Kiwi

and your bass?

[quote name='jjl5590' post='198040' date='May 13 2008, 03:20 PM']we arnt a very serious band, we just like jamming, and most of the stuff we play is RHCP covers. if i got the 2x12 neo cab, if i liked the sound of it i would probably couple it with another neo 2x12, or i might get a the GK neo 4x10, except its wider and wont look right.

we play songs like stone cold bush and aeroplane and tell me baby, slap like that...[/quote]
Cool, so are you planning on owning the cabs for as long as you're playing the RHCP covers then and selling them on if/when you move on to other things?

What amp are you playing through?

[quote name='jjl5590' post='197952' date='May 13 2008, 01:38 PM']hi guys,
just curious to hear ur views, which do you think is better for RHCP-style slap?

two 2x12 neo cabs
or
two 2x10 ceramic cabs?

im kinda thinking the 2x10s are better becuase people say the 2x12s lack mids, and are also more boomy than 2x10s, and have less clarity.
the two cabs in particular are the GK 210RBH, and the GK Neo 212.

anyway please could i hear your thoughts?
thaanks[/quote]

You're making a lot of assumptions there. My EBS 212neo is mid-tastic and not boomy at all. Whereas the pair of Eminence Delta loaded Loud 2x10"'s I used to own had a very poorly defined and boomy low end even though they sounded quite punchy. The GK 210RBH I just sold today wasn't very mid focussed relatively speaking at all - it sounded similar to the 15" cone in my GK combo but with slightly less bass.

What cabs you choose should also compliment the character of your bass.Neo cones will give you a slight mid-emphasis which can be great for boomy sounding basses like my Smith fretted 5 but probably not so good for an aggressive sounding bass like a Modulus Sonic Hammer.

Its also important to test the cabs out at a rehearsal if you can, the character of your amp and cabs may change quite significantly (tonal colouring being that much more pronounced) at performance volumes.

Its also worth noting that Flea's GK rig gives him an exceptionally aggressive sound. Are you only going to be playing RHCP covers?

[quote name='bubinga5' post='197933' date='May 13 2008, 01:16 PM']I think Julian has left now,[/quote]

Oh ok, I didn't know that. Thanks for the update

That'll be Julian Crampton in the bass chair I expect. He's one of my top three favourite players and I heard he's taken over from Randy Hope-Taylor. Check out the work he did with Joey Negro and The Sunburst Band if you'd like to hear more.

EDIT: Just found an amazingly rare live clip of them on Youtube



EDIT 2: New Album released YESTERDAY. First in bloody ages! No filler tracks according to Dave Lee, each one is supposed to be a good 'un.

[url="http://www.myspace.com/thesunburstband"]http://www.myspace.com/thesunburstband[/url]

Maybe talk to DHA (Dave Hall) and see if one of his pedals might help?

...and the cab is now sold.

The Bass Gallery will be getting it to sell on consignment for 15% commission so all reasonable offers considered for a quick sale.

Sounds like a "Bass-Off" in the making with voters deciding who wins. No accounting for taste though... ...are we going to end up with the funkateers vs the metal heads?

I'm starting to find something slightly interesting about Jewish Horah medley songs. If I'm capable of, that I reckon I can find interest in just about anything...

...apart from prog metal maybe.

Cab sale pending confirmation...

[quote name='bremen' post='197281' date='May 12 2008, 04:37 PM']Haha! I was going to add 'having current and at least one ex- girlfriend in the audience' as happened to me on Saturday.

Please tell me that she was intelligent, witty, generous and friendly and danced unselfconsciously all night.[/quote]

Haven't met her yet, but we've got a gig in September for Cherie Blair's hairdresser (civil partnership) so some celebs are bound to be on the guest list for that one.

[quote name='crez5150' post='197203' date='May 12 2008, 03:09 PM']........It's like we're in the same band....... left my jeans at the venue Sat night..... and not in a good way either...[/quote]
I've just quoted precedents so far. Haven't yet mentioned turning up and finding one of the guests is an ex gf (happened to our keyboardist) or worse yet, Jordan...

