Leaderboard

Hello Just thought I'd share my experience from this weekend when I was lucky enough to perform at the World David Bowie Fan Convention in Liverpool and meet two of my musical heroes, George Murray and Carlos Alomar. They also guested on two songs with our band, The Bowie Contingent, with George playing my 71 P bass which was an incredible honour. George is a lovely man and was kind enough to sit with me for an hour and let me ask him anything I wanted about his time with Bowie, and about bass playing in general. A wonderful, gracious human being! Lee

Seven minutes is by no means the shortest! Back in '73 a classic jazz/comedy band I was with (the White Hot Air Men!) were setting up in the Half Moon pub in Putney for a rehearsal when Bob Kerr (of the Whoopee Band) rushed in and said he needed a band at Heathrow instantly for a paid job. We piled into a couple of cars and followed him flat out to the top floor of a multi-storey car park at the airport, all pretty much in the dark as to why; there was a very small piece of dingy carpet on the floor to make things even more mysterious. Bob told us to start playing 'there's no business like show business' as soon as the lift doors opened, which they did soon after. An American lady singist trio emerged with their minders, we launched into the number, they fell about laughing in surprise, the band all got a kiss and they were then hustled away into waiting limos. Total playing time 60 seconds, for which we got £10 each, pretty good for '73. Apparently this was all about a wager someone had made with the trio saying that the Brits were sure to welcome them by rolling out the red carpet and a brass band... I wish I knew who the trio were - could it have been the Supremes? Anyone had a shorter gig than that? For your amusement, a pic of the band at the Half Moon is attached - I'm the buffoon with the ludicrous beard and alto sax on the left...

This is not aimed at the OP or anyone who has responded. I bang on about this every time this topic comes up. I wish someone had in the early 80s when I was laying the foundations of my hearing problems. You can experiment with systems which are not moulded. But why bother? I would sell all my basses and associated kit if I could buy new ears. I cannot. If £150 is more than you can afford, then that is fair enough. But if it is remotely affordable, or you have to save up for a few months then do it. Get them with a lanyard in them. Get them in a lurid colour so that when you drop them you can find them. If you really want to treat yourself then get some of their sleeping ones at the same time. Complete game changers. But do not skimp on your ears. Ever.

Bith my bands are gigging this weekend, before a quiet August.

Its finally arrived after 3+ yrs. My Mesa TT800 and its incredible. Won't go into detail as i've posted a NAD here on BC but here's some pics as evidence i now have it. Trust me this amp is amazing. I love it. Dave

This is the beast in question!

If I’m only allowed one then it would be a Taylor T5Z - oh yes I have one! So versatile, an acoustic internal pickup plus 2 humbuckers ( one is concealed under the fretboard), and being semi hollow it’s nice and light. In the past I’ve had a Hofner Club 40, Harmony Sovereign, Washburn H35 (335 clone), Aria Acoustic, Washburn PRS look alike, Takamine 12 Guild D45, Taylor 314, Taylor 12 string and currently K.Yaira New York 21, Taylor Builders Edition Grand Pacific. I like having guitars around, but favour acoustics, but still consider myself first and foremost a bass player.

Just as a heads up, don't equate wearing hearing protection with total invulnerability. I have been wearing plugs diligently since I was 18: gigs, clubs, loud pubs, even the theatre at times. I wear triple flanges with 20dB filters and custom mould IEMs for the stage. Unfortunately I'm still suffering from tinnitus in both ears which has increased a lot in the last year. A quick trip around the ACS noise exposure calculator tells me that ACS Pro 20s take your exposure at 112dB to just 2 hours, which isn't a lot when you consider soundcheck, a show, and possibly watching other acts. I know that's a very rough guide, that your exposure is probably not going to be at 112dB for the full evening, and that it's possible that I'm just genetically disposed to hearing damage as both my parents wear hearing aids now, but just something to consider.

My ACS just pop in. The trick is to screw ‘em in, not push.

