Franticsmurf

Added bonus with the rough on the pedal - pedals off a board will have a certain amount of grip on carpeted stages or floors. The downside is they will skate like Torvill and Dean across shiny floors. 😀

I played my second ever gig in the back garden of a house in Pennard.

With the guitar, I used to mix in some of the 'normal' pickup sound to cover any glitches.

I'm guessing the tracking was improved as well if it was a later model?

I had the guitar version - GR707 and the GR700 floor unit to go with it. As I remember, the floor unit was basically a Roland JX3P synthesiser. The cable was almost as thick as a transatlantic cable and had large computer style connectors either end (not the standard MIDI plugs). Tracking was ok for the day (I got mine second hand in the early 90s) but you had to alter your playing style to make sure it tracked well. The guitar itself was really nice to play. The bar (to stabilise the neck, I was told) didn't get in the way. I gigged it for about a year but slowly the songs I used it on fell off the setlist and I sold it on. I'm guessing the tracking on the bass version would be less accurate.

A second hello from Wales. 😀

Hi Adam.

In the early years I was influenced by Chris Squire and slightly later by Tony Levin and his work with King Crimson and then Peter Gabriel. I wanted a Ricky, knowing very little about them. Actually, I wanted the Squire gritty sound and assumed it was the Ricky sound. I couldn't afford one and by the time I got to the point where I could, technology had progressed to the point where most sounds could be approximated by boxes. So when I had the finances and the incentive to get a decent bass, I took a moment before jumping in. I decided on a Sterling Ray34HH. I liked the look, loved the sound that the players who used them (including Mr Levin) were getting and went with the twin humbuckers so that I could get a variety of tones from the bass alone before stepping on any pedals. A partial influence but also some practical choice on my part. I'm still after the Squire grit sound, though. 😀 I just hope the band plays songs it would be appropriate to use with.

A few years ago I was in two bands - one rehearsed a lot but gigged infrequently, the other gigged often enough that rehearsals weren't essential. I managed to balance the two nicely and the two different setlists (one Britpop, the other Blues Rock) it kept all interesting. Just after lockdown last year, I joined a second band on the understanding that the current band had priority over gig dates. They were happy with that and as it turns out there were no clashes.

No. I'd need to know (and trust) the person who was going to borrow it and ideally be there. Is there an option to arrange rental for the player?

I started out in a band doing our own stuff (spacey/proggy/rocky) and even with the clarity of hindsight, 30 years on there are a few songs that I still think are quite good. I joined an existing covers band and really liked only about 25% of the set. Most of the rest was ok and there a few songs that we had to play, usually at functions. I spent some time in a duo (me and the singer/guitarist from the band) and I struggle to remember any songs from that set list that I actually liked. A particular low point was the song 'Alice' with the modern audience response to the chorus which I won't repeat here. But having experienced that response several times a week from club audiences I was close to calling it a day. It paid for the bass/amp/effects/bass/bass/bass though. I went through many changes in direction with the covers band, including a side project with the same line up playing Eagles songs (during which we were often asked to play non-Eagles songs from people who hadn't seen the posters). With one or two exceptions, I'm not the biggest Eagles fan and the project folded when, during a relaxed rehearsal, it turned out that none of the others were Eagles fans either and we'd only agreed to do it to break the monotony of the 'usual' set list. 😀 The band I'm in now (recently formed and yet to gig) is putting together a set list that we're all pretty happy with. A second band I'm involved with plays a huge range of genres from folk to country, funk, soul, rock and a little prog (I may have had an influence there) and I love playing those songs despite not being a huge fan of country, funk or soul. The band is so laid back and fun to play with that the actual song takes a secondary role to the playing of the song, if that makes sense?

I was at the Hammersmith Chronicle show too. I'd seen them the previous year, same venue, when Lemmy guested. I took loads of 'great' photos, probably some of my best work 😀 - but my camera was stolen at the end of the night so we'll never know. I went on to see them several more times over the years. My first band was heavily influenced by them - synths, sound effects, spoken passages between songs. We covered Assault and Battery/Golden Void, Utopia and if we needed a filler, Silver Machine.

