JTUK

Been thinking about the S112x2 as my small rig option I'd need to out my current incumbents tho.. but I have the small amp in place so cabs are next.

hmmm not sure, I'd have to hear it but it rather defeats the object/concept of bass in the P.A in the 1st place. As you may know, we don't tend to put full-on instrument signals in anyway so if the filter worked as a limiter rather than a cut-off, you may use them to protect the tops... As for the sound being wallowy, some subs we have tried out are inherently flubby and lack focus. I would use a degree of bass control or roll-off in a sub as the cab is designed to be deep anyway. As always quality of signal in trumps trying to fix signal out, IMO

What music are you playing ? Pub music over here is an attraction in itself and 'my' beef is that there are too many unsuitable venues and bands. But once a pub has its catchment, then that will tend to support most bands that play there through the year. So a band that brings in a few plus the pubs regulars makes the gig likely sustainable. We've also found that pubs that mess with the rosta/rota and change nights around tend to lose out ... It doesn't take many bad nights at a venue to undo a lot of good ones. People round here tend to know which bands do what and are worth seeing..so it is a tough-ish market to break into, but once in, you'll do ok.

Don't know what sound you have but it sounds a plain bad mix issue to me. You have to seperate the sounds not try and compete with them... If you try and force your way thru... that is helping no one. To simply this... at gig sound check you have to start with the drums and then add bass. You'll hear this well enough...and then just pick off what intruments cause the mix to go. I would suspect the keys and gtrs are in your 'layer' but you are going to have to work on this as a band and get consensus as there isn't a lot of hope on your own. Tight stages/palying area compound this but you need band discipline to get the sound AND keep it. Another thing, you can forget a good band sound if the drummer can't get a sound out of his kit and many can't.. but that has likely less bearing on this 'mix' issue, IMV If you really can't fix this amongst yourselves, get a GOOD engr down to help you as he should know all about layers. Probably a studio engr rather than live, IMO but depends on the engr... NOT a mate..!!

Minefield, tbh.... What is wrong with the ones you want to change, in your opinion? Sound, feel, ..?? I don't like gunky dull old strings which are too old and feel horrible to me, but plenty do. You could choose between flats or roundwound but it depends what you are after. There is a bit range of price..and I'd suggest, quality, but if you narrow down what you are after, then you could start on a cheaper brand to see if they are on the right lines for what you want.

The Musicman looks like it is a nice wood grain...so hopefully underneath that is all neat and tidy so I'd put of a clear plate.

My mate works down in Florida and he says the playing times are killer ( 4 plus hours ) If a band has to play for that time in a pub, then they aren't there for the band... and you will have quite a flow of people coming and going, IMO. Not so good for the band itself and very good for the bar owner... but then he will have people working the bar for tips so its seems quite a business to be in if he can undercut costs to that degree

Nice looking bass, that.

1 main band and a few ongoing projects which I don't want to get out of hand. For me, it is all about the quality of gigs rather than the amount and I have invested too much time, effort to get where we are, and that is a lot to give up. I keep toying with the idea of a groove band band but I just know this will be a big logistical effort which I am not sure I want to take on. If it was just about the music, I would do it, but its going to take more than that, for sure. But then again, if you don't start it...it will never get going, so...????

£10ph per man must be minimum... and you'd like to include the travel time in that but not always possible with pubs.

That is a clean slate that you can have a lot of fun with, You will need to be the glue that the sequence doesn't need... but I bet you will need it live. I would be thinking you need to have bass and drums pretty active as that twee top line will need a lot of help, IMO. Could be a real slammer if you can put the work in

Chris McIntyre is a quality luthier IMO, so if he makes plates for you, you will be in safe hands. I'd say £40-ish is a good price I had Sims do mine for a custom cut.

I've seen some of the cheap WD plates up close and they weren't good. Horrible bland print so make sure you get a very good look at one before buying, IMO. A quality bass is worth a quality plate. I've used Sims but they aren't regarded as cheap, but they really worked on my bass... and a custom cut as well...so send in your old plate as a template, assuming it fits perfectly in the first place

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1410282136' post='2547814'] I have never once given any thought to the number of members of a band as a punter? They are either good or they are not, in fact that is not fair sometimes they are good but not my cup of rosy that is all. Just because a band has a keys player and a singer that strums a bit of acoustic and some lights that does not make that band any easier to watch than a 3 piece that have covered all the bases IME. ............ [/quote] I'd say it really should make them easier to watch, IMV...but if it doesn't then that is that bands fault. As you say, a bad band is a bad band and any amount of gimmicks will not save them, for sure. We will think about augmenting the band as it is something different and it will be on a ticketed gig. Doing that at the local pub is no use at all as the pub gig is hard work for the money in the first place.. and then there is the question of space etc etc..so it's a non-starter. Adding to the line-up makes our regular 'fans' more willing to pay for something different and we think this is worth the money and the effort but it needs to be thought through as it is likely to cost you upwards of £250. How many times can you do this throughout the year, depends..? but we will do 3-4 times if the gig can afford it. To do it in a pub, you'd want a friday night..as people are cheaper then generally, but you'd still be needing the pub to pay £500 plus and it is just not worth the hassle as the pub will REALLY stress about wether they can afford it. Not fun at all for pub work. Funnily enough, the only act that can charge that fee in a pub that I know of, is a Disco...

