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gjones

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Posts posted by gjones

  1. I play a lot of venues where I'm going straight into a front of house PA. Any amp I have have onstage is just for monitoring. So I use my onboard preamp to tweak my sound before it gets to the desk. That means I have some control on how my bass sounds out front.

     

    It also means that when I'm not going through the PA I can go out front at sound check and adjust my sound from my bass, rather than have to go back to the amp to change EQ..

  2.  

    I've been in bands before where the female singer was not that great. But eventually it was resolved by making sure the songs were played in the right key for her range and that she could hear herself through the monitors. 

     

    If the problem is that she just can't sing in tune, or sing the songs in your set because they're not suited to to her voice, then first of all get the drummer on side and break the news that the rest of the band just don't feel she is suitable for the stuff you do.

     

    It's never easy.

     

     

    • Like 3
  3. 26 minutes ago, Rayman said:

    Well, by way of an update….

     

    Rehearsed the rig last night, and as I feared, the horn blew. Not a massive issue, new one ordered, no problem.

     

    The amp was set flat (EQ all at 12 o’clock) with the gain and master volume around 1 o’clock, so not driving it that hard in my opinion, the horn was also set at 12 o’clock. Two songs in, the horn goes. 
     

    New horn on the way.
     

    So my questions now are……if I turn the horn level down, is it still going to overload? ….. and should I just be looking for 2x 8ohm cabs that can handle 500W at 4ohms…… or should this 4ohm cab rated at 350W be able to handle it?

    It really depends on the cab, as not all cabs are equal.

     

    I have an old Barefaced Compact and it is extremely loud considering it's only one 15 inch speaker.

     

    I've played cheaper 2x10 cabs and they struggled with a loud drummer.

     

    If you're economising then the more speakers the better.

     

     

    • Thanks 1
  4. 1 hour ago, BCH said:

    I have some fab bass's which I cannot play without pain (carpal) they are for sale on this site.....the  designer & builder (x Collins acoustic) is a bass player and sufferer.  He developed the bass 15years ago. I purchased a second hand to see if it could help, I have been using for 6 months (13 gigs) and NO pain even after a 2 set 3hr gig. I was so impressed I ordered the above ...my band has been going 50 years & its has allowed me to continue ...

    I have carpal tunnel too. I had an operation on my left wrist (fretting hand)and I no longer have any symptoms. My right hand sometimes has issues but I wear a brace on my wrist and that keeps it under control.

     

    Have you considered an operation which would allow you to continue playing standard basses without pain?

    • Like 1
  5. I applied a seventies style Fender decal on the headstock of a nice old eighties Mighty Mite neck. The original Mighty Mite decal was a water transfer which wore off years ago. The neck was originally fitted to a Mighty Mite body that I got rid of because it was just too bulky and heavy.

     

    I applied the decal for aesthetic reasons, as the blank headstock just didn't look right. The neck has been on a few bitsa Precisions and Jazzes over the years. It's not been applied very professionally so wouldn't fool anybody into thinking it was a real Fender neck. 

  6. I remember when Guy Pratt and John Illsley (from Dire Straits) were discussing their vintage Fenders, on Rockonteurs, and how ridiculous the prices had escalated to these days.

     

    They agreed that no musician would ever spend so much on an instrument and most of them end up with bankers, or Russian gangsters.

    • Like 1
  7. 1 hour ago, Yamy1020 said:

    I'm not looking into flipping it but this is gonna be my second bass and probably only one I'll be playing for a long while so I wanna get my money's worth, are you aware of any active (switch)passive P or  P&J that are good around this price?

     

    The G&L L2000 tributes are great basses and can get a wide range of sounds, They're within your price range secondhand. 

     

    Of course there are also Sire basses and Squire contemporary basses which may fit the bill and are around your price range new.

    • Like 2
  8. Basses that don't have a Musicman style of truss rod adjuster. It makes things so much easier to give your truss rod a tweak now and again when you don't have to loosen strings or remove necks.

     

    Fender introduced that type of adjuster on their Elite range of basses but went back to the old style when they replaced them with the Ultra range.

    • Like 2
  9. In my experience there's no such thing as 'too much power'. 

     

    You can buy small and light but these days small and light amps can be powerful too.

     

    I would recommend going for as much power as you can afford, while still keeping the amp small and light.

     

    I've played at too many gigs, over the years, when my amp has run out of stream trying to keep up with a over excited drummer.

    • Like 1
  10. Harley riders are not your average bikers. The ones I see are usually retired (sometimes early) with money to spend. If they wanted my band to travel a significant distance, hire a van, stay overnight and bring all the band's gear, including a PA, with us, then I'd be wanting to make it worth my while. I'd be asking for a grand at least.

     

    I have friends who play at the Thunder In The Glens biker rally and they charge £1,000.

     

    But of course you may be desperate to play at a Harley Rally in which case you may charge less, it's up to you.

    • Like 2
  11. The worst is when a band, who have no idea what they're doing, want to record an album in one day.

     

    I have been in that band, although I did warn them it couldn't be done, was totally ignored and of course was proved right.

     

    Luckily I was just a hired hand and was paid a fee for the day so it was no skin off my nose.

     

    The band then had to spend much more money, than they originally intended, trying to get those dodgy and rushed recordings sounding halfway decent at the mixing stage, which was impossible to do.

     

    I'd prefer to to record one perfect tune in a day than 10 rubbish sounding ones.

    • Like 3
  12. I have basses I gig and basses I don't gig. The ones I don't gig are the posher ones I bought as investments and plan to sell at a later date. Because of that I'd rather not dent them, or scratch them for no good reason.

     

    My other basses are all players and have the odd dent and scratch already, so I'm not as precious with them. If a drunk got out of order, I'd have no problem whacking them in the gob with one, any extra dents they received would just add to the mojo :)

     

    • Haha 1
  13. I blame Basschat.

     

    image.thumb.png.0d24466a2b850db51398a7d5d2363b54.png

     

    Although I have to say that 3 of the basses in this picture have been sold since it was taken and the only bass I gig regularly is the cream coloured Jazz on the far right. I will sell a few others in the next couple of years and I'll probably just be left with my USA Elite Precision, the 5 string G&L and the cream Jazz.

    • Like 6
  14. The Fender Rumble V3 100 is also my recommendation. It is light as a feather (a one finger lift), loud enough to compete with a quietish drummer and small and unobtrusive enough to use as a practice amp at home. My one cost me £165 secondhand.

    • Like 1
  15. 1 hour ago, ardi100 said:

    I'm not playing any gigs yet, not even playing with anyone else, I'm anticipating getting involved soon so it's academic really.

     

    I'm checking out the RM tonight. If they're so close then saving 5 hours of driving for an extra few quid seems like a no brainer.

     

    I own an ABM 500 EVO lll and the Rootmaster in my local rehearsal room sounds as good as the ABM......maybe better.

    • Like 1
  16. If you're an original band then the more gigs the merrier, even if there's not much money involved.

     

    But if you're a cover band then the golden rule is never play for less than you feel you're worth, because that sets a precedent for your own band and other bands (i.e. that all bands will play for peanuts). 

     

    So I think you made the right decision.

    • Like 5
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