Mottlefeeder

[quote name='steve-norris' post='308847' date='Oct 17 2008, 06:42 PM'][color="#FF0000"][size=4]No one mentioned martindale ring testers, they cost a few quid basically you plug it in to the socket and it tests the wiring is ok. Stops you plugging into a badly wired socket in the first place! [/size][/color] [url="http://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/socket1.htm"]http://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/socket1.htm[/url][/quote] The earth connection to the equipment is there to make sure that if there is a fault, the fault current will be high, and will blow the fuse quickly, which disconnects it. A plug-in tester is fine, provided you know what it is testing. The ones that have three lights on them will confirm that you have an earth connection, but will not tell you whether it is the last strand of a frayed cable (no use at all) or a thick cable with good connections at both ends. When you turn up at a venue, any test device that does not measure how good the earth is (earth fault loop impedance) is probably no help to you at all. Granted, it will tell you if there is no earth at all, but then so will your plug-in RCD which will not latch in.

I don't have an EUB yet - but there are a lot more posts on that topic. I couldn't find any threads just about bows. I am assuming that the same rules apply here as apply to HiFI and many other things - at the bottom of the price range, a small increase in price gives major improvements in performance, but at the top of the price range, a large difference in price gives an improvement so subtle it would probably be wasted on me. One suggestion I heard was that a bow should cost about 25% to 33% of the cost of the DB, but does this still hold good for an EUB with less range of tone and subtlety? Another suggestion was that carbon fibre sounds as good as wood that is twice the price - is that a point that is generally agreed, or only agree above a certain price point, or just plain wrong? I suppose the answer I want is that for an EUB starter, with a new budget EUB, or s/h mid-priced EUB, reasonable bows start at £x, and the law of diminishing returns starts at £y.

[quote name='Toasted' post='307688' date='Oct 16 2008, 10:16 AM']Glad you're still with us!! Would you guys use an RCD on each wall outlet your using, or just one for the amp?[/quote] Ideally, you make sure that everything is powered through an RCD, either by having one upstream of your distribution board, or having one per socket in use. The problem with just having one for your gear is that if the house PA is faulty, and makes the microphone casing live, your RCD will not trip when you touch the microphone and your earthed bass strings, because your amp is still working correctly. The RCD has to be upstream of the equipment that develops the fault if it is to detect that fault. This guidance may help - [url="http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg247.pdf"]http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg247.pdf[/url]

Working with any group of people can be a pain, but if it's what you want to do, hang on to the thought that you will do it all again, but better, because of this experience. [quote name='Galilee' post='298346' date='Oct 3 2008, 09:49 AM']I would sympathise, but I don't understand your second paragraph at all, even after reading it three times. [/quote] I think cytania is comparing being a solo player, and having folders full of music you like, with being in a band, where you end up with folders of stuff you may or may not like, but you worked on it for other people.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' post='296045' date='Sep 30 2008, 11:37 PM']That's a really nice looking bass, but what is the rationale for the strange jack mounting bit?[/quote] It's a neutric locking jack socket by the looks of it - they come on a rectangular backing plate like an XLR socket.

A couple of comments on previous posts - My first rig was a fender 1 by 15 combo, and I built a tilt-back stand for it. It was designed to fold flat, like a deck chair, and to fit within the grill recess of the cab, so with a strap round the cab, it added protection to the cab front, and it was not an extra item to carry. As alexcaber suggested, don't support the front edge, put something behind it to stop it falling over. My frame formed a capital L with a diagonal so the cab could sit on the frame and lean back against it. I'll try and sketch it out if anyone wants further information. With regard to the BFM Wedgehorn 10, when tilted back, it sits as tall and as wide as a 1 by 15 cab. Great on a big stage, but probably too big for smaller venues.

I played a BEAD fretless Warwick for several years, and the only problems I had were with my bass teacher - speaking about 5-string notes while looking at a 4-string gave him problems. I upgraded to a fretless 5 so that both my fretted and fretless basses had the same fingering for the same notes. For strings, I bought sets of 5-strings, which was more expensive, but gave you access to a much bigger range of strings.

I'd like to add my comments to those already 'on file'. I managed one lesson with Nick before I became housebound for about six weeks. Since we knew it was coming, Nick was able to pick things that I could work on without being face to face, and we discussed my progress by phone. I am now back in the saddle, and recently other members of the band have commented that my playing is becoming more fluid. I can also vouch for Nick's eye for detail, in hand positions etc. - not in the sense of producing clones, but more about seeing where the problems are, and helping you work towards the optimum for you. David Wilson Mottlefeeder

I may be a lone voice here, but I feel there is a risk in starting with your own material. An audience that does not recognise the first song you play may vote with their feet, so I would suggest starting with covers, and move onto your own material when you have got the audience on your side, and finish with a cover that they know and love. Having said that, my only gig is a church worship band, so this is my gut feeling, not my experience talking - YMMV

One thing I would suggest is to go for a rubber tyred wheel. The plain nylon castors are fine indoors, but will shake your gear severely if you use them on a pavement.

