Happy Jack

It took us far too much of the first set to sort out the appropriate settings on both the sub and the tops - too many options everywhere - but by about 20 mins in @Silvia Bluejay was beginning to get less disgusted with the basic sound and starting to apply the right EQ to make improvements. I thought the sub was strangely sensitive (on its own volume control) to an exact sweet spot for best resuts, but we weren't being helped by either the room (very lively) or the band layout - we had the tops on either side of the band and the sub on the floor dead centre, but further forward than I'd have preferred due to a partition getting in the way. By set #2 Silvie had it completely under control and the sound was fine, certainly far better than with just the CP8s on their own. They're great units and I really rate them for confined spaces, but Silvie never tires of pointing out that they're really intended for use as floor wedges and sound awful compared to our more serious PA kit. As an audio experience, and judged purely for that, the Citronic sub + 2xQSC CP8s rig was actually a bit meh and of course that's exactly what I expected. Now factor in the portability and form factor in a badly-designed boozer with a tricky load-in and it all makes sense. I'm delighted that we have that rig ... we won't use it often but we'll use it where we need it, and that will probably be a dozen times a year.

On a slightly more constructive note, rather than naming & shaming at this stage or threatening legal action, why don't you politely email him with a link to this thread on Basschat and ask him how he thinks you should proceed?

Check the weight before you buy!

As of right now (and I suspect it will be gone by lunchtime): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/236374724127

Far Canal. Sorry Al, I was clearly way off target.

WHUT???!!!

Sorry to have wasted your valuable time, Dan. Please feel free to ignore my future posts on this or other subjects. 🙂

Pretty sure that's 21Kg.

@Silvia Bluejay won't be at the next Load Of Hay gig but she will be at the one I mentioned and she will be recording it, so that should be very doable.

What's your take on introducing relatives of Site Administrators? Asking for a friend ...

Already bought Phil, and with my eyes wide open. If I've screwed up then at least I can't lose too much money on a £200 sub. 😉 We've used the CP8s at The Load Of Hay once already and it's pretty clear that they're on the lightweight side ... not a criticism, just recognition that we're deliberately 'mis-using' them. We have a gig next weekend at a much larger pub but one where the space allotted to the band is about as big as your dining table, so I really wanted to get the sub on board in time for that gig.

And on rhythm guitar we have

After a lot of research, I went uber-cheap. https://cpc.farnell.com/citronic/casa-10ba/active-10-sub-300w-rms/dp/LS06176 I don't actually need 'capable' and I already own more high-quality PA kit than is good for a man; what I need is 'suitable for tiny playing areas, usually in venues with lousy acoustics' where all that matters is form factor and (above all) light weight. I'd never take a Citronic 1x10 sub to a serious gig, given that I already own two 2x10 subs and a 1x15 sub, and more importantly most of my gigs have no need for a sub-woofer at all. But I always have a benchmark tiny pub in mind, the sort of place where there's nowhere near enough room for the band / there's a 5'7" ceiling / the bar is five feet in front of the band / the load-in is a complete nightmare. My benchmark used to be The Red Lion in Leighton Buzzard, then it was The White Hart in Chalfont St Peter, and now it's The Load Of Hay in Bushey Heath. Places like this need tiny speakers for all sorts of reasons, so I can use my QSC CP8 monitor wedges as PA tops instead but obvs they really don't handle bass very well. A tiny, lightweight, lowish-quality sub is exactly what I need to re-balance the system. @Chienmortbb suggested the Wharfdale and I'm actually a fan of their stuff but it weighs 21Kg so is only marginally lighter than the 23Kg MarkAudio units I already have. Where the Citronix scores is that it weighs just over 16Kg. Because of the handle placement it's still a 2-handed lift, but a very easy one. I can still manage the Mark Audio units but it's getting harder every year to lift those buggers into the back of the car and then manoevre them around. 🙄

OK, OK, I realise that this is pretty much a contradiction in terms, but does such a thing as a decent, lightweight sub-woofer actually exist? I am NOT interested in sooper-dooper FRFR systems ... I am after a sub that I can use with a pair of QSC CP8s in small pubs & clubs, something that weighs less than 40lbs, something that will not be used at very high volumes but needs to cope with a low B without blinking (or melting).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq8eplxd7yzo

Well if anyone is wondering about the significance of this ancient shop sign (more of a palimpset, really): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Wright_(composer)

Lots of great answers above, few of which I'd challenge, but my personal approach would be closest to @Hellzero on this subject. I've been in this situation more than once, and I just ask them back, "Do you want the polite, supportive answer or what I really think?". The easily offended will change the subject at this point, which is fine with me. Those who actually want to know are happy to dive into a deep technical conversation where we talk about high mids and volume levels and guitarists who are complete w*****s.

It arrived this afternoon. Nice enough bag, certainly way tougher (and better looking) material than 20-denier nylon, but not yet convinced it's £330 worth. We'll see. Something that was clear immediately is that it's a very snug fit for the Alcoa, especially over the bridge. Hmmmmm. I can read that as a good thing and as a bad thing.

But ... but ... will nobody think of the Dots? 😱

I'm struggling here. I imagine I've read something wrong, but is the idea that you can convert a longscale into a shortscale just by moving the bridge?

A typical band PA in a pub/club is usually set up to deal with loud rock music, not a guy trying to engage in witty banter, so his mumbling will be largely inaudible anyway. Given that one man's "witty banter" is another's "who the hell is this dickhead?" you're set up to fail if you do much of this stuff. It gets worse. Very few people are natural entertainers, still less spontaneous ones. A line gets a few laughs at a gig and instantly becomes part of a fixed script, to be repeated at each and every bloody gig at exactly the same point, until everyone is sick to death of it. Sometimes you reach the Seventh Level Of Hell, where there's only one singer but everyone in the band has a mic so that they can all take part in the stale, pre-prepared banter. A bit like a badly-read radio script. The audience is there for the booze and the women. Your music is pretty much incidental. No one gives a tinker's cuss that the drummer's name is Dave or that the band comes from Slough, no one is interested in being thanked for coming to their local. Just play the bloody songs.

Current Second Reserve, long since redundant: Is it 3/4? Yes. Is it padded? No. Is it perfect? No. Will it do a decent job as a gigbag? IMHO that's a 'No' due to the lack of padding, but it will do just fine as a storage bag or dust cover. Free to collect during the next week from HA1 3RG.