Greg Edwards69

Just seen these via a google search for something else. Looks lovely and different to typical fender shaped designs (even though it's based on a particular fender as the OP mentioned. I'm not a fan of pickup switches on basses TBH, I tend to find myself wanting more control of pickup blends. But the additional switching options look interesting, even though I can't determine exactly what they do - even Anderton's aren't quite sure.

Classics are great and safe, but absolutely you should add a few modern numbers. As others have said, Lizzo, Bruno, Dua Lipa, Sheeran, Harry Styles are all safe bets. (FWIW, "Shut Up and Dance" and "Mr Brightside" never, ever fail to get people up singing and dancing) Whilst weddings parties have a huge demographic, remember that half of them - generally extended family - will be chatting all night to people they haven't seen for years. The ones that tend to get up and dance are the bride and groom's friends. Focus on that demographic moreso than the grannies and aunties, and you'll be in the right area.

I had one of these when they first came out. It was my first "proper" amp. I remember the cab design being very efficient, and the volume belied it's power rating - it easily kept up with a drummer in rehearsals and small gigs. The preamp was pretty good and had "that" classic trace tone. I just wished it was lighter. Or at least had side handles rather than the rubber strap on the top. I do wonder how well a modern version of this design would work, with a lighter cab material, neo speaker and lighter amp. Maybe Trace (or rather Peavy) should investigate.

I found the key to jumping up and down the neck on this one is pointing your head in the right direction in anticipation of the next bar i.e., looking at the 17th fret whilst you're playing the low notes, and looking at the 5th fret whilst you're playing the high notes.

Exactly why I stopped playing my old Warwick Thumb! Back when I was younger, fitter and ergonomically naive, I saved up my pennies for my first "really nice" bass and chose a 5 string, bolt-on Thumb after getting into Jack Bruce and trying out several Warwicks at the UK Music Show. I loved the ginormous neck and didn't mind that the headstock was in the next postcode. But after a number of years, it started to cause problems - back and shoulder pain that would last several days after a gig and my fretting hand would cramp up during repetitive basslines down by the nut. As my experience and skills grew, I realised the bass' inherent design was the problem. I stopped playing it and got a new bass that balanced properly and I don't get those physical problems anymore. Since then, I make sure any bass I feels right ergonomically.

Indeed. I don't even use my frfr speaker for gigs anymore since we added a sub to our PA system. And I only kept using it when the guitarists ditched their backline to fill out the missing lowend from our previously sub-less PA. Now I have this big lump of a 12" frfr (well, it's big to me!) that I only cart to rehearsals so I'm looking to downsize. I did have the smaller Headrush 108 speaker too, but regardless of the specs, it just didn't have the low-end heft of my bigger 112 and had a different-sounding profile. I also realise that my Headrush 112 isn't the most accurate thing in the world, even though it does sound pretty good with bass - I just don't get the same great sound out front. A 10" seems to be the sweet spot. I just need to decide whether to go for the superior and more accurate QSC K10.2, or a Yamaha DXR10 that will more closely match our DXR12-powered PA speakers. If I could dial my patches in on a DXR10, I stand more chance of them sounding the same in the PA. Although the same could probably be said for the QSC as well.

Whilst I don't have a QSC speaker (yet) so I can't advise on the best dsp settings, you could try stacking a couple of hpfs in series. The hpfs employed in these devices are usually fairly gentle with a -12dB/oct slope, so stacking them will result in a more aggressive low cut. I have a fixed hpf in each preset on my helix (around 50hz) that gets sent to FOH and my headrush frfr speaker, and another variable one in the Helix's global eq that only affects the frfr speaker, letting me adjust it for the room. You could do the same with your set up and have hpfs in your QC and another variable one in the QSC speaker. FWIW, I would probably go with the K10.2 as well. QSC themselves recommend it for bass with FOH support and from Bob Lee at QSC himself in response to my question.

It’s been in our regular set for years. Great fun to play, and sing with those big harmonies. It never fails to get the crowd joining in. We do a little bit at the end to give our drummer a little spotlight too.

