sharkboy

Baby Jesus - born to rock! [url="https://youtu.be/P0G7Cs5fQKk"]https://youtu.be/P0G7Cs5fQKk[/url]

There was a local band who opened as part of a Raging Speedhorn/Amen double header. Their name has long since dropped out of my memory; their performance, unfortunately, hasn't. The singer's idea of performing was literally to insert the head of the SM58 into his gob and roar into it, while the band appeared to play 4 different songs behind him. For 30 minutes. To his credit, his singing was responsible for the strangest request from a singer to the sound guy when Raging Speedhorn took the stage - "Can I get a new mic up here? This one just smells of puke". Ah...the look on the soundguy's face... In terms of named bands, the only gig I've ever walked out of due to boredom was The Waterboys in Bangor (Northern Ireland) around 1986-7. I'd already seen them 3 times by this stage and they were never less than entertaining. Unfortunately by the time of the Bangor gig, Mike Scott had gone all "I'm an Irish folk troubador, me" and the gig basically consisted of the band coming on pissed as farts and trying to out-Riverdance Michael Flatley. After about half an hour of boring as hell diddly-dee music and some very dodgy Irish dancing displays, we all decided that enough was enough and retired to a nearby hostelry to reminisce about when the band used to be good.

It's bad timing and bad taste, but it's entirely reflective of his (and his cohorts in RATMs) political views - they have always supported left-wing revolutionary political organisations. AK-47s and balaclavas may not have much to do with bass, but they have a clear connection with Cummerford's music and politics. He's also pimping his latest band Wakrat, so expect more media coverage and publicity shots/comments that'll cause controversy. He's a great bassist, but a bit of a dick.

I had a Superheadless and apart from one major downfall, it was a great sounding bass. Unfortunately that one major downfall was reason enough for me to get shot of it. Rather than going for a double-ball option for the strings, you fed them through a hole in the top of the neck, then clamped them down with a small metal bar secured with allen screws. So once you trimmed them down to size, you had a bass with 4 sharp ends sticking out of the end of the neck, which led to far too many painful encounters. But that wasn't even the worst part of the design - these were cheap components and the threads would strip so easily that it became difficult to maintain sufficient pressure on the strings to allow them to hold their tuning. I lost count of the number of times I had to go to a local engineering firm to get these components rethreaded, but it eventually was one time too many and it had to go. The Stingray that replaced it is still my go-to bass, 23 years later As for the Thunders. the IA and IIA were decent but basic instruments, but the IIIA was actually something quite special

You might find this handy if it was described as sold as seen- eBay's own advice on this and similar situations: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/Sold-as-seen-as-is-no-returns-/10000000002394120/g.html"]http://www.ebay.co.u...02394120/g.html[/url] Having said all that, if the seller argues that it was a latent defect that he was unaware of, then its unlikely that you'll have any success in pursuing a refund

Is it just me that has a little trepidation about taking set-up advice from someone called Buzz?

I'll always associate this guy with early-80's Ibanez Blazers

[quote name='Oldman' timestamp='1444043576' post='2879657'] After reading about Schroeder Cabs and their 'Sound' on this here Forum I looked on the Schroeder www to see who stocked them in the UK, SFX were listed on the www as UK agents/stockists, but they no longer existed at the time of my interest. I mailed Schroeder's direct and found out that they had been dispensed with about 6 years previous to my inquiry (this was December 2014) for unmentioned reasons. [/quote] I had a chat with Jorg about this once - the reasons related to some of SFX's dodgy sales approaches, including passing of ex-demo or returns as new cabs. [quote] By the time we Skype'd I had discovered that there had been construction and reliability issues in the past, I raised this with Jorg and was satisfied with his answer that Chinese built Eminence speakers and a duff pallet of Chinese wood from his lumber merchant caused many of the issues. Drivers are now Italian B&C and all reliability issues have been addressed over the past years so that now they have good product and plenty of good reports from users. We decided to bite the bullet and place an order delivery to coincide with a web site going live. Initially we majored on Schroeder as a www name but then decided to spread the net wider with other merchandise and changed the name to www.b-lowbass.co.uk [attachment=202061:be-low bass.png] [/quote] As the person who started the thread on these forums when Jorg shared the good news about a new UK distributor, can I just say a huge thanks to you for making these more readily available? I've a old-style 1212 (with the downward firing speaker) and a new 15PL, and they are both amazing. Yes, the epoxy finish can make them seem a bit cheap, but on the plus side, nothing's going to slip off your cab! The B&C driver in the 15PL is immense and easily copes with everything I've thrown at it. As a one-cab option, the 1212 is hard to beat, but combine these two with my TC Blacksmith and I can cause structural damage if I wish!

This is something I've a bit of recent experience on (and a recent thread in the forum too!), after our guitarist's PRS custom slipped its strap and did a painful nosedive at practice one night. I'd always just relied on normal house insurance, but after a bit of research online revealled a lot of horror stories from people who had their claims refused on these policies (in most cases because they earned money gigging and therefore the companies were classifying their gear as professional equipment and therefore not covered on a domestic policy), I decided to go with specialist music equipment insurance. After comparing a couple of providers, I ended up with Allianz's musical equipment policy. It cost me around £11 per month for around £5k worth of cover, and it's pretty comprehensive. It covers pretty much every aspect of the gear that you could hope for. If the damage to your gear reduces its value after repair, it will even refund you the difference (god forbid these people ever find out about relicing your bass!)

This probably won't go down too well, but I live less than 5 minutes from the venue of that gig and spent most of that particular bank holiday with doors and windows shut, playing music that didn't sound like elevator music for sh*t shops. I'm not disputing that the grumpy wee sh*te has some good tunes, and Mr Moore did a sterling job holding down the bottom end, but Christ was it dull!

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1441891046' post='2862651'] And we complain as musicians about the triumph of style over substance in music Facepalm aside, I’d say it all depends on the context of the band as a whole. If the “pretty lass with potential” is going to be fronting a bunch of muffin-topped 40-somethings (hello readers!), then no amount of beauty is going to make up for the downwards gravitational pull of what will otherwise be facing punters on stage. A middle-aged ‘dad band’ will always look like a middle-aged ‘dad band’. If your mate is serious about wanting to crack the corporate scene, then he’d be advised to focus on hiring someone who is (or capable of seeming like) a professional singer, worthy of spending a corporate fee on. Issues of prettiness and physique are - albeit sadly - mostly confined to the younger end of the market. Image is [i]always[/i] important, of course, but less so as the audience ages; by which time the content of the performance is what tends to count about all else. All sweeping generalisations. But then so is casual sexism. [/quote] Quoted for (a) truth and (b ) despair that we're still having this conversation in 2015.

[quote name='blamelouis' timestamp='1441223798' post='2857137'] I watched my dad die from Emphysema and cardiac problems five months ago .........and I tell you watching Lemmy in that vid brought it all back. The wheezy breathing, the weight loss ,skin colour and the shaking hands it's all there. I hope I'm wrong but he doesn't look a well man. [/quote] I thought the very same thing when I watched that video. I know he had a coronary bypass recently, and that breathing is definitely showing all the signs of emphysema which, after the lifestyle he led for the last 50 years, shouldn't really come as a huge surprise. Doesn't make it any less tragic though.

I'm running my Blacksmith through a pair do Schroeder cabs (1212L and 115 L) and the sound is earth shatteringly epic

Apologies if my post has given anyone a bad attack of GAS! If its any consolation, it appears to be contagious, as I now find myself thinking what I can sell to get a one-cab solution I run both an old style 1212L (with the angled speaker) and a new 15PL. Individually, I find little difference in build quality, although the older one is starting to show very minimal signs of wear on the finish (though to be fair, it has been gigged extensively and I never did get round to buying those covers). The main difference in the newer models that I can tell (apart from all speakers now being front-facing) is that they're all loaded with B&C drivers these days which, if memory serves, is the same make that Markbass used to use before they decided to try cutting costs. Both sound immense by themselves; combined into a killer stack they are mahoosive!

Good news for anyone looking for a lightweight rig - Schroeder cabs have finally sorted out a new distributor for their brilliant cabinets: http://www.schroeder-basscabs.uk/featured/

As a previous owner of a Markbass LMII and current owner of a TC Blacksmith, here's my tuppence. First up, the Markbass - great tone out of the box, and there's enough variety in the filters that it's very possible to run this with a flat EQ and just use the filters to dial in the sound you're after. The filters themselves will give you everything you want, from classic blues, through the James Jamerson motown sound, right up to a modern clean scooped twang. It's loud enough at 500W@4ohms, but for bigger venues you may just want a bit more headroom. Plus, it's superbly portable! Now the Blacksmith. First up, I realise that this isn't the amp that's being asked about, and at around a grand, it's considerably more expensive than the other TCs available. But I'd argue that rather than jump at a RH750, or BH800, you should keep saving until you can get this model - you'll be glad you did! At 1600w, there's no question whether this is going to be loud enough- if you've got the cabs, this thing can cause structural damage! It certainly takes a bit more work to get the sounds you're after, but they're all there if you look hard enough. The semi-parametric EQ section is really comprehensive, and the facility to change the centre frequency of the EQ opens up a whole range of tone possibilities. You've got the 3 presets and built-in tuner too, which is nice. The multi-band compressor on the Blacksmith is excellent - I'm not sure if the BH models offer this, I know the RH does - and the tubetone feature can get everything from a bit of growl to a full-out fuzztone. A real winner from my perspective is its ability to cope with a 2ohm load, and if you're planning to use the head for recording, the digital out is a handy feature. I confess, that I sometimes miss the light, compact head that was the Markbass (this is a 4U beast), but it offers so many other advantages that I'll happily live with the backache!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1436691664' post='2819925'] An older model, but very complete: Boss GT-6B. Wide range of effects, quality sound, easy to use and programme, expression pedal, very solid. Not the latest gadget, but respected in its day and, imo, excellent bang for buck (around £100 or less..?). [/quote]Another thumbs up for the GT6B. Sure, it's not the easiest to programme but with a bit of time and application you can get some great sounds out of it. The presets are pretty impressive too, even if some are pretty much novelty sounds with minimal use (some of the step phaser ones are good fun though!) Another plus is that it is built like the proverbial brick outhouse - no cheap plastic casing here, this is solid aluminium! If you want to do some looping though, I'd recommend a separate pedal; the one on this board is pretty restricted

Thanks for the replies guys. After speaking to our guitarist and finding out that his home contents provider is being a bit funny about the claim, I decided to go for specialist insurance through Allianz. £11 a month with one month free didn't seem too much for around £5k cover. I liked that they'll also cover any reduction in value to the bass if it needs a repair. So 2 basses, amp, 2 cabs and pedals all now covered

Apologies if this has been already debated to death (if so, can someone link to the thread?), but an unfortunate incident at practice tonight has made me think long and hard about this subject. Our guitarist's beautiful PRS Custom 24 slipped it's strap and plummeted head-first to the floor, breaking the headstock. He, like me, has got the instrument listed separately on his home contents insurance and is covered at home, in transit and at gigs, but it got me thinking whether it is enough to rely on a contents policy, or should I go for specialist equipment insurance? So, I'd love to have your thoughts on the pros and cons of home vs specialist insurance. Is the latter generally less hassle to claim from in such situations, or are they much the same? Does the specialist insurance offer more cover or more perks? Is there a company you would recommend?

I think there can be a very thin line between contingency planning and OCD! My live rig includes a spare bass, a few spare leads, batteries, strings and a decent selection of tools. Plus the most important addition to any muso's kitbag- duct tape, plenty of duct tape! I've 2 cabs, and can play on if one fails. The chance of both going is remote enough for me not to worry.ive a relatively new amp and always kept previous amps serviced regularly. If it goes, I can run a DI from my pedal board. I can change strings relatively quickly and can improv on three strings until the song ends if necessary. The spare bass is a relatively recent addition to my gigs; I'm lucky enough not to have had any major disasters yet, at least nothing that couldn't be solved by liberal application of the aforementioned tape. I've even jerry-rigged a perfectly usable strap from the stuff on one occasion! One question though- isn't bringing spares for the rest of the band allowing them to abdicate their own responsibilities? I've yet to play with a guitarist who didn't have at least a spare axe, new strings and leads. Most drummers will bring plenty of sticks, heads etc. Ours even brings spare cymbals, hi hat stand and kick drum pedal just in case. I wouldn't dream of expecting anyone else to bring spare bass strings- that's my responsibility, not theirs

Nope, I don't even think the prospect of filthy lucre would ever get Weller and Buckler on stage again. In fact, Weller has gone on record to say that even if he was destitute and his kids were on the street he'd not reform the band!

Unfortunately, I think it'll be a cold day in hell before Rick Buckler could even stand in the same room as Paul Weller without inflicting violence on him!

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1435654471' post='2810924'] There's a few grumpy old men on this thread aren't there? It's interesting that all the singers held up to be better are male and rock singers.[/quote] There were plenty of female singers of all genres at Glasto that were more in tune than Florence. There were a few standing behind her on stage, for example. [quote]I think people are missing the point, it's all about performance and engaging the audience with her. She was clearly so charged with adrenaline she lost it a little. She came on so fired up she did miss a few notes then she nailed it for a bit but overdid the jumping around and lost her breath and control at the same time. The audience clearly loved it. Do we have different standards for women I wonder? A lot of the acts lost vocal control towards the end of their sets, Roger Daltrey for one but I'd rather see an act taking risks and entertaining than just delivering and failing to engage.[/quote] Yeah, a few grams of best Colombian adrenalin, I'll wager! She missed more than a few notes, I don't think she had one song where she stayed in tune. I'm confused as to why you think any attack on Florence is an attack on female singers though. She wasn't singled out because of her gender, she was singled out because of her performance. [quote]In the past I've seen sets where she has just nailed every note, remarkably so with some of the intervals she uses. There's a difference between not being able to sing for toffee and messing up. Who here hasn't messed up playing or singing live. OK the music isn't for everyone, I'm a sucker for a good pop song. I personally find most rock songs and rock bands dull and derivative, just not my taste, but I don't come on and slag off Dave Grohl for having an off day and going raspy and shouty at the end of a set.[/quote] Y'see, here's the thing. I've watched her perform a few times. Granted, the music isn't my cup of tea (the best description of it that I've heard is the sound a flock of owls would make in a wind chime shop) but I can appreciate a good song for what it is. Yes, there is a difference between not being able to sing and messing up. But when you appear to mess up constantly, then it does start to come off as a bit more than a bad gig.

[quote name='chardbass' timestamp='1435409773' post='2808534'] I want to like Florence- she seems like a good person but my oh my... Flat as you like with a vibrato like Feargal Sharkey on a jackhammer. Every time I looked up at the screen I kept imagining Sarah Ferguson doing a tribute to Kate Bush on some kind of Celebrity Stars in their Eyes. [/quote] If only there was a "like" button! I've watched her play a few times and I've yet to hear her sing even close to in tune. Like you say, I too want to like her as an artist because she does seem a very genuine person, but my god she makes a terrible racket on stage. The best description I've heard is "it sounds like someone released a flock of owls into a wind chime shop"