beely

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1496002287' post='3308075'] so, is the new guy your new guitarist substituting the one who created the problem? It wasn't clear to me. If yes... then I like your style: ruthless but fair. I hate being left to deal with crap like that when someone comes up with "oh I forgot..."... easy for them because they never deal with promotors or have to negotiate anything... or be the ones looking like an idiot. [/quote] The young kid was depping for the regular lead guitarist who couldn’t make it. The new guitarist has joined the band in addition to the “missing-on-the-evening” guitarist. I’ve always felt we were a bit weak on the guitar side of things, more so lately as there have been lots of mistakes/forgotten intros, that sort of thing at gigs. It’s become more apparent since our fiddle player left last year: obviously she was covering up to a certain extent. He also gets really nervous at gigs and that just makes things worse. We’ve had to drop a few songs because he can’t get the set piece solos right. We had a one-to-one conversation a couple of months ago after a particularly disastrous gig and he accepted he was holding the band back to a certain degree. He is a decent rhythm player, ok singer and plays harmonica so he actually brings a lot to the band. On the evidence of Saturday’s gig, the new guy is a proper lead guitarist. At our one rehearsal with the new guy, I felt our existing guitarist was a lot more relaxed and is probably relieved to have the pressure taken off. I’m hopeful that things will work out ok. It was only after Saturday’s gig was over that I realised the reason for everyone being so relaxed and enjoying it so much was the absence of waiting for the next mistake to happen. Whatever happens, I’ve seen the future. If he can’t step up then, sadly, a tough decision will be made. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

A little back-story to last night’s gig. Hope this is not too long-winded but, bear with me. On Tuesday I was contacted by a local venue to see if we could play on Saturday as the band they had booked couldn’t do the gig. Before I confirmed we were ok, I texted each band member to check they were available. Within twenty minutes I had replies from everyone to say they were free. So far, so good. I confirmed with the venue, The Twa Tams in Perth, that we were good to go. I then set off on the drive down to Northumberland to spend a couple of days with a musician buddy who moved there a few months ago. About an hour later, the lead guitarist texts me. “Really sorry man, just realised I’ve got something on that night so I can’t make it.” My reply ( the printable one) was, “The gig is confirmed, we are playing.” However, he insisted he can’t make it so now, I’m faced with a problem. Gigs are hard enough to come by as it is so there is no way I am giving this one up without a fight. Cue much texting and phoning to see if I can get a dep. Everyone seems to be playing this weekend. I eventually get a reply from a young lad who I know from open mics in the town that he can play with us. Bit of a result: he lacks neither talent nor confidence. Next thing: we have a new guitarist joining the band and this will be his first gig with us. He has had one rehearsal so you can imagine how he feels. He tells me he will get down to work and should be well enough sorted for the gig. Starting to feel a bit better about things as we all seem to be taking the view that, actually, this could be fun. Both new guitarist and dep learned thirty-one songs in three days to at least giggable standard. Absolutely fantastic. It turned out to be probably our best gig/performance to date. The crowd were up for it, right from our vocal sound-check, a three-part harmony of “When will I be loved” and continued throughout the whole evening. Everybody in the band were totally relaxed and, despite a few missed cues and a couple of other daft things, played exceptionally well. Really gratifying to see hard work paying off and turning what could have been a difficult night into a bit of a success. Also nice to get a few more dates in the diary. First topic of conversation at tomorrow’s rehearsal? We have a band Google calendar: use it!

I spent most of my working life in the printing trade. I worked all sorts of daft shift patterns and consequently, gave up playing in a band. Fortunately I have reasonable guitar skills and a halfway-decent voice so I was able to do solo acoustic gigs. I started my current band four years ago after I was made redundant from the print industry and started working for Royal Mail. Early starts but no shifts. I'm much happier for that. Shifts, particularly night-shift, are only worth it if you have no other option or really love your job. Until I stopped doing them, I hadn't realised how much working shifts takes out of you, both physically and mentally.

I've had the StageClix jack for a few years. Great performance and no interference, even with another two being used onstage, one for acoustic guitar, the other for electric. Our (former) fiddle player used the Smoothhound and I was also impressed by it, as was she. My preference for the StageClix has a lot to do with the "no batteries" set up. Very convenient.

