Boodang

9 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

If, by your own admission, you are crap, the sound guy may be keeping you low in the mix, so as not to have it sound too bad out front. He will likely not want to  tell you this for fear of hurting your feelings I've been in a similar position when mixing. It's a difficult situation. Yes, the idea of a jam is that everyone (within reason) gets a chance to pitch in, but you still want to keep things sounding as decent as possible. 

... so remember, get good by playing with other musicians but don't play with other musicians until you're good!

19 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

I play in a band with a sax player. He has clip on mikes for his saxes and has a channel in the PA. he also has his own monitor speaker system which he always uses, which comprises a speaker cabinet mounted on top of a stand (I think it’s a mike stand with the clip removed) and the speaker mounted on top at head height, which he has next to him. He also has effects units but I’m not sure how the whole lot is wired up. 
 

The rest of the band can usually hear him fine even where we have limited monitoring in small venues. 
 

Best of luck with getting it sorted - being unable to hear yourself properly is one of the most frustrating and unsatisfactory things for a musician - as a bass player I find low speaker cabinets at floor level (raising them helps a lot), and extremely loud drummers to be the usual culprits. 

When I played sax I used a Gallien Krueger MB-150S combo (the metal cased combo) on a sturdy mic stand at head height as a monitor. They sell a 'U' shaped bracket to mount it. That setup also works quite well as a stage monitor for bass.

IEMs is a good way to go but take a bit of getting used to. Also a bit of an investment, but worth it in the long run. Also a bit of a faff for just a jam night but I would at least get a clip on mic.

I used to play alto in a band. The only way you'll be able to control your sound is to have your own 'clip on mic' on the bell. I used feed mine to a pack on my belt, then a lead to a DI box and would let the sound guy connect to the DI. General mics don't really work that well on sax and horns.

PS.... Brecker Brothers are always great but Heavy Metal Bebop... what a great album!! 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm sort of drawn to the Seamoon purely because it's so different, which has to be fun right? Also, it has a great paint job which will look good on the pedal board! Not so easily available tho but that's also part of the draw. 

Fantastic band, shame they only wrote one song tho.

1 hour ago, ubit said:

 

 

Well you draw the line at card or bank details.

Draw the line at anything for scammers! A bit of information here, another piece of info there, it all adds up. Don't even give them a toe in the door.

3 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Only my attempt at humour mate. Scott is a phenomenal player, and a great teacher. Just not to my taste. 

I've enjoyed doing some Scott's course but at the moment the Gwizdala stuff seems more my thing.

36 minutes ago, ubit said:

I don't understand why people are so worried about supplying name address and phone no. You do it all the time and companies sell your details to others. Its not like you are giving out your bank details.

It's death by a thousand cuts. A genuine company won't try and hack your phone these guys might.... do you keep online banking details on your phone?

Watching demos of the new Solid Gold Supa Funk means I have to scratch the itch that is a new filter pedal. Lots of talk about the supa funk but not so much about the funk machine.... does anyone have experience of the Seamoon pedal?

I'm going to buy one of them but not sure which. It's going to be used in a band where we do retro 70s stuff, think Starsky & Hutch theme tune meets Herbie Hancock, along with more contemporary but old school influenced groove. I'm not after replicating any particular sound, it just has to be funky.

15 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Don't do it!

 

You might end up with a subscription to Scott's Bass Lessons. 😱

Looks like a scam.

On the last point, worse things than a subscription to Scott's Bass Lessons!

19 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

This has a lot to say for it but I think I’m going to try tweaking the truss rod first. If this sorts it I’ll just stick with it as is. I’d like to try a higher end Ibanez some time though. 

Is it worth getting a professional to install a new nut and do a setup? Might make all the difference. 

High end Ibanez SR's are very nice tho!

If the  neck is sublime and it's comfortable to play,  I would say you've found a keeper. I'm a big believer in tweaking basses to get them where you want for your needs. 

Sounds like time to have a Graph Tec nut installed (I get them put on all my basses) and at the same time getting a setup done. If you don't like the eq then change it out. Many options, my current favs being East and Audere. 

Might sound like a lot but if you end up with a bass that plays well and sounds well then you're onto a winner.

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!!

Why is it so difficult to find a band that works for you (rhetorical!)? Well, just because someone else is a musician doesn't mean you're automatically going to get on with them and in the case of a band you need to find 3, 4, 5 or more to get on with.... and not just get on with as musicians with similiar musical tastes but also as people with all their annoying habits. And as they say; hell is other people!

Also, don't forget the the EHX Synth 9 which has OBX, Prophet and Moog presets...  and it's polyphonic. 

Also with the mono synth pedal, it has a separate dry only output as well as an output for the dry/synth mix which I've found to be v useful. 

Just now, Boodang said:

I'll do a clip when I'm back home... I'm away on a residential course at the moment. There are some great clips on YouTube as well. At this price tho the pedal is almost a must have, no brainer, purchase.

... no problems with tracking, only gets glitchy if you try to do chords, but you don't have to be too clean with your playing as copes quite well if you get a bit sloppy.

9 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Love to hear a clip of this setting. As you say, if it nails the 80s bass synth, it's gotta be worth checking out particularly at that price point and with presets.

What is it like in terms of tracking, glitchiness?

@krispn - may be of interest for your new 80s band venture?

I'll do a clip when I'm back home... I'm away on a residential course at the moment. There are some great clips on YouTube as well. At this price tho the pedal is almost a must have, no brainer, purchase.

2 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

Can you post some of your settings? 😀

The laser preset is also good but to make the most of it, and other presets, you need an expression pedal but it really does add hugely to their usefulness. So much so I couldn't be without one now.

For added low end synth goodness I sometimes add in parallel an octaver set to 100% octave down.

2 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

Can you post some of your settings? 😀

My fav setting at the moment for Gary Numan style sounds is the Acid preset;

Dry @ 3 o'clock

Synth @ 3

Sens @ 12

Ctrl @ 10

The ctrl setting is less critical on this preset.

I've been using the EHX mono bass synth pedal since it came out and it's awesome.... and it's only £110. Definitely get the 80s bass synth sounds you want and has an expression pedal input. It's not a fully tweekable synth like the C4 but it really nails the sounds it has and there is an option to save settings. In a recent review of synth pedals on the Andertons YouTube channel they commented 'every bass player should have this pedal' and I agree. Some very phat sounds coming out of this.

Have you fired the drummer yet?! Maybe bring a cardboard cutout of the drummer and a drum machine to the next gig just in case.

Well, 2 days in but I've been playing the Galli strings practically all of both days; I've been on an online death by power point course so have been sitting and playing while listening. 

As far as the stability of the strings are concerned... Day 1, lots of half tone tune ups. Day 2, after tuning up from leaving it over night, it's got progressively better throughout the day but still needs regular small tweeks, more on the G & D tho. 

I've been playing a lot with the pick and so far no sign of injury to the strings but it's only day 2... although they have had about 12 hrs playing time.

Early days but love the strings, they feel so buttery and the tone is good, rolled off highs are how I like them, very little if any eq needed, sustain is not the greatest but not so that it's an issue.

Oh, and out of interest, first time I've seen this on a string packet.