thumperbob 2002

I have the VBA 400 and the matching 4 X 12 - I play through a Marcus MillerJazz and Warwick nT5 I`ve been playing for over 30 years- in mostly funk and soul groups. Whilst the gear is terribly old fashioned ( heavy!! ) it is very powerful and warm- suits my style perfectly. The EQ is not that great but all I want is a warm tone with power- I use the EQ flat anyway. I`ll be keeping this forever!!

Hi I use a zoom h2 handy recorder which is perfect for recording how the band sounds to a pair of ears- however I have just bought a Roland vs 1680 which is a digital recorder/ mixer plus effects- this will record 8 tracks simultaneous- with over 16 tracks in total- got it from ebay fro £190- bargain- takes a bit of learning ( and I had a profession recording studio in the 80s! ) but digital is better than analogue any day - unless you are a luddite!! Have recorded a few of our gigs and can master/ add effects/ tweak sounds later in the comfort of my own home- making a cd for the band and because time is not of the essence ( or you are paying by the hour ) the results are professional enough to sell. #cheers bob

[quote name='Waldo' post='297525' date='Oct 2 2008, 01:11 PM']+1 Whilst I don't like dinging my gear, whats the point in buying it if you're not going to play it? I love Warwicks, I have a lovely 2002 LTD Corvette Jazzman. French walnut body, swirly bubinga top and real abalone inlays. Yum.[/quote] I`m not saying I dont play it- just that I gig my Marcus Miller more ( I suppose I would as I am in a Soul Band ) If I was in some R and B or jazz group I think I would gig the Warwick- just doesnt seem to suit a Sam and Dave track or Jamieson song- plus with 8 people on stage I always bump into someone ( or they bump into me!) cheers Bob

Hi I`ve had two Thumb nTs- one a 4 string- ( early 90s ) and one a 5 - bought two years ago- best basses I have ever had and I`ve had a lot!! The only thing is, to gig them as they are so expensive, it would break your heart. Can still remember the first nick of a hi-hat- now I use my marcus miller-doesnt sound or play anything like but I know a nick or two doesnt matter. cheers Bob

Ive got a Warwick Thumb NT 5 that was labelled at £2415 when I looked- would never have paid that but I got an amazing amount for my musicman in p x- strangely though I dont use it for gigging- much prefer my Marcus Miller 4 which was about £450 used. Bob

I`m staying on the Strand London on Monday 15th- does anyone know if there are any good bands playing around this area tomorrow night- could be anyone as long as its a good night? cheers Bob

Played our second residency at the Highway in Hull. Good night- about 100 in. Last week we made a mistake ( I did! ) and turned up for the wrong night- there was another pretty dire band on who were supposed to play 3 out of four Sundays- seems they were sacked after playing one gig- we were asked again if we would like to do all the Sundays but declined again- once per month is OK for us at one venue. Overall a good night but our drummer at this place always seems to be in a bad mood- makes me laugh but our brass players dont like it. Anway I feel really tired today- my Marshall Rig sounds great but is very heavy- I think if I were playing more than 2-3 times per month I would look for something lighter- but I love Tube amps- I have a VBA 400- possibly a lighter cab would do it?- I think it would make a difference. Cheers Bob

[quote name='OldGit' post='277363' date='Sep 4 2008, 09:04 PM']Yeah well there's your guidance .. how much money do you need to earn before she says it's OK ... One way to deal with the Marriage Maintenance Matters is to alternate one NYE playing and one at home ..[/quote] I have just turned down two well paying gigs- £200 per gig ( should have been this week and next week ) as my wife was saying I have been playing too much- (3 times per month ) So when she asked for the money for a new carpet I said we couldnt afford it- I said that to earn £400 in my hand I would have to earn about £850 before tax etc so it was a shame I couldnt do these two gigs. A lesson learnt for my wife and you can guess what the answer will be the next time I am asked to Dep!! cheers Bob

