bassjim

I wouldn't want random others using my gear for fear of it getting damaged, and then no way of getting it replaced. I agree you need to try and contact the other bands to discuss what bugs you. Maybe you could draw up a contract sort of thing. Rules if you are using my kit are 1. bring this bring that. 2. under no circumstances ect If you think it would hold weight, ask for a monetary deposit.

Out of the three I'd be up for band no.1. Regular gigging band. I'm happy playing covers to a high standard. Floats my boat. From the way the ad is worded, I'd be going along for an audition with an optimistic outlook that the band would be cool people with their sh*t together that can play really well. They are doing enough gigs to have purpose and they could , like any band, get busier or get less. The main thing for me is they are an established thing that, going by the ad, have had enough experience already regarding the usual pitfalls. They know the ropes so to speak. Its not saying its a start up band with no idea. I'd even invest in decent IEM if I was convinced they knew what they were doing. 2. Not my thing anymore. The originals band route was cool when I was younger but just doesn't appeal to me anymore. 3. Only if it were the only gig I could get and the chances of anything else coming along were very slim. It would have to be well paid as my enthusiasm would be non existent to false. But if country was my thing it would be what I'd go for over opt 1.

I know where you are coming from. I am doing first of a run of 10 dep gigs in a few weeks and haven't played 80% of the tunes before ever. Because its more than in, this instance, a semi permanent position ( if it goes well = member of a dep pool) for a well established and pro standard band, I need to have it all spot on rather than any "that'll do" stuff that I have gotten away with before. Although I've been practising a lot, some of the tunes are not where I like them to be yet. I like to have a tune "under my fingers" and know it inside out and backwards so to speak before I can confidently say its in the bag, and even then how the band play as a unit can alter my approach. If you haven't even gigged yet and only rehearsed a few times, unless the parts are painfully simple and straight forward, its not as easy to feel confident. I would say firstly keep on with the set list learning. Your brain needs time to process information and as you well know you can wake up some mornings and something that was bugging you yesterday suddenly falls into place. The band having replaced the old bass player obviously want to get every thing back to normal asap and may see the recording as a way of reinforcing that vibe. If you already know which are the chosen tunes, then I would in your shoes keep playing them as much as possible as well as keeping to learning the set. But I would tell the band that although you are committed and look forward to band life together, there could be a revisit to the studio to re do bass parts in the following month or two. If the parts go well then cool but just as a back up you may need to redo them. Ideally you would like to put it on hold but because you know they want to get on with it, you don't want to put a downer on it. Another reason to come back and do any fixing is because you could see every one getting fed up waiting for you to redo and fix parts during the initial sessions. Also they wont be happy wasting a lot of engineering time just for you. Having said all of that you still have two weeks......... If its a case of if you don't someone else will then that's a whole different kettle of fish.

How does it sit in the mix though? Jazz basses are the choice of many players because of how they sound in context of other instruments. Its some of those tones that on their own sound too bright but perfect when the whole band is playing. As well as the changing PU option, you could try an external pre-amp. Like a Sadowsky for example. If its comfortable to play for you , that's half the battle so worth pursuing. But a jazz isn't for everyone. Whilst personally I love it, there have been lots of debates here, with intelligent arguments, on the for and against so it might just be the jazz tone isn't your thing.

Yes they are aren't they!!!! Love mine so much. Comparing it to things I've owned in the past I wish I'd got mine when they first came out. Its the only amp I've ever plugged in, switched on and gone "wow". Still do. EBS cabs give it the whole picture IMO so if you haven't tried em yet....(psst, I know where a 1x12 neo is going for not a lot!!)

