BigRedX

Here are my two favourite tracks from the two bands I play in: "Parlance" by In Isolation: "Tilting" by Hurtsfall:

I used to have what sounds like a similar set up to what you are intending in the attic room of a victorian semi-detached house. Research showed that doing an effective room within a room would be completely impractical as it would firstly make the interior space too small (this was for a room that started off 5.4 x 3.7 x 2.5 metres (length width height) before I considered how much additional space acoustic treatment would remove, and secondly because it wasn't on a solid ground floor there was no realistic way of properly decoupling any interior structure from the rest of the building. There was also the worry that the additional weight of any serious sound proofing might be more that the structure of the building could carry. In the end I settled for approximately 1 metre of heavy duty sound-proofing structure on the wall separating this room from my neighbour's, filling the side walls with RW45 and two additional layers of chipboard and plasterboard and "dead sheet" covered with heavy duty underlay and carpet for the floor. However this still left the ceiling/roof and opposite end wall (that contained the window) largely untreated and as definite weak spots for sound leakage in both directions. Given enough time an budget I would have been able to sort out the roof and ceiling, but there was no workable solution for end wall that wouldn't also compromise the only access stairs to the room. It was impossible to have acoustic drums in the space, and even an electronic kit had to be positioned on top of an isolating platform to prevent the mechanical action of the kick pedal transferring through the whole structure of both properties. However it was fine for vocals, guitar and bass (DI'd) and mixing provided I only worked between 10.00am to 10.00pm and stopped whenever my neighbours wanted me to. I recorded an EP and most of my band's album in this studio, but on reflection the money I spent on building work and studio equipment would have paid for about a month in a proper studio with a good engineer and producer and would still have had enough left over to press a few thousand copies of the album and pay for some decent promotion. Instead I have seven songs whose mixes I have never been 100% happy with another five that never got properly finished before the band split. Since then the sound proofing has mostly been removed as part of a general refurbishment of the property, and most of the still functioning studio equipment sold for a fraction of what I originally paid for it. If I was going to have an actual fully functional recording space again, I wouldn't consider anywhere where the floor wasn't solid and at or below ground level, and where the sound proofing properties of the overall structure were not compromised by the building it was housed in. Probably not what you would like to hear but based on my practical experience.

Also looking at the fingerboard wear it's obviously been done by someone who has never actually played bass in a band. As everyone knows all the really fat notes are up around the 12th fret on the E and A strings.

I remember it being advertised for sale on here. I was considering buying it just so I would have something to piss off anyone who wanted me to use a P-Bass!

Actually before drilling anything check that the bridge is in the correct place. Measure from the nut to the 12th fret. It should be the same measurement from the 12th fret to just past the lip of the bridge. I also notice that you are missing an intonation screw for the D string. It might be worth replacing the whole bridge assembly although that will mean losing the quirky character of the bass.

It's the Bas Extravaganza Punk Rock Bass, and is/was owned by someone here on Basschat.

Thanks. I think your problem is that the adjustable bridge part looks like a repurposed guitar bridge. I suspect that the original saddle part had no intonation adjustment and was either a solid bar or had wheels for adjusting the string spacing but not the intonation. These were common on guitars and basses of far-eastern manufacturers in the early 70s. Those saddles would probably be OK if they were in the right place. Would it be possible to drill new holes for the intonation screws so that they were properly spaced?

They are 2.4G wireless rather than 5.8G. More likely to fail in current WiFi heavy environments.

Like this?

Bloody auto-correct. I've edited my original post.

In that case Googling "Wireless DMX" brings ups a number of results specifically aimed at DMX systems. I don't know enough about DMX to know exactly what you'll need, but if it's working in the WiFi spectrum I'd go for 5.8G rather than 2.4G as at the moment it's less congested and seems more robust. You're probably looking at £200 per connection.

Can you show some photos of the whole bass with the strings in place?

The important question should be what are you going to do if your wireless connection fails mid-gig? I can see the convenience of wireless in terms of reducing the number of cables carried and speed of setting up and breaking down. However IME consumer-grade wireless simply isn't robust/reliable enough for anything that can't be connected with an appropriate cable in seconds should it fail. I'm happy to use a wireless system for my bass - it makes sense as I want to move about on stage. However there is a jack lead kept coiled next to my Helix Floor ready should I need it. If you are using wireless for connecting the PA and/or lights, how much of a problem will it be if the wireless connection fails and how long will it take for you to replace it with a wired connection mid-gig if it proves to be unresolvable?

One of the reasons for flat-wound strings is that they make the bass guitar occupy a different sonic space to round-wounds. IMO if you want the bass to "cut through" you should be using round wounds.

You need to consider very carefully what features you want from your mixer other than just the number of inputs and outputs/aux channels. The EQ on the Zoom looks quite limited with just a fixed high and low and preset frequencies for the mids. On a digital desk I'd expect at least two fully parametric EQ controls plus low and high shelving. Again on the Zoom the effects appear to be all presets. Fine if one of them is right for your singer, but not as seemingly versatile as the A&H mixer.

You are right. What I should have said is that the cover should be either in your genre or arranged/reworked to be in your genre.

I think the point being made is that most of the time the two devices will be less than 40m apart. However if you've only got a 40m leads you'll always be coiling up 40m of cables. If instead you have a selection of 10m and 5m leads you only need to use enough to get from A to B and the rest can stay coiled up in your lead bag, and you'll only need to coil 40m of cable when you actually need 40m of cable. I makes sense to me.

For the moment. However as 5.8GHz devices become more widespread I suspect it will eventually be as flakey as 2.4GHz systems. Enjoy it while you can.

IME, unless you are out in the sticks playing church halls only, as an originals band you don't need a PA. Almost everywhere I've played for the last 30 years has had an in-house PA system, and those few venues that didn't were places that didn't normally put on live music and we would hire a PA specifically for the gig. The only originals bands I've been in that owned any sort of "PA" were those that also had permanent rehearsal spaces and it was strictly for use in there. On the other hand the lack of a drum kit is probably more of an obstacle. I assume their drummer has at least "breakables"?

With this design of bridge the screws on the individual saddles are there just to allow you match the the radius of the fretboard. The overall string height should be adjusted using the thumb wheels under the bridge. I'd set all the saddles to the same height so that the strings just clear the lip at the front of the bridge. Then raise the whole bridge using the thumbwheels until the action of the G and E string is correct and finally use the saddle screws on the D and A strings to raise them up to compensate for the fingerboard radius.

I think you'll find that I didn't say that.

The revealed wood just looks too new. With that much relic'ing the wood should be stained a much darker colour from all the sweat, nicotine and generally grubbiness.

I can't remember the bassist's name (without looking it up which is cheating) but I do remember being very impressed with his fretless playing when I saw them at a tiny venue here in Nottingham in 1980. I believe he also made the bass guitar he was using as well as Sal Solo's mirror guitar.

On the originals circuit 35 minutes is more than enough for a support slot. Most support gigs are 30 minutes maximum. However, in a 30 minute originals set you should only be doing one cover at the very most which should be under 4 minutes and well known for your band's genre. I haven't seen the post but I suspect the problem may well lie elsewhere other than the set length.

My experience is that all the cheap wireless systems are fine until you start using them in a band with a few other cheap wireless systems or in a location with lots of WiFi traffic.