deepbass5

Good point from essex, despite only acoustic and vocals in the PA a loud stage volume will bleed in. I always use the 80 Hz button on the mixer to cut all mics low end. This is below vocal range so unless you are to mic the bass you do not need that low frequency rumble and mush being amplified then propogated by the room acoustics. We also only mic vocals through the PA and use back line amps for guitar and bass. only on large civic halls or Marquees do i use bass bins and then add Guitar and bass. Best to remember every room has a critical frequency and volume level that will come and bite you if you try and go there. Set up is key but someone suggest - the singer should get out there with a radio mic and tell the band what balance is required from who.

Yep with Sky chaser and Lozz Les and MR Jones, in fact lots of good advise above. When you have played every bum hall in the area you will build up a more immediate response to similar venues you find yourself at. My key points would be:- Most people want to hear the vocals so make sure these are good, I have put mic stands on carpet samples. Also monitors on them keep some in the van. Turn down bass and guitar ++ drummer Get the amps off the floor put not directly into mics Positioning of mics and monitors and PA can save the day. Better to sound really good to those on the floor in front the 1st 20 feet than sound sh*te everywhere

Let you know at Easter

I was going by the old P = V x I so if the voltage is down on the mains and the internal impedance (resistance) of your Amps power transformer cannot change the current it draws must rise. Power = current squared x Resistance But I have forgotten more than I learned 30 years ago so happy to stand corrected

PM'd But will pick them all up if you reply to my PM cheers

Seems odd to me 2007 gear, unless built from old stock, but even at the pre EU voltage standardisation. I would think the tolerence should have coped with the voltage difference, ref Bill above, more likely to expect damage using old Uk gear in europe as the lower voltage there would result in the gear drawing more current. But as long as any new gear has the CE approval it should be fine now.

[b]Ed S [/b]-- "if you buy from Thomann you get the 230V version, whereas UK stores sell the 240V." [b]Not correct[/b] This was covered by Dad and Flyfisher, and is not the case we are now the same with some regional variations and indeed fluctuations from time to time ( during Christmas dinner cooking) due to how the Grid is split up and the loads on parts of the network and tappings off the transformers HV > LV. where i live part of the town is still on over 240 volts and the others side dont see any more than 220V. I Have played in Europe and made up my own extension leads from Euro wall sockets to UK extension sockets, have ran my Bass gear PA and lights no problems. Thomann is fine, But you should support you local shop so its there when you want it.

1989 is a long time, could try getting a magnet and see if they are both same polarity pointing up. Do both pickups attacked or repel. Also is the output quieter in the mid centre position. Just reminded myself of this on a recent upgrade, if you have low volume when centred and then each pickup gets noticeably louder as soon as you move off centre position one pickup is wired arse about face. Other than that, must be the actual winding of those pups just low output in comparison.

It was not a surprise but dawned on us when we took the booking that that was how long it took to get paid when we played there last time. It is also through an Agent, but we do know him and have been working with him for over 30 years. But as stated above, this is why the country is in a mess, because small businesses cannot get the money in because big companies are dictating the rules.

Anyone else victim to a Hotel chains 90 day payment policy. Just a bit pissed having to wait till April to get paid for New years Eve

Down to three basses now all 5's but all different enough to cover most situations. Now all East equiped. [b]Status Electro 5.[/b] I have installed Status black nylons, but also tried GHS. Prefer the Status tone but kept the GHS on the (D & G string) as they have higher tension. The East U-retro has really given this bass a voice. Very flexible sounds between the Piezo and Mag pickup. My choice for Jazz / 60's and Motown. [b]The Shuker[/b] is as I bought it and has the East U-retro 5 knob deluxe, with Wizard pickups. [b]Marleaux mBass[/b]. All as above fantastic workmanship, really pleased the East preamp brought this bass to life. This may now give the Shuker a tussle for the Pop and funkier sets next year.

I had not planned to retro fit a new preamp into the mBass. But I felt something needed to be done to achieve its full potential. I bought this from Scooby on a rush of Gas, a couple of months back as I have always wanted one and still feel they are one of the most beautiful basses made. (Marmite I know). Having set the bass up the way I like it and put on my normal strings (GHS boomers). The bass did not respond as I had believed a bass of this build quality should. Very difficult to define and explain but the nearest I can describe is that it had a head cold. It just didn’t breath properly despite the variations in tone with the two pickups and the switchable humbucker. I felt all the available sounds lacked some presents. The existing controls are Volume, pan, stacked bass/treble. And a passive tone. I was thinking of wiring out the passive tone knob to be full on and I could then use the hole for a mid freq pot. Having written to John East I went for the U-retro 4 knob deluxe as a complete replacement. Pictures below show control cavity and the existing Pots. Very neat cavity with good shielding, the battery nicely tucked into its own alcove. The first issue I discovered was the hole sizes were different, two large ones a medium and one small. The surface plate of the Russian walnut top was countersunk requiring box spanners or reverting to the dangers of long nose pliers. The sunken jack socket plate was also a different thread to the East unit so I had to swap the two over. The picture shows the internal thread protruding; I had previously removed a thick plastic washer from behind the original to enable the jack to come further out of the recess allowing for right angle jack use without fouling the bass body. I wanted to retain this. Having drilled out the smaller hole I was ready to fit the East preamp. I had intended to lay the circuit board on its edge between the pots as I had with the Status bass but the cavity depth risked shorting out on the shielding. Assessing the best layout on these aftermarket installs is always a compromise. The final positioning is not pretty but it is safe from shorting and accessible for battery changes. I did have to extend some wires and re- route an earth cable from ground to be the pickup cold into John’s board. Most were common sense adaptations from previous bass projects. I also changed the grounded white wire from the neck pickup to be the hot into John’s board instead of the black, but had to change this back after experiencing the dip in pickup volume in the centre position you get if the two pickups are working against each other. Good news Immediately after switch on it has shown it has lost whatever masked its ability to speak clearly, I still find it difficult to describe what it was, but now even the pan control has a greater affect on the tone and I find the Neck pickup more pleasing than before, more “P ” like. All the sounds including the switchable humbucker are more pleasing and distinct. I am always wary being too hasty to praise a new toy, as is often the case on the forum. But this installation and first testing has come as a great relief to me and I look forward to gigging this great bass again with renewed passion. Hope someone finds this useful