And hijack that thread......sorry original OP For her we have a SM58 which I think is directional? It doesn't pick up noise around it, I know that much, and she also has one of those old fashioned looking silver things that wouldn't look out of place in an old world war 2 film. The latter she uses on her solo with backing tracks thing. It did see the first part of the sound check but ..see above..ect. But we also have three other singers we rotate. A couple of them, wait for this...own their own monitor, mic and....mic stand!!!! I think the problem for us is new tech plus stupidity = cock up. This band has been going strong for about 4 years now with only the hum drum usual gitard, loud drummer , occasional sh*tty room,haven't learnt parts, and so on that we all happily deal with week in week out. The first real issue we've honestly ever had is from this new tech. New tech to us anyway. Like the sound of this [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Heil PR35. Will singers complain its not the right colour or shape or are their other sonic arguments waiting to pounce?[/font][/color]

Really happy with just the one. Its great. It does everything really well. No complaints. I dont really need another apart from as a back up....................and backup basses are important so I ordered another one from Overwater. Its not GAS its a backup.

Still sobbing...sniff...

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1491297987' post='3271854'] Feedback from the monitors is always going to be dictated by the desk not the actual monitors unless they are really rubbish and just happen to not produce the problem frequency. My spare Mackie desk only has a limited EQ and it can only do either front of house OR the monitor out, the digital desk can have a 31 band eq on each of four individual monitor mixes, the certain mics we use all have a fixed problem frequency so we pull them on the actual faders where possible then each venue has its own problem frequencies, we push each Mic and monitor way beyond where it will end up then pull the individual bands out. Occasionally the mics might sound boxy but you know that without the digital desk it would be even boxier as you'll have even less EQ bands or you can have it sounding nice yet constantly feeding back, compromise that's all. [/quote] Its a black art then .... Thanks for the advise here ,really appreciate it. I'm trying to stay clear of the digital mixer right now but only because in the hands of the user, in my case , its just asking for trouble. At a later date when I can organise a room for a day to experiment these pointers will definitely be handy. In the mean time I've seen a Peavey Feedback Ferret https://youtu.be/UbxQXJyNnyY which the guy implies you just "plug it in and turn it on" which is about my technical limit. Any one used one or any plus /minus points on it?

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1491234608' post='3271436'] A bad workman blames his..... and all that C'mon Jim, sounds like you are trying to run before you can walk. The main problem I read from that is that your guitarist is trying to use a digital desk before understanding what it can do. I can imagine it now... Ooh, I've got some EQ I can draw some pretty curves... yep, I'll have some of that... my guitar generally sounds a bit muddy, so I'll pump up the treble a bit. Hmm... the vocals, always seem a bit thin... lets add some mid... I dunno... 600hz... that kinda [i]looks[/i] right... Boost, boost, boost. Ooh... compression... never had compression before... lets add a lashing of that... don't really know what it does...so I'll go with the preset... Ooh!! look at that!! FX... lets have a play there... You can get so much more gain out of digital desk I bet you are running everything so hot any natural feedback rejection is wishful thinking. Main faders go up... and you witness what happens. That's not the desk's fault. With great power, comes great power... and the necessity for restraint. The fact is, a digital gives you so much more... you only have to go into a studio and listen to a recording pre processing and post processing to see what a difference processing can make. An analogue desk however - doesn't give you more... but it goes give you a hell of a lot less to fiddle with and hence less chance of doing something woefully wrong. Like any piece of equipment... you need to know how it works before you use it - especially in a situation like yours where you can look like a right d1ck. Jim, sounds like you'd get a load of benefit of having some time with an engineer that knows what they are doing and experienced in doing some killer IEM mixes. I've posted this before (excuse any playing gaffs... this was just a bit of a jam gig at a pub...) but check out [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/205633-in-ear-monitors-help-needed/page__view__findpost__p__3152580"]this link[/url] and tell me you wouldn't like to hear your gig like this in your ears. Stick with it... when you nail it, you'll never want to play without IEMs again. It's just that you seem to be having a rough time with it all - perhaps a few technical rehearsals would transform your experience. [/quote] Yep you got it one there Russ. All the gear and no idea. I think because in my experience with the whole thing I am at the mercy of others who I don't trust with this tech, but they also cant be told they are wrong. I tend to not get involved usually because it seams to make em happy plus usually its the "normal" desk and monitors. Well following a big bando "lets have a talk" its out the door with it for now. Talking of monitors......(trad type, ignoring IEM for the moment )what would you recommend as a good vocal monitor/mic combination? As in really good no cutting corners stuff. One where you can really ramp up the volume but doesn't feedback. Does such a thing exist? Or is it like getting a good bass sound, a bit of a black art? I might be thinking "if I want it done properly, I need to do it myself".

