Gottastopbuyinggear

Explained in this thread - someone from a US retailer was trashing them on Reddit, but they deleted the post. Conspiracy theory anyone?

We played Moon Rally, a small biker event at a holiday park in Penarth. We were last on of three bands, due to start at 11:00pm but due to the inevitable overruns it was about 11:30 that we finally got going. This was only the second time I've played at an event with a provided PA and sound man (well, third actually, but on the first occasion the PA was a couple of underpowered and over driven 12" tops and the sound man was more clueless than me, but that's another story...). As we brought our kit in the sound guy grabbed me and told me that I'd best set up at the left hand side of the stage as the sub had just failed on that side. I suspect it's not often that the sound guy tells the bass player "turn up as loud as you like, and I'll balance the rest of it with you" ! Then after about half an hour of playing all the power went out - I think the main PA had blown a fuse and tripped out their circuit breakers. Power came back on after a couple of minutes and we started up again, not really knowing what was going on at that point. Sound guy comes over after the next song and tells us it's just our backline and the monitors still working, so we just turned the monitors around to face the audience and carried on playing. The main PA did get restored after a few more songs, but the sound guy seemed very impressed that we'd just got on with it in the meantime, which left me wondering what bands do in that situation - flounce off?! After we'd finished the guy came over for a chat - he'd miked up one of my cabs (Basschat 1x12 Mk 1s - calling @Phil Starr...) rather than taking a DI and was hugely complementary about how even the tone was through the range. All in all a good night - got a great reception, had a good time, and didn't have to pack up the PA at the end of the night!

Sadly I think I’d pay fifty quid extra for the spaghetti logo alone...

We have a gig tonight to which a couple of people who saw the Stones last night are coming. Someone suggested we should drop our Stones numbers because it would be a bit of a stark comparison for those who’d seen them last night, and we wouldn’t want the band to be shown up for playing sub standard versions of the songs. I said sod that, the Stones have had a good enough run - why should we care if we show them up 😎

Just popped into PMT in Cardiff to kill a bit of time while Mrs Gottastop was buying clothes and I spot a rather nice looking MIM “Player”Jazz in butterscotch with maple neck and spaghetti logo. Apparently the Standard series is no more and this is the replacement. £649 if I recall correctly. Had a quick play - felt pretty nice and I love the looks. Sadly the Fender website doesn’t seem to be working properly yet, but you can see the sunburst version: https://shop.fender.com/en-GB/electric-basses/jazz-bass/player-jazz-bass/0149902500.html#start=1?clickref=1101l4Q4nMtf&aff_id=10l1110 Much prefer the spaghetti logo. Can't comment much on the sound as I only had a quick play and I couldn’t get on with the little Ashdown combo I was going through. Oddly enough not only has this not helped my gas for another Jazz, but it’s rekindled my gas for a Sub Ray 4 - I’d just tried one and been put off by a particular quality to the tone that I didn’t like, and then having tried the Jazz I realised it wasn’t the bass that I didn’t like the sound of, it was the amp...

Quick update. Apparently there was a mature discussion about this in the pub last night (I know, I was amazed too!) and as a result the drummer is going to look into a number of things for the short term, including damping, different cymbals, alternative stick options, etc., so we seem to be headed in the right direction. He won't consider an electronic kit, but is going to look into the possibility of a hybrid kit as a longer term solution, though we need to sort out the cost implications of that first (I've already said that if we went that route I'd like to avoid adding subs and would prefer to get something like RCF 735s).

Our singer's just suggested the same. In fact, as someone contemplating getting an electronic kit to learn on at some point, I’m quite keen on giving this a go for myself!

Plenty of food for thought there so far, thanks. I think we all recognise that volume is an issue. Part of the reason for action now stems from me having got hold of a sound level meter, and I happened to use it on Saturday night - I've just bought ACS ER17s having been using generic plugs until now, and I realised that they take less of the top end off than I'm used to (which is a good thing, they're very even) so I was wondering how loud we actually are. The meter peaked at 117dB within the first few songs, and was averaging between 106 and 112dB when I took it off peak hold and kept an eye on it. Singer, keys player and I were all about the same distance from the drummer, but the guitarist was between me and the drummer so he was probably getting a few dB more than me. He was visibly shocked when I told him how loud we were. Sunday morning I ordered a set of 26dB filters and sent an email with some swearing, some educational material on hearing loss, and some more swearing - it's only me and the singer who consistently use plugs, and the keys player and drummer never do. But now the point for me is not about hearing protection (I'm sorted, and as far as the others go, well, you can lead a horse to water...), it's more about whether the punters find it off putting and the suspicion that we'll sound better if we're less loud overall. One other thing occurred to me just now - when we first started playing gigs the drummer complained of not being able to hear the rest of us well enough. We've since gone from one to two monitors, and then last Saturday to three. I'm wondering if the stage volume has crept up and is making the problem worse, so maybe just pulling back on the monitor levels might be a help - maybe he'll play quieter if it helps him hear the rest of us. The rest of the band are going to the pub after our rehearsal tomorrow (sadly I can't make it to the pub...) and I think it'll get discussed there. I'll keep you posted if we make any progress.

