Dan Dare

13 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

Not found a bass line yet that I couldn't master given sufficient time and determination, and that's with two fingers that don't work properly.

Good luck

Shan't be watching (no telly). The music (so-called) was sh1te, too.

Pretty well anything by Henrik Linder.

JJ started out on upright, so his right hand technique was adapted from that.

Taking a new string up to pitch, down and back up several times helps age it by partially fatiguing the metal. Do it gently, though, or it may break.

There's no law that says you have to play carbon copies of songs. Leave out solos or simplify them. Maybe recruit some keys?

Stage left for me, assuming the drummer is right handed. Makes it easier to maintain eye contact with him - drummers tend to face a little towards the snare/hat.

Visually, it doesn't matter. The rhythm section is behind the vocalist, guitar and keys players

I had the same issue - dead spot at the 5th/6th fret on the G - on a P bass. I found the problem was a high fret above the octave. I think it was the 14th. The string was just touching it. It wasn't sufficient to cause a buzz, but it did deaden and prevent it sustaining. So the high fret needn't be the one where the dead spot is. The relief of the neck may mean the string is making contact with a fret away from the troublesome note.

1 hour ago, Geek99 said:

My teacher was useless, he was only interested in the gifted kids and made no effort to help or guide anyone lesser. I hated every millisecond of it. 

Were you interested in or enthusiastic about what he was trying to teach? Most teachers are more than happy to help anyone who's keen but finding it difficult. It's easy to blame teachers.

I'd ask the engineer which he prefers. He may well want a pre-eq signal, so he can set it up for the PA. 

They go for little to nothing. A pal has a couple that he's advertised at silly prices with no interest. He even tried "free if you take it away" with no luck. They're great, but you can get 95% of the sound from something that fits in your pocket.

The best way to deal with those kinds of nerves is to remember you are not the focus of attention. It would be different if you were a soloist, but you are very much in a supporting role and most people will hardly notice what you do. And as others say, you won't be the worst bassist in the building.

One good quality powered sub will be better than two not-so-good ones. You need clarity and not that horrible one note bass boom you get from cheap subs. You don't need stereo low end. It's pointless to have it as lower frequencies are not directional. You can also end up with oddities due to room acoustics if you place two subs apart from each other. Placement of a sub is important, so worth experimenting. You should be able to send a line level signal from your Midas to an active sub (or subs).

On 06/04/2024 at 10:58, Burns-bass said:

I gig a fair bit and have a lovely EBS 350 amp in a flight case. It’s solid, sounds amazing and always delivers - but it’s heavy.

 

I take an Elf as a backup but was wondering if the Tonehammer 500 would be as loud and effective.

 

Any experiences to share?

The EBS is not heavy in comparison with other old school amps. My old TE probably weighed double what it does. I had a 350 and liked it. It was 2 ohm capable, so when I replaced it, I went with an Aguilar AG700 (which will also run into 2 ohms). I'm happy with the Aguilar, but that's just me. You should really take your EBS to a shop or two and compare it with other amps. You're obviously very happy with it apart from the weight, so don't get rid of it without doing some homework. Perhaps one of those lightweight rack cases (SKB, Gator, etc) might be helpful if you have it in a full-fat flight-case. Would be a lot cheaper than a new amp.

Usually a mixing desk plus cans (DT770s). I can route music through the desk and play along with it. I have an elderly couple living next door and don't want to disturb them.

2 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

All simple enough, indeed, once one has the knowledge of which terminals to use (Speakon...) and which polarity to connect to where (Speakon and jack...). No difficult, but not to be improvised. Just sayin'. 

Every Speakon packet bears an illustration showing connection for the terminals. If a doofus like me can understand it, anyone can.

Speakon cables are very simple to make. No soldering required. All you need is something to cut and strip the cable and a small screwdriver to tighten the terminals.

On 02/04/2024 at 15:09, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Apart from looking ridiculous, I bet going for a slash between sets would be a bit tricky.

That's probably why he got zapped a few times by it 😁

5 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

A friend of mine quit playing guitar and gave me some Whirlwinds over 25 years ago. They're still going strong.

 I have some whirlwinds that have lasted many years, too. However, I no longer use them as I found they have a high capacitance and definitely lose noticeable amounts of high frequencies. A shame, because they are well made and tough as old boots. 

10 hours ago, nilorius said:

Hmm....looks like most of You pretty much like to get lost as soon as possible 🤪

That about sums it up. In my case, I own the PA, so have to break it down, get it all in the car, drive home and unload it all. Can't have a drink as I'm driving, so hanging around listening to people who've had a few talking b*ll*ocks is not my idea of fun. I'd rather get home, put the gear away, put my feet up and open a cold one in the comfort of my hovel.

Single coil pickups? If so, I'd experiment with shielding the pickup cavity. You can get adhesive copper tape that will do the job. Also, check the bridge grounding wire.

The ground button on your Zoom is probably an earth lift, so unlikely to help.

3 hours ago, Boodang said:

I definitely need to work out T&Cs that work for everyone. 

12 hours ago, Boodang said:

if there’s excess it will get shared out.

12 hours ago, Boodang said:

there’s a limited pool of musicians here so to a certain extent you have to make it work with what you’ve got.

Talk of Ts&Cs sounds almost the sort of thing an employer/agent would set up. Are you promoting the event(s) and will you earn, whether or not band members are paid? I ask as you mention you're playing in one band, depping in another and so on. You also refer to "sharing out any excess", which suggests the event will make money. Who gets that money? You've already acknowledged that food vendors and similar will earn.

Do you want the monitor to enable you to hear the rest of the band plus the bass? A bit puzzled why you want to duplicate when you're already using a bass amp.

5 hours ago, Boodang said:

As for the food vendors, basically they don’t charge for turning up as they know they’ll make money on the day. To be honest people would come to an event here as much for the food as for the music! And they’ll sell a lot food, very much worth their while to turn up. 

I wasn't asking whether the food vendors et al would charge for simply "turning up", but whether they would provide their goods free, too. As you point out, "they know they’ll make money on the day", so of course they'll "turn up". If someone is making money out of an event, why should the band not share in that? Perhaps the band members should just "turn up" for free, but not play anything...

Seems you need to address this with your bandmates, rather than coming on here and ranting about their "bullcr*p" and calling them "primadonnas" because they won't play for nothing. 

It's not cut and dried. Whilst it may not be reasonable to expect big bucks unless one has some sort of profile, playing for absolutely nowt, especially when/if someone is profiting from your doing so is a no-no for me. I except charitable gigs from this, of course. I played at one last night, funnily enough - a local hospital fundraiser - where, incidentally, the organisers fed and watered us as a thank you. Nothing grand, but the gesture was appreciated.

I'm comfortably retired and I can afford to (and do) play for enjoyment. Many are not so fortunate. Even now, I expect to at least to cover my travel and out-of-pocket expenses. Like you, I'm not young, everyone in my bands are decent players (a couple of us have played for a living in the past) and, whilst we may not be paying the bills by doing gigs, we don't expect to incur additional ones, either.

In my case, I schlepp, set up and operate an expensive PA, in addition to playing. I've been asked in the past if I would mix other bands on the bill for no money. You can guess my reply. It's one thing to play for an hour or two for little to nothing, but work a 7 or 8 hour event (if you include set-up time, etc)? No thanks.

At the gathering you were attempting to organise, were the stallholders, those selling food and drinks, etc doing so for no payment?