gjones

That's great, I hope you will actually get some use from your Hartke. Most of the players with amp endorsements, that I can think of, play on a silent stage and use IEM to hear themselves and the band, so lugging an amp and cab around is no longer strictly necessary. One rather famous player, who endorses a high end amp manufacturer (who I won't mention), uses a Porter and Davis kinetic transfer platform, to feel and hear what he is playing because his amp is turned so low onstage and he can't hear anything directly from the amp he endorses (he's endorsed by Porter and Davis as well). You should see if you can get Porter and Davis to endorse you https://www.porteranddavies.co.uk/products/kt-platform/?fbclid=IwAR1D4Q7s17-kK0QSbSM64t7t19raQ0XZ11I-L7tb5nhP8U8bGH2yFEnxdyc

Is that Creme Brulee?

Technically challenging, mostly due to the stops, starts and changes in time signatures but, although I like a bit of Rock, not my cup of tea. I like Geddy Lee though - he seems like a nice fella.

I think it shows contempt for the band he's in and the music you play. I've never been in a band where the guitarist, or any other band member 'fiddled about' between numbers, other than when I was in a school band. I assume the guitarist is an adult and this isn't a school band?

I'm sure Mr McVie was personally involved in making sure the engineer got him a good sound at every venue. John Entwistle would have been the same. Pino, in the end, was just a hired hand. So he probably didn't get too hands on with the FOH sound.

Yes, it took me a long time to realise that everybody who was saying they were great, for years, were right......they are great.

I'm starting to accumulate amps, like my basses. I've got two GK MBs, one is 500 watts and the other is 800 watts (I bought the 800 after the 500 wasn't quite loud enough through my Barefaced Super Compact). I bought a Fender Rumble V3 100watt combo because it is so light. I could take it on the bus no problem and it's come in very useful when I play with quieter bands. I also bought a preloved, old, Ashdown ABM a couple of years ago, as I've always loved the sound and it was going very cheap. I bought a Markbass CMD 121 P combo during lockdown, and it's as loud as the GK MB 800 with the Super Compact and not much bigger/heavier than the Fender Rumble. If I was forced at gunpoint to keep one and get rid of the others, I'd probably go with the Markbass Combo.

Great stuff.

Sounds like a vicious character. I wouldn't want to get on their bad side.

Nervousness before a gig is good, it means you're not complacent. I rarely get nervous these days, because I've played whatever set I'm playing that night, a million times (and am probably a bit complacent).

My Rumble 100 V3 is a great little amp, it cost me £165 secondhand. I've used it on a few band gigs with quietish drummers. It's so light I'd love to be able to take it with me on gigs with my main band, but the first (and last) time I attempted it the drummer played so loud it looked like I was miming.

On stage sound is an interesting topic. At a venue, that I play at regularly with my band, I usually keep my bass amp at quite a low level (I use it just as a monitor as the bass is going through the FOH), as I like to hear the guitarist who is at the other side of the stage. Recently he was particularly quiet for some reason and I asked the sound engineer to put him through my monitor. I could hear him much better but it meant I had to turn up my amp significantly so I could hear myself. His loud guitar and my louder amp gave so much more balls to the onstage sound and we all had a great gig, which was full of onstage energy. The crowd really reacted to us that night and when I asked people, that I knew in the audience, why they enjoyed themselves so much, they said the sound was great (possibly my bass amp was so loud they were hearing that rather than the FOH). So next time I played there I set up the onstage sound just the same, yet again there was a great onstage sound and a lot of onstage energy, and we got the same response from the crowd. But as you say, I've never had a member of my band ask for any bass in their monitor, even when we've playing on a very large stage where we're playing far away from one another. I think many musicians are afraid to ask for a specific monitor mix and just go with whatever they're given, even if it detracts from the enjoyment of the gig. So don't take it personally......and next time just take your amp and turn it up

I wondered about that. I assume the shipping is included in the cost of the bass and is done to reduce the import tariffs, which are calculated on cost of bass and shipping. The Pound has increased significantly against the Yen in the last couple of years and I'm seeing some real Japanese bargains on Ebay. But, like you say though (call me a cynic), when it's too good to be true......it's because it usually is.

I was asked to play in a country band and even though I really wasn't into country, the female singer was exceptional which made all the difference, so I decided to join. I'm still with them and enjoying it, 6 years later, even though I still don't listen to country unless it's to learn a new song. But then I'm also in a blues band and I never listen to blues. I was, until recently, in a heavy rock band and.......well you guessed it.

I do believe we met at a Sunshine Delay gig about 10 years ago. I recall you were waiting for a US G&L L-2000 to be delivered and were very excited (I think you may have been playing a Tribute on that day). I'm glad you've now got over your obsession with G&Ls I actually ended up buying a G&L L-2500 Tribute and they are great basses.

I've had 3 Ashdowns over the years. An EB150 combo, a MiBass 550 and an ABM EVO III (twice). The sound I have in my head, when I think of the tone I want, is the sound of my bass through an Ashdown. I sold my ABM EVO III to buy something small, silver and light but could never really get the sound I was looking for. A couple of years ago I saw an ABM EVO III head going for a song on Ebay, so I bought it. It sounds fantastic even though it's about 15 years old. I tend to think that the old the jokes about Ashdowns sounding woolly, had more to do with the cabs than the heads. I put mine through My Barefaced Compact, or my Super Compact and it's definitely not woolly. I still own a few little silver, lightweight heads, just in case the ABM starts to feel it's age halfway through a gig (which it never has so far).

Supposedly you can get 50% off if you pay in 14 days. So £30 between 4 ain't so bad.

Playing there in September with The Dana Dixon band which will be the first time for a while. I'm going to have to pay the ULEZ charge unfortunately but it will be spread amongst the band.

I suppose it's different strokes for different folks. On my John East J retro, I max the low mid on the sweepable mid control and at most gigs I don't touch the hi or bass controls. This gives me the best sound live, with a deep but defined tone.

That's what I did and it's working fine now. I just make sure I use angled jacks from now on.

Rehab by Amy Winehouse. Firstly, because it's a rubbish song on a brilliant album and really doesn't belong in the same company as the other tracks and secondly, because she really should have taken her father's advice and gone to rehab.

I think my problem started when I didn't use an angled jack. When I sat down and played the straight jack would catch on the seat. The Fender Jack inputs are difficult to find and expensive compared to the Switchcraft ones. Here's an interesting topic on the problem with the Fender stereo jacks I found on Talkbass. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/active-jacks-simple-vs-complicated-why.1120994/

What type of fender do you have. The same thing happened to my Precision Elite. The black jack input is a stereo one for active basses. I had to buy a new one which cost me £26 from a seller in France. Supposedly the Switchcraft stereo jack inputs are more robust and easier to fix if they go wrong.