Muzz

Oh my, a Kawai Sleekline...haven't seen one of those in an age...there was one in A1 Manchester for a lonnng time, but I was in my Rawk n Roll phase, and if it wasn't an Explorer/Thunderbird/Something Pointlessly Pointy, I wasn't really interested...

Meanwhile, on the Bax-Shop...

They look nice, just been looking...with my main criteria being 'What does the thing weigh?', and, as ever, it's not easy to find out. The PMT page in particular clearly couldn't give a flying...erm, whatever:

It's not a weight I would even tolerate these days, mostly because I'm gigging more now than I have in a very long time, and I'm older than I've ever been...I had a 78 Jazz about ten years ago which was pushing 12lbs, and I never gigged that, I moved it on pretty quickly. Then again, it was just a Jazz, and not a very good one at that. If it helps with perspective, I'm still on the lookout for a light main gigging bass, and I'm not even considering anything over 7lbs...

If all the band are in-ears (and even if not, but it's easier to sell the idea if it's to everyone's benefit) then to reduce the feel of isolation (tho you do get used to it) you might want to consider an ambient mic on the stage, just for a 'room sound' - also helps with those moments when you need to talk to each other: it always seems to happen the minute you get your inears properly in and settled... Doesn't have to be anything posh, just something that'll pick up the room...

The only stuff of YYNOT's I've heard is live, I'd imagine in a more controlled environment like the OP's vid the actual sounds might be closer...

Musically bang on, tho the singer sounds like he's right at the very top of his comfort range - here's a different approach that I like (tho IMHO, YMMV, etc) - again, musically bang on, and a girl singist works for me...

As a callback to my list above, I'd concur with the advice to try if you can - that 2024 I tried was a surprise (hence the 'sleeper' thing) in that it was so good, so, for want of a better word, alive...I'd hope the BBP34 is of a similar level...they don't look very exciting, but in hand it's another matter entirely... Sadly, the weight (I'm very weight-aware, more than 8lbs and I'm out) and neck profile (again, I'm very specific, and 40mm is only any good if it's a slim 40mm) rule me out.

The fact that they're custom molds takes them a league above the off the shelf stuff immediately - their basic ones (IIRC) are single drivers, but the isolation and fit makes up for that. I have the more expensive ones, and I've no GAS for anything else...

I've had a lot of BBs (3000A, 1600, 1200, 1100, 1024, 414, 300, 400, BBPH) and the 414 has stayed, mostly because it has the slimmest neck, and it does 95% of what the others do. It's also because my criteria have changed over the years, and it's lighter than a 1024. I pine sometimes over the 3000A I sold after 20 years, but that may well be just the rose-tinted tinted glasses thing, and I'm not prepared to shell out over a grand to find out... I played a 2024 at Bass Direct ten years or more ago, and thought it was the best quality 'sleeper' bass I'd ever played, but again, it might not last with me these days because of the weight and neck...the newer 2/3 series (and the P34 top of the range) don't appeal because I hate the pickguard, but that's just me being as shallow as a puddle... I changed the bridge and tuners on the 414, and took it to a good luthier for a fret dress and setup, and I'm completely happy with it, especially for gigs down the Dog & Duck, where a more expensive bass would give me one more thing to worry about.

In my inear mix I have me and the drums nice and loud (relatively), with a 'guide' level for the guitar and vocals/sax, and no percussion at all. I find it helps to keep everything on track when the other two, erm, wander into jazz territory... 🙂

If it helps, I'm probably 30 gigs/rehearsals in with the Lekato 5.8/P2 setup, and it's never twitched yet. The P2 batteries last a long time, too...

Yep, I have a short XLR for the Lekato 5.8 transmitter, just to get it away from the back of the mixer where the other transmitters are, and it works very well. The setup with the P2 has never let me down, dropped out or distorted, and the latency is very low. It Just Works(tm), and for the money, it's a great solution.

Picked up a last minute gig Friday night, at a regular venue for the busy band - so regular, in fact, that we cancelled a few gigs leading up to Xmas (we were booked every 4 weeks) and into the New Year, but the landlord had been let down by another band. Very quiet (about a dozen people in the lounge, and another dozen in the pool room), I've no idea how they make it work financially...still, we got paid, and it's one of the more local gigs for me, so travelling wasn't an issue...

