JTUK

Funnily enough I don't like Ashdown as it just doesn't have a core sound I rate..and if you are struggling with the core sound, everything else is going to be way too much hassle...to even try and get off 1st base, sound-wise, but I did have an extended loan/hire of an Ashdown 15" combo which I used as it was light, one handled carry and fitted in the boot so easily. I could be in and out of gigs in 5 mins if I had to. Most of the gigs I did with that were Soul/RB gigs and it filled out the bottom fine... and the horn helped it cut thru a bit, even with a blowing 3 part horn section. Not 100% ideal but it was enough for that gig and I didn't feel the need to swap/trade-up. Sometimes, you need to factor in inherrent limitations and decide if you can or will live with them. On that gig, I could. On others, there is no way...

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1396206173' post='2410991'] How are you supposed to hear what sound you're getting while you're playing? What if you rehearse in a small village hall type of place, I can only put my cab so far away before I would have to move it outside! [/quote] I get to stand right in front of the rig or upto 2mtrs away.... I can always hear what I am playing and always hear the tone. If I couldn't I wouldn't keep that set-up. This is little to no difference in the play back to me in those situations with my rigs. I use rehearsals to get feel and format right, that is my priority there.... but a rehearsal doesn't need to add any problems re the sound.

Pro Steels are a decent start then. I wouldn't call them the best but they are better than average, IMO. readily availlable and a fair price.

£15 for 45mins for a few starter lessons and £20-25 per hour thereafter. Some shops want to pay you £10 per hour.

If you haven't changed strings for way too long then you obviously aren't looking for any zing so I don't think it will really matter what you go for. rounds or flats..?

Just can't entertain them anymore..... if there isn't room for a 5m sq playing area then it is a pass.

I can see the thinking of standing off a cab....but if your bandmates didn't like this from their stage position then I can't see that working anyway.

Guess the OP needs to give them reasons not to be able to not offer him the gig. Take a positive out of a negative... and get the bass going..

Are you thinking about some sort of x over thing.... Tbh, I wouldn't bother.... If you need an imposing cab, get a 610,,if you must have 2 cabs, then 2 x410 and you can bias one over the other if you wanted to, but I can't see the point of the 115 in the stack. Assuming 115=300w or so..and the 410, 600.. that is a mismatch in terms of watts load if you get anywhere near pushing the rig. You may well find the 115 bottoming out way before the 410...so at very loud levels it is not worth bothering with. The 410 will cope better on its own and the 8ohms is the limiter of pushing that hard.

Well, this is beginning to sound like a deal breaker. I don't like the idea of people learning on the job but if you think she is worth the effort you are going to have to tell her it IS a problem.. Tell her and teach her what positioning the mic will/can do and then point out how it affects the gig... which it sounds like she is aware of that. There is a limit with that people can put up with ....mine is drunk musicians.. and I warn them that there will be a problem if it starts to cost me money/bookings. If I turn up for a gig and a fee..there is no way I'll not be wanting to collect it.. ( that sort of thing ) If your vox problem is in the same territory... you need to address it, asap.

How did the guy approach you to borrow the amp...? as just turning up and taking that chance is pretty dumb if the answer turns out to be a big fat NO. I am not sure what excuse I'd want to hear and if I didn't like the look of them, then I wouldn't entertain it anyway. My general position would be if your gear is crap or non-existant, then what problem is that of mine..? Having said that, I've hired my gear out to touring bands if I can get to the sound check and I know the venue and the engr.

Not fitting a bands image to get the gig has nothing to do with being a session player. You do sessions on a track.... and you may not even need to play outside a studio. If you don't get a gig for visual reasons, then that is down to who is doing the hiring but sessions were traditionally studio dates

Try getting it to sound as faint as you want by playing it as a single pluck. Or play 1-and where the 1 is pull-off and -and- is the thumb an octave down. Relax the pull-off finger or make it go soft and then lay you left fretting hand across to string to get a damped note As an aside ... to sound funkier and spikier, try the pulls-off with the middle finger.

Sounds too much signal to me....I am running in straight out into a JBL flip The D and G 'distort' on a few runs. Odd one.....

SM58's pick up too much so get a more narrow directional mic... that will help cut down the band getting into her mic..... and the aim is to isolate her vocal into the Desk,,and then hopefully most of what you boost with just be her...

I think you'll need more headroom in your P.A and I am not sure it will give you that with that system, You may have to put a LOT of time into EQ'ing the band so you don't get into any sort of fight with the vox. Are the vox weak or thin?

My local told me that Thomann sell them retail for not much more than he could buy them in at...

I haven't read all the posts yet, so just for the OP. The Markbass amp in this combo is capable but if the band is on the loud side you will likely be struggling for gain. You may well get the level but it will likely be 'compromised' and it will then depend on your playng style as to whether you can make the combo work... I find a single 12 can hit a volume but not a sound..or you can get very little variance that is usable. But...your compromise is the fact that you need lightweight AND small so you must accept there is only so much you can push these limits. If volume is all you need...you could use it..but if your have tone goals you may well find it beyond these unit types. Add another cab and you'll be more than fine. Basically, you may be asking too much from the single unit so be reasonable in your expectations

New string.... Dunliops aren't expensive. never trust that to last unless you never take it out of the house and then it doesn't matter so much.

Don't touch the basses if you like everything else about them bar the difference in levels. Have a look at these guys and get a quality non coloured pedal so you can level the gains on both basses. [url="http://www.radialeng.com/bigshotio.php"]http://www.radialeng.com/bigshotio.php[/url]

Of course, any issues would be for a different cab set-up... but it seems to me that some cabs can dominate which might appeal initially to a lot of people, big BASS sound etc etc...but as I've said before, you can always add bass easier than you can get rid of it...and in difficult rooms the most problems you'll have is getting rid of a bassy sound. Rigs that can reach the back of the room and rattle the walls might appeal to some but you should soon find out that that is likely to have screwed your mix. This is why the most popular, read successful cabs, are NOT bass heavy to the exclusion of all else...

That is just weird on so many levels...

I think that track is either Stubenhaus or Freddie W... Abe L didn't have a conventional slap style, IMO, altho he could generate some amazing sounds, just not in a conventional sounding way,

I think Hammersmith is as large as I would like to go... I recently say Peter Gabriel at 02 and they were filming it for a DVD but from where I was... near the back... it will be interesting to see how they compile it to make it work,...as it didn't really work for me. I don't think this is PG's fault so much as the logistics of acts playing to a large hall ( and bigger ). I think I'd far rather watch the DVD for a vast majority of gigs and certainly outdoor gigs.