Guitarist and I are working on the Hot Rods approach. Drumscreen - I like the idea, but probably not going to happen at the local Dog and Duck, even if there was enough room! I happened to notice on Saturday night when we were setting up that I had to shout several times at the drummer to get his attention when his back was turned - I don't usually notice a problem talking to him, but I now suspect he's a better lip reader than he realises! I know I'll get a chorus of "if he can't play softly then he's not a good drummer" but in every other way he's great - nice bloke, usually turns up first and still helps with lugging in other gear despite the fact he's already lugged in all his own, plays appropriately (volume excepted), rock solid timing, traipses round places getting us gigs, etc.

Usual pub band sort of thing - guitar, keys, bass, drums, vocals. In bigger places we're okay, but smaller rooms/low ceilings/wooden floors etc. can be a bit of a challenge. Before anyone asks - yes, the drummer hits really hard, and no he can't consistently play softer (volume goes up pretty quickly in the heat of the moment, I'm guessing ear fatigue sets in quite quickly, and the effect on his hearing of 50 odd years of playing drums quite hard is probably a big factor). Also, no, we're not going to look for a new drummer - the band is basically for our enjoyment (some of our audiences would agree!), playing a gig or two a month, and whilst we were a bunch of strangers that came together to form a band we're now a bunch of mates having a good time and don't want to change that. Besides, his timing is rock solid, he turns up on time, and he's got his own transport! I've done some googling and come up with: Damping rings and gels (he already has some and they don't make much difference - more for taming unwanted resonance?) Stuffing the shells or stretching something across the shell under the head (quite a bit of a faff and certainly not a quick solution when you find yourself in a new, problematic, venue.) Electronic drums (my preference by far, but he's old school and not keen, plus the personal investment required would be pretty high and the band would need to invest in a bigger PA as we're keys and vocals only through it at the moment) Hot rods (my second preference, and hopefully one that will get tried) Anyone have any other ideas or tips?

Thought I'd chime back in with a photo of my solution: It's a bit "Class D" compared to some - it certainly doesn't have any heft! Took about half an hour to make with a left over bit of 6mm ply and a mini circular saw. The feet are self-adhesive. Weighs next to nothing, and the hole in the middle means I can carry it on top of one of my cabs. Total cost about £20. And if I'm feeling particularly juvenile I can tell people I have Sorbothane balls!

Looks like it’s just a 1/4” jack socket in the end pin/strap button going to a 2.5mm jack socket internally, and you’d plug your piezo into the 2.5mm socket?

Knock On Wood, In The Midnight Hour, and (I'm scared to even say it) Mustang Sally always go down well.

I use a piece of plywood with four Sorbothane Hemispheres as feet. You'll need to pick a size/Durometer rating that suits your situation - these are the specific ones I use for my amp + 2 cabs stack which weighs about 34Kg: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003IMODW8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I use them to reduce the vibration being transmitted through a wooden floor/stage and they work really well - cured the problem I had of the drummers snare wires rattling on a couple of songs where I play the intro on bass. The material is quite sticky, so I've covered mine in clingfilm to stop all the crud from the floor sticking to them. Edit: If you mean the floorboards in your house then the stickiness might not be an issue, as I assume your floors are cleaner than those in the places I play gigs!

Interesting post, Phil, thanks. You put that cab together about ten times as fast as I did either of mine! I'd have liked to come over to that bash to say hello to you and the other guys driving the cab build diary, but unfortunately it was one of the few occasions that I had to be in work at the weekend. Looking forward to reading the review. I'm still gigging two of the Mk 1 cabs, and understand what you mean about the amount of bass they produce, especially two of them together - I'm generally backed way off on the bass and pushing the mids a bit. I really should try running one of them alone at a gig, but so far haven't as I can't help worrying that it might not be enough to compete with our drummer. I didn't have time to go through the whole video last night (I've skipped through and watched about half), so apologies if I missed the relevant bit, but did you add any bracing to the cab, or do you feel that it needs any bracing?

