Huge Hands

Not really TV, but I used to want to play the bassline on "The Generation Gap" kids game theme on Jamie Theakston's Heart FM breakfast show. The current version is simpler, but the previous version they used up until last year was great. Big walking thing that was really fast. I am assuming it was a parody of the original.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='196063' date='May 10 2008, 04:35 PM']Thanks again! Huge Hands... are you suggesting that if I got these self-tappers, I wouldn't need a cage nut or anything on the other side? That might be a goer, because a ) I really like my Boschma case and b ) I'm now totally skint...[/quote] Yup. Let me check into it at work tomorrow before I make a fool of myself, unless Mr Hunt's solution beats me to it!

The problem to watch out for is the power rating. If 80W is what it will handle just before it explodes (which some manufacturers will quote to make their gear sound better than it is), then its comfortable handling output may be a lot lower. Decent home hi-fis can get up to that sort of power, so think carefully about what you need it for. It may only be for practice, but be careful you don't fork out £200 for something that is essentially useless once the drummer starts up. I wouldn't expect it to handle anything other than vocals. This would be no good for our singer, because no matter how much be beat the s**t out him, the guitarist just wouldn't turn down enough for him to be heard!

[quote name='charic' post='193825' date='May 7 2008, 01:17 PM']Lol is this sound engineer corner or summat?[/quote] Ha ha, no - I was the engineer and chardbass was in the venue's "house band". He was correctly moaning about how bad the mics smelled after having to share our limited stock with other artists. It did prompt us to clean them more regularly - unfortunately it kept stripping the black paint off the pop shields! I did once hear that Charlene Spiteri from Texas used to make someone go out and clean her mic during the first few chords of the first song at a gig - everyone would cheer him because they thought it was her! Not sure if it was just an urban myth though.

I agree with WH. The local Co-op on our estate is selling off loads of Christmas chocs dirt cheap because they're about to go out of date (and it's not Christmas). Perhaps your local one might be the same?

As the previous poster said, it looks like it's been made to fit a 1U mount, but then overhang so you are forced to give it top and bottom gaps in a larger rack. From your photo there are no vents on the top casing, which doesn't really appear to back this up. Strange. The side mounts on your case are probably aluminium, so with a good pilot hole you may be able to use decent self tappers? Middle Atlantic (expensive pro install racks) often work on a self tapping theory, so you may be able to get bolts (and possibly even correct thread dies) from them. If you do have to go down that route, PM me and I may be able to have an ask (we deal with their distributor at work).

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='195173' date='May 9 2008, 07:31 AM']Hi Stew I'm pleased to hear that your recovery has gone well and that you're back to playing - I hope the gig goes really well Yes! [/quote] Thanks Terri. Sorry about the delay, catching back up with the job has been a nightmare! I'll get on it ASAP!

Check out the Skatalites stuff. We have done some of their versions of well known numbers.

[quote name='paul, the' post='194139' date='May 7 2008, 07:19 PM']Just listened to your band's myspace tracks. Great stuff! Nice feel on the busier Tell Papa in the verses, too.[/quote] Thanks. Not bad for a rough mix onto minidisc from a rehearsal studio (using their room's mixer and mics). Just a shame my rusty old PC added a load of noise to them when trying to edit etc. Ha ha, I claim it's all part of the vintage atmosphere, and manages to hide some, but not all of the duff notes!

[quote name='The Funk' post='193963' date='May 7 2008, 03:57 PM']Jazz After Dark is a great place to gig. Everything is against you and so if you can pull off a good gig, it's because it all came from you. One gig there is worth 20 rehearsals.[/quote] I completely agree. We play there a lot, and it's great bumping your head on the mirrorball and trying to get through the throng between sets. Apart from the occasional groups of rowdy Norwegian drunkards that seem to get in there, it's usually a great atmosphere.

[quote name='chardbass' post='193708' date='May 7 2008, 11:31 AM']Your tech knowledge on all things 'sound' has been a great help on the forum- not that I've been stalking you or anything.[/quote] Ha ha, My technical terminology certainly improved after meeting you - your descriptions of how badly the mics smelled will stay with me forever, and have been copied on several occasions!

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='193698' date='May 7 2008, 10:59 AM']hello Huge Hands, that's great to hear mate - hope your problems are behind you. Was that Jo5 a candy apple red one with a J Retro in it? If it was, twas mine before chardbass - lovely bass.[/quote] Thanks. That does sound like it. I think he said he has changed the pup(s), but I'm sure he'll be along to correct me soon. He lives miles away from me now, and I have never actually seen it in the flesh, only through some pics of him I saw. Fell in love at first sight, although not sure the colour would be my choice. Just wish I had the cash to blow on one!

I just wanted, especially in the light of the recent threads on atmosphere, to say thanks to all at Basschat. After about 2 months off sick recovering from 4 operations, I finally went back to work yesterday, and back to our band's regular Tuesday night practice afterwards. It was great to get back with the guys, and try out my new flatwounds through a big amp. I joined Basschat at the start of my problem, and watching the forum has been great help in keeping me sane and staving off the boredom! I would especially like to thank my old mate chardbass for introducing me to here in the first place after I fell in love with his Lakland JO5. I have had a lot of gas since then, but have had to come to the realisation that the wife and the cats come first, so I'll have to just keep dreaming..! Last night's rehearsal was just in time. We have a gig on Saturday at Jazz After Dark in Soho. It's smaller than most people's bedrooms, and hence is a pain to get into, but if you fancy a laugh watching us all fumble through songs that we can't remember how to play and probably didn't know properly in the first place, then by all means stop by. I'm afraid I can't do any guest list sort of thing because any more than 10 people and the venue will be full! Anyway, here is our myspace: www.myspace.com/thewangdangdoodles. We do this for a laugh, so no harm done if you think it's s**t! By the way, our profile may have the word jazz on it, and the venue may be called Jazz After Dark, but we don't claim to be jazzers (sorry Bilbo, we're just not that good). We tend to play blues/soul/r&b, and try to keep a little bit off the beaten track with our set list. Thanks again, and please keep up the good atmosphere. It's been a great help. P.S. Mrs T - is it my turn at Scrabulous? Stew

Glad you got it sorted.

