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JPJ
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Posts posted by JPJ
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3 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:
The messages coming through to me from the band are that we'll be buying the X32 Rack.
It does give you the option of using AES50 for a digital split if the FOH is also using an x32 product.
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A few more inputs (if you add a stage box) as the x32 has er 32 channels available whereas the XR18 has 16 plus the usual stereo channel hence the ‘18’. You will have a lot more routing options in the x32 but with it a much steeper learning curve. Same with effects, but if you are only using the desk for IEM’s that shouldn’t be an issue.
You’re more than welcome to come and have a play with my XR18 if you want before you commit to the x32?
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So our gig yesterday was er challenging.
Firstly our singer arrived at the gig with a sore throat which got progressively worse over the two sets. Then, just one song from the end of the first set, the PA tripped. Looks like one of our extension reels took exception to the rather warm and humid conditions and tripped its thermal protection, even though the reel itself was stone cold and the cable was fully uncoiled (a lesson learned from the past). Then, during soundcheck all our in-ears were working fine, but as soon as we fired up in earnest, mine started suffering massive dropouts. So I quickly had our roadie/helper/harmonica player reel out another XLR to move my transmitter to my side of the ‘stage’ at which point I had perfect signal, but the singer/guitarist then suffered drop outs (we’re both using X-Vives and we’ve never had this before). So I finished the first set old school, no plugs or IEM’s and I had forgotten just how loud this is, and how difficult it is to pick your bass out in the mix when you are a) stood virtually on top of you cab, and b) right next to the drums. Second set I went wired with my Behringer P2M and no further problems.
Oh and did I mention it was hotter than hell in the venue, a smallish pub with a great reputation for live music and fine ales.
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1 hour ago, warwickhunt said:
Resurrection time... After experiences at a festival yesterday we are absolutely going for this.
X32 Rack £677
MS8000 £114 (pair)
6U case £100
18 short XLR/XLR loom (splitters > X32) £39
3m 16 XLR/XLR (splitter > FOH) £60
Total £990
My only reservations are: getting PA engineers to mic/supply us feeds of the drums to our Splitter > X32, positioning of the unit so that we can run feeds from X32 to our 'individual' IE transmitters (we all play in other bands so it is not practicable to rack all 6 transmitters).
If you are going with the MS8000 then you could save on the X32 rack and go with an X-Air XR18 which is currently retailing for an unbelievable £359
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15 hours ago, brickers said:
Thanks @JPJ
my current plan, created with the help of ChatGPT and to be validated by the lovely people of this forum is to fill the cavities with wood blocks and wood glue, then epoxy glue a veneer over the entire front. (Using epoxy because it’ll glue both wood and polyurethane) I was wondering how to deal with the edges without either dulling my nice chisels, or sanding ineffectively at it and potentially sanding the existing body because it’s possibly softer than the epoxied veneer edge. I also hadn’t considered cracking though I’d hope that as this would be a thin glue layer that might be mitigated. This is pure speculation though
Sounds like a good plan to me. My reference to epoxy cracking was it terms of a layer of filler rather than an epoxy glue that you are proposing with veneer. My only concern with your method is how well the edge of the veneer/epoxy will feather back to the original finish, before you apply your new finish. But, if you intend using automotive style poly rattle cans, Halfords fine filler spray might be enough to mask the join.
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I think the app choice depends on your choice of control device. I use the Behringer X-Air Edit app on a Microsoft Surface Go, but I have X-Air Edit on Mac, and the iPad app as back up. I’ve tried Mixing Station and I can’t get away with either the ‘skin’ or the complexity of the app.
The workflow is pretty much the same as any other analogue mixer, but without the massive amounts of outboard you need in the analogue world.
