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BigAlonBass

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Posts posted by BigAlonBass

    stringing up help please!

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='Machines' post='1239977' date='May 22 2011, 08:39 AM']I've had odd things happen with strings when the ball end was at a dodgy angle (compared to other strings), might be worth loosening it and giving it a slight turn.[/quote]
    +1 on this. With two of my Basses, I have to have the hole in the ball-end lying from side-to-side for it to make 'contact' with the bridge. If one of the holes is pointing upwards or even at a slight angle, that string sounds dead. It took me a while to figure it out as well. :)

    Fender Precision Lite

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    It's a bit of work, but strip the active set-up out of it, and throw it away. I found the active configuration on these Basses a bit TOO active and sensitive, if you know what I mean? I shoved 'real' passive Precision and Jazz pickups in mine, and it's a hell of a lot closer to the real thing.

    I want a Fender!!!

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='Evil Undead' post='1238804' date='May 20 2011, 10:46 PM']Oh but I do :D


    P.S. why not?[/quote]
    Because 'fashion' dictates that, at this moment in time, there are more Fender-haters around than normal. :)
    What you really 'need' is a boutique Bass, that costs more than my mortgage, looks like a broken Curly-Wurly chocolate bar, and sounds middy, honky and toneless, like most other boutique Basses out there. That gives you an excuse for never-ending G.A.S., in the quest for ANY kind of amplification that will make it sound decent. :)


    OR.....you could try a Fender, and see if you actually like them. I did, I do, and I've used them almost exclusively for 53 years, apart from the odd excursion into silliness, from which I subsequently recovered. :lol:

    (and don't get me started on the 4, 5, 6 string argument) :P

    RickenFakers

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1233893' date='May 17 2011, 07:14 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shine-RK2000NT-Bass-guitar-/290566573838?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item43a71e0f0e"]Shine.[/url][/quote]
    Mr Hall seems to be really digging his heels in now. Removed for "breach of eBay Policy". :)

    Tythe Barn, Oxfordshire

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [b]/Rant mode on/[/b]
    I (the Band as well) have flatly refused to work anywhere that has one of these installed. In more than one Venue, we have proved the point to the Management, by one guitar strumming along quietly, which puts it in the yellow, then the Drummer hits his snare loudly ONCE, and it goes off. :)
    Why should we put up with the damage to our equipment that can happen when these things cut the power to it mid-gig?
    There is absolutely NO way that I am spending any more money on repair costs after being subject to this kind of stupidity. :D
    Let the Venue demand that the Local Council come back and get it PROPERLY calibrated, which they hardly ever are*, or tell them to employ a disco. :)

    * In conversations with a few chaps who actually fit and calibrate these for a living, they are told to leave it on the 'default' setting by most of the Venues, who are too money-hungry to pay the extra cost of calibration, or too thick to realise that a Live Band plays at slightly more than a conversational level.

    As you can probably tell, I am not a happy chappy when it comes to the subject of Sound Limiters. :lol:
    [b]/Rant mode off/[/b]

    PA Systems

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by BigAlonBass

    [quote name='fryer' post='1223789' date='May 7 2011, 11:58 PM']Can I jump in here about monitors too ? Our front of house is fine, but out three vocalists - singer, guitarist and drummer - can't hear what they are singing sometimes. We just have 2 Roland 30 w cube monitors mounted on stands facing backwards.

    Do we need louder monitors or floor wedges ?[/quote]
    Oh God, yes! The set-up I use for our little Hire Rig has three active monitors, 2x400watt wedges for the vocalists/guitarists at the front, and a 300watt wedge for the Drummer. They're capable of being very loud, but it's nice to have the luxury of being able to turn them down whenever the circumstances call for it. It's a nice feeling to be a bit 'over-gunned' and safe in the knowledge that the monitors will do a good job in most situations, instead of worrying if they'll be loud [i]enough.[/i]

    (Edit to add that most of our Hire jobs are Rock Bands, who tend to be a bit louder than the norm. I wouldn't expect to have to use all the available volume at an Acoustic Night) :)

    PA Systems

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='flyfisher' post='1223327' date='May 7 2011, 03:53 PM']I'm thinking that our stage monitors are not up to the job, with the result that our guitarists (well, one of them mainly) can't hear himself well enough (he says), so he'll crank up his amp volume.[/quote]
    Oh, yes.....Like we haven't heard this before, from practically every guitarist that ever drew breath. :)


    [quote]When putting everything through the PA system, is it normal practice to keep the on-stage amps quite low and use the monitors to provide the correct sound back to the band?[/quote]
    Yes, that's it in a nutshell. :)

    [quote]If our monitors are not really up to the job (we only have two and our config means they can't really be used separately, i.e. we have two speakers but only one monitor amp), it it feasible to turn the on-stage amps to point to the players and use them as monitors? i.e. the on-stage amps "play" to the band and the PA "plays" to the audience.
    I suspect we need to bite the bullet and improve our monitoring arrangement, but I'd appreaciate any suggestions of how we could better get the most out of what we already have.[/quote]
    This could be part of your (conceived) problem. In an ideal world, the more seperate monitor mixes, the better. If your guitarist is having to 'share' his mix with someone else, it gives him just the excuse he needs to turn himself up.

