bassintheface

We have fully converted to IEM's fir playing live and it's been nothing short of a revelation. Quieter on stage. It's amazing. That said, we have done it 'properly' and gone for custom moulds - ACS T2's at £500 per pair. I'd quite happily now gig without a rig.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1417097389' post='2617063'] Now this really [i]is[/i] enlightening, one part stood out; ''The lottery win of a complete sell out tour would be around 45k profit. Those numbers aren’t coming up! Half that and I would be a happy man but that’s doubtful . If it did hit say 25k there’s still the bogey man of HMRC and corporation tax at 24% taking 6k and leaving 19k. It’s still a lot of money which I would be lucky to be able to make in this day and age and which I’d be exceedingly grateful for'' A respected and well known name who's been in the business 30 years would be very grateful making under £20K take home per year and that might not take any pension contributions into account. It's not the gravy train is it? I hope he stashed plenty away when he was making (hopefully) more money. You can see why some guys start selling off loads of high end gear when they retire from touring. [/quote] I found this very interesting as Shaun Rodgers (Fish's sound engineer) has been a friend of mine (and the band's) for years. Also, Yatta is a friend of my Dad's (and how Shaun got the job in the 1st place). He's done the sound for us on many many occasions and continues to do so when he's not away with Fish. Shaun (and his van - an ex Tiger Tours sprinter btw) still needs to earn when Fish isn't touring so we try and use Shaun when we can. It's crazy that he goes from months away touring europe, playing these gigs with Fish, then comes home and does work with us and a couple of other local bands to keep the wolf from the door. When you look at the figures, in the big scheme of things, we're talking 'nothing' - £50 for a support band for example. I 'want' £150 on top of that £50 to play a function gig as do the other lads in the band, plus our engineer fees. Crazy! I appreciate we're comparing original artists etc vs a corporate whore, but it's still playing music and providing entertainment and being out of the house for as long, if not longer. You've really got to work seriously hard at the touring game to make anything like a living. It certainly isn't the glamorous world people would have you believe and it's generally a struggle for most originals bands to keep 'doing it'. Part of the reason I ultimately stopped the originals band thing and now only play in a function band - a wife, 2 kids and a mortgage and being fed up of being skint helped steer my decision. Kudos to you guys still doing it though!!

We do all the time for the function band. PM me your email addy and I'll send a sample of ours. Do need to look at having / doing T&C's and check them with a solicitor to make sure you're saying / doing things the right way. We have them, but then they're done to suit our particular way of working and may not be right for you.

Replied.

I had these on a bass that I sold on a while back - the had a little use, not a massive amount. I took them off with a view to putting them on a P I was looking for - when I eventually found one, it came with a set of nice Thomastiks, so I've no reason to change. They've been sat in my box for almost a year, so does anyone want them? They're free to the basschat community If you can cover the postage. Cheers!

what about a smart phone / tablet and app - I use one with an iRIg and headphones for home practice when the kids are in bed.

I've always tried to buy from a British based retailer first and initially I try to support 'local' shops too; especially independants, though they're a duying breed - maybe because of companies like Thomann and the like! If they're 'there or thereabouts' with a price comparison with Thomann then I'll go for the british based company - I bought my X32 from DV247 in the end, but there are some UK based retailers I won't touch now - GAK are one. I always get the impression that my enquiries are hassle for them and I'm fortunate to be able to consider shopping with them.... so I won't use them anymore. Generally, Thomann are cheaper and have better customer service etc and right now, every £ (or euro) counts, So I regularly use them.

nothing wrong with that and I ask a similar set of questions when being asked about 'charity' events too. Especially when they expect you'll play for free, provide the PA, lighting and backline!!

This is true and I thought about just taking one cab to gigs, but then thought I'd have a spare cab doing nothing, so thought I might be better off selling the Aggy rig as a whole and getting a small combo, but then like you say, I like the sound!! Think I might just stick for now and keep a spare cab! thanks

Hi guys, I'm hoping for a bit of advice here - I currently 'run' an Aguilar TH500 and 2x DB112 cabs. It's a set up a love, sound amazing all of the time, blah blah blah. Anyways, we (as band) have recently gone down the IEM route (ACS Custom T2's) as we have an X32. I've started to realise that I can quite comfortably gig without the Aguilar rig as what I'm hearing is me through the IEMs, and not the amp and cabs. The other guys also have me in their ears, along with everything else as we fully mic the kit, guitar cabs etc I'm DI'd so am in the PA (JBL PRX active system of 2 x 615's and 2 x 618 XLF's), so there's more than enough bass in the room!! We take an engineer with us so no worries there. I'm just thinking whether I should seriously consider getting rid of the Aguilar rig and buying a small quality combo (mesa walkabout 12 etc) to use as back up and for smaller gigs. I could quite happily take my bass, leads and sans amp and be fine. Less stuff to hump around, less stuff to load in and out of the venue and less to store. Thoughts / considerations from a practical perspective are welcome!

Having relatively recently switched to digital, I just wish we'd done it sooner. So much easier, leave presets set up, back up onto USB. Work on mixes at home on the laptop via the audio software. Remote mixing via iPad. I use an x32 and they are brilliant, especially at the money. I've used LS9's and the presonus (go for the 16.4) Depending on what you need etc I would look at the rest of the x32 range, including the rack.

I have an original OC2, but recently I've found that it makes a 'clicking' noise when activate or deactivate it, which is audible through my amp. Anyone got any ideas what this could potentially be? Thanks!

It's fine, honest. I wouldn't have posted it if I wasn't open to both positive and negative comments!! I don't think we've just made the video to Bohemian Rhapsody or anything. It is what it is and does what it says in the tin, nothing more. I appreciate the time taken to have a look and give opinions. Cheers.

cheers Gary. Yup, that's the purpose really. Just for more 'function' work..........

Just thought I'd stick a link here and see what you reckon. Just a short promo video for the function band - we've got a couple being done and this is the 1st. http://youtu.be/1hTX8dPUr44 Cheers.

[quote name='LemonCello' timestamp='1414350619' post='2588557'] TC Polytune, considered to be one of the best. £75 quid ish [/quote] I have one of these and never had a problem with it. Really bright display so easy to see in the light too!!

Yes. We're all early to mid 30's now, but have been playing together in bands in one guise or another since we were 16 / 17. We have and do play in other bands with other people too, but we are most certainly mates. We socialise with each other outside of the band (infrequently as we're quite busy with the band) and with a wider circle of 'muso' type mates. It might appear a bit incestuous really, but there's a large group of mates from 'way back when', we all get on, help each others bands out etc and regularly dep with our different bands. It's quite nice actually, although there are inevitable fall outs too!!

[quote name='five-string.co.uk' timestamp='1413484641' post='2578818'] Join the Musicians Union = FREE PLI + FREE Instrument Insurance + FREE Legal advice (Free = inclusive ) Very worthwhile joining [/quote] This