john_the_bass

[quote name='tombboy' post='4594' date='May 22 2007, 07:55 PM']Just threw you an addy on myspace John... you can grab some local promoters Cambridge/Peterborough way from us![/quote]

cheers tombboy - let me know what your myspace page is cos i suspect our gobsh*te guitarist has picked it up and i'll have to trawl through 70 pages to find you!

assuming my abm300 is hybrid - ie it's got one valve, the rest of it is SS.
Does the job

just keep it on there til the end of the month....!

[quote name='"nig"']Glad I cancelled my gig at the shed this week, it was a long haul from essex to leicester[/quote]

I like the shed - it's got a good stage, good sound system and good engineers. It gets a lot of stick locally as the gigs generally aren't the best promoted and there's a belief (one that i don't share) that their door prices are too high.

[quote name='"tombboy"']Try being an outsider from Leicester!!
Many times I've contacted venues in and around the city to be asked... "Are you a local band?"
When told no they pretty much tell us to take a running jump!!
We even follow the procedures set down by the venues for getting gigs, ie, registering on local forums, introducing ourselves, following up with a demo cd and phone call etc... only find find the promoters don't stick to their own obligations.

It's VERY frustrating because you know you have the songs, the sound, the attitude and are actively looking to build on your fanbase only to be met with with sort of geographically political sh*te!!

I'd hazard a guess that it's not just Leicester though (just in case I get slaughtered for this)!!![/quote]

Tombboy, I think this happens everywhere. I've tried getting gigs out of town and I've only managed to get one gig in Stoke. I've been pretty much ignored by venues everywhere else even as close to home as Nottingham and I'm starting to get it from the Leicester scene which bugs me, because I know we get a good response when we play and I know our stuff is good enough to go out there - we're just not mates with the promoters round here. I'd be interested to know which venues or promoters you've approached though? I know the Charlotte states on their website that they'll only accept demos from "Local" bands unless you've got management support and are looking to be booked as part of a tour, but other than that. I've had some bad experiences with some local promoters.

as there isn't a general music discussion, i thought i'd add it here although a mod may want to whack it into off topic if they think it's more appropriate

i play in an originals band, doing the local toilets playing on bills of 2-4 bands - usual drill of 30-50 minute sets. Just wondering what your local scenes are like as ours (Leicestershire) seems to be a bit nasty, incestual and cliquey and I'm getting a bit pissed off with it. The Leicester audiences seem apathetic when it comes to going to gigs and many of the other bands spend more time bitching about how awful the local venues and other bands are (despite the fact that they clearly don't listen to any other artist's work!). There are clearly some very good bands in Leicester but there are only a few that actually seem to get good gigs and all seem to be mates with each other.

I don't come from Leicester (I only moved a few years ago) so I don't have a network of people round there that I went to school and uni with to bolster my audience figures or talk to their mates to get into the half decent venues/support slots. I think my band (link in my sig) are actually alright - I seriously hope i'm not deluded enough to think so when we're not - but not getting the opportunities is really bugging me a bit and actually knocking my confidence a bit and the local scene seems to be dictated to by one individual in particular who seems to have no visible input into the scene, but seems to be the authority and appears never to have listened to a local act that he doesn't personally know.

Anybody else experience this or am i just bitching?

make em an offer.
sound control presumably make enough margin to try and match a price (albeit an internet one) if they're going to guarantee a sale. if you go in with cash the worst they can do is say no.

I'm with you on that I've pretty much vowed never to buy anything from sound control anywhere ever again (unless I have to!!)

we've got two - one small one for small venues where we only really require a vocal mix and a channel for a DI'd acoustic guitar and one massive bloody great 8k rig with a 24 channel desk when we have 4 vocals, 2 guitars, bass, a 15 piece (yes really) drumkit and an acoustic guitar. The drummer's brother has been running the sound on the big desk on the couple of occassions we've had to use it, but my preference to be honest would be to hire a PA and an engineer every time, purely for the convenience of not having to haul your own gear and having someone driving the desk who knows what they're doing.