Cardiff 2015 I'd been in contact for a while with a drummer who was looking to put together a band to play 60s and 70s stuff. He was also in touch with a guitarist who was keen, but various things were happening in people's lives at the time and so for a while we couldn't all get together. A few weeks pass and we finally manage to arrange a meet up at a local rehearsal room. We agreed half a dozen or so songs to learn. The agreed day arrives and the drummer and I are there first and get set up. Guitarist has apparently asked whether he can bring a musical acquaintance with him. He duly turns up with his acquaintance, and explains that he's seen this guy play a few times in another band which has recently folded, bumped into him recently and mentioned us, and the guy had seemed interested so asked to tag along. Crucially for this story, while the guitarist has seen his acquaintance play the same isn't true the other way around. We launch into the agreed songs. Amazingly we've all learned them well enough, and even more amazingly the guitarist is excellent - plays really well, doesn't want to play endless solos, plays really tastefully when he does solo, etc. He even asks if he's too loud after the first couple of songs. He isn't - it's all good. Acquaintance seems okay too, nice gear (a lovely sunburst and bound tele, which happened to be high on my GAS list at the time), but just seemed to want to strum along and kept his volume pretty low. The evening's declared a great success. We all agree that we've got the foundations for a great band - just need to look for a singer and a keys player, but we agree to start regular practices in the meantime. A few days later the drummer emails me. Apparently we've been stitched up by the acquaintance - he's been putting his band back together and just needed a lead guitarist. Guess who's been offered the job! Guitarist has apologised to the drummer, explaining that the other band is really very good, and genuinely has gigs lined up already, so he's going with that. Pretty annoying to realise that someone we'd never heard of before has used our audition to audition "our" guitarist for his band…

I’m surprised nobody has been along to suggest RCF 735s or 745s yet, as they seem to get a lot of love. Then again you’re looking at more than twice £500 for just one 745, with the 735s a bit less. You might get some more info from this thread, though it’s getting pretty long and I think started out more about using PA speakers for personal monitoring: From my own limited experience, we bought a pair of Yamaha DBR 12s last year, and use them with a Soundcraft UI12 wireless mixer. We put vocals, keys and occasionally guitar through them and they sound great, but they’re not going to cut it for front of house bass.

I think the most important thing is to use something to protect your hearing, and I'm sure the generic ones do the job fine. If you can afford the extra for custom ones then the difference in fidelity is pretty marked. It did make me wonder, though, why the difference is so marked - if you can get a reasonable seal with a generic plug then could they be made with better quality filters? Mind you, the filters are £50 a pair if you buy additional ones. I've heard that it can be a problem, in particular for singers. Fortunately (for everyone concerned...) I don't sing. On top of that, I have absolutely no stage presence, so breaking into a smile is about as animated as I get when I gig. I tried smiling with my new plugs and all seems well. Now I can go back to my customary scowl!

I know the subject of hearing protection has been done to death, but it still bears repeating regularly I think. I’ve had a bit of tinnitus since gig going days when I was younger, which was made worse by my first practice after deciding to join a band a couple of years ago at the tender age of 48 having forgotten how chuffing loud an acoustic drum kit is, and I’ve used generic plugs ever since. Move on a couple of years and I’ve just got some ACS Pro 17 earplugs. Not had a chance to try them out properly yet, but doing the same "test" as I’ve done with the different generic ones I’ve used (ACS and Alpine), i.e. listening to some music through full over the ear headphones, all I can say is “wow!". I was quite nervous about parting with £140 quid for these, but they really are a world apart from the generic stuff. It may not be absolutely 100% perfect, but it is 99% - it essentially is just like turning the volume down. To be fair I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they’re not worth the money, but for anyone thinking about going the custom molded route and, like me, wondering whether it’s worth it for the improvement over generic plugs, I’d say absolutely yes - do it.

We arrived just as the support started. Even they sounded great, right from the start. It was all a bit odd really! I'm just coming back to relatively regular gig going having been to very few since having kids - eldest is at University in Bristol so I’ve got an excuse to get over to the Bristol venues a bit more often, and friends have told me that Thekla and The Fleece usually have great sound.

Nerina Pallot at Thekla in Bristol. She knows how to write a good song, and her voice and playing were excellent. Just her on piano and a bit of guitar, with bass and drums. Excellent sound too - first smallish venue I’ve been to for ages, and having been to a few stadium gigs recently I’d forgotten what it’s like to actually hear a bass and a kick drum rather than just a thumping mush of low end rumble.

Honestly, my transmitter is usually in a pouch on my strap, often within 2m of our wireless mixer, and the receiver is also often within 2m of the mixer. I quite often leave the antennae flat against the receiver (which is on my pedal board) as otherwise our singer will almost certainly jump on it and snap them off. I’ve never had any issues at all.

Sometimes I hide mine in a pouch and attach it to my bass with a lead, sometimes I just plug it straight in and let it dangle free - either way works great. Don't knock it 'til you’ve tried it! I also find I can use my Smoothhound transmitter in pretty much the same way...