jimmyb625

34 minutes ago, mike257 said:

 

Theatre pay is generally poor for technical crew in comparison to music or corporate events. I'm stunned at some of the rates I see thrown about for that stuff. 

Yep, it's really poor, especially when you look at the ticket prices for some of those shows.

I think (from my limited experience) he's pretty much right.

Obviously, a lot is going to depend on the employing artist or band, the status of the player and the tour they're on. So someone like Lee Sklar, Pino, or Guy Pratt will be getting a pretty good rate, but if you're in the background for someone like Mel C, you're not going to be buying a Rolls Royce anytime soon. I mention Mel C, as our band played on the same bill as her for a festival and the backing band (except for the keys player/MD) had never met her before the gig.

A friend of mine works LX2 for a pretty well known touring musical and she's pretty much on minimum wage, with £350 per week food and accommodation allowances. They usually try for something like an Air BnB and split the cost between a few of them.

It's never great money, unless you're absolutely at the top of the tree.

4 hours ago, tall_martin said:

I was born in 1979.

 

My first bass was £100 in 1994. It was an absolutely knackered 1978 Fender music master. It was the best part of a year's pocket money.

 

My (double) bass teacher was absolutely horrified by it. Cracked paint, nicotine stained, faded paint in places, wear, divots in the frets, short scale. The antithesis of orchestral double bass playing.

 

I've still got it. It's a year out from a birth year so close enough for me.

 

I sanded all the paint and most of the divots in the body in the late 1990's. I couldn't get through the sanding sealer (insufficient elbow grease in hind sight), so it remained partially sanded for ages. After I discovered people will pay more for a relic guitar I realised I'd sanded 1/2 the value of the instrument off.

 

I did a better job of sanding in a few years back and re sprayed it in nitro. Looks fine from a meter, but it's not factory finish.

 

It could probably do with new frets now but two wee kids and I've not played bass for ages. 

So you've got a "year of conception bass"?

Hmm, wonder if that's a reason to buy another bass?

On 05/05/2024 at 22:19, Merton said:

Yep, I play bass for Katy Hurt who originally branded herself “country” but there are so many influences in her music it’s easier to call it Americana.

 

Doing Black Deer fest this year, have done Buckle and Boots, Rock’n’Ribs, Long Road in the last and hopefully again in the future. As @jimmyb625 says the festival scene does sometimes feel like a very closed club though. Have met some lovely people through it though - Gasoline and Matches, The Jackson Line, Two Ways Home to name a few bands worth checking out.

Are you playing at Black Deer Live in Liverpool? I'm half tempted to pop along, although I really struggle with that socialising thing.

On 08/05/2024 at 21:48, Kev said:

I'm sure it's gotta be 99% emperor's new clothes for those who are upgrading.  I'd definitely go for a V2 if I was in the market for a comp, but never if I already had a V1.  The metering is nice, but also in an odd way an admission you didn't really know how to set it before? 😅

I think you're missing the most important point.

It's got flashing lights!

I think we may have played on the same list as Katy, although I'm not positive. We definitely did something with Gasoline and Matches, although it was only the "front three" of guitar, vocals and violin.

We're sort of Americana (we have a violin player and have had a pedal steel player on a few tracks in the past).

Some of the bigger festivals (Black Deer, Long Road etc) seem a bit of a "closed shop", especially if you're not based in the South, which appears to be where there's a bigger scene.

Having said that, we might just be rubbish.

6 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

It really isn't. £110 to ship 1 bass to the UK, that would be pretty good. 11000 to ship 100 basses? not so good. 

 

£335, seems like a good deal. £520, nothing special there then.

True, but they're shipping 1 bass 100 times. 

1 hour ago, rwillett said:

 

I remember flying to Oslo Torp airport with RyanAir. Three sodding hours from Torp airport to Oslo. Thats like saying London-East Midland or London-Robin Hood Airport. They were dead to me before Michael O'Leary stuck his oar in re Rwanda. We have got to the stage that we actively avoid RyanAir and pay more to anybody else.

The irony is, by the time you've added on all of the extras, like a seat, not being tased, getting to where you thought you were going etc. they're not really cheaper than any of the other carriers.

They've done a great job of convincing people that they're good value.

1 hour ago, jimbobothy said:

… I know at some point I’ll end up getting one, to add to the collection 😆

Yeah, this is what's worrying me as well. I already have the predecessor, but this one's got some extra flashing lights!

