bassjim

I appreciate the thing with the loud drumming, its part of your vibe, but...........try a couple of tunes with hot rods. Ask your drummer just to suck it up just to see what its like volume wise.

Then after that see if going louder is what you need. In other words, post effectively did that improve the situation or not really. (this for rehearsals only BTW)

Some rooms just dont get on with every thing turned up at full boar. Our drummer uses a thing called Fat Snare. Its like a film the size and shape of a snare drum that you place on top of the snare. Makes a huge difference at rehearsals and gigs. I dont know if this is its primary purpose but it kinda acts like a volume control for the snare. As in makes it a bit quieter.

I use just a 1 x 12 cab at rehearsals and can be the loudest thing in the room but thats also partly because everyone in the band respects the fact that high unnecessary volume in a small space doesnt work for anyone. Plus the room we use to rehearse has been treated acoustically with that foam stuff on every wall. We are louder an most gigs, but we have a rehearsing volume and a gig volume. Gig volume is very manageable and if its a big do we go through a PA, but mostly backline is great.

Adding another 2x10 stacked or otherwise will make you louder and give you much more presence as your amp will be pushing out all it has on offer. If you are going for volume then it is going to be louder, and you will hear yourself much better. Maybe its what you want but the IEM will solve it as well.

Its looking like lot of expense for you because one guy is too loud? On the other hand if 2 cabs floats your boat then its solved getting decent headroom at gigs?

As others say, what ever you do, you only have one set or ears to play around with.....

I have been here. It was very rare for the band to rehearse if at all. I started as a dep and went on to becoming full time. Throughout the ego of a guitarist was constantly on the old " you need to this here and need to that there" but wouldnt stop to take time out to rehearse any of it.
We were gigging every week without fail for best part of 4 years. Even at the end of that there were still things I wanted to straighten out but never did.
They had been going for 8 years before I joined so probably couldn't face the rehearsal every week plus gigs till it was all sorted.
Money was excellent so I became a yes man on this one. Met my fiance along the way and had a good time travelling abroad and what have you,so more pros than cons.
As much as its very annoying when the band want to just get on with it and expect you to drop into place, it can work out ok.
At first I was sensitive to "you got that bit wrong" and " in this bit can you..." but as time went on I either had sussed out what was required in "that bit" or a tune had evolved into where it was at with me in it.

You cant magic it all into place instantly but you can do your best. Roll with it and take a deep breath when criticised. If they are gigging lots rather than rehearsing lots its no bad thing. Not every thing can be perfect all the time.

If they are expecting perfection without rehearsing its not going to happen. Happy accidents at gigs however can become part of the way things are done moving forward and you become part of THAT band.

Drummer introduced me to this one. [url="http://vevo.ly/xxeQuD"]http://vevo.ly/xxeQuD[/url]

Sorry if it takes you to an annoying ad first but once in...

I think this backing band is very good. Nice bass playing here. Great tone if you like this sort of thing.

couldnt belive it when this came up last weekends gig. i was all "get me a bucket" but quite enjoyed it.......... we dont have to take our clothes off to have a good time ......

I read somewhere in the back of a Bass Player Magazine in one of the columns about the loss of MO JO. The advice was to put the bass down and leave it for a week. Maybe two if need be. Then it comes back by itself.

If I have no gigs for a couple of weeks, no rehearsals, no new material I have to learn, its cold weather ect I can find it uninspiring. But I just accept If I'm not in the mood, I'm not in the mood. So I just leave it. It always comes back around though.

If I feel like I'm starting to lose it cause I'm not using it, I go on youtube and look for something difficult. Like for example Tal Wilkenfields solo on Jeff Becks : "Cause we ended as lovers" or Vaulfpecks' Deantown. maybe some Jaco. Something like that. Stokes the old fire up. Gets the fingers wiggling and the brain re-engaged.

MoJo-less periods for me usually are about a couple of weeks when they happen and usually due to not gigging or rehearsing.

I have a passive Jazz bass. I use the Sadowsky pre amp pedal.( the first one. not this new compact one). Its exactly perfect. Other advantages not mentioned that come with it are: A DI out. Great for recording as well as an alternative DI to a desk. A tuner out and a mute switch. Mute is great not only for silent tuning but also if you get a buzzy venue due to dimmer switches or dodgy electrics. You can mute between songs and get less evils from the rest of the band .

You wont get all these extras if you whack a pre amp in the bass. Also I find its a set and forget thing. If you need severe changes you can do that between numbers anyhow . And............you can plug any of your now or future basses into it!

Going by the blurb on the BF site I though I was going to really like one. When I tried it I didn't. Not even a little bit. Stayed where I was but at least I knew that I didn't like it through personal experience. I got to A B it with my usual brand.

Alex let me pick one up and try it which was very nice of him. So now I know. You may find unless your ears are used to something different you may like them straight away.

