BigRedX

I think you'll find that on here the Helix and Quad Cortex are more popular than the Kemper so you won't get much specific advice. I'm a Helix user which is sometimes paired with an RCF745 powered FRFR. For the sorts of gigs I do, most of the time going direct from the Helix direct into the PA and using the PA foldback is a great solution so if that's something that you might find yourself doing, maybe consider swapping your passive FRFR for a powered one, that way your nor carrying about the extra bulk and weight of the power amp in the Kemper when you don't need it. Unless you have plenty of experience with multi-effects units you may find the learning curve of whichever modelling/multi-effects you go for quite steep. If the Kemper has a good computer-based editor like the Helix then it becomes a lot easier. I do my main programming at home on the computer and only use the controls on the device to fine-tune my sounds when I'm in the rehearsal room. The other thing I have found is that IMO amp and cab models are a bit of a red herring. I rarely use them and when I do, it's normally a guitar amp or combo rather than a bass one and will probably have been selected for it's drive/distortion sound first and foremost. However for me when I was using a traditional bass rig it was there just to get my line-level signal loud enough to hear and any "character" or other colouration that amp and cab(s) introduced was unwanted. For my sounds I start with an EQ module and then add compression, drive, chorus and delay as required. HTH.

The only way to find out which pick is the right one for you and the right one for the sound that works with your band is to try a load. For me the point of using a pick or finger is that the timing feel is different and I have gone for a pick (Herco Flex 75) that is very similar to the sound I get when I use my fingers. Interestingly I find that unlike most people on here my finger style playing is louder than my pick playing. One thing to bear in mind is that just like EQ settings a pick that sounds great when you are playing on your own may not sound as good with the rest of the band. I found that hard picks in particular tend to produce a bass sound that disappears if your band includes a guitarist who favours clean single coil sounds. So go to your next rehearsal armed with picks in a variety of thickness and materials, and don't be surprised if the one that sounds great when playing with the band sounds weird when you are practicing at home.

Given the lack of volume of the bass on Oasis records either Andy Bell would be fine, and the Erasure one would definitely be more interesting to watch on stage.

When I was learning songs for the dad-rock covers band I found playing along to recordings of the songs I was learning made me over-confident. Unless you are lucky enough to be able to find versions with the bass guitar part removed, having the recorded bass there acts as a mental crutch, and there can be a tendency to fudge hard to play or difficult to work out sections because the recorded bass is there to back you up. As soon as you have to play them in a band without the original bass being there it becomes very obvious that you have skimped in places. If I wasn't playing in bands the only time I would pick up one of my basses would be if I was going to use it on a recording I was making.

The most important thing with a live rig is to have at least some of it pointed at your ears and not at the backs of your knees.

For me the whole point of being bass player is to be in a band, and I accept all the commitments that go with that. If I just wanted to play at home I'd be focusing my attention on playing the guitar or keyboards.

I hope you had a word with the singer about his one IEM in and one out?

My experience both before and after the UK left the EU, is that no matter what you order or when you place it, so long as they are in stock, the items arrive on Wednesday or Thursday of the following week.

Surely the fact that they get a quality control check in the US is done in an attempt to increase the perceived value of the instruments, otherwise there would be no point in doing it or publicising that they do it.

To the OP do you want to play covers or songs you've written yourself? If you want to do covers go and see some local covers bands and you'll quickly get an idea of which songs you need to know and then you can go away and practice them. If you want to play originals then put out some ads and jump in. IME enthusiasm always trumps ability in the early days of playing originals. Overall I have found the following: 1. You are rarely as bad at playing as you think. Even after 50 years of being in bands my playing ability is probably still well below average, but I've never had any problem finding bands and musicians to play with. 2. The quickest way to improve is to join a band. Playing with other musicians does wonders for your ability especially if they are of a slightly higher standard than you. 3. If you can bring something on top of being a bass player to the band that always improves your chances. Backing vocals are always and asset. Also van ownership or having somewhere for the band to rehearse, or being a decent graphic designer. HTH

It's a while since I last heard that. IMO that's stretching the definition of "cover" to its very limits with only the words and some of the vocal melody bearing any relation to the original. And the instrumental bits sound like they've been shoe-horned in between the singing. I know it's prog-rock and supposed to be clever and difficult and complicated, but even so...

What advantage do pickups wound in Germany have over pickups wound in China?

I think it has always been that way. When I was at university very few of the non-musicians I knew went to gigs and if they did it was for well-known bands at Rock City. They wouldn't even go to gigs on campus, which were relatively inexpensive to get it, unless it was someone they'd heard of with a least a couple of hit singles, so I was the only person from my course who went to see John Cooper Clark, The Teardrop Explodes, The Thompson Twins and Danse Society amongst others. As musicians we always over-estimate the importance of music to the lives of non-musicians. For most people music is something to fill in the silence when the TV isn't on, or BGM for getting laid.

No, I'm Brian!

Given the music, any knowledgable marketing company would have gone for something by Roger Dean. This resembles the sort of crap the covers band I used to be in would think was a good idea for a gig poster.

It really depends what your preferred finger-style and pick sounds are like, what pick(s) you use, and how hard the skin on your fingers is. If you're not getting enough variation with your current setup I'd start by trying some different picks - different thicknesses and/or materials, because that might be all you need to do. Finding the right pick for the sound you want is definitely worth while. I play with a pick that gives me a very similar sound to my fingers because for me the change in techniques is more about feel than tone. Otherwise go with a programmable effects unit that has a decent EQ section on it.

In that case use the method above to prune your mailing list down to under 500 addresses so you can take advantage of the free MailChimp service. IME all of the other free services simply aren't worth bothering with.

Not really. Apart from those sounds that rely on a specific playing technique that I haven't mastered (like slap) I can get all the sounds I want using programmable effects.

They were most definitely Bono and The Edge even back then. Still nice people though. Much the same for me. Apart from U2 (and they were terrible when I saw them at Rock City the following year and consequently lost interest) none of the bands I really like get to the point where tickets cost over a hundred pounds. These days most of the bands I like I get to see for free because I'm playing on the same bill.

I saw U2 in 1980 at The Boat Club in Nottingham with about 50 other people. One of those I went with knew them from when they were just a local band in Dublin so after the gig I got to meet Bono and The Edge.

As I said in the other thread, if you didn't see them in a little club back in 93 or 94 you've really missed your chance. IMO you'd be better off spending the money you'll need to fork out for Oasis tickets on going to see one new band a month at a local venue where you'll be able to pay on the door and, if you like what you hear, buy a T-shirt from them afterwards. You never know one of those gigs might include someone who goes on to be a massive household name, and then you can claim to have seen them when they were still good and you could talk to them afterwards.

Sorry to make you wait, but I was away on holiday and there was no way I was going to type this reply on my phone... I ran The Terrortones' email list and designed their monthly emails for 5 years. We used a desktop application called Direct Mail which is Mac OS only but it operates under the same principals as MailChimp except you can do everything apart from send the actual emails off-line without an internet connection. These days if you don't want to pay anything, the free version of MailChimp is really the only serious contender. Direct Mail has very useful spam count indicator, where it will tell you how likely your email is going to be marked as spam and highlight any obvious "spammy" wording or design so you can change these to something more likely to allow your email to land in your audience's in-boxes. It's a while since I used MailChimp but I would hope it would do something similar. The biggest problem you will have is that what is supposed to be one of the most useful features of any decent marketing email tool - user engagement reporting - is of very limited accuracy due to the never-ending war between the marketing email services and email providers privacy features. We had a mailing list of just under 1000 addresses and at best we'd get reports of around 100 of those actually looking at what we sent. The number of links that appeared to be followed was on average 10 per email split between everything in the email. This is for an eye-catching email design that was easy to ready and had all the links well marked. The reality will probably be that the actual number of people who look at and engage with your email will be closer to 150% of the reported figures but that's still a woefully low audience number for the amount of effort you will need to put in. So assuming you want to proceed you'll also need the following: 1. A "return" email address that is not a free webmail service. This normally means the band having its own domain name and an associated email address. You might be able to get away with a Gmail or similar address but it does massively increase the likelihood of your emails going directly to your audience's spam folder. 2. You must include an actual postal address in the email contact details. This is legal requirement for many countries. 3. An obvious and easy way for recipients to unsubscribe. Your other big problem is getting your email reported as spam. The strike count for spam reports is very low - under 1% for most email services, which means for your email list of 700 you'll only need more than a couple of spam reports for a single mail-out and you'll be suspended or banned. Use any features you mailing service supplies to ensure your email is less likely to trigger spam filters, and even more importantly ensure that the email addresses you have are from people who have specifically signed up to receive the kinds of emails your are sending out. We used to get audience members to fill in an email sheet at gigs. e could guarantee that at least 25% of these were completely illegible and another 25% resulted in bounced emails. Of the remaining emails there would nearly always be one that resulted in a spam report. These day my advice would be, if in doubt don't add it to your list. Use an on-line form provided by your email service to get new email addresses. HTH.

Lets stop trying to kid ourselves that seeing a bunch of semi-motionless blokes in the their 50s at some enormous venue is going to have a fraction of the excitement of seeing them when they were young, hungry and playing the sorts of venues where you could be stood right in front of the stage. Admit to yourselves that if you didn't see them back in 1993 or early 94 you've missed out, and instead go and see some gigs by new bands where it will cost you less than £15 and you'll be able to turn up and pay on the door.

Nice to see one in a colour other than sh!t brown.

If that doesn’t contain a Born To Rock F4B I’ll be disappointed.