My other (full time band) is playing the toilet circuit still as we make our way slowly upwards and the majority of places we go to have full house systems and a house engineer.

Cheers!
Thinking of selling the Sunburst P to release some money for my next instrument. Shame cos it now sort of matches my strat!
Anybody is interested, drop me a line.

ta

yeah it pinged off putting the neck back on after a truss rod tweak. shame really cos it was in such good nick up until that happened.
Oh well, these things happen I suppose. I'd like to have it repaired and see how closely back to original it can go, but I don't think it'll be perfect now.

There is a reason why there are people you can pay to set your guitars up!

[quote name='acidbass' post='4152' date='May 22 2007, 03:35 AM']Actually mate, you can buy them for £275 delivered. And if someone is prepared to spend £300 (say) on a Mex Jazz, then surely spending the same on an amp that'll have more playability and serve a lot more purposes than the Peavey Max 126 in the long run, is not out of the question. Also, if she gives up, which has better resale value?

It makes sense to think about these things in the wider perspective, hence why I recommended the Hartke Kickback 12. I also don't particularly fancy putting bass through a single 6.5" speaker but that's just me.

Danny[/quote]

it's all relative - a £275 amp will be worth more second hand than a used Max 126, but will it be worth more as a proportion of the initial cost? If the Peavey is worth £35 second hand, 15 quid isn't a large loss to absorb. But yes I agree in principle that the Hartke would be a better bet, simply because it won't require upgrading to allow the playing to develop, despite its higher price tag.

I tried an S1 switched jazz in sound control and I really liked it. I actually thought the S1 made sense, unlike in the precision which seems to do not a lot, and made the jazz have 3 very different tones + all the other micro variations in between.

Personally, from what I've seen and heard a J-retro deluxe does seem the way to go

cheers chaps. I'm really quite crap when it comes to this sort of thing, so i might trust it to the hands of a pro.
FYI, the chip looks like this.

[url="http://www.playthebass.com/"]http://www.playthebass.com/[/url]

run by the extremely nice man I bought my 'ray from.

still umming and aahing!!
my American precision plays much better than this does - although this might benefit from a pro set up and might transform it. I know though that I'll play a guitar much more often than i play this particular bass.

Howdo. I was recently umming and aahing over selling my stingray to fund a les paul (i only want a babby one like a studio or something) and after many comments from the good people on what was BT, I decided to keep it, largely on account of how versatile it is and how much I can actually do with it.
As well as my S1 Precision, I have a(n approximately) 1984 MIJ Fender Precision in 3TS with a rosewood finger board. I've only had it about 18 months and I suspect I bought it from the original owner who had kept it for many years in a case in the cupboard. It's got a few minor dings on it and a tiny chip in the lacquer by the neck pocket which I'm thinking of having repaired) but other than that it's in great nick.
I recently thought about selling it when I was buying the ray so I could fund the ray's purchase, but i decided that i couldn't part with it, blah blah, and hung onto it and absorbed the cost of the ray. Since I made a fuss about hanging onto it, I feel I should continue to do so, but have probably only played it twice in 4 months which is a bloody shame really.

I'm umming and aahing about losing a bass again to trade for a guitar (i've still got the S1 P and the 'ray) and wondered the following.[list]
[*]Do you think I should hang onto it? I'm guessing that the end of Fullerton period MIJ stuff, manufactured when there was no USA manufacturing going on will only increase in value once 70s stuff gets out of reach to mere mortals like us.
[*]If I did think about selling it, what would you guess it's worth?
[*]And finally, if I was thinking of selling it, is there any serious interest on here?
[/list]
It's not just about the money as I firmly believe there's more to life and I think I have a tendency to add too much sentiment to things like these, but in my opinion basses (and guitars and any bloody instrument for that matter!) are meant to be played and I feel sad that it's not been out of it's case for ages.
Help!