However they do seem to be a winner for many so if the try before you buy thing is still going.......

great band. lesson in dynamics right there. love the two drummers. visually its great and the fact they are both firing on all cylinders is even better. enjoyed that. thanks for sharing

Some rooms/venues/ stages you just cant win. All very depressing. No solution to it really just compromises.

Out of the places I play on a regular basis there are a few that are brilliantly plug and play. Nice set and forget.If only they were all like this.

The ones that are trouble where I have found a good working compromise I usually take a picture of exactly where the cabs are and a close up of the amp eq and volume. At least its a good place to start when returning.

The ones where its bad start to finish are very depressing.

I have a Gamma pad and apart from a boomy raised hollow stage it doesn't really do a lot when the room is a concrete/wooden floored box with lots of windows. Handy to take along to somewhere new though just in case.

Eq wise: its so subjective depending on the music you play and if you are in a loud band or reasonable volume. How close you are to the drummer /other players all have an effect. A noisy guitarist with a bass and treble boost can ruin it for you. A shed building drummer can ruin a great tone. And so on. Once it goes past a certain volume it all goes bad.

Some places have improved ten fold once an audience is in front of us compared to the empty room at set up. Its the regular experience that tells you what to expect as and when. And there are always things that you stumble upon eq wise that are solutions you never tried before that stick.

Its a bloody nightmare.

I got caught up in a singer and drummer sacking. Before I could talk to the guys getting the boot, the two most insensitive people when it comes to people skills, got the ball rolling and before I knew what was going on, feelings were hurt and friendships lost.


If you like the band and the music then as already said here...if you don't take the job, someone else will. As far as any heartache goes, its nothing to do with you. Its between the current band members and him. The fact you feel sorry for the guy reflects your compassion as an all round good egg but doesn't oblige you to get involved. Had you said "hey guys...hes sh*t. You need ME in your life" .......

Trouble when players that cause the rest of the band to "drag" but don't, wont or simply cant improve is that its leads to animosity.


The Beatles had to do it once. Status Quo did it. In fact there must be a whole topic available on replacement parts, the resulting fall outs, deaths and marriages.

But should you feel about bad it? Maybe but out of compassion. Should you feel responsible? No.

If and only if the following situation arose would I use them:

I need some strings right now in an emergency because a very last minute gig came up and its a new set type of sound I want, and I happen to be in the same town as the shop.
There is some equipment that happens to be exactly at the right price and it cant be got for the same price any where else. For example the great GAK closing down sale : all equipment half price.

Other than that I'm not keen on them.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1486134894' post='3229516']
Marcus was still using EBS when he was endorsed by SWR. I wouldn't read too much into the whole endorsement thing in this case!
[/quote]


On the plus side.....could start to see a whole lot of EBS stuff going cheap. Which is a good thing cause I'm still looking for a second 2 x10 at the right price.

On the Markbass website there looks like something is possibly going on.

Are we all about to start selling our beloved EBS equipment ? ( thats a joke BTW)

Never saw this guy before. Really good stuff though. Thanks for sharing.

bump

On paper, active is this, passive is that. By adding a pre amp pedal its now active ect. The eq on the amp is active. Ok get all these points and every one is very correct.
All I'm saying from my personal point of view is that : give me a regular 3 band eq active bass and I'm mucking about with it and usually not happy with the results but with the passive I'm more plug and play.
More plug and play = more happy me so I'm gonna do that.
I'm not saying one is better than the other. Just saying it works for me. I'm just sh*t with all this eq stuff. Always have been which is why the passive route was such a revelation to me.
I'm not saying I will never touch an active bass again either but right now if it aint broke......

Some players know just how to use EQ on both bass and amp to great effect. Good on all that can and long may it continue. May your bass tone always be a happy place.

Personally I struggled for years and years (as in from the get go to about 7-8? years ago) to get a consistent use-able sound never mind a great sound. (one that I'm happy with that is).
.

After stumbling on the passive route I suddenly found the tone/s I had been looking for. I add an external pre-amp with a dash of bass and treble boost which is kinda like having an active. But...........For what ever the reason is, if this is a way of mixing passive and active, I dont know but it works for me. Generally I can set and forget here. On the amp I use its mostly flat but maybe a bit of mid boost around 200 most of the time room dependant.

Having just the one tone knob is easy. I have a setting for loud in the band and one for at home quite practising.

Band :All the way up for most stuff but back off a bit for something darker ie: motown ect.
Home: All the way off but up slightly for a bit of presence if required.
Then choice of pick ups and hand position for the rest.

When I played active basses I was constantly fiddling with the amp and the on-board bass eq instead of getting on with important bit. Enjoying playing. Then there was the constant feeling of disappointment with my sound coupled with the kick in the balls that yet another 2grand plus bass just sounds sh*t. Over the years I could have bought a holiday home overseas with what I've wasted on active basses. Mostly out of my own ignorance I happily admit hence passive is the way for me. Since using passive its happy 95% of the time vrs the other way round.

So in a long winded way these are my reasons for liking passive over active!

Currently drag around a massive great big EBS Riedmar 250 as a back up amp just in case. This is obviously going to make all the difference.

But seriously though...if I hadn't already got a back up amp and I needed a nice easy to port about back up it could be worth a punt. But it would have to be in the same price bracket as the Riedmar to get a look in from me.

Reliable though.........is going to be reliable? Will it be good enough to get you out of a spot on a gig? Will it be good enough in a band setting? Will wait a year for every one else to test it out and have a look then and then only if its priced sensibly.

Oh and I'd need to buy a speakon to jack speaker lead because my cabs are all speakon. Which is rare on a cab these days......

I still prefer the cheap Roto nickel sets over the more expensive other brands out there that I have tried.

If it aint broke ect....

Not saying other brands are rubbish as some folks will swear by what they like but for me....I just like these the best.

Jazz bass. Funk soul covers mainly plus normal function stuff.

Plus because they are cheap you dont mind changing them so much. A sweaty gig with a £35.00 set of strings will go dead just as fast as the cheap ones ( with me they do!!) and a non sweaty gig will see em last just as long. If I have one of them really nice three gigs back to back weekends, one set will do just fine. (unless I'm feeling like for some reason the next gig is special and therefore warrants another new set). At the cheap end of the market you can spoil your self if that new string thang is your thing.
Also when they are played in a bit and also when they are almost dead they have a nice tone as well so its a win win as far as I'm concerned.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1484317117' post='3214638']
Yep, I've thought about it, but these guys are really good and it's one of the best bands I've ever been in, yes, they should be more considerate, [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]but to be honest,[/font][/color] almost every band I've been in has been the same.

Is it just us bass players who are the sensible ones?
[/quote] Out of every 100 guitarists that come along, one of em will be really good, considerate, sensible, knows what , when and how to play the right thing at the right time, always has the correct volume, right attitude ect ect. That very same one is currently playing for some successful signed act or equivalent successful scenario. The other 99 are in our bands preventing us from the same success.

We do this ( try to......see other thread). It can work, in fact it does work. Just a lil bit o politics in the way over at mine but for you should all be good. Ask EBS Freak. He knows all about this stuff and regularly uses the tech.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1483723203' post='3209614']
Jim, cheapest approach would be a XLR splitter.

Method 1
Mic -> Split1 -> Desk -> Aux send to IEM
Mic -> Split2 -> Monitor (assuming powered monitor - if not, tell me more about what your setup is)

Method 2
Depending upon what the IEM system is, you can have two inputs into the IEM mixer and run it in stereo focus mode. This means from the pack you can blend she can blend how much she wants to hear of herself in relation to the band mix which is coming in on the other feed. Then you can do a pass through on the out from the transmitter into your monitor for just the vocal into the wedge.

Method 3
Little mixer in front of main mixer. Mic goes into this little mixer. Left out goes to the desk, right out goes to the monitor (or IEM depending on which way round you want to drive your monitor feeds).

[s]Method 4[/s]
[s]Get a desk with more auxes and satisfy everybody with their own mix.[/s]

PS it sounds like you are getting shafted on the mix by the keys player.
[/quote]thanks mate. method 3 is the answer I think and yes we are getting shafted by the keys player. Will any old small 4 channel thing do the job?

Because I'm just the bass player and not allowed near the twiddly desky thing.......

So one of our vocalists has recently invested loads in decent IEMs. She loves them for obvious reasons.

We need to hear her as well so she has a powered floor monitor.

As far as I know, prior to issues her mic would go into the desk and a feed is sent back to her monitor via the "monitor out" on the desk.

All was well.

Since IEM: Some sort of battle to get VOX at a decent level for her IEMs at the same time as the monitor working as it did before.

Our keys player drives the desk and prefers less of her on stage so I suspect foul play however due to complete ignorance cant tell if hes lying or not.

Does any one know the correct way to set up the chain of items so that we can all hear her glorious tones on stage through her monitor whilst simultaneously allowing her to hear her warbling in ears?

I know the desk has one available monitor out with its own mix only ( or so I'm told) as the keys player uses the other for his monitor.

The " whole band go IEM" solution, however is not an option so please just if you know how to achive vox in both IEM for her and monitor for us at the same time please.

Thanks for any advice : )

On that list of luthiers ,Graham Wheeler is near to you and can say from personal experience very very good. Very reasonable prices too. Grahams' been in the bizz for over 40 years.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/26654-recommended-luthiers/"]http://basschat.co.u...ended-luthiers/[/url]

. Feel your pain as its easier said than done to replace problem people in bands.

Our keys player supplies the PA. ( 2 x tops, pa amp. mixer. leads.)Our singer/s are responsible for their own fold back. We all help with moving PA to and from car at each venue.

Get advertising for a new band and if any of the existing members that are cool apply...........