Greg Edwards69

Similar to Hugh Macdonald until Bon Jovi made him an official member a few years ago. For years he was an uncredited member of the band. There was a guitarist in wet wet wet who was an unofficial member for years too.

This ^^. I've had a couple of 5 strings (and played one exclusively for many years) and a 6 string bass. But I realised at some point a number of years ago that I'm happier on a 4 string bass, so that's all I own. If you're happier playing 5, 6, 12, or 100 strings, then play it, learn it and enjoy it. Music theory doesn't change depending on the number of strings. FWIW, if I need the extended lower ranger offered by 5 strings I use a pitch shifter to simulate BEAD tuning. It's easier for me compared to switching to another bass. Although It forces me to think about what I'm doing and occasionally catches me out.

As an aside. IIRC, Metallica gave $1m to Robert Trujillo for joining the band.

I played clarinet and sax in my youth in orchestras. My subs payment went towards running costs such as sheet music and rehearsal space hire. I wouldn't expect to pay for somebody else's equipment, however.

What if you're in more than one band, or looking to join another, and you've got own the wrong part of the PA for the band? Heck, join enough bands and every member of every band will each own a complete PA system!

Please remember your latter statement. What may be peanuts to you may be a couple of months food budget to other people, or maybe their heating over the winter. not everyone can justify £3k on an “entry level” PA.

I think I might nick the wife's blue nail varnish and mark the left earpiece and cable up so I know which is which.

Decent one yesterday evening. Back on Canvey Island (again) for charity gig in aid of the awesome Indee Rose Trust. Held at Concord Rangers FC, there was a memorial football match on in the afternoon for a local legend, followed by evening entertainment, raffle and auction all to raise funds for the charity. We arrived during half-time and it was chaos! I really didn’t expect such a huge turnout of people. We also thought we were going to be in the main function room of the club house, which is a decent size and carpeted, but that had been booked for a 50th party (and nobody told the organisers of this event) so we ended up on the other, smaller daytime bar. This was fine, but was constantly busy all the time throughout load-in and setup. So we were getting under peoples feet and our own. We also had to manage the sound on out own as our soundman has just had eye surgery and wasn’t fit to work last night. We also had a message a couple of days before from Jenny, one of our singers that she had laryngitis! But was still hoping to sing - besides, she was the one who got us the gig as the event was being organised by her friend’s family. Anyway, we had a great sound dialled in from the gig, just a slight tweak to the sub level and the IEM mix and we was good to go. The crowd was on it from the start, likely due to spending the afternoon drinking! Jenny’s voice held up here and there. Our other singer, Liam helped her out as much as he could, jumping in with parts he wouldn’t normally sing, as did I by covering some of her harmonies, and there was a couple of setlist adjustment on the fly. The place was buzzing, and heaving and we played well. Pretty much the whole room singing along and loads of dancers. A particular highlight was Tina Turner’s “(Simply) The Best”. We’d been asked to learn it as it was the favourite song of the chap whose memorial charity event this was for. And we’d never played it as a full band until the gig. Jenny’s voice just about held out for this one, and everyone else had done their homework and it sounded great - we was all grinning at each other during the song. I reckon this one will be a keeper. It was also an early start, around 6pm and we was home by 10.30… which was nice. However, our singer Liam overdid it, by singing more that he usually would, plus being roped into comparing the raffle and auction - the latter took nearly an hour! This would have been fine usually, except we had a rehearsal today as we have a wedding gig in a couple of weeks and it was the only available time we had to get a rehearsal in, so I had to provide a few guide vocals today, as well as trying to remember how to play several songs we haven’t played in ages! Lastly, this is the second gig we’ve have the IEMs properly sorted out and sounding great, and didn’t need the backline FRFR speakers. So we’re planning on leaving them at home for the next gig and going properly ampless.