Nearly forgot to write a report We were back at the Cow & Telescope in Southend on Saturday night. We played out debut there a couple of months ago but we must have left a good impression as we were invited back for this prime Saturday before Xmas when another band had to pull out. Apparently a number of other bands requested the slot but the venue wanted us. I did wonder what sort of turn out it would be, given it was the Saturday before Xmas but also the first day of a long break at home for many people. My fears were unwarranted as we had a great turnout. And everyone was up for a proper party. Singing, dancing and joining in from the start. The usual Christmas songs went down well and our super-sub, Sophie, I reckon did her best yet with us. Fab night and back slaps all round.

I've just checked the manuals for these two pedals. The BC-1X manual states that the effect is always engaged when powered on: The CEB-3 manual has no such statement, however, and neither manual suggests a way to change it - there's no hidden dip switches, for example. Based upon the BC-1X behaviour and my previous experience with my old V-Wah, I suspect this the default behaviour of many Boss pedals, annoying as it is.

It's a bit dated, but sounds like the old Boss ME-50b might suit you more than the current generation of digital multi-fx.

I really don't understand why Boss designs their pedals like this. I had a V-Wah pedal that did the same thing - every time I powered it up the wah was engaged. I stopped using it when I had power problems on one gig. They ought to include a dip switch inside so you can decide whether the effect is engaged or not when power is applied, or at least remember its last used state.

Decent one at the Crumpled Horn in Upminster for us on Saturday. It’s a little cramped for bands, but dropping he backline this year gave us a little more space compared to when we played there last Christmas. Due to the space restrictions, we set up sensibly, in sections rather than bringing everything in all at once, which helped us set up in record time. So we had the luixry of 45mins spare to relax before we started playing. We played well and our super sub Sophie once again dial a great job standing in for Jenny on co-lead vocals. Good crowd from the start who were up for a party and dancing (although there was one bloke who was calling out for mustang sally even before we started. Got the usual “one more song” requests, but we had to stop eventually as we had to pack up and get home before it got to silly o’clock. Next stop, back at the Cow and Telescope in Southend on the 23rd for our last gig of the year.

Other more informed experts will be able to explain it better than I can. But my understanding is that ground reinforcement/coupling is only effective within a certain radius of the speaker. i.e. if you're relying on a couple of small cabs to fill the room, the excited low end you hear by having the cab on the floor probably won't be heard out in the audience. Also, treble frequencies are directional (meaning the speaker has to be pointing directly at your head to hear them clearly) and bass frequencies are omni-directional (meaning they can be heard from anywhere). Hence why you can always heard muffled, bass from outside a nightclub. Raising the cab off the floor and tilting the cab to point at your head will give you a much better idea of what the audience is hearing. Likewise, guitarists would also do well to do the same thing. For one, it stops the stage being swamped with low end, and two, they'll hear their treble better. Too many guitarists don't realise how piercing their treble is - and painful for the audience - because it's firing at their own knees.

That's great to hear it's doing the job for you. Fingers crossed the adhesive is strong enough that it doesn't ping off during an energetic performance!

This thread, combined with Saturday's gig has got me thinking. We've gone totally IEM this year and only abandoned the backline around 6 months ago - so vocals, bass, guitars and keyboard are all going through the PA, but only the bass drum is mic'd, the rest of the kit is generally loud enough for the types of places we play. FWIW, we're all hearing the same mono mix - Aux 1 from a Yamaha MG20xu desk into a splitter that spits out to several Xvive U4 receivers and a couple of wired feeds (Behringer P2 and the drummer uses a small mixer). On Saturday, our drummer recorded a few songs from his phone, perched just behind him on his right. The drums sounded pretty good, but obviously, the rest of the mix wasn't there as the PA is in front. We've mentioned using an ambient mic to compensate for the isolation effect and usefully, one of the guitarists has a boundary mic somewhere (we tried it when we first tried going IEM a few years ago, but abandoned the idea after realising the cheap G4M kit was crap). From the drummer's recordings, I'm thinking sticking it directly behind him would sound quite good mixed into the IEM feed. I also said to him that those recordings would sound really good if they could somehow be mixed with the IEM feed. So..., I'm wondering. With the Zoom recorders, can you use them to send the ambient sound to the desk AND record the IEM feed from the desk simultaneously? Or will it only record what it is hearing from the mics?

