Callumjord

Just my two cents but a VT2 but as a two channel preamp with a separate colour section with an independent switch and blend in order to fully blend the two sounds together would be my dream come true, along with an effects send and return. Edit: also what would be the possibilities of an in built compressor as well?

First time playing at a small bar in Buckie last night, Buckie generally has a reputation of being a rough night. We turn up and quickly set up, the pub is small so space is pretty tight. First set finished and the pub is packed, a lot of people up dancing and drinks flowing, half way through the second set a guy walks in that has clearly already had two too many drinks, he starts heckling our singers for the rest of set 2 and set 3. Then he starts making requests for heavy songs that he enjoys, slipknot, deaftones, we politely tell him we are not that sort of band. Anyway we finish for the night and start to pack up, the guy is determined for us to listen to his heavy metal band that he sings in. We are half way through packing up and the guy is at the bar having more drinks and next thing you know he just kicks off with the land lord and some of the locals in the middle of the bar, things then sprawl out into the street and particularly to my car that I had moved closer to the pub to help pack up. The police are called and during the time for them to show up everyone is just trying to avoid this guy, the pub was locked up with the punters and land lord inside to cool off. The turn up and arrest the guy, take statements from everyone there, adding an unwanted 1 1/2 hours onto our night. The land lord came up and apologised for the night, praised us for how well we played and booked us for another 3 dates throughout the rest of the year, we got paid and some of the punters helped us pack the rest of our equipment away. All in all it was a good night that was ruined by one individual.

I play in a 5 piece wedding/function band up in the North East of Scotland (Moray to be exact). We have been on the go for about 1.5 years (have full PA, lights etc), our rate just now is £800 for 3.5 hours at a wedding, a lot of the 3-4 piece bands from the bigger cities near me (Inverness & Aberdeen) seem to be charging anything from 1K up to 1800. Even though we appear to be a lot cheaper than some of the other bands in our area a lot of people that inquire are still shocked about our price!!!! I am getting married next year and had put aside £1500 for our band, luckily a got a good deal of £700. We have started going to a lot of wedding events and running competitions from 25%-50% off our fee's. We have managed to get a lot of bookings for 2017 & 18 that way and has also helped with our publicity. Funny story, we had a woman ask for us to play at her wedding (exactly 2 months before her day), we gave her the initial quote of £800, which she said was far too expensive, turned out we would have been down a band member that night so gave her a discounted price of £600 as we would have been down one guitar and vocalist. Heard nothing from her, then she turned up at the wedding event we were playing at, we were running a 20% off if you booked on the day deal. She never booked us on the day. Then on the Monday before her wedding, she was getting married on the Saturday, she asked if we could still play and if it would still be the discounted price from the wedding event. And to add the cherry on the cake, she gave us a list of 10 songs she wanted to be played. At the end of the day we polity told her where to shove it.

I should have an American Professional series 5 string P bass in antic olive coming to me straight from the factory in California in the next couple of weeks. Can't wait to get my hands on it and officially become a p bass owner. Watch out for the NBD post with full story!

So in 2 weeks time I'll be playing at an open acoustic night at a local coffee house. Having spoke to the organiser it has been made apparent that myself and another guy on the drum stool thing (I have no idea what it's called) will form an unofficial "backing house band" for the full night. I have never played a gig like this before so I am looking to you guys and girls for some advice and tips. I'll be DI into the pa, what other equipment should I take? What bass? I have a feeling something with flat wounds would be appropriate. Do I just try and sit back, provide some solid bass lines and have more of a "supportive role"?

I'm using the line 6 HD bean as my practise rig, taking both the outputs into my audio interface which is hooked up to my MAudio speakers. I am also using the fbv board which has become essential. It's so much easier turning on my computer and the pod and everything being set up and ready to go when practising at home. Much more convenient than my rig and pedal board. The bass expansion pack is essential. The flip top and ampeg models are great IMO. The hardest part is spending the time dialling in a great tone. It probably has taken me 2 years of tweaking to finally get 3 presets that I am 100% happy with.

I cannot recommend the Caline 10 band EQ enough! Great EQ pedal, solid construction and an amazing price. Its still easily handling my heavy foot after 2 years on my board. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caline-CP-24-10-Band-Equalizer-Guitar/dp/B00P3E5LCU

Been watching his daily vlogs since probably just before Christmas. A truly amazing and motivating player. Love all of his vlogs amend at the pedals.

I picked up a BDI21 around Christmas time as I wanted a bass overdrive pedal to pair with my DHA pre amp and I really didn't fancy dropping huge amount of money's on a bk3/7. Been using it for the past couple of months and it sounds amazing! Easily the best amount of money spent and easily the biggest bang for buck you can get. I just have to see how it holds up for the rest of the year against my heavy foot. Although buying 4 of them would still be cheaper than any darkglass pedal.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1486320395' post='3230881'] Keep a diary. I know this because Scott Divine bangs on about it. It's my New year resolution to actually do it. The other important thing is to plan what you are going to do in advance. Then, in the plan include time for all the aspects that you want to cover. This will include transcription, fretboard agility, sight reading etc [/quote] Suprisingly a lot of my "distraction" videos are his! Instead of just watching his videos I should actually do what he says in them! A practice diary does seem like a good idea! Maybe breaking my practise down into a weekly schedule and focus on 3-4 areas a practice.

