chris_b

You've got to do whatever it takes to save what's left of your hearing. Time to buy a piano for the front room?

The Aguilar TH500 is the best sounding and loudest 500 watt D class amp I've owned. It's sounds so good with my Bergantino cabs that I bought a second one as a backup.

I have played FOH gigs without an amp, but my preference would be to use my rig. That spot on the stage is your office. It's where you do your work, where you shine and where you display your wares/talent/ability to your band and guys out there who might want to hire you for bigger and better things. Having the same sound on every gig gives you continuity and allows you to concentrate 100% on playing your instrument. If you give yourself a challenging environment by making changes you're not focused on the music and the show suffers.

Fun is playing in a band, in front of an audience and getting paid at the end of the night. Every thing else is just working to that end.

If you ensure you have your own monitor (in the right position), a separate and adjustable mix and stage crew to sort out channges during the numbers then you shouldn't have any problems. If they can't guarantee that then I'd use my gear.

While neither of these rigs are what I'd imagine seeing on a heavy rock gig, the TH500 is a very loud 500 watts and the Reidmar is a loud 250 watts. We might have totally different ideas on what loud is, but at 100 to 150 watts each amp will probably sound equally loud. IME the Aguilar will be able to keep going, and go louder with more headroom. The difference will depend on how loud [i]you[/i] have to go in this band.

I did this with an acoustic blues and ragtime duo on several festivals and the monitor was fine. The PA guys (they had their own stage sound man) were great. I always carried my rig just in case. It stayed in the car.

It doesn't matter what it says on the label, you've got to play your best bass. I get rid of basses when they've been superceeded; ie when I buy one that sounds better. So far in 20 years I've had 4 main basses and sold 2 of them. The last "best bass" becomes the backup and the old backup gets sold.

So, what is wrong with your basses, and why do you think a Lakland will do a better job?

[quote name='TheDaivisch' timestamp='1408468546' post='2530509'] TBF, the Contour's head is fully detachable and has to XLR outs, so I COULD just sell the speaker and get replacements if it really comes to it... [/quote] Keep the combo and get a 212 for the big gigs. You can then use the combo for the smaller gigs.

Bass frequencies (low end) on thier own can get lost in a loud and busy mix. The 810 will give you lots of low mids which are very good for punching through the band at volume. With low mids you'll hear yourself rather than just feeling your playing. Also, there's a Barefaced Big Twin T in the classifieds that should just crush a loud band.

Very few players who have come in to replace original members who have left top bands will be allowed to join the band. Most will remain employees. I would guess that not one of those few will be on an equal split with the original guys. Even Ronnie Wood was on wages for the first 25 years before they gave him full band membership.

IMO, how you upgrade and expand is always the problem with combos.

Both Les Claypool and Stanley Clarke play other basses as well.

It can work, Alex at Barefaced used to recommend a 12" Midget with a 15" Compact, and 10's and 12's work with Bergantino cabs. Get a 12 and see what [i]you[/i] think.

I was never interested in Led Zep either, but I got huge enjoyment out of the gigs I did a few years ago in a Led Zep tribute band.

I took my wife with me when I bought my last bass (Bexhill), last amp (Harrow), and when I went to Bassdirect (Warwick) to get my first Bergantino cabs. We had a couple of great days out, and came home with some gear. Win, win.

I hope Alex will be there, and if I can make a suggestion....... with a couple of Retro 210's and a BB2.

I learn all numbers in the same way; from the top, slowly, section by section and I chart the cords and structure as I go. Complicated stuff just takes longer but the same rules apply.

I play across, up and down, high and low, anywhere that sounds good. I don't often play low C or B but when I do it's because it sounds right. A guitarist I know wrote song in D. His bassist (4 strings) played it high and when I gig with him I play it low. Because it sounds so much better. He now makes the other guy tune the E down to D.

The band's standing behind him so it's his turn in the spotlight. Good luck. He's doing the routine he was booked to do....... and he didn't drop a beat. I believe that stuff come from marching bands.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1408001029' post='2526073'] ....Yeh I thought there was some sort of history like that behind it.... [/quote] They were recording the song as a demo for John Peel and David Bentley decided he didn't like his voice so Peel called Stewart to come in and put some vocals down. I was briefly in PLJ in mid 1969. I joined just in time to record the "proper" version for Dandilion Records. The band had always been fractious and disorganised and split for the last time a couple of months later. As I said, that version got swamped by Stewarts success and never had a chance of being released. Shame. Apart from the vocals, it [i]was[/i] a better record.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1407969652' post='2525981'] ....I'd just like to mention 'In a Broken Dream' by Python Lee Jackson. So good it hurts.... [/quote] I'm glad you like it, but it was only intended as a demo to get the band a record deal. Which it did. Rod Stewarts huge success with Maggie May caused it to be dusted off and released. After it became a hit there was no chance the actual recording would be released. It had been consigned to the vaults after PLJ split up for the final time, several years before.

Rod's had 3 lives. I saw him with Long John Baldry and with the Jeff Beck Group. My favourite part of his first period. I also saw the Faces several times, when our band supported them (we had the same management). Good stuff. Faces audiences were something else. 3rd period, from Atlantic Crossing onwards. My least favourite period of the 3. Rod was one of the blokes until Britt came along. All these people are difficult to varying degrees. It comes with the world they inhabit, but you can't argue, he's a very talented guy.