gjones

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399194853' post='2441854'] It's the old story - in my humble opinion guitarists need no more than 30 valve watts at the very most. That will get you heard on the biggest stages. It's different for bass, of course. [/quote] My guitarist has a VOX AC30 and a Blues Junior 15w valve amp. He now, almost always, uses the 15 watter. I have him well trained.

As an example here is metallica playing their version of Whiskey in The Jar. You can see a bass player in the video but he might as well not be there. If he told the guitarists to 'turn the effin bass down!'. You might be able to hear him. By the way Phil Lynott is, at this moment, turning in his grave! [media]http://youtu.be/boanuwUMNNQ[/media]

Alternatively you could experiment by turning the bass down on the guitarists amps. I notice when guitarists I play with have very bass heavy sounds, my bass sounds indistinct or just disappears from the mix. But when they go to the back pickup or play a solo, all of a sudden my bass sounds loud and proud. The guitarist in one of the bands I play in has two guitars, one is a bass heavy Gretsch the other a trebly telecaster. I sound much louder in the mix when he plays the tele as apposed to the Gretsch.

Ding it now! Get it over with.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1398880289' post='2438644'] I will not permit our band to use deps anymore, they tried it once before, against my wishes and it was a disaster, we have all worked really hard to become the unit we are, if you start chopping and changing musicians every other gig, then to me, you are not a band just a bunch of journey men musicians. I am proud of our band and our reputation and will do anything to protect it [/quote] I'm with you there. You don't want a people in a band that are not ready to put the commitment in.

I remember when a friend of mine asked if I would dep for his bass player as he couldn't make the gig. The gig started and after the second song, who should turn up but the bassist I was depping for. He came up to me between songs and asked if he could get up and play a tune or two. I handed him my bass and he never sat down again until the gig was over. I just put his behaviour down to insecurity, as he was obviously scared of losing his job in the band (I should have realised he was serious when he turned up in leather trousers). At the end of the gig I got paid and he didn't, as his band thought he was as big a dickhead as I did.

The Fender TV15. Which unfortunately is no longer produced by Fender because it was too big, too heavy and not loud enough. But it sure was purty [center][attachment=161433:Fender-Bassman-TV-Duo-Ten.jpg][/center]

Handy to whack a sponge under the bridge ashtray, to damp the strings, like James Jamerson used to do. But originally, I think they were put there for purely aesthetic reasons.

I bought a scratchplate recently which wasn't shielded and my P bass buzzed (which went away when I touched bridge or metal jack plug case). Put my old shielded scratchplate back on.........no buzz. So I bought a sheet of copper shielding foil from a dude on ebay, stuck it to my new scratchplate, fitted it, and the buzz was gone. I thought about shielding the cavitys, like I've done on my Jazz, but it was no longer necessary as the buzzing was just a memory. This is the guy [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121304706142?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649"]http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1439.l2649[/url]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1398466278' post='2434540'] Well that didn't go well. 90 mins into Mr Axe jnr's first rehearsal with the combo, it gave up the ghost. Further investigation revealed that the amp itself is fine, but the speaker works only very intermittently. I am told it was being played at or near full tilt, so maybe the speaker is trashed - it is rated at 250W and the 400W amp would be expected to put out about that much into an 8ohm load. He is going to get one of the rehearsal room bods to take a look at it. We are hoping it is something simple like a loose connection. The Sale of Goods / warranty route is a bit of a non-starter because of the cost of getting the thing back to Blighty. If it [i]is[/i] Donald Ducked, his options would be to replace the driver with a more powerful unit (although there would be no way of knowing how well it would match the cab), or extract the MiBass head and acquire a different light-weight cab with a higher power rating. For the moment though, he is understandably gutted. [/quote] A word in the right ear might get you the help you need http://basschat.co.uk/user/11294-ashdown-engineering/

My niece has a record contract for her band, with a fat (ish) advance, and has just toured the states from LA to Tennessee (ending up at SXSW in Texas) . Last week she was touted as 'a band to watch' on BBC online and NME, and her single is presently on the playlists of both Radio 6 and Radio 1. Her album is out in July. When she got back to the UK she was chuffed to bits that her employer had kept her job for her, working behind a bar. As far as she's concerned, there's no shame in working full time AND playing in a serious professional band. Of course the band always comes first but money is money and the gas bill will always need to be paid.

