Huge Hands

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='219929' date='Jun 16 2008, 03:28 PM']I change my strings every 6 years or so[/quote] To quote Jamerson, "The dirt keeps the funk", eh Bilbo? Personally, I'm just a lazy b@st@rd!

That Stig bloke, is that his perspex rig behind him? If only I had the "euro rock" hair and physique to go with it, I'd be tempted!

[quote name='Galilee' post='209415' date='May 30 2008, 09:48 AM']I'll be the heretic then, I say get pi55ed and go mental. Make them force you off stage after 45 minutes of ham-fisted bass soloing and dodgy dancing. If you feel like you're losing them at any point, just get your willy out.[/quote] Ha ha ha excellent! If only I didn't have to drive to our gigs.....!

I have had the same experience with both the unknown flats on my upright, and Labella flats I recently put on my Cort. It almost feels to me as though they have a thin plastic or rubber coating on them which gets grippy as my fingers cause friction? I'm probably talkin b*****ks, but that's what it feels like.

[quote name='Jobiebass' post='207083' date='May 27 2008, 09:53 AM']...cause when the rents are out....[/quote] Ha ha ha - "rents"! I had to have an 18 year old guy at work explain that one to me recently. I feel so old!!!!!

Glad it worked out for you Sparky. Personally, I can't get far enough away from our guitarist - I prefer my ears intact! I played a gig at the weekend with flats on both my upright and 5 string - I'm glad for the advice of others on Basschat about the properties of superglue on blistered fingertips!!

Thanks to all for your tips! As an update, last night we played the gig, and I tried the Superglue method. I was not brave enough to do the Stevie Ray Vaughan trick! My two main plucking fingers had healed, but it was still fresh, raw skin. One coat did only last a set before cracking, but at no point did I suffer with pain. It worked a treat. I was so impressed, I'm almost tempted to use it all the time, rather than when I need it!! Thanks again!

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='205118' date='May 23 2008, 05:11 PM']I've not searched for PA suff because as we all know, technology moves on and I want fresh opinions.[/quote] Sorry John, I've not been in the big PA game for a few years so don't have fresh opinions (not kept up with what's out there). I'll leave it to others to comment. What I would say is this though: Your old system - amp dies - you can do work arounds with running two cabs per side in mono per channel - gig can still go ahead. New method - amp dies - easier on the weight and transport, but no gig. Something to consider.

[quote name='BOD2' post='204928' date='May 23 2008, 01:07 PM']I'd agree 100% with Huge Hands on this.[/quote] Ha ha, thanks BOD2!

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='204920' date='May 23 2008, 12:55 PM']Huge Hands post makes me think that it doesn't matter a bugger whether it's mono or stereo[/quote] That is my experienced opinion, I bet in most gigs, you don't get to set your rig up to be able to provide a true stereo image to all listeners. As for what you say, I haven't looked at your gear, but just remember one thing - if the crossover setup allows it, the amp you do use to run two speakers instead of one will see a lower impedance, and therefore gig by gig could be running harder depending on how you push it. It's ok when the system is overkill, but if it becomes underkill....

Whoops, what BOD2 said. I didn't really read the question properly, my eyes had too much rage in them

This was always a bone of contention for me. Yes, stereo gives the mix "space", but in a live situation, I think a lot of it is irrelevant. You have to remember that stereo, surround, blah blah, is all designed for someone sitting in the "sweet spot", usually the centre point between all speakers. I used to run a venue for 1500+ that wasn't that deep, but was very wide. We had a keyboard player who ran his own little studio that wanted everything stereo, but in my opinion, someone who sits at the far right of the venue should be able to hear all of the keyboard, and not just the top end. IMHO, stereo is good for effects in theatre etc, but not really so good for bands. Another personal opinion here- to me, panning toms around the mix a la Roger Taylor fills was fun in the 80's, but is a bit old hat now (dons flame suit!) P.S. I have had this argument with many engineers over the years. I have struggled to find a valid opposite argument to convince me otherwise, it's usually "...but that's how I like it". Each to their own.

