Dan Dare

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?

Hard to get around this. Compounded by odd shaped and usually reverberant church buildings and you're going to struggle whatever you do.

Check the user manual.

Sensible, but your CP60 doubles as a DI box, so not really worth duplicating it. The CP60 will give you more control over eq than using a DI box would, too. Use the XLR/balanced out from the CP60 direct to the mixing desk and the unbalanced out to your Rumble for monitoring.

It depends on what you like. It also depends very much on how much volume you need to produce. You need to audition gear and explore plenty of options. Don't buy on recommendation and don't listen to us. We all suffer from confirmation bias and will tend to suggest what we own or like. You wouldn't like what I use, because I aim for a more fat, old-school sound, so pointless my mentioning it. As far as dedicated bass gear is concerned, the Barefaced Big Baby or Super Twin are both full range cabs. Other makes are available, but they do have a deserved reputation for being accurate and able to handle power. Pair one (or more) of them with a powerful, transparent head such as a Bergantino Forte and you should be getting warm. Or you could look at a bass preamp plus power-amp rather than a bass head. You need plenty of power and headroom in amplification for a full range sound and to avoid the "rumbly lump". The other possible route is one or more powered PA cabs (often referred to as FRFR) plus a suitable preamp. I'd strongly suggest ignoring bargain plastic box PA cabs. They are not FRFR (full range, flat response) at anything other than very low volumes, despite claims to the contrary. You'll have to do your own research as far as prices go, but I'd say you would need to spend a minimum of £2k. If you need high volumes, quite a bit more.

You need large and powerful full range monitors to reproduce that at volume. How much do you want to spend? You aren't going to get away with a couple of hundred quid.

Often the case.

Absolutely. I use a pair of Fohhn LX150s, which contain 12x4" midbass drivers, with a centrally placed tweeter. They are very clean, project well and are pretty resistant to feedback.

Would it be worth opening up the case of your GSS to see what module it uses? You may be able to source a new one, depending on the make (ICEPower and some others are available to purchase).

Your main concern is whether the output is a subwoofer or full range signal. If it is a sub only signal - from around 120hz down - all you will get are the very low frequencies, which won't work.

Strictly speaking, Bose systems, which work very well, especially in irregularly shaped rooms in my experience, are not a true line array. In a line array, drivers all point in the same direction laterally. The main benefit of a line array is that they throw sound very effectively, so those furthest from them hear clearly. In larger venues, you will see multi-cab line arrays arranged in a 'J' shape, to direct some of the sound to those nearest the stage. It's certainly worth experimenting with angling PA cabs to try to improve sound spread and minimise feedback. Depending on the shape/size of the venue, you may have to resort to notching out troublesome frequencies if feedback is an issue, though.

Yes, Ashdown customer support is excellent. However, there is a difference between their offerings and those from GSS. Ashdown products are repairable. GSS essentially put Class D modules in a case, with the necessary connectors, etc. Class D modules are not usually field repairable. They are assembled robotically, many of the the components are tiny and Fred with his trusty soldering iron has little/no chance of fixing them. All you can do often is replace the entire module (which will probably cost more than buying a replacement amp). If you buy used, is it really reasonable to complain that the manufacturer won't offer after-sales support? Not that they ever sold it to you in the first place, of course. If you want a guarantee, buy new.

That would only work if the sub has a full range output to feed the other cab(s). If not, all you would get is very low end - around 120hz and below - from both. The sub would also need level controls on the outputs, so you can balance the sub and full range cab(s).

True. If you are in a band that will earn you enough to enable you to live the life of Reilly, it's worth making the effort to get along with people you can't stand. If your band plays for £200 at the Dog and Duck every fortnight, it 's a different matter.

If your jam sessions include drummers, I'd say it won't be sufficient. There's only so much air 40w and a 10" speaker will move. The Rumble 100 is not a great deal more expensive and would be much more suitable in that application. I'd suggest saving a bit more money until you can afford something with a little more power.

Did you go back later for your instrument and gear?

Probably used it as an oar

It's a practice amp. Perfectly good for that purpose, but you won't gig with it.

How was my gig last night? A struggle. Won't disclose location, but it was in a south western city where they like to chuck statues in the harbour. The venue was smallish, with a hollow wooden stage. The backline (provided, which was nice) was a couple of modestly sized and decent quality combos, so we thought it would be simple to play at reasonable onstage levels and let the PA take care of out front. Afraid not. The PA cabs stood directly on the stage. No stands or isolation. The top boxes were 15s+horns and the subs were 15s. The subs made the stage resonate like a giant double bass and the result was one note bass flub. The walls were bare, the ceiling was low and it was an echo chamber. The sound was horrible. The soundman's solution was to push the levels - out front and monitors - even harder when we explained we were having difficulty hearing what was going on during the soundcheck. Eventually, I asked politely if he could lose a lot of the low end and dial the subs right back. Everything cleaned up noticeably and we were reasonably happy. Problem solved? If only. The minute we began our set, the sub levels went back up and all the low end we had asked to be removed re-appeared. I had to play entirely by sight. Couldn't distinguish individual notes at all. Our singer did a great job. The way she managed without being able to hear anything she was doing was impressive. What is it about subs that causes people to crank them so hard that every bass note and kick drum beat results in a giant BOOOOOF? We wondered whether it was just a quirk of the stage sound, but when we stayed to hear a couple of numbers from the second band, it was the same out in the room. I'm getting too old for this caper.

You can't really blame companies for being leery about fixing something bought used.

A decent (I'm referring to ability, rather than temperament, personality, etc, which you tend only to find out about over time) drummer will always be in demand, so it isn't that surprising. They get more offers than most musicians, so are more likely to be offski.

Don't forget the banjo

Never ever? This is turning into the Why-don't-you-yes-but game (Eric Berne - Games People Play). Ah well, we tried.