[quote name='chris_b' post='246680' date='Jul 24 2008, 10:30 AM']I'm confused!! After watching 2 different bands on 2 different gigs rushing around trying to sort out the same problem I thought I knew what to do when playing with an electricity supply from a generator!! I spoke to a BBC electrician at the weekend and he said you don't need an earth on a generator supply because it is a closed system and all the equipment is local to the generator..... BUT, the electricity regs say you should have an earth every time! What do you do? I guess the safest option is to go for the earth and use RCD plugs.[/quote] There may be some confusion here about what we mean by the electricity regs. The IEE wiring regs were originally rules for IEE members, and had no legal standing. They are now a British standard. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 - [url="http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1989/Uksi_19890635_en_3.htm#mdiv8"]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1989/Uksi_1989..._en_3.htm#mdiv8[/url] is the law (for all people covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act), and says "Earthing or other suitable precautions 8. Precautions shall be taken, either by earthing or by other suitable means, to prevent danger arising when any conductor (other than a circuit conductor) which may reasonably foreseeably become charged as a result of either the use of a system, or a fault in a system, becomes so charged; and, for the purposes of ensuring compliance with this regulation, a conductor shall be regarded as earthed when it is connected to the general mass of earth by conductors of sufficient strength and current-carrying capability to discharge electrical energy to earth." That does not say you need an earth every time, and allows the use of an isolated system as a means of preventing danger through 'conductors becoming charged'. However, when the system stops being isolated (the first fault) your precautions should pick that up.

This is the HSE guidance on using generators - [url="http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/fod/oc/400-499/482_2.pdf"]http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/fod/...0-499/482_2.pdf[/url]

Small generators are designed to be used with equipment that is local to them. The output is not earthed so that even if you have a fault, and the casing of your equipment becomes connected to either of the mains conductors, you will not get a shock because the current has nowhere to flow. If you have a second fault on the system, then you create the conditions where one piece of gear may be 230 volts different to the next, and a shock current could flow from one to the other through you. The protection philosophy is based on you being able to see the first fault, and chosing to do something about it, hence the need for the generator to be supplying gear that is local to it. If the generator is feeding strings of lights etc, you will probably not be able to see the first fault - the cable pinched by the scaffolding clamp for example, and you will not know that you only need one more fault to make it dangerous. In those circumstances, it is better to earth the generator output, so that the first fault will show itself by causing a trip. A couple of other points - As has already been pointed out, plugtop RCDs expect to see a connection between earth and neutral on a domestic supply, and on a generator with an un-earth-referenced output, they will not allow the breaker to be set. The RCDs in distribution boards work differently, and would be a better option (they do not trip on loss of power). One poster commented about daisy-chaining distribution boards together. This is not a good idea. Every distribution board that you connect through will add the cable to plug connection, the cable to socket connection, and the spring connection of the socket to plug-pin, into the earth circuit, increasing the risk of a faulty earth. Plugging faulty equipment into an unearthed distribution board could make everything on that distribution board dangerous, since there is no earth connection to blow the fuse for you. The best way to work is to use longer mains cable to your equipment, and fewer cable extenders.

I had two lunch-time gigs this week, on Friday and Saturday. We were playing at a street BBQ, and in both cases we played from 11:00ish to 14:00, getting on for a 3 hr set. The musicians came together each morning, with no previous rehearsals, and a set list of about 40 songs, in no particular order. The lead singer chose each 'next song' on the fly, including some that were not on the list, and some that were not in the key of the chord charts we had been given. On the Friday, I could not hear the monitor, which meant that I could hear myself better - on a fretless, that's no bad thing. On Saturday, we had two guitarists, vocals and keyboard coming through the one monitor, and I was struggling to hear what I played. A 200W bass rig in the open is not that loud. The low point for me was a song where I just watched the keyboard player, and played the lowest notes he played. The most interesting point was where I tried to keep my bass line flowing, and not too repetetive, when we hung on a D chord for about 5 minutes. It would have been easier if I knew the material, but their 40 songs are a small fraction of the 700-odd that churches have to chose from, and I don't play them often enough to remember them. The atmosphere is great, and the people are great to work with, but I am always knackered by the end of it.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='228260' date='Jun 27 2008, 07:52 PM']When i play my G string open on my musicman for some reason a natural harmonic comes through, it's fairly apparent when i'm playing it silent or tuning up, it's not so apparent when it's amplified but it's still there. It's not a huge problem because as you can imagine, i don't play the G open very often, if at all, but it's still a bit irritating. Any ideas what's causing it and/or how to remedy it? Thanks[/quote] From your description, it may be a natural resonance in the Bass. I have one on my Yamaha, and I fixed it by moving to a different brand of string, and setting up the bass to suit. You can remove some resonances by adding weight to the bit that is resonating. If you clamp a G clamp onto the headstock, the resonance should move or go. If that is successful, then investigate a fatfinger, which I believe does the same job.

[quote name='jimbartlett' post='217506' date='Jun 12 2008, 11:41 AM']Thanks for the replies guys, all that is really helpful. I am quite keen on building one myself so I will probably go down that route. I really like the volume pot idea, simple but effective! [/quote] Using a sensitivity pot is fairly easy when you have an active bass, since it has a higher current drive capability. With a passive bass, you may find that another pot in the circuit makes a noticable difference to your tone. Also, building on Cheddatom's comments, your switches will need to be two pole to switch both your signal and an LED, and you will need to add in a power supply or a battery to power the LEDs. A format that might be worth considering is to use one switch to select the bass, and a second switch to provide a mute/tune facility. This would be easier than having one on/off switch per bass, and no easy way of connecting one or the other to a tuner.