Boy Thunder

Ok... I've been playing for a good few years now and through bad GAS I have too many "off the shelf" basses.... I'm looking at selling a large section of my collection and using it to part fund a custom jobbie... Can anyone suggest anywhere good that can build a bass to my specs....? Thanks in advance...

A shed load of good advise up there.. My covers band has been going for just over 2 years and we all started out with no previous experience... and, as such, we are just getting to the point where, having done the pubs nearby, we are getting some good "word of mouth" bookings... (weddings, private parties etc). I don't regret doing it that way as we all started at the same level and we have grown together as a band... It also removes the "Well, my old band did it like this..." and "I know what I'm talking about, young man." which we got when we were looking... When we started we were "lucky" enough to buy a PA off a guy who was quitting the covers scene. We got a Wharfedale setup.. Tops, mids and subs along with all the bits to go with it.. Quite honestly far more than we needed.... We found this out and sold the lot... We now have a pair of powered FOH speakers (RCF 712s) and 2 powered wedges for foldback, 1 for the vox and one for the drummer. When it comes to what songs you want to play... I would agree with what has been said before... Go and see a local band or two and see what they play and how well it goes down... It's an eye opener... You also want to make sure you really don't hate anything too much... There are a few I don't like but hey... that's the nature of the beast... There will also be times when a drunken fella stands at the front of the stage screaming for his fave Pogues track.. Best to say its coming later than telling him to fornicate elsewhere... What can you expect to earn?... That depends on what the event is and how good your negotiating skills are but I'd say, here in Leicestershire.. Pub gigs £200-£350 for 3 x 45 min sets Private parties around £500-£600 Weddings... £750 min... this is just a rule of thumb for round here... things will be different round you... We are signed up with agents and to be honest... they don't really get us that much work... The ones we are with work on the basis of we tell them how much we want and they add their fee on top... as long as we get what we want then I couldn't give a fig... Avoid agents that say "Your fee is £1000. Then you pay us 10%+vat"... Really avoid them..... Make sure you have a good contract too if you're doing a wedding, party or corporate event... It saves a lot of trouble later on.... We include a sliding scale of fee payable if the client cancels.... ranging from non-refundable deposit to full fee payable... it depends on the notice we get and how reasonable it would be that we could book another event on that day.. It also makes sure that we get parking, dressing room, food and soft drinks... Very important if, at a wedding, you have to arrive and setup early then not play until 8 or 9 o'clock.... Like what was said up there too.. Always arrive on time, be polite and stay sober... Never swear, smoke in front of kids or shag the bride.... Having been in a number of original bands I find covers exposes me to styles that I previously wouldn't have listened to and by learning to play them I think I've become a better player. Good luck....

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='416630' date='Feb 22 2009, 02:24 PM']Couple of hundred quid for the cab. Few pints to your mate to help you lift it. 25 spots for a folding sack cart if he can't make it. 2 quid for ibuprofen. Tenner for some casters off ebay. 5 mpg less if your car's big enough and a couple of grand for a berlingo if it's not. [/quote] So £150 would be a good deal for me then... cool...

How much should I expect to pay for one of [url="http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/te1818.htm"]these[/url]....? It's second hand and a bit battered round the edges... The fella is asking for a reasonable offer but I don't know where to pitch it... Cheers all...

Thanks everyone for all the help and advise. It really was useful.. I have re-wired the cab with the 4ohm drivers in series. Popped a Crate Power block through it today and is sounded good to go..... So.. thanks again....

Thanks BF.. That's about where my understanding is at the moment... The BC article is a lot closer to my understanding level and made a lot more sense than the other pages I read... I'm not averse to learning new stuff... but where I was looking made NO sense to me.... and the last thing I wanted to do was blow my amp... I think I have a better understanding now... and I'll use BC wiki before I go elsewhere... Cheers...

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='172853' date='Apr 9 2008, 08:58 AM']Gaining an understanding is much better that just getting answers. When I said wiki I meant the basschat [url="http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:amps:impedance_and_wattage"]wiki[/url][/quote] I agree... gaining an understanding means that in the future I wont need to ask the questions and I am prepared to learn... It's just where I looked made no sense to me at my current knowledge level.... I didn't realise you meant the basschat wiki... I assumed wiki meant... Wikipaedia... I will endeavor to remove my ignorance of this issue as it is an important area to understand, but at the moment the need to have the answer present to me is urgent. Thanks to those that answered the question and from my reply it is obvious that I still didn't get the gist of this issue... However at least I know what I can do and what it will mean... What's next is for me to spend the time learning about the subject properly.. I will read the article next... Thanks again...

Thanks WarPig and Musky... So... the simple answer is.... no... dont just swap them out...as I could look very upset with a smokin head...But.. I can use them if I wire them in series.... Cool... So I make a single circuit of both drivers... Then I have a 4 ohm cab at 300w... if I understand you right... yeah?

OK... Thanks I read this [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm[/url] and this [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_impedance"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_impedance[/url] and this... [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impedance_matching#Loudspeaker_amplifiers"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impedance_mat...aker_amplifiers[/url] But it may as well have been written in Greek.... Can you point me in the direction of something for the layman....? As I am willing to learn... Or say... "Yes, that's fine" or "No, mate... you need to do this..." please.... don't mean to sound ungrateful but the terms I saw are far beyond my knowledge....

OK.. I have to admit I am somewhat ignorant when it comes to ohmage (sp?) and stuff.. Here's the question... I have a 2x10 cab fitted with 100w 16ohm drivers... The cab is rated 250w 8ohm.. one of the drivers is dead so it needs replacing... I have 2 x 10" drivers... they are rated at 150w and 4ohm.... The head that I want to use is an Ashdown MAG 180.. This is rated at 180w RMS and 300w PEAK. Can I put the replacement drivers into the cab and safely run the head or should I find identical rated drivers...? What would the new wattage and ohmage be if I did just do a straight swap? Thanks in advance... even though I feel I'm about to get confused....

I'd say play as many different amps as possible but also bear in mind that the sound produced can change from location to location... If you're investing your own money into a stack then you need to be sure it's gonna do exactly what you want it to do.. Otherwise you'll end up selling it and losing £££s... Just my opinion.... Good luck

This is just down the road for me... I may be tempted to bring my Westone collection...

I di 15 last year... 14 with the covers band and I depped for an original outfit once.... Not bad for a new band.. the coming year should be a bit busier...