6 minutes ago, tauzero said:

Ryanair, since Michael O'Leary said he'd provide flights to Rwanda for asylum seekers.

Never one to miss an opportunity for some free publicity.

Of course, with it being Ryanair, the advertised flight to Rwanda would likely actually fly to Morocco.

On 17/04/2024 at 13:08, Al Krow said:

As it says on the tin 🙂 Appreciate there have been a load of pre-amp threads, but was looking to have something specifically targeted for us silent stagers using IEMs.

 

I've been using a cheap as chips Zoom multi-fx (B1-4) to provide a half-decent pre-amp, as a step up from going directly into the desk, but I've recently been thinking it maybe a slightly daft corner to be cutting! 

 

What quality, ideally compact from my perspective, preamp are you guys & gals using and what benefits to your sound in the mix are you getting from them vs any others you've used?

 

 

I use the Origin Effects BassRig, which has the cabinet simulator as well.

I like it, because I'm usually always getting the same "sound" in my IEM's, unless the FOH/Monitor person is doing something really odd with the channel eq. For gigs where we're supplying PA, I can leave the desk pre-set and know the mix is how I want it.

I think they should make more of the Beatles connection, you'd hardly know they played there...

I don't remember there being any house gear (except PA), but then again we were supporting, so we brought our own stuff.

As Chris said, you load-in at the back, but you might not be able to park there.

54 minutes ago, 99ster said:

Anyone got any experience of the Behringer UL 1000G2 system?  It looks very interesting - especially at that price (£269 retail).   Thanks!

 

 

It looks quite similar to the LD MEI1000, which isn't bad.

As with the LD unit, if you're going to use it in the channel 38 frequencies (channels 5-12), you'll need to buy a licence.

Mine's a Nu-x mighty plug with some ear buds. I Bluetooth from my phone to play the tracks.

I bought a Boss RC30 for my youngest, courtesy of @SamIAm and it's great. It might be a little big/expensive if you're only wanting to mess around to start off with, but if you're planning on using them a lot, it's definitely worth a look.

I was recommended that one over the newer version, as apparently the newer ones can be trickier to use.

Our gig list is pretty sparse for this year, with only 4 booked at the moment.

We've been trying to get on to some of the bigger Americana festivals (Black Deer, Long Road, Ramblin' Roots) but we're getting nowhere unfortunately.

It's a little disheartening to be honest.

I have a Y.O.B. Precision, which is nice, but I never play it. I also have a Hiwatt DR103 from the same year (which wasn't a deliberate factor in the purchase) and I rarely use that either nowadays.

It'll give the children something to sell when I die.

Packed the gear, then hung around and chatted for however long, drinking 0% beer.

1 hour ago, itsmedunc said:

I’ve managed to get the PA speaker to the singers house! Job done 😀 Almost….. When I got home , I realised that the singer has put the box with all the packaging back in the van 😬 I now have to dispose of the box. But where? 😂

Set fire to the van, it'll disguise the burnt ashes of the box.

59 minutes ago, oldslapper said:

Old Don boy likes a legal scrap. 

He certainly does! He's also very hot on getting videos removed for copyright strikes.

Just now, itsmedunc said:

I’ve got the van parked right at the gate with the side loading door directly in front 😂 I’ll have worn a hole in the hallway carpet by the time it comes. She’s working in the front room too. Fate has conspired against me this time!

Easy, take a photograph of the view outside the front window, have it printed on a large poster, put the poster in a frame and place it outside. 

Job done!

3 minutes ago, itsmedunc said:

I have sinned. I’ve got two rather large packages containing errrrmmmmusical items arriving tomorrow. Booked to arrive on the only safe day of the week. The day that the Mrs is out all day! Hooray!😁

She has just informed me that she will be working from home all day tomorrow. Boo! 😬 I really don’t know how I’m going to explain a PA cab and a flight case arriving on the doorstep 😳 I’m going to have to go down the no comment route aren’t I? 😂

Fake an emergency at her work, or stand outside until the delivery arrives and stash them away.

This is an interesting watch, although I don't think it will be up for long.

Basically, it's an analysis of whether Don Henley has mimed on the live versions of "Desperado". 

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think (despite it being fairly compelling) it completely meets a "burden of proof".

https://youtu.be/jJ6DbH-X-L0?si=AbnsGGI3Zin6oxFW