TimR

I watched your youtube clips. My 2p. You look good in the suits look for Guitar and Bass as per you Troubador vid. BUT Matching suits and shirts and Drummer should get trousers that match your suits and a short sleeved shirt to match. Might be easier if you all wear the same short sleeve shirts, no-one will tell as it'll be under your jacket anyway. Although plain white v-neck t-shirts might work better. Forget ties. Shoes as already mentioned. I'm not sure what the singer is wearing on her feet, or whether its a bag on front of the stage but I think whatever it is is a distraction.

Unless you are running through a PA with a dedicated sound engineer, it is very difficult to manage your effects well. Each effect subtly changes your place in the mix and can have a big effect on the other musicians' sound as well. An effect well selected in home or practice studio will need careful use of EQ to make it sit well in the mix and depend heavily on the room acoustics.

Assuming all you want is a headphone amp with guitar input and line in to mix your bass and ipod together: [url="http://www.musicstreet.co.uk/ctech-pocket-rockit-bass-guitar-headphone-amplifier-p-2361.html?osCsid=llt5c4ruh0ca6t0p1jogou8fa1"]http://www.musicstreet.co.uk/ctech-pocket-...a6t0p1jogou8fa1[/url]

We don't go out for less than £50 each, which is generally what a pub will pay. But we also do gigs where we get £300 each. We price to the event. Once you know the type of event, the venue and the number of guests you get a good idea of what to charge. If you want the gig then you have to price competitively. If someone is willing to pay £3k+ for a band, they will have a huge hotel with separate rooms for meal and dancing, several hundred guests etc. If someone can "only" afford a function room and 200 guests then its likely that they will only have £1000 or less to spend. If its a 30th birthday in a social club then its going to be less than £500. You just have to be a bit streetwise. You don't start at the top. By the time you're charging £1k+ you will have already built up a client base and have loads of people recommending you. Unless you join a £3k band or have a lot of contacts, it takes some time to get to that stage. You're not competing with a disco either. People either want a band or they don't. Usually people who want a band will book a disco as well (unless you can supply a DJ as well )

Also I [b]SUSPECT[/b] that as the 300W is specified into 4ohms that the combo probably uses an 8ohm speaker. So you may only using 2/3 of the power or less. Whereas the 100w is specified into 8ohms and the Hartke uses an 8ohm speaker. There is very little on the web or in the manuals though. The different speakers will also have different sensitivity. Never go by Wattage alone, look for SPL figures in dB.

According to this they should all be 250K [url="http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdf_temp1/basses/0131800A/SD0131800APg3.pdf"]http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdf...0131800APg3.pdf[/url] Did you definitely order the 60's jazz bass parts? You may have A and B written on the pots. eg A250K and B250K?

The top pot and the middle pot are volume from the bridge and neck pick-ups respectively. I am guessing that they should be the same value. I've never had a Jazz but it would make sense. The third pot closest to the jack with the cap is the tone control. Watch out when soldering. If you leave the iron on the pot for too long when soldering to the body you will fry the pot. This is incredibly easy to do!

[quote name='Eight' post='512454' date='Jun 12 2009, 09:30 PM']It might sound daft - but turning thirty has been a big deal for me. Not coped that well with it really. Somehow everything seems a bit more urgent now... a feeling not helped by another member of family dropping dead earlier this year I guess.[/quote] Hey, don't worry. Time is a great healer and these BIG 0 numbers are always a time to question where you're going in your life. I just hit 40 last month and joined another band where I'm the youngest. Day job, two kids and two bands and regular cardio-vascular to keep the middle age spread at bay and be fit to run around a stage!

Just to clarify the Make up gain of the compressor. The effect of the make up gain is to 'expand' the signal. Note in the picture posted above how the bottom part of the signal below the threshold appears stretched vertically. This has the effect of lengthening the sustain of the note. The gain is not 'added' to the signal it 'multiples' it. E.g. with a gain of 4 the lowest signal of 1dB would become 4dB and the loudest signal of 10db would become 40dB. While compressors are often used to stop the loud bits being too loud, when used correctly they also allow greater control of the dynamics to the sound occurring below the threshold. Essentially be careful how much compression ratio you apply and then how much make up gain you apply. A higher threshold, less compression and less make up gain gives better sustain and dynamics.