All speaker design is a matter of compromise. Mass is one of the factors that affects the resonance of a panel but only one. Adding mass to a composite will alter it's properties and most plastics used in moulded cabs are loaded with fillers. Stiffness is important too but again not the only factor I have a hi fi cab at home made of lead. Lead certainly isn't stiff but is inherently self damping and lead panels really don't ring when you tap them. Contrary to popular opinion even Trace never used lead in their cabs If you look at historic hi fi designs you will see that not much hasn't been tried out at some time. So the best material is not really something you can give a straight answer to. For portable PA weight is a real issue even for big touring rigs where you have teams of people to shift and set up the gear. Portable means it has to be tough and preferably repairable it also has to sound good. Poplar ply is lightweight but fairly soft compared with other hardwood ply. MDF is stiffer, more uniform, self-damping is good and as a man made product it is possible to optimise it for speakers, but it is dense and doesn't cope with water too well so it doesn't get used for portable PA gear too often. So how light does a cab need to be? I'm a fit 70 year old and can still comfortably carry a 23 kg load a short distance. I wouldn't want to lift a 23 kg speaker above head height though. I can carry a 10kg speaker several hundred metres but I'd rather not and it will feel a lot heavier by the time I get there. Anything much more than that and weight becomes an issue I tend to grab a 10" speaker for rehearsals over my 12 because it's 2kg heavier. I applaud Barefaced and others that have re-thought bass cabs but I've also felt the paels of GR Bass and Barefaced and yes they still have resonances that you can feel and hear. I've also felt quite a few old poorly braced 3/4" chipboard cabs with less panel resonance. A lot of that is down to detailed design. Maybe I should stop touching up speaker cabs though, I'll get a reputation 😂

I've been using plugs since the early 90s, first foam, then artillery ones with a chromed cap (proper Frankenstein) and for the last 10 years, ACS Pro 17. Swear by 'em! I find that when mixing a band I can hear distortion and imbalances far better than my dafter bandmates who don't wear plugs, and weirdly, you can hear people talking over stupidly-loud music.

Our next outing at the Edinburgh Fringe...

Just my Fender Rumble v3 500 combo, and the old Peavy Databass combo it replaced - which is buried under stuff in the garage, as a spare just in case Edit: I love how you've added a "cetera" option on the survey 😂

I have two. My main rig is a MarkBass IV with a Barefaced Two10 and my smaller rig for acoustic gigs and home use is a Warwick Gnome 280w and TC Electronics 208.

I've only got the one (Ashdown ABM-600 and Zilla 212), purely because I'd be in so much trouble with my wife if I brought a second home 😅 If I was single or we had a bigger house, I'd love to have more rigs.

If you want send it to me and I'll rehouse it for you in a bigger enclosure.

Thanks. I can see how the ACS Custom 17s are first and then experiment with in-ears later if I need to. Sounds great.

Ear cartilage keeps growing so you could find a new set needed.

Yes, this report was from the former Bass Centre LA store manager. He's a member there on TB. I used to frequent that store back then as it was only a couple hours drive for me if we wanted to go see the good stuff, and I remember seeing these 'Tribute' basses there. They weren't called signatures back then....the whole sig thing hadn't taken off til several years later.

But he really shouldn’t sing!

Dave, You could book a complete tour for us. Only premium venues please. Lol Daryl

I always get the cord with my ACS plugs. Makes them easy to find when hanging around my neck.

It's been considered, and used, but aircraft, boat and automobile industries use so much of it that there's not much left over for cottage industries. This keeps the price high as well.

I’m using the EICH T900 900w amp It’s very nice and easy to get a great sound out of it and the “ taste control” allows on the fly modern to vintage flavour if preferred!

