TimR

The instruments that usually take solos are the instruments that usually play melody. The bass is traditionally a harmonic (or even bass) instrument so traditionally it doesn't have that quality. When you switch to playing a solo or melody do you need someone to cover the bass or harmony parts? There is a difference between bass solo and solo bass. If you listen to Marcus Millers albums he has two bass parts. The bass playing the bass and the bass playing the melody. I think if you don't support the solo with harmony or bass, a solo can lose direction.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1225553' date='May 9 2011, 08:56 PM']Tim you claim to have good ears in your sig yet have strapped a box to the back of the headstock to stop the tuners moving a quarter turn at most [/quote] Well he asked if anyone had a solution. I'm never one to resist a challenge. No one spotted the deliberate irony that it was the tuner box then? I play with a guitarist who will play for 20mins while the drummer sets up. We'll play the first song and at the end of the song I ask him if he has checked his tuning. Every week without fail he is out. It seems alien to me not to tune up as soon as you have put on your strap. As I said, I was just surprised at how far out the bass goes when it's in a bag compared to a hard case but now I've experimented and seen how much you have to turn the machine head to raise a semitone, I'm not so surprised. I suppose I'd never noticed how much I turn them. Just do it unconsciously really. I wonder how many people here could have said how many turns it takes to raise the pitch a semitone?

[quote name='ZMech' post='1225527' date='May 9 2011, 08:31 PM']I think this is the most that people have ever agreed on a forum. 70 posts all agreeing that tuning is vital immediately before/during a gig (discounting the OP), plus a few about some van.[/quote] The OP wasn't complaining about the fine tuning he was complaining about how wildly out the tuning goes.

It probably also depends on the ratio of your machine heads. Mine are 1:12. I think Fenders are 1:20. A quarter turn on my machine head results in an increase of a semitone on my E string on a Fender I would expect this to be around than half of that. Which may explain some of the ridicule that is going on here. Also you should only ever have one layer of string wound on the post this will affect your tuning. Here is my 5 minute solution using my tuner (inside it's box) and one of my daughter's scrunchies. When I have more time I will construct something using some wood and the correct size elastic band. Or I may not [attachment=79452:IMG_0353.JPG]

This really bugs me too. I used to use a hard case and my bass basically stayed in tune forever. It's not that you have to re-tune it's that it goes so far out of tune. Tuning up a few cents is not the same as having to tune down a semitone or even a tone. I think it's probably worse because I had been playing for so long with a hard case and I'm just used to not having to make huge adjustments when I tune up. I've been thinking of making a cardboard sleeve that fits over the headstock to protect it.

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1224203' date='May 8 2011, 03:46 PM']That`s what I meant, but didn`t put in in technical terms, as to be honest, don`t know them.[/quote] It's easier to explain if you think of it as the speakers being torches. The high frequencies have narrow beams and the low frequencies wide ones. If you stand in the strong light you get lit up more than if you stand in the shadows by the edges. If you have four torches you have areas of light and dark where the beams overlap. As we walk across the stage we walk through these areas of light and dark so the two speakers next to each other give us problems. The speakers on top each other only give us problems if we are going up and down. Hopefully that's a fairly non technical explanation of what's going on and makes the "sounds louder" as you move away argument less counter intuitive and easier to explain to your guitarist. Although unfortunately, in my experience, singers and guitarists just want you to make it work, they're not interested in how it works, which makes it a lot harder.

I would avoid it because you will get problems from the sound bouncing off the back wall. Which is probably part of the problem with the monitors as well. Unfortunately unless you're using IEMs with dedicated channels for everyone, monitoring is always a compromise.

The comment is only aimed at Vocals in the MONITORS. The front of house PA is fine for what you are doing. If you only have 12" Yamaha monitors you [b]may [/b] struggle adding the guitars into the monitor mix. Get the monitor speakers aiming in the right direction. Use the guitar amps as stage monitoring for the guitarists. Everyone can turn down and it'll be more coherent. Also try cutting a bit of the bass frequencies from the monitors. The singers may not like the sound of their voices soloed but they'll sound fine and cut through better when the whole band is playing.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1223689' date='May 7 2011, 09:42 PM']Unless you have monitor mixes..which most basic P.A can't really do unless you have more than one aux send/dedicated monitor mixer, you are better off with vocals only in the monitors. ...[/quote] That is what I was going to suggest. What are you using for monitors speaker size and power? There are ways of setting up monitors to optimise stage coverage. Again monitors are directional and need to be aimed at the singers ears. Even wedge shaped monitors are no good if they are right at the singers feet. Packing under the monitors to tilt them up really helps. You may then find that one monitor will cover the whole of one half of the stage area.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1223587' date='May 7 2011, 07:42 PM']Make sure everyone has a decent compatable sound EQ'd to the band..and then play at levels where you can hear everyone. That way you make it simple and less likely you have to pull off miracles with a mix. And you probably only have a mon mix anyway.[/quote] This is an often overlooked point. Quite a few guitarists think that they have to cover the same bass frequencies when playing in a band as the they do when playing at home. You're the bassist so they need to roll off the bass frequencies. This means you don't have to be so loud to be heard and they don't have to try to be louder than you and compete in the loudness wars. What other instruments do you have in the band? Maybe look at arrangements. If you have two guitarists doubling the same parts this can lead to problems. What are you putting through the monitors?