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So this little thing just keeps on impressing me. Tried her out through my EV ZLX15P’s last night and it sounds great. The four band eq on each channel is quite powerful but still musical, and the six band eq on the main outs is similarly musical, and you can make both of these semi-parametric if you want to adjust the width of your boost or cut, but in truth I don’t think I’ll need to do this for most of my planned uses. One thing I’ve noticed is the metering between the hardware and the software is slightly different, probably due to more graduations on the software side (i.e. four bars of yellow on the app equates to 1 bar of yellow on the hardware LED meter). The two effects processors work as you would expect, with a couple of really nice reverbs that work well with VOX and acoustic guitar.
This weekend I intend messing around with the USB out recording, so expect a further update later.
Ooh one last thing, if you get one of these, when setting up your channels, play around with the input presets - some are not what they seem. I was feeding the desk with a DI signal from my bass pedal board which I know to be a super quiet DI out. I used the ‘line’ preset and found it to be noisy, like very noisy. Changed the preset to bass guitar and the noise disappeared whilst the signal strength improved. So there is obviously quite a bit going on in the presets so you might have to try a few to find the best one for your particular instrument (note: not all physical inputs have the same presets available).
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Shrinkage is almost inevitable. One of the best luthiers/refinishers in the business filled an aftermarket battery compartment on a bass before refinishing and even he suffered from shrinkage or print through showing the outline of the filled area. There are ways to avoid this using a skim of epoxy filler, but this will add weight, definitely affect resonance, and may itself crack down the line. A safer method might be to veneer the front of the bass after filling the cavities, this would probably be my preferred method but then you have to deal with the edge of the veneer, itself another challenge.
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Nobody has yet mentioned that refinishes, even really well done refinishes, generally reduce the value of the instrument. That said, refinishing was very popular back in the 60’s & 70’s so a lot of ‘vintage’ instruments have had a refinish at some stage in their life. As you seem to be proposing a refinish simply to suit one gig, albeit your main gig, have you considered wrapping instead of paint? Easily reversible if your gig ever changes and no impact on long term value?
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You could try the Basschat 1x10 here
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So I have been having such a positive experience since I started using my IEM’s more and more, with the exception that even the largest Comply tip doesnt seem to want to stay sealed in my left ear. As suggested by @dave_bass5 I’ve tried a smaller tip too without success. So, I am now thinking of going down the custom moulded route. My question is, is there a significant advantage in going with a vented ambient IEM such as the ACS Evolve over a standard non-vented ambient design? I’ve had great service from my ACS custom moulded ear protection, and I am minded to go with them for my IEM solution with the Evolve being about the price point I’d like to pay.
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Here we have my lightly used Sansamp Bass Driver v2. If you know what this is then you know, if you don’t, go check YouTube.
Recent purchase of a Jad Freer Capo has rendered this obsolete so it’s available for this bargain price. Price includes second class tracked delivery in the UK. There is some light signs of wear and tear most obvious being a tiny bit of yellow paint peeling off the ‘A’ of SansAmp.
Comes with original owners manual but no box, but will be well packaged for shipping.
Any questions, please ask.
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On 22/06/2025 at 20:00, JPJ said:
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.
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 😎
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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.-
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1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:
This might sound silly but have you tried a smaller tip? Ive always gone for the largest in the past. Ram it in and it will stay put, only I find it doesn't quite go in as far as it should. When I went down a size I found the tip would go a bit further in to the ear canal, and the fit was more secure. it also meant the IEM could sit a bit more secure in the ear.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.-
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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.-
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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).
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So mine is finally arriving today. Stand-by for initial impressions.
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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.
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On 17/06/2025 at 16:39, JPJ said:
Damn you GAS, another preamp pedal inbound - but which one? All will be revealed tomorrow 😎
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.
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Damn you GAS, another preamp pedal inbound - but which one? All will be revealed tomorrow 😎
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Behringer Flow 8
in PA set up and use
Posted
Interesting experience. Two questions, did you use the built-in presets on each channel, and second question, do you normally use a digital or analogue desk?
My experience is that you need to use the channel presets to get the best out of the flow8, and that digital desks can sound very dry compared to an old school analogue desk like the Mackie.