This weekend just gone....... So for once I have a gig in my hometown and all my fam and friends came. So did a lot of curious whats he up to now. Really good turn out. Thanks to the inability of the band members who want to go IEM and IMO not really yet knowing how this stuff works properly, plus a nice high ceiling, plus a digital "its all on a tablet " desk, its a f***ing disaster. Half an hour of " one two....one two....no i still cant hear myself.....one two FEED BACK FEED BACK...one two...no that sounds terrible...ect " 9:10 pm = Ok we just have to get on with it now, gigs got to start... I take my rig anyway because it bloody well works. I have already told em thats what Im gonna do. Drummer is in no mood to use hot rods and although not exactly building a shed type, its a loud room so its....well you know. After two numbers in we had to stop the gig because the sound was just terrible. No one really knew what was going on. Its bloody awful. I went out to the car , got the usual mixer back in and we got it connected up really quickly ( good old thing with knobs and sliders you can touch ! ..) and turned the guitarists amp back on. Keys went back into his usual monitor. They bring this stuff along " as a back up till we know where we are at with the IEM set up" . Just as well. Singer however has no monitor at all because she is told every thing is gonna be ala Trump... just great. Switch on the old school mixer, take the IEMs out and instantly and I mean to the second...all sounds good again. (well a lot better than it did. High ceiling, wood floor ect ect.) Thankfully a really nice and loyal crowd soaked up a lot of bad stuff and eventually its all back to normal...ish.Couldnt hear the vocals all night because no back up monitor for that. She made a lot of mistakes due to being so isolated she wasn't aware when various things were going on. Like solos. Or Intro parts after a chorus. These are all seasoned giggers that on paper never put a foot wrong reduced to sounding like a bunch of first timers having a stab at it within a short space of time thanks to this IEM lark. They really should of known better but you know what its like...band politics...let em do it..see how it goes... I was embarrassed, pissed off and angry all at the same time. Our gitard is the main cause of the problem. Wants to use the digital desk plus IEM mainly because we always are fed up with guitar being too loud on stage. This is his solution and we have so far put up with allowing him to try it out. Not once so far has this proved to be a good idea. Everytime the IEM come out its a problem. Yes most likely the operator rather than the kit but if these guys cant make it work what hope do I have? ...... Well thats it now. New rule in my band. The digital desk is out. IEM is ok as long as you use it in addition to not instead of. Its too risky. Anyway so what I think I'm trying to say here is if you are going this route, be careful. Dont take it out in public till you have taken you and your band plus the sound system to a place where you can lock and load it at full band volume, in a band playing a gig configuration and test it out. And maybe use a sound man. Also make sure the peeps doing the PA fiddling know the difference between one room from another. IE: its not a set and forget thing. All our vocalist wanted to do was just sing and hear herself and the band. Not unreasonable so why all this grief. Ok our chap obviously doesn't know what hes doing with it but if its that complicated..... If I was biased against it before I'm even more so now. All I can say is Pre IEM = all sounds good. Post IEM = all bad. Yep so not a happy bunny this week. Maybe in the future I will get to work with a PA/tech head who really knows their stuff and can be but persuaded but right now........."dont talk to me about IEM. I'll give you IEM...ect ect" Think I'd rather wait for another ten years for a better solution to be invented than go through all that again

