Iain

Bought a Dingwall Super PJ from Bass Direct today. It really is super but that's not what this is about... I had a go on a Maruszczyk fanned fret Elwood... wow. Wasn't taken back by the bodywork (was a bit agricultural) but the neck was utterly sublime. I came really close to not buying the Dingwall. Certainly played better than my Sandberg which was similar money. Also had a play of a standard fretted bass (PJ) and it was almost as good - action was a little low if anything with a bit too much buzz on the G but that's easy to sort. Utterly amazed by the quality of the bass...

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1496507048' post='3311985'] Buy a Rob Allen. [/quote] Clearly the best suggestion Also a tad out of budget.

Thanks guys - hole plug arriving tomorrow, next amplified gig at the start of July so we'll see how it goes.

3 gigs in two weekends, BH Weekend... Half-Life: Biker festival in Warrington. We did 7-9 before the 'patching' ceremony and obligatory on-stage burnouts. turned up with our 1.5kw PA and backline to find a full pro stage setup with massive PA and all the on-stage toys pros get to enjoy. Awesome sound guy who had us set up and ready to soundcheck in 15 mins - whole drum kit on separate mics too. Tore my calf muscle an hour before we went on stage due to high-jinks and antics brought on by excitement... Gig was awesome but bloody painful. Whole band played on their A-game. Stayed over so we could enjoy the bar and the rest of the night. Hello British summer... Trackside: Played Sunday night at "The Macc" in Macclesfield. Great pub, landlord is a huge supporter of live music. Couple of songs with guest vocals from a local talent Maisie Johnson. Our singer just got his voice back from 'flu in the week so was struggling by the end and the drummer was still jaded from a wedding do the night before. Shame really as it's the drummer's last gig with us and it was a little low-energy. Breaking in the new drummer starts tomorrow! Cover Story: Friday 2nd: Acoustic covers in Rustic, a Wine bar in West Didsbury. lost of 'wine bar classics' and Manchester toons (death by Oasis!), went down a storm despite us being under rehearsed. Problems with my acoustic bass feeding back which need addressing. All in all a good week.

[quote name='Sonic_Groove' timestamp='1494240448' post='3294177'] Thanks Iain, the sound is the most important for Me not sure I need the fancy stuff Squabble? Snapshot? -- So the sound quality is similar??? [/quote] Scribble Strips - little displays under each footswitch that have the name of the assigned FX or toggle. colour coded too - you don't have to remember what you have assigned to the switch. Snapshots - complete sets of 'stuff' assigned to a single switch - think of is as saving the current settings over the entire signal chain - this can be changing anything from what fx are on to individual parameters. It's literally a snapshot of that point in time. You might set up snapshots for intro, verses, chorus, solo... that way you press 1 switch and change loads of stuff rather than the classic tap-dance to turn on a bunch of different pedals... Sound quality on the Helix is way better than the 500 - my point was the gigs I play the difference isn't likely to be all that noticeable given the nature of pubs.

Cool, thanks, best to start with the cheap options first!

Hi Folks, Looking for some advice about dealing with feedback when playing PA-amplified acoustic gigs. Gigs are in lively wine bars mainly so our trio use out PA for the guitars and VOX. Generally stage space is tight so I'm always in close proximity to the PA speakers and, as the night wears on the set livens up I tend to spend half the gig fighting feedback. Take last night - we had great balance at the start but the guitarist, who was on top vol from the start altered his EQ adding more bass. Wasn't until after the gig he admitted to this having watched me fight the feedback for the last 40 mins. We'll be having words... Bass is a Breedlove Stage and the Phase switch helped to an extent. PA is powered speakers and a very simple desk, not monitors or other amps. So, any devices or tricks that can help? Last night's problem note was F# so, in theory I could add a more flexible EQ to tune that out but that's not realistic to do mid-set. Obviously I could move to using a solid body bass - I've a lovely fretless Warwick but the optics aren't great and I'd need to add some form of monitor for that to work. I could break the bank and buy something like a Rob Allen MB-2 but the gigs don't justify the spend really. We also discussed changing the mixer for something more modern that may have electronics in it capable of managing feedback though on-board DSP. Help!

Definitely overthink the whole thing. Of the 3 current bands... Trackside started off as a jam session in a local studio, were asked to play a gig at very short notice so ended up giving the pub the name of where we all met and it stuck. Half-Life started off with the guitarist many years ago and is a bit of a Trigger's Broom band - he's the only original member left. Name used to be Spydabyte which the rest of the band all hated bar the guitarist. As the core of the band is now well established we renamed so we all had some ownership and it felt a little less 6th Form... Acoustic Covers band... very unoriginal set list that gets the wine bars of south Manchester jumping... Tried to get something working around being a Trio and Acoustic but they were all trying too hard so we ended up with "Cover Story".

I picked up a stunning used Z3 in near-perfect condition for £2750 from Bassdirect so £2250 is probably not a million miles off, poss a little high but not by much.

[quote name='Dapper Bandit' timestamp='1492707462' post='3282620'] Did any of you current Helix owning chaps use the POD HD series previously and if so did you find it a major step up in terms of quality? I only ask as I currently have the desktop bean thing and whilst it's alright this latest update is making a Helix look very tempting... [/quote] I had a HD500X before the Helix. For pub gigs there's not all that much in the tone really but the Helix is massively more usable - Scribble Strips, Snapshots... make a big difference. For my use the quality in sounds is less important.

[quote name='Pinball' timestamp='1489237077' post='3255368'] That happens to me even when I swap beween nice instruments. They inspire you to play better and to enjoy the listening experience more. [/quote] ^^ This! I've currently got the following sat behind my in my study/practise room: They all play and sound very different and I get inspiration from each. Currently getting a massive amount of payback from the Thumb fretless and the Sandberg (it's on fresh strings!!!)

Basses, choice of: Dingwall Z3 Sandberg California VM US "Geddy Lee" Jazz The sandberg gets most pub-gig play. 3U Gator rack bag with... Powerbright power conditioner Line6 G90 Wireless Tec Amp Puma 900 Line6 Helix for amp models & FX Cab is a Barefaced Super Twin Pretty portable and massively loud.

I guess I was lucky! One band formed out of a random collection of people jamming together once or twice a month through JMB adverts. The collective got asked to do a support gig for a local band and it coalesced into a band in the blues/classic rock genres. The other band I joined just as that happened - rock & metal covers. Clicked with the guys immediately and it's been fun from there. Part of it has to be the mind-set you approach it with - there has to be compromise and flexibility. having gigs to aim for is a real boon - it focuses people's minds into the task at hand. Perseverance is possibly the key though and being willing to cut your losses if something isn't gelling.

We've just found a brand new rehearsal space - decent sized room - played gigs in smaller spaces. Decent, well setup PA, decent drumkit, couple of nice 4x12 guitar cabs and a 4x12 Marshall cab. Even the mics were in great nick - SM57, lemon scented. As it was a big space the volumes weren't low but not crushingly loud - drummer wan't leatherint it like normal and everyone could hear everything. Even the BV were clear. It's going to confuse the feck out of us when we gig next as the sound's way too good! Saying that, last gig we had guitar volume issues... his amp head couldn't keep up and kept cutting out!

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1481123414' post='3189874'] I [i]should [/i]be GAS free for a while now....... [/quote] At least 30 minutes or so!