mrtcat

If I had a bass 20yrs it would break my heart to sell it for just a couple hundred quid. I'd keep it and carry on enjoying it.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1304436' date='Jul 15 2011, 10:01 AM']One cab soution...?? zillions of them... 1 speaker solution...? not a chance, IMV. I can't recall ever hearing anyone with a single speaker sounding any good.[/quote] Bit of a sweepeing statement tbh as there are some very good single speaker cabs out there. I think this is a "horses for courses" type thing tho. You have to remember we all have differing tastes. For me the solution would be two 1x12 cabs (take your pick - BFM, Barefaced, Aguilar etc etc) as you get portability, tone, depth, low volume etc. If you get to use a PA (and I strongly recommend you do if possible as you have far better band sound control if you let an engineer sort it) then you can use just one cab as a monitor.I'd never ever ever leave a cab at a practice venue as some young punk would trash it for sure. I have owned a couple of compacts but only really enjoyed them when I had two together as I found the bottom end lacking with just one. I do know a lot of people who genuinely love them tho and I'm aware this is purely a personal taste issue on my behalf. However I have also gigged with a cheap ashdown 15 cab which surprised me. I found the barefaced finish quality very disapointing tho especially at the price. Likewise I've been disapponted with the odd 4x10 and I've never been able to get on with a 2x10 as every one I tried just sounded like half a 4x10. I'd give up home practice tone in favour of gig tone anytime cos only I hear the practice tone. Headphones are the way forward for me here anyhow. Dream soution if this was me? No brainer - 2 BFM Jack 12's would win time and time again. I then get to choose the finish, can have one with tweeters and one without and I'll know it's well made cos I would have made it!

I always buy plywood for speaker builds from one particular wood yard as the three young lads working in the warehouse, who fetch your order, are all really helpful and seem really happy to be helping the customer. I have emailed their boss this afternoon as a result of this thread. Not enough praise out there. If we don't tell these people when they're doing something right we can't expect them to keep doing it right.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I'm gonna give it a whirl so have set the ball rolling with Bill. I should be registered soon so let me know if you want a quote for having something built. I will make anything on the site (www.billfitzmaurice.com) with the exception of the home audio/home cinema stuff as thats more furniture like. All builds will come with photo's to show the birthing process. On an additional note I've had a lot of requests to build some fearful projects too. I'm checking with greenboy regarding the legalities of building his designs for money. If I get the all clear from there I'll offer commissioned builds of their designs too. Thanks again

In my band we always seem to disagree on the set order. It p###es me right off cos I'll write a set list out trying to build up to a cresceno at the end of both halves. Then someone always comes out with "I don't like that song too early in the set" or "why not just swap these 20 songs around a bit" and I end up having to write it all out again. When someone else gets of their arse to write a set list it always seems to make no sense to me with it being up and down all over the shop. Does anyone have a formula or a theory for how to put your set together? If so it'll help me put a set together then be able to explain to the rest of the band why it should stay that way. We play classic rock cheese btw

I've always said that it's a good job weddings pay so well! There's always a lot of waiting around and then 60% of the guests find a band annoying as they can't hear themselves talk and then you get asked to play heaps of standard stuff that you are really bored of playing. To cap it all off the hot lady in the white dress seems to be preoccupied with another bloke. Oh well at least they pay well!!!

Maybe it's just me but do the normal folk out there not appreciate good basslines? I've watched most of Glastonbury this weekend as our drummer is ill and gigs have been cancelled. I have been pretty uninspired by the bass players in the bands that are known as bands but have seen some great bass playing with the solo artists. For example I think Coldplay, Biffy, U2, elbow et all were very average but I loved the playing behind Jessie J, Tinnie Tempa (hate his music and found the bbc coverage frustrating as every other sentence was muted due to swearing), Paulo Nutini, Plan B etc. The exception was Mumford & Sons as I really enjoyed his bass playing. It might just be me tho

[quote name='lanark' post='1279277' date='Jun 23 2011, 01:05 AM']What do people fasten them to? Do you have a frame or just any old stuff that looks secure?[/quote] I have a simple bolt together lightweight frame made from some thin angled steel (bolts together to make a simple goalpost shape) from wickes. The missus stitched the backdrop so we can feed the horizontal steel through the top before bolting the uprights on. Theres some rubber feet on the bottom so we just lean it up against the wall behind us. The horizontal is made from two pieces so we just overlap it and gaff tape it to suit the width of the stage. At its widest its about 6m and its about 2.5m high. Very simple and basic but it's never failed in 4 yrs of playing pubs, clubs and biker fests. I think the key to ours is that the black cloth we use is very lightweight (i.e pretty cheap).

