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Gigging in a pub? Soundcheck 'till you're happy. Gigging in a ticketed venue? Be done and dusted before they let people in. ...IMO, of course.

The trick in these circumstances is to make it not sound like a soundcheck. No fannying around or practicing riffs you should have tidied up in the rehearsal room. No annoying feedback or tuning up at full volume. Everyone is focussed and ready to do a very specific and planned sound check. A band I played in had the soundcheck rehearsed so we could get set up, and play something both useful to get our levels and fix any sound issues with the room, but also appear to give the punters a montage of tunes. (We used the same soundcheck plan to set up rehearsals too as it happens) It helps if you have someone else doing sound "out front", but it is still more than manageable if the whole band is reading from the same page and actually helps rather than 'not being a team player'. As a side effect of turning up with this professional attitude is that you'll also help to bake the idea in to the heads of the punters that the band are gonna be really good and worth hanging around for. Nothing puts me off more than musicians who have no stage craft and p*ss around, not helping each other but still think they are great. /disclaimer, yes I've played festival stages and the toilet circuit where the engineer checks merely for some noise on the DI as a confirmation of bass tone lol.. It's not always perfect.

My covers band has started every gig for the last 15 years with the same song. All three of us sing, so we take a verse each. Three minutes into the gig, our sound engineer @Silvia Bluejay has heard all three vocal mics, guitar, bass and drums (usually with everything going through the PA as well as backline) and our sound is sorted for the rest of the set. The audience (pub / club / festival / whatever) has no clue that they just heard our soundcheck.

So, I basically only play Rickenbackers these days, not that I have loads. I have a Fireglo 4003 from 1999 that is my main bass until I started travelling. Last year I bought a 2009 4003 in Mapleglo, which after Fireglo is my favourite colour. Then, bored, late at night I came across a 1984 Mapleglo 4003 on Guitar Center. I don’t know what more to say, it’s basically the same bass but older. Neck shape is different but every Ric has always been different for me. It’s incredible

Second gig for my originals band last Saturday evening in Reading. Gig put on by a local promoter who has delt with our guitarist before. All new to me and was slightly nervous as only required to take Squier PJ-555 and pedalboard. Happy to find Markbass lm3 and 2x10 cab supplied. Small pub but a sizable enthusiastic crowd for the four bands. We were on second and went down very well. Friendly sound man and I could hear everything fine which encouraged me to do my backing Vox. I'm not great but it's so much easier when you can hear yerself. Lots of positive comments from audience members and one of the other bands want us to do a gig with them in September.....so far so good. update, some footage has shown up...got to work on that ending😆

Option 2 every time. You can't sound check at low levels as you won't hear the low end. You have to sound check at gig level. No need for 5 minutes though! Line-check everything then do 30 seconds of a section of a song where everything gets used (IE don't check the verse without BVs, check the chorus with BVs).

I bet someone sent him a telegram at the time slagging him off

A soundcheck is essential when the person mixing is also playing, because it's nigh on impossible to fix things on the fly or even hear if anything is amiss unless it's really obvious or glaring. As others point out, it should be brief (no noodling, practicing in public, etc). If there are people in the venue, I set up individual channels on cans, then play a swift burst of a recording I'm familiar with through the PA to check the FoH sound. Then we announce that we're doing a soundcheck, the band plays and I have a quick walkaround (playing via my wireless) to check all's well and make any adjustments needed. Only takes a few minutes. Better that than trusting to luck.

Well, I bit the bullet and bought the Reverend Fatfish 32. Lovely neck - the 32 is a very comfortable size actually, it sounds great - playing mainly on the front humbucker just now which gives a big warm fat tone but still with plenty cut in the mix, it’s a relatively big body but still feel pretty comfortable. All in all very happy with this purchase. And I can now do a small, medium and large photo, like this: 😃

I'm happy that you're happy, but you couldn't help having a wee dig at folk at the end, could you? If you're looking to make friends, or convince people of the value of your revelation to them, this isn't the way.

A superb blowout of joint winners in April, all on the money with excellent tuneage. By a marvelously community spirited resolution , Jean-luc Pickguard has provided us with a lovely image .... "Ralph the Bulldog" I chuckled muchly when this presented itself in my PM's ! So, we need rules , ✅ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and the deadline. ❌ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ❌ No Bagpipes, May be ... May not .. unless as a background ambience at -65db ❌ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you.. Deadline-wise, we will go for Midnight on the 24th May ... but I am out on the Sunday morning so you might get a few more hours polishing and rolling in glitter till Tea time on the 25th A line or two of blurb as usual for the vote thread will be super duper smashing lovely. Good luck, Have fun

just got this new compressor from Sonicake, supposedly a 1176 in a 1590a box. just had a quick test and its on the subtle side, but good enough for most (of my own) application. no low end loss even with the Blend completely off, LED color changes with the amount of compression applied (a bit slow to react tho) Overall it will not replace my Cali76TXPL, but will keep this one for my cheap 1590a setup. IMO best bass compressor below £40 new.