[quote name='bnt' post='203694' date='May 21 2008, 01:13 PM']I'm sure I remember reading a John Patitucci interview in which he mentioned the superglue, but he also mentioned some kind of "instant skin" product from a pharmacy. I think he meant something like [url="http://newskinproducts.com/"]New-Skin[/url], which the maker says works for musicians.[/quote] Ha ha, looks like re-badged superglue to me!

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='203440' date='May 21 2008, 07:10 AM']Have you noticed the size of his pupils in that face shot? They're ENORMOUS!! Almost like he's on something. [/quote] Is that definitely his pupils? My 90 year old great uncle has brown eyes, but over the years he's developed a blue edge to each iris, a bit like that. I thought he was on drugs the first time I noticed them - until I spotted the normal pupils in the middle of the brown part of the iris.. It always looks a bit weird to me... P.S. I stand corrected on the 18's versus 15's bit.

Thanks to all for the good advice so far. It looks like superglue will be the way to go (couldn't get on with electrician's tape last night), once they've had a bit longer to heal. Unless anyone has some other suggestions....?

[quote name='jakesbass' post='203557' date='May 21 2008, 10:27 AM']The only really solid bit of advice (or solace) I can offer is, if possible avoid bursting the blister as the fluid inside it seems (to me) to have a very effective toughening effect on the skin underneath which obviously with the passage of time becomes the top layer. Jake[/quote] Thanks jakesbass - too late I'm afraid. I'm one of those people that likes to burst blisters, peel skin etc, and then always regrets it afterwards. I am wishing I had left them alone.

[quote name='rodl2005' post='203522' date='May 21 2008, 09:39 AM']The Speakers LOOK like old JBL 140 type 15" ??? They ARE 15"s aint they??? Congrats on meeting him & Thanx for the pics....Loved his lines in 'wanna be straight???!?!?!?!?!!!??????? D'reckon he does? [/quote] They look like 18s to me, but then again I never was good at judging sizes. Just ask my missus......

I just did a quick search on this, but couldn't find anything. Does anyone know of anything out there to protect sore fingertips when playing without losing too much feel, or a method of toughening them up quickly? We have been asked to play a gig with our usual set, but some latin stuff thrown in as well at the weekend. I decided to use the upright for some of these tracks. Therefore, last Tuesday, with not much playing time after 2 months off on the sick, I turned up to rehearsal with it. I've never really played it for more than about an hour at a time, and suddenly I'm playing it for four hours straight. On top of this, the band, especially guitarist and drummer, get really LOUD when they get excited. I was trying every trick in the book to get good gain before feedback on my pickup (this improved after I realised the battery was dying in the little preamp!), but I just wasn't cutting through enough. The fact that I was borrowing a tired amp from the rehearsal studio didn't help. I also have this mental problem that although I know it won't get much louder, I can stop my brain thinking that really pulling hard on the strings will help! Suffice to say I blistered my fingertips on my first two fingers on my right hand. I haven't played since, but last night, my index finger had barely healed, and my middle finger was still a bit sore to the touch. I tried gauze wrapped with LX tape, and just LX tape itself, but I kept cutting the circulation off, and couldn't feel the strings properly and kept tripping over my even bigger fingers! I then switched to my usual 5 string guitar (which I recently strung with flatwounds). I managed to get away with playing with my index and 3rd finger, but I've now blistered my third finger as well! Is because of the flatwounds on both instruments? Are my fingers just too soft? I guess I will get some abuse from the pros for having s**t technique, so any advice is appreciated! I still want to play the upright at the weekend, and hope that my two usual fingers will be healed by then (only four days away). I heard some "man in the pub" advice from a guy at work suggesting dipping fingers in Surgical Spirit every night to harden them up, but is that just an old wives tale? I have threatened all members of the band with death if they don't watch their levels, but once they get going, it's like trying to stop a bull on heat! Any advice appreciated.

