ASW

My festival experience this year has been different. I've played a few festivals and venues with its own back line and it's all been quite good. There was an Aguilar Tone Hammer and 4 x 10 at one festival. I liked the amp enough to buy one myself! I always carry a small pedal board with an Origin Effects Bass Rig so can DI from there if necessary. I'm sure that every gig I've played this year, we got a list of the back line and if we didn't we asked for it, so we knew what would be there to use. This enables us to ascertain whether the back line is suitable and can negotiate beforehand if we feel we needed to use our own equipment (we didn't). Admittedly, it doesn't help if the equipment doesn't work though, but still worthwhile. There will always be outliers, such as the time I played a gig years ago and their "bass amp" was some child's practice amp from the 80s with a blown 8" speaker. No proper foldback either so I couldn't hear anything I was playing and taking a preamp pedal would not have helped. That was before I learned to find out what the back line was!

The whole album has a great groove. All the players are amazing and Donny's voice is sublime. One of the best versions of What's Going On in my opinion. The album sounds good from a production perspective too. All the instruments can be heard clearly, yet you can also "hear" the room it was recorded in and the audience participation is electric. The bass playing is the icing on the cake. I'm going to have to listen to it today!

Bizarrely written article which misses out some key points and includes odd sections such as "what can we learn from Antigua". I also suspect it's an AI created article.

I left Facebook over 10 years ago. It never really worked for me to just promote gigs. I did try sometimes, but because I rarely posted and probably didn't have the right people as "friends" it didn't seem to gain much traction. I sometimes thought that I should post some important life events on there, like passing my driving test, completing insurance qualifications, getting Grade 8 Classical Guitar, moving house etc. but couldn't bring myself to do it. It just felt narcissistic to me as I wondered why anyone should care. I'm not saying Facebook users are all narcissistic, but that it didn't really work for me as a means to share important things with people. I'd rather tell them in person or not at all. I also detested what many people would post on Facebook. Opposing political views that I don't care for, or attention seekers, or irrelevant and uninteresting information. I can't remember when I joined here, but I didn't start using it until quite a while after quitting Facebook. I much prefer it here.

I wasn't there unfortunately. Although I prefer smaller venues in general, I quite like the O2. Easy to get to from where I am, the facilities are good and the accessibility is great for those who are disabled. The sound can be hit and miss, especially if you are sitting up in the gods, but live sound generally is patchy at best in all venues. I'm up for going @hiram.k.hackenbacker If you are.

That reminds me of a gig I did a few months ago. Tribute band on a decent large stage outside in a park somewhere in West London I think. For some reason, we'd not loaded the drummer's stool/throne into van. When we looked in the band dressing room/marquee, the band the night before had accidentally left behind a single piece of equipment... which happened to be a drum stool. Very weird coincidence, but one that we were grateful for!

Me and the singer (it's a duo with backing tracks) turned up to the venue, a pub in Kent, on Friday night... and they had no idea we were playing. We had been booked through an agent. The agent hadn't been told that the manager of the pub had left recently. The new manager had never heard of the agent. They were apologetic, but no hard feelings as it wasn't their fault. They're going to book us in another date in the future. So we had a curry instead and then home for an unexpected early night!

I can see me! It was an amazing gig and was great to be back on stage with you again. I was playing the 6 string, octave higher and inferior cousin to the bass guitar unfortunately for this gig, but it was still fun nonetheless. 😜 I'm not on stage for this one (I was in the Alanis, Bowie and encore sets) but here's another photo from the front. I did like the G&L L2500 being played here. I tried it out and it seemed well made, comfortable, easy to play, with lots of tonal options.

That's very nice. I have a few questions. Did the seller tell you what they thought was wrong with the neck? What's a "warehouse find"? It's not a term I'm familiar with. What's the brown furry thing next to the bass?

Thanks for the replies. It does appear there is something wrong with my one then as from what's being described, I'm sure I would be able to hear the difference if it was working properly. I'll have a look at the switch wiring today to see if there's anything obviously wrong and go from there.