I see these sort of posts from time-to-time and, as a postie myself, thought I would respond and, hopefully, put a few misconceptions to rest. Perhaps the biggest of these misconceptions is that sometimes the postie will not try too hard to deliver a parcel as it is “too much work/can’t be bothered/doesn’t have time/is a twat”. Let me run this past you. Actually delivering an item involves:- [indent=1] [/indent] [indent=1] Knocking on door or ringing bell[/indent] [indent=1] Waiting for householder to answer[/indent] [indent=1] Scanning item and getting signature if required[/indent] [indent=1] Handing item over to householder[/indent] [indent=1]Not delivering an item involves:-[/indent] [indent=1] Knocking on door or ringing bell[/indent] [indent=1] Waiting for householder to answer[/indent] [indent=1] Scanning item[/indent] [indent=1] Knocking on door or ringing bell[/indent] [indent=1] Waiting for householder to answer[/indent] [indent=1] Filling out P739 card[/indent] [indent=1] Re-scan item as “Not delivered”[/indent] [indent=1] Carrying said item for the rest of that particular loop or taking it back to the van[/indent] [indent=1] Applying “P739 left” sticker to item[/indent] [indent=1] Unloading item on return to office[/indent] [indent=1] Returning item to callers office for filing/storage[/indent] I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions. This post had all the potential to turn into a mega-rant but hey, Guinness calls.

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1493149486' post='3286110'] Done! I put Paul McCartney as the last answer. I think he was the guy that brought the bass out from the back of the band. If you watch '50s band footage the bassist is usually an anonymous dude thumping away at the back, whereas McCartney was at the front doing the twin guitar/vocal thing with George. That must have made a lot of kids pick up the bass back in the day. [/quote] This; most definitely this.

2006 Fender Mustang - StageClix Jack - SansAmp Bass Driver DI - EBS Reidmar 250 - Barefaced Bass Retro 210. At Saturday's gig I set up off-stage while the drummer was setting up his kit and then carried the whole thing on in a one-er.

We had a similar situation recently with our drummer. He had been off work with flu (proper flu, not the heavy cold variety) and I was concerned that he wouldn't be fit for an up-coming gig. I got in touch with the drummer from my son's band, explained the circumstances, and asked him if he would be able to step in if necessary. He said he would be happy to. Not only that but he would be happy to do the gig or not do the gig, whatever the situation was on the day. As it turned out, our own drummer was able to do the gig, although my fears about him not being physically able to cope were not far from reality. He was absolutely knackered when we finished. The band were all in agreement that the dep should be recompensed in some way, at least to cover his costs for the two rehearsals he did with us. We decided to split the fee six ways instead of five, just to show our appreciation for his willingness to help us out. Seemed the fairest thing to do.

Hiya. My band, The Engine House, are playing at The Twa Tams in Perth this coming Saturday, February 25th. Music is a mixture of pop, rock, country and americana. Think Tom Petty, Steve Earle, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Ryan Adams, Amy MacDonald, Wings.......... .........you get the picture. Any Basschatters who might be there please feel free to come up and say hello. Cheers.

Normally our opener has been Ryan Adams' "Firecracker" but this coming Saturday it will be Amy MacDonald's "Mr Rock and Roll" to give our new singer (and the rest of the band) a nice easy start.

I doubt if you will have any problems getting enough volume. I'm using a Retro 2x10 12ohm with an EBS Reidmar 250. Ridiculously loud for such a small set-up. Volume setting on the amp is never above 2 and I often have to cut back the gain a bit to get finer control. Like others have said, give it a go: I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

If you are using a mixer with enough aux outs then perhaps you could try feeding the subs from one of these. That way you would be able to have better control of what goes in, and ultimately what comes out. Something like this. http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/a_detailed_explanation_of_the_aux_fed_subwoofer_technique/

Another one who is not a particular fan of Coldplay but have to say I enjoyed the performance. I doubt if I could have only listened though. The visuals were a big part of the show. Surprised that no one has mentioned Guy Berryman’s bass sound. Thought it was absolutely fantastic.

Great stuff. Did a double-take at 4.56. Thought it was Rick Wakeman in the choir.

