Franticsmurf

If I'm learning or practicing songs at home I'll use headphones out of my Zoom B1-4 with the MP3 player plugged into the 'Aux In' socket.

I know what you mean about getting the 'right' dirt/grit/fuzz/drive sound and how elusive it can be. I haven't tried as many pedals you but I do find that what works one week doesn't seem to be right the next. I know my isolated sound isn't representative of the sound and effect within a band and so I'm talking about the sound in the context of a band as well. I'll find something that sounds interesting, try three or four variations and take them to the rehearsal. One usually works or is close enough to be worth chasing, and I'll use it for a while. But then I'll try something else and suddenly the previous sound isn't good enough/doesn't cut/isn't smooth enough etc. I play in two bands; one is a big outfit (13 players at the last count) which plays a jukebox of different styles. While a few of the songs could use a little grit in the bassline, with all the other instruments it's better that I stay reasonably clean to keep my place in the mix. With them I've been using a Behringer TS clone recently, which with the settings I'm using I find smooth and not too much for the mix. But with the last couple of gigs and rehearsals, it's sounding 'wrong' so I'm on the lookout for something else now. The bass guitar I use for this band doesn't change. The other is a rock trio where there is definitely room for some grit or drive to thicken the sound. This band still in the early stages of development so my pedal board has several options on it but I'm favouring a combination of drive and subtle phase for the songs that need it. I've come to the conclusion that it's a combination of me not really knowing what I want in the first place, and (in the trio) changing the basses I play. There is also an element of boredom with the same sounds which is something I know I suffer from in other areas (I like to change basses, arrangements etc to keep motivated during practice and rehearsals, for example).

They contacted me, but they wanted some bloke called Brad to play me in the film, and I said no. 😄

I used to smoke but gave up about 20 years ago, before I became a bassist. As a guitarist, I used to try and smoke while playing (because it looked cool and made me a better player, of course) but I could never get past the smoke going up my nose and into my eyes. So I tried sticking the filter onto the end of one of the strings at the tuners. But I used to forget it was there and it would just burn down and go out.

So... does what you ate just before you rest your bass against the big, fat tone sucking belly actually affect the tone through some kind of resonance thing? A plate full of mashed potato absorbs the vibrations, giving a muted, Motown feel while nuts, seeds and raisins take the vibrations and creates subtle overtones that cut through the mix? And my aftermarket paisley pick guard on my P Bass makes everything sound like the 60's. I have to go now, so the nurse tells me. 😄

Our band went through a couple of spells of stability with the same drummer and things definitely improved. Then we went into a similar situation to @mrtcat to the extent that I don't know to this day the names of some of the drummers I played with. They were, for the most part, competent but that doesn't make up the almost prescient musical relationship that can come from playing together for a long time. I've never actually spent time with just the drummer developing that relationship and maybe that would be a short cut.

See my post above... ..."At the junction, turn right. Where the tarmac runs out, keep straight ahead for half a mile. In a quarter of a mile, there is a huge pothole. Jink left then immediately right and wait for the bang. In one hundred yards turn left onto a farm track. Bounce downhill for two miles. At the next junction, stop and check for sump damage." 😄

We played a birthday party for a relative of the band's sax player last night. It was the other side of Cowbridge in sunny South Wales, in a little village buried in the farmland. I had a lift with the drummer and the sat nav decided to play games and sent us along an ever narrowing lane, until it became a farm track and then a rally stage. Several clunks and bumps later we emerged onto a real road and managed to find the venue. It was the birthday boy's back garden, complete with bar, barbecue and buffet (the three 'B's that complete the perfect gig). The whole village had been invited so volume wasn't an issue (although we're not really a loud band) and the relative jumped up to play a couple of songs with us. First time using only IEMs for me with no back line to fall back on (literally and metaphorically). I have been working with our FOH guru to get a mix I'm happy with and I've converted out keyboard player to IEM as well. The rest of the band have yet to see the light - or is that 'hear the word'? I took and used my Sterling HH - the sound cuts through nicely with this line up, which is drums, bongos, guitars x2, keys, sax, trumpet, ukes x3 and banjo along with a singer and 3x BVs. As a back up (and because I wasn't sure how much space there'd be) I took my recently acquired Ibanez EHB1000s. It stayed in the bag as I had acres. After last weeks 4 hour marathon we were all still a little weary but fortunately there was a 10pm curfew and we only played for 3 hours. Much dancing, singing along and and appreciation from the 100 or so that were there and great stage lighting courtesy of a lovely sunset through the trees in front of us.

