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neilray

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Everything posted by neilray

  1. Much as I hate to admit it , I prefer the full band rehearsals to actually playing in front of people . Don’t have to wear the monkey suit , or have a three hour ride home at two in the morning having just played to 100 wedding guests who only actually notice you are there 5 minutes before you have to stop playing .
  2. That’s interesting and I’ve no actually worked mine out . But as an example , I’m playing in Glastonbury tomorrow night , private party the n St ives in Cornwall Saturday night . I’ve got to be in St ives by midday Saturday and we are setting up p.a in three separate venues ( speeches etc ) . So I’ll leave Epsom in Surrey around 11 tomorrow’s morning and not be home until Sunday afternoon . I’ll earn 275 . And 75 of that will be a tank of fuel for the 600 mile round trip . Another 30 quid or so is food and drink . Just re - strung both my basses etc etc . Wouldn’t change a thing and I still love it
  3. Yes I agree with you on most of your points . My point is , even if you are are a pub or bar that wants to put on live music , why you you expect to pay peanuts for the bands/ musicians? Because musicians will play for peanuts because of the love of what they do and that’s a personal choice . Also it’s exactly why I couldn’t just play music for a living . This doesn’t mean I love or enjoy playing any less than a full time musician . It’s just that I realised when I left school that I needed to earn money . I wasn’t a good musician at that time so I trained to do something else .As in my previous post , nothing but admiration for the full timers out there .
  4. It does . I’ve nothing but complete admiration for anybody that strives to make a living by playing music .Fact is, I’d play gigs for nothing because I do something else full time . What I do , and I guess I’m not alone in this , is put my gig money by so I can get strings and occasionally something bigger - a new bass or a safety net in case any of my gear goes wrong .
  5. Good points . I suppose I just get annoyed at the exploitation. And yes - if you don’t do it , somebody else will . Sooner or later , gig or no gig , you have to put a value on what you have to offer .
  6. By the way , I’m not a full time musician . I’m actually a plumber
  7. People . Just read an ad on gumtree via basschat . Band looking for a bassist to gig every Wednesday night . Three x 45 minute sets .either a three or four piece band . The pay was £120 - divided amongst all the band members . So you travel to this cocktail bar , paying your tube/ train fare , play three sets , then travel home again . You will get 30 or 40 quid for your trouble . By the time you’ve paid travel costs , you won’t have enough money to buy a set of strings . Especially if you use a five string . Before you respond , yes I know all gigs are good experience - but why should the venue be allowed to obtain your services for the same money that a plumber makes in half an hour ? I’m sorry people but this stinks . Am I the only person thinking like this ?
  8. I’ve not used the Elbe range but I own two Embee 12 cabinets and run a Mesa Subway 800 through them . They are rated at 600 watts each and easily handle the power of the Mesa ,.they are great for near- field monitoring , due to the angled speakers (angled upwards ) , and they are very clear and punchy across the whole frequency range . The tweeters are subtle rather than the glassy and sometimes brittle character of some HF units . Two of them stacked up is a huge and exceptionally clear and clean sound . They are reasonably light , though not featherweights, but have cool angled handles which makes the cabs easy to lift . I can carry one in each hand but probably wouldn’t if a flight of stairs were involved. They aren’t the cheapest , mine were 675 a unit , but I’m delighted with them and the company were very helpful and easy to deal with . Worth trying alongside the other cabs in this very competitive sector of the market .
  9. Completely agree . There’s nothing like getting the sound you want to make you play just that little bit better . Like most people I guess , a bass player , more than most others , is likely to suffer when it comes to certain venues . I sometimes cringe when I’m sent details of certain venues I’ve played before as I know them to be a nightmare for bassists . I recently bought an Auralex Gramma V2 and it’s been a revelation to be honest . Using the gramma has made me rethink the pickups upgrade a bit .
  10. Hey thanks for that . I didn’t think my pups were muddy - although I understand what you mean . Mine just sound a little flat and clinical . Though I too love the bass . Easy to play for two hour sets and relatively light . Not tried a Sire yet but saw a lake placid blue 4 string V7 gen 2 that looks great and was £408 - amazing looking for the money
  11. Hi mate I think your bass is essentially the same as mine save for the fanned frets and singlecut shape of mine . What’s your thoughts on the original barts ?
  12. Hi Danny boy yeah that’s a good point but I love the neck on the Ibanez and , though it’s not that important , I got it for a steal and it looks fab IMO . I’ve also got an East system that I bought for a project that never happened and it’s also 5 pots with mid freq select plus a passive tone . It would fit in the cavity of the Ibanez easily . Could be worth fitting the East and a couple of Nordstrand pickups . I’ll enquire about the size of the pickups . I’ll keep you posted hi . Yes that was my thinking .while Bartolini are great pickups , they can sometimes lack a little character and power in my opinion . Nordstrand Big singles would be my choice too . Same size casing so should fit nicely . I’ll try them with the existing preamp and maybe see how that goes . I have a Lakland too - a DJ 4 . I also had a skyline 5501 which had Barts .while it played fantastically well , I did lack a certain something sound wise
  13. Hi Danny boy yeah that’s a good point but I love the neck on the Ibanez and , though it’s not that important , I got it for a steal and it looks fab IMO . I’ve also got an East system that I bought for a project that never happened and it’s also 5 pots with mid freq select plus a passive tone . It would fit in the cavity of the Ibanez easily . Could be worth fitting the East and a couple of Nordstrand pickups . I’ll enquire about the size of the pickups . I’ll keep you posted
  14. Hello . Recently bought an Ibanez SR single cut 5 string as a backup and am really happy with it and it plays nicely . It’s got Bartolini soap bars at the moment but I’ve noticed that some of the SR basses have nordstrand pickups as standard . Any body think that the bass would benefit from the upgrade to Nordstrand ? Have read great things about them and while I’m happy enough with the Bartolini pups , a buddy of mine has an SR with Nordstrand pups and it seems to have a bit more presence and bite than mine . Thanks in advance peeps
  15. Hi I’ve never used one but all the horn players in our band do - it’s all I-pads now . Our singer uses one too . It’s a thing with me if I’m doing lots of singing - which I don’t these days . I’m always bringing up the fact of music stand usage with the horn players . I understand completely if you’re new to the tune , but they still read songs they’ve played a hundred times .you c ant remember what notes you play in “ Gimme some lovin “ ? Really ? ill expect a backlash ............lol
  16. neilray