How do you guys organise your practise time? Currently I feel like I am not making any progress with my playing. I'm currently struggling to find time during the week to play and I am saving it all and trying to pull a longer 3-4 hour practise over the weekends. While I start off with good intentions I then find my attention has gone off rail and I am on YouTube, social media, or even on here looking at the gear threads. I'm looking on ideas how to become more efficient during my practise and ideas on how not to become so easily distracted. And also ways on which I can get back to seeing a progression with my playing.

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1485882446' post='3227487'] Personally there's not a lot to say about it I don't think, otherwise it's just a whole thread of "try this bass....try that bass because I like it". If you go down the 'off the shelf high-end' route, take your bass along to Bass Direct, Bass Gallery and/or Manchester Bass Lounge and try a LOT of stuff in comparison to yours. Even if they're a bit of a trip, they're all treasure troves, so worth it. If you go down the custom route, you have to ensure that the resulting bass will be as good as, if not better (hopefully better), than what you're playing now, otherwise it's a waste. Make a list of what you do like about your bass, and what you don't (and be critical). With any new bass comes some bedding in, especially after playing the same thing for 10years, but if you try for something that encompasses the things you do like, and fixes the things you don't, then getting used to it shouldn't take too long. Quite frankly, you may just find that you go with a really high-end Yamaha.....keep it in the family and all that. Enjoy Si [/quote] [quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1485883982' post='3227496'] Basschat has mulled the "high end" bass thing over at length before. More than once as I recall. I think the consensus is generally that there are basses that cost a lot more than others, but a significant price tag doesn't guarantee it will be any better to you than one at a fraction of the cost. As Si suggested, when approaching this sort of thing, you really do have to know what ticks your boxes and that can only be achieved by playing LOTS of different instruments. Once you've done that, go out and play some more. The worst thing you can do is make the wrong choice and end up not playing it and ultimately selling it on. That may not go down too well with the soon to be Mrs.Callumjord! [/quote] Thanks for the advice! of course my biggest worry is with ending up with a bass that my fiance has spent a lot of money on and I can't gel with it as much as my Yamaha. I have been writing down a list of everything I like about my basses, everything I don't and stuff I wish they could do. Lucky I now have an excuse to go visit some guitar stores. A couple of trips down to Glasgow might just be called for. I am also visiting London later on in the year so I might just have to get some of the bigger stores. [quote name='Huge Hands' timestamp='1485943732' post='3227822'] Maybe you should show her you're a keeper by not going for the most expensive thing you can find [/quote] The first thing I did was actually question her and make sure this is what she wanted to do! I don't plan on going for the most expensive thing I can find. I am not sure that a 2k bass would play that much better than a £700 one. [quote name='ped' timestamp='1486071171' post='3229086'] I'm getting married in a couple of months so I'm going to print this out and leave it kind of in the house [/quote] Haha! hopefully your fiance will take the hint!

So it's less than 17 months until I get married and today my fiancé dropped the news that to celebrate us getting married she wants to gift me with a high end/custom bass!! (I always new from the start that she was a keeper!) I am now in a state of joy and confusion. Joy over such a gift and confusion as I have absolutely no idea what I would like! I have been playing a Yamaha Rbx 775 for the past 10 years and was thinking about buying one of the newer trbx 505s some point after getting married. However the idea of a higher end/custom bass is really appealing, however, I just don't know where to start looking? I have heard great things about AC guitars and Alpher instruments, but then I have seen what Dingwall has to offer. Does anybody have any advise/life experience they would like to share with me? Thanks, From a very happy, but very confused, basschatter

Elgin, up in the north east of Scotland, right in the middle of Inverness and Aberdeen. I am more than happy to drive to try one out. Just 3 hours is a bit excessive I think.

