GuitarTart

Finished a week's run of CATS at Ferneham Hall in Fareham last night. The Youth cast of STP were incredible and the 14 piece band (orchestra ?) was fantastic. Even packing up didn't take the edge off the buzz. The only down side to the week was that I was sat facing not one but two trumpets !!! Myk PS Starting rehearsals for West Side Story this evening. If there's no rest for the wicked, I must be eternally damned !!!

Hi James Sorry if I'm a bit behind the times on this thread but I've only recently joined BC. I got the POD XTLive to go with my Variax 700 then added the Bass Expansion pack so I could use it with my Variax Bass 700 as well. Initially, I spent a lot of time finding the best combination of amp, cab and mic for each model in the bass and saved the patches as a default bundle. I used Line 6 Edit on my laptop to speed up this process. Now, when I want a particular sound or tone, I copy the basic patch into the POD and tweak it from there, using Edit to add eq, compression, effects etc. I may sound like a Line 6 junkie but I need a huge range of sounds and styles as I do a lot of theatre work and could be doing Disco Inferno this week and Oklahoma next. Some compilation concerts could require 4 or 5 completely different rigs. Another thing that works for me is to take one output into my monitor amp and use a jack to XLR converter in the other going to the desk. That way, I control my own monitor level and the sound man gets the sound I want without having to do anything other than balance the volume with the rest of the band. From the start, my XTLive has lived in a Gator bag as mentioned above. I can't remember the code but it's the one for the mini synth. I've just bought another one for my new HD 500. Excellent protection and good value. Myk

Found a pic of me playing guitar for a change in Disco Inferno. The grumpy expression is because of the amount of hair and sweat getting into my eyes. Fixed this the second night by wearing a baseball cap under the afro wig!

Thanks guys. Feeling at home already. Bert, don't know about the cat avatar. I see there's already a cat and the next one looks like a mouse! Wouldn't want to start a competition or a fight so soon Myk

[size=4]Just been steered towards this site by a guy in a music shop. I've had a quick look around and I like what I see. [/size]Most of my time (outside of work) is taken up with playing bass or guitar for local amateur musical groups. Usually it's for free. I made a bit of money playing in bands so I look on this work as payback. The odd paying gig allows me to buy new gear. I've done a huge range of shows, from Annie to West Side Story so I need a variety of sounds and for this reason I have a James Tyler Variax with POD HD500 and a Variax 700 bass into a Line 6 Lowdown Studio 110. I've recently bought an ESP Ltd B-204 fretless which looks nice and plays well. I'm using it in CATS this week with the 110 as a pit monitor and the built-in DI to the desk. Future shows include West Side Story (again), Starlight Express and Copacobana. That's probably enough for now. Myk