My nightmare gig scenario would be along the following lines:
[list]
[*]Having to arrive early at the percussionists house to help load in the PA because of an need to set up by 2pm.
[*]Leave in loaded van at 9:30am and drive 2.5 hours to the venue because noone checked the drive time when the booking and fee was taken.
[*]Finding we have 5 hours to kill because we're not actually going on until 9:30pm, but we still have to finish at 11:30.
[*]Discovering during set up that the clients request to hook up his own wireless mic and the lack of power sockets means we're a couple of multi plugs short.
[*]Discovering the venue has a noise limiter that wasn't mentioned in the original booking form.
[*]Getting there to discover our dressing room is in fact a grubby store cupboard full of furniture moved from the main room where the dance floor is.
[*]One particular singer decides to have a diva hissy fit over the state of the room just so everyone knows she's upset and then she takes it out on anyone who even approaches her about anything related to the gig or the client.
[*]No soft drinks or water provided, or food organised (as per our contract).
[*]No chairs in the dressing room.
[*]No air-conditioning or heating.
[*]No privacy coz punters keep walking through dressing room on the way to the toilets.
[*]The speeches go over time by so much that we face having to slash our 2 sets to 1.5 and we forgo a break.
[*]When we start playing, the punters spend the first half either watching us or (worse yet) ignoring us and talking over the music.
[*]Half way through, the guitarist starts deviating from the set list he gave out before the gig and we have to wait for him to make his mind up after each song finishes to hear which song is coming next.
[*]Some old bugger in the crowd staggers up to me half pissed while I'm performing wanting to request "Mustang Sally", I can't hear him because I have plugs in and he has to scream it 3 or 4 times before I can actually lip read him. My playing goes to pot because I can't hold a conversation and play at the same time. I get funny looks from the rest of the band.
[*]The punters start dancing 3 songs from the end and when we finish and give them one more encore, they still want more and won't take no for an answer.
[*]When we start packing up, the grooms group decide they want to make their own entertainment and start trying to have a go on our equipment.
[*]Sound man charges in and tells ushers and best man to all f*** off and give him the mics back.
[*]Percussionist/manager hauls sound man off group of angry ushers and best man and explains carefully to the group that we're packing up and need the equipment back.
[*]Client comes up to the percussionist and notes that we played one set instead of two and he isn't happy. Percussionist has to explain the reasons were that the speeches went on too long and we had to play with a fixed ending time because the venue staff want to clear up.
[*]We finally pack the PA up and start the 2.5 hour journey back to London instead of sleeping over in a B&B somewhere.
[*]Load out of PA back in garage at 3:30am.
[*]Go to car to find that someone's creased it where it was parked and driven off without leaving any details.
[*]Get home after 30min drive and realise I've left a coat back at the venue. Curse loudly and go to sleep angry at 4:30am after hauling bass rig up stairs to flat.
[/list]
Next morning:
[list]
[*]Wake up at 7am like a normal weekday, feeling like I've gone ten rounds with Evander Holyfield and nursing a stinking hangover despite not having consumed any alcohol because I've become so dehydrated.
[*]After consuming copious quantities of fruit juice and water as a pick-me-up, brain is on sugar high but body wants to be left alone to die. Too tired to cook any kind of breakfast.
[*]I call venue and they say they haven't seen my coat. I try to remember if I left anything in pockets...
[*]Rest of the day is useless as I'm too tired to do anything but stare at the TV or computer monitor like a brain dead zombie.
[/list]

NB: All of this stuff has happened (apart from leaving the coat) at one gig or another. Hasn't all happened at the same gig yet.

In view of a very heavy gigging schedule coming up over Summer, I'm going to get a light weight set-up based around my EBS Neo212 cab. Besides which I need space in my flat again so my GK RB700II combo AND GK 210RBH cab are up for sale.



The combo is rated at 380w at 8ohm and 460w at 4 ohm with an extension cab. It has been well gigged but never treated harshly or dropped because it gets loaded in while strapped to a tri-truck trolley. It's proven to be incredibly reliable. There are some scuffs on the plastic corners of the combo where its moved on the nylon carpet in the back of my car but otherwise the amp is in superb condition. The rubber wheels have lost their shells and run on the plastic wheels, this is a manufacturing defect and covered by the warranty. Let me know if you want replacement wheels (which are going to do the same anyway) and I'll contact GK. I fell in love with it after trying one borrowed for a gig a few years back. What I liked most about it was that the mids were very clear and easy to hear because the amp has very sound design principles which allow great versatility without things getting over complicated. The lows are huge and the separate tweeter volume and gives fantastic control over the attack, particularly if you're a pick player. It can easily compete with offerings from manufacturers at twice the price. This amp is great value for money.

As well as the huge amounts of clean power, the amp is also [i]designed[/i] to sound growly. There's boost control which creates a very mild overdrive in the lows and mids without losing crispness. So if you want a super clean and powerful sound with superb attack then this is the amp for you. Plus if you want more growl, just dial it in! I've also played gigs of up to 400 people and NEVER had a problem with being loud enough on stage. If they made a version in light weight spruce ply with neo cones, I would be keeping it.

If the sheer volume wasn't enough, the wedge shape makes it very easy to hear yourself on stage. The speaker is angled to point directly at your ears so no more situations where your knees get deafened!

Controls include:
DI level (plus ground lift and post/pre eq switch), input socket, -14dB pad switch, mute button, volume (aka gain), contour (mid scoop), presence (add hifi sparkle), treble, high mids (VERY useful), low mids (VERY useful), bass, boost (adds growl), tweeter volume, tweeter cut switch, woofer volume, woofer highs cut switch. As you can see, all the controls are very simple yet versatile and focussed on real world needs of the average gigging bassist.