After waiting over 3 yrs for this amp i can safely say it was worth the wait. It arrived around 12:30 today from Andertons. Its superbly built and the tone from both channels is just amazing. Obviously i'm still getting used to it but having read the manual a few times since originally ordering Apr 2021 and again April 2024 i feel i already know it. Ch 1 is the Boogie Channel and has a more rounded valve type tone but using the manuals suggested classic rock settings i think i have just found "my tone" its exactly what i would set an amp to. Ch 2 is the Subway channel and has a more modern feel to it with faster attack. Setting it almost flat with a slight boost of bass and i love it. On both these settings i have the HPF at 9 o'clock position. Can't really say i can hear a difference at house volumes but that seems to be where most people set it based on TB forum. The thing that really jumps out at me from the word go is how clear every note sounds across the strings no matter where you set the EQ, no "dead spots" like i've experienced with most other amps when you adjust the EQ. Its so well balanced and every note just seems to sing. As i got more used to it in the first hour i tweaked the SW channel treble to get a slightly Ric sound (still experimenting here so don't slate me at this stage) as i like to go from a more "P based tone" to a "Ric based tone" and in between depending on what song i'm playing and saves changing basses every other song. I have to admit at 64 yrs old i never dreamed i'd be this excited about a new bass amp but its like getting your first real bass rig all over again. I'm so excited its like Xmas as a kid. Here's some pics. Excuse the mess as i had to squeeze the lightweight rig next to the Mesa home practice rig in the Bass Cave. Dave

I'm a similar age and with similar experience - permanent low level tinnitus for the last seven or eight years, fortunately most of the time i can tune it out. I did have some custom plugs which were excellent but I managed to lose them at a gig (grr!). Then the pandemic happened and I have not been performing very much since. Knowing I needed some protection led me to try a few mid-range 'musician' plugs for use as an audience member and I have a couple of favourites. Etymotic ER20XS plugs are about as transparent as they can be IMO. They deliver an 20dB cut in volume evenly across the entire frequency spectrum. For me at least, they are very comfortable to the point that I sometimes have to check that I have them in my ears - then I discover how loud the music actually is! I use Etymotic IEMs as daily drivers for general music listening out and about, so I'm very used to deep insertion plugs and YMMV. They are about £30. I recently purchased a set of Alpine MusicSafe Pro plugs, which have three different filters for 16, 19 and 22dB. The three-filter versions are under £25, which is pretty good value. A/B testing them against the Etymotics at the same gigs over the last couple of weeks, the reduction in volume with the 22dB filters is noticeably better than the Etys, but they are a little more mid focused, especially if you push them deep into your ears. Oddly, the different frequency response is less noticeable at higher volumes. The 16dB Alpine filters are more evenly tuned and useful for quieter environments (such as amplified acoustic instruments). Swapping filters while you are in a mosh is liable to result in one or more of them getting lost! As a side note, the Etymotics have a small tab that makes getting them out of your ears again much easier. I have to dig in hard with my fingertips to extract the Alpines. I think they supply a cord which may help, but I don't want anything dangling around my neck at a gig. For ease of use and sound quality, the Etymotics win hands down. if you are going to be playing for many hours in a loud band, they may be a little underpowered, though. With any of these, though, they are like IEMs - your exact experience may vary depending on the shape and size of your ear canals. Custom moulds should be more consistent from one person to the next, but I would certainly recommend either as a backup to keep in your pocket or as a stop gap solution until you can get some made.

They don't tell you anything at JPTR - they like to let us discover stuff. You can blend in clean bottom end. And alter which frequency that is. Whether it's always there or not I can't say.

I use the cheapish Alpine ones available in most music shops. They do muffle the sound but having worn that style since I started gigging at 13 (20 years ago 😵) i've got used to them now and can't gig without them! Whilst the ACS plugs will without a doubt be far superior, the trade off in cost is a no brainer for me! The ones I use protect my hearing and have done through years of heavy metal touring bands, function bands and pub gigs without any issue!

Bamboo laminate is a very good material, but is so much in demand in the building trades that it's hard to find and prohibitively expensive.