First gig I've played where I've gone completely IEM and haven't had a backline amp. There was quite a breeze in the garden (we were playing a birthday party attended by all the village, so no volume issues). Mic stands, music stand etc were being blown over. So I used what shelter I could find to protect my Sterling HH. Under the coat is an Ibanez EHB1000s brought as a spare and not used. On the floor is a Behringer tuner into a Plethroa X3 into a passive DI box. An artistically arranged can of Coke Zero on the case (representing the now removed backline) completes my little corner of the patio.... I mean stage. 😄

I have to wear glasses to do pretty much anything. Spent a few years wearing contact lenses but in venues they would quickly dry up (especially before the smoking ban). I have varifocals now but there's a certain distance that isn't covered. It can be best described as the distance between me and the setlist. Regardless of where the setlist is! 😀

Play. Or play not. There is no right order. 😄

Once the individual instruments have been checked for rough levels and no errant noises, the singer/guitarist usually starts doing 'Merry Xmas Baby' by Bruce Springsteen and we all sort of join in as a kind of slow blues jam, each of us trying to out do the others in laid back noodling. Not sure how it started but it usually gets a laugh. Then we'll do a song that everyone is playing on to get a balance across the board. Not always the same song. recently it's been 'Midnight Hour' or Boom Boom'; both feature in the set. I was advised by a wise person from this very parish that a good bass line to soundcheck with is Pink Floyd's 'Money' because it uses all four strings, so that's what I tend to do when setting up my channel. It usually gets a couple of head's turning from the audience although we don't actually play the song.

For me, how I personally feel about the gig at the end of the night determines whether I'd class it as successful. But that is influenced by a number of things, most of which have been mentioned above. The audience must have enjoyed (usually determined by the dancing/singing along/cheers and claps) and for a really successful gig that means they've also taken the time to talk to us afterwards. The venue must have liked us and although a re-booking on the night would be ideal, a chat with the person in charge of booking with some positive feedback ticks my box as sorting bookings on the night is not always possible. We must have played well together as a band. While the audience is the primary measure of how good we were, I'd be disappointed if I knew our performance as a band wasn't as good as it could be regardless of the first two points above. Similarly, my personal performance, (regardless of the band's) must be something I could defend if called upon to do so. I am my own worst critic, so that can be a difficult one to overcome. The sound/lights/staging/venue/performance (separate from the playing) has to be of a good standard. To me, success and enjoyment (in the context of the OP's question) can be separate. In other words, I can enjoy a gig that ticks few of the boxes above or I can come away feeling deflated from a gig that ticks most of them. The decider in those cases is usually my performance.

And there is my new band name.

A beard tester? 😄

Well done - that's the measure of success.

This happened to me once, in a rural pub. Every time I plugged in my extension (with RCD) everything in the pub went off. Took me two goes to associate the two actions. I was not popular that night! I was on BV duty at a gig a few years ago. I don't have a powerful voice so I have to almost be touching the mic during the louder songs. My beard doesn't help. As soon as I started singing I felt a little sting from the mic. I assumed it was static but it happened again the next time I sang. So I stayed away from the mic and after the song finished, unplugged from the mixer (on stage) trying not to let anyone see. I thought I could continue pretending to sing for show. Next song in, as soon as I started to sing I got a little shock again. Turns out the bristles from my beard were catching in the grill of the mic. 🧔😄

Usually I have a lift with our drummer to rehearsals (about 15 miles away, no public transport for the journey home) and gigs if I'm going through the FOH. If I have to take an amp and cabs, I'll drive myself. The drummer lives about a mile away and if my three piece is having a knock in his garage studio, I'll walk as I only take a bass and leads.

Yes, although we were on the coast yesterday, we were sheltered from any breeze. Hot and humid = sweat and many towels. 😄 This is the true test - no matter how many people tell you how good/bad/loud/quiet etc you were, if the venue re-books you, you must have done something right!