Wow. Talk about twisting words! We're not relying on the bank of mum and dad. He's a soundman, who just happens to be the father of one of the guitarists (the latter of which happens to be a Director at an Accountancy).We're not a bunch of kids. We're adults ranging from 40 to 60 years old and all financially independent. This is why I said "we're lucky enough to be in the position...". I realise it's not universally applicable. If he did turn up with cheap, unreliable gear that's not up to the task, he wouldn't be our soundman anymore!

Totally agree with TimR and also agree that expecting a new member to pay for stuff when they join is insane, especially for a weekend warrior band. I simply wouldn't join a band if I was expected to stump up a few hundred quid or buy a replacement part of the PA because the old member took it. Not to mention that different band members' financial situations vary wildly. What is a minor expense to one person, is food for the week for another. It's also worth mentioning, that in many bands, the shared equipment is evolving, and upgraded when needed. As such, I suggest making it clear shared equipment is a "Band purchase". Split the cost evenly between the existing band members. If someone quits then the rest of the band pay them market rate for their share. If a new person joins, they don't pay until the band decides to get new equipment. There are exceptions to this, of course. But they need to be decided on a case by case basis. For example, we're lucky enough to have a soundman who owns the PA - the father of one of the guitarists. What he buys and how much he spends is up to him, same as how much I spend on a bass or amp. As such he gets an equal cut of gig money. But we're in the process of upgrading our IEM system to the Xvive U4. But the drummer doesn't need wireless, and can use a far cheaper wired solution. So it's only fair that the members who want to use the wireless system buy their own receivers. Easy.

I've had my MP2 for a year or so now and I've been generally happy with it, and didn't initially notice the heavy bass from streamed music. However, I've recently purchased the Mooer Prime P1 because it does a couple of things the Nux doesn't and the difference in streamed music was stark compared to the Nux. I used the same headphones I use with my Helix and Nux (Jabra Move - which allegedly has a fairly flat profile) Initially, I thought it was a problem with the P1, as it seemed to be rather lacking in bass. Even if I plugged the P1 into my iPad to stream music over USB it sounded weaker than the Nux, so I thought it might be a DAC issue rather than just Bluetooth. So, I felt disappointed with the performance of the Mooer, thinking the Nux sounded better. I mean, who doesn't like more bass? And as I alluded to, I chose my Jabra Move headphones by the reviews that mention the profile is fairly neutral without massively hyper bass. FWIW, My Blackstar Core ID Beam suffers a similar issue with streamed music - whether Bluetooth, wired aux in or over USB. Music playback always feels light in bass, whereas my actual bass sounds bass heavy!. So I had another unscientific play last night. P1 paired with my iPad and the Nux paired with my iPhone and my trusty KZ ZS10 IEMs. Wow, the Nux sounded bass heavy! I also compared the headphone outputs of those two devices with the internal outputs of the iPad and iPhone (via USB to Minijack adaptors) and although sounding slightly different, the Nux is still far more bass-heavy. For fun, I also compared it to my Airpod Pro's earbuds, and again the eq profile was similar to the P1 and wired headphone output direct from the iPad and iPhone. I haven't yet compared this to my Helix which can only play music through over USB. But when I get time, I certainly will. (I reckon I'm going to need to borrow a headphone mixer at this point). What this also tells me is to start using my IEMs at home more often. I've been thinking about getting some better on-ear headphones for bass practice for some time anyway, but in the meantime, my IEMs seem more revealing and accurate than my Jabra's. That said, the sounds I've dialed in with the Jabras and my helix translate well to my headrush FRFR and live IEM. Although I need to do some work with the sound coming out of the PA. That's very interesting to know. I'll have to take a look at this and see if I can improve the sound of the Nux.

Funnily enough I was looking at mine last night for markings, or on the cable at least, whilst I was replacing the foam tips (one of them literally fell to pieces at the last gig). I know which earpiece is which, but the cable is completely unmarked. I can't remember if mine came pre-assembled or not as I bought them several years ago.

