casapete

This. Used mine for a while now, no 'clunk' on the switch and good solid (although basic) design.

Unfortunately I think the clue is that it's a poll by listeners of Planet ROCK, so anything funk / r'n'b etc was unlikely to get a look in I think. 😒

Absolutely agree with you about the audience being the primary priority, but that is surely linked to you being able to your job well, with being able to hear yourself and sounding good a big help? The two aren't mutually exclusive, it being possible for both you and the audience to have a good time. I've done countless gigs where I've used other rigs and had to make the best of it when they've been a bit naff in order to ensure the gig goes well, so am not overly precious when needs must - just prefer things to be right as much as possible.

Fair play, although not worrying about the stage sound often leads to not the best performance IMHO. It's that compromise between space/transportation/set up easiness and getting things bang on for the gig for you. In a perfect world monitors and engineers would be spot on or you'd have a road crew carrying in your SVT rig. My world unfortunately isn't anywhere near perfect, so I'll stick with a portable/loud (if needs be) and reliable amp & cab. Transport for me isn't a massive issue, though I fully appreciate if I was based in London then I would probably need to have a rethink.

I’ve done quite a few gigs with monitors as my main sound source, some okay and some dreadful. Whilst I agree on the proximity of them to you, the change to your usual sound is hard to accommodate. Unless you’re fortunate enough to be playing somewhere with separate eq for each item, I found the global eq in the monitor wasn’t always great for my bass sound. Give me my own amp/ sound behind me every time. ( Disclosure - I am quite old....)

Again, IIRC it seemed that there were some reliability issues with the mosfet models (which contradicts my earlier comments about reliability...😅 )so the design was changed in the late 90's for the current one.

Good question - IIRC the older models were a Mosfet design, unlike the more recent versions?

More love for Hartke here. Had an LH500, and while I liked it a lot I still preferred the HA3500. Classic amp, reliable and lots of tonal variation available. Like the LH, also not underpowered! They seemed to go alongside Peavey - mid price amps that are well built and offer a lot of bang for the buck. Would have another in a heartbeat.

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul - last night at the 02 Ritz in Manchester. Full on show, over 2 hours of high energy soulful brass laden stuff. Amazing 3 ladies on vocals and groovy dancing, 5 piece horn section and a great sounding room. Heaven.

I think calling these 'flight cases' might be stretching it a bit. Don't get me wrong, if you just need a hard case to protect your amp in a car etc then they're fine ( I have a similar one which I house my GK MB800 in ). However, they aren't up to the rigours of being stacked in vans etc, and honestly don't think they'd actually survive many flights!

I have a Crown XLS, but not sure it's 'Yankee' - think mine's made in China...😄

Some possibles from Facebook you could try. https://www.facebook.com/groups/depsuk/ https://www.facebook.com/LastMinuteMusiciansUK/?eid=ARALP0vZ0qyz5DwdsT9u1jD-YLG5nzSTmrrRFrEXn7FNFavoTts59XCty9pR7VQKs4lXL1ObHldGyd08 https://www.facebook.com/groups/musiciansavailableuk/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1459261904358095/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1464698153822774/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/292495814176877/

Ha ha, used to do that all the time! Now I use a clip on tuner (don't start...) and guess what? Forget to turn the bass volume back on sometimes 🤣

My utter lack of being able to play anything remotely interesting if made to play a solo. One of the reasons I like bass is that (in my world at least) I don’t have a ‘feature’ on any songs / gigs. Was always attracted to the bass as an accompanying instrument, ditto drums. Still can’t stand either doing solos when I go to see a band, probably a result of being a 70’s teenager when such things were commonplace. And relax.....

I was once in a band where the singer would try the keys out at home, then say they needed dropping a tone or so. Of course at a rehearsal / gig he could actually reach the notes in the original key, so these came to be known as ‘front room’ efforts. Same goes for sitting / standing keys too....😄

I loved some of REM's stuff, mainly the older ones I have to admit. Whether I like a band or not, I'm always in awe of those who you can instantly recognise though, which certainly was the case with REM. Same goes for instrumentalists too, particularly guitarists. In a world of over distorted sounds with no originality, to hear someone play with a unique tone and touch still gets me every time.

Great song with a brilliant bassline. Mick Ralphs on guitar shows how effective a massive tone and not going crazy 'widdly widdly' can be too. The album version has the long solo at the end, wonderful stuff.

Amazing. Never heard of it before, but looks like a great idea.

Good call. I try and do the same, with varying degrees of success though....😁

Mmm, not sure about this- just tried it out with this week in 1968 and (by my reckoning obvs) there are a fair few cracking singles in the top 30 , 19 in my view. Most of these by famous bands or artists, the word 'famous' depending on your age though of course. Of the remaining 11 there are 9 fillers and 2 novelty maybe. To many people on here they are probably songs that are relatively unknown but nevertheless were big tunes then. Just saying....🙂

I'm definitely with the 'formative years shaping your choices' angle here. The sound of Motown coming from my brother's room when I was a kid, Beatles , Stones etc on the radio and TOTP / Ready Steady Go all still resonate with me to this day. However, unlike (it seems) most people on here, I have always liked POP music. There, I've said it. From those great 3 minute songs in the 50's/60's right through to recent stuff, I love a catchy well crafted song done well. Of course there's always been sh*te stuff in the charts since their inception, but likewise there will always be great pop songs being made - pop as in 'popular', tunes which capture a large audience by being more or less instantly likeable / danceable / singable etc. I don't have a problem with that whatsoever. In fact, I've made a living for the last 30 years in playing said songs for people to enjoy, so would perhaps be hypocritical of me to think otherwise. What I have noticed (as stated in a few posts above) is that fewer songs are standing out to me now, which of course is to be expected - after all, pop music (certainly chart orientated stuff anyway) is primarily targeted to the teen to maybe early 20's demographic. Even so, there are still gems to be enjoyed IMHO, music that is maybe ultimately disposable BUT is fun , happy and just makes you feel good. So where's the harm in that?

Great stuff, so good to have your efforts acknowledged like this - well done. 👏

Also Lee Pomeroy, ( ace session bassist with Jeff Lynne’s ELO, Take That, Steve Hackett, It Bites etc) plays left handed but strung the ‘wrong’ way up. Sounds great too.

Crikey, very impressive. Also, who knew Russel Kane played such amazing funk guitar? 😆