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1483878169' post='3210745'] Now £199 delivered - so ridiculous that I've just ordered one this morning Fyi they're showing 10+ in stock. [/quote] Ouch! And I paid £229 for mine! I should have waited a little longer [quote name='Kev' timestamp='1483888563' post='3210852'] Cool, just not sure what you would use it for really. Coffee shop gigs or similar perhaps? From what I have read a drummer would render it a no-no. [/quote] This amp will pretty much hold up with a heavy drummer. I am using mine for small to extra medium sized venues. Used it with an 8ohm 1x15 and it was pretty loud. 2 cabs should be fine for most places, might have to crank up the volume a little more but that's why it's there. Any big sized venues you would be taking a di anyway. I have been using this amp the past month and I have been really impressed by it. Although I was using a line 6 lowdown before

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1483784677' post='3210043'] The wtx264 isn't a very loud amp. You could do with a very efficient cab to get the best from it. On your budget I'd go for a second hand Barefaced Compact. Edit Walbassist also has a 4ohm Tecamp 1x15 in the F/S section which would draw full power from your amp. Cracking cab. [/quote] Yea, while it is a small class D head I find that the 250-300 watt mark is the perfect range for the size venues I tend to play (small to medium sized venues with a full PA system). I used to use my dads old 300 watt Laney class D head and I never had the volume above 3/4. I would love to try a BF to see if the hype really is to be true, looked on their website and the nearest owner to me is a good 3hr drive away [quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1483795501' post='3210170'] Your amp is only 260 watts at 4ohm, most popular combos are around 300 watts at 8 ohm and 500 watts at 4 ohm. Why not get a small and portable MarkBass CMD121 P, or similar, second hand well less than £500? Notice there is a 15" version in the For sale section:£450, I have no connection with it. [/quote] Small and portable is the aim of the game for me. I haven't tried a 1x12 cab before. Would have to find someone in my area that has one and see how it sounds with my setup.

Rig/cab recommendations. I recently decided to move away from my small combo rig as I am now starting to play bigger functions/venues. I picked up this eden wtx264 amp and I am looking to pair it up with some cabs. I'm just not sure what speaker size/brands to match it up with. Ideally small and portable would be the key, I have a full pa that I will di into. I had played it through my dad's laney rb 4x10 and 1x15. I found the 4x10 didn't handle the low B very well, were as the 1x15 sounds really deep and powerful. However I haven't tried any 1x12/2x12 cabs. Would these still deliver the lows that I am after? I am a bit restricted with budget, anything sub £500 would be ideal. Some of the cabs I have been looking at are: Zilla fat boy 2x12 Ashdown rm 1x15 GK CX 1x15 Eden D115 XLT Cheers guys!

Ive used a couple of compressors; Boss CS3, line 6 compressor and the compressors on my zoom ms60B. All of them really failed to deliver on what I was after in a compressor, although the zoom got close. Finally got the boss bc-1x and all I can say is that I am finally happy. Build quality is great, has a simple layout and not enough options to get confused over. Sounds awesome going in to my DHA MK2 and really helps phatten up the already warm tone.

[size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]So my pedal board has changed a lot this past year. Its gone from this....[/font][/size] http://[url="http://s46.photobucket.com/user/Callum_Ord/media/IMG_20160223_194304%201_zpsciggmff3.jpg.html"][/url] [size=6][b][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]To this![/font][/b][/size] http:// [url="http://s46.photobucket.com/user/Callum_Ord/media/IMG_20161228_103447822_zpscsheukb3.jpg.html"][/url] Iv'e added a Chord OC50, Boss Bass BC-1X, DHA VT1 EQ/DI, Zoom MS60B and a Mooer Ensemble Queen. I plan on doing a review of the Boss and DHA once I have used them for a while. Its still very modest compared to some other pedalboards. However, I am pretty much very happy with it. Only thing left is to get some better patch cables and really tidy it up. Maybe a wireless as well.

Really good quality for such a small budget. Would be interested on how well the video reel is received. I might try and do something like this with my band after we get our banners done. Also what cameras was it that you used?

The two things I would say I have learnt the most this year is to follow the kick and when not to play. These are probably the two things I wish I learnt a lot earlier.

My first amp was a small laney 15watt combo, was brilliant to learn on. My old man's full rig was a laney RB9 with a 4x10 and a 1x15 he has nearly had it for around 15 years it's been giggled extensively but still holding up pretty strong. I'd say their gear is really robust.

Thought I would give a wee update on how the gig went. Was absolutely amazing! We only played a small 45min set but managed to fill out the town center (theres a time laps video below and we are at the very end, I think) Surprisingly I wasn't as cold as I thought I would be. Only had jeans, t shirt and a thick jumper one. I kept a small hand warmer in my jumper pocket and that managed to keep my hands warm inbetween songs. Was an amazing experience playing my first outdoor gig. Cant wait to play the next one. Also numerous pints in the local boozer was a brilliant way to end the night! [url="http://www.facebook.com/paul.walton.332/videos/10211132855427851/"]http://www.facebook....11132855427851/[/url] [url="https://youtu.be/Ku1OqND-ic8"]https://youtu.be/Ku1OqND-ic8[/url]

Just ordered the head from Andertons, an earlier birthday present from me to me. They gave it a good review on youtube as well. For the price I don't think any other small class D head can beat it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMZV2z4bVbk

Thanks for the advice, picked up some of those gel pocket heaters to keep my hands warm and a couple of thermal tops. We have been told that the stage is going to be heated, just a coupl of halogen heaters at side. Every little helps though. Pulled out a big wooly hat as well.