Monckyman

Hey. Your amp cares not. I have used my VHA in this way and it works fine, completely bypassing the amps own pre-amp. Your amp uses valves and mine doesn`t but I can`t see why that should matter. The sansamp would also be fine going through the amps input stage too. Your choice.

Simon, why are you being so arrogant and condescending? I haven`t attacked you,merely said I and many other professional engineers don`t find any problem using certain mics in live situations. This isn`t opinion, this is fact. Why then would you even suggest that anyone who mics a bass cab with one of those mics didn`t know what they were doing? Why would you say this is "[i]virtually sound engineering key stage 1 stuff, get this wrong and you are struggling from then on in. If you have had reasonable results with those mics in front of your cab then I'm pleased for you, if you see lots of people do it its because they dont spend the time thinking about it hard enough[/i]" when you are talking about engineers at the top of their game, and working in front of tens of thousands of people daily? How astoundingly arrogant of you to insist that EVERYBODY else is wrong, and only you are right. Consider yourself off my xmas list.

Cheers for the Basic lesson stuff there Si, I`ll remember that next time I`m at a major festival and I`m adjusting the beta 52 everybody has asked for. Obviously because we are all lazy and deaf. As I said, for the last 20 years I`ve been working at a reasonable level (major festivals) and those mics are the ones everyone uses,so I suppose all the worlds working engineers must be wrong. I`ll let them know. Ta.

I honestly don`t think it worth your time and expense to keep worrying about this. Just insist on a mic. If you can`t get one you can`t get one. At the very best the eq and level are decided by the "engineer" and whatever signal you give them will be subject to their tin ears and apathetic ways,so my advice is relax, enjoy your cab and let the gig take care of itself.

<shrug> I can`t answer that really. Why would a band kick you out for wanting to be professionally minded about your music? Would the same bands have kicked you out for putting new strings on, or (ffs) tuning?? I realise a lot of smaller gigs are shitpits with 4 or 5 bands on a small stage and one harassed engineer,who has a job to repatch between bands and re dial in monitors settings etc in 15 min change overs,so you don`t get your mic. But there are other gigs where you do get the chance to settle your sound. If you know what you want, tell the engineer. If you have information that you think the engineer needs, write it down and give it to him. Pretty obvious really. That`s really all you can do.

Well that particular "sound"man obviously didn`t know what the f*** he was doing. There is a kind of arrogance that seeps into the minds of young engineers that leads them to believe that only they know what the gig needs, and this tends to give them the imagined right to play god and It`s only after a few years on the job that they realise their job is to provide others with solutions. The appalling lack of knowledge about sound and electricity and gain structure in young musicians tends to reinforce this belief and so young engineers tend to ignore better educated musicians requests. On the other hand, a lot of the time a bass mic is seen as a luxury, and another source of possible spill and noise pollution on a tight or unruly stage,and a lot of engineers don`t know how to mic a bass properly anyway. All I can suggest for you is as I have with others. Make a clear and concise stage plan, a good input list with all your names on,a very definite instruction regarding what mics you prefer and a clear request for the engineer to discuss your details with you personally. I personally don`t agree with Simons view on bass mics, having used D112 or beta52 or RE20s for the past 20 years at all levels of gigs,but he has a point that if you are after valve or FX only, an SM57 will do the job well, and you can buy your own for £50 along with a clamp to fix it in the right place on your rig. You must instruct the engineer and then follow it up with very strong objections if he/she ignores you. MM

I use a D.I (box not amp output)and a beta52 on an Ampeg 810+Svt amp and mix the two. The D.I is useful for clean solid bottom end which can be nicely compressed,but the bassist in front of the 810 wants to hear those valves working, so the D.I is not what he wants to hear in his wedge or the FOH. We can take the amps own D.I signal,which would catch any valve breakup but it really doesn`t sound the same as the cab breathing and responding to the amps output. So IMO if you use valves or as above FX which you want the FOH man to be able to blend seperately,use a mic and a D.I

I`ve had stickers from them no problem.

And just how many tracks could you use one on before it ended up in the dusty corner? Not for me.

Lo Steve. Tis F#. with the main loop starting on F#>Eflat>G#>F#>B>C#

I started with two gator cases and am now on gig bags. The Gators wouldn`t lie across the car,and kept banging into things and were a pain to store when not in use. Bags fold away, they fit in boots and they`re light. The pockets are also excellent for spare cables, etc

Bought a neck from Mel this week, comms were excellent, the neck arrived superfast and packaged well and is now bolted on a body! Would definitely recommend. Thanks Mel. MM

How would a Thumper and Trad set compare?

Specials: Too much too young The Smiths :This Charming man Queens of the Stone age: The Lost art of keeping a secret

Hmm more tests needed I reckon.

You`ll need to drill it out.

No idea who or what it is. Shark?

"Into the great wide yonder" by Trentemoller. Not much in the way if bass playing but if you like dub rhythms and shrieking Surftastic guitars with a Danish Euro sensibility then you`ll love this. Some excellent guest vocals too. Had it on all day.

To quote the inimitable Marc Riley & the Creepers, "Travelled down to London town, in a van,pissing down, a fiver each, the gig was a peach, but don`t ever work for free" Happy that it went well. Have you done a crib sheet for the Engineer? "Drums on trax very loud please" etc? Can`t hurt.

Happy Birthday Mickey! Despite initial wet weather worries the bar soon filled up about 10 for the second set. I was blissing out over my new DHA VT1 bass drive which seemed to make everything I played sound so much more musical,especially the odd slap here and there,which had that slightly compressed harmonic overtone vibe. Nobody else noticed it of course . We`d hand a band meeting in the week(very FOTC) and shouted at each other a bit and were now all good mates again so the vibe was good, the playing was tight and I got compared to Horace Andy which is utter bollox but made me feel good anyway. There was a Spanish girl and her boyfriend in who excelled at some really filthy bashment dancing which kept us all amused for a good while. Still need a few more tunes though.

Bought Lozz`s DHA VT1 bass drive on Fridaymid day ish, great clear comms,prompt replies etc The pedal turned up 8.30 Sat morn, less than 24 hours later! Fantastic delivery speed and very well packed. Needless to say I spent the day messing about with it and later took it to my Sat night gig and used it to make my tone sound great! I`m very pleased with all of the above, thanks very much Lozz, a pleasure. MM