JPJ

So, following on from my earlier post with the electric bass board, some goodies arrived this morning from Anderson’s to complete the meagre double bass / EUB board. Everything I need and nothing I don’t 😎

So decision made, I’ve gone for simplicity. My doubling gig has become a full on acoustic gig (with PA support of course) so I’ve decided to go with two boards as the combined board was starting to look like I might be over compensating for something. This will be the electric bass board and has only what I need to make my beautiful basses sound more beautiful. The Capo and the Empress are recent purchases but boy are they good/worth the money in my book.

Good shout, no I haven’t tried that but I will. I’m enjoying the IEM experience so much I can see custom moulds in my not too distant future.

So I used my Sennheiser 100’s again last night with a Behringer P2M as it was a sit down gig. It was probably the heat/sweat but I was struggling with the fit of one earpiece. I’m using the largest tip I’ve got, but I think I need a larger tip for my left ear. Sound / mix wise, the gig had an in-house PA and engineer, and a quick turnaround between bands so I went with bass at unity, everything else at -6db and I had a great sound.

How was my gig last night? One word, sweaty! Played our local Billy Bootleggers with our acoustic trio, supplemented for this gig by good friend and multi-talented percussion, harmonica, and vocalist Mr Les Young. We were on straight after a local Dolly Parton impersonator who was entertaining a ‘bottomless brunch’ crowd who migrated off to other venues in and around the Ouseburn delta before we struck a chord. This gig is one with a mainly passing trade, but we did our usual trick of getting folk to stay so we had built up a medium sized appreciative crowd by the end of our second set. Lilly, my 1960’s Boosey Hawkes Excelsior coped really well with the heat and despite my fears, remained in tune for the whole gig, which is better than what I managed 😂 Picture may be used to keep small children away from open fires etc.

Yes, sound hole plugs work. Take a leaf out of the double bass players book who use F hole blockers to reduce feedback on loud or difficult stages. Also, bring that HPF up to about 60hz. I played a gig yesterday with my acoustic double bass on a very resonant (I.e. empty wooden box) stage. The whole gig I was on the verge of run away feedback and playing open strings was an absolute no no. Sometimes you just have to modify your technique to suit the circumstances of the gig.

So, initial impressions, bearing in mind that I’ve only heard it using the phones out. Build quality appears to be very high with a robust metal body. All faders and controls are reassuringly ‘stiff’. The app connects seamlessly over Bluetooth, and there is a second Bluetooth connection for playing background/break music. The workflow of the app is good, and I was able to set up a mic channel (channel 1) and a line out device (bass preamp on channel 5) both easily. FX is quite powerful although you appear to be limited to adjusting just one parameter of each installed effect. The preamps are super quiet, as long as you set the input source correctly. I have a gig tomorrow with in-house PA so I won’t get to explore further until Sunday. That said, first impressions are very favourable.

I built a five string with a pair of J’s and a P, along with a five-way switch (N, N+P, P, P+B, N&B) but only ever used P & P+B options live. It was inspired by the Fender Stu Hamm signature bass, and include John East active eq (bass & Treble stack, and a mid-stack).

So mine is finally arriving today. Stand-by for initial impressions.

Just checking back in to report on how the Spirocores are settling in. I’ve done a few gigs and multiple rehearsals with them and I’m absolutely loving them. They’ve really opened up the tone of my old Boosey Hawkes Excelsior and are really rewarding to play. Dig in, and these strings respond with all the growl you could ever need, go with a lighter touch and you have mwah for days, and vibrato shimmers. I only play pizz so I can comment on how they play/sound under the bow. All in all the took about a week to fully settle and about another month of light use to fully open up.

So this arrived yesterday. Haven’t had chance to try it out yet, but if it’s half as good as my internet research suggests, then I think I’ll be happy. All part of my master plan of splitting my acoustic/double bass board from my electric board, as both of my bands move towards silent stages.

Damn you GAS, another preamp pedal inbound - but which one? All will be revealed tomorrow 😎

Guess who missed the word “like” 🤦‍♂️😂