    Anti GAS

    Thanks guys and I’d agree with most of your points . My lakland is a skyline series and just felt right straight away . It’s like putting on ya fave slippers every time I pick it up . I actually really like the passive tone and the pickups are great . No noise and good sound with one or the other backed off slightly. I always have the tone down about a third. Playing it through a Mesa subway d800 and two DB embee cabinets with 12 s . Any body else using DB cabs ? Thoughts ?
  17. neilray

    Anti GAS

    Does anybody else- like me - keep thinking that the higher price you pay for an instrument , you’re more likely to find that the cheaper one , that you’ve had for years , is really hard to top .? Recently bought a Mayones Slogan and it’s a beauty but it’s just not MY bass . I keep going back to my Lakland DJ 4 which I’ve had for about 8 years and has simply never let me down . No shifting of the neck , no crackling pots and for some reason , strings last for months on it . I think I just learned my lesson . A good bass is a good bass and forget about the price of it . Consequently, im selling the Mayones - any interested parties please let me know .
  18. Wow mate . I can’t really moan about. 220 mile round trip . To make that kind of journey you’d really need to know it was going to be worth it . When I went , I must admit to being underwhelmed at actually being there . But if you know what you want , it’s worth the trip . Out of interest , what do you have in Scotland ? I know Guitar guitar have a couple of places up there . Is there much else ?
  19. Tried a few Dingwalls while I was there . Have never played a fanned fret bass before and I was blown away by the playability and sound of them . Beautifully put together basses
  20. I hope they do ok . Was there last month buying a Mayones and had the place pretty much to myself . Was able to try five or six basses without interruption. Was surprised at how small the space is , but my buying experience was good .
  21. neilray

    Hello

    Hi Robbo im a year younger than you and started in my teens . Still learning new things every time I pick the bass up . And I do my utmost to pick it up every day . Keep practising and good luck with learning the coolest instrument ever mate.
  22. Thank you for that josie . Don’t actually think there is anything wrong with the preamp . It just doesn’t have a lot of top end boost . Have decided to get rid of it now as I’ve also found that the machines are woeful at holding the guitar in tune as well neil
  23. hello there it came from bass direct . Nice chaps . I’m awaiting a reply from Mayones .yeah tried the batteries and changed them but no luck unfortunately. No gigs this week so would have time to go to bass direct ( 220 mile round trip ) but hoping Mayones can give me an idea chuffed with the support and help you get on this site btw . Thanks
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