Greg Edwards69

Redonizm were back on The Rock a.k.a. Canvey Island on Saturday night. This time at a new venue for us, a Starr Sports, a sports/pool bar on the seafront. Keen readers may recall our last visit to Canvey ended in a 20 person brawl as we finished our last song. Well this visit was complicated by a murder of a patron of that same venue the night before, and the town centre was cordoned off all day (I believe the cordon is still in place now. I was concerned that we might be playing to an empty bar considering the circumstances, but was quite relieved to see a busy venue, full of people. The gig went well. Plenty of people enjoyed themselves, singing and dancing for most of the evening. I people dance then I’m a happy man. Only issue was a room resonance centred around low G (about 100hz). I was able to notch it out for my personal frfr speaker via my helix (seriously, the global eq in this device is worth the admission price) but there was still the odd boom and rumble from other instruments less able to notch it out, but I don’t think it impacted the audiences enjoyment one iota. Added a couple of tunes since last gig, “Torn” and “Baggy Trousers”. The latter was a particular highlight with our male vocalist playing the sax lines on a kazoo!

My picks have been getting thinner and thinner over the years. I used to use thick stubbies years ago, then thick 1 or 2mm gator grips, then I went down to 0.71mm gator grips when I realised I wanted to accentuate that crisp "snap" that only thinner pick gives, but I was still finding it was considerably louder than my finger style playing, and the gator grip material wore out very quickly. I bought a couple of mixed packs last year and after auditioning several at home and at band rehearsal I've settled on Dunlop Flex 0.60mm. They have the durability of tortex and the warmth and flexibilty of nylon. I found the 0.60mm gauge to be the right balance between volume, crisp and snappy attack, and not losing too much low end.

IIRC, flats are generally higher tension than equivalent gauge rounds, and it's usually common to go down a gauge when switching to flats. Although of course, it depends on the brand of string. If you're going up a couple of gauges to flats, that would be similar to 60-110 rounds. So yes, I would expect a change to the relief!

That extends to basses and guitars too. The only difference in my basses that is clear to my wife is the colour. Actually, when we first met, she thought the neck was called the "handle". I frequently have to remind myself that the audience couldn't care less when I start agonising over details.

I have the headrush 112 speaker as well as my only "rig" along with my Helix. If I were you I would try using what you have as backline before spending a significant amount of money on a second rig. It might surprise you how competent it is. FWIW. I previously had a markbass LM2 head and 1x12 traveller cab as my only backline gig rig, even in situations with just vocals through the PA. The headrush performs just as well as that. Pretty much comparable to any high powered off the shelf 1x12 combo IMHO. Of course, if you're just looking for an excuse to buy new gear. Then go for it. You don't need our collective blessing to justify it. But I will say the audience likely won't know the difference.

That was my thought, and it appears the actual intention. I just thought the illustration was hilarious. Must have been contracted out to the lowest bidder.

Yeah, that’ll work great!

I stand corrected, good sir. Besides it can't hear me. I sold it a few years ago.

Indeed, at a showcase event, such as the OP mentioned, my LMII head met with an accident when we were loading in (long story, fell out of boot during load in, thought it was okay but went into protect mode 15mins into a 30min set). I bought a Carvin BX700 to use in the interim whilst the LMII was being repaired. After that incident I realised how delicate these tiny class D amps are and I ended up making the LMII my backup.

I went through a similar quandary a number of years ago, between the CMD121H combo and traveller 121H cab with LMII head. Ultimately, I went with the head and cab. The cab had slightly deeper frequency extension than the combo, and I just felt the mini stack would be more versatile. On several occasions, and at rehearsals I was able to leave my cab at home and use my head with someone else's cab, meaning I didn't have to carry as much. Although compact, and lightweight when it came out, it was still a bit of a lump to carry in certain situations (like up and down dark fire escapes, or through endless corridors in large hotels). But I completely get the attraction of a single, simple to move, and quick to set up combo. As such, if I was in that place right now and looking at Markbass again, I would be considering one the new MB58R combos instead. They're so much lighter, that moving it around for any gig and rehearsal is a non-issue The mini stack doesn't offer the advantage it once did.