I remember watching Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos' series and hearing the excerpt from 'Heaven and Hell' and wondering what it was. Took me a while to find out (pre-internet days) but it's a great album. I also have Aphrodite's Child '666' which is a great, if a little bizarre, album. Vangelis is my go-to chill music provider.

Same here. I wanted to learn how to programme decent fills and I was given the remains of an ancient Carslbro electric kit that had been plundered for spares. It has no dedicated hi-hat or snare pad but for my needs its perfect. I started to understand fills, but more importantly for me as a bassist, I started to get what the drummer was doing, and that it wasn't just banging things with sticks. 😀

I spent ages experimenting with the best balance between bus and car to get the perfect grungy urban sound. The clean sound is based around the Nissan Leaf. It has a bypass switch, too, which is modelled on the Newbury bypass, I believe. 😀

I love playing live and probably wouldn't be playing at all if the lure of gigs wasn't there in some form. I've played great gigs (my opinion) and bad gigs (everyone's opinion) and lots of mediocre gigs but all of them have something to look back on and be pleased with - even if it's just the packet of crisps as rider or the inebriated bingo caller. I've been fortunate to play with some gifted musicians way above my standard, pushing me to be better. I've played with the odd numpty (tuning the guitar because the guitarist couldn't for alcoholic reasons, for example) but they only tend to happen once. I enjoy the relaxed creativity of rehearsals, particularly when we're working on brand new material. I'm not that keen on practicing at home unless I'm working on something new - be it a new part or trying out new effects. But there's something special about sharing a stage with a bunch of like-minded friends in a venue with an expectant audience, band vs world, and their reaction to the first few songs. If it's a good gig, it's great and there's nothing quite like it. The buzz is amazing and I genuinely get pleasure from knowing our audience have had a good time. If it's a bad gig, the journey home in the bus/van/overcrowded car is lively and usually ends with 'Great Plans' for next time. (Which tend to get forgotten, of course.)

Arrive and set up at an outdoor gig. Plug in and make a noise to make sure the amp is working then off to help with the drums before the soundcheck. Sound guy connects me to the PA through the DI out on the amp. Soundcheck - bass through the PA but nothing from my amp that was working minutes before. Pedals ok, bass ok. 'Discuss' things with the sound guy. Prepare to play the gig with minimal monitoring. At the last minute, I remember my amp has a volume control. D'oh. Sheepishly apologise to the sound guy and prepare for endless p*** taking from the band. I was not disappointed. 🙄

Hi all, I'm Dave and I'm relatively new here - I have been hovering in the shadows for the last few weeks as I've been looking for information on lightweight amps and cabs as a result of a muscle injury that has left me unable to carry my usual bass amp - a Laney Richter RB7 and 1x15" cab. After reading through a few threads, I finally settled on a TC Electronics BAM200 head and Warwick Gnome 1x10" cab. Thank you for the info and opinions, which really helped me make an informed decision. I'm happy with the new kit, which will enable me to continue to rehearse and play small gigs while I recover. So - a bit about me. There is no test at the end so feel free to skip the boring bits. I started playing in bands way back in the late 80s as a guitarist (am I allowed to use that language here?) before seeing the light and swapping to bass, initially to fill a gap in a mate's band. I found it far more fulfilling, and it felt natural. My mate was the drummer, and we already had a good relationship so that drum/bass groove just worked from the start. We went through the 'we're gonna be big' phase and I popped out the other end still relatively small and inconspicuous. But I enjoy playing, particularly live, and for the last 15 years or so I've been in a successful local covers band working across South Wales. With the enforced break, the band decided to part company (amicably) with the singer and we are currently putting together a new project playing a mix of 80s and 90s rock and funk. It's still at an early stage (although we have some dates booked in July and August - so no pressure then) and the final setlist and exact sound has yet to be finalised. The line up at the moments is drums, bass, lead guitar, keys/guitar and vocals. For most of my bass playing years, my main bass has been a Steinberger Spirit headless 4 string with drop D tuner. It's lightweight, small (like me) and the tuning is so stable. I love the sound clean through the RB7 (and more recently DI into the PA) and the neck feels comfortable and is easy to access for the higher frets. I have recently added a GK3B pickup into a Vbass and although I haven't gigged this pair (the Vbass was a lockdown purchase) I have been using it to record. There have been