I just bought some black cotton sheet and then printed our logo onto that iron on paper you use for putting pics on t-shirts using ms publisher. Our logo is nr white so i printed it in very pale grey so I could cut it out and then simply ironed it on. Did the same with our website address and it works well. Total spend was about £40 [attachment=83207:Kefalonia_148.JPG]

This forum makes people sell because it makes them want to buy. Lots of people own fenders so it stands to reason that a lot of people will have one to sell when looking to fund the next purchase. It's all about the GAS. Fenders are like marmite and lets face it that's one of the most recognisable brands there is.

Thanks for the input guys, all points are noted. Should stress that I'm not going to try to make a living from this as I have a decent day job already. It's just that I'd like to offer the service and use it to fund holidays / new gear etc whilst enjoying the building. The limit on builds allowed by the franchise would never allow it to become my sole income. It's interesting to hear that vmaxblues has struggled to sell a cab as they're very good sounding kit. I wonder if the fact that prospective buyers could choose their cab and spec might help.

Hi all, Just a feeler to see if there's any interest out there. I'm toying with the idea of becoming an authorized Bill Fitzmaurice franchise builder and wanted to see whether it's worth giving it a whirl. I'm an experienced cabinet maker by trade and have now completed several BFM projects to a high standard. I'd definitely encourage potential buyers to inspect my previous builds as a guide to the level of my work. If i do decide to go ahead I'll also build a web site to show my portfolio. Basically there's a very reasonable set up fee and a monthly fee to pay to become a builder but there's a limit of how many builds I could do a year (to be fair the limit is higher than I could manage). I would be completely responsible for my own standards and customer relations but I'd be allowed to build his designs and sell them at a price based around the guidelines that Bill recommends which will be a fraction of the price of equivalent commercially available stuff. It would certainly not be my sole income but would potentially supplement my earnings a little. I would probably want just a couple of builds a month so I could give them my full attention. I'd initially ask for material costs up front (these would be dictated by the spec required) then a balance to be paid when the customer collects and is satisfied with the finished product. The aim would be to allow people who don't have the skills or time to own some of Bill's designs which many of you know are quite special. I really really enjoy the building process so it would be a better way of earning than getting a second job at Tescos lol. Any suggestions or feedback would be gratefully received. I'm not decided yet but will see what the general feeling is.

Building complete! Now running two DR280s and two titan 39s. Awesome sound and very very loud. Happy to demo for fellow BCers or you can catch my band somewhere (check website)

Just to confirm our band now gigs with 2x DR280's and I'm in process of building 2x Titan 39's to replace our existing subs. Also building 2 x Omni Top 15's for use in smaller venues when we don't need subs etc. Well worth a listen as they're sounding great.

Our band very rarely plays a gig where we dont need to supply everything from backline to pa and as I own the pa I'm uber paranoid about kit breaking down. I maintain the pa really well and as it has multiple cabs there's always a way out of speaker failure. I also have a spare power amp in the rack which adds loads of extra weight but its nice to know it's there. As for bass backline I have a sansamp that stays in my gig bag and it's a very reassuring backup. I think any gigging bass player should carry a di alternative and the sansamp is as good if not better than the real amp & cab.

Up until recently Ive been playing with my pub covers band and also keeping an eye open for other projects. I love my covers band but as you might expect in order to be busy we play stuff to please pub goers. I always fancied a second band that played some of my fave stuff (Aerosmith, Poison, GnR, Skid Row etc etc)which is unlikely to make me mega busy but the odd gig doing this stuff would put a big smile on my face. Nothing came along - no biggie as I still get regular gigs with my covers band. Then last Saturday I got married to my very beautiful and tollerant better half. Since then I've had four offers of bands I like the sound of. One called tonight and I've frantically learnt five songs for an impromptu audition tomorrow night. Is this because I'm married? Lol

I just cringe whenever there's a band on with a piano. You just know JH is going to slide onto the stool next to the pianist and play some tedious 12 bar. I think the bands on there these days are pretty dull. I mean KD Lang was sooooooo moany and boring. Lets have something more funky on the show please! Should say tho that I met JH's session bassist Dave Swift at Olympia and he was such a sound guy he's worth tuning in for if he's on as most of you will already know he's a really good player

I'd be tempted to look at side projects as it can be very depressing leaving a band you've worked hard with in order to build reputation etc and going back to square one again. I certainly would give it a chance and see how it pans out. Our band sometimes encounters one member or another feeling unsettled and 9 times in 10 it all just settles back down. The 1 time it doesn't can often lead to a change for the better.

Guess this could be a good indicator of who's the sharpest entrepreneur on BC then lol

Maybe BC could do those rubber wrist bands (like the lance armstrong Livestrong ones) and only sell to BCers with any profit going to charity?