I wonder if a reverse P pickup layout would work better in this instance.

Allegedly, Flea used a Mutron III on the recording (apparently, with a dying battery). The helix includes a few mutron models (including the legacy effect options), but I've not had much like dialling them in. I prefer to use the Autofilter effect. Once I got my head round the parameters, it was easier to dial in. This talkbass post really helped https://www.talkbass.com/threads/line-6-hx-effects.1324948/page-108#post-21880052

True. I think a lot of musicians forget this, particularly on the cover band circuit. I've certainly been guilty of playing self-indulgent music or attempting to educate the audience, only for it to die on it's derrière. Pick your battles! If people still go crazy for Sex On Fire and Mr Brightside then we should continue to play them.

I'm similar. I'm somewhat introverted around strangers, and there's no way I could front a band or be a soloist, especially not without an instrument slung around my neck. I have self-confidence issues revolving around a stammer I've had since I was 8 years old, and I don't have the 'gift of gab'. But give me a bass guitar and people to play with and I'm as happy as Larry.

Sometimes, getting professional gigs includes having the right bass. I've heard more than several stories of people not getting a gig or session because their bass didn't say "fender" on the headstock and/or had more than 4 strings.

I'm in the bring something different but able to cover similar ground camp. I also stick to one bass all night for consistency. Switching basses that have a different feel mid set throws me. I'll happily play any of my basses for an entire gig, but I just like the comfort of consistency. I realise this is a plus point for having a duplicate bass as a backup, but for the gigs I do, it's really a non-issue if the worst happened. I'd switch bass and get one with it, even if it takes several songs to adjust. I've only once had a bass fail on me, but it was my own fault, as I knew the jack socket was playing up before I left home and wasn't able to fix it in time - I should have just played the backup instead. These days I take more time to maintain my instruments, and sometimes, if I'm feeling brave and it's a local gig, I won't even take a backup. (being a local gig or not makes absolutely no sense, I know. But in my own way, I feel less anxious about an instrument failure if I'm close to home). I've whittled my collection down to 3 basses. The Attitude LTD2, Squier 50s P and a G&L Tribute JB2. I tend to favour either the Attitude (rock ) or JB2 (pub/party) depending on the gig, and bring the Squier 50s P as the backup (although I did several entire gigs with the 50s P when I first got it). Whilst the basses are different, I tend to favour the neck pickup on the JB2, which brings all three basses into classic P bass territory - just different flavours of it. So I'd happily be able to play any bass for any gig TBH. Regarding the Squier 50s P. It's a great little bass for the money. It's as simple as a bass gets, lovely neck and lightweight. The tone is brighter than a traditional P bass, but that can be cured with the tone control, different strings, or outboard eq/effects. The only thing I will say is if you're used to resting your thumb on the pickup, it doesn't quite work as the pickup isn't as wide/long as a standard P or J pickup. (I only rest my thumb on the pickup when I play the E string, otherwise, I rest on the string below the one I'm playing - semi-floating thumb). I ended up getting a bespoke thumbrocker thumb rest made that has much improved the feel. FWIW, I did put flat on it for a while and it sounded great, but felt too far removed from my other basses. I might it again through to give me a different flavour.

That's the second tome I've seen something like this today. I saw the Blackstar Carry-on Bass earlier and it definitely makes sense as gig-backup-that-won't-likely-get-played option. I was considering a Steinberger Spirit for this function, but this could be a better option (not to mention cheaper).

If it were me and I had to create the samples you’ve shared, I’d dive straight into illustrator and use a notation font for the various symbols such as the free google font “Noto Music”. The glyphs palette will let you choose which symbols you require. Then just copy, paste and manipulate as necessary. https://fonts.google.com/noto/specimen/Noto+Music It won’t be a quick process. You’re creating art, not just sheet music.

