dmccombe7

I would add that concert ticket prices have gone up considerably compared to album prices whether that be vinyl, cd or streaming. Going back to 70's an album would cost almost the same price as some concert tickets. These days an album is circa £10 compared to a minimum £50 for a concert ticket hence more income from concerts. Dave

All before my time Its Blues i think

Its all getting a bit too in-depth and descriptive for me. This could be leading into Frasier Crane territory Dave

Had a look at the bass you're talking about which has the J pick up to the neck side and the humbucker style at the bridge. My J4 has twin humbuckers so the J picks ups wouldn't work for me. Checked out the Entwhistle pick ups and he only does J and P styles at the moment for bass. Will keep looking tho. Thanks for getting back to me. Much appreciated. Liking the passive idea too. Dave

Did the Entwhistle fit straight in to the Overwater space without any body mods. ? Dave

I've not heard much about Entwhistle but will give them a google see what's said about them. I quite like having passive as no batteries to worry about. Thanks for that Dave

I use a Hiscox case for most basses. It came with my Overwater custom 6 string but my Fenders fit very well too. My Thumb bass is a bit narrower on the body and rattles a bit so need to pack it out with foam if i take the Warwick. My Overwater Contemp J4 is too long for it and i had to buy a rectangular case for that one. I did consider a custom fitted case for my Thumb bass but to be honest i very rarely use it other than at home. Hiscox case is well built and doesn't feel as bulky to carry as the rectangular case. I noted someone mentioned stacking cases but to be honest i generally load them into vehicles on their edge with the handle facing upwards. I've always found guitars or basses stacked flat in any vehicle tend to slide about a lot. Only thing i would suggest is that if your bass is very expensive then consider a custom fit case. If its a standard Fender then the Hiscox would be a good buy. Afraid i have no experience with the SKB bass cases. Dave

Good question, i'm not sure to be honest

Cheers Lee, The new band won't be giiging until start 2019 due to booking commitments with other bands. Not sure what the PA arrangements will be at this point but will give you a shout when i find out. I believe most gigs will have a house PA but our drummer is buying a full QSC rig for this and his other band so will wait and see how it all pans out. Really appreciate your offer. Dave

+1 This. Sounds like he's trying to recreate what he thinks a bass should sound like rather than what the bass player wants to sound like. Used to be pretty common when your sound guy was into YES back in the day. Lot of guitarists have that problem when they mix a bass tone on their own. Its all smiley faced to extreme. Ramp up the bottom and top ends and forget the mids. Does he understand what frequencies affect bass tone. He should be listening to the sound you have on stage and simply recreating that sound FOH

What's that Paul ?

Not even sure if my car radio has digital reception ? I never play the radio in the car these days because its all stupid irrelevant pop C**p. Maybe i should lok into it a bit more Dave

No. not even heard of it ?

The bit about radio stations is spot on. I remember quite a few great radio stations that played a wide variety of styles of music on the one show. The DJ made his choics. Then the financial side took over and stations were paid by who-ever to play certain bands. The stations made more money and the DJ's were forced to play a list based on who paid the most. At that point we lose a valuable radio station to corporate greed. I think one station had no involvement from DJ's it was back to back music. The music was the star of the show. These days the DJ's think they are the stars of the show and its all about them. If one station took the leap of faith and played proper music that people want to hear rather than DJ's rabbitting on about a load o c**p they will get a huge listening audience. Doesn't matter what station you play these days its the same songs that get played on them all. Dave

I have current band set list saved as playlist on ipod in car. I used to use CD changers in cars a lot but they start getting problems after a lot of use. The Ipod is so much easier and less hassle. Don't use the bluetooth tho as i prefer leaving it plugged in and fully charged thru the USB. It still allows me to use the steering wheel controls too. Dave

CD's for me. Still have all my own and wife's vinyl collected over the years including my first Beatles single at age 3 in 1963 for my birthday Prefer CD quality and ease of use to vinyl tho. Some music i have downloaded usually if no other options available. Use my ipod in car altho that's full of my own collected albums saved on my laptop. Converted all my cassette albums onto CD's yrs ago and then uploaded them onto Windows Media few yrs back too so i can use on my Ipod in car. Dave

Me too. Most bands have a PA anyways and a basic lighting rig for a band is only a few hundred quid upwards. 👍

When you say sound and light contract are we talking solely for the band use or is this a contract to cover all areas of the event. I know some US weddings can be quite lavish to say the least with several hundreds of guests invited. Dave

True, poor choice of words on my part Blue. Really odd how things are so diferent over here. Weddings bands here have all their own gear incl PA and lighting and can charge up to £3 or £4k depending on wedding event but i believe typically you will pay a minimum of £1-2k for a decent wedding band. Its possible you might be spot on with regards playing full time. I have a feeling my current band might go down that route or as close to it as poss keeping in mind they all play in other bands except for me. One band is enough for me. Once the money starts coming in and the gigs are enjoyable fun (Glam Rock covers) i can see them wanting more gigs with this band. Their other bands only bring in a few hundred pounds a gid between 4 or 5 of them. If we end up playing once or twice a week i don't think it will be so difficult for me as being retired for 2 yrs now i don't regard weekends as anything special to look forawrd to. Every day is a weekend for me Dave

Never heard of Kayak before but they sound pretty impressive. Will give them a bit more investigation.. I was a big prog fan from late 70's too including Camel and Alan Parsons. Thanks for the heads up on them. Dave

Blue Would it not be worth your while lookng at wedding or function bands as they generally make good money over here and the bands i know are in great demand every week with gigs paying several thousand £'s a gig. If i was playing for money i think that's the route i would be looking at and with your years of experience surely that would be quite easy fro you to play. Dave

We've had this debate before Blue. We are both In it for different reasons. Worked out Approx £100 a gig so looking at circa £700 - £800 a month. That's roughly$900 - $1050 USD a month. I just want to keep playing as my hobby rather than as a job. I have a fear that if it becomes more like a job it will become more of a chore and i won't look forward to all the work and effort that goes into playing gigs. That's just my own personal viewpoint of course and it may be that i would love gigging twice a week but will never know. Dave

Its something i always make a point of asking nowadays. How often do you intend gigging. I'm in the 1-2 times a month with occasional extra gigs. Some band have said maybe every 6-8 wks or just special occasions like local festivals and others have said they gig minimum once a week but usually twice a week. That was the band that surprised me. As much as i enjoyed the music and they were all exceptionally nice guys i just found twice a week every week a bit too much. There were other reasons for leaving tho. Asked to learn 34 songs in 3 weeks (no probs< did that) but then asked to learn another 20 songs in 10 days without rehearsals and different keys from original recordings was all just a bit too much for me and it had become a chore learning that amount of songs a 2nd time around. Dave

Anyone on here ever changed out the pick ups on their Overwater Contemporary J4. Mine isn't the Tanglewod version but was put together by the Overwater guys from parts prior to the deal with Tanglewood. Doesn't even have a serial number. I believe the pick-ups and pre-amp to be same as Tanglewood one tho. I like the bass, its really quite nice to play but the pick-ups sound nasal and lacking depth if that's the right description. Hard to describe even with new strings its always lacked something. Like a MM without the guts and depth even turning the bass up it just becomes boomy but not sharp and clear like a MM. Was wondering if anyone has replaced them and/or the pre-amp to what and what difference did it make to the sound. ? Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful. Dave