SuperSeagull

I recently recovered an old Laney Hardcore Max 65watt combo that I had bought s/h some years ago and that was no longer needed by the church I'd bought it for. I was hoping I could leave it at the church I now play at to save lugging gear when I play. But its noisy when the master vol is turned up. Doesn't matter if anything is plugged in or not. Tried different mains leads etc but makes no difference. However if I plug into the fx return there is no noise and it sounds not at all bad although with none of the controls then work. Does that sound fixable or am I best just using the fx return as an input and sticking my sansamp in front of it for eq etc? A quick, uneducated look at the components and PCBs doesn't seem to show anything obviously wrong.

I empathise with the issue. Once we’ve finished playing I just want to get home asap. I can get my gear into the car in a max of three trips (two cabs, two basses, one gig bag and guitar stand). I’ll then help dismantle the PA but generally I have the longest drive home so by then I’m ready to go and often do with the blessing of the rest.

I've emailed Dawn at Status to enquire about retro fitting an active / passive switch - don't know why I didn't do that when I ordered it.

Sunday afternoon, an absolute shitshow. We were asked to play a 30 min set at a cancer charity fundraiser - loads of local acts taking part, well organised with two stages in a big pub - backline (markbass), PA, kit, lights all provided. Should have been a doddle. As it’s only 30 mins I decided to take just my Status, strap, a lead, Sansamp and clip on tuner - what possible need is there for all the usual extras of a spare bass, gig bag etc etc because it’s ONLY 30 MINUTES, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG…….As soon as we started I knew something wasn’t right, the bass didn’t sound right, something sensed rather than heard and then two songs in everything died (Mollys Chambers so not like the bass is integral to the song or anything). Assumed amp had overheated after running for hours but with help from the sound guy realised it was the bass and the batteries had gone. I can’t pick up a spare bass and all my replacement batteries are at home. Pulled one out of the LEDs and sound man found another somewhere and off we went again but how unprofessional and in front of other musos as well. Usually change batteries every six months, must have missed a change as these had been in 10 months (I label them with the date when I change them). And of course it threw me for a couple of songs and the rest of the band - our poorest set since I joined over two years ago. I’m just so pissed off at the coincidence of the timing - they needed to last 20 mins more. I’ve played every gig for years and years with a spare bass and batteries by my side but not Sunday, I’m mortified.

We have a plan. There are some other enforced changes happening in the line up later this year so we think we can wrap everything up as a bit of a whole band reset rather than a problem with one particular individual.

I’m sure they do and I assume she can do so when singing folk music, but it’s more challenging for her in front of a five piece rock band. I reckon I’m a very competent rock bass player but think I’d be crap if asked to play in an avant grade jazz ensemble 😀

Thanks, good feedback. I think we have done a fair bit of tailoring the set inc dropping songs that just aren’t working but….you do need to be able to a) hold a note in tune b) consistently sing in the right key and c) be reliable about when to come in.

Thanks all. Really helpful comments of which the one that stuck me as most important is "be kind" and, whatever the outcome, we will be. It's a covers band, nobody's well being is worth being compromised by that!

Gonna need a new bass player!

When I joined my covers band a couple of years ago the line up was drums, 2 x guitar, bass, male vox/front man, female vox who has about 6 songs she fronts and a number of other she does bvs. The logic for a second singer was that the male vox plays in a couple of other bands so apart from broadening the set, a female vox meant we could gig if male vox was otherwise engaged. It took me about 10 mins to realise she couldn’t sing lead vox in a rock covers band - indeed her background is folk music and she wanted to branch out. The one time we played with her as lead vox was not up to standard. Consensus is she needs to go but…..is friends with drummer who is relatively new but we’d like to keep and she is quite needy - life hasn’t always treated her well and we don’t want to add to that. We gig without her at times. Her BF videoed her numbers at a recent gig and she shared this on the band WhatsApp group - it just reinforced she isn’t up to it, we kind of hoped she would realise and gracefully step aside but that was a vain hope! So, how to proceed? Be honest and say it’s not working, thanks and goodbye (my preference), hope she sees sense herself, carry on as is because we don’t want to do anything which compromises her?

I always take a spare but the only time I needed it was the one time I chose to leave it in the car!

My best was purchasing the time and expertise of Badlands Guitars in Brighton to take out the original and failed pre amp on my 1991 Fender P Lyte and rewire as a passive instrument. It turned a bass gathering dust in a corner into an immensely playable instrument.

That's my birth year too, and I can't afford it! Closest I'll get is my (lovely) MIJ 62 RI.

Turns out cabling up a genuine Speakon is a doddle even for a ham fisted fool like me. I’ve now a couple of cables, all of which work faultlessly - genuine Neutrix is the way to go.

Thanks all. Now I realise how easy it is to wire up a Speakon I’ve ordered some genuine Neutrix ones from Design A Cable and will hope that resolves the issue.

Thanks. I think I'll go for a new cable and plugs to be safe. Don't really fancy having to swap out the socket!

Connecting my MB CMD12 combo to a MB NY121 cab - with the speakon cable plugged in one way all is fine, switch which end is plugged into the combo and it doesn’t latch properly leading to intermittent or no signal. I can wiggle that end and the signal cuts in and out. I’ve checked continuity on the cable and that seems fine, if I use a Jack to Jack speaker cable all is fine as well. I can’t get my head around if the problem is with the cable or speakon socket on the amp. I suspect the cable - it’s a gear 4 music one. Before I order a decent replacement cable is there anything I’m missing?

New venue for us, 5 mins from home for me. Last note played at 11.05, packed down and home by 11.45. Lovely. Tomorrow will be a bit later.

I’ve just put my foot down re an annual charity gig - done it for the last three years on the promise of a paid gig which has never materialised, two hours travel time for what should be 45 mins but always get shortened to 30 mins because everyone else overruns, in a pub that is packed, raking in the money for the owner without even a free glass of water for the band. Taking the proverbial.

Regret family demands mean I can no longer attend. Have a good day!

£250 round this way and we do 2.5 hours…

I’ve recently added a Sine HPF. It’s replacing a Rafferty which I really like but it’s just a bit big for my board. So far, in two rehearsals, the Sine seems to be doing exactly the same as the Rafferty so I’m happy.

My older unit doesn't have the jack input option but there are times when I just want to plug a bass in without using the wireless. If I used a switchable AB switch with the AB as inputs, one for the Shure and the other for a non wireless input that's an OK solution? Or am I missing something obvious!

Neither do I but it works very well as a stand for a tablet holder which appears to be what you need.