Another gig at The Weir in Hessle- we had a new girl Lisa who is absolutely gorgeous ( and 20 years my junior ) singing a few songs ( she is a better looker than a singer ) but everyone really enjoyed themselves- the crowd thought she was great and overall we sounded pretty good- our new keyboard player was certainly up to speed with the set and has a great harmony vocal- so my mike will not be coming with me from now on- hurrah!! I have sung harmony for years but really I dont enjoy it at all and would much rather be concentrating on my playing. Had a few chinstrokers from other bands in this week who were very impressed with my sound and playing ( marshall VBA 400 and VBC 4 X 12 and Marcus Miller Jazz. ) They said it was a great sound and was surprised that I was not coming through the FOH rig- said I was very precise. Couple of the guys ( in a well known pro band ) remembered me from when I used to be pro some years ago and we had a bit of a nostalgic conversation. Things aint what they use to be- THANK GOD!! Roll on Sunday our other monthly residency. cheers Bob

Played a Private Function in Hessle for a guys 50th- the chaps a bit of a flash harry and drives an Aston Martin. Just when we were about to start Kippa our singer announces "Tony ( the guy who is having the party ) I think I have knocked your car outside- its an Aston, right?" The guy looks worried. Kippa continues "Yeah, I`ve knocked off your number plate, infact I`ve got it here." He then produces a private plate, shows it to the audience ( about 100 )- cue much laughter- the plate says in DOT letters - TWAT. Could have easily gone the wrong way but our chap Kippa knows how to read an audience. Anyhow the gig went fine- our tightest gig yet- my rig -Marshall VBA 400 rig and Marcus Miller- sounded superb as always. I am always a little unsure whether to use both pickups full on or focus on the neck pickup- it sounds great both ways- but I always use the bass passive and never use the active circuitry. Roll on Sundays gig ( our other monthly residency ) cheers Bob

[quote name='ironside1966' post='264479' date='Aug 18 2008, 12:42 PM']I can understand why people disagree with me. But in the nicest possible way, being a professional is completely different to how you think being a professional is when you are a armature or even semi pro A band is there to offer a services to clients, they are not pop starts there is no good throwing your dummy out if things don’t go your own way. As I said if you don’t want to play ball cancel. This is some one big day remember it is no good to any one turning up putting petrol in the van then going home. I do not advocate doing a gig at all costs especially if there is risk to equipment or life. Sorry the management turned out to be dickheads, hope you feel you went about things the right way because Any well done for acting like professionals[/quote] I have been pro in the past ( 5 years straight ) and semi pro ( still playing 4 gigs per week ) for 25 years. I have never cancelled a wedding- it means too much to the 2 clients. I think the lads did the right thing in dealing with the venue in that manner- the venue is not the client- the bride and groom are. I think that the sound contantly tripping isnt something that didnt go the way the band would like but didnt go the way the bride and groom would like. The venue should have some tough questions from the clients and at the very least discounts should be sought ( most people ) only get married once and something like this will not be forgotten in a hurry. Sometimes you have to bite your tongue dealing with hotel management who tend to think that professionally ( just because you are in a band ) you are on their level ( or below ). I`m thinking now of the many As***les I have dealt with and ITS GETTING ME MAD!!

Did a fairly high class wedding in my Soul Band Soul Patrol- more bentleys and Mercs in the car park than I have evr seen. Nice crowd- we did well playing in a large marquee with no sound engineer- vox and brass only pa with the rest just backline- sounded Ok but really by the time we went on - 2 X 50 min sets- everyone was half cut- free bar but I was driving. Forgot how much hard work weddings are though- ( I had to sort the sound out for the speeches and announcements- lots of waiting around ) I suppose thats why we charge so much for them. Our singer Kippa was half cut too and was just mauling the audience and forcing them to sing and also taking the piss out of them- in a friendly manner though- they loved it- all these posh people going mad for it- we must be doing something right Helen our part time vox was on form - what a voice!!- the best singer I have ever worked with - and I`ve worked with a lot of pros in my time fnar fnar. My Marshall vba 400 and Marcus miller sounded great- It sounds great everywhere ( more or less flat eq )I have realized. cheers Bob