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1490948842' post='3269241'] I had a tutor for a while and it was a waste of time and money all he did was get his bass out and show off playing solo parts and then at the end of the lesson asked if there was a song I wanted to learn and then printed the tab off the internet for me to learn until the next week I gave up after about a month he was a great player but a sh*t teacher If I did it again I think a proper tutor would be great [/quote] This guy shouldn't be teaching. To be fair when I was younger in my 20s, thanks to some ego expanding compliments from audience members in a pub, I'd self elevated myself to the role of "bass tutor". Maybe this fits your old "bass tutor"? Makes me cringe now considering how little I knew then compared to what theory knowledge I have now. Even more so when I remember being asked if I could join a function band doing Butlins and the like. Once all the written notation, change of key on the spot signals, "on that minor run we change it to a major so the segway works..ect"was presented to me.... I'd been playing in covers and original bands with great success without knowing simple things like where an Eb was on the fretboard for years no problem but when it came to communicating with these guys and anyone on their level the game was up. I still get asked if I teach on occasion but these days I'm fully aware that although I could pass on a thing or two and can recommend various routes to take, I'm not really qualified. I usually decline or offer more of an advice session than actually pass on the srcambled way I have deconstructed and reconstructed it in my brain. I will always recommend someone I know when asked though and always tell what I think is important to aim for. I think theory wise the sooner you get on with it the better. Its hard at first but it soon falls into place and then the skies the limit. For the modes ect could be a piano teacher. Doesn't need to be bass, although there are some obvious advantages to this, but if there are no accessible bass tutors then could be an alternative. For online Scotts bass lessons look good too.

I cant imagine how bad things need to be to sell the one and only bass left. I can only guess its that or no roof over your head type of situation. For me this would be such a desperate last option resort that I'd probably be in a very depressed state. I'm sure a kiss and makeup can be on the cards regarding whats been said but in the mean time hope it all works out well in the end.

This topic scares me a bit. I don't have any other interests and take on the whole gigging thing warts and all. I've never really stopped to think what if? For the OP I think if you still want to do something rather than nothing, see if your old band are open to you doing deps for them. You might get four or five over a year and that may satisfy your thirst whilst not putting the same strain on your health. Advertise as available for deps locally too. You could pick which ones you get offered.

Learn some theory from a good teacher = very good idea. Then you can teach yourself.

I'm sure there have been plenty of discussions on here already but I don't think it hurts to go over this problem that many of us have with volume/ guitarists volume and tone/how it effects us bassists. I think some previous advice here went some thing along the lines of this: If you are near a loud guitarists amp, especially if its distorted guitar, and their eq has that cut mids but boosted lows and highs it can mask bass frequencies so although you are in fact loud enough, you have trouble hearing it. Get them to change their EQ ( good luck with that) to suit the band overall rather than just themselves. And something along the lines of this.. Boosting lows at a low volume ( if the enhance knob does this it applies here as well) works ok. The cabs work fine. Sonically its all good but as soon as the volume goes up the frequency/ cab threshold ect cant deliver and so it either turns to a muddy mush or its just useless. You can at best hear E string but everything else is no way near loud enough to be heard. The solution ( at least a good place to start) when playing at louder volume, is to flatten the EQ and turn any scooping eq off. You may even need to cut the lows slightly. The cabs can now work more efficiently and you are back in the room. Because its louder you dont really lose bottom end as much as you think you might. Ok its not as simple as just the above but I believe its a good place to start. Worked for me. I got these pointers here on BC but cant remember exactly who said what and when but can say there are a lot of experienced players here that know their stuff. Hopefully more will be along to share wisdom and advice

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1490720045' post='3267377'] Im tempted to get a vehicle that I can't get stuff in the back... I'm currently adding 40 minutes onto every gig journey picking up band members and their equipment. [/quote] And now every ones gotten used to it so you are kinda stuck with it. I've been here.Your van needs to develop some serious expensive problems. There is no alternative but to get an estate so you can just about get the pa plus bass gear in. Start the ball rolling with engine complaints now so they all have time to start thinking about it. I think there's another topic on this already.... anyway back on topic is it a drummer mostly problem?