I have been using IEM for one of the bands I'm in for about a year but I've never quite been able to wean myself off the backline. But yesterday I played an open air gig with them and due to the stage set-up my back line was at the back of the stage with two people between me and it. I was really happy with the IEM mix (our permanent sound man is very good at getting a decent mix) and so I decided to leave the back line off. Our keyboard player was happy as my speakers were right behind her. There was enough spill from the PA and the monitor speakers to let me feel the bass, and my IEM mix was spot on. I can't see me going back to on stage amps with this band. I played with another band yesterday - a three piece - and although we used the same FOH and sound man, for most of our gigs we won't have a full PA and so I'll be sticking with the on stage amps for that.

I played a small festival gig yesterday with two different bands. The main band I'm in (The Hulla) organises the festival and so Friday was spent setting up the stage and marquee, sorting out the sound etc. I put a three piece band together (The Rip) to fill one of the afternoon slots in the festival and that went really well. By the time we went on there were about 200 people milling about and we got a better than expected reaction from them as we went through 45 minutes of rock covers. I lost my voice two weeks ago (I forgot where I left it - that's age for you) and it's been slowly getting back to 'normal' but my rendition of '20th Century Boy' was a bit enthusiastic and by the time I came to sing 'Comfortably Numb' I was a bit gravelly and it was hard to hit the higher notes. Our guitarist was helping with harmonies but I just had that feeling of 'this isn't working'. Then our sound guy gave me a big grin and a thumbs up and it really lifted my spirits. I managed to get through the final chorus sounding a bit Joe Cocker-esque but fortunately it was the last song I was singing lead vocals on and I managed to grunt the 'harmonies' to 'Purple Rain' and 'Sunshine of Your Love'. We've already decided to keep going with The Rip as we all seem to be on the same wavelength and the reception we got at the end was very positive. The Rip The Hulla went on at the end and, with one 10 minute break, we played for 4 hours. By the time we started there were more than double the number of people there (we'd sold 500 tickets and there were some walk-ins too) and the atmosphere was amazing. Our singer is very good at working with audiences and this crowd was up and dancing almost from the first song. The singer (on a radio mic) ended up leading a conga line through the field during '500 Miles' and completely disappeared into the darkness, still singing, during our rock 'n' roll medley. All good fun and we ended up running out of songs as the 'One More Song' chant started so we revisited a couple of earlier toons. The Hulla always go down well with this crowd (this is the third festival I've played with them) and the time flew by. The Hulla Band Kit wise, for The Rip I played my newly acquired Ibanez EHB1000s through a Plethora X3 (giving me compression and a choice of chorus or phaser, with the vintage 4x10" cab sim selected). I was using a Behringer BDI21 but it developed a buzz and so I swapped it for a passive DI box. The signal was split into FOH and a TCE BAM200 into a Trace 1x10" and a Warwick 1x10"+tweeter. I played a Crafter electro-acoustic guitar directly into FOH for Comfortably Numb, and for the end solo and the solo in Purple Rain I used a McMillen 12 Step keyboard controller with a string patch to fill the sound out. With The Hulla, I used my Sterling HH through the Plethora and directly into FOH with no back line. Our sound man had got such a good sound and a nice mix in my IEM that I didn't need anything behind me and I think this will be the turning point where I finally have the confidence to go ampless in The Hulla. I am tired this morning, though. 😃

Me too. Had to turn my head to one side to read it. 🤣

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm😃

Self taught - initially on guitar pre-YT. I learnt on the job - once I'd got the basic chords sorted my mate and I formed a band and I learnt what I needed for the next song. I had an old bass, which I used to record demos, but it was very much root note stuff. Later I was offered a well paid spot as bass player in a duo, which became a trio and after a while I thought I ought to make an effort to actually learn to be a bass player. I picked up a few things along the way from fellow musicians. Once YouTube was available I went looking for some techniques and practice exercises there but most of the learning for me was, and still is, practicing specific songs for gigs.

Me too - the guitarist at the time was going through a phase of having too much bass dialled in on his guitar amp. He would also refuse to do soundchecks (usually because 'we don't have time' or 'it looks unprofessional(!)'. I asked him to cut back several times. In one gig, I actually got at his amp and turned the bass right down which confirmed my suspicion and made the sound good. But for the next few gigs it was back to booming distorted rhythm guitar. So I would randomly stop playing, and I'd make sure he could see me not playing. He never admitted he was wrong, but he sorted his amp out.