I`m a little sick too of carting around my marshall vba 400 plus vbc 4 X 12- it is incredibly heavy but it sounds great and is built like a battleship. Why pay gym membership?? its the only exercise I get!! cheers Bob

Always have a bottle of water on stage- dont piss around with glasses ( other than free beer )

The most powerful head you can afford- nothing less than 200W for medium size gigs I have a marshall vba 400 which is a monster- much too loud but I like a lot of headroom- your cab will be important too. cheers Bob

Did our second monthly residency- Soul Night at the Weir in hessle- modern bar near hull. Our sax player brought his DK 1000 rig- it was the first time our main rig was smaller than our monitors- brilliant rig though- we use mackie 450s for our monitors- unbelievable!! We came, saw and conquered- another good gig for Soul Patrol- lots of people in -about 80-100 I`d say- usually on a thursday this bar has about 4 people in- may be time for a re-negotiation. This is our third gig in this band and even though there are the usual fluffs here and there we are certainly getting there - another 5- 6 gigs and we`ll be tight as they come. Nice to see some young girls enjoying themselves- we received 2 enquiries for function work and they were booked today- one wedding , one private party. A good venue to play all round. cheers Bob

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='249748' date='Jul 28 2008, 04:25 PM']HJ - yes I see what you're saying, I suppose it's not necessarily that the value of the instrument is going to go up, but that there's a guarantee that it's not going to go down - of course I don't necessarily mean buying new, but buying at a price which is pretty much the fair value of said instrument. As an example I have a 2005 USA Fender Precision - I paid £550 for it and I reckon, even in a crappy market, that marketed properly I could get £550 for it, even though if you look hard enough you can get lucky and pick one up for maybe £450? I'm not saying go out and buy a new one for what, £900? and expect it to still be worth 900 quid in 12 month's time - but do you know what I mean? I face not having any money very shortly - I hope it's not going to happen and I'm pretty sure it won't, but if it does, I'm going to have to start selling stuff off - to use my P Bass as an example, if I'd spent that £550 on shares and I had to sell those off at what they're currently worth, they'd only be about £300-worth now. Likewise, if I'd bought my 'Ray at full UK secondhand value when I did, it would probably have cost me about what - £900 early last year? I imported mine from the US at about the value they are now, so if I was desperate to sell it, I probably won't lose any or much cash on it - but I'd be facing a hit if I was desperate to sell and had picked up a UK bass Does that make sense or am I talking out of my bottom?[/quote] Some shares and funds have done very well- returning well over what a bass can make. However as a bass is a tool- it is what you can make with it that counts- i must`ve earnt in excess of £100,000 with my old musicman and trace elliot- these instruments owe me nothing and I part exd them for a Warwick that I enjoy playing but do not gig with. Go Figure!! I was always told that do not mix business with pleasure but sometimes the lines get blurred!! cheers Bob

Second gig for Soul Patrol at the Highway in Hull. Used to be a great venue but has had no live music for a while. New Landlords who had the award winning Springhead have decided to put on bands- asked us to play. Being our second gig we are still a little dodgy here and there ( mostly brass ) but we came, saw and conquered. Three encores later and we were asked to play a residency every week. We said it would be better if we did a soul night once per month- money negotiated and signed and sealed!! So we now have two regular gigs each month and some function work coming in- all local. A little more than we planned but we`ll see how it goes. A few musicians in the venue talking to us- one bass player, also named bob said of my Marshall VBA rig "its big" "very big " I told him I only bought it because it reminded me of an electric fire and that I wasnt very good etc ( humble me ) At the end of the night he was asking me where he could get one - it was the best bass sound he had ever heard- no FOH too! It was me who got the band together and a pal of mine who was there said that every song had a great bassline ( mostly Stax and Motown ) so he said " I wonder who chose the songs ?" Guess who? Roll on Thursday- our other residency. cheers Bob