Just found this https://reverb.com/uk/item/6836739-chris-broderick-pick-clip-right-handed-black

A corporate family fun day event, for Cat Surveys in Brentwood - a.k.a “CatFest”. Really nice setup when we arrived, with a small fun fair for children (inc dodgems and lots of inflatable bouncy things), pizzeria, candy floss station, hotdog wagon, waffle vendor and bar… all free! We were given a 90min slot from 6pm, after a children’s entertainer and before the DJ, in a lovely, large teepee with plenty of space to set up an and a generous dance floor. Not a lot of time to set up everything - just about 1 hour, but we did it with minimum fuss and with discipline. We finally got our IEM issues resolved with a single, balanced mix for everyone (some of us wired and some on wireless all from a splitter box). Me and the two guitarists each brought our usual frfr speakers as backline which were left switched off - I finally feel like we’ve reached the point we don’t need them anymore. The IEM sounded great, and the recent addiction of a sub woofer has filled out the FOH sound. As such, all our vocals were on point - a couple of songs with big harmonies/backing vocals such as “Blinding Lights”, “Long Train Running” and “I Gotta Feeling” sounded massively incredible in my ears. Apparently the sound out front was just as good. We played well, and kept the set moving with minimal gaps between songs. It took 20mins or so for people to have the courage to come in and have a dance, but after 40mins, the dance floor was full and stayed full (which surprised me as it was twice as hot inside the teepee than outside - sweating buckets!). Only a couple of fluffs from me, one brain fart and one where I jumped a song in the set, but I saved them both and nobody noticed apart from the band). Happy people and happy customer who said they loved it and definitely want us for next year’s shindig. Oh, and the heavens opened just as we finished packing the cars - so we stood in it and basked in the cool rain. Obligatory photo of the setup:

For bass check, I just noodle something pentatonic in the first 5 frets. To check instrument levels mix - a chorus and dual guitar solo in "Can't Get Enough" and a little bit of "Don't stop me now" to check the keyboard level. For full band inc vocals - a verse and chorus of "Long Train Running".

Hey. Just received my P1 yesterday (used via ebay - I did a factory reset first thing). Sounds great so far but I have a query. It doesn't seem to automatically reconnect with the iPhone app if I switch it off and back on again. I have to manually reconnect it via the Bluetooth button in the app. Is this normal behavior?

Similar to me. I really wanted to like the Dunlop Flex picks, but there seems to be inconsistency in their manufacture, or something inherent in the material that makes some of them go curly as I've mentioned several posts ago. There are even several straight out of the packet that have a slight curve and can only be played one way up. I bought a variety tin of tortex "wedge" picks recently too, and some of those suffer the same problem too. I might go back to regular, good old-fashioned original tortex again, or explore some nylon options.

Yep. Exactly right. I've been saying this for ages, but it doesn't always sink in. Not to mention, we've been adding bits and pieces of gear lately and simply haven't found the time or availability to get all of us in a rehearsal room together to finesse the technical aspects of our setup. It will be a lot quicker once we've been able to do this. And with dep singers this time, they used mine and one of the guitarist's xvive IEM packs and we both went wired with a Behringer P2 - however, the splitter box we used was untested and the volume to my pack was less than useful. Actually, it seems there's a curve ball everytime we play. We've been in a transitionary period with our PA and monitoring for a while. All of the additions (such as sub, a couple of different IEM systems, stage snakes etc) are meant to make it easier, but without a crucial techinical rehearsal, it just seems to make it more complicated than the old fashioned backing and vocal only PA! We'll get there eventually and it will be easier. Just not yet. 3 gigs coming up in July. 2 songs to learn and I doubt we'll get a full band rehearsal in anywhere.