Yeah, I've had years when more than one band was necessary to get in as many gigs as I wanted...right now, with a boy just started Uni and draining the coffers as fast as he can (something about wanting to eat every day), I'm taking everything I can...

Last minute fill-in gig at a regular venue just popped up for tonight...we've nothing in till the 29th after that, tho the BL is a real gig-ferret, so there may be more. We've 25 or so gigs in for 2024 (inc NYE) so far, there'll be more.. We were going to use Jan to refresh the set list and maybe even have a rehearsal, we'll see how much time there is...

I don't use an amp much these days, and my 'base sound' comes from a Stomp, which would be a nightmare to tweak on the fly. I never liked tweaking my amp EQ live, either, so I've always liked East preamps - the sweepable mids are absolutely essential for me, and I've got one in most of my basses. To the OP, tho, I'd say given your signal chain, tweak the sound elsewhere (tho if you want to to change it onstage you'll be tweaking either on the floor or at the amp - as mentioned above, I don't want to do that) and see how it goes. The only other issue is are you using more than one bass? You don't want to be tweaking pedals/amps for different basses live...

Some of the places I play we'd need someone to defend the tip jar if there was more than ten quid in it...

...and people think Glam just happens... 🙂

I'm in a couple of bands, and one (sadly the quieter one) is a trio where we've all made efforts to simplify the setup (whilst keeping the quality - and even improving it - with new tech), so we can be loaded in, set up, soundchecked and good to go in half an hour, tops, but the other's much more of an 'event', which, to be fair is a selling point in itself (a 4-piece with congas/bongos/percussion, lots of lights, even smoke, and a geetard/singist who also plays the sax - the punters love it), but requires much more gear, and a longer setup/breakdown. Given the choice, I know which I'd rather be in, but a gig's a gig...

I always take a spare - if it's a prestige/well paid gig I'll take two nice basses (I've got quite a few nice basses, might as well give them a run out now and again...tho one will usually stay in the case), if it's the Dog & Duck I'll take my (passive) BB414 (which is fast becoming my bass of choice anyway) and chuck the Westone headless in the other side of the gig bag...if the venue/band area turns out to be the size of a postage stamp I might use the headless anyway.

Well, after the previous misgivings about the NYE gig (agency gig, 5 x 30 min sets with 30 mins between each, plus DJ-ing; total band entertainment time 8pm - 1am*) it went...OK. Venue were a bit twitchy at first, but relaxed when they saw we had it covered, and no objections to the iPad/Playlist DJ parts. Turned out it was £25 to get in the pub (inc one free drink and some circulating nibbles), it was maybe 2/3rds full of locals, but certainly no passing trade at that sort of money. The 5 x sets with half an hour in between was complained about (to us) by quite a few people, it really did kill the vibe, we just directed them to the bar manager, perhaps they'll rethink it. Oh, and nowhere to sit between sets was a pain in most of the lower extremities, we were literally on our feet from half six till half one. No disasters, the musical bits of the gig were fine, and it went off (politely, this is Cheshire with a £25 cover charge we're talking about here) at midnight, plus the load in/out was right next to the door, so it was logistically easy; we were mostly loaded (all bar the mixer, one PA speaker and the iPad) before the last DJ set finished at 1am. Not a gig I'd choose to do again, but hey, we got paid. * Sorry if I sound a bit wet here, @Bluewine, but that's a chunky shift for the UK...

Sadly, I'm not the BL, we'll just have to see how it rolls...

Just an addendum to this upcoming oddly-spaced NYE gig: the landlord won't pay for a DJ, he wants the band to do the whole thing, starting at 8pm for the first 30 min set, then 30 mins playing every half hour, alternating with DJ sets, finishing at 1am. He also extended the hours after we'd accepted the gig...and the money wasn't great to start with; apparently the original band booked had pulled out, and I'm beginning to see why...he's getting five(!) Spotify DJ sets in between our sets, and he can like it or lump it...I may be (and hope to be) proved wrong, but in true Star Wars styleee, I've got a bad feeling about this...