[quote name='greyparrot' post='498291' date='May 26 2009, 08:53 PM']Yes, thats how i understand it, but im sure a compressor should not have any impact of the tone?? it mearly is designed to keep the sound even by cutting or compressing the loudest DB's and that in fact can lower the volume ot the overall sound, then you have a make up gain volume to bring the sound up to its correct volume. The down side in this is that by doing that it can also increase background noise levels, as you are capping the loudest parts, and bringing the volume up to even the tone. Why a compressor should have an eq knob, and then suck out some of the tone of the signal seems a little strange? or have i got it all wrong? dp studio compressors that i know work compleatly different to bass compressors? GP.[/quote] A compressor is not the same as a limiter, but many people think it does the same thing. From the Ashdown blurb... "This approach towards Compression is necessary for bass because a Fast Attack is required to catch the initial transient and high frequency content of the bass note whereas a Slow Attack is required for the low frequency or fundamental waveform of the note to ensure the waveform is not distorted. If a Full Range compressor is used for bass then a Fast attack will distort the low frequency waveforms whereas a slow attack would fail to catch the initial transient. This is also true of the Decay/Release portion of the compression, a fairly fast decay is ideal for the high frequencies whereas a slow decay is best for the low frequency content." Compression will affect the tone if you use radical settings. Using ratios up to 1:2 is going to be fine, but its also being sold as an effect, so settings up to 1:10 cater for those who want to shape their tone radically. I guess the EQ is there to redress any tone shaping that the two different compressors do. Compression is always a bit of a misnomer, really it should be thought of as an expander, it increases the dynamic range within the quiet to loud passages and is only supposed to 'limit' the very loud peaks. If you have noise present in your system before the compressor you need to ask why. Its a direct process, not a loop effect and should be one of the first processors the signal runs through. There's a sticki wiki [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=337"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=337[/url] I am fairly new to the forum so don't want to cloud what has been written there, which is correct, but looks at it from the veiwpoint only of it squashing the loud bits. It also touches on the fact that some high end single band compressors add the unaltered high frequencies back in.

[quote name='Boneless' post='497948' date='May 26 2009, 12:59 PM']I have this comp. It actually was my backup, I had one brand new that I even trying selling but no one was interested And... it's mediocre. It affects the tone quite a lot, adds hiss, doesn't seem to compress that much, and I'm not won over by the comp's logic: the two bands actually "boost" bass and treble respectively. as well (if I actually understood how it works), so, at my current setting, with bass and treble both at 1 o'clock, there is a bit of a mid scoop.[/quote] I tried one and was quite impressed considering the price. There have been posts in the past about it not coping with the higher output active basses. That was supposed to have been fixed. Turning down the input level might help. The five controls are not as straightforward as first seems. The low comp affects the ratio of the low frequency compression. The hi comp affects the ratio of the high frequency compression. The EQ balance affects the mix of the two bands after the compression. So fully anti clockwise its all bass and fully clockwise its all treble, but that obviously will depend on how much compression you've used on the lo and hi. The hi and lo frequencies, release and threshhold are all pre set. The input and output levels are for matching the input and output - quite straightforward.

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='497408' date='May 25 2009, 05:37 PM']PMSL!!! "We grow all our watts locally." [/quote] What?

I'd strongly agree with interval training. Learn the first 5 frets on E,A and D as a minimum. Then learn the first 5 on the G string. Then learn up to 7 on all 4. It doesn't take long if you break it into chunks. Learn the rest up to 12 in small chunks, but once you have the first 7 the others will be more obvious. It is not necessary to know what you are playing backwards as you play it. ie As long as you play the interval you don't need to know what the note name is on the fly. You will at some stage need to tell someone what note you are playing and also be able to pick it out, as you say, when the sheet music/chord chart/other musician asks for it. When reading music I wonder how many people read the interval and how many decipher the notes to their names. If I'm playing in C and see part of a C scale, I'll recognise it and play the scale rather than think "Oh Yes, CDEFG... now where are those notes on my bass." I know where all the Cs are and the rest are just intervals up.

[quote name='Kongo' post='496969' date='May 25 2009, 12:16 AM']Trace Elliot still kicks ass...and your back if you lift it too much! [/quote] I found that, over time, the groovillium in my Trace had reacted with the anti gravity paste and reduced its effectiveness. Not only did the amp weigh more than when I bought it, it became much harder to bring on the funk.

Well you've learned your lesson. Don't get a musician into the band unless they are as good or better than the rest of you. Don't split and reform that's childish and doesn't work in the long run as it makes you all look stupid. One person needs to sit down and tell him what the issues are. Don't do it by email,text or phone. Ask him whether he thinks the issues are solvable, does he want to solve them? Practice, Lessons, AA etc. Put it on the line. He either fixes A,B and C or you will have to find another drummer because he is holding you all back. Don't do it as a group, it'll all get nasty and look intimidating. A word of warning though, is a bad keen drummer who can make practices and gigs better than an excellent drummer who misses practices and can't make gigs? Find someone else first!!! (basically what bassbloke said )

I was looking at the Ashdown Dual band compressor the other day. Sounded good and less than £50. There has been some discussion on it here before, I assume Ashdown have fixed the old issues as the one I played was fine.

