mrtcat

Really really wish I could have gone to this. I am rapidly becoming a country fan after dismissing it for years. Bob Harris' show seems to be on when I drive home from rehearsals every week and I'm being swung by the new country stuff which seems to be in favour at the moment. I'm totally into the vocal harmonies and some great writing.

Played a rare pub gig with the function band at a pub called The Swan in Wantage Oxon. We have just taken on a new keys player so wanted a no pressure outing to put him through his paces. He was ace and we all gelled immediately. Pub got busier and busier as the night went on and people danced from first note til last. Sound guy asked if we could play there every week lol. A success I reckon.

Can I ask why the change? Our band has been looking at a powered system for function work and I'm interested in the QSC k12s with a pair of powered subs which I recall you were talking highly of. Have you had problems with the Qsc rig?

Oxford sucks. Live music other than metal struggles as all the venues were so up their own @r5es that they went under. Even the Bullingdon arms has gone downhill and that used to be ok. For a city with such a student population it's really disappointing.

Nope. Everything sounds great until I get my hands on it.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1394730292' post='2394563'] Yep, great venue, played there last night. [/quote] Bugger wish I'd known. Depping for a band there tomorrow night. King billy is heavy rock on a sat bit they are open to all sorts mid week. The Beeswing at Kettering has had decent bands in the past. If you are prepared to play 20mins down the road then the red lion at Brackley is good and the Kings Head at Buckingham is cheap and cheerful but fun to play.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1394732744' post='2394601'] Things I look for are playing area...and if they are serious about the music they put on, so I will check out the rosta and also whether it is the sort of place we'd invite people to... If they fail on any of that criteria, we aren't going to play there.. [/quote] This is more like it for me too. I look at who else they book and if they have decent bands week in week out then it makes me really want to play there. If they only put a band on once in a blue moon when they are looking to boost that month's takings then forget it. Also if they do what many pubs round here do and have their mates band or their brother's wife's cousin's son's band or some of the really cheap local acts then I'll give it a miss thanks.

Mixer lives next to my amp at gigs. Singer and guitarist always help with load in and set up. I sound check with wireless lead and then away we go. We aren't a hugely expensive function band but we try to get the very best sound we can. Our system can go very big if needed. Tempted to invest in snake and use engineer for bigger gigs in future but would need to find someone I really trust.

Nah just do it. Be honest with prospective band members about your ability. I find being in bands keeps me focused and remember that when I was learning it really spurred me on to improve knowing that I wasn't just improving for my own benefit. Good luck

www.startechproductions.co.uk did lighting for an oxford uni grad ball we played last year. They were very pro but were hired by the university college so have no idea what they charged. I'm in and out of Oxford a lot so if I can be of any help just let me know. These guys are based down the road in swindon and although they do sound not light they're brilliant and will no doubt be able to recommend a lighting company. www.amberaudio.co.uk

I do ours and then email it out so the guys can highlight genuine issues. I don't pander to changes unless theres a good reason because there's 5 of us and if we all wrote a list you'd have 5 totally different ones. Always start with last few songs last set then first song 1st set then last few songs first set then first song last set then put all linked songs (we do a medley of 8 songs sometimes) and so on until sets full. Biggest problem is we have abiut 200 tunes to pick from and I only need about. 35 for two hours.

Just to let you know amp is now home and seems at full health again. It arrived on weds (not sure when but when I got home from work it was sitting on my doorstep where courier had left it - thankfully it didn't rain weds and nobody nicked it) and I used it at rehearsal last night. Sounds bloody lovely! Thanks to all involved and let's hope (fingers crossed) it goes on to be a faithful workhorse for me.

Excellent programme and mind blowing how much amazing music and how many massive hits came from such a nondescript town.