In Rob Allen MB-2 4 string Status Electro 2 5 string Marleaux mbass 5 string parametric pedal East u-retro deluxe East u-retro custom Out Techsoundsystem 4 x 12 Schack unique 5 string Rob Allen MB-2 (those voices made me buy it) Warwick streamer stage 1 5 Sonuus midi unit Alesis Nanobass

My Mark Bass LMK is just the ticket have one bass in one channel clean and another bass via FX board into the other channel and use the foot switch to change, this also acts as a mute so no pops and bangs. Then as Mr Castle 5 sec should do it.

I've been naughty too. On discussing a pre Amp for my Status Electro with Mr East. I ended up buying two, one for my Mbass as well. They arrived last week so removed the old preamp in the status to check hole sizes and screen the cavity with copper foil. To save doing it Xmas morning !!! then [b]accidently[/b] poped it in there. and put the old one in the box. now wrapped and under the tree. She won't Know. I have added a thread in Technical. if interested and will add to this when i tackle the Mbass. Bang goes all the Christmas gig money again this year.

I have been through a bit of a Bass change round this last year, and now down to Three wise men in my stable. My main Gigging bass remains. A shuker 5 string I bought from Homer about three years ago now. Ash body, maple neck and board, camphor top fitted with Wizards and a John East deluxe 5 preamp. So was thinking if I get my last two acquisitions loaded full of East 'n' promise they may shine as well. First up is my Status Electro 2, bought this from Tim in Ireland back in August. Very nice bass. Bought it for jazz and 60's pop/ motown. Slapped some black nylons on it straight away and got some really nice sounds. The existing EQ was a little scratchy and didn't feel the two tone roll off knobs did much at all. So E-mailed John East to discuss his piezo board and how I could best control a Mag and Piezo pickups. John came up with a Hybrid U-retro he adapted to buffer the piezo and give me Vol, Pan, Stacked Bass/treble, stacked Mid/Freq. Shown below is the Status before the Mod. and while adding the copper shielding to the control cavity. then the finished job from above. all as I can say is Wow. Really impressed. This preamp has given this bass everything I had hoped for. I posted this thread as there has been some recent questions over retro fitting Eqs with piezo and mag pickups. I knew John did a piezo control board the MPM-01 so thought i would go for this and the SPM-02 control pots, but he suggested he could adapt the 4 knob u-retro to give separate Volume and balance with stacked bass/treble and stacked mid. The install was easy enough. got some 10mm>8mm bushes from Status so I could fit the modern U-retro thin pots to the larger holes on the Status. Self adhesive copper screening foil was from WD music [url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk"]www.wdmusic.co.uk[/url] The next Bass due for an East U-retro 4 knob deluxe is my latest acquisition an MBass from Scooby to be undertaken over Christmas.

nice construction but i would want an end pin on that.

right country wrong bass

The best selling point is you can lay it on a rack stand - play it like a pedal steel and there's room for your fish and chip suppa on the side.

I thought they were still looking for a tree big enough to make it.

There is a reason we all like bass, but it has more to do with how our ears work If we go back to the old Trace graphic amps when funk was King, and I guess when Mr King was Funk we all had a big smiley face on a graphic amp, to counteract our hearing deficiencies. Deep switches and shelving Eq's are a good thing IMO. But where we need to be careful is in the harmonics that follow after the fundamentals and continue to emphasize the bass. Make sure these low frequencies you have dialled in don't bloom all over the mix, so you may need to cut the low mids 200Hz < 500Hz depending on the room. So a parametric Eq may be very handy. (three knob with Q are best) As much as I love my Mark Bass and my GK mb500 fusion, the contours centres are fixed on these popular lightweight heads and do not always deal with the bloom that is a consequence of boosting the Lows. So my input would be experiment with cutting mids either on a good bass preamp (j-retro) or foot pedal parametric.

Just checking the Mrs sets she has just done for this Saturday and set 1 = 29 set 2 = 36 some will get dropped depending on the mood and who's dancing, But I do agree it is difficult maintaining a large number of songs. I have often envied (is that a word) bands that do the same numbers regularly and get really tight. We have over two hundred listed on our website which results in some panic practise and a few bum notes when a booker lists what they would like on their night. I now have two hours left tonight to re learn 7 Christmas songs

Forgot this one. My son had been in hospital for over a week, couldn't hold anything down. Had a week of tests cameras down then up and x-rays etc. It got to the Friday when our band had a Young Farmers Ball in Wiltshire. He had a lower abdominal X-ray planned for the afternoon, and they found he had a twisted bowl. The nurse told us the news and said he would need and operation. I said to the wife not to worry about the gig as they never do anything at weekends, then the Doctor came in and said we are transferring him to Oxford for an emergency immediately. Wife/ (singer) went in the ambulance and I went home to phone round for a band that could cover our gig. All was well and we even got the Gig back the following year.

Thats great Stages, now thats a topic on its own. Reminds me of a club in Egham we did some years ago. Turned up and a whole lorry load of the weeks drinks delivery was on the stage. Even though it was not our job to move it, we would never have been set up in time if we left it to the steward.