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1223515' date='May 7 2011, 06:25 PM']I`d suspect that the guitarist in question has a nice rig (4x12?), and is simply standing very close to it. Guitar amps project sound very well, but if standing very close, they don`t sound loud enough, hence this problem that happens in bands all over the world. Get the guy to move right out front at a soundcheck/rehearsal, and let him hear this for himself. It sounds daft, that an amp gets louder as you move away from it, so most people don`t believe it until its proved to them - and you can`t blame them really, its very contradictory. It`s especially a problem with 4x12s - our old guitarist always moaned about not being able to hear himself when using his 4x12, but never had any problems with his 2x12.[/quote] This is due to the directionality of 12"s not the distance from them. As you get further away you get into the "beam" of sound so it sounds louder. If you get the amp up to close to his ears (as other have suggested) there is no way in the world it will get louder as you get further away. With a 2x12" I would bet he put it on a stand, or as you walk away from the stage you never get into the "beam".

If you are talking about festivals like fairs or fete's etc as opposed to music festivals you need to find out who the organisers are. We played a few like that because I knew a guy on the local round table who was organising a big local fair. He put us on a stage near the beer tent and passed the word around to other round tables. I imagine that it's similar to music festivals. Somehow you need to find out from the organisers if they book bands direct or whether they use agents. Then if they use agents ask them which ones and get their books. Simple. The agent will then give you some crappy gigs and wait for feedback or if they're good will contact any references you give them and tout you to the festivals straight away. I guess you need a proffessionally produced press pack before you start that though.

[quote name='mcnach' post='1222513' date='May 6 2011, 07:27 PM']of course!!! I quit a band I really truly and deeply loved because I couldn't take any more of the "leader"'s attitude. When we were playing it was great. I loved every minute. But he was a little too uptight, got stressed out easily, and it started to annoy me. It got to a point where I just didn't want to rehearse anymore... I'd have loved to just gig, but that couldn't be... and I quit. I still see them play live sometimes and it makes me a little jealous... but it just wasn't fun. It has to be fun. Always. Because we know that there surely won't be a whole lot of money in it (at least for those at my level of commitment) [/quote] Me too. I would guess that a fair few people have quit their day jobs for the same reason. I know I did and it was a really good job that I enjoyed with international travel and good pay. I'm a people person if the people aren't nice and friendly then I can't work with them on any level. Life is too short.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1221479' date='May 5 2011, 07:57 PM']... Some people are too precious about bands...IMV, they only have to work on a certain level..like you enjoy the time doing it...being best mates or whatever doesn't come into it. ...[/quote] If you do anything for any length of time you will bond on a certain level with the people around you. It get's nasty when they turn out not to be the people you thought they were. You've got to be a strange individual not to build friendships with your band mates. Or is it just me?

[quote name='thunderbird13' post='1221306' date='May 5 2011, 05:27 PM']I suppose the question ss how much does one out weight four because if I get messed around again I'm be off bands for a very long time[/quote] If you have this attitude you'll never join a band again because you'll always find some reason not to join one. Give it a month (or six weeks, or whatever you think you can afford). Be relaxed, do what the leader asks, even if you think he is wrong. Don't make any suggestions, just turn up and play the bass. If it's not working at the end of that time period then walk, if it is then start to make suggestions if you need to.