Not too shabby on Saturday. Was a bit of a last minute booking a couple of weeks ago. We were meant to be playing in a different local pub, but it was double booked to due to a change of management, so they found us a slot in another local - better for me, as it was a 5 minute drive from my home, but not as big a venue. The place was rammed when we arrived. Great! But then it was a bit of squeeze of us to fit in our designated space - just enough room for the drum kit in the performance area. I eventually ended up right in front of the drums with roughly 2 square feet to stand in. The two singers had to stand between and in front of the PA speakers, so we was plagued with low end feedback numerous times. Unfortunately there was a pool table in front of us off to one side that wasn't possible for it to be moved, which meant valuable dance floor space was being taken up (not to mention one of the singers nearly the butt end of cue in his face at one point). Me and one of the other singers (dep again*) have been getting over heavy colds since the last gig a couple of weeks ago (or possibly covid, according to the positive test I did). Her voice held out better than mine. I was so congested I could feel the air trying to escape from my ears! Vocalzones and a hip flask full of single malt got me through the night, even though I was ready for bed after the first set. One of the guitarists who doubles on keyboards was on crutches after a foot operation about 10 days ago. This was semi-planned for, so we just had to load in his gear, help him set up and he wedged himself into a corner on a stool and pretty much stayed there all night. Fortunately, he had prepared by figuring out how to control his helix over midi via bandhelper. I think I might explore the same solution. I could potentially tuck my helix away somewhere if I don't need to changes sounds during a song. Overall, we had a good night. The pub is one of those ones that people go to on the way to somewhere else. But we brought a small crowd with us for the night and it stayed busy the whole evening with people singing and dancing most of the evening. *Oh, and we had the same dep singer from 2 weeks ago in place of our usual lady singer who's been hit by a nasty flu virus for a few weeks. This young lady (young enough to be one of our daughters) did a sterling job, and sung the balls off of "All I want for christmas" and "Proud Mary". I really wish at least one of these was filmed. She even got a group of people chanting her name at one point after blasting out 'You've got the love'. Videos on our facebook page. Redonizm. Yeah, it's the usual overplayed cheesy nonsense, but if people dance to it, we'll continue to play it.

Unlike Wizzard's "I wish it could be Christmas everyday", that is so densely mix a la Phil Spector's wall of sound, that's it's near impossible to hear what the bass guitar is actually doing.

Yep. My band has been going for about 20 years. We've had three of our 4 xmas song in the repertoire for most of that time period. Once you've learned them it really doesn't take much work to dust them off for a pre-xmas gig rehearsal. Regarding weddings and private parties. I think the most we learned that were requested was four or five songs, but it usually is just one or two (it can be challenging to remind clients that you're a cover band and not a jukebox!). Whilst some of those songs are never played ever again, sometimes they surprise you and stay in our regular set for quite some time. Case in point, we were requested to play Sledgehammer a couple of years ago or so, and Dancing on the ceiling earlier this year. Now they're amongst of my favourite songs in the set.

Yes. Every year around Christmas time. We stick Santa hats on and break out the sleigh bells too. we currently do Slade, Wizzard, Mariah Carey and the Pogues/Kirsty McColl. The later goes down really well, largely aided by having both male and female lead singers in the band, and one of the guitars switches to keyboard and had a patch setup with piano, accordion and strings to cover the key parts.

New venue for Redonizm at the Crumpled Horn in Upminster. A little bit a squeeze, so went with a 2 3 1 diamond formation with the two singers up front, me in the middle flanked by the guitarists and drummist at the back. We had to wait for the football to finish, but our usual mix of party music with several obligatory festive songs soon got a number of people up and dancing. We had a dep singer standing in for our usual female singer who did a blinding job. Fitted in incredibly well after only a couple of rehearsals with a superb, controlled voice for only 23 years old. She’ll be helping us out again in couple of weeks time too, so looking forward to that. And she helped pack cables away and carry cases!

Slade, Wizzard, Pogues, and Mariah Carey are all in the set this month. It helps having both male and female lead singers.

I quite like that. It’s certainly an affordable way to dip one’s toes into short scale territory. Id never considered a shell pink bass before, but it looks the prettiest of the bunch.