Think an update is a bit overdue! After (I'm assuming) some intervention from Gareth the shop have been in touch several times. They have sent me some vouchers, a really nice fender custom shop tweed cable and some strings (the d'addarios that I like) by way of an apology and I completely accept this. They have been very apologetic and have also arranged for my amp (which has now been repaired) to be sent directly to me at the start of this coming week. I am absolutely fine with this and am grateful to all who were involved in rectifying the situation. I must stress that the guys at Korg / hartke were all brilliant at all stages of my communication with them and I would have absolutely no hesitation buying hartke again. The Kilo is a brilliant sounding amp and I'm excited to get it back. I had no idea that my original post would start such a prickly thread and had I thought it would I'd have kept the issue to myself which I don't think this right for such a great forum. I didn't make a major song and dance about the shop's name and if people missed it then I'm not really surprised. Thanks to all for your constructive advice and to those who got involved.

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1393455651' post='2380660'] Exactly mate, I'm really not sure why the OP felt he could name the manufacturer - who wasn't really at fault in either cause (amps do occasionally go wrong) or response (which was immediate) - whilst the retailer who both failed and lied gets away with it? Pretty poor attitude IMO. [/quote] Did I at any point level my complaint at hartke or Korg? No. I came here for advice not to name and shame anyone. If it makes you happy it was Dawson's and there was nothing to stop you messaging me for details. To question my attitude is pretty annoying as I've simply been after people's advice or experiences to help me resolve my problem.

I hope my posts have been clear on this. My issue is with being lied to by the retailer who clearly screwed up in not sending my head on to the distributors (Korg) who do the repairs. I don't actually feel too aggrieved by the not sending it on as this may have been a genuine mistake. My complaint is the diabolical communication followed by lies. Korg have been excellent as I only emailed them this morning and not only have they responded really quickly but I've also had a call from the engineer working on my amp. I think maybe my post title was wrong and I'll ammend it but I'm not going to name the retailer (who incidentally haven't replied to my complaint this morning yet even though both hartke and Korg have contacted me) as I need to have a workable relationship with them in order to achieve my aim - to have a fully functional hartke kilo on top of my cab. Also a little grumpy at having had to pay to courier head to retailer in nw only to find head is being repaired less than a mile from where I work lol!

Absolutely fuming now!!!! Having been away for a few days I emailed Korg direct today. They responded almost immediately to say the amp only arrived with them on 19th Feb which is the day after I managed to speak to someone at the retailer. It's clear that they didn't send it to Korg until after I spoke to them. That means it was sat with them for more than three weeks before passing it to Korg. They clearly were lying to me when I asked them for an update and they said Korg hadn't finished with it yet. I have the email from Korg (who appear much more switched on) stating amp was sent to them on 18th Feb and arrived on 19th. Time to confront retailer I think.

There's a nice blonde girl on YouTube who shows how to play it with dots and tab included. Should be easy to find.

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1392746047' post='2372277'] I bought a Behringer feedback destroyer and it was hopeless. [/quote] Behringer DEQ2496 all the eq you'll ever need.

Good idea - I'm on it now.

Update. Finally managed to get the shop to chase Korg but all they can tell me is that it's not fixed yet and I should call back at the end of next week. By that time they'll have had the head for a month which personally I think is rubbish. I need my amp, I have weddings to play and although I have a backup it's nothing like the quality of what I need. Very disappointed that I've had to chase the shop so hard just to get a "call back in about 10 days". Very frustrated :-(

Don't sweat it. I underplayed enough for half the forum on Sat night.

Proffessionalism is giving the person paying the bill what they are paying for with the minimum of fuss. Whether you agree or not with the timings you do what you are asked to do. Seems very unfair to criticise this band without knowing what was actually asked of them. We regularly play timings that we don't think are best but if that's what's asked of us by the organisers then that's what we do with smiles on our faces and we make sure we entertain the crowd the best we possibly can.

Wow that's a diverse selection! The only way you'll get to know which is for you is to try them. I had a TC RH450 and it was immaculately made but for me it lacked low end weight. Personally if cash was no issue I'd be very keen to have a go on the Mesa Boogie but as I said before you need to try for yourself. Happy hunting! Great cab choice btw