Leaderboard

Did live sound to help a friend out. First time in a decade doing live sound for someone other than my band! Desk was a soundcraft ui24r, perfectly nice bit of kit, not a brilliant ui but ok. Never used one before, so a bit in at the deep end. I thought he was going to bring his Midas Pro 1 though, bah humbug! Band is a Stones tribute band so drums, 2 guitars, bass, vocal, bvs. Sound checked in 30 minutes. Had a blast. Apparently best on stage sound they've had, which is nice. Oh and the punters reckoned it was the best band with the best sound they've had in the venue ever. Pretty chuffed really, guess I've still got it then 🙂

Our seven piece swing/Dixie band finally played our first gig since the start of Covid and it was touch and go until the last minute due to the drummer's wife being very sick with Covid, luckily he tested OK in the afternoon so we could play. Not a big audience but the consensus was that the band was "on" and I think it was our best gig so far, everyone was ready to play and the sound was great. I used my Shen SB100 with a Boss wireless and a Schatten Design preamp(volume control only) straight into our Bose PA and I play the tenor banjo for the Dixie set. As usual we did two swing sets and then I switch to banjo and a sax player covers the bass parts on Bari sax and we play a Dixieland/trad set that always goes over well, lots of fun with various mutes, trombone glisses, drum solos and screaming clarinet parts...love it! Almost two months to the next gig but it's great to be back.😊

Given the name of the band, there's an obvious irony here ...

A month since my last update, and progress has been, let's say - incremental. After applying a couple more coats, the plan was to give it a week or so to let the layers of Danish Oil harden off, after which a final (or so I thought!) light sand to smooth it, before one last thin coat of oil, which should have resulted in the expected lustrous, satiny sheen I've achieved from this process before. The hardening phase was rudely extended by (having successfully dodged it for 2 & a half years), me finally being afflicted with The 'Rona, which was thoroughly horrid. So that basically added another week, and once I'd recovered sufficiently to be able to perform basic manual tasks (whilst still being a brain-fogged snot factory), it got a gentle and thorough wire-wooling, then that last coat of oil. To my surprise (and mild dismay, considering how long this was taking) the finish on the body wings set to a very varnish-y looking bright gloss, quite different to the expected satin finish on the neck & centre sections. The oil itself was also slightly gummy to the touch, not cured properly hard. However, after various pissings-around & experimenting, I found that, quite counter-intuitively, T-Cutting the shiny bits seemed to remove the top layer & restore the expected satin finish, and also seemed to encourage the stuff to harden off properly. So after a lot of buffing, coughing, sneezing and sniffing, this is where we are: And I think that's a finished finish, apart from removing some little bits of Danish Oil residue from the top & fretboard edges. Then just a couple of little aesthetic jobs to do, and I should be able to start welding & nailing all the bits back on.

Well then, finally I got this. Proper NSD thread will follow but for now this would do. Spector Euro 5 Classic, ridiculously good craftsmanship and sounds great, too 😀

It's always struck me as odd that, whilst most people view it as normal for instrumentalists to work at their craft, practice scales, acquire theoretical knowledge and so on, many seem to think that singing well is all down to "talent". Proper singers know different, of course and will learn vocal techniques and exercises and practice just as any musician does. They know that having a decent sounding voice (which is something one is born with) is only a starting point. Shame there aren't more who think that way.

On Bank Holiday Monday the covers band took part in a charity festival at a local pub. It was to raise money for the local Air Ambulance. It was the first time our newish drummer, Guido, had taken part in such an event. The multi-band setup requiring quick turn-arounds, no sound-checks and borrowed kit freaked him out a bit. I think he got used to a much more leisurely, comfortable way of doing things in his native Sicily! Not to mention the dusty trailer soiling his immaculate jeans 😆. He did well, though. Hopefully plenty of money was raised. The flying blood wagon does a lot of business around here, what with the outdoor activities of the Peak District and the motorcycle hot-spots.

I brought the gain back to 12 o'clock and a little bit lower and i could still hear it when i played hard. UPDATE :- Leszek got back to me today and with the settings i have on the amp he said the pre is being overloaded. You cant run these amps at low master volumes when at home. He suggested running the master at 100% and adjust Gain to suit. I did that and it works perfectly altho very very loud even with gain just off the bottom. I then dropped master to 50% and brought Gain up to the "crunch" marked point on the gain and still sounded ok. I then hit the drive button on and i could hear the valves working harder. I tried playing quite hard even at those high volumes of 50% and no farting distortion now. Leszek suggested i always run with master at full and adjust Gain for my working volume. So it looks like the pre-amp was overloaded because the master was so low. I've not had an all valve amp for about 40 yrs when i had Marshalls. I've had valve pre-amp ones where i addjusted the gain to get that slight distortion and adjusted my master for working volume. All valve amps appear to be a different way of working. Leszek said these amps are not really for home use. I have a punk gig on Sat night and will really put it thru its paces. One thing i would say is that the tone is almost like a modern sounding amp with the depth of an all valve amp. I've never come across that kind of tone before in an all valve amp. So so nice. I'm now back to being happy again.