My wife loves the band, but the following things put her off: 1) She hates being left on her own at gigs so won't come unless she arranges it with a load of pals. We live miles away from the gigs, so getting mates to agree to come all that way isn't always easy. 2) Due to my busy job and long commute, we don't always get a lot of time together on weeknights. I don't get home until about 1am on a Tuesday after rehearsal and that leaves me knackered and grumpy for the rest of the week. 3) She hates, as others have mentioned, the last minute date changes etc for gigs that we have to work around. She doesn't play any instruments, but is surprisingly musical. When I practice and play a bum note that most people might not spot or think is jazz (sorry Bilbo!), she laughs her head off. It can bring you back down to earth pretty quickly from your "I'm James Jamerson" dream! Having said all that, I love her to bits and wouldn't trade her in for anyone else. Her face when you are playing a known bassline and warbling over the top, singing to her (without bum notes ) is worth it. To me.

If your wedges are all on separate mixes, then I would have thought that it shouldn't be too much of a problem to give you what you ask. I guess it's probably down to EQ and gain structure for the guy doing monitor mixes. If the problem is that your wedges are too muddy and he has a separate desk to FOH, then perhaps you could ask the engineer to roll off all of the bottom end and a lot of low mid on the guitar. I'm guessing you only need it as a guide, you don't care how it sounds, right? A good monitor guy should be spending the gig listening to the feed to each wedge and checking for the mix etc anyway, especially if you didn't get a soundcheck in the first place (that wouldn't be an excuse not to anyway!) You're right, if you're 12th on the bill, then he should have got past all the problems before you get on there. The only odd thing (might) be for him/her is that you want guitar in the wedge(s). You never know, they may have all asked for that!

3 vocals plus guitar (I'm assuming mic'd cab) = 4 mics into the monitor(s). That can be problematic on a small stage if you're asing for a lot of level from the wedges. I'd need to know more about the layout - i.e. do you get a wedge each, or are you all sharing one? Is the guitarist loud? (not many aren't ). Is his amp right next yours or the drummer so could be picking up rumble, or is it near the wedges so could be feeding back? My tip: Always try and keep monitors as simple as possible. The more stuff you try and cram in there, the less useful it becomes to you. Only ask for what you need. Over the years, with rock/punk etc bands I have found guitar in the wedges to not be a common request, although you do get them. This is because the guitarist is usually more than loud enough himself. We regularly have to get ours to point his amp away from the band. No matter how many times we threaten to beat the living s**t out of him, he still gets louder and LOUDER!!! Finally, if you reckon the other bands sound ok, then chances are yours will too, unless you are asking for something completely different to everyone else, or your backline is way louder than with everyone else.

Bear in mind that the over-all sound out front is coloured by the backline on stage. If you show up and whack the amp up because you're not used to it, then you will cause a problem for both on stage and FOH sound, especially if your settings are completely different to the bass player before you. The sound guys should be in a good position of knowing the rigs, but once you plug in and play, it is down to you to run that amp properly alongside your band-mates. Sorry sparky, I'm not having a go at you, it's just that as an ex-monitor and FOH (and both off one desk) guy, you get sick of bands turning themselves up way too loud and then trying to blame the sound guy for being unable to make it sound good out front or on stage over the top of the din.

Just found a PA firm who will deliver/collect a rig for about £300 and the charity is willing to go for it. If anyone wants to beat this price, or knows someone who will, then please let me know ASAP. It is saving no-one but the small charity money.

[quote name='paul, the' post='202074' date='May 19 2008, 01:28 PM']Mr. Cogbill used Vaseline in the studio. Suit you sir.[/quote] I believe his highness Mr Pastorius used chicken grease....

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='200910' date='May 17 2008, 10:19 AM']"Just seen this and my pay [b]check[/b]....."[/quote] tBBC, are you an American in disguise?