Dad3353

I bought a bass from David (a very splendid Hofner 500/3; really beautiful..!) a year and a half ago, but was only recently able to collect it (darned Covid..!). An excellent affair, with David demonstrating patience and goodwill far beyond the call of duty. I regret that we were not able to meet in person, but he has amply earned the designation of being an Official Good Egg. The restoration will commence soon, and I'll post updates when the time comes. Thanks again, David; she's a beauty..!

I bought a bass cab from Ben 18 months ago, but was only able to collect it last week..! Darned Covid..! Ben had patiently kept it safe and warm for me all this time, but it's now safely ensconced at home, here in France. An excellent affair from an excellent bloke. I hereby declare Ben to be an Ofiicial Good Egg. Thanks, Ben.

I bought a Tuner/amp from Pete. Collected in person, so a friendly meet-up to put a face to a BC ID. Everything was prepared (except that the dummy had forgotten what day it was; we were lucky he was in..!). Well pleased, I hereby pronounce Pete to be an Official Good Egg. Thanks, Pete.

Mike sold me a SmoothHound Wireless system. Excellent communications, well packed and timely expedition; a Good Egg. Five stars.

And the winners are... @Doctor J and @NickD ..! Here, then, is your Winner's Certificate (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2022_04.pdf ... which looks like this (but bigger, of course..!)...

S'obvious, no..?

Always..?

Good Stuff, once all the hoops have been jumped through to install the installer (goes to the right drive, this one...), download the instruments, update the NI installer, download the Free Kontakt (my paid-up Kontakt 5 is apparently no longer useful; too old to play a free piano...). Install the Free Kontakt Player (to the wrong drive, so move it manually...), then invoke, again, the NI installer to give the Heavyocity serial numbers, needed, apparently, even for the Free Kontakt Player. All in all, another hour or so I'll not get back. Happily, once done, it works, and the sounds are decent and useable. I'm getting closer and closer to wanting to just play a real acoustic piano, though; less hassle than all of this rigmarole. Done (phew...), so result. Thanks for posting.

Stage (band...) lighting is an art in and of itself. The style of band, the nature of the event, the budget available, and/or someone to operate stuff makes things complex. The 'minimum', I'd say, if there's no-one to operate stuff, would be a pair of projectors, as high as possible (on top of the FOH..?), one with a very light blue, the other a very light orange, 'looking' at the opposite 'corner' of the stage (so crossed beams...) giving a 'face' lighting. It doesn't have to be very bright, and best if it can be cut for 'blackouts'. Either side of the stage, an upward-facing pair of auto-colour LED Par's; another pair, if possible, either side of the drummer (if centre stage...). There would be enough 'scatter' from all of those to twinkle off anything shiny around, and the low 'face' will emphasise the front persons. Sound-to-light works, but slowly colour-cycling works well, too. Using walls/ceiling/drapery can be very effective in some venues, instead of just shining towards the group.

Several years as a 'pro' drummer in variety bands, more years still 'depping' or functions as a duo (keys/drums...), several years doing first the sound, then the lights, for a touring punk/rock/ska band, odd-jobbing FOH and rigging for festival-type events, playing firstly bass, then drums with our sons and a couple of chums, playing covers, my gigging calendar has in these last few years reduced to very little indeed. I ticked the box 'I record at home', which is my current situation, but I could have ticked most or any of 'em, really. Hope this helps (but I don't see how...) What was the question again..? Who are you..? Have the visitors been..?

Your drummer has a spare snare, I hope, and bass drum pedal..? Much is down to chance, whatever one does. I've had a bass drum batter head split, just as we started for a five-hour variety dance gig. A quick sourcing of two bits of ply, my trusty hammer and a couple of nails to sandwich what was left of the skin, to have a surface to beat on, a mic in the drum and we go on. When things go awry, one improvises, which might mean just not having bass that evening. No kittens get hurt.

Nah, it wouldn't hold up in court. The ad only says that'll it'll work for 'losers'; you're too cool to qualify, so it's not applicable. Sorry. ...