George's playing on that run of albums from Station To Station to Scary Monsters is untouchable. Live versions on Stage, and more recently released Nassau and Blackout simply dial up the tone and feel of the whole band. What a player. If it's of interest here's an interview with George by Hikaru Davis, son of drummer Dennis Davis of the DAM band.

CF is very strong but it is directional. Can be almost indestructible from one angle and weak as paper in another. I'm just about ready to buy one of the new material Mark Bass cabs - I have no idea what they are made from and MB are being protective of the details. But I'm excited to try!

I've used ACS for 20 years now. In my bands it's all In ear monitoring but if I dep on bass, out come the ACS I take em to normal gigs as a punter too, just in case it's a bit loud

I do like a PRS. 20 or so years ago I bought this on Ebay. It's a long story but the guy bought it to replace a PRS that got lost/stolen while he was touring. The lost guitar he actually bought from my brother in 1991/92. There'a book called the ultimate guitar and there's a double page spread picture of a vintage yellow PRS signature guitar. This was my brother's guitar. He was telling me his guitar had been lost and was in a book called the ultimate guitar book I said, that was my brother's guitar, he said is your brother called Clive? Yes

I use the Flare ones. Metal plus replaceable foam plug tips. They send you a starter pack so you find your size tip for future orders. They are fairly flat and a big step up from foam. They live on my key ring. Being never without is great. I expect the custom ACS would be even better. It's not uncommon for bassists in your position to go the route of a personal IEM mixer system with a room mic blend to your bass. It should be a better mix than what you get standing next to the drums.

Another vote for ACS. I’ve used their custom ear plugs for years. I got their in-ear buds a couple of years ago. I use them with a behringer personal headphone amp and they fit directly into the custom ear plugs I had made about 9 years ago (they replace the filters). A comfortable and custom in-ear monitor for quite reasonable money.

Buy a PA system and a van. As soon as word gets out you'll be swamped in offers.

He did mention the BC Rich Eagle to me, and I believe he did use it on Ashes. To be honest he didn't seem to be particular about instruments or gear, he talked about trading away his original P bass for example, the black one he'd used through the Bowie tours with the jazz pickup added near the bridge. If it was me I'd never have traded something like that away! But I think he had no particular attachments to instruments and liked to experiment. Joining the Bowie band I'm in has really upped my respect levels for him. We try to base our versions on live tracks and trying to get the bass parts from Stage down for example was a big challenge for me. The bass is a lead instrument on that album, in my opinion. And on the day after our show he specifically asking around for me by name, and wanted to sit and chat with me, which was incredible really! Such a kind and humble man.

https://fixr.co/event/north-fest-2024-tickets-722055686?ref=r_ScoJefuh7d we’re doing this… Fallen on the day of the community shield 🙄

A two-gigger last weekend, first on Friday at the monthly residency-type pub in Swinton, it's a late one, we don't start till ten, I was ordering a drink at the bar at nine when there was an unholy kerfuffle across the bar in the pool room, a full-on catfight (or rather an assault). Cue everyone in the pub restraining a younger woman who'd gone for a lady older than her. Ten minutes later as we're still setting up the 5-0 are in the pub, the victim had (it turned out) a fractured skull, cheekbone and broken jaw. Lovely. We went on a little late, played to an indifferent crowd (another of those 'Why do they put bands on?' pubs), and as I was leaving about midnight there was another police car outside and a couple of officers hanging about. I went home... Satdy was a teatime gig at a friend of the BL's (a bassist himself) house, in his big garden. Supposed to go on at 5:30, I shortened the day at home to be there, but there was another lot on before us (the birthday chap and his friend) needless to say we went on at about seven. Bah. Dep drummer, supplied electronic kit, different PA, it was a bit of a mishmash, but it sounded OK in my inears straight from the desk. The BL stayed and there was a jam session that went on for hours, but I was home for half nine. Modded Squier Sonic P (still pretty much perfect for the gigs I'm doing right now), Stomp, inears...some nights it pays to travel light...

Finished! OK, it's not there's still fret levelling, etc etc, but here's a poor quality mobile phone pic...