Lozz196

For me I like terrace style backing vox and them to be loud, which given I do punk/Oi it`s pretty much a requirement, whereas some singers say that bvs should be a supplementary sound and remain in the background. I think really the levels need to be set to accommodate the strength of the voices - some people who do bvs have a much stronger voice than the lead singer, so you have to keep them down further on levels. I suppose really what I`m trying to say is set by ear.

In a punk covers band some 15 years ago we all ran amps with 412s - guitarists had valve amps, I had hybrids. But, and a big but, we only played to the level of the drums and the drummer had quite a light touch. So we had a very full sound, but not a loud sound.

That`s a good point Simon, with my old band who I`m temping for at the moment we always organise gear-share so each band bring one bit of kit, as you say without it you can end up with a mountain of gear and with nowhere to store it. For me though, and as I say I like gigging with just a Sansamp or equivalent, I just keep coming back to the the thought that some bands may not be used to this, and their performance may suffer due to it.

Coming from an H&S/Fire Safety related role the above doesn`t look good. Someone who is not an employee of the business, therefore with no authority to do so, asked to shut off a fire alarm, that person not having any knowledge of if there even is a fire or not, no! Anywhere that runs like that would be on my not-return-list, and given my albeit limited experience of fires I`d be considering contacting the fire authorities, not out of spite for being banned, but from not wanting others to be injured or worse should there be an actual fire.

Yeah a sound man did similar to my sound, I gave him JJ Burnel and he changed it to J Jamerson. I didn’t have the heart to be angry with him as he genuinely thought he’d worked hard to do me a big favour.

Yep, I live next to a licensed establishment, a bit of (always good natured) noise at closing time, and a bit of difficulty parking between 7pm & 11pm, but nothing to really moan about, though I’m sure some would try very hard to.

I find the irony of this situation is that I’m arguing against a sound man telling bassists to do this yet it’s actually now my preferred way of gigging.

A venue I`ve played a few times had a nearby building bought by people of a religious faith. Who then complained about noise whilst they were praying, and wanted the venue closed down. The venue itself wasn`t/isn`t in a residential area, so noise levels hadn`t been affecting anyone until the purchase above. As per a few other posts, do your research when buying, and don`t buy then expect an existing business to change/be closed down.

For me it’s the insistence of the use of equipment/a set up that the bands may not use. It’s their performance, they should be as comfortable as possible so as to put on their best show. Now controlled stage volume, well I get that, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t be possible to DI from an amp set very low on volume and then have monitor feed. Given it would be there as a DI it wouldn’t even need to be pointing in the direction of stage mics.

Yeah I don’t know why we - and our fellow bandmates - allow it to happen.

So he decides how the bass sounds in each band, rather than the bassists/bands. Not keen on that. Whilst I find gigging that way to be very convenient it’s my choice.

Thanks Dave, will def still be playing, got my non gigging classic rock band and a new (to me) Sandberg Superlight California TT to make that easier. Spot on

I will Dave, but sadly I just hurt too much after gigs now, not regular aches but actual pain, got to a point where I dread gigs because of how bad I’ll feel for a good few days after.

That was one of the things I found difficult, so again back to the practice thing, I’m still not good on cross-melodies or singing over intricate bass parts.

Just got home from a Knock Off gig at The Hope & Anchor, Islington, supporting GBH - apparently there never played there in their 40+ years so Knock Off arranged the gig for them. Went great, we played very well and the audience reaction was amazing, literally bodies flying all over the place, and singing along. I used my Fender JMJ Mustang and Behringer BDI21 into the 100w Ashdown house combo, which with a bit of help from the monitors was fine. Only downsides were it was incredibly hot in there so given the music type and how we play I’m now very smelly, and I ache all over - a reminder of why I’m giving up gigging. Footwear was a pair of black Vans trainers. Edit - I forgot to add, GBH were amazing, as they always are, great bunch of guys, really good to work with, and such an awesome sound.

Practice, that’s the only way. I’m not a natural singer so the only way I can get my backing vox right is practice them with the band. It’s no good at home volumes, I need to be doing them with the band and those volumes.

Whenever I’ve bought foam I used eFoam, decent company with good prices & service, they should be able to help

Nice, I tried one years ago, they’ve a really deep rich tone to them

The knobs in the control plate look badly spaced to me

Given the style of music I’ll assume it’s originals and therefore venues with proper PAs. Given that I’d look at a rig that can fulfill on stage sound. You can’t always rely on either the gear that’s there or the person operating it, so having a rig that if needed is powerful enough for the whole band to hear on stage is essential imo. As I do similar (tho punk/Oi) I’ve an Ashdown 500 watt RM500 Class D head, and two of their Pro Neo 210s, the whole rig is about 28kg. I’d always look at two of the same cab, for rehearsals use one, for gigs both if needed, plus if one cab blows the sound will be the same whereas with say a 210 & 115 each will have its own sound, so your overall sound always depends on both cabs.

Wilcock do one, but it’s not cheap - there is one up for grabs on here at moment

It`s def a case of two arguments: Better amp - sounds better so makes you want to play more. Not much can be done to make an amp sound better than it already does. Better instrument - plays better so makes you want to play more. Re this as other mentioned a decent set-up can turn a budget instrument into a great player, so always worth getting optimum performance from your existing instrument.

Thanks chaps, I know it’s New Bass Honeymoon at the moment but it’s one of those basses you don’t have to convince yourself about, you just play it - it virtually plays itself - and find yourself immersed in the playing, rather than thinking about the bass, this to me is the sign of an instrument you “get”. For me the Fender US Standard Precision is king but this bass, like Musicman Stingrays, is a notch above in quality imo, it just feels ergonomically more thought out. The neck at 40mm feels like a very comfortable Precision/Stingray, again very well thought out. Sound-wise, well I’m using it passive, 90% front pickup/10% bridge, with tone halfway which will most likely change when I put a set of Elixir nickels on it, as these are warmer and less toppy than the Elites steels it’s come with. Puts me in Precisiony territory. But being active, with bass and treble controls it has a lot more versatility to it, though I doubt I’ll be making much use of this aspect.

Definitely, in my first proper band much of the bass work was on the D & G, with a sly bit of chorus added in of course.

Nice