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jimmyb625

⭐Supporting Member⭐
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Everything posted by jimmyb625

  1. Do you use your in-ears plugged directly into the ME-1, or do you out the output through a wireless transmitter? I'm really interested in trying one out, but although I'm not much of a mover on stage, I do in occassion have a bit of a wander (mainly if I'm getting bored 🤣)
  2. There are some really relevant points in these posts. You can set up a system to sound really great, but once you fill the venue with big bags of warm water (we sometimes call them the audience) the mix is going to change, most notably with attenuation of the higher frequencies. Where you're situated in the room is also going to affect the sound you hear. Higher frequencies are more directional, so the further off-axis you go from the source, the more losses you get. Line-array systems tend (if they're well designed and set up) to be a lot better than traditional point-source systems, however the systems aren't always deployed correctly and some systems which are named as line arrays aren't really. Subwoofer placement can also have an effect, which us, as bass players, will probably have experience of. There's a really interesting Sound on Sound article which discusses this and argues against the commonly seen setup of subwoofers and mid-range/tweeters located together (at smaller venues typically with spacer poles). As bass frequencies are less directional, if there are multiple sources, there can be interference, which will, depending on the location in the room, enhance some frequencies, or attenuate others. Using an existing system in a theatre is, more often than not, a really good idea. If it's a pro-theatre, it's likely that the system will have been installed and set up by specialists, often with system manufacturer support. Additionally, the theatre technicians will have a lot of experience of working in the room, with a variety of different performances, so should be able to offer some really good advice. Moving around the venue whilst the band is playing is really helpful, if it's possible. With digital desks nowadays, it's a lot easier to grab a tablet and have a quick walk around. With the electronic band that I mix for, this is how I like to approach it, although it can get difficult if the venue is very busy. Edit, here's the link to the Sound on Sound article. Definitely worth a few minutes of your time if you're interested in this sort of thing. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/bass-place
  3. I think there are a number of problems when it comes to live sound, which include: • Quality of engineers/operators • Familiarity with the music • Room construction • Subjective opinions on what "sounds right" I cut my teeth in live sound with theatre, covering both dramatic productions and musical theatre. I also took a brilliant Open University course, called "The Technology of Music". One of the biggest lessons I learnt, was how the room itself has a huge influence on the quality of sound you'll get from any system you use there. As an example, the local theatre where I volunteer has a large standing wave around 125Hz, which also affects the relative frequencies, so we tend to cut any mix quite a lot there. Similarly, another venue we use is a large rectangular sports hall, with a tin roof and a very reflective floor. There are curtains, covering some of the walls, but not fully. As a result of this we need to cut around 63Hz and also in the 2-400Hz range as it can get quite muddy and boomy. It can be problematic with acoustic drums and bass amps in this hall, purely because of the acoustic properties of the room. We try to set up each system to be as "flat" as possible and we'll spend quite a bit of time running reference sine waves and test tones as we eq the various system components (much to the dismay of other people trying to work in the area). Keeping this as flat as possible gives us the opportunity to set the channel eq's for the instruments in a way that isn't fighting with the room. For the musical theatre stuff, we'll commonly be mixing a band containing brass, woodwind, percussion, keys, bass and guitar, as well as the cast of singers and chorus. The orchestra tend to be located either at the rear of the stage, or in a separate room (which helps with isolation, although it makes monitoring more difficult) and we tend to group it as a stereo channel, so we can adjust the entirety, much as you would do with a backing track. With the musical theatre sound, the vocal's need to be clearly distinguishable above the music, but still balanced overall to provide the right "fit". Audiences can also be "interesting" to say the least, when it comes to providing their opinions. We've had more than one occassion on the same performance where different audience members have come to us saying how great the sound was, whilst others would say something wasn't right. We usually ask where they sit, to see if there's a trend, but there never seems to be. We've also had more than one instance where people have queried why we used a backing track, which was an unknowing compliment and we took great delight in showing them pictures of the backstage band pit. There does seem to be a trend nowadays of louder being perceived as "better", which I'm not sure I subscribe to. I'd much rather listen to a well mixed group at a slightly lower volume than a wall of "noise" where there's no clarity at all. Maybe I'm just getting old.
  4. It's a really good price, I think you're right.
  5. Do it! If I hadn't pulled the trigger on one last month, I'd be grabbing that one without hesitation.
  6. Ours was ok(ish). The sound left a bit to be desired and monitoring wasn't ace (I ended up without a monitor and given that I now run amp-less, it wasn't ideal). A couple of other band members decided they didn't like the sound from my preamp (despite it being the 4th outing with that setup) and also decided that the bass being too loud in their monitors was a result of my not having an amp. This, combined with a bout of sciatica and some not great family stuff, led to me being a bit grumpy and needing a bit of space before we played. Fortunately, we kissed and made up before we played and performed well, according to those who were watching.
  7. I'm 5'6" or thereabouts and a right lardy fatbum to boot. I play the Warwick Lee Sklar sig model and don't feel it's too unwieldy. To be honest, I've never given it much thought, so I may well obsess about it from now on.
  8. I've used them for a while and have no complaints. I'm sure there are better sets out there, but I would think I'd need to pay a lot more to get a noticeable improvement. I only ever use them live, so can't comment on using them for studio stuff, but they do the job I need them to do.
  9. I think it's more a case if you have a bad practice immediately before the gig, you make more effort during the gig. When I've directed plays, it's often been the case that a few days before opening, we have a shocker of a rehearsal. People have a tendency to "coast" once they think they've got it cracked in terms of their performance, which can then result in it going completely haywire. We also find, during the run of the show, that opening night is great, then it drops on the second night, as again, complacency sets in. The rest of the run then picks up again to the previous level. There will always be things that happen which you don't expect, but as long as you carry it as a "team" 99% of the time the audience won't notice* *I'm excluding the last song of our set on Friday night, where it was very noticable for most of our audience, apart from the lead singer/guitarist's wife! 🤣
  10. I think a lot of the perceptions around Fender/Gibson being the best you can get, dates back to the 60's, where the quality of instruments available wasn't great on the whole. If you look at interviews of people like The Shadows, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones etc, they always talk with reverance about getting their first Fender. If you also look at what the big groups were using, so many of them were using Fender or Gibson, there was an association that they were the best.
  11. Very local gig last night, with an outing for the 5-piece variant of the band. We were playing as a part of a town council organised weekend music festival, with various places across the town hosting events.
  12. David Gilmour's Esquire is pretty worn, although by all accounts, that wear was already on it back in the 70's when he bought it. Maybe it's the earliest example of relicing?
  13. I tend to agree, they've been creeping up in price over the last few months. There are a couple on ebay/reverb, one has a non-original bridge for £2,999 and there's a clean looking one from Vintage Guitar Emporium at £3,995 (although it's cheaper if you go to their website/shop)
  14. If it's quite an "important" or big gig/festival, I'll take a spare bass, but apart from that I'll use whatever. Nowadays, I'm not even taking one amp, never mind two. Having said that, if I was in a smaller line-up, or reliant on specific effects/sounds, I may have a different approach.
  15. It's good. I don't have much to compare it to, as I've never bought an old bass before. The frets are fairly worn, but still usable and there's a little bit of string buzz, but I'm guessing that's fixable. Overall condition is good, definitely doesn't look like it's been thrashed too much.
  16. And it's in my grubby little hands now! 🤣
  17. jimmyb625