The Question I'm Asked Most Often Is ... "Is that a cello?" BUT The question I'm asked most often by other musicians is, "How do you do those harmony vocals?". There doesn't seem to be a thread anywhere about BVs, so I thought I'd stick this here. At every live gig with my two main bands, I bring That's a Pedaltrain Nano (plus an extra pedal off to the left) fitted on top with a Diago mains power distribution and underneath with a battery pack that can deliver up to 1A - note the label on the Harmoniser pedal. The bread and butter end of the board is I still rate the red Mic Mechanic as one of the most useful things any vocalist can carry, a genuine Swiss Army Knife of a vocal pedal. https://www.tc-helicon.com/product.html?modelCode=P0DDW The green Duplicator is, essentially, a Mic Mechanic with the Echo function replaced by live ADT, really useful if you need a voice 'thickened up' on stage. https://www.tc-helicon.com/product.html?modelCode=P0DDX In The Junkyard Dogs I route lead singer Rick through the Mic Mechanic and drummer/BVs Paul through the Duplicator. In Damo & The Dynamites I route lead singer Damo through the Duplicator and I put my own voice through the Mic Mechanic solely for some subtle pitch correction ... essential (IMHO) if you're going to use a harmoniser of any kind. Ah yes, the harmoniser. For that we need the other end of the board. Since The Junkyard Dogs routinely sing in 3-part harmony there's no call for a harmoniser pedal. For those gigs, I swop out the harmoniser for the TC Helicon Voicetone X1 (on the left there). I've always sung and I carry a tune well, but my voice is a muddy baritone which simply does not cut through in a pub rock setting. The X1 is frankly a bit of a novelty act thing; it has eight settings, of which just one I find useful but thats OK, I only need that one setting! https://www.tc-helicon.com/product.html?modelCode=P0DE4 With Damo & The Dynamites it's a whole nother thang. The drummer doesn't sing so all the BVs are me, and we do a lot of stuff where the song is 'made' by the harmony BVs ... think how lame a lot of early Elvis would have sounded without The Jordanaires. To achieve that I use the TC Helicon Voicetone H1, and that's the pedal that gets noticed; used wrong it's the most complete train wreck you can imagine, but used right it can really deliver. This pedal has the facility to run your guitar/bass through it which will automatically set the correct key, which is cool but of surprisingly limited use. Firstly, if you operate it like a pedal (i.e. with your foot) then you are either restricted to a single set of harmonies or you have to kneel down and fiddle with it between songs. Secondly, if you play a fretless bass or a double bass then the smallest error in your intonation can have catastrophic impact. 😂 I keep the whole board at waist height beside me and operate it manually. Note the Tippex marks at E and A for easy location on a dark stage. As an aside, on one occasion I used this pedal to tune my bass at a gig ... I sang each note (EADG) with the pedal correcting my pitch, and tuned to it. https://www.tc-helicon.com/product.html?modelCode=P0DE1 When multiple harmonies are not needed but I still want it to sound as if more than one person is supplying BVs I switch to the TC Helicon Critical Mass. This is something of a halfway house between the Duplicator and the Voicetone H1; it can be used in quite a subtle way but it certainly beefs up the sound of a stripped-down 3-piece. https://www.tc-helicon.com/product.html?modelCode=P0CGT I should probably state for the record that I am NOT sponsored by or affiliated to TC Helicon ... I just like their pedals. All five of these were bought by me, with my own money. Speaking of which, all these pedals have increased in price substantially since I bought them, by well over 50% in a couple of cases. On the other hand, we now have blue passports. For context, in the unlikely event that someone wanted to duplicate precisely my vocal pedal board today, and bought new all the way (I always buy pre-owned if I can), they would still have change from a grand. That's including the Nano and both power supplies. If my board got nicked and I needed to replace it, I would expect to spend half that figure. Now ask yourself how much a half-decent bass guitar costs ...

