Muzz

Andy's currently sending me some LEDs for my Streamliner after I contacted him on TB...service above and beyond the call, frankly...

We've got a wedding gig every Saturday through the RWC, and all England's games other than the first are Saturday 8pm kick-offs. We're gonna tactfully suggest a later start for us to the clients, just in case they haven't realised - the sight of a steady string of blokes (and some of the ladies, too) sloping sheepishly off when there's a match on is demoralising all round...

I wouldn't want most of them back, none of the Precisions (couple of 70s and an 80s - in those days I didn't care what year they were) and definitely not the Jetglo 4001, oddly the only one I'd have back would be the B&W Aria ZZB Custom I flogged off for bugger all in the late 80s...

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1441531904' post='2859479'] Very apply named. Assume he doesn't play like that all the time..?? [/quote] As a mate of Nige's, I have to say that's a parlour piece which sells a lot of strings (he works for Rotosound), and he's a great player fingerstyle or, earlier this year, on a G&L 2000 with a pick on tour with Dare. Without Brian C this time...

We always pack down and will remove (where possible - if it's a very tight access venue we'll wait (within reason) until the crowd thins) what's not required - sometimes we'll be DJ-ing after the gig so lights and PA stay up, if it's a separate DJ then everything gets packed up. The punters are pissed, up and dancing. They don't care, and we've never had anyone say anything different.

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:148286] Here's my seriously modded T-Bird - a bit more extensive than maybe you were considering, but there's a few things to consider. If you like the old-school vibe, the chrome pickup covers and rings are a cheap option - underneath those on mine are two Dingwall pickups, and they'll fit quite a few pickups. The Supertone bridge is, I think, a cracker, though I'd still consider a two-part bridge if one came up. The through-body thing I think wouldn't be worth the compromise in string choice, unless you can really, really hear the difference... Tuners on mine are Ultralights, but as it's a Lakland neck, it doesn't really apply in your case...ditto the John East U-Retro, too, I'd guess...

Thanks for that - this might have been asked before, but is there a HPF set, and if so, at what frequency?

Yeah, I went through a few... two Mesas, two Ashdowns, three MBs (including an F1), a TC, a GK, even another Tech21... I'm gassing like mad for the VT500, but it'll have to be good to shift the Streamliner, where all the others have failed...

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1440060017' post='2847870'] I could never use a MB head without another preamp in front of it. Not now. I used to and always felt it lacked something. Then i got a BDDI (well, started with a BDI21) and never looked back. I find something like these just brings the head to life. I keep most of the EQ pretty flat but being able ot add a bit of warmth and depth really helps with the MB heads (IME & IMO). I always just go Bass- wireless- BDDI/Darkglass etc - amp. Never had an issue with the input stage, and ive never used the FX loop. Being able to cut out a few leads and the pedal really appeals to me. [/quote] Now this, pretty much word for word, is why I set off looking for a head which could do the 'BDDI and LMIII' thing in one unit. After a lot of faffing about that was also a lot of fun, I ended up with the Streamliner. I have a cunning plan in the offing which involves my secondary MB 2 x 15" stack and swapping the LM out for the VT500 in the combo...bwahahahaaaaaakoffkoffkoffff...

Yep, me too - verrrrry tempted by this...

On the other hand, if someone said "Your playing tonight, mate: you were...busy" I'd suspect they weren't very impressed...

Yup, that's what I'd aspire to - I got a "tight" from a punter (admittedly a guitarist, but hey, I'll talk to anyone after a gig... ) last Friday, and that'll do, too...

I've a had a steadily mounting regret after selling my 1515L, tho I'd be interested to know how these newer generation of cabs sound compared to the original angled series. Anyone had an direct experience of both generations?

Yeah, a Sunday would work better for me, too...

All good if your setlist doesn't require you to chop and change...horses for courses. I think a lot of people like a mid-scooped solo sound, and that can go walkies in some band setups, which is where the OP was coming from...

'Banter': Yeah, I'd used it carefully with the 'a level of', because it's a sliding scale from affectionate ribbing to pointed barbs, but it can be a good thing. I think what you have seen, Rob, is bullying being passed off as something else.

It depends on what sort of sound you like to hear soloed, but for me, it can be pretty different, depending on the song and the arrangement. We use keys for some songs, we use two loud guitars for others, we use mandolin and acoustic for others, and the same bass sound won't cut it for them all. I even change the basic sound (I'm not including pedals here, which I don't use, because that's a whole different and interesting kettle of fish) between verse and chorus in some songs - Don't Stop Believing, for example, needs some honky mids for the signature, erm, honk in the choruses, but less in the verses. I have superb active EQ (East U-Retro) on all my basses, so I can do this from the bass without touching the amp. Sure, I could get away with one sound, but in my main band we'd expect the guitarist to have several different sounds for different songs, ditto the keyboards, and I don't consider myself a special case.

I'd say it's very healthy to have a level of banter in any group, it's a bonding thing, but only the OP can decide whether this is becoming personally abusive and effectively bullying. From the posts, it certainly sounds like it, and it's not a level of sneering I'd put up with without, shall we say, a robust response. It's an enduring meme to consider the bassist to be a lesser contributor, after all it's (usually) only four strings, how hard can it be, etc, but I've never suspected that anyone I've been in a band with has considered my musical contribution to be any less important than theirs. Maybe I just hang out with good musicians. The desire to put someone else down is usually fuelled by an insecurity, which says more about the bully than the bullied.

+1 to all the above. Complete sense spoken on a Basschat thread -this could be a first

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1439551166' post='2843792'] Our main guitar amp at the time was a Linear Concord, a whole 30 watts. My brother used an enormous old (even then...) valve tape recorder as an overdrive; it was 3 times the size (and weight..!) of the amp. Our 2nd guitar, John Mac, wanted disto too so, not to be outdone, he brought along a whole stereo radiogram, as big as a sideboard. We did very few gigs with that formation, but the sounds were excellent, to our inexperienced (and poor..!) ears. Reggae became known, and we wanted to record something in that idiom. We finally nailed the bass drum sound we were looking for by shoving a giant stuffed ladybird into a plastic bucket, and whacking it with the flat of a wooden spoon. Happy daze. [/quote] Please tell me he'd left the table lamp and onyx ashtray on it, too...makes Geddy's stage rig look amateurish...

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1439533855' post='2843571'] Ditto. Except in my case the badge would either be the wrong colour or the wrong shape. Or something like that... [/quote] Or it would just be too heavy...

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1439416171' post='2842783'] You've encompassed pretty much everything I own with that list [/quote] That's OK, I'll bet my mixing silver and gold hardware on my Fenderbird would bring you out in a rash...

If you're putting 500w into a decent 410, you should be getting some serious sound levels output - I never had any issues with a 2-guitar/keys band with a LMIII and the 410HR. Have you had a play with your EQ? If you're not 'cutting it', then mids are your friend in a band context - there's often a difference between a pleasant sound solo'd (usually mid-scooped) and one which works with the band. I'd start by setting the LMIII flat (that's VLE and VPF off, not at 12), and adding or subtracting from there. I'd suggest tilting the cab up to point at your head, but with a 410 that's gonna be a bit of a job. Or perhaps you could get the band to play a bit less loudly? If you're finding your 500w 410 rig isn't loud enough, I really hope you're protecting your hearing from everything else.

Yep, got mine from an EBay seller in the UK, they were around that money.