Matt P

i have the schallers fitted to all of my instruments with the exception of the acoustic guitars (as they have end pin jacks) and the aria cardinal bass (as the upper horn shape won't allow them to fit) so i've got grolsh washers on those, i've actually got more instruments with schaller buttons on than i have straps with the other halves, but i've got about 6 straps with the straplocks on so i just grab whichever one i feel like using for that session. (got them on a hook next to the instrument rack.) and i've got a couple of spare sets of the buttons in a box just in case i "accidentally" buy another bass! Matt

i'll echo what others have said about reading the small print, my wife phoned up to check what our cover was because i was going to start being paid for gigs, the broker was very nice and said that he would check our policy and get back to us, he phoned back about 30 minutres later to tell us that our insurer had cancelled our policy! as i was being paid they counted that as a part-time occupation and they didn't cover musicians so that was it! the broker got it all sorted very quickly with a new insurance company and i got seperate insurance for all my gear for gigging. we actually saved a bit when the broker sorted the new policy as it came out about 40 quid less than our previous insurer Matt

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1394049072' post='2387431'] Darras Hall I reckon? I grew up in Ponteland... [/quote] Yup, the advert was in the local free paper, I phoned up as soon as I saw it and went straight there via the cash point! Matt

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1394041339' post='2387301'] - where's an inconsolable icon when you need one?!? (You can put another "6" in front of yours for what I paid for my "Severn"s) Well done on avoiding Hi-fi GAS though. Me too, haven't bought any new kit in over 10 years, had a pair of Senn's bought for me & a Pure DAB radio off my son but that's it. It's also rare that I buy any "new" recordings, as in new artists, as the attraction rarely lasts. Been buying a fair bit of vinyl lately, but only if it's close to or actual mint. [/quote] I must point out that my castles are the much more lowly Durham 2's, the guy I bought them from was having a clear out and we actually got 2 pairs for 60 a pair and I snagged a nakamichi cassette deck 2 for another 40 quid, they guy lived in a huge house in an area mostly populated by premiership footballers, the system in his living room looked like Stonehenge! (I probably shouldn't let on that my thorens turntable was given to me by a mates dad who was going to throw it out if I didn't want it!) Matt

i've managed to avoid the dreaded upgrade bug with my hifi, but i have made a few changes that are noticeable, when i got married i moved my beloved hifi out of the bedroom in my student house into the living room of our newly purchased home and suddenly it sounded a bit flat, i tried moving the speakers (kef floorstanders) around and it just didn't work, 60 quid on a pair of secondhand castle speakers and 20 for some stands and suddenly it was alive again, and i got 50 quid for the old speakers from a friend, when i heard them in his livingroom they sounded excellent again! the other noticeable improvement was fitting a new Ortofon cartridge to Thorens turntable but i think this was more to do with the clean sharp stylus than becuse the new cartridge was "better" then the old Shure one. every so often i find myself in a hifi shop and enquire about a new amp, the general opinion of most of the salespeople is that i need to spend a minimum of 500 quid to get something "better", when it finally dies i think i'll actually spend 50 quid on something from ebay (which is how i got the current one anyway) Matt

i fit 10's on anything with a fender scale length and 12's on gibson scale length, rolled on the semi-acoustic my acoustics all have 12's but i use Newtone Heritage strings which are balanced and low tension, all the tone of 12's with a feel that's somewhere between 10's and 11's, highly recommended for anyone who struggles with standard 12's, as a bonus they seem to last longer than d'addario and don't cost that much more, quite a few of my friends have gone over to them as well after trying one of my guitars. matt

i've gigged using all sorts but my own rigs have always been pretty small, an ashdown nsuperfly through an ashdown 4x8, then swapped the head to an swr headlite, then swapped the cabs to a pair of barefaced midgets, now i've gone to a markbass f1 head to go with the midgets, i can get all the volume and tone i need from a single cab but often take the second one along as they're so light and it's easier to reach the controls on the amp when it's higher up, i've actually done a couple of gigs with only one of the two cabs plugged in (both accidentally and on purpose). i like the extra stage space i get with the tiny cabs, that and the looki on thge soundmans face when i put the master volume at about 9 o'clock and out-loud his fancy PA sysytem!

i've currently got 2 turntables set up in my system, a thorens td160b with the sme 3009 arm and an ortofon 2m red cartridge, and a pro-ject debut with the stock arm and cartridge, i know that these are from different parts of the price bracket but the pro-ject is lacking something, i can play the same record on both and it just sounds better on the thorens, i'd steer clear of the debut but the higher spec pro-ject decks are worth a look, particularly the one offered above with the carbon arm, these are a huge improvement on the cheap arms on the debut. watch out for the small print on some ebay auctions, i've got a search set up on my phone for turntables and i consistantly see what i think are real bargains before reading the text and finding that they are not including the arm in the sale (not uncommon with better quality turntables) keep your eye on the small ads in the local paper and in junk shops, there are the occasional bargain turntables knocking round. i have to admit that the Thorens was free! a friend asked if i wanted a turntable as his dad was going to throw it out, i had no idea what i was going to be presented with bit figured i could throw it out myself if it was junk. he came back from his trip home and presented me with the thorens, it was immaculate, i swapped the cartridge for a new one as it was pretty worn and that was it! matt