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1490628980' post='3266606'] One of the drummers I play with has really bad tinnitus, which makes him play with great care and restraint, he can play drums at living room volume all night. The pain of tinnitus has trained him to be a great drummer. [/quote] hmmmm..........turns pa speakers, bass amp, guitar amp and anything else that can make a loud noise inwards towards drummer...

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1490616523' post='3266425'] You actually dismissed it as remedial, apparently due to drug use. That isn't the same as simply not liking it. Anyway, whatever 'drull' means, if you want to take a pop at shoegaze bands, Kevin Shields is one of the most influential and innovative guitar players of the last 30 years. I think you've misnamed your target. [/quote] The point I was trying to make was firstly do I enjoy this music playing it or listening and pretty much no I don't. I'm not trying to dismiss the genre as music simply for and by remedial ( musically speaking) stoners I'm just saying from personal experience when involved with this type of band, its usually been this. Kevin Shields and any one like him may be one of the most influential and innovative guitar players of the last 30 years but it still doesn't move me. My point of view is just that. I dont like it and certainly dont enjoy playing it but wish no bad feeling towards anyone who does. If the original post was a direct dig at the bands mentioned then I definitely mis-read that and if thats upset you then apologies. One mans food and all that..

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1490611307' post='3266337'] I'm still thinking my point is not being grasped. Do other people, on finding out from one's other half that you are a practicing muso, seem to think, for whatever reason, that she should attend every gig? Is that not completely weird? [/quote] Sorry now see what you are asking. I think its perhaps an ice breaker question. They may not really be interested in that specifically but its a way into finding out more about band life without directly asking you. They may even want to know what its like from "a partners" point of view. The decision to attend every gig from the perspective of "the wife" depends on "the wife" in question. Is that what you meant?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1490612381' post='3266359'] That's the sort of statement made by someone who has yet to learn the difference between musicianship and music, and why for everyone except self-involved musicians the latter is far more important. [/quote] Mr BigRedX I think its ok for me to not like this kind of music and its ok for you love it. I dont like it for very specific reasons. It doesn't move me at all. That doesn't mean anyone else isn't allowed to like it nor does it mean anyone cant possibly like it but I don't think it gives you any foundation to judge my musical abilities or what I do or don't "yet need to learn" thank you very much. I'm sure there are things on my musical radar that would make you vomit but I would never judge you for it.

Some guys can really do great things with a 5 and use the B to great tasteful effect but I found I usually used the B string as more of a thumb anchor than actually use it. I think I got into the 5 for more a muso thing than a musical one if I'm honest. Everyone seemed to be doing it so I followed suit. If I got a regular gig that called out for it, then I'd use it more but out of necessity than preference. I never really found it to be a hindrance till I went back to a 4 and found everything so much simpler and less effort. I also found going back to a 4 after 15 or so years just playing a 5 , although not really hard, a bit strange at first, especially first the gig but I definitely prefer a 4 over a 5 these days.

This shoe gazing drull kind of Indie is not my thing at all. I don't like it very much and find the just playing the 8 notes type of thing musically uninspiring to play or listen to especially when accompanying very under accomplished musicians who are indifferent to any thing that requires musical substance. Or can I say, learning how to play an instrument beyond anything remedial level because you just aint got it or usually from experience ..are a stoner. Its very rare that any of it is IMO good .Its like they all think they are the first one to come up with the same dull song idea. Which is true of other musical styles, fair enough but at least I can get into the other styles. I have to admit however I've been a musical prostitute and done many a paid gig to encourage this kind of behaviour. I'd never do it for the love of it though when it comes to this IMO dross. Peace to anyone who likes this stuff though. Just saying it doesn't float my boat either.