I have a 2015 Stingray 5 which I've had a couple of years. I like it a lot and I think it's the only bass I've played at gigs this year. However, I do wonder if there is an issue with it. All three selections on the pickup selector switch sound identical. Perhaps it's my unrefined ear, but no matter what I do, I can't hear any difference whatsoever between the three positions which makes me wonder if it is working properly. I will upload a sound sample later, but in the meantime was wondering if anyone could tell me whether it should sound noticeably different on the three switch positions. It does appear to switch something when going between the positions, but sounds the same to me when landing on the positions. If I wedge the switch between two of the positions, it clearly becomes single coil as it has a thinner sound and I can hear the single coil hum. I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of anyone who has a Stingray 5 as to whether you think my bass my be faulty or if Musicman deliberately designed the selector switch to be utterly pointless!

Apologies for my ignorance, but what is an MPV fiver? Also, what is your definition of basically irreplaceable? I don't have any basses that are irreplaceable, but I am rather attached to my Custom Shop Precision and would rather not have to replace it. I do use that at pub gigs though. Some people save their "best" for home because they are expensive and don't want them damaged or stolen. I can understand this, but for me, I don't want to use inferior instruments or gear at any gig as I want to enjoy it as much as possible rather than just take a tool for the job that will do.

Most of the band members have been playing gigs since the '60s and started this band in the late '70s, so wrong on both counts... although I fully understand why you would think that. Rehearsals are fine as we're all facing each other. I don't think there is any issue with any individual being purposefully too loud. It seems to be more the case that it's a complete guess as to what volume each instrument should be at a gig as nobody in the band hears how it sounds out front. In my view the volume is set by the acoustic drum kit and the other instruments and vocals need to balance with that. How does the vocalist line check to "get the right volume" if they are unaware of how loud the drums sound in the venue? There is no line check of the drums as they are not going through the PA.

Thanks for all the replies. It's good to get a balanced view on this. My stance is option 2 i.e. that we should sound check for the best possible sound. What I didn't mention in the original post because it would be clear I was biased one way was the following issues that have occurred: 1. Every gig we have at least one person come up to us to say something was too loud or too quiet. This is either between sets or at the end of the gig. The last gig someone said they could hear me for once. It's all a bit soul destroying after the gig is finished to find it didn't sound great! 2. We had one gig where we were about to start, the singer raised the fader on the mixer for the vocals and keys and there was deafening feedback for 10 seconds... then a few minutes of fumbling around trying to find the source. 3. During the last gig, there was this awful delay effect on the vocals that was very loud, and quite long so it sounded a mess. I don't think the singer was aware as he had only heard what was coming through his monitor which I can only assume had no effects on it. 4. Also during the last gig, people at the end said it was too loud apparently. The solution offered was that we turn down a bit for the next gig... but compared to what? How will we remember what volume we were at? I have an active bass, so it has a volume control, bass, mid and treble controls, the amp has a gain control, eq controls and a master volume. There's no way I'm going to be able to remember what level I had the bass at. 5. I usually stand at the back, next to the drums, behind a keyboard and guitar amp. I have no monitor so can only hear the main vocals through front of house. It is impossible for me to know if I am too quiet or too loud from this position. It sounds pretty thunderous from where I'm standing next to the amp, but out front, it doesn't sound loud at all. I've no idea how loud it sounds in comparison to everything else. As a generalisation, it seems the people here saying a sound check is not needed are the ones who are very confident with using a PA, perhaps have all intruments going through the PA and may have a person doing the sound. None of that applies to our band. I must say that I very much like everyone in the band and don't want to cause any issues. If the majority don't want to sound check (I appear to be the only one that thinks it's a good idea) then that's fine. You've all given me a few ideas about what else to try. I have a wireless system, so can have a wander during the first song (not sure if that's any more professional looking though). As everyone is not going through the PA, this will be reliant on individuals adjusting levels when directed to. We also have a few people who come down that we could ask to do "sound" (i.e. tell us who needs to go up or down). However, that means trusting someone else's abilities/opinion. Alternatively, we just do nothing different and continue to have sound issues at every gig!