I'm still wondering if it's a sensitivity issue. If the S1 is, as people have suggested, a parallel to series switch, then maybe one position is too sensitive for the preamp? Possibly not noticeable in nice environments, but troublesome when in bad ones? I reckon switching the other way is basically lowering the output from the pups (sensitivity) and therefore the noticeable noise, and associated feedback. Not a nice problem, hope you can find a way around it. My suggestion, as a trial, would be to bypass your pre-amp altogether and see if you still get a problem. I know you probably won't want to, but if it helps.... The theatre should have a DI box if this is the case to allow them to get a feed without your pre. Good luck!

Is the feedback a big rumble, or high pitched squealing? It could be the valve in your amp acting as a big antennae - but then you said that it was ok if you switched the S1 in? Hmmmm. Lots of variable to play with. If you turn the amp off and it's still there, then it could be the sound guy doing something silly with the PA, rather than your amp.

I don't know if this will help, but you can give it a try: Look at your gain stucture with your amp. It sounds to me like your bass pickups are acting too much like a microphone and causing the feedback. Is it because you have the input gain on your amp whacked up high? Perhaps turning this down, and the output up MIGHT just level out the gain path and help the situation. It's worth a try. It may also be worth trying to keep your bass further apart from the amp if possible. If your bass is going through the PA, then turn your amp off as it's doing it and see if it stops. Then turn it back on, and get your sound man to mute you from the PA. It should determine whether it's the PA speakers or the amp that are causng the feedback path (or in a worst case, both!). If it is the deaf loop causing the problem, there are tips on here about shielding your bass, or perhaps you can get your sound engineer to re-route the loop away from the pit.

I've just put a 5 string set of Labellas on my Cort - first time with flats on a guitar. Still getting used to them. Nice and slippery as Bilbo says! I like it. Reminds me of my upright which also has flats. I had similar gauge roundwounds on before, and I'm not noticing a great deal of difference in tone on my small practice amp, but I get to blast them next week at rehearsal so I'll know better. Sorry, can't help with the slapping thing, not much of a slapper myself.

Also worth noting that Mackie bought out RCF a few years ago, who used to make quality speakers and drivers. Most of the recent Mackie speakers were actually re-badged RCF ones. If the Tapco stuff has their input, hopefully it will be good.

Do me a favour if you do go - get me some Greggs stotties while you're there. I'm only up the road from you in Crawley, and I'm dying for a bacon sandwich!!! One starving exiled Geordie.

I rang Stringbusters back in January when I tried to get a set. They reckoned that LaBella tend to only make stuff to order, so they tend to buy bulk from them and when that stock has gone, it's gone, until they do another order. I got the impression it might be best to get a few sets while they have them. Just wish I could afford more than one lot (£30 per 5 string set)

As xgsjx said, I'd look into one of the really small "notebook" type mixers. Behringer, soundcraft and others all do models for under a ton, and I seem to remember somone on here pointing out a shop doing one type for about £20 as a special offer! I can't remember what it was though, sorry. The notebooks are usually 4 mono channel plus a couple of stereo phono ins, so can end up being useful for several things, such as small gigs, not just your home practice.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='185732' date='Apr 26 2008, 08:52 AM']I get this when I'm plugged into different bits of equipment at the same time. For example, I can plug into the bass amp and then touch the shielding of the freeview box and get a 'tingle'. Ideally all the bits of kit you're in contact with should be going through the same multiplug socket so you don't get this ground path issue. The multiplug can go into the RCD if you're using one, of course.[/quote] I should have said this really. The guitar amp and mixer need to be on the same ring main/power source so that the ground path is as similar as possible. However, I don't always think it's the venue's fault. I ran a venue for a few years and out of having bands in there 52 weeks a year, all using the same sockets, I could count on one hand how many people complained (the same ones would often complain more than once). I think it also has to do with certain amp/guitar combinations. In the end, I made a couple of "Ground lift" XLR cables as I mentioned in my last post and marked them up so they were obvious. If anyone had a problem, we used one of those. It does work. you are basically removing the mixer's ground connection to the microphone casing, so no shock. However, some venues will have bad electrics, so mains testers and RCD's are a good precaution for gear, and ultimately you if there was a serious electrical fault. As I said before, unless the RCD is doing some ort of ground lift itself, I doubt one of those would help the problem that you complained of.

[quote name='Buzz' post='185707' date='Apr 26 2008, 02:37 AM']Ashdown made strings? First I've heard of them.[/quote] Thats them on my bass in the avatar. Came in a tin that looked like a projector film canister.

I have just looked at Stringbusters and they finally got some Labella flats in, so I've nabbed a set of Deep Talkin' ones (760 FSB). I'd still be interested in my OP question though, if anyone has any opinions, and on the Labellas? Cheers!