[quote name='woodenshirt' post='1769' date='May 18 2007, 09:39 PM']John,

It was a '1' mate.

I didn't pick her up so I can't say how she handles old boy, but for less than a ton and if you're looking for one....well......it's got to be worth a try, hasn't it?

All the best,

Mart[/quote]

Cheers Mart nice one!

cool! cheers for that
had i actually thought about what i was doing i would have looked at EB's website!

anybody any idea what guage strings are fitted to a stingray out of the box?
i bought mine used but with what seems to be the original strings on they are finally due a change.
I've got some 40-100 half flats, 45-110tw fenders, 40-100 elixirs and some 45-105 elites in

Cheers

i've realised i've jacked this thread slightly. the EQ I can set flat but it has an 8th slider which cuts/boosts gain by 15db. I think i might experiment when i get home.

or should i actually go and watch a band...

apologies for the thread jacking

Mart - is it a 1 or a 1A? hmmm......
(i have enough basses, I have enough basses, I have enough basses....)

aah - does that mean potentially that i could plug in my ray, turn it all up full and adjust the amp accordingly, then use the 15db boost on my GEB-7 to boost the gain of the P to match the stingray. If it saves me a few quid, all is good!

cheers for that, i'll have a word with my local luthier

John

afternoon all,
last week i added a set of half flats to my MIJ precision which were of a sufficiently higher tension to warrant a tweak on the truss rod - which of course involved taking the neck off to get to the screw at the end of the neck and give it a turn.

refitting the neck, i knocked off a tiny corner of lacquer and paint around the neck pocket which is a bit gutting as it was almost mint (for a 23 year old bass).

anybody know how to fix or patch it in - ideally, i'd like it to be an invisible repair if there's such a thing - it's a tiny chip from the very thin layer of lacquer and paint and is showing the bare wood so whilst it's small, it does stand out a bit.

JA

[quote name='lukeward2004' post='1503' date='May 18 2007, 03:51 PM']Well, I draw upon many influences, and have come to find a sound that I am happy with - Im not sure how relevant this is as I cannot pin my tone down to one artist or say ive tried to capture someone elses tone - I like to have my own thing going on.

I use a Warwick Streamer LX5, a custom Jazz bass that is based heavily on a 75 model, and a custom Precision bass, which is based on a '62 Fender Precision.

These three are all run through a Hartke 3500 head, with 12ax7m tube upgrade, an Aphex Aural Exciter C102, Korg DTR 1000 Rack tuner into a Hartke 410XL cab.

The rig gives me a nice, clean tone, with plenty of low end and plenty of volume. I think the only thing I would look to change is the weight, and just as soon as I can find a lightweight Cab that cn give me minimum colouration to the sound, ill make the change.

I also use several pedals - an MXR Auto Q filter, which is funky as hell, a DHA VT2-Dual Custom Valve overdrive box, a Boss OC-2 Octaver, and an MXR Micro Amp to balance out the volume differences between my Active Warwick and passive J/P basses.

I use a Shure T Series Wireless which I will be changing for a rackmount SLX system soon, but all in all thats the lot.
Signal chain goes Bass>Wireless>Pedalboard>Tuner>Aphex>Amp. I use an active DI from the back of the amp for tying into the PA at gigs.

I find that using this setup gives me so many options tonally, depending on what bass I use. I play a hell of a lot of Funk at the moment, a fair bit of reggae, and rock. I have never once had trouble finding a tone I was happy with for eithe rof these applications.[/quote]

luke - how does the micro amp work to balance out the volume differences? I've got a stingray and a precision and i'm reluctant to use one as any more than a backup in a live situation as i'm loathe to have to get an engineer to adjust for the differences, particularly with high/low gain switch and gain adjustment on the amp.
Cheers

Other i.e. EB Musicman

although me Fender P gets equal use - just