Cheap Chinese copy, photographed very professionally. The winner will probably be disappointed when it arrives in the post and it doesn't look anything like the photos.

The moral of this tale is, when in doubt.........do nowt.

I've been looking at some reviews of these combos. I noticed one where the same thing happened with one of the reviewers amps. He noticed a funny smell and then his horn stopped working. When he opened it up he noticed that a resistor leg attached to the circuit board had got so hot it had melted some other components. He tried to get a replacement part but found it so difficult he just cut the legs off the resistor, and continued playing without the horn.

Tighten the truss rod and it will straighten the neck. Loosen the truss rod and it will put a bow in the neck. Sometimes adjusting the truss rod is not enough and you also have to adjust the saddle heights as well. In extreme cases a shim in the neck pocket may be needed as well. It really depends whether you want a really low action or you can live with a higher one.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1397034843' post='2419865'] Folks, I've managed to secure some slots for my new band at the July Foodie festival at Tatton Park. Large, managed stage, thousands of people in the audience, press coverage etc. Big opportunity for us. No gig fee, but we have been offered "expenses". I've no idea what to ask for. Some more info; We're a 5-piece covers band We all live within 30 mins drive of the venue We'll be doing 2 X 40 minutes slots on the Saturday and 2 X 40 mins slots on the Sunday No need to take any backline with us, but drummer has to take his kit What would you regard as reasonable expenses to ask for, please? [/quote] My brother in law played the Edinburgh version of this festival, in 2013, and got paid. His usual fee is about £150 for a solo spot. It's not a particularly large festival (a cordoned off area about 100 metres by 100 metres) and it was a pretty small stage as well. At least make sure you get some free food out of it, if nothing else.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1396955294' post='2419021'] Hi there, I'm beginning to convince myself to bite the bullet and buy "the real thing" to cut the nut slots deeper. Which would you buy out of the 2? Or would you just take it to a luthier to get it done, after all how often do you have to do it? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AxeMasters-Guitar-NUT-SLOT-FILE-SET-KIT-for-BASS-Saw-Rods-Luthier-Tool-/350585724150?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item51a0899cf6"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item51a0899cf6[/url] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HOSCO-Nut-Slotting-Files-Bass-Guitar-/151271227451?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item233877c03b"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item233877c03b[/url] [/quote] I've used needle files on my nut but it's a bit hit and miss. If you do buy the proper files I'm sure you'll be able to do a decent job with much less hassle.

It's a harp not a bass.

If it's brand new and you bought it from a shop in your area. Go back and speak to the manager. Tell him what happened, have a bit of a rant and say you are seriously thinking of taking it back (as is your right). Then see what he'll offer you as compensation. You could get a decent credit note or discount off something else you fancy. Alternatively, if you got it online from a shop miles away, just get the superglue out.

[quote name='Bloodaxe' timestamp='1396467298' post='2414100'] Ah... another one (like JBG) that tends to get overlooked. The bassline on the Hendrix version is something I've never heard played in the wild. I keep promising myself I'll tackle it, but... [/quote] It was played on a electric guitar by Noel Redding not bass. I used to play it that way on bass, but inevitably ended up getting cramp before the end of the song.

You had me til I looked at the photo. Then a wee lightbulb appeared above my head.

He is a genius.

Compressor/limiter a bit of chorus,and brand new light gauge Rotosounds, would be my guess.

I was thinking of buying a barefaced or Markbass cab. Then realised, in the last 20 gigs I've had, I've played through the venues own gear because it's much more convenient to turn up with just a gig bag, than to have to manhandle my amp and cab to the gig as well. But of course now I have to ask myself, what's the point in forking serious money out for a rig I rarely get the chance to play?

Great stuff. I'm surprised that your new Phil Jones wasn't loud enough without using the Laney as an extension cab.