The Sarah Moore in Leigh-on-Sea on Saturday night. Usefully, about 5 minutes from my home. Arrived in good time for an 8.30 start and 11pm finish but we weren't able to start setting up until nearly 7 before we could start setting up as the landlord had put a couple of handwritten signs on the two tables in the band area saying "reserved until 7pm". So, it ended up being a bit of a rush to get everything set up and soundchecked. Not to mention bringing the wrong mixer and having to wait 30 mins for the right one to arrive. The pub was busy all night and was up for a party from the start. And we had a dep singer (Sophie) standing in for Jen (who has been poorly), who did a grand job and brought a small crowd with her. I've also had a cold brewing for two or three days prior. Just an irritation in the throat, but my voice was shot by the end. One of the guitarists remarked that I sounded like Voldemort. Hopefully, me and Jen will be back fighting fit for the next 2 two gigs later this month.

I don't think it's just clothes and costumes. But many punters just don't get that the band's equipment a) costs money, and b) is not there for them to use and abuse without asking, such as... Getting up on stage to join in grabbing my mic. If invited up, standing on pedalboards. Getting too close to the band, spilling beer, or falling onto equipment. Putting drinks on speaker cabs. or next to power outlets.

Slade, Wizzard, Mariah (yeah, I know) and Pogues/Kirsty MacColl for us. And just one rehearsal this Sunday to dust them all off again. Good shout on "last Christmas", I may suggest it.

The seemingly daft thing is, I'm a graphic designer by trade. You'd think I'd be on top of all this stuff. But in my defence, I come from a print background. I can make things looks pretty, it's the admin side of it I struggle with. It's often been said in my office, where there are only a couple of us under 50, that we're too old to get on top of social media. EDIT: We've been saying about getting a showreel filmed. But I'm now thinking a photo shoot would be more useful - we haven't done one for well over 10 years, and our line up has changed since then, so I've been cludging together a mixed bad of headshots from various places. We've got plenty of live footage uploaded over the years, I reckon that's more honest and marketable to venues than a studio-filmed recording. Even if the quality isn't as good as a professional recording, seeing videos of people dancing to our performances must be more engaging to venues.

You're on to something there. The couple of bands that are regarded by many as the top cover bands in the county charge more than most others and are very busy - usually 2 or 3 gigs a week, just in pubs/bars. They are on top of their social media game. One has a website that is barebones - pretty much just a photo, gig list and merch page selling a single CD, and the other doesn't have a website at all. I know my lot needs to get on top of our SM game to sell ourselves more. We've been trying this last year, but need to get better at it. It's made me think that our band website is less important than I thought. It could be distilled down to a single page with a gig list and links to socials/youtube - more a landing portal to other places than an "end-to-all". I've never been happy with our website TBH but just haven't gotten around to redoing it, or worked out what I need to do with it. I feel a Christmas break project coming on.

The other problem we have is if a number of bands keep doing the same, it doesn't just undervalue their services, it undervalue the pub cover band circuit for everyone. This is one of the reasons pubs are paying bands the same rates they did 30 years ago.

Nice. I'd be tempted to wedge a Mark Stand, or maybe something a little less extreme in between them to tilt the top one to point to my ears.

It wouldn't be the playing to a mostly empty room that would bother me the most. It would be humping all the gear in, setting it all up, breaking it down and lugging it out again. That's a good couple of hours on its own.

I hope you were coming through out front. My experience with some mixes is the guitar and bass drum are so bass heavy that I could stop playing and no-one would notice. Actually, I did this one at a rehearsal when we were trying out new PA and IEM gear. The mix was so bass-heavy that I couldn't identify a single note I was playing, so I stopped playing. The others thought it sounded great until they saw me with my arms folded. They were clearly listening to themselves and not the whole mix. I would say take a friend who knows their stuff and get them to stand out front. Or get a long cable or wireless and venture forth into the crowd. RE getting sweaty: I keep a bandana and bottle of baby powder close by at gig, especially for this reason.