dmccombe7

Its quite a good venue but it does have a few issues with sound. Difficulties with drums on a drum riser and a hollow wooden stage was causing a lot of very low droning sounds. SE added a gate of some sort to help but it wasn't there during sound check. You seem to get a lot of rebound noise which made it sound as if we had a lot of reverb on things but there was very little being used. It could do with a bit of a tidy up around the stage area and the changing room but its not the worst we've played by any means. To be fair to them they are trying to upgrade a very old building that i'm guessing was an old theatre come picture house come bingo hall and now being changed over to a proper venue. The team working in it last night were pretty good tho and very helpful. Give it a couple of years and it should be a decent gigging venue for touring bands. Dave

Enjoyed those, great singer with a very nice voice. Dave

Auld Gambling Hoose in Alloa for BLOCKBUSTARZ tonight. Reasonable sized crowd maybe 100 in plus a childhood neighbour turned up who lives in Alloa. Owner said its been slow over past few mths. Anyways thought i'd try my Overwater J4 for a spin but half way thru 2nd set i realised it was getting a bit heavy and my back was feeling it and i changed over to old faithful Sandberg VM4. Wife reckoned the VM4 was better sounding, deeper but clearer. Had dancers up most of the night with a full floor for special request of Time Warp. Audience seemed well up for a party tonight and really enjoyed themselves. Using Overwater J4 then Sandberg VM4 into Handbox WB-100 and BF 212 cab with Shure wireless and Keeley Bassist Comp. 1st set fro 8 to 9:20pm and 2nd set 9:45 to 11:15pm Got paid and a 1:15mins drive home. Dave

Probably not but as the camera moved about it was picking up a decent sound out front wherever it was so you are doing something right. I've had many gigs where i thought it wasn't sounding great out front and it used to worry me until i heard recordings and it was usually fine. We now are all pretty happy that if the sound we hear on stage sounds good then its usually good FOH too. To be fair we are starting to use PA hire more often these days with a view to almost every gig from next year rather than me humphing blooming large PA cabs in and out my car are ridiculous hrs after a gig and either the drummer or singer trying to do sound from on stage. Its been pretty good TBH over the years but having a dedicated PA guy just takes the pressure of the band. Dave

You now have no excuses 😂 Dave

You passed that test 😂 Dave

I did think that myself, quite an artistic walk in to the stage area. Well done your Mrs. Now is she available to hire for other gigs 😂 Dave

That's what i've used altho it came in a roll approx 25-30mm wide. Dave

Not really much to take a pic of and didn't think it was worthwhile bothering you. I'll take some when i do the bridge pick up tho as i hate to disappoint you guys. Dave

Yep have to say it sounds ok out front there. How weird that must have been playing with a Vulcan bomber in front of you. That's one you won't forget. Dave

I removed the neck pick up completely tonight and there's no springs but the 2 strips of foam have a 7-8mm hole in the middle of them suggesting there should be springs fitted. I had some foam i bought for below some bass pedals i had mounted at one time and put an additional strip on the existing ones. Its allowed me to get the pick up to 5mm below the strings and it has made a huge difference on the sound and made the tone more balanced and fuller. The bridge pick up was already at 5mm but its now a bit quieter than the neck pup. I want to use this bass at tomorrows gig and will possibly revisit the bridge pick up next week and raise it a couple of mm to see the effect. The existing screws were just long enough. I think if i take this any further i'll need to go down the strip of wood idea and screw the pick ups onto the strip of wood. I can't find longer screws that will fit thru the pick up holes. I've had this bass for several years and it was always an ok bass but never great to play. I bought some nut files and dropped the string height at first fret from 30 to 25thou as a starting point as i've never tackled a nut adjustment like this before. It worked really well and it plays far better now than ever before. Now that pick up height is up a bit it has a more rounded, even and deeper tone. Its an Overwater Contemporary J4 bass that was put together by Chris's team at Overwater from spare parts they had when taking the idea to Tanglewood. It has no serial number or anything like that as i think they only did about 3 of them so in a way its quite rare 😂 I had just bought my Overwater Custom fretless 6er and i was offered one of these basses. Dave

Maybe not described it properly. When i unscrew it the pick up only comes up a little but nowhere near as much as i expected. Looks like i have enough screw length but i need to add deeper or more foam packing below the pick up but was wondering what people use. ? Dave

What's the best / easiest option to raise a soapbar pick up that seems to be maxed out at 10-12mm below the strings. ? Dave

Wishful thinking Stub. 😂 Buy a Ric and get the real thing. 😜 Dave

Ozzy's one of those guys you'd be happy to meet for a blether. Comes across as just a genuine nice guy who once had some issues like many from that era. Dave

Not heard they were hard to maintain Daryl. I think they have a dual truss rod system tho. Not even sure if the new ones still use a twin truss rod ? They do look good tho. My first real interest in Ric's was when i came across Rush in 76 and Geddy was using one. Then a lot of Prog bands used them too and i liked the tone but Geddy proved that he could make his Jazz sound just like a Ric and fooled us all. 😂 Dave

I bought my new WAL custom fretless in 80's for £740 and kept it less than a year because of a dead note on G string. WAL didn't want to know so i just traded it in for i think it was a Ric. Took a huge drop and now on hindsight i reckon it was possibly something silly like an unseated saddle that could have caused it but being fairly young and no great knowledge of setting basses up i just moved it on. Oh the silliness of those years. I reckon i would still have had that bass as i loved the tone and feel of it. Dave

About 15yrs ago i could buy a new Ric in Guitar Guitar for approx £1400. Then they jus seemed to shoot thru the roof with their prices. Dave

OUCH !!! that's approx £650 over here. How long ago was that ya numpty. (Can i call you that without offending ?) 😂 Dave

Must admit i do love the shape of them. Think if money wasn't an issue i would have one in my collection along with a MM Stingray, G&L L2000, WAL, Alembic, 1960 P bass and a Jazz, Overwater Progress 4, Gibson Grabber/Ripper, Kramer DMZ, Status (original graphite version), Vigier and so many others. 🤣 Dave

It was a white Ric. I think it was the S version but not having any pics of it i could be wrong. Dave

Had a polar white one in 80's and didn't keep it long. Just couldn't get a tone i liked. Its the only bass i have no pics of. Dave

Isn't it funny that every time i see a Ric bass in the pics my first thought is "Ooohhh a Ric bass". Maybe i need to get one. 😂 Dave

Sorry to hear of your loss there. Never an easy time and our thoughts are with you there. Sounds like a combination of band members needing to extract the digit and do more and over-whelming workload. I think you're making the right decision in talking with your boss to ease back a bit. I made the mistake of keeping it to myself and suffered no end of stress related issues until i was asked by works nurse to see a stress therapist. To be fair it worked and i felt great after the sessions were all done but once you get back to the day job it just restarts and there's no way out. I was lucky that after 40 yrs service they wanted redundancy volunteers and i was the lucky one that got selected at 56yrs old. Best thing i ever did but i realised that work isn't the only thing in life you should focus on. It needs to be more balanced. My work ended up being my sole existence for about 10-15yrs. Its all i seemed to do. We used to always book a 6hr session on a Sun 11-5pm. It makes the rehearsal a lot more relaxed when you know you have time to get thru your full song list. We take sannies and coffee in too and of course cakes. Have a wee lunch break around 1-2 ish. Anyways take care and hopefully things will pick up once you confront those that need it. Dave