We have a difference of opinion in a band I'm in and was interested in the general consensus on this matter. I will try to state both side's case neutrally so as not to sway the argument. The scenario is that in the venues we play (pub and social club) there will already be people in the room when we are setting up. The question is whether we should carry out a full volume soundcheck before we start playing. Only the three vocals and keys are going through the small PA. The drums, two guitars and bass are not. The arguments are as follows: 1. As there are already people in the room, it doesn't look/sound very professional to do a soundcheck before the gig start, especially at full volume. We will still do a check on each of the instruments individually. As long as we keep the levels the same on our amps gig to gig, then there should not be a problem. 2. A full soundcheck should be carried out at all gigs to ensure that the sound is the best it can be. It is more professional to do a 5 minute soundcheck before the gig to ensure all levels are good than it is for the sound to not be balanced or too loud for the whole gig. All opinions welcome!

A difficult situation, but in my opinion, changing key in the middle of the song is probably the worst option. I would have transposed on the fly, but maybe simplified the bass line if necessary and kept to roots. If this is likely to happen again, there are a few options, such as a note on the set list to remind everyone what setting the pedal should be on. Or you could buy a drop pedal too so you could easily transpose.

The sound quality isn't as bad as I was expecting. There's a lot of reverberation from the hall but otherwise reasonably clear. The bass solo isn't that bad either! I'm not sure the name of the song and band matched the music though! I'll have to dig out some old tape recordings...

I've had quite a successful year in that I like everything I've bought so far. Ibanez Ehb1506ms: Lightweight, sounds good, very easy to play and I find the higher strings much easier to play when reading music as I don't have to jump about so much. Durham Electronics Sex Drive: A very light boost pedal which seems to make everything sound better. It has some subtle compression settings on it too. They are designed for guitar, but a couple of friends have used them for bass for years, so I had to try one! I use it for guitar and bass gigs. Shure Glxd16+: I wanted a wireless to make sound checks easier, especially when the bass is not going through the front of house PA. It's difficult to know how it sounds in the room if you're tied to the amp with a cable. It works flawlessly, is rugged and sounds indistinguishable from a cable. Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 v2: I'm still getting used to this as I changed the cab I'm using at the same time as the amp. It has just the right number of controls. It's simple, but with enough variation available to find the sound I'm after. I prefer a more vintage sound, so this suits me well. Barefaced One10: I had the Big Baby but there was something about the sound of it I didn't like. It was almost too good! I'm quite lazy too, so the idea of having a cab (or two) that I can carry with extreme ease appealed to me. They sound great and round off the edges of the sound rather than being too transparent (which hides more poor technique perfectly)! I would like the option of more highs though, so am on the lookout for one with a tweeter... and then I'll use all three together! Fender Tony Franklin fretless Precision: I bought this on a whim from a local auction. I've never played fretless before, but thought if I'm going to get one, may as well be a half decent one. I was surprised by how much easier it is to play than I expected (much like the Ibanez 6 string). It also sounds amazing too, so I'm cconsidering switching to this from a fretted Jazz Bass for one band I'm in. It's quite light too which is a bonus! Phil Jones Bass X4: I wanted something small for home practice and this seemed to fit the bill. It's a bit too clean sounding for my liking and even rolling the treble off completely, it's still too bright. It's the worst purchase this year, but still ok. However, the next item fixes the issue... Origin Effects DCX Bass: A nice tone shaper and overdrive if required. I use it straight into studio monitors or into the Phil Jones Bass X4 and like the interaction between the controls and the subtle compression that adding a bit of drive gives. I've decided not to buy anything in 2025 though except the aforementioned Barefaced One10T if one comes up for sale.