Perhaps the thread title should have been "The terrible and the excellent" I broke the plastic lens of the power on/off light on my EBS Reidmar. I tried to remove it by unscrewing the metal retaining ring but the whole unit spun round and I think I severed the connecting wires. When I contacted the shop where I bought it they were, how shall I put it, less than enthusiastic about sourcing a replacement for me. I won’t name the shop or list the reasons (excuses) for being “ahem” unable to help. The phone call was terminated with the resolve never to buy anything from them again. I suppose the hole in their foot will heal sometime. Anyway, on to the good bit. I did a bit of checking to find out who the main dealers for EBS are, and one of the names listed was Bass Direct. I phoned them and spoke to Marcus. He said that yes, they could help and asked me to email a picture of the damage along with the serial number and he would get back to me. This he did, the same day, and gave me the phone number of Sound Technology in Hertfordshire, who I duly contacted. The gentleman I spoke was called Ranko and he said it would not be a problem to supply a replacement. He aplogised profusely that there would be a delay of a few days, as the part would have to come from Sweden. Not a problem: the amp still works. Ranko phoned me yesterday to get my address as the part was now in stock. It arrived in the post today. Now, from the outset I had been expecting to pay for this, as it was me who broke it. I’m not a customer of Bass Direct, well not on this occasion, but they went out of their way to help me. Sound Technology/EBS were under no obligation to supply this part free-of-charge, but they did. I can only conclude that they have better business heads than the staff at the shop I bought the amp from. This whole episode throws into doubt the effectiveness of “buying local”. I can’t really see the point of making the effort to visit a shop to make a face-to-face purchase if you have to eventually go to an online retailer to get things fixed. I realise that this is probably not a typical occurrence and there are many shops that provide excellent after-sales service. Ultimately, I’m happy that I have the part and can have it fitted by a local amp tech. It is also likely that if I feel the need to have a new bass amp, EBS will definitely be in the reckoning. Sorry if I have rambled a bit. I feel much better now.

We often hear of poor service or negative things about companies, so I feel obliged to give praise when a company does the right thing. I sold an Ampeg SVP PRO to Dvisions of this parish. I used interparcel and the carrier was TNT. Unfortunately, despite my best packing efforts, it arrived damaged. Cue one refund and return of said item. (That's the [b][i]very[/i][/b] short version) Thankfully I had decided to take the extra insurance, which is probably the best fiver I've spent in a while. I learned today that interparcel are to meet the claim in full and also refund the original carriage costs. It was not looking good for a while so I am relieved that it didn't drag on for too much longer. As I said, credit where credit is due.

My postcode is PH13. According to an online retailer I was about to make a purchase from, this is classed as "Highlands and Islands". This despite the fact I am nine miles from Dundee and twelve miles from Perth. In fairness though, this seemed to be the carriers conditions rather than the retailers as if it was sent via Royal Mail there was no surcharge. Just for devilment I contacted the retailer and told them they had lost a sale of over a hundred pounds. And yes, not being able to sleep sucks.......

Sold a Samson mixer to Alex. Great to deal with, would do so again.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1439136208' post='2840306'] Chiming in to offer my endorsement - I recently had the pleasure of reviewing the Big Twin 2 and Retro Two Ten cabinets. I had the cabinets for a while to give them a good work out and I have to say the experience was a pleasurable one. I now own the very cabinet I reviewed and it has already gotten much use as my 'reference cabinet' for other reviews as well as of course backline for my band(s). Big articulate and very clean, I love how the cabinet shows up differences between different amplifiers and character of my selection of basses just like my studio monitors. At a snip over 20Kg and the ability to fill the stage with big, even sound - well, that means a lot to me. I'd love to get a pair of FR's to use for workshops, gigs and anything needing PA but for now the BT2 is coming with me everywhere! Interestingly, I've just received a nice old P bass. I plugged it in to this cabinet for the first time this morning. oh my oh my!!! Ash and Maple, what a lovely sound! Just like to say thanks to Alex. The Big Twin II is a bit 'spesh! [/quote] Hi. What was your impression of the Retro Two Ten? I have one on order, should be here this week. Cheers.

Mike just bought my Barefaced Super12. A straight-ahead, no-nonsense deal. Good communication and a pleasure to deal with.