JTUK

Clean up the strings and go lighter...certainly if you play softer. Slapping sounds awful with dull strings and tired and clunky strings just makes it harder than it should be. Low action and get the bounce with thumb and pat going on the E... that should tell you if the bass is set up well enough for slap. There are a whole host of new takes... IMO.. on the technique so stay away from the older cliched guys as you sound too samey. Contempory listening to Freddie W is good as he is THE tasteful guy, IMO. Newer sounds and styles are more spikey and violent ...so someone like Jerry Barnes is good. If you want to sound old skool... please don't.. then go to the usual suspects ....

If you say so...

If you have just put vox thru you will have gotten a full and rich vocal which should always be the goal anyway so all you need to do is introduce other bleeds into it. You need to get the kick running mostly thru the bins so maybe you have a few x-over points to experiment with. Depending how the drums tunes his kit and how he tends to play them... I'd go for an overhead just for now but you do need to know how the kit comes across, so difficult for me to say without hearing it exactly how I'd go about this, tbf. The thing with bleeds is that you need to be disciplined with volume and turning up as it is very hard to self mix with volume variables happening. Lead vox..?? I try and pick an AKG type over an SM58... Gtr would be a SM57 Bass and Keys DI. Kick is AKG D12

Everything else is flightcased up or cased up depending on the gig and the load in.

Could be all sorts of things...but that amp into 8ohms should be plenty loud enough. You may not be driving the amp clean enough so the gain suggestions might be pertinent or the cab is a tired unit and can't do clean anymore. I'd be surprised if that 15" could do 300watts either so you might be driving it too hard. If you are happy enough with the amp... you need to attend to the cab. Simple suggestion... pair it with another 8ohm cab just to see if that helps your sound...I'd be thinking there will be a massive improvement but then you are hauling round 2 cabs. The 212 Neo idea is good but will not be a cheap option... but basically that TE cab can't do what you want it to...unless you have screwed up the gain settings and even then, there are better newer options, by far, IMO.

Right place, right time.. but I'd never call him a great bass player but then I was never going to be a Queen fan either

Gig holdall... Everything in there from spare mic holders, mini tool kits, tons of fuses, allen keys all cables etc etc etc ... and I have a larger tool kit in the car to call upon. About the only thing I don't carry very often is a soldering iron but otherwise I have everything I could need or have use to call upon.

It is too late now as you have been to the rehearsal, but maybe you can direct them to what songs you have the best chance with in limited time... having said that, Aug 2nd is plenty of time for 20 or so numbers.. but I'd ask for the set for that gig and then concentrate on that and add anything over and above. That way, you will be able to nail all the songs or at the very least, say to drop one or two as they don't work yet. I am assuming the songs they do they do well...so you will be potentially the weaker link by virtue of knowing the the songs the least... or are they planning more rehearsals before your date..?? Some bands are very good buskers/readers that rehearsal can be non existant or very limited but some bands also need a month of sundays and they are the ones that will take as much time to adapt to you than you may well adapt to them.. Depends how they play and learn... do they play with the player or play the part and expect everything to fall into place as you are supposed to be playing the exact parts..??? The latter is why bands don't sound together even though everything is supposedly in place

I stopped for about 18 months after years and years of playing and I came back feeling very rusty but with a better work ethic and I realised I had gotten very lazy and took it all for granted. I now have a far better regime..have gotten back everything I had before ( and some but with a lot more focus, but still I take a day out a week from touching the bass.....if I want to...and don't feel at all guilty. I do have a few things that I control better so I don't get burnt out again...so I only take the gigs that are worthwhile etc etc an I know better, myself, what I will put up with, ot not. Better management and you'll last longer, IMO.

erm.... not a reasonable workload for no outcome. If I had 2 sets to learn ( 22 tracks ) I would expect the gig or preferably gigs confirmed and garuanteed payment. If this is a working function band who hint at any sort of professionalism then they should be thinking on these lines. A free audition is one thing but to pull your chain over this they have to give something back and be reasonable about it. I wouldn't be putting in anymore work unless the gig was there. If you want the gig, you don't have to tell them this, but if you are good enough and they still aren't sure, I'd be thinking I'd done enough and they need to make their mind up and then let you know and then we go from there.

Certainly the ranges drops as you get older. Not using the voice wont help either but all the vox I know ...and certainly the ones who have never trained or looked after their voice.. have lost at least a tone by their mid 40's and they aren't going to get that back.

Best buy in the FS section I've seen recently, were 2 GS112's .. BIG tight low end but you'd have to see if you liked that cab bias in your playing. Not sure how easy it is to get a 500 plus watt 2 cab solution for your money A compromise might be the EBS Classic 12's x 2

Fender 5 string spacing is wide enough so go for one of their better basses. Be prepared to spend some decent money as the B st on a 5 is what defines the bass, IMO. Critcal things are a consistant spacing, good action and great sounding B...as less than good B strings sound even worse when slapping. And no...no way round putting the time in.... as they are too many people who do that and sound like everyone else...or worse, Flea..!!!

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1402469283' post='2473729'] I know many of you wont understand the reasons fully, but thanks for the encouraging words. After spending quite some time praying that I'm doing the right thing, I've found it's because music has always been an idol to me. One of the first things I do in the morning & last things I do at night is read about music & come on here (still doing it too!). Every spare minute if I'm not on here, I'm playing my bass or playing about with something related to music. It needs to be broken so that I have no idols. Once this has been done, then maybe music can be part of my life & not be idolised by me. Doing this has a strange feeling with it, very similar to when I quit smoking. I feel like I'm breaking free, but there's a part that is sad that the good parts shall be missed. It's not about the playing of an instrument, but my relationship with instruments. If I'm to be a musician, I'm sure it will be. I can always buy another bass/pedalboard/rig, I might come back to keys or to an instrument I've never played before like cello or sax. If it's my calling to praise God in worship songs, then most churches have their own instruments. Maybe God is just like the rest of you & hates it when I play a bit of slap bass & he's had enough. [/quote] Idols...??? A bit too intense for me to understand. Stop playing if you don't enjoy it... keep playing if you do. Just because you have put lots of time in doesn't mean you have to keep going if you don't feel like it, but I'd stick with what makes you happy. You are looking for signs and you end up thinking that you should follow a path because that is what your state of mind and perceived purpose wants you to do..??? That doesn't make any sense... you have no 'directive' one way or the other as far as I can see... just a desire to play or not...and you desire to play but think you shouldn't.. Confused.com and the default action is the withdraw from playing...???

Of course, it doesn't apply to everyone but there are a couple of very notable and obvious cases... Other than that, does it really matter...? I don't take them seriously but not losing any sleep over it either..

Can't blame Plant...he has moved on, and carved another career and he probably knows he hasn't the voice for it anymore.. So, all in all, why on earth would he..? Sometimes, I wish more people would have the same viewpoint and leave things in the past. but agree the fans would want it but then he would most likely be bombarded with ' not the same' type comments and it is to his credit, IMO..that he just really doesn't need, or see fit, to do it.

I like the look of this as I favour a trolley option [url="http://www.seton.co.uk/2-way-sack-truck.html?gclid=CO2V6amG7b4CFQIYwwodWb0ALw"]http://www.seton.co.uk/2-way-sack-truck.html?gclid=CO2V6amG7b4CFQIYwwodWb0ALw[/url] I doubt it folds too easily but the less moving parts the better in the interests of sturdiness..???

The problem I have with internet opinions, at times, is it takes a while to suss out who knows what they are talking about and who has just nicked it from an earlier thread or forum and is just repeating it to belong in some sort of clique or sound like some sort of 'authority' Yep..you get them everywhere but you need to be part of a discussion platform for a while to get to know who they are..

Often used GAK and they have been very good to great every single time. Wouldn't hestitate to give them a call. A mate of mine recently did nearly a 1000 pub food covers in a bank hol weekend... He has 3 complaints and guess what...they ALL ended up on trip advisor. First thing anyone should do, is contact the business and let them sort it, or not. After that, the internet recourse might be fair game. But also... post your good reviews as quickly as you post the bad ones...

I generally have a look round to see who is talking to who and how in various parts of the room and if it looks reasonably comfortable then we are ok. The drummer we use...and the one before could put it out there and the kit sounds great but to be able to do what they do..they need to be playing the kit properly and that is going to be at a volume. You can use quiet kits and loud kits but you need to be hitting them pretty well if only to balance the cymbals. We are punchy loud...and we are known for the sound as well... but the first thing we ask of enquires is, 'have you seen us' as this is what we do and how we do it. There isn't any reason or room for much movement on that. I wear plugs most of the time as it is a constant exposure thing for me...but there is no point if I can't hear the BV's or any of the players...that would be just plain stupid. We aren't the loudest but far from the quietest either... but then some of them don't count .. but the balance is good. None of this, I can't hear what I am playing nonsense. Basically, do you know your remit..??

I'd want to keep the bass low pretty clean and just set the distortion or effect above a certain frequency. I would guess your Heath Robinson idea could work as well as any... you'd still want to low end producing a a ragged egde but not at the expense of the bottom so it depends where you can effect a cross-over.

Did ourselves no harm at all.... fund raiser for a private school and lots of yummy mums all dressed up and ready to party.. I think they will be back at a few local gigs for sure... and the work they may provide will be good work... read, lucrative as they seemed plugged into a different circle, judging by the 'auction' As I said..will do us no harm at a golf club venue..

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1402309735' post='2471863'] + a million. Playing drums quietly has to be the single most underrated skill on any musical instrument. [/quote] Not possible to play acoustic drums quietly. If you are talking about barely hitting them then the gig can't handle a drummer and that should be the focus, not the drummer himself. Of course, if the drummer sounds like he is digging a trench then that is another thing...but there is a certain level you can't be expected to go below, and still be able to play properly. If you are talking about tippy-tappy drummers, then they aren't drummers you want on a decent gig, IMO. If a venue is booking rock type bands, then volume is a given...so the parameters have to be reasonable.

I tend to post and leave it at that.... I might come back with another comment but I am not so bothered. People think what they think for whatever reason. If they are wrong then that is an issue for them. Some threads in OT are more conversational but mostly I don't see it as a goal to change someones mind. I might argue against their point, but will only go so far with it. Waste of time, otherwise..