Used loads of strings in the last 30 years- still unsure. Recently used Rotosound- seems fine and then changed to Daddarios nickel- felt just the same but a little more tension. Recorded the band with my H2 at a rehearsal and they sound great!! Couldnt really tell the difference on my own but they really cut through and are nice and warm in a band environment- I sound like Marcus Miller!! I use the Marshall VBA valve amp and an old peavey 2X10 with the ubiquitous Marcus Jazz. Play mainly in Soul bands.

Hi I have a Zoom H2 handy recorder and I have recorded some band practice sessions. Does anyone know how I edit down the time I have recorded eg 45mins into song size chunks- I have no idea how to do it or what I need to do it. Any held will be appreciated cheers Bob

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='237798' date='Jul 12 2008, 09:07 AM']Great story! We played at The Elms in Worthing last night and it was one of those gigs where everyone in the band was a bit below par! It took me two-thirds of the gig to get up to what I would consider a decent level of playing.. Up till then my hands felt like they were coated in treacle!! Odd thing (or is it a sad thing?) is that the audience didn't seem to notice our failings at all?? They were quite happily singing, cheering and dancing the night away.. Playing a wedding at some caravan park in Bognor tonight the thought of which is enough to make me want to take up basket-weaving or patchwork quilt making instead.. [/quote] I always think that as long as the band is enjoying themselves the audience will too. Bit different playing in a muso venue though. cheers Bob

Had our first gig for my 7 piece Soul Band at a wine/ bistro pub bar thing just near me. The venue have never had any bands there before- just an open mic acoustic night and the odd single artist. The idea was to have a shakedown gig as we have some function work coming up and after a couple of months rehearsal our brass section were not really improving. I though the threat of a gig would sharpen them up. I went to see the owner of the bistro who really didnt know how to deal with bands- he wanted to put us on on a Sunday- the venue is particularly busy on that night- I told him to put us on on a Thursday- the venue is normally empty and I informed him we`ll get some posters done and try to get some people in the venue for him. After a bit of negotiation he agreed to pay us £100 ( the least I have ever played for!! ) but the idea was really to get us out there as a sort of paid practice for the well paying gigs we have lined up in the next few weeks. I have gigged with only one of the band before ( the drummer who is probably the best drummer in this area ) but the rest of the band were an unknown quantity- it showed- it was like dealing with children in soundcheck- some were quite nervous and did not really know what to do. Out trumpet was having a bad time with his partner so had to miss the soundcheck ( he had to go home to deal with the mrs ). We thought that he wasnt coming back. Anyhow the gig went really well- loads of people in the venue- Owner was amazed and has booked us for a monthly Soul night and has agreed to increase our pay by 300%. My Marcus and Marshall VBA and 4 X 12 filled the venue with warmth- we had a really simple rig- 900w Mackie active speakers, desk and backline ( no monitors ) -back to the old days!! The band really stepped up and the musicians there were all impressed that it was our first gig- said it sounded great. We also arranged another function gig with one of the audience- result!! It just goes to show that if you invest a bit of time in what may seem like a useless gig things turn out for the better in the end. The band are all looking forward to our next gigs and certainly, when the Soul Nights start we will be able to put in some off the wall stuff to keep our interest up ( and the audience )

Ive sung backing plus bass for years now- as long as you know the basslines well you should be OK- however just make sure you can hear yourself perfectly in the monitors. A little tip- to get in pitch start well of the mike- sing along with the main vox - then you should be able to harmonize once you have a note to pitch to. I still cant sing backing and play Your love keeps lifting me higher and higher by Jackie Wilson. I wonder if anyone can- it sounds simple enough ( it is ) but the timing is very difficult. cheers Bob