Redonizm played out first ever school prom last night. Our drummer's wife is the head of a local SEN school and so volunteered us for their prom. As I mentioned before, we learned a few more recent songs for the occasion and both of our singers were replaced with deps. Luckily they were a dream to work with and made our job much easier. The gig itself went well, we played well (much better than at last weekend's gig) sounded great out front and the kids danced pretty much through the whole set and seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was refreshing to see so many kids singing along to near enough every song, even the older one. So job done! Only a couple of issues. We had been told to arrange a single 90min set, to start at 7.30 prompt and finish and 9pm. Only to find out halfway through they wanted us to keep going until 9.30. We realised at aroun 8.45 we weren't going to have enough songs in the pre-arranged set to string out, so we threw in several last-minute additions, one of which hadn't been rehearsed with one of the singers, but he did a great job. He also had the gift of gab and was able to talk to the audience and eek out a little more time! Also, although we turned up in seemingly plenty of time to set up (allowed a couple of hours), time quickly got away from us and it was 7.30 with kids waiting outside before we knew it. If we'd had another 5 mins to finish the soundcheck, I would have been completely happy with the monitor mix, but it wasn't quite there. I didn't even have time to change my shirt or get a fresh bottle of water! It worries me that our next gig we only have 1 hour to setup, soundcheck and play.

Any of the Hercules AGS (automatic grip system) stands are ideal for near enough any bass (except headless!). The bass “hangs” at the top of th stand by the headstock and rests against the stand at the bottom. Most other stands cradle the bass at the bottom, hence things like T’birds don’t sit well on them. http://herculesstands.com/international/products/fretted-and-bowed-instrument/guitar/

Oh we still have some oldies in the set for these very reasons. Some songs are just ingrained into the public psyche no matter what the persons, or songs age. Living On A Prayer, September, Don't Stop Me Now, Johnny B Goode and Sweet Caroline (grrr) have all made the cut. I have to say though, although we usually try to keep our repertoire up-to-date with recent songs they tend to be from certain 'comfortable' genres'. I've really enjoyed some of the recent songs I wouldn't have necessarily considered playing before. Lizzo's "Juice" and Dua Lipa's "Levitating" are a blast to play bass on, and Calvin Harris' "How deep is your love" is right out of our usual comfort zone, but still good fun to find a way to attack it and make it work for us.

Back at the Haystack, Canvey, again. Not our finest hour. Definitely not up to our usual standard. I think the heat got to us all. Even my wife said we've sounded better, and didn't sound as tight as we usually are on several songs. We also had a dep co-lead singer who we've been rehearsing with for a specific gig later this week* that our usual singer is unavailable for, who also wasn't sure if she could do this weekend's one either. In hindsight, we've been so focussed on new material for this next gig, we didn't get around to going over existing material we haven't played for 6 months with the dep signer that we thought was okay. In combination with brain fog and distraction from the heat, there were a number of errors (I even started playing "can you feel it" in the wrong key. It's a tricky-sounding room, and again, with the heat, we just weren't disciplined enough to soundcheck properly, especially the IEM mix, as we were all getting irritable. Although the pub wasn't as full as usual (again, the hot weather probably put a lot of people off coming out and would rather stay at home with a BBQ), the people who came said we sounded great and they had a good time. Not as many people dancing, but I don't blame them. I was sweating just standing still before we started. FWIW, the pub had aircon, but it's temperamental at best. In complete contrast, we had a rehearsal on Sunday for the next gig* (even hotter, not to mention aching and tired) and we sounded much, much better. 🤷‍♂️ *Next gig is Wednesday evening, for a school prom! Not something we've done before so we've been learning a bucketload of new, recent songs for. And we have two dep lead singers as neither of our usual two can make it. Hence the focused rehearsals for this particular gig and complacency on older material. Oh well, live and learn! PS You wouldn't believe how challenging it's been selecting recent songs for an audience of 16 year old. What I thought of as recent, some of these kids were still in nappies or weren't even born! - makes me feel old!

Yes. Monkey Business, Romford. Set up by an Ex-Honky Tonk Music (Southend) chap. Both shops are now sadly gone - I blame PMT for that.

The bass player in the Police, OTOH…

This too. I can play "Good Times" with my eyes shut ad nauseum, but I have a real block singing the "Leave your cares behind/Our new state of mind" over the corresponding part of the iconic bass line. So I slightly simplify it. As long as I still play it properly elsewhere in the song, no-body notices!