A 1000w amp will almost definitely have a soft start or it would be blowing fuses all over the shop. You could try the QSC Forums: [url="http://forum.qscaudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=bc8964496154799629d046f4289d8e40"]http://forum.qscaudio.com/forum/viewforum....9d046f4289d8e40[/url]

This all starts to be very Deja Vue. Have a look at the PAT testing thread it got a bit heavy one hot weekend Fuses do blow apparently for no reason. Especially in 300-500W amps that don't have soft starts as I said earlier. 300-500W is around the limit that manufacturers trade off cost and practicality. Every time you turn on your amp you draw between 4 and 10 times the rated current for a fraction of a second as the transformer gets a massive inrush current. It depends where in the cycle the mains is when you turn your amp on. Its random and different each time. So for a 500W amp you could be pulling 20amps for a fraction of a second. A 5amp fuse will take this maybe a 3 amp one will as well. The internal fuse will be a slow blow or time delay and will take it too. However, over time, the abuse that these fuses receive each time you switch your amp on will eventually lead to failure. It may be that the amp came with a 3amp fuse after all. Europeans don't even fuse their leads.

That's unusual to not have an internal fuse. There may well be one that you have to open the amp up to get to. There's a few conflicting opinions on the forum about the exact purpose of the fuse in the lead. Generally it is there to protect the lead and putting a 5amp fuse in should be no problem assuming that the lead is rated at 5amp and there is an internal fuse in the amp. The problem with the cheaper amps at around 500w is that they don't always have soft starts in them and they have big transformers. When you turn them on the fuse can blow due to the big inrush current. They should definitely have a slow blow internal fuse. Email the manufacturer. What amp is it?

Maybe it's worth getting someone to video your next gig from the back. Wide angle get the whole audience in and the whole band. Watch it back with the band and get everyone to critique only themselves by writing notes and not speaking out loud. Then do the same but with people critiqueing each other. But as I said you can try all sorts of fixes but if you know deep down someone is not into it anymore they need to go.

Sounds like the singer isn't on the same song sheet as the rest of the band (did you see what I did there? ) I was in a band where the singer kept suggesting tunes she (but no one else) liked. Medium tempo ballads. The drummer wanted to play rock. The guitarist didn't care what we played and never made any suggestions and was happy just as long as we got gigs. Myself and the keyboard player thought we knew what the punters wanted but couldn't get the band to agree. The annoying gthing for us was that we'd get a tune accepted, (say a rock and roll tune), it would get learned, we'd play it at a gig and it would go down a storm. Then at the next practice they'd all want to learn more rock and roll tunes because they saw how well the song had gone down. Apart from the singer and the drummer who wanted to play medium ballads and rock. You need to get the band all on the same song sheet (I did it again! ) Essentially someone needs to drive the band and come up with the songs that you can all relate to and that the audience enjoys. That's the hard bit! If someone doesn't fit you owe it to them and yourselves to move on or you'll end up a year from here frustrated and burned out. Trust me on that one. (see above)

[quote name='Ross' post='1210440' date='Apr 24 2011, 10:11 PM']But you'd theoretically then have to ban all guitars, a bass is a type of guitar is it not? You could just change the tuning and scale and call it a baritone bassolin, technically not a bass guitar and thus not banned.[/quote] Depends what they want to ban. They banned handguns a specific barrel length and stock length. Rifles weren't banned. So my description would be a stringed instrument with scale length of between 30" and 36" with open strings producing fundamental frequencies between 20Hz and 200Hz. As a start....

[quote name='Ross' post='1210388' date='Apr 24 2011, 09:31 PM']All laws are workable, you'd just have to be the one who is strong, smart and insane enough to take over the government and change it yourself. To be honest if worse comes to worse you can just call it a "contrabass guitar" and it won't be illegal, different enough to still be legal. Or maybe a contrabass sax, there needs to be more contrasax players.[/quote] I'm not sure about that. When they banned 'handguns' they didn't just ban handguns, they described exactly what a handgun was. You can't just call it something else - a bass by any other name is still a bass.

Unworkable law. Imagine Bass amnesty day at the local police station. All those basses and amps for the police to try an store somewhere securely. Are there any policemen left who could even pick up an 8x10" let alone carry it somewhere?

I'm with Sibob. They're just notes, its what you do with them that counts. So long as the audience enjoy what I'm/we're doing I'm happy. I'd rather play to a responsive audience for free than an empty stadium for loads of money.

Again I've not listened to it, just watched the video. Looks a lot more lively. This is usually what you will find at weddings, they've had a drink and are ready to be entertained so it is a synch with the right crowd. In turn you feed off their energy and put on a lively show. The problem is when the crowd needs to be warmed up, how do you warm them up? Your confidence will come with experience and the crowd will feed off your confidence and energy. Unfortunately you just have to get out there and play lots before you can master that aspect. The effect of the lighting is clearer here. I was told that the sun shines from the sky and so that's where you should light a stage from. Get the par cans up and shining down. You have them on the floor shining up and you get hollow eye sockets and unnatural shadows from chins etc.