being a boring prude. So f**k Rock; Gene Simmons can try to keep the fire alive but the faux-rockers have taken over. There are filthier, more sporting musical genres out there if one knows where to look. I leave the last word to Mr Richard (Little Richard) Penniman. In his autobiography he describes a post-gig dressing-room encounter with Mr Buddy Holly. Does Little Richard expiate upon Mr Holly's social views or his politics or his privilege? Not at all. For while Mr Holly engages in athletic coition with a proto-groupie upon the dressing-room couch Mr Penniman observes that Buddy has 'the biggest c0ck I ever saw on a white boy'. That, my dears, is Rock (and Roll).

Just been listening to Living Colour on the radio, forgot what an excellent band they are. Used to play Love Rears Its Ugly Head in a rock band I was in many years ago, a cracking song to play.

Board set up went a bit crazy the other night!