I should share this beauty which arrived from @skelf last week:

People pay up to bring a quick end to the bass solo

All done. All in, an hour or so to sort out (I needed to work inside the bass too). Neck pocket needed a little bit of sanding...there was a bit of finish gunk in there from 45 years ago. Fitted a new set of Wilkinson machine heads. Didn't need any real set up, intonation/action is fine. Noticeably Jazz Bass in profile (like my old Geddy. I may sand the back of the neck in a few months (it still smells very new). Genuinely surprised and impressed. Shipping was quick and I didn't pay anything on top. All in it was under £82.00. I've always liked a dark fingerboard with block inlays. My first bass (Columbus Jazz copy) had this and I suppose I've always had a soft spot for this set up. In closing, yes it was supplied with a late '60s, early '70s Fender logo on it. It's the first time I've ever had an instrument with a fake logo on it. If you don't like it go and have a coffee and relax.

A busy weekend for Nine Lives, two shiny new (to us) venues to play! Saturday it's the North Bar in Peterhead, Sunday it's the Pittendrum Bar in Sandhaven.

New backup bass day got down to one bass but what a bass 72 P but band suggested I was tempting fate turning up to gigs with one bass. I have never needed the backups I’ve taken. Ever! I caved in and thought I’m just going to get a super cheap bass that can sit in a case - saw the Squier Jag Bass with one big pup - £219 - got it yesterday expecting it to be bad - but neck is satin smooth and zero fret sprout or sharp frets, 32inch - not had 32 or Jag before. It’s really nice to play. Pickup is nicely balanced and has a nice grunt to it. Tuners seem to be fine. Bridge is cheap - that and the strings are the only things I’ll change I think. im digging playing it too - rehearsals tomorrow to test it out.

Well… I love 51’/tele basses. Had a very nice custom shop “sting” and have had a MIJ reissue at some point. Saw this on a facebook page and just went for it. Thanks to @walshyfor doing the middleman bit. So spec is Fender neck - stripped, nitro refin guitarbuild ash body, nitro BSB fralin pickup Gotoh reverse machineheads bakelite pickguard bakelite saddles etc some posh pots and capacitors etc. Fender covers all slot-head screws as per early 51’s needs some tweaks to suit, but it’s ace. slightly heavy at 10.5lbs…but it’s a resonant chunk.

I shan't say anything other than this post is offensive. Carefully considered offence. Especially to those of us with hearing loss or those of us that have been doing this for a long time and have evolved with many ƙinds of tech. So, what's being said here is that because I'm passionate about big valve amps, I like my hearing impairment? It's difficult to interpret this in any other way. It's a nasty vibe. Hearing loss/impairment is not a joke and ACS wasn't a thing we were aware of in 1985. It's rare that we see such a vibe on BC. The original post has the sanctimonious air to it that tries to belittle those that don't align or agree. Vile.

Just spotted in a local charity shop window. Looks in good nick (through the window). £45 seems like a bargain. Are these decent? I don’t need a new bass. But I do keep looking at black P Basses that are 10 or 100 times this price.

Now that you've pointed it out, this seems to be the case, good eagle eye there. The line is too straight, not really a contour. I reckon our bass player brains take a quick look and fill in the details to fit what we already know.

Love the way they play and move on up the road. It was in New Orleans I realised the purpose of the bass solo in the penultimate song. It’s to let the guitarist pass round the bar with the tip jar😂 Now, back on topic…

And for that there's this:

That’s exactly what I thought. Sure looks like his jacket is covering part of the headstock.

We are! A combination of the height at which I wear the bass and my own physiology I suspect, but Schallers just don’t work for me. I tried the newer version but with the same result. Both my Shortys have Dunlop Dual pins. For security, I double over the ends of the Comfort Strapp, then add the rubber washer. This prevents any forward swivel and provides a bit of solidity and stability. I still have Schallers on the ‘bic shorties but only play seated - strap balance is a joke (again, preference and physiology - I’m sure they’re fine for many players). Here’s the Shortys - a rare day of strong sunshine up here

We're second on for Saturday, 2:30. Wallowing (Saturday headliners) are well worth checking out if you're there too.

