JTUK

hmmm.... so, you are hammering away on a gig and all of a sudden the volume dives.... ????

Yes, good idea. you'll be surprised how many new gigging bands don't test the band sound and P.A in a dry run. The just turn on the P.A and go...but then a lot of bands skimp on the P.A and certainly the vox as some sort of other thought. Things like cable runs with spare 4 ways and drums, plus extra XLR's of both kinds, mic holders, etc etc beyond what each player carries for themselves. It doesn' matter who carries it, so much as it needs to be part of the load-in. The standard here is good P.A and a light show to be considered a decent band...that is just the way it is..

DM, My no 1 rig is a DB750 into DB212, and DB210's..all at 8ohms so if I want 212 and 210 then that is 8ohms per cabs with a max load of 750w. The 212 is a very capable 600w and the 212 is pretty much all I need in terms of sound, but because I have 2x210, I sometimes want to add 1x210 just so it looks more the part on some gigs...plus I thought it would actually help the sound.. ..but like I say, the 210 @350w sometimes appears to drive the cones...and I can hear something. So, unless I take both 2x210's out, I am better sticking with the 212 alone. It has a thunderous bottom but is not at all bassey and it handles the 750 at 8ohms very well. Even though I have the 2x210's to take out, I find I have less use for them now and they hardly go out. I am looking for a stage/gig where I could actually take out all 3 cabs..just to try it for the hell of it, but I can see me selling one of the 210'S as I just don't need them all. I have a 2x112 rig as well which gets the light load gigs...

It doesn't sound like you are very confident on what you are doing or are trying to achieve so leave the P.A to getting the vox the best they can sound. You don't want to complicate this with kick drum mic placement.... or indeed what mic to use.. Play to the level of the kit so you stand a chance of a getting a reasonable mix. Vox way higher than everything else... P.A in front of the singer, to the side is the norm..and singers will soon complain they can't hear..so monitors are for vox only. Once you have cracked the mix and the vox are sounding good...then..only then, can you look at any other sound re-enforcement ideas. You are trying to run before you walk... This is the recipe for gigs upto 100 ppl. If you think you will draw 500... then either the venue will have a P.A or you will hire one in and then the engr will take over and tell you want they want. Your primary concern is to get the vox as good as they can be..............

She might not be a beginner, but she is performing like one... She needs to up her game and she needs to know that and address it. You can say you have noticed this and that and it is causing concerns but you are all there to help her .... No real way to sugarcoat that, tho..as of course, you know. I am of the opinion that rehearsals and band meets are where these things need to be talked about for the good of all. This is not you ganging up on her as you want it to work... And if you don't deal with it, you may well drag the band down with her.

I use meths from a hardware store as I wanted no residue and something to evaporate off. I will leave the strings to 'soak' over a few days in a sealed tin and I can watch the oils come to the surface of the meths. I devised this method myself when I first heard of boiling strings ( I've been doing it ever since I first started using Rotosounds which were pretty much the only roundwounds going back then.. )...as boiling and metal didn't make much sense to me at the time. So, now, I prefer strings with no silk winds as that just gets very ragged after the 1st clean. With my current brand of strings, the sound is still acceptable-ish...but the gunky feel is the thing that tells me it is time to change the strings. A good long soak should clear out the gunk and make them feel better... but altho the sound is close to new... the feel may not be and therefore the string doesn't last on the bass..and this is what determines when I bin the string.

Even tho I can get pretty picky about gigs, the ones that I do do, I pretty much look forward to. I don't want to be out every week, but maybe that is reflected in the gigs not being special enough but I am quite excited about the musical element of my current band.,,, and especially some of the gigs we have this summer Agree that most bands are only viable when they gig or tour.

Don't know how loud your amp is... but I run 750w into 4 ohms and I find limiting the amp into 8 ( and 212 at 600w ) works better than running a 210 at 350 watts plus the 212 at 600watts. I find the 210 can bounce a tad ( meaning the cones hit..?? ) when pushed hard... whereas the 212 on it own doesn't. I can, of course, cure this by running 2x210 Plus the 212, and this is a super rig for getting onto 900 watts, but I just don't need it..and I certainly don't need to carry it. If Aguilar made a 610, I'd have that like a shot

I found you need really switched on piano players to show you round the chords as I have never had a gtr do it. For a start they want to play in A..whereas pianos and horns want anything but, prety much. You know the old saying of how to shut a gtr up... this is a useful trick. give them Chicago in Bb. But the rounds tend to be, as a bassline Root, 4th root, root over 4 bars 4th, 4th, root, root down to 6th. over 4 bars 2nd, 5th, maj3rd/ 6th, 2nd/5th. with judicious passing notes to get between the changes. Horns players always seem impressed if a bass player takes a twelve out of the traditional 3 chords. Almost garaunteed to get you invited onto another gig if you can swing it as well.

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1396380666' post='2412991'] Excellent – I aim to entertain and inform! And when JT comes back and tells us what ‘henpecked 4ths’ are then we will all have learnt something else new… [/quote] was really worried there when I read a post out of context... even I didn't know how I could have written that... but, suffice to say, I meant 'stacked 4ths' so the line should have read 'then stacked 4ths' and not 'henstacked' I really should get round to proof reading some of my posts, but why change now ??

Hear the B first....everything else is secondary

Well, in so far as you set up near the drums but you need him to hear them...but by the time you have set it up... some 'stages' don't allow easy movement as all the other kit is in the way. Ironically, the stages that tend to allow optimal placement are also the ones that have sidefills and monitors which can be used as a bass monitor. ( This is one reason why I really don't get tiny backline that the bass player can just about hear at a pinch.. as he has it pointing upto his ear...but no one else in the band can... so you are all playing to nothing, unless the bass gets in the monitors, which not so very many engrs are keen on doing for one reason or another... The first thing I look at is the monitors to see whether they are man enough, but then I have brought a rig for the stage anyway) Again..this points back to fridges, they fill the stage but not excessively with bass, and are the lesser of many evils in that regard, IMO.. and engrs and backline co's know this..and the theme is perpetuated, to the point of being iconic, but not without decent functional reason either. A nice catch 22... IMO.

OK...Thanks, will probably go for it then. I need and the band needs a portable Video device and audio wouldn't go amiss either.

For me, if the music isn't there...then nothing gets to 2nd base. It would be great to have it all, but at this level we don't... Having said that, our current drummer is a GOD ( and I mean a Monster ) but lets just say there is some maintenance needed. That might tell you about the gigs he is now picking up as opposed to what he should be doing.....

And is there an alternative to batteries....? can you run it from a socket in any shape or form? I think that is the dealbreaker for me... For that money I am looking for a powered video and audio device. If the Video is upto to todays' phone cameras, ( i5 ) then that will be good enough.

You can say that about a lot of players...including bassists. Not many I know, know what the knobs...but they still turn them... or get someone else to.

If you are playing with just one gtr you could always jazz up the turn rounds drop down to the 6th and henstacked 4ths which will turn you round onto the root just in time. That Rosco Beck vid shows a few pointers in that regard

Ok, I'll play. Changed basses which meant a different peg config and so I had to junk all my spares which were mainly DR's. Tried Pro Steels... were ok, so brough a couple of sets. Decent enough price and not truly offensive. Can get by with these if I really had to... Tried a few variations of DR's ... I don't think their QC was is worth the premium price. Used to be bomber in that regard, but I don't feel that now.. IMV. Ken Smiths... Fine, would have no problem using these again. LA Bella Super Steps. I liked the taper on all strings and they were good but not cheap. Newtones.. I settled on these are they make them up for me and I have tapers on all strings. Look very clean out of the box, clean up well...which is very important... and are a decent price. Not super bright but the dull-off is more gradual and progressive over a longer time than other strings I've used. I more likely change them because of the gunky feel than a gunky sound... I'll stick with these guys... Any others I've tried have been entirely forgetable and I have likely had them straight off the basses again and certainly never gigged them....

Any updates/reviews/thoughts on this..? Am tempted, but not entirely convinced..???

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1396273622' post='2411628'] Still begs the question why the one manufactured in a cheaper labour market cost me the exact same as the European built one though... [/quote] It doesn't really.... and I alluded to it earlier in this thread, and we all know the answer anyway. Markbass are no worse than a lot of others who go to the Pacific rim for a cheaper labour supply. You will not stop it unless you only buy from western makers who have a policy of building 'local'. But I guess you can count those makers on 1 hand. The 'shareholders' are maximising their profit by using cheaper labour, pure and simple, IMHO... of course.

.. well, it is a crap song.

Forget the idea that 'flat' means anything 90% of the time other that you have centred the knobs or para EQ. If you have any sort of filters, then these will 'map' a bias for tone and you will have a degree of scope but these are also limiting in their own way. Not unuseful for a quick EQ, but there is a reason why pro amps tend to have straight dials, or should have... IMO. Most amps have a natural bias/colour and this can be the amp brand sound and are not transparent. Again not particularly a bad thing otherwise all amps would sound pretty samey.. IMO.

Sounds pretty good for a blues jam night. Track 1 The drums change ( slightly ) through the song and it only really starts swinging in the later parts. As a section you can't be oblivious to what the drums are doing and neither can he ignore you. For depping and jammmg, you have to get in in bar 1, pretty much, so a bit more communication about the feel ...even the count in gives you more of a clue about how the singer wants/hears it but he can't actually influence the way the songs goes once the count ends... Track 2. That song has a bass riff part to my ears so you would have been better off playing it... as far as I know, most gtrs would demand it. Track 3 Doesn't work... the gtrs are no help as they are just going to play what they want as it is their chance in the sun.. but, hey that is the risk at these blues jams... The thing that would help is strong leadership from the driving player/singer of the song... but again, tough to control for open jam nights when you play with whoevers turn it is to step up.

Start a better band, always always..

But the point was that it is the call of the band who are auditioning...and if they don't like the guy who is auditioning, for whatever reason, THEY decide and determine that. If the band is small ..like the Small Faces, for exampe, then a 6 footer plus is going to look odd. Now, if the band started like that, they'd likely live with it... but if they had to audition, I can quite easily see it being a factor...and only smaller guys would get the nod. You'd hope playing abilities would be comparable but the little differences will probably sway it.