[quote name='Telebass' post='482244' date='May 7 2009, 06:15 PM']...Except that's not the case...[/quote] How are you getting paid? A %age of box office, or a fixed fee? If its a %age of box office why doesn't he lower your %age by 3% and take it at source. If its a fixed fee, then the more people attend the less you get. I don't get it. Are you paying him to play there?

To the untrained and uninitiated they look old. Many people have reproduction furniure in their houses. No one knows whether the owner spent a fortune on it, have had it in the family for years, or whether it is reproduction. Until they get close and pick it up. How many of the audience will say oh thats a reliced bass and how many will say wow that bass player had a really old bass? More image than fasion. I don't play an 80's Jackson Charvel with pointy headstock in my function band and wouldn't play a wood bodied bass in an 80's hair metal band.

If YOU were selling the tickets beforehand and he was asking you to play at no cost to him and he is just making his money on the beer. It would make complete sense.

[url="http://www.prsformusic.com/playingbroadcastingonline/live_venues_events/concertvenues/Pages/concertvenues.aspx"]http://www.prsformusic.com/playingbroadcas...certvenues.aspx[/url] £30 or 3% of gross reciepts. Only poayable if people are paying to enter establishment and have come primarily to hear the music. Seems strange that they don't just include the 3% directly in the ticket money at the door . Or have I missed something in your explination?

45mins. 1K PA, Lights, bass drum miked, vocals, backing vocals, guitar DI'd, keyboards and sax. Could be quicker but drummer has to tune his kit every gig The keyboard player and I own the PA. We take an extra cut for storing, maintaining, transporting and setting it up. We also dismatle and pack it (carefully) but everyone helps with load in and load out. What are they going to pay you for those extra 3 hours? If they're going to add £75 to your pay, I'd agree.

[quote name='nig' post='472620' date='Apr 26 2009, 12:10 PM']Had a set of taurus 1 in the 80's, I took these bad pics last night on a gig, I use midi pedals and a roland expander, does the same job, saves you 800 quid. [/quote] The Roland PK5 is £370, Dave Smith Mono Synth £280 The question is what will the moog cost in the UK. I assume the usual £=$ conversion that seems to be used for gear. You're really paying for the Classical moog sound and name of course.

[quote name='Spoombung' post='467089' date='Apr 19 2009, 11:07 PM']In my experience people who say there's no good music anymore are no longer looking. They don't follow the leads, don't take the tips, don't go to gigs, don't listen to records and don't buy music mags anymore. They have tired ears, large mortgages and (usually) one or more children.[/quote] You are correct. I've been to several originals bands gigs recently. However, to prove I'm the exception to the rule. I have 2 out of the 3 (and my ears are starting to get tired of hearing bands who only do loud and fast), but I have internet and know how to keep a diary. I can get out when the (2) kids have gone to bed.

In a word - Dynamics. I think that there is generally the music has moved to a place where everything has to be louder then everything else. I saw 3 bands on a bill last month all doing originals. The first band on, the drummer was out of time, the singer was out of tune, but the songs had dynamics and worked well. Each player gave the other space. The second 2 were dire. Each one was 5 players playing as much as they could as loudly as they could. Each individully a 'good' player but the whole wasn't as good as each part. This has probably been going on for time immoral and certainly was going on when I was in my teens. Older and younger bands both suffer from this. However amplification has moved on, it's cheap and very loud and bands can't get away with playing everything loud all the time. Loud is relative, but without quiet and slow - what is loud and fast?

[quote name='4000' post='465811' date='Apr 18 2009, 01:22 AM']I don't expect people to fall at our feet, I just want to play a gig. Why should I have to play covers? It's like a painter having to make a living copying other people's paintings.[/quote] No its not. A painting is a permanent thing. Once its made, its made. Like a recording. I would agree what's the point of recording covers. But Duffy, Winehouse, Sugar Babes etc seem to be making a mint out of it. Playing live is completely different. Its more like an actor. How many actors turn down Shakespeare because every other actor has performed it and its just doing covers and they'd rather be playing in an original play. There are audiences for both. Why just limit yourself to one audience when you know there is a bigger audience for the other. Play pubs, do two 45 minute sets, 70 mins of covers, music you like played in your style with 20 mins of your best material thrown in.