Ah, great. I keep forgetting the WB is best with the output maxxed. Believe me when that power stage starts to glow at the gig, your life will change 🙂

August 26th: This evening we played at a new venue for us, just south of Stockport. The evening was slightly marred by me getting yet another migraine, just before we were due on stage. Three Zapains and 15 minutes in my car in the dark sorted it out so that I could play. There was a short panic when I rooted through my pockets and found empty pill-strips. I thought I'd taken all of my tablets and had none with me to use, but it all worked out. We stuck to the crowd-pleasers. Although there were a lot of their regulars missing, because of holidays and such, we went down a treat with those who were there. One of the more involved crowds we've had for a short while. Back there in November and hoping to break into the pub chain that has that venue. - - - - - - - - - - - - - August 27th: The evening saw us at one of our regular venues in Leigh. The PA was overly bassy and boomy - even just with recorded music with a flat EQ on the player and bass rolled right off on the PA - and I ended up having complete nightmares with my bass sound. I practically had it on nothing for a lot of the second half. We usually invoke what I call 'The C**t Code' when someone in the crowd falls into the gear. We stop dead on any disruption. Of course, there was the inevitable whizzed-up bald guy. You know the type, big stupid grin, shaved head, trying to take over the show from the band, who inadvertently turn into their backing. Yeah, he's the one.... The punters usually give up and move on, not that the prat ever notices. He had probably been drinking all day and was idiot dancing wildly in front of us to impress all the punters in the pub (he failed miserably - they all thought he was making a total c*ck of himself). We knew it was coming. He fell into my mic, so I stuck my bass sharply into the back of his head and shoved him roughly away. So... out comes the code... I announced the next song as the last one - and so it was. The crowd were just limp. The sound had been too much of a problem for us and we were glad to stop and get out a little earlier than expected. The prat came up to me as we were putting the gear near the exit and slurred incoherently at me (probably to ask if we were doing any more, so he could carry on his grisly cabaret), so I told him about the C**t Code and thanked him for saving us 20 minutes playing time. He just looked confused. Take the money and run, I say. - - - - - - - - - - - - - August 28th: The jam night in the evening started late, as the Christening function in our venue didn't want to stop. It's good that they were having such a good time. They carried on until the jam night punters started pouring in through the door around 7pm. We were a number of the usual players down, but you might not have been able to tell that on the night. We made the best of the players that we had and I ended up singing a few songs and had some surprise help which was nice. - - - - - - - - - - - - - August 29th: Bank Holiday Monday. I walked the dogs then I had a bath and at around 2pm, we set off for a festival, near Blackpool. We were due on at 5, so we got there around 3pm and met up to spend time with our drummer and his wife. We were asked if we could go on a bit earlier as the band before us had rather a lot of a mishap with their guitarist failing to turn up, so they didn't play. We were asked to cover their spot for an increased fee. When our guitarist Ian arrived, we hustled onto the stage and played a longer-than-expected set. We went down really well and we look pretty certain to be doing it again this time next year. Lots of compliments from audience members and other musicians, as well as the organisers. A day well spent. Nice that my wife managed to come along for this afternoon, as she is struggling with quite a lot of severe abdominal pain and is struggling to eat or drink at present.

This came up in a search under Musical Instruments & DJ Equipment -> Performance & DJ Equipment -> Mixers https://www.gumtree.com/p/audio-dj-mixers/mixer-/1428234891 (https:/ /i.ebayimg.com/images/g/OPIAAOSwsfJiNYtL/s-l800.webp)

I don't think it looks bad on him - an amp has been sent from poland to the UK, there are plenty of things that can go wrong in that process. Seemed a reasonable question. And then we see that he is responding well to the issue, I would only read that as a plus on the company. You really can. Maybe not with this amp, but you certainly can with 'a valve amp'. If it is not the correct way to use this amp, maybe future builds should get rid of the master volume?

But hold on here. You're the customer. You have paid out and are unhappy. It's good that you are getting the service you expect but I see no issue at all with seeking the input of other users, with more experience of the amp. I can't imagine there is any reputational damage at this stage.

The luthier told me he found the machine head that way, without the screw, to me seems impossible to lose it because I've never unscrew it.. By the way.. I found the distributor of the machine and I've been lucky because he had a spare part, it arrived yesterday

Anyone fancy it? Gig is at the Black Prince pub in Abington Square, Northampton, doors open 7-30pm. Small venue, about 150 people. Ticket is FREE (oh, go on then, you can buy me a pint!). Send me a pm if interested.

The Bottle of Evermore ～ Led Zeppelin

I am rapidly falling in love with this for pop and rock…anyone else have one of these?

Bodged the finish - it ain't a pro job in any way, shape or form, but I like it. The wallpaper was embossed, so unless I put 200 coats of lacquer on it was never going to be smooth, so we have a smooth, textured finish. My burst is iffy at best, so you are never going to see this for sale on here as a perfect finish. I've still got the bridge and headstock attachment to fit but it's close to the end (I hope).

Love my Pawn Shop model (2nd one I've owned, never should have sold the first)

And who’s not gonna plug in a new amp immediately?