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1410265760' post='2547613'] The most soul destroying gig I can remember was a 5 piece playing Don't You Forget about Me to housewives dancing around their handbags, even if it was a good payer! In contrast, I played in just the type of three piece band that you are describing and it was great fun! We played lots of gigs to decent audiences all over the country and made a few quid. The gtr was a bit of a one trick pony, but it was a good trick and it helped that he was a natural entertainer (both on and off stage). We never played a song the same twice and songs would evolve the more we played them. We could turn on a musical sixpence in a way that bigger bands just can't do! It certainly sharpened up your playing as well... [/quote] Yep... and soul destroying is not exclusive to 3 piece bands of course. Again, we vet the gigs pretty carefully and do them if we fancy them..but we aren't going to deviate too far off plan just because it is a gig. But it also helps if the band..however they are constructed.. can bring more than one thing to the party so being a good frontman with great banter is a 'selling' point as much as anything else. My view is that the more sellers you have, the better.

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1410262350' post='2547550'] It depends what they want. I'm sure that many are happy with a 4 piece, but you're going to get something different with an 8 piece with horns. [/quote] Indeed, we price differently to how we construct the show.... In order to get a better price, we have to give them something that they can't get elsewhere and that may well mean we put in girlie BV's, a horn section or a sax. This doesn't work in a pub context for us as it is a lot of work for not a lot of financial gain but we will do it for a special show and for the gig that this tends to matter on, bookers will take that into account and pay more. So, it is a seliing point for us, and a selling point for them.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1410279085' post='2547771'] A Wilkinsons tool bag. Comes in a rather fetching black with orange trim, so matches my gig-bag and speaker cover, which is very important. [/quote] But clashes awfully with the Markbass rig... :lol;

This isn't the thread [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/242763-ampeg-pf500-fault-light/page__p__2542035__hl__pf500__fromsearch__1#entry2542035"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/242763-ampeg-pf500-fault-light/page__p__2542035__hl__pf500__fromsearch__1#entry2542035[/url] ...there is a much more detailed one, iirc, but this points you to the general issue.

Worth a read on the PF500 issues documented on here. Many BC-ers who brought them have a tale to tell.

A couple of sports bags as they pack down easier in the car if need be.

Wow, £150-ish price increase just after I got one... That makes me feel better. I've used Thomann and you can't ignore them totally, but I always like to buy more local.

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1410254202' post='2547463'] The distinction is surely the ability of the player and not the environment. [/quote] Of course it is.... but getting that quality in a pub is few and far between, IME. And I must say that the 3 piece gtr bands tend to have a handy gtr player, but still not good enough to maintain the interest over a long period of time in the set, IMO. And..it also depends how interesting the bass and drums can be, but you'll often find the gtr kingpin doesn't want anything too fancy from them... so it comes down to the gtr solo show... If the gtr can sing, then that is a bonus but not a given. From an economics POV, this can work for the gtr as they may easily get £70 per head, and if they work hard, and do a few lessons, sell CD's they may make some sort of living. The band leader/gtr may even take a bigger slice of the monies but it seems a pretty soul destroying gig IMO. And... I've done them but I want something more interesting and I do find them 'lacking' for sure.

The TH is a good little amp... it is pretty basic but it has what you need. I don't carry it as my main amp, but I like it so far. I would say the PF500 is ball park the same sound goal but the PF has relaibility horror stories alluded to on this forum. Aguilar has very stealthily stolen Ampegs clothes in some respects as Ampeg aren't the company they were in a lot of regards, IMO. But, both, from a sound POV are nice sounding amps. I would say they are going for old skool in that neither are toppy. To get past the PF500 issues, look for the PF800...as they don't seem to be affected. My feeling is that GK are too coloured..which is fine if you like that colour, and TC are synthetic but I don't have extensive time on them.

I like amps that can be worked on which means they tend to be hand-wired. And that takes a premium. I don't think many makers would bother to ship that type of work out as they can make it work over here and the U.S. I don't want to get into fridge/washer machine teritory with an amp which basically means they are so cheap you throw them away and buy new. If I like an amp, it isn't that easy to change models if you can't get it repaired so I don't want an amp which is all circuit boards and I don't want generic ones where the same supplier supplies a lot of makers with those boards. Having said that, a well made amp should last 20 plus years with out any attention at all if looked after. Seeing how many players seem to talk about taking a back-up amp to a gig, there seems to be a lack of confidence in some marques...??

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1410248539' post='2547392'] I thought the difference between the two was that with passive controls, you can only affect your sound by turning things off (turning off the volume of individual pickups or rolling off the tone) whereas with active you can cut the frequencies or boost the frequencies without turning off pickups or tone (so if you wanted a burpy jazz bass bridge pickup tone, you can simply boost the appropriate frequencies on an active bass rather than having to turn off the neck pickup like you would traditionally on a passive jazz bass). Therefore, if you have a true bypass passive/active switch and the controls set at flat, then the controls would be in a position where they are all turned on (volume wise) and no frequencies are being cut/boosted/turned off. So that SHOULD sound the same on both active and passive. Or have a missed something? As far as active/passive goes, I use passive basses because the characteristic sound of a bass that you alter by removing elements suits the kind of stuff I play. No other reason. [/quote] I find it very hard to get Jaco with active as the signal is probably too lively. I tend to go passive, go totally to the bridge and roll down the presence but live you may need to fudge this as messing around between active and passive isn't ideal. So, when active, I get close enough, but not kosher...