bonzodog

[quote name='lee4' timestamp='1398113866' post='2430658'] Put flats on it! These are great basses IMO,and I'm happy with mine. I had neck-dive issues,but sorted this with a suede backed strap and by moving the rear strap button to by the top contour. Enjoy. [/quote] Yes thats exactly what I am going to do. I already have a wide strap anyway as I suffer with a prolapsed disc and this helps. I also adore the colour of black on black with a maple neck

Great gig last night and first time I used my new Tony Butler bass. Cant believe how good it sounded through my Hartke rig. Straight out of the box the action was great and inotation spot on. Really cut through the mix and felt really comfortable. I just cannot understand how theses basses are only 200 quid brand new.

Just sold my MP. Fantastic looking bass but i just could not get the sound I wanted out of it. Last few gigs I ended up using my jhs vintage as I was getting the sound I wanted. I agree that its trying to be a quality bass on a budget

Great basses for beginners and beyond. My first bass was a Westone Spectrum in black. Wish I had kept it, especially as I let it go for peanuts

Depends if youre ever in a position where you would not use the full PA. You say some of the pubs are cramped but do you still take the active subs in? We play a lot of small pubs where we only use a small PA with 12" tops so I still use my bass amp then and only put vocals through PA. As long as youre happy with sound from a smaller amp and sound of bass through the PA then there is no reason why you cant do what youre suggesting, just as long as you can hear yourself on stage

Bought the Tony Butler sig V4 and should get it on Monday. You can buy them online now for £204 with free delivery and for that bass I think it is a great price.

I like the Matt Freeman Squier but as I said finances are pretty dismal at present and the V4 TB is a lot cheaper and great for the cash. Greggo - They are great basses for the money but the biggest problem is getting hold of one to try. None of my local music shops who Vintage claim to be distributors stock any.

Thanks for the replies. I think for the money they are great basses and I really want a black/black with a maple neck.

Can anyone who owns one of the above answer a question please. I bought a V4 reissued series off ebay as a cheap back up bass but liked it that much I regularly use it at gigs. The reason I like it is because the neck is much thinner than a standard precision. I dont mean the fretboard width but the actual distance from the top of the fretboard to the back of the neck. More like a jazz bass. I would say its shallower than a Fender modern C shape. Due to my current situation I am selling my fender MP jazz bass and intending on buying the vintage tony butler V4. Its impossible to find them anywhere in shops so i wanted to check the neck was the same as my standard V4, nice and shallow. There are no dimensions on jhs web site and upon googling it the only place I could find a discussion was on talkbass where they were saying how chunky V4 necks were compared to most P basses. This is odd as mine is the opposite. I emailed jhs and they have replied to say the necks on all V4s are quite wide and deep and I should consider a jazz style if I want a thin neck. But I want a precision. I thought maybe my V4 has got a different neck on it than original but the logo clearly states a V4 and its hardly a bass you would bother changing the name on the headstock. Im quite confused so anyone with a V4, preferably the Tony Butler model that could tell me how the neck shape differs from a Standard Fender P bass would really help Thanks

Cool. We play a lot of Jam songs in our set and I very often have to decide whether to play the correct bass part or do the correct harmony backing vocals as on some songs its virtually impossible to do both. Dont know how he does it.

What basses was he using last night?

Done

Have a look at the JHS Vintage range too. Very well made with Wilkinson pickups and on a par price wise with the Squiers.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1396446610' post='2413744'] The only reason I play is to play gigs. The buzz of creating live music in front of an audience is what it's all about for me. [/quote] Agreed. If my band split up I'd be eager to get into another one as soon as possible. You cannot beat the feeling of playing live to a good audience.

