JTUK

Exactly what I did when I got bored of the MM sound. I got Kent Armstrong to wind me a new one and took the pre amp out. It revitilised a bass to my ears and I only sold it because I went to 5's and there was no turning back

Another bass..... for some reason I keep coming back to a American Deluxe J5... or maybe REALLY push the boat out for something else I've seen and contemplate selling a Sei J5 to make it justifiable..? I also have my eyes on an amp

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1434998130' post='2804593'] Are you typing on a phone, that makes no sense Maybe I'm different to everyone else. I'd rather speak to the right people who are responsible for the bad sound, at the time. It has better results than coming on a forum later on and complaining to the wrong people after the event. On at least two occasions in the last 30years I have had to point out to a 'soundman' that there was no bass guitar in the mix. Only for them to head off to the stage looking for a failed XLR cable, but only after scowling at me and then suddenly dawning on them that I was right. Seriously, it's not hard to have a polite word with someone. It's their problem if they don't want to listen. [/quote] I was, but I'll try and make it clearer. Many sound guys have the gear but no ear. What ever made them pursue this venture, I don't know but it certainly isn't a career as they'd never get work. However, they have got the gig..and I suspect it is because they either know someone, or are extremely cheap or even free, so they end up as the man 'in charge'. Best thing is to either direct them or take them out of the loop as much as possible and in this case, the band saw and heard what they were doing and basically said just give us vocals as they'll be no gain mic'ing anything as A) you don't know what you are doing and B ) your gear isn't upto making any difference in this pub anyway.. so C ) leave us alone and we'll tell you how much we want from the vox mics..

Well, she's nothing if not an absolute top business model

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1434910262' post='2803789'] They didn't though. They were fiddling throughout the set. There's a difference between a band that sets itself up and just believes it's right and a band who are clearly struggling. [/quote] You'll seen 'sound guys' doing the same thing in a pub.... especially on these multiple band charity bills. Invaribly the next band on will be taking note and TELL the 'engrs' what to do....if only if it is to say..VOX only P,A please... as I can hear how the are 'mixing' the other bands

General rule of thumb is...IMO.. if you can't tell me EXACTLY what is on stage, then you don't know enough to get anywhere near dictating what I'll use, And if people don't know the spec, then either speak to someone who does or file under 'jokers' and decide whether it is worth doing the gig. I can certainly understand min spec riders and it got absoluetly nothing to do with be 'precious, IME

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1434787433' post='2802768'] It's a bit Through The Looking Glass really, the question is, how widely do you define tone and perhaps, how important is tone. [b]If tone is everything outside playing the right notes at the right time then technique probably is more important than the bass you play.[/b] Even if you define tone more narrowly as the sound coming out of the speakers then the speakers and the amp have roughly the same effect on sound as the bass you use, give or take. If I hand my gear over to a more experienced bassist they get sounds out of it I can only dream of. Even listening to two equally talented bassists playing the same gear will give you differences in tone. Equally playing at home My J Bass has a much nicer tone than my more expensive P-Bass. On stage with my current band I think the P works better but I don't suppose the audience notices or cares. Listening to live recordings of my band I couldn't swear to you which bass I was using in most of the songs. I no longer bother swapping basses at gigs for such marginal gains as the dynamic of the gig is more important. Of course we care about tone, if you want to play music you should take it seriously, but hours spent on the bass will improve your sound more than hours spent shopping surely? So to answer the OP it's all a factor but if you've got decent gear then most of how you sound it is down to you. If you have the money you can buy marginal improvements but narrowly defined tone is only part of how your sound. [/quote] So many bass players get no other sound out of the bass other than their default sound and they have no variation in that. Vary the attack and that will vary and enhance your tone, IMO,

Funnily enough I find the cab the biggest problem....then the bass and then the amp. but sometimes you can't get past the guy playing it..

I really don't get bands who can't get a good sound and especially bands that don't promote the vocals. All these things count so if I wasn't enjoying the band and the general pub vibe, I'd move on.

As long as you see it will pay for itself or be worth it in the long run, then buy a bargain when they crop up.

I'd be kind of open to trying something new, but I'd had to have advanced notice of what it was and 99% of the time I'd take my own. None of the 'top gear' vagueness... wtf..!!!

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1434811770' post='2803013'] What does it mean when a bass sounds like butter? [/quote] should be 'plays' like butter

Good work

Yep, agree, useless term, Probably means 101 thing to 101 people.

[quote name='HengistPod' timestamp='1434465474' post='2799866'] We had a Saturday night gig at The Divers in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, which was taking a bit longer to get to than we thought ... there was a good chance of missing the ferry if we didn't utterly hare it across the mountains on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula in our old van. Fortunately, there was nothing coming the other way and not too many sheep in the road, and we made the Lochaline ferry with minutes to spare. On arriving at the gig around tea-time, we found a jazz band already set up. Much dismay was in evidence. To be fair, the landlord stood us dinner and free beer for the evening, put us up for the night (part of the original gig deal), and let us play Sunday afternoon instead. All's well that ends well etc. [/quote] I can't get my head around this... I'm glad it worked out tho..

Choose your gigs carefully. I don't think the ones around here do too well even though they have a wealth of material to choose from.

You need to try it and see which suits you. I'd say there is no real reason why one would be better than the other... I'd also say the same about 34" V 35", neck thru and bolt on.... You'll get excellent results with both and you'll get less than average results with both as well. I would say that quality of construction trumps method of construction and makes the real difference, IMO

I wouldn't say 'nobody cares'.... a lot of these people aren't paid to care about your sound, they don't work for you so aren't going to argue against what you bring to gig through. Their job is to just get your sound to the front, they might not care you can't hear anything through the monitors and you may be little more than a service they have to tolerate. I think the argument would be different if they had a REAL vested interest in your 'business'

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1434184392' post='2797365'] Yes it is hellishly frustrating. I like Truckstops contract idea but can't see many pub landlords being willing to sign up. [/quote] Or have you back after you 'forced' this on them and get them to pay up. Pubs, by their very nature, are very casual affairs and I wouldn't be going to war for those sums involved. If I felt that strongly, I wouldn't play there again...which might make the chasing of the money worth doing, but for £50 I'd probably get over it pretty quickly. No doubt, it is frustrating tho..

Waste of time.. I'd call it off and find something better to do

[quote name='Sambrook' timestamp='1433950737' post='2795377'] I've noticed many set neck basses have tone blocks. Is this just a decorative contrast, or is there some deeper, more sinister reason? I know you'll know....... [/quote] I'd say it was a decorative 'enhancement'... in that the basses that may feature them should be made well enough not to really need one...certainly if sustain is the goal... IMHO, of course.

Enjoy the time off...or have a session where you explore arrangements but I wouldn't bother if the intention is a 'rehearsal'

Straps per bass and all the same lenght as I do what I do..so need things to be consistent.

Sounds, sounds sounds. If you can't get that...and keys date really really poorly, IMO, .. then it isn't a position you can recover from. And if the sounds weren't there, I'd really worry about the rest of it, especially if they didn't know how far off the sounds were.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1433788884' post='2793997'] I don't think of it as "sacrificing" so much as merely recognising that bass (and indeed any instrument) sounds different in the context of a mix than it does when played solo. [/quote] Not sure I recall other instruments recognising that to any degree...or nowhere near having the bass player having a very honky sound, just so it might cut thru, being a pig to play, ..but that is ok..you sound great outfront. I just don't think that approach should be neccesary and if any sound engr suggests that... I wonder if he knows what he is doing. It is just too basic an approach, IME.