You can plug normal cabs in the back of the combo as well but you won't be able to take advantage of the biamp facility that allows you to control tweeter volume. I've already sold one of these to Vipa who plays his Alembic Rogue 5 and Yamaha BBNE2 through it and he loves it. Biamping means you get TWO power amps in this combo. Did I mention value for money?

There's a review at Musicians Friend here:
[url="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=82026&src=3SOSWXXA"]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?do...mp;src=3SOSWXXA[/url]

Apparently GK were the first to introduce biamping to bass amps!

£350 for the combo, no trades thanks, the buyer is welcome to collect or we can arrange to meet within 1 hour of London for petrol money. There's no realistic way these are going to ship economically, I'm afraid.

[quote name='Ba55me15ter' post='196832' date='May 12 2008, 12:11 AM']As regards PA, I would say invest in finding a good, local hire company. Running a good rig and more importantly getting the best sound out of it is a huge investment in time, money and effort.[/quote]
We made enough in deposits before our first gig that we ended up buying our own £4000 1k Mackie rig. Hiring didn't make any financial sense to us. Yes we have to hump our own PA around, but we've got a roadie now as well to help out and the PA gets stored in the garage belonging to our percussionist.

We also run a pair of light stands with lighting controllers and a cheap projector which casts psychadelic patterns on the wall behind us. Looks fantastic!

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='196940' date='May 12 2008, 09:54 AM']The band taht recorded 'Mr Benn' has some top notch players in it, including Kenny Wheeler. To the Producers credit, the musicians are listed on the end credits.

I once saw Alphonso Johnson's name on a US kid programme.[/quote]
Abe Laboriel ended up writing all the incidental music for the final season of CHiPs. Apparently the producers dumped the orchestra and just left him in the studio to get on with it!

Looks like the action on his bass is pretty low, I haven't seen many players with that kind of set up. The 5 string sounds like a high C?
[attachment=8611:Renaud_G...__action.jpg]

There's barely a still shot in that entire video to try and keep things visually interesting. He must have had cameras swooping around him all day like king kong with biplanes.

EDIT: Just saw a production shot included at the end of the clip - 1 camera on a boom swooping around!

[quote name='Joao_Moura' post='196870' date='May 12 2008, 06:49 AM']The problem is that most bass players just follow the guitar, and don't come up with basslines that add that special flavor to the song.[/quote]
Thats a pretty sweeping statement as it stands. Presumably you're talking about a specific style of music? Or does your assertion include jazz, funk, soul, etc. where the bass actually plays a distinct and different role to any other instrument?

Personally, I wouldn't get so worked up about it. Who cares what someone writes about in some hillybilly rag? No, really, who actually cares?

St Petersburg, Florida? The only thing St Petersburg has credibility for is pelicans that dive bomb swimmers, giving them 30 stitches in the head!

[quote name='OldGit' post='196787' date='May 11 2008, 10:57 PM']It is in a Local Shop, perchance?[/quote]
Oh yes, and so many precious things! There's lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots!!!

I live for funky music and so do most of the punters dancing to our music. If they're enjoying it and I'm enjoying then thats all that matters to me.

[quote name='OldGit' post='196561' date='May 11 2008, 03:51 PM']Dear Sir Norman,
Please have a band on your design consultancy panel for buildings that will be used for gigs.
Thanks
CK[/quote]

LOL, yeah. I didn't even mention the lack of power sockets. For where we were, there was only one pair of sockets in the floor and another pair under the raised shelf that ran around the periphery of the floor area. Certainly wasn't a building designed for big functions.

Actually, Sir Norm's practice has its critics. I don't think I'd be happy working there. Speaking of which, I have a new job any way. Woooo!

Oops, permissions updated accordingly. Sorry!

I'd be happy to put you in touch with our Percussionist/Manager who seems to have done a pretty good job with our band, if you like.

Here's a wee vid of the venue while we were setting up.

I've got one of us sound checking where the acoustic issues are easy to hear so I might splice that vid into this post later when its finished uploading.

EDIT: Intro to Ain't Nobody

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='196457' date='May 11 2008, 12:07 PM']What kind of audience was it?[/quote]
Wedding party of a surprisingly diverse range of ages. We had a request to play River Deep again from the grandfather of the bride so we obliged. The best man told a story that the groom was a huge Michael Jackson fan had actually ran through Madison Square Garden on their stag night dressed up like Michael Jackson complete with rubber face mask!

The more that the bride and groom got into it, the more everyone else did as well. Thats happened at quite a few gigs so we might note that for situations in the future where the punters are a little reluctant to get on the dancefloor.

Apparently we're only the second band to ever play here.