Stylon Pilson

I have a plain black Comfort Strapp which is basically the only one that gets regular use, the other 3 are just for backups. S.P.

Less physical space occupied? Portability? S.P.

I would assume all auditionees will have to play the same 8, for reasons of fairness. S.P.

Agree with this. On Saturday night I used a small folding camping table to raise my cab by 30cm. This allowed me to hear myself better on-stage, and then we played what I think was possibly our best gig so far. Coincidence? Possibly. I'll let you know after our next gig. S.P. Edit: for those who are wondering where you can get hold of this amazing piece of bass kit, it's here. 50kg weight limit with a footprint of 64x42cm.

Engraving your band's name in the lid? That's a bit like getting a tattoo on the commitment scale. Are you sure you're ready for that? I like your method of putting a sticker on your pedal with your preferred setting. What I tend to do is cut small yellow strips of electrical tape and put them on each knob pointing upwards - after I've found my desired setting, of course. Then, it's always really obvious if one of the knobs is off, because the yellow marker isn't pointing to 12 o'clock. S.P.

You're right that in a live setting the nuances of tone get lost. Was the amp DI'd into the PA? Again, the sound guy can compensate for all but the most egregious bass tones and may be a contributing factor to why "it was very difficult to tell the difference" - he would be doing his best to normalise that variety of different basses to bring them back to a sound that suits the room. The tone advantages of high quality gear really comes into its own in the studio. The build advantages of high quality gear is good all the time - the more effortless and enjoyable it is to play, the better your performance will be. Lightweight equipment is great for when you're lugging your own gear - I like the knowledge that I'm not going to be knackered or injured before I've even played the first note, and the knowledge that at the end of the night it's only going to take me 3 or 4 unstrenuous trips to get everything back in the car. S.P.

Last night's gig was at a fairly small pub on the outskirts of Maidenhead. It was one of those venues that isn't really ideal for live music, as the bar is in the centre and the pub wraps around it, so half of your audience is always out of sight. At the interval our singer/guitarist was grumbling a bit that owing to the fairly shy crowd he was struggling to really get into it. I countered that it's when the crowd is quiet that you need to double down and give it even more beans to try and wake them up. In the second half something magical happened and we sounded better and tighter than we ever have before, and it became one of those intensely rewarding gigs. The audience reception also warmed up a bit, and I think we probably got the best out of them that we could have. I think this was probably helped by one particularly drunk guy, who we befriended. Not to the point of inviting him up on-stage to sing, but when he showed up during the second set and asked for something by A Flock Of Seagulls, we obliged by playing I Ran despite the fact that we'd already played it once halfway through our first set. We've only recently added it to our set and it sounds awesome, so we didn't take much arm-twisting. As I mentioned in this thread after my first gig with this band back in September, I've been mostly playing in originals bands all my life and have become accustomed to having PA support, so have always EQ'd my amp for clarity on-stage and not had to worry about pushing much low-end out into the room. Now I'm in a pub covers band with vocals-only PA, I've been finding myself having to EQ for the room, resulting in a fairly bassy and indistinct sound standing right next to my rig on-stage. A few weeks back I bought a little foldable camping table for £10 with the intention of raising my cab by about 30cm. I was sceptical that this could have any significant effect but I used it last night and was wowed by the difference. On the drive home I was listening to Gameshow by Two Door Cinema Club and loving it so much that I missed my turning. S.P.

Nothing wrong with being a multi-instrumentalist. You'll always be welcome here! S.P.

I think it should have holes in it. Like an Ampeg. S.P.

Annoyingly, one of those venues is within 10 miles of me, but it's a night that I've already got a gig! S.P.

The XR18 has all the inputs on the front. I don't think that what we're looking at in that picture is an XR18 at all. Edit: ah I see now. The XR18 is the blank box at the top. S.P.

Ah but you see now that makes it sound like I might have left them on multiple occasions each. See, just can't win! S.P.

Unfortunately it's not a PC so it has to be an ethernet connection. Looks like the hAP is the answer. Thanks for your help. S.P.

I've only left a band twice (and it's hard to phrase that without sounding like I left the same band on two different occasions). The first time was 9 years ago. I'd been growing steadily more and more disillusioned with them, and during one particular gig I found myself suffused with a certainty that this gig would be my last. The next gig in the calendar was about 6 months away (apart from maybe an acousticy thing at which my presence was token anyway). The following day I called the band leader and told him that I wanted to move on. Amicable split, as I remember I finished up some studio stuff for them after that. The second time was last year. The band just wasn't active enough - our gig frequency was abysmal because of diary clashes amongst 7 people, some of whom were generally good with availability, but some of whom seemed to be barely around. No-one else seemed to have a problem with this except me, so I got myself into another band and then announced my departure from the first one while were packing away at the end of a rehearsal. Everyone was knocked for six for a few seconds, but no arguments ensued. In that case I offered to cover gigs for the next 2 months (we had a gig in a week, one in 2 months, and then another in about 5 months) which they took me up on. S.P.

Headstock needs holes through the middle of it, like an Ampeg. S.P.

Apologies to Happy Jack for the small thread hijack, but I have a question to Jack about the hAP mini. Can I run this as a wireless client, so that it can act as an adapter for an ethernet-only device to jump on my home wifi? Is there something else you'd recommend instead? S.P.

If you're looking to simplify the transition process then you can start with the built-in wifi. However, be prepared for occasional outages of a couple of minutes where you can't control it. I should hasten to add that during these outages, the thing will still produce sound - it's just you won't be able to adjust any of the levels. The Android app for controlling it is here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.behringer.android.control.app.xair&hl=en If you want to control it from a laptop then there is also a Windows version but I don't have the link for that to hand. S.P.

I don't have much experience, but I did do sound for a band last year using a Behringer XR12 and was pretty impressed. The app was a pleasure to use, my only complaint was that the wi-fi router built into the unit was very flaky - I'd be inclined to purchase a decent wi-fi router and use it with that. You can get the XR12 for about £200 - if you need more inputs then they do other models. S.P.

I believe it was in Arkansas in 1949, but that's arguably just nitpicking. S.P.

I used to own one of these - the version with the 12" speaker, not the 15". It's good for smaller pub gigs - I don't think it would be able to keep up with a heavy-hitting drummer. TheGreek writes above: "it certainly punches above it's weight at relatively low volumes" and I agree with this, but the important caveat is that once you turn the volume dial above 12 o'clock, it doesn't really have much more to give. Again, I can only speak for the 1x12 version - I'd expect the 1x15 driver to be able to go a bit louder. S.P.

I'm a... thingy wotsit, I'm a dooby dooby dada for you... S.P.

Funnily enough, when I originally posted about it on this site 4 and a half years ago, you specifically were berating me for being so pessimistic! S.P.

Yeah, he sounds like a handful. Don't feel bad if you do need to give him the boot - this situation is entirely of his own creation. S.P.

So what happened next? S.P.

"A gig's a gig" - said by a band member with reference to an invitation to do a charity gig where we'd be going on last, at about 11:30. S.P.