jimmyb625

When I joined the band I'm with, they did say I couldn't use my 5 string Bongo, which was probably a fair call given the overall look of the band. I did use it for some recording though.

We had an outing today for the 5-piece variant of the band, so no keys or pedal steel and the drummer played a cajon with a foot stomp. It was a private party for a local cafè, celebrating 20 years in business and done mainly as a favour to them. We threw in 4 new covers (we're an originals band in the main and usually only include 1 cover, just to give the audience some respite). It was an interesting trial, as we'd not rehearsed them and I'd never even played them before we got to the gig (some frantic googling and youtube videos helped a great deal!) Still, it was nice to get out again and it gave me a good reason to avoid "strictly".

A great evening at Telford's warehouse tonight, made even better by catching up with some old friends who I hadn't seen for 20 years. No photo's of the band or my setup, as I wasn't in the best frame of mind prior to playing, but here's a picture of the outside.

Had 2 mince pies today, so I'm practically finished for Christmas now.

I don't think it's a particular secret that he can't sing, but it's just awful. He doesn't seem to have any stage presence at all and the production in general looks and sounds poor. It reminds me of the annual "Christmas Wonderland" stories, which always seem to consist of a tired looking reindeer, tinny Christmas carols, half working fairy lights and a paedo Santa.

Even the backing sounds a bit "lacklustre"

The main photo was from a shoot we did for the 3rd album, it was used on the CD inside cover. We added the band name graphics and the venue put their details on it. A guy called Trevor Palin took the shots and then he and Dave (the band leader) worked on the digital stylisation of it. Dave's also an artist, so had a clear concept of what he wanted for it. This is the album cover. You wouldn't think they were both taken at a National Trust place in Cheshire.

If anyone's in the Chester area on Friday 30th and has run out of paint to watch drying, we're playing at Telford's Warehouse.

It's the Chinese made one. At some point, I'd love a German Team-built version, but it's probably just a pipe dream.

This one, unless I ever manage to afford the German made version of the same bass. It's the Warwick Lee Sklar signature bass (rockbass version).

There were one or two, but not as many as I was expecting. We played at the British Country Music Festival last year, which was noticably different on that front! 🤣

Well, that's setting unrealistically high standards! 🤣

We played a set at the UK Country Music awards. Short and sweet, as there were numerous acts on the bill, interspersed with some talking and eating and general awarding. Really friendly and helpful crew and there was no chicken wire in place, so it was obviously a civilised crowd. We played well and got some positive reponses from the audience, which was nice, as we're more geared to Americana, than straight country, although I've no idea what the difference is really. Anyway, the band's called Fine Lines, just so I don't get shouted at.

Oops! I try to limit what I drink before I play, as I've had that experience as well!

Roger Waters is still touring his Pink Floyd shows. His voice (which I don't think was ever his biggest asset) seems to have gone south, but he uses backing singers to support what he does. Should he stop? Possibly, depending on your political leanings, but are the shows an experience, most definitely I'd say.

Did you get bottled off stage? Yes = not a good gig, no = a good gig. If the crowd enjoyed themselves and you got paid, it's always a good gig. We're always too quick to find fault with what we do, life's too short to focus on the negatives.

I've been using a Protec Contego for the last 3 years. I really like it, very comfortable to carry (longest was 1 mile) and very spacious accessory pockets. At a push, I can fit a small TC head in the main pocket, with cables and strap in there as well.

I never knew that. I agree though, Mixing Station is a great app. I like the common theme across a number of different manufacturers and it's good to be able to make your own custom layouts.

As a guess, I'd say it's so they can have the mixer on stage and just run a single cable out for the control. Unless they're using wireless MIDI as well...?

I saw this on Facebook yesterday, pretty impressive, although possibly a little OTT for a compact setup...

If you can, it might be worth doing a comparison between your current setup and whatever you're thinking of getting. If it is just a couple of larger gigs, it may be better value to hire something specific for those and keep the current setup you have.

What's your budget for this and what sort of places do you play? At the less expensive level, I use Alto TS312's (obviously not 15's). I use them without a sub when we're running a 5-piece set (using a cajon instead of a full kit), but we have done the kit through it as well. We're not an overly bass heavy group, so it works ok for us in your average pub. A DJ friend has used the TS315's (although a friend of his managed to blow the hf driver) and he was very positive about the bass response and volume available. Alto have just released the TS4 series, so there may be a price reduction coming along, although that's purely speculation. As Phil's just said, higher up the price line, the RCF's are quite well regarded, particularly the ART 745's. Again the 900 series has recently been released (I'm now odly considering a pair of 945's) so prices for the older series may drop.

The band I tech for uses an A&H QU-SB and we use it for the stripped down "acoustic" version of our band as well. It has 4 x mono and 3 x stereo groups, in addition to main L&R. It needs a router and a tablet to control it (unless you can get the MIDI connection to run) but it's a pretty useful piece of kit. We use the X-Air18 at the theatre, which again is a good mixer and is directly compatible with the Behringer X-Touch physical surface.

If you look at the number of posts that go out about bands having gear lifted, either from the venue, or the tour bus/van, it makes sense not to take ultra-expensive/rare instruments out on the road. We're touring in October and November and even though I'm planning on keeping my bass with me, there's no way I'm thinking of taking my '73 P-bass. I'll use my main Warwick Sklar rockbass, but even then, I'll be watching it like a hawk. Edit to add: I'm not a pro bassist by any description

Like others have said, lynx, design-a-cable or DIY