    Hi from Newcastle.

    in Introductions

    Posted

    [quote name='warwickhunt' post='1211559' date='Apr 26 2011, 11:35 AM']WoT he said ^ You're playing the B&T and you're travelling up from Cheshire!

    Oh and 'Hello' Baz/Barry! There's a few of us getting on around these parts, in fact The Bass Doc is a veritable Spring Chicken! :)[/quote]
    You trying to say we're all old buggers? Come to think of it you're right! Welcome to the Forum, Baz. :)

    76 Jazz with 3 piece body

    in eBay - Weird and Wonderful

    Posted

    I bought a Sunburst Fender Precision in 1975, and a Sunburst Fender Jazz in 1976, both brand-new from the shop. A couple of years later, I decided they would fit in better with the other natural Basses in my Collection if I got them stripped and re-finished, so this is what I did. They BOTH looked similar to the example we're talking about! :) I immediately told the Luthier to spray them in a different colour, and sold them as soon as I could. That's why I have a chuckle to myself when I hear all the comments on '70's Fenders being such wonderful 'Vintage instruments' because there was a hell of a lot of dross slipping through quality control at the time. Over the years I've had conversations with fellow Bass Players with similar stories to mine, so it doesn't seem as though it was a rare occurence either. I had it all documented with Receipts and photographs, but lost them all in a House Fire about 10 years ago. It won me some arguments at the time, I can tell you! :)

    Now't Wrong With Tribute Bands

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='Spike Vincent' post='1153099' date='Mar 7 2011, 10:14 PM']Engineered The Rolling Clones (guess...) a few years back.Very competent,very entertaining.They got paid £700. More than I've made in 3 decades of trying to be original.One of the reasons I gave up 13 years ago.My dislike of tribute bands is not actually aimed at the bands (would I dress up as Bill Wyman for £250? Possibly) [b][i]but at the total lack of imagination with the audiences.[/i][/[/b][/quote]

    ......and there's the crux of the whole argument, right there. If you play in front of an audience, you have to play what THEY want to hear, or you don't work. I'd rather play in front of an audience than sit noodling in my bedroom for the rest of my life. If I have to slightly compromise my ideals in order to do so, so be it. A lesson that some 'musicians' could do with learning.
    .....or be a little more understanding of those who are willing to fulfill that need. :)

    So I spend all this time, effort and cash...

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    The first thing you have to realise as a Bass Player is that NOBODY ELSE CARES what you sound like. As far as Sound Engineers are concerned, YOU DON'T COUNT as far as the overall sound goes. As has been mentioned before, if you aren't there for the Final Mix, and are willing to fight every inch of the way to get 'your' sound out on the recording, nobody else gives a monkey's toss. Argue with me all you want, but 99.9% of Engineers will give you the 'wooly duvet' sound, unless you are prepared to push every inch of the way until someone listens. A lot of Band Members are guilty of this as well, spending time to get the Guitar Sound 'just right' or faffing for ages to get the slight nuances on the fourth Tom 'punching through the mix' and the Bass is just stuck in the mud at the bottom. Everyone has tales of the Sound Engineer who 'got it right' both Live and in the Studio, but if you add them all up, it will still bring you back to the percentage mentioned earlier in this post. How many times have Guitarists and Vocalists asked Bass Players to 'turn it down a bit' both on-stage and in the Studio? This ever-recurring pattern of behaviour should point out in no uncertain terms exactly where you stand in the Band Hierarchy. They'll fight all night to get the Snare having just the right attack, and making sure the Guitar Solo tone has just the right amount of effects to make is shine, but you're stuck with what they can be bothered to give you.
    As a Bass Player who also does P.A. Hire and Engineering, I've lost count of the number of times I could have been legless, when fellow Bass Players have wanted to buy me Beer after a Gig, because I got 'their sound' front-of house. Even other Band Members, Audience members and even Management have asked me what I had done differently, because "the whole Band sounded better than last time." Until the General Music Community (and Joe Public) realises exactly what difference a decent Bass sound makes, you'll just have to get on with it.





    Just as a qualifying post-script-I personally know a few fellow Bass Players on here, and know how brilliant they sound, Live at Bass Bashes and even recorded on their own equipment. When I've gone to see them playing with their Bands, they have all been reduced to the afore-mentioned 'wooly duvet' tone, and might as well have been playing R5 all flipping night. It makes me want to weep.

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