I saw this quite a while back, it’s a great cover

I’m fine with lightweight cabs and Class D heads. And I’ve had them repaired and serviced. I have a GenzBenz Streamliner so when I realized agedhorse was still servicing them it was a no brainer. Off it went to California. It’s now like a brand new amp . My main practice amp is a tiny GK MB200 , and it sees heavy use daily. It developed the famous “ pink ring of doom” and was seen by a qualified technician. The fan had stopped working and the ICE power module had to be replaced , it was fixed , and is back to rigorous use. Class D heads can be serviced. My main gig amp is a Bergantino , I’ve yet to find any issues or problems. However should anything happen I’d call Bergantino , their customer support is legend. The Berg and Liner are completely different amps. The Liner has a three tube pre and can do that warm tube thing , the Forte is a stripped down clean transparent slam. I enjoy the differences. I like them both. I recently picked up an SWR Headlite for a song on the local kijiji buy & sell. The amp is clean , everything works just as it should , and I’m aware some parts are no longer available , so when it eventually goes it might be gone. I was quite aware of that when I bought it. For the time being it fires up and sounds just as it should. I expect years of future use. I gig every weekend , and use Bergantino HDN cabs. Never had a better stage sound , I smile every time I lift one. I’m fine with D heads and lightweight cabs. But I have friends that run multiple tube heads and big rigs and swear by them. To each their own. I’m fine with that too , but I’m thankful to be using smaller and lighter gear. I think my back is too.

Cocaine - JJ Cale

The Things We Do For Love ～ 10CC

Policeman's Helmet Colonial Teeth

Personally, I think it's been explained that all is being sought is the experience of other users. You might want, also, to consider the journey that Dave has been on, to arrive at Handbox's door. It appears that Leszek is being very helpful, and that's good customer service. Certainly better than suggesting a customer lacks skill and/or knowledge.

The black rider - Tom Waits

I've sent Leszek a few vid clips of what i'm hearing. He has a plan but i need to wait to see if its workable. To be fair he has offered a replacement or a full refund. You cant get much fairer than that. Leszek has been very helpful and understanding about it. I cant fault him with how he is dealing with the issue. Dave

For anyone interested, i have started a build post where I will document my limited successes and no doubt, a long list of failings before I finally turn it over to someone who knows what they are doing!

What you are saying is all good. Two tens can theoretically make the same sound levels whether they are in a PA speaker or in the backline. there are two provisos though. On the floor the floor actually reinforces the bass and you can't be certain the manufacturers would choose the same 10" driver. Raw bass will have a greater dynamic range than recorded bass and bass in live music is often mixed forward so it's not unreasonable to expect lower excursion from the bass driver in a PA speaker than a bass speaker. This is probably where all PA speakers aren't equal, the best ones will have the excursion. I just can't tell you the 910 is one of those and it will be beaten by the 912. I did wonder if I should point that out after I posted but you got there first The 912's are 18kg I think and quite big units. Does this still qualify as compact for you? I've actually used the 310's as a bass rig and even done a gig with just one, and that is with a drummer. The problem is that there is too much bass when they are on the floor, for bass they are better balanced up on poles. For me I know they can cope with bass as the PA at many gigs but that's how I play and mix. I roll off at 40Hz and use some gentle compression and we play pop rather than rock which all helps. the other plus is that all the mk4 Art series RCF's have really great speaker management built in to the DSP (also true of most modern PA speakers) so you can hammer them really hard with no risk of failure. There is no real one size fits all PA system and I'm currently carrying (storing mainly) 3 PA systems The 310's, RCF745's and a Wharfedale system with subs, even then I know we can't do the biggest outdoor gigs so I still can't cover 100% of the gigs we do in a year.

Picked up these three for a total of £5 at the weekend, best £5 I've spent in a while! The flipside of Uptown Top Ranking:

the heft in the double pickup bass is crazy!! Sounds massive!!! And the bartolini in the orange sounds very nice!! am still thinking I might grab another with a maple neck!

Jennifer Jupiter - Donovan ( Double Bubble )

I did a really short video - I'll do a longer one with more sounds at some point! This is a palm muted groove with front pickup and rear on about half way

One thing to keep in mind is that effects on BVs, and especially the harmoniser, sound great but have the tendency to sound louder than normal, naked BVs. The setlist I'm given at every Damo And The Dynamites gig has a column detailing what the BVs go through on each song, so I can adjust the BVs channel's volume manually to be loud enough to be appropriate to the song and enjoyable, but not overwhelm the lead vocals.* Edit to add: that's what almost all sound engineers at big open air events get spectacularly wrong unless they've studied the band's live videos extensively in advance. That, of course, is very unlikely to happen, understandably.

Oh I can assure you the promo will feature a bassist in heavy disguise.

Im in the middle of shooting another review video (the editing takes time and I work a dayjob - I dont do YouTube for a living lol)....when this one is complete, Ill start the answer video even if there isnt 500