The bass doc pops up from time to time on here, he might be out gigging tonight, if you haven't heard from him by tomorrow afternoon drop me a pm and I'll give you his number, don't have it on me at the moment. Matt

good call on the Cajon, our drumer has one and it's great for quiet acoustic stuff (or it can be mic'ed as well) I bought our drummer a tambourine for his 30th, he always rants about badly played tambourines and i said he was old enough to own one now, he though it was a joke present but it get's used on about 25% of our songs! (it was one that clips on to the high-hat stand, i tried out about 5 in a proper drum shop and bought the one that sounded right) Matt

i'm actually using the Harley benton Junior, it's powering an 18v pedal with a doubler cable (MXR Blowtorch) i got round the euro plug issue by cutting it off and fitting an iec socket to the lead, it's doing sterling service i've also got the Palmer version which is very similar but has an iec socket on the main body, does exactly the same job but is more expensive (but i got it cheap secondhand) one of these psu's would be enough for me but i also use a Line 6 G30 which needs 200mA so actually use both of them at once to run everything. Matt

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1387723702' post='2314890'] OK my Super Twin arrived on Friday, and all I can say is that I love it!! Light as anything, fabulous tone, amazing power. I am a giddy happy bassist. If people don't like them, that's their prerogative, but I am firmly in the Hell Yeah camp now. It's is AWESOME!!! Didn't think a piece of bass equipment could make me so happy! lol! I'm listening to our rehearsal recording from this morning and my bass sounds amazing, so clear, so much clarity. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT. [/quote] I just saw the pic on Facebook of you grinning next to your new cab, exactly the same reaction that I had when my midgets arrived, I still grin like a loon when I get them to a gig and crank the volume up! Matt

i'm using a 9v power spply with isolated outputs and a doubler lead to power my 18v MXR Blowtorch, seems to work great, it's a harley benton junior so was pretty cheap, and i have 3 outputs left over to power other pedals (i actually have another power supply as well which is the palmer version as i have stupid power needs for my board so need 10 outputs in total) if you're in the north-east then you'd be welcome to try out my power supplies to see if the problem goes away. i think my the harly benton psu was about 23 quid and the doubler lead about another 5. there are some 9v to 18v adaptors available as well if you're already using a 9v psu for something else. (diago make one i think) Matt

Another 3 from me. It looks like it finishes at midday so not long to go now! 729 Matt

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1386621365' post='2302361'] OK... not wanting to be branded a 'fanboi', I will just say yes, these little cabs can really cut it. And then some. [/quote] +1 2 Midgets (2nd gen) are overkill for my gigs but they look so cool stacked up with their vintage cloth grilles and are so easy to move. if the shelf that they live on was wider then i'd have had a midget/compact setup or a pair of compacts, as it is if i ever get to a venue where i need more power then it would be a full PA job with 1000+ people so the midgets would only be for on stage monitoring anyway, which they excel at as well. and i don't mind being a fanboi, i'm going to order a t-shirt so that i can advertise their awesomeness when i'm down the pub!

another 8 votes from me, will add another 2 or 3 when i fire up my netbook later.(might see if my old mobile will connect up to the wifi without a sim card as well) M

for a fender scale length 25.5" i'd go for 9's for a beginner, if it was a Gibson 24.75" then i'd possibly go up to 10's as the 9's can be a bit too soft. i started out with 9's on my superstrat but went to 10's after about 3 years when i bought an acoustic and strung it with 11's. i'm now using the Newtone Heritage 12's on my acoustics and 10's on all my Fender Scale Guitars and 11's on the 335 copy. they all seem to feel fairly similar under the fingers. Matt

whatever the Flats are that are on my Precision, they're a random used set that the previous owner (Dodge bass) found in the cupboard, there were a few ideas at the NE bass bash and the general thought was that they could be Roto's (the Steve Harris sig ones maybe.) one day i'll get round to taking some pics and ask for the wisdom of Basschat to determine what they are. Matt

done (531 which will have significance to some cyclists)

my Barefaced Midgets took about 6 months but i was expecting that as when i ordered them i had a long chat wth Alex about the issues he was having getting hold of the eminence drivers in large enough quantities to match the speed at which he can put together the cabinets, and within those 6 months was Christmas, New year and the birth of Alex's son, all my emails and questions were answered swiftly enough and all the pain of waiting was erased from my mind the first time i powered them up! Matt