Another Jeff Berlin performance, this one achievable by us mere mortals, this is the tune Andre from the 1988 Kazumi Watanabe album 'The Spice Of Life Too'. No solo, just great part playing. One run that is challenging but you can ignore it without any detriment to the performance. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/andre-kazumi-watanbe/

The Harrisons and Music Ground have released many dubious and fake guitars into the wild over their long and illustrious careers.

Has this actually been confirmed, or is it what Carol said? ** About time really.

I am correct in assuming that is a euphemism right?

Does anyone happen to know which IEMs work best for metal?

Special request. This is the Stanley Clarke part for 'Blues For Mingus' from the 1979 album, 'I Wanna Play For You'. As I understand it, it was a p***-take following Mingus's scathing attacks on Clarke in the music press - 'he can't play a Blues'. IT sounds like a p***-take to me anyway! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/blues-for-mingus-stanley-clarke/

Even though it doesn’t say it’s a Refin in the description, based on The Gallery’s previous/recent prices for similar pre-CBS refinished Precisions, I think it’s safe to say it is…

Questionable, since most people doing sound checks can only count to two.

Could be, but plugged in? the last time I saw ZZ Top they had two dozen or so Magnatones on the stage. I asked their road manager how many they were actually using. He told me Billy and Dusty were using two apiece, the rest were 'eye candy for the kiddies'. 😄

The same happens with the 1950s rock 'n' roll band, but we didn't go through a phase of actually playing an extra song 10 minutes before the start. (Audiences tended to think the gig had begun in earnest. ) What is extremely important, and we can't do without in any band, is a line check. I'm fast enough in fixing any problems to the actual sound once the gig has started, but if I'm missing signal from a channel or a speaker that's another matter, and the performance has to be interrupted, which does look unprofessional.

Irrational? I have been extolling the virtues of single 10s and 12s for some time but can I get rid of that feeling that I need a second to stack? It would mean that I did not need to bend to adjust my amp but is that worth another outlay of £700-900? Bass cab therapy anyone?

I sort of hope it is a mod - I rather like it if so. In the first image, it looks like the head could be tucked inside Billy J's bassist's jacket? The second looks a little more clear but still hard to tell. I expanded the images as much as I could - anything but get on with work.

Yep, a good sense of smell is a useful trait when inspecting a pre-CBS, especially if it's in acase, I've yet to play one that didn't have something of the whiff of 60 years of sweat, alcohol, nicotine, and no doubt a few other molecules......

My updated fretless pedalboard. 1. TC Electronic Tuner 2. Boss OC5 Octave 3. Harley Benton Custom Line Chorus 4. Walrus Audio Slo Reverb 5. Mooer Ambient A7 Reverb 6. Sonicake Boost 7. Ampeg Optical Compressor 8. Sansamp BDDI V2 Preamp Super happy with this and it sounds amazing. The only thing I would like to try for a possible change is replace the two reverb pedals with a Strymon Cloudburst. I'm happy with these two reverbs but the Cloudbust has a few features I would like to try out and still does what my current reverb pedals do.

I remember solid-state plug-and-play valve alternatives advertised in guitar magazines back in the 80's. For the life of me I can't remember the brands behind them. BK Butler, or Seymour Duncan or someone! I wonder if this new product is a variation like those by AMZ or Soundsmith? **EDIT - Yellow Jackets! Such as a 6L6 / EL34 alternative, my brain cell came up with the goods today!

Perfectly serviceable basses mate; you’d spend £100 on a knackered squier

Outkast getting the nod over Oasis. Correct choice.

My gig last night was a recording session for which I was the engineer. My mate has opened a small studio where he records his music school students, so it's mainly acoustic guitar and singers. His initial attempt to record were, in his own words, rubbish (well, actually he used non-Basschat language which I have translated) so he asked me in to do it properly. Having been recording myself and bands for years (I started on small Fostex 4 track cassette in the late 80's and went through an 8 track reel-to-reel machine and various digital hard disk recorders), I have some experience. Last night was a beginner singer/guitarist who wanted to record a CD's worth of cover songs so it was a relatively simple set up. He wanted to sing and play at the same time, which made getting separation from guitar and voice impossible and he kept moving around, so trying to get a consistent sound was hard. We managed to get through about half of his list before his voice gave out and he started to struggle nailing some of the guitar parts. After he'd gone, my mate explained that he was in his 90s. He didn't look it, and my admiration for his performance went up a notch or two.

Oh bugger