JapanAxe

The Fender Rumble 40 punches well above its weight (it's pretty light) - I've heard one used in a 20-piece big band and it coped with ease. The Orange Crush Amps are well made and sound ok. No experience of the others.

Hot dang!

I’ve always done my own guitar and bass setups. The key is having the right tools, especially for truss rods. A set of proper nut files isn’t cheap but once you know how to use them it’s a game changer. I had one guitar that needed a fret dress but I entrusted that to a professional.

It’s not unusual to get some buzz when you’re not touching the strings or bridge. When you are touching them you become an earthed shield against interference; when you’re not, you’re not (unless you touch something else that’s earthed, like the shell of a mic.) Shielding the pickup and control cavities may help (must be earthed of course). Did you have the same issue with the previous pickup?

As someone who can't manage even the simplest dance step, maybe I don't!

If someone is right behind you and you don't want them there, step backwards and accidentally tread on their toe.

No complaints here at all Tom, with either the amp or your ad. Might have been a pot or socket but or even the lead from my bass, but quickly disappeared. I've had the same when I haven't used an amp for a while.

I think I've found what I need in Master Fader. I have been using my phone for this on stage but it's much easier with my iPad, so that will be coming on the next direct-to-PA gig.

Yes I had a little go with it at home but haven't tried it on a gig yet. I do like to mix in a little bit of 'fur' - it's less obvious as 'distortion' in a live mix, but it does help to colour the sound.

Ooh, I forgot to include this link to a detailed review with excellent photos by our very own @disssa - you will need Google translate unless you are fluent in German.

Lots of good advice here (although I wouldn’t necessarily follow the suggestion I gave earlier in the thread - it has worked, but there is also the risk of escalation.) If it’s a pub or social club and someone is being an anus, you can ask the management to deal with them. Private events are a bit trickier, but if necessary you can stop playing and announce over the mic that you can’t be having audience members in the playing area. If this happens more than once, hopefully the audience will realise that the eejits are spoiling it for everyone else. Emphasise their safety and yours (lots of electrical equipment) rather than risk of damage to kit. Anything you can do to create a divide between band and audience will help (eg empty cases placed to prevent stage side access), but if there’s not even an actual stage then that can be difficult.

Thanks, that's actually jogged my memory re Mixing Station - I'll check it out when I'm next in the vicinity of my XR18 and my iPad.

Can anyone save me some time and head-scratching and point me in the direction of how to apply EQ to an aux feed on Mackie Master Fader and/or Mixing Station (for Behringer XR18)? Does it involve assigning an FX block and calling up an EQ?

Strictly NAW (week) as I picked this up from @essexbasscat the previous weekend. It has also belonged to @krispn - not the first time I have owned stuff after him, the guy obviously has great taste! The amp in question is a Fender TB600 head, which combines a valve preamp and overdrive stage with a chunky Class AB output section in a 2U rack format. I have had a hankering for one of these on-and-off for a while, so when the stars aligned I went for it. My first go with it through my BF Super Twin was not very auspicious as there was a bit of a crackle and when I switched it on the second time it went dead. This last was user error - on close inspection, the amp has a rated power consumption of 900W, which at 240V mains equates to a current draw of nearly 4A. A toroidal transformer (which this amp has) also draws a high inrush current, so no wonder! As well as fitting a higher rated fuse in the mains lead in place of the 3A, I decided to give the amp a quick service. The innards are easily accessible once the top cover is removed, allowing me to remove and test both 12AX7 valves (Groove Tubes badged, Russian made, original fitment and still good) and treat all the pots, sockets and switches with switch cleaner. No more crackle after that! I also spotted an intact 10A fuse on the power inlet board which reassured me that there wasn't likely to be a troublesome short circuit somewhere. I also replaced the bolts securing one of the front grab handles as it had taken a knock at some time and they had been bent. None of this should be taken as criticism of the seller - it's an 18-year-old amp and some maintenance is inevitably going to be required. The preamp tone controls are passive, so they have enough range to set your desired sound but not enough to create unusable extremes. The Vari-Q will notch out a narrow band of frequencies or add a subtle hump of mid boost; the Room control is a tilt EQ. It's all very well thought out. In the living room all my basses sound great, with plenty of top end when required, even through my tweeterless cab. Down to business with the first of 2 rock'n'roll gigs this weekend gone. My weapon of choice was an AVRI '63 Precision. You know when you're just enjoying listening to the sound that you're making? It was one of those. Afterwards Mrs Axe said to me, 'Your bass was quite loud tonight you know.' Yes. Yes it was. I had a strong impression of power being delivered effortlessly on demand. The core tone is solid, fat and round, just as I like - there's definitely some heft going on! On the second gig I hd an issue with booming, but it was the PA, not my bass rig. Once sorted it was again a pleasure to play. Pic below is from the sale ad but I'll try to furnish some Fender/BF combo p0rn in due course.

The XR18 is a great deal but I’ve already got one and don’t need another!

I have found that a Precision headstock to the kidneys can motivate someone to leave the stage area.

Picked up an amp from Tom and enjoyed a chat about the pros and cons of IEMs. We both forgot about the foot-switch but Tom kindly posted it on to me. Top chap to deal with.

That is appalling drafting!

Second night out for new amp (full NAD thread to follow) and whereas the previous gig’s sound had been great, last night’s first set was plagued by a pronounced boom on the pitch of the D string. No amount of amp tweaking fixed it so in the break I had a look at the PA. 3 of the 4 vocal mic channels had some bass boost applied. I pointed this out to the BL (nice enough bloke but a PA dunce!) and set each one flat - problem solved. Seems they had been picking up my bass guitar and amplifying it, causing that one frequency to ‘ring’. I had done a 5-hour rehearsal that afternoon so I spent the rest of the night craving my bed. Think I’ll avoid that combo in future!

OK, count me in on this one - I'll bring everything in my signature! In the mood to do a deal on the EBS head too...

Thanks, that's a good call, I'll look into what EQ is available on the aux sends. However... On my tribute band theatre gigs I have a separate feed straight from my pedalboard to my IEM transmitter, and the rest of my monitor mix comes from the band's Mackie DL32S controlled by the Master Fader app on my phone. This means that I am never in danger of losing my own signal in my ears, and is why I was thinking of adding a simple EQ to my board. In my other band project where I use IEMs, I have a Behringer XR18 and I can control all the mixes from the Mixing Station app on my iPad. I'm on bass in that band though so it's not so much of an issue.

Obviously we’re all bass players here but how many also use IEMs when playing electric guitar? I can set up my ampless rig (Strymon Iridium and a few pedals) to get great sounds through my home studio monitors; but despite splashing the cash on Shure SE425s I still find that overdriven tones sound harsh in them. I was talking to a guitarist friend who had spent over £700 on his earphones and he also finds the same thing. Although the FOH sound is likely to be fine, it hampers my confidence. (I’m aware of the importance of a good seal around the earpieces to preserve low end.) Any other skinny-string guitarists here experienced the same? Have you overcome the problem, and if so how?

My XR18 currently lives in a re-purposed Cobra mic case with the router velcro'd to the top, but I am looking at getting a Midas digital splitter so will need to go the full rack route. I'll aslo stick my IEM transmitter in there so following this thread with interest. @Jack where did you get the Ethernet cable with sideways right-angle plug? And where is your router aerial? Scrub that bit - just seen you have an Apple Airport!