    NOBD

    New Old Bass Day and a very early 50th Birthday present (which I still firmly believe is a typographical error). This is a '73 model, like me, which came from the good folk of BassBros. Overall, it's in pretty good condition (unlike me) and I think the only non-original part is the volume pot, but I'm not overly fussed by that. The frets are quite worn, but I've not noticed a significant problem with it in the very short space of time I've spent with it so far. Worryingly, it looks as though inheritance claims have already been made, so if I'm found suffocated at some point, there may be a clue as to the culprit...
  18. I once made the mistake of getting into an online "discussion" with someone who was a true believer in the benefits of using a ridiculously expensive USB cable. An utterly pointless exercise, at one point they argued that because the digital signal was electrically based, in a "type of waveform" (their words) the quality of cable made a discernible difference to the sound quality... 🤦‍♂️
  19. Fools and their money and all that good stuff. I feel it's especially important to get the very best quality, so I'll be ordering one of these: https://www.mcru.co.uk/product/cad-usb-cable-ii/ I think I'll use it for my printer.
  20. It sounds like he doesn't understand the function of the QC and modelling in general. Best just to take a breath, chalk it up to experience and run the on-stage amp as loud as is physically possible.
  21. As much as I don't really like to criticise the sound operators, this one sounds like they don't really know what they're doing. A pair of xlr's into the desk sounds ideal to me.
  22. Possibly, but it would depend on how well I knew the person who wanted to borrow it. For instance, I've lent my 5 string to our drummer for some recording he did and the guitarist/singer has my Vintage (brand) precision on long loan as he's been asked to do some bass lessons at the school he teaches in. I also have a Sue Ryder precision that I've lent out in the past. I'd lend some people my Warwick, but only if I knew them, but in the OP's situation, it's doubtful I'd lend it, but I'd offer one of the others.
  23. I'm the world's greatest bass player. Not only is this an unpopular opinion (certainly in my band), it's also verifiably not true.
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