Hot Tub

As I keep telling my lot, we're not a tribute band, so it doesn't have to be - indeed, it can't be - a carbon copy. We're a 3-piece covers band, and it's ok to put our own spin on a song.

Regarding bass, I use a bit of distortion on the Muse stuff we do, and a touch of chorus on the '80s tracks, but other than that, it's a clean, punchy sound.

Over the years I have developed what might pass for my own "style", and that lets me vary my playing a bit. eg. I'm a bit more aggressive on the Sabbath & Velvet Revolver stuff than I am on Beatles, Stereophonics, etc.

Returning to my original point, if you're not a tribute band, then make it your own.

SOLD.

£325 - I'm practically giving it away!

Price drop - Now £350 for the lot!

**SOLD** **SOLD** **SOLD**

[color=#1D2129][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Everything is just under two years old, in perfect working order, and in immaculate “as new” condition. The pictures show a little fluff around the edges of the cabinets. This is from the inside of the covers. The cabinets are in perfect unmarked condition.[/font][/color]
[color=#1D2129][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Behringer BX4500H Bass Amplifier – 450w into 4ohms. Built like a tank, incredibly versatile, and stupidly loud.[/font][/color]
[color=#1D2129][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Hartke VX410 - 400w, 8ohms, with tweeter.
Hartke VX115 - 300w, 8ohms, with tweeter.[/font][/color]
[color=#1D2129][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Roqsolid covers for each cab (these were £40 each!)[/font][/color]
[color=#1D2129][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Two MASSIVE 4mm2 Van Damme speaker cables. And power lead for the amp, obviously![/font][/color]
[color=#1D2129][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Any trial welcome. Cash on collection, Leamington Spa (CV31).

PRICE DROP - £350 for the lot![/font][/color]

If it's happening to both cabs, that would suggest it's the head. Do you have another cab you can connect just to test?

Mrs HT will come along to local gigs, and/or if there's a group of friends attending. Generally she won't travel as it's a hell of a long night, especially if she doesn't know anyone else there.

Apart from that, music is my thing, rugby is hers, and we're not joined at the hip. I think it's good to have some separate interests.

Cabs just arrived this afternoon. Here's a shaky phone photo.

Well, I can't afford the RS cabs, so I just pulled the trigger on a K-410 + K-115. Should hopefully be a perfect match with my BH550. Will pop up a couple of pics of the full rig when they arrive, hopefully early next week.

It's nearly new cab time, and I'm looking seriously at the K-series. Anyone using them? Thoughts? Impressions?

My basses are all Spectors.

1. Euro 5-LX - absolute workhorse, used at *almost* every gig + recording;
2. Q5 Pro Holoflash - a bit more "rock" than the poplar burl Euro, use it at some balls-out rock gigs;
3. Legend Standard 4 - recently bought for a specific project & loving playing a 4 string again;
4. Performer 5 - the only passive one, it lives at home and is my go-to practise bass.

They're so good I now have two. One lives with my gig gear, the other in my little practise room. With the SmoothHound and wireless headphones, I have no problems with tripping over cables in a pretty small space. Wonderful piece of kit!

[quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1485340494' post='3223192']
Absolutely rammed

Closed the books in November last year and took the first 2018 booking a couple of weeks ago. We have a couple of good regular bookings standing by for any cancellations as they didn't move quick enough when I contacted them late last summer saying we were getting a bit busy.

We usually do about 35/40 per year and currently have 47 for 2017. Its gone bonkers.......

And the good thing is we've dropped all the venues that were historically less preferable (for various reasons) and now only have ones we either really want to do or pay exceptionally well.
[/quote]

Pretty much exactly what I was going to write! We're usually fully booked by late-Sept for the following year, and have already got a few in the diary for 2018. We don't gig every weekend, but every weekend we can gig is booked.

[color=#1D2129][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=3]Just a quick acknowledgement of brilliant service from [url="http://www.smoothhound-innovations.com/"]SmoothHound Innovations[/url].[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#1D2129][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=3]My system developed a minor fault. After emailing Chris on Sunday night, and getting a reply the same night, I sent the transmitter back Monday 16th. Chris got it Tuesday, sorted the problem, sent it back Wednesday, and it arrived with me today Thursday 19th.[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#1D2129][font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=3]Absolutely fantastic! And it's a fantastic wireless![/size][/font][/color]

Maybe I'm A Leo is a definite contender for me too, and Lazy from the same album has some wonderful bass work. But if I had to pick just one, probably Place In Line from Who Do We Think We Are.

We do Sex On Fire and Place Your Hands On - both songs which I utterly detest. But... the crowd love 'em.

We're typically fully booked by early September for the whole of the following year. We play pubs and clubs and the venues are usually packed, so we're doing something right.

I think we all just have to suck it up. If you're in a covers band, then it's all about getting punters in the door, buying drinks, keeping the venues going. We do that, and that's why we get repeat bookings. We're always adding material to the "bank", but we know our audience(s) and we know what will work. We don't have to like it - we just have to be good at playing it.

Used to have a MarkBass CMD103 combo. Damn thing did the twist if it was placed on anything other than carpet.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1483869730' post='3210673']
Please don't Google that while you are at work!
[/quote]

Erm... aksherly....

[quote name='elephantgrey' timestamp='1483830950' post='3210540']
Zoom B1on with 5 muffs in a row? =P
[/quote]

LOL!

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1483830161' post='3210536']
My 'go to' drive & clean pedal is the EBS Billy Sheehan Deluxe pedal.
[/quote]

I like the sound of that - could be what I'm looking for. Thank you!

OK, I know it's probably not possible to emulate with a single pedal (or rig, for that matter), but what ONE pedal would get reasonably close to CW's sound?

This isn't for a Muse tribute or anything like that. It's just a little project where that sound - or something close-ish - would be ideal. And I'm on a very limited budget at the moment.

In a nutshell, I need something with variable filth/grit but no loss of bottom end. In fact a little low end boost would be wonderful.

I bought a yoga mat from Amazon - cost about seven quid at the time. Sliced about a foot off the end and that covers the top of my cab providing a cushion of sorts for the amp. I use the rest of the mat to cover my dining table when I'm working on a bass. Makes an excellent protective surface, and little screws etc don't bounce away.

Thomann have finally agreed to a refund, albeit partial (around 65% of the purchase price), but it's all I'm going to get so I'll take it. I just want this to be over. Besides, I'll make a few % on the exchange rate!

Needless to say, I'll never touch Hartke amps again. If you have one of the LH amps and it works, you lucky lucky lucky lucky barsteward! I loved it when it worked, but it just wasn't reliable. If you're thinking of buying one, my advice is don't. You might get a good one, but if not you can forget about Hartke customer service. Despite all the good things they say, it's non-existent outside of the US, and their UK people are absolutely not interested unless you're a "name".

Lesson learned.

Well, Thomann now have the LH1000 back, and as expected, their "techs" can't find any fault. They have offered me a store credit, which is no use as I have already bought a replacement amp from them. I'm hoping I can persuade them that I am not required to accept a credit, and a refund is allowed.

This could go on for a while....

The BH550 has arrived and it sounds phenomenal! I loved the Hartke (when it worked!), but this is in a different league!

After 5 emails with no response, a couple of Facebook posts on Thomann's page got an answer. The LH1000 is now en-route back to Germany.

It seems like Thomann really don't want to honour their 3-year warranty (there's a surprise), but as I have no interest or desire to get the LH1000 either repaired or replaced, I'm quite prepared for the long haul. Let's see what they say when they get it back to their "techs".....