TomWIC

[quote name='Protium' timestamp='1338995197' post='1682128'] The Surface Unsigned Festival is one gigantic pay-to-play con. Guess which bands get voted through to the next round at the end of the night? The ones who sold the most tickets [/quote] It's weird that you should say that. My band was in last year's festival, and never had to pay a penny. We were given however many tickets we wanted, and we only ever had to give them money for the tickets that were sold. And in all honesty, we sold sod all and just had people buy their tickets on the door instead, so they didn't make very much from us. Made it through to the semi-finals too (lost out on the regional finals by one point). We recently dealt with JAR music - absolutely horrendous. Giving money for tickets sold I've always seen as fair cop to be honest, but they demanded money for unsold tickets out of an allocation they kept giving and giving to us. Their organsation was terrible, providing us with a huge list of gear that would be available for us to use on the night to make things easier (mainly drums and related items) so our drummer travelled to the gig light - when we got there, none of what they advertised was there! Their sound engineer was absolutely terrible too. They also did zero promotion for it. Never again!

My other half was sitting next to me while I was making my first post. Her response was, "Basschat, awwww! Bless." Followed by "are you making friends?" 15 minutes later.

[quote name='blind pilot' timestamp='1338483176' post='1675292'] [url="http://www.facebook.com/retool462"]www.facebook.com/retool462[/url] I look after the page and perform bass duties ...... Its early days for us, but the extra support is always welcomed. We are hoping to get a good following over the next year, and gigs are starting to happen now! I am really lucky as the guys I play with are pretty awesome...have made me a better player! [/quote] Excellent stuff dude, gets a like from me! [quote name='blind pilot' timestamp='1338483638' post='1675298'] I like fella, We should hook up and do some double headers! [/quote] That sounds awesome, drop me a PM! We were due to play in Colchester on the 14th, but our drummer can't make it. [quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1338488368' post='1675371'] As a matter of interest , how many of us run their band's facebook/myspace/website? Is it a duty that always falls to the bass player? [/quote] Yep, I've worked in IT and web design since I was 16, so I do the website and social networking. Our new drummer is also a programmer which has taken a lot of the work off my hands

I always carry a spare bass; I've never broken a string on stage (or whilst practicing or in rehearsal for that matter) but sooner or later it'll happen, especially playing in Drop C. I usually make sure I have spare strings as well, and that they're already cut to the correct size. And of course factoring in for electronic problems. I always prep my basses before a gig but sometimes I honestly don't have time. In terms of amplification; I ALWAYS test out my rig the night before, in the morning/afternoon and of course during soundcheck. If anything goes wrong on the night, I used to have a dedicated DI box, now I can rely on my SansAmp to get me through. I always carry spare leads too. And as Low End Bee said, if I'm gigging with bands we're well acquainted with, we all agree that we can use each others rigs if anyone's develops problems during the night.

I've been wanting to get some of these for ages, still trying to convince the landlord to let me put them up. The joys of renting!

Four-piece alternative metal band, i.e. Stone Sour, Deftones, Alice In Chains. [url="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walk-In-Coma/65996290389"]http://www.facebook....oma/65996290389[/url] P.S. Our first single is hitting iTunes tonight </shamelessplug>

[quote name='pahaeno' timestamp='1337941768' post='1667651'] Try RAT or You Dirty Rat, with no modifications they are quite brutal. I do have M80, but I think the distortion is not that good, more likely one sound wonder and I don't like it. Same and better can be done with RAT. I do use M80, but it only sends the clean sound to mixing console. [/quote] Just looked up the Turbo RAT on YouTube and it sounds great, thanks

Yeah, I did read that a while back, annoyingly that was his sound in his first run with Marilyn Manson - when he used Thunderbirds and an Ampeg rig. Unfortunately, I have no idea what he used with Nine Inch Nails.

Hi all, I currently use a Boss ODB-3 for distortion but never have really managed to find the high-gain grunch I want for solo parts (think Jeordie White/Twiggy when he played with Nine Inch Nails a few years ago). I was thinking of getting the MXR M80 but as I use a SansAmp BDDI already, I'd only be using it for the distortion. So, would this be a complete waste of money as I wouldn't be utilising half of the pedal? And while I'm at it, if anyone can recommend an alternative, please do so

Two of the local music shops in Southend stock them (PMT and Allegro). I bought the Chord bass EQ pedal before recording last month, after my SansAmp failed to turn up in time. It was great, lovely little pedal and I got a great tweaked sound out of it for the recording. Only cost me £30. Now I've got the SansAmp, it became redundant, so I sold it last week. But I was pleasantly surprised, for the price, I didn't expect much but it was very versatile. I'd recommend it, and I might try some more of their pedals at some point

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1337892954' post='1667176'] What is it with guitarists trying to bee uber loud? Almost all the ones I've spoken to, let alone heard, don't understand what a band mix is. It's like the band is there for them to noodle over! [/quote] I'm lucky that my guitarists aren't like that. We all like to hear ourselves, and to hear each other. If we can do that, and everything sounds good together, we're happy

Thanks for all the replies, they've all been very helpful. I've just seen that someone on the forum is selling a Peavey 410 TVX (4ohm) for £150. Given the price and the availability, should I snap this up now? Granted, I won't get the best sound out of it until I save enough pennies for the new head, but would I be stupid to not take it?

Ah yeah, the TVX is 46.6kg where the Ashdown is only 37. The Headliner 410 is 33kg. The trolley I'm buying from Screwfix at the weekend has a maximum load of 150kg, so that's all good. Definitely agree with you chrismuzz, I'm going to find somewhere to try out the Tour 700 and a better spec Ashdown head and see what I prefer. I have a feeling it'll be the Peavey though. Once that's in the bag, I'll tackle choosing the cab Cheers all.

I should have mentioned that I'm open to other options I will look into other Ashdown options, you're totally right, the EB is a tiny little thing that was the best I could get with my budget at the time. If I went with a better Ashdown head, what would you recommend in terms of cab? Stick with the MAG410 that I have or is there something a bit better? Thanks

Cheers for the replies gents, looks like it's the Tour 700 for me head-wise then one of my favourite bassists, Anissa Rodriguez from Eyes Set To Kill also uses one, and I love her sound, so I think I've definitely been swayed on that front. Lozz196; it appears the 410 TVX was what I had picked out originally, rather than the Headliner 410 I mentioned. My list has gone missing though, and I ended up going by what Peavey has on their website at the moment. I did a bit of reading yesterday on the 410, and it's actually a few kilograms lighter than the Ashdown 410 I'm using at the moment. The weight of that has never been much of a problem for me, I've managed to carry it up to my second floor flat on my own but it did kill my back afterwards. I'm actually moving into a ground floor flat in the same building next weekend to make carrying gear a little easier, as well as buying a trolley with wheels so I think that will be absolutely fine for me. Not to mention if I get a 210 as well, I only have to take the 210 out for rehearsals Thank you both again.

Good evening all, My current amp rig, though it has served me well for the past couple of years, is due for an upgrade over the coming months. I've been using Ashdown, an Electric Blue 180 head running to a MAG410T Deep cabinet, and while the sound has been good with my Thunderbird, it's always lacked a certain "oomph" and "punch", something that is common with Ashdown from what I've read. A friend of mine let try out his cab last weekend during rehearsal, with a mind to sell it to me (Peavey MaxSys 312) which I realised was actually a speaker bin rather than a dedicated bass cab. It sounded fantastic though, the mids were great, very punchy and perfect for the style of music I play (hard rock and metal, drop C tuning). Coupled with my Sansamp BDDI and Boss ODB-3 distortion, it sounded pretty mean. I'm not purchasing this off him mind, mainly due to money this month, and also the fact that it weighs an absolute tonne, but I'm pretty interested in getting myself a Peavey setup (my guitarist also uses a Peavey head and it sounds fantastic). I've been looking around, I only have a moderate budget but I've got a little list that I wouldn't mind feedback on. Head: It's a toss-up between the Tour Headliner and the Tour 700 - this is where I'd appreciate the most feedback. Anyone used these? Is one better than the other, any snags I should know about? As far as I can remember, both can be rack-mounted which would be great as if I finally get an amp that can be mounted, I have a legitimate reason to buy a rack Cabinet: Was thinking of the Headliner 410, coupled with a 210 for larger gigs. Of course, the VB 410 would be a lot better, but unfortunately, out of my budget. So, yay or nay? Am I making a decent decision getting rid of Ashdown and moving onto Peavey? Are the heads and cabinets I've listed any cop? Cheers all