That's just the way they make 'em, for Wormwood Scrubs. ...

Sorry, I'm in France, and UK prices always confuse me. (No, of course you're right; silly me and my 'all thumbs' fingers. Thanks for the correction. )

Here's an ad currently in the Marketplace of this very Forum. Any use..? Radial, Art & Alctron DI Boxes for sale ...

I concur with the above. Most of my basses (I'm a drummer..!) are fretted, but I have a very fine (inexpensive...) fretless 6-string, offered to me by Our Eldest. Unfortunately, Our Youngest had started learning to play on his new Cort Fiver, took over my Sixer and I've not really had a chance to play it much, since. This was a few years ago, now, and it rapidly became his main (only..?) playing bass. He doesn't play 'fretless' styles, he plays anything and everything in whatever style he's interested in, and it made no difference to him, from the outset, that it be fretless, compared to all our other fretted basses. Once the initial impetous is made, it's as easy (or hard..!) as any other instrument, as long as one has ears to hear, and a little time and patience to 'listen' to what's coming out, instead of looking at the fretboard. A leap of faith, at first, but not rocket surgery. I'd have thought that such a fine instrument as your Alembic deserved to be played, and would reward any effort many times over in satisfaction. I'd hate to be wrong...

Always useful, so Good Idea. Just be Aware, though, that there are Passive DI boxes (no power supply needed, inexpensive, robust, no bells and whistles...) and Active PI boxes (sometimes battery, but more often 'phantom' power supply from the console, or from an audio interface...). Modest price up to hellishly expensive; be sure that your recording equipment is able to power one of these (there'll be a 'phantom power' mention somewhere, sometimes labelled '48v'...). Have a look at the Thomann range, and ask again if in doubt. No need to go overboard; it's just a DI box. Here's a few that I know work well (they're my 'star ratings'...); there's plenty more... Thomann DI... Passive : Behringer Ultra-DI DI400P, £1830 + shipping * Passive : IMG Stageline DIB-102 £34 + shipping *** Active, battery or Phantom : Behringer DI20, £19.90 + shipping ** Active, battery or Phantom : Behringer GI100 ULTRA-G, £30 + shipping ***

If this is really just a trial, I'd suggest simply kitchen twine, knotted away from where the fretting hand passes. I'm not sure that any temporary 'bodge' will prove much, though. Fretting a fretless changes quite a lot, so one wonders if it's worth the time, trouble and cost compared to changing basses. If there's a bolt-on neck, a swap would be simple enough. A set or through neck would have to be darned good to be worth the risk.

It would be usual, in such a circumstance, for the venue to be equipped with DI boxes, into which you plug your output in exactly the same way as you'd plug into an amp. The FOH and your IEM's will receive the 'wet' signal, just as your amp would. Have you been informed differently..? You could, just in case, use a DI of your own, if you acquire one (although many venues will prefer theirs, as being perfect for their rig...), into which you plug in the same way. You don't need/want any special pre-amp, just a DI to replace your amp. The signal it receives will be 'wet', being the output from your pedals. The only exception to this would be if you have Fx plugged into your amp's Fx Send/Return loop. In that case, I'd suppose your amp to already have a DI output, so I'd take it, but not use a cab. Feed the console from the amp's DI. Hope this helps.

Just for clarity; my apologies.

As stated above, there are electrolytic capacitors from 'back then' that dry out, and did not have the benefit of modern mylars and the like. Paper/oil is common, with a varnish or wax sealed top. Even if hoarded from new (garage find..? New Old Stock..?) some items will fail, explode, ignite or blow fuses when switched on for the very first time, just through aging. It's a Very Good Idea to have someone Good look over any 'vintage' amp before plugging in; in rare cases, they can become mortally dangerous. Just sayin'. Fender-type caps... Another common type of cap (note the bulging...)... WARNING..! Do not try to test items like this yourselves. Even switched off and unplugged, these components can carry lethal tensions, for quite some time. Expertise is required in servicing valve amps, and proper procedures carried out to ensure safety.