casapete

I have two of everything that I use, except speaker cab. If I had to I could manage with just my monitor, so all bases covered ( see what I did there?). Years of working with guitarists who have trouble with pedals and their leads have made me minimise my signal chain to keep things simple and hassle free. Clip on tuner helps with this ( with a spare too).

I’ve been with my band now for over 12 years and they’ve all been great. That extends to our tech guys too, always pleased to see everyone. I’ve been playing with my pal in our acoustic duo nearly 30 years without ever a crossed word. Not only is he a diamond bloke but an amazing guitar player too - every gig is a pleasure. So lucky. 🙂

Another +1 for the Fender Rumble. Lightweight but sound great too.

Forgot to post this from a couple of weeks ago - I went to see ‘The Magic of Motown’ in Huddersfield. Been meaning to see this show for a while now, mainly out of curiosity to see how it catches the Motown vibe. Turned out to be a pleasant surprise, with a 7 piece band making a good job of recreating the sound, along with 4 male and 3 female vocalists covering the main Motown acts. Wasn’t sure about the bass player when I saw he was using a Stingray 5 string, but he did really well covering all the classic lines. The PA sound upstairs was pretty naff, but improved as the evening progressed. Plenty of prosecco fuelled ladies dancing throughout which made for an entertaining sideshow.

People have commented a few times on BC that speaker diameter alone doesn’t define a particular sound. Back in the day (60’s/70’s) bands used 15 and 18 inch speaker cabs probably due to the lack of choice. Marshall 4x12 stacks changed this somewhat, but I think it was Ampeg’s use of multiple 10 inch drivers that really altered the game. If you’ve ever experienced an Ampeg SVT 810 the you’ll know that tens can be a thing of beauty. I used fifteens when first starting out, my favourite cab for years containing two EV 15 speakers. However, once I’d tried my first 410 cab I realised that 10’s would work for me too. Abandon your preconceptions if you can and give other cabs a try, you may well be pleasantly surprised. 😊

I guess gear4music will soon be all that’s left in the area. 😕

The York branch is destined for closure. Banks Musicroom is believed to be the oldest music shop in the UK, having opened in 1756. A sad sign of the times.

Could you maybe get another bass with a shorter scale that would do the job okay? If you bought wisely it would maybe be a cheaper option than the roof box too - I’m thinking Squier Jaguar etc in a gig bag on top of your luggage in the boot. Certainly more of a fun purchase too…..

I wish Mick! Think I've seen the odd pic of Kelly with a Precision (and even a Hofner violin bass!) but not a Jazz. Top fella.

Got to love a Jetstar. Always fancied the set neck/short scale job, but have only managed to own a couple of Spel versions so far. I said, so far......

My band* played at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool at the weekend. Another of my favouritevenues, always think about standing on the same stage that has graced The Beatles etc. Crowd are great there too, we had around 1,800 in. Had a good soundcheck, with top guy Sam on monitors getting a good stage sound for me - used two monitors as it's such a large room, which made for a loud but comfortable balance. Anyway, the gig went okay, but only just - our singer Andy was struggling with a cold / flu kind of thing and his voice was not as strong as usual. I tried my best to cover some of his higher parts and we managed to get through it, largely down to the crowd being so supportive. We unfortunately couldn't do our gig in Stoke on Trent the following night though, and have had to cancel Sunderland Empire theatre this Thursday too. There's just nothing you can do when illness hits so hard, and we feel bad at having to let our audiences down. Hopefully he'll be right for next week's gigs. Our brill sound engineer Paul is a nifty bass player so we've been bringing basses along to gigs to show each other. This week he brought a nice early 80's Tokai Jazz, pictured below. Tried it out and it is really fine - good job it's a bit on the heavy side for me or there would have to be a serious discussion to be had. *The ELO Experience

My daughter in law has become a massive Beatles fan, and our grandkids subsequently know all of the back catalogue, including the album cuts - they are 9 and 5! She went to see a tribute recently, Beatlemania, and said they were very good. www.beatlemania.com

Years ago I was playing in a resident band at a large cabaret venue. Whilst playing, a member of the audience tried to catch my attention, and thinking he was a drunk wanting a request I ignored him. He got more animated so I bent down to hear him shout ‘your PA cabs are on fire’ !! Turned out the Ohm cabinets had the bulbs fitted and were glowing a lot.

I’ve seen The Bootleg Beatles twice, really good both visually and musically. Took my son in law who’s a massive Beatles fan and he was really impressed with their authenticity and presentation. Probably the best / certainly the best known tribute to the Fab Four

That is one of the main factors that will limit the appeal to potential buyers I’m afraid. The RBX weighs around 91lbs, whereas my GK Neo 410 is 64 lbs. Quite a difference. Couple that with the move away from big cabs and more people using alternatives to backline, big old stuff (however good) is now hard to shift/ cheap to buy s/h.

The cab is really only worth what someone will give you for it. With 3 maybe 4 speakers needing replacing, what you’ll get for an empty not very lightweight cab is purely down to luck. Somebody with the same cab as yours where the speakers are sound but the exterior is tatty may be tempted to buy it in which case I’d guess at say £40 or £50. Unfortunately buying 3 or 4 new speakers for it is probably not financially viable for most folk, (and I’m a GK fanboi too!).

IIRC Qmax stuff was made by UK loudspeaker manufacturer McKenzie. Quite reasonable quality PA cabs back in the day. Right, as you were.....

Completely forgot that on smallish gigs I use my electro acoustic straight into a small PA - Yamaha 512 mixer amp and a pair of old Bose 802’s. Love it.

In the past I’ve used a PA cab on gigs - a Peavey Hisys 2. It sounded fine, to these ears anyway. In reply to the OP, is anyone relying on a stage monitor to hear their bass effectively using a PA cab?

I agree Mart - I’ve always regarded class D stuff has having a shorter lifespan than older designs, probably fuelled by my tech’s comments. It’s just the way things are going generally I think, with fewer items appearing to be worth repairing.

A lot of people I know who are recently retired / early retired are using their newfound freedom to launch new bands and devote more time to playing in general. The annoying thing is they usually can afford the best gear though.....🤣 I’ve just turned 65, been pro for 30 years and do regular gigs all over the UK. Not thinking of stopping anytime soon (mainly due to the crazy cost of living) so will keep on gigging for as long as I’m able. Age really isn’t a barrier unless you allow it to be.

Good call re the charity shop, but for the higher end bass stuff I’m sure you would do better selling it on here and then donating the proceeds to the charity ?

Are you using IEM’s Paul, or the house monitor system? From my (admittedly limited) experience of relying on the quality of the in house monitors, I do prefer ensuring that I get the sound I want/need by bringing my own amp and cab. With smaller and lighter cabs like the Barefaced stuff it really isn’t a problem for me. I have done a few gigs with just a preamp into the house system where it’s been okay, but still felt like a bit of a compromise for me for some reason.