I heard 7 o clock by the Quireboys the other day and it brought back memories of me and my house mate playing it 15 years ago when we were getting ready to go out on the pull. Cant help feeling good when i hear that song

I would be interested to see what your take is on the above. We always offer to supply our venue with posters advertising our gigs there. This is mainly pubs, as our club gigs tend to be a longer bill and they take care of that. A lot of the time we are told not to bother as they say they do it themselves. As we are a 'specific' covers band in that we do Mod/New Wave covers we very often arrive to see no mention of our genre on the poster even though the venue were aware of what we do. On occasions when we have supplied posters we have arrived to find them not put up which is annoying as they have a cost involved. Do any of you send posters ahead of bookings as standard or not bother at all?

I would always go separate too. You need to access mixer all the time so if room is limited you can put power amp somewhere else and have a small lightweight mixer on hand.

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1395736146' post='2405546'] I would say that's more down to his poor management. Stuff breaks that's fair but stuff broken due to neglect or incompetence or plain just breaking it, the bands should be held accountable and that's that really. Running something like a rehearsal studio isn't a case of set it up, bands us it and then the dough rolls in. [/quote] Possibly an element yes, but I think rehearsal rooms are a breeding ground for a bunch of mates to get together to have a go at forming a band without knowledge of using the equipment. He has no problem with stuff breaking as thats part of the job, but having mics thrown on the floor, amps blown due to having the gain up full and drum kits broken gets a bit tedious. I would imagine trying to get someone who has just blown and amp due to misuse to pay for it would be often met with a few choice words.

I think owners of studios get fed up with the way bands treat the places so they go downhill. An old mate of mine opened a rehearsal complex and swore he would keep it to a high standard. After 12 months it was a dump. He said he was fed up of replacing blown amps, broken mics and cleaning up fag ash and food. He simply could not afford to keep replacing things. We rehearse at a studio that is not advertised. We were lucky to be asked there and this owner selects the bands he wants to use it.

Ive worked for agents for over 20 years and it is hard to first get on their books. A good portion of work goes to solo singers and duos as they are easier to accommodate. Agents have to be careful with live bands as there a lot of poor bands out there. One bad gig can ruin their reputation so you have to see it from their point of view. Its a case of keep trying and maybe offer to do a low paid gig just so the agent can come and see you. There are normally showcases organised by venues where a selection of acts play to a room full of agents and landlords. Ask the agents if they know of any coming up you can get on. You will get a gig sooner or later and as long as it goes well normally the flood gates open and the agent fills your diary.

Yes I know that feeling. Ive sang for years with no problems but since I have had kids I seem to pick up loads of colds and coughs. I am lucky now that in my 3 piece we share the singing so my guitarist could sing the songs I do if he really has to. I think it depends on what style of music you play too. A lot of out stuff sounds better with a croaky voice!! You are right though that you have to look after your voice but once a cold kicks in there is not much you can do about it. Hope you can sort out another singer quickly

I think i will take back off and have a look then for loose wires. I never use the XLR socket as its not DMX'd. I purely plug it into the mains on its own. I have used terminators before when linking up a lot of lights but suppose its worth a try conmecting a terminator to it to see if it solves the issue thanks

For small pub gigs we use 2 American DJ megapar LED spotlights. I have just noticed one of them is faulty. No matter what mode i put it on after a few minutes it will freeze on one colour and then flicker. If i press any of the buttons on the back to try and change it none of them work. I have to switch it off and on again to reset it and then it does the same a few minutes later. I have tried using other power leads but its the same. It is out of warranty now so does anyway know whats wrong and if it can be repaired. We have a gig on saturday i was planning on using it for. Thanks

I get rubber washers from my local hardware shop, the same size as the Grolsch bottle rubbers. Simply put your strap on then place these over the top. The only problem is you need to really leave your strap on all the time so as not to bend the washers. Sometimes you may need two or three washers together to bulk it out but its such a cheap option and its never let me down. Think I paid £2.50 for 50 of them which will last a very long time

Thanks for the help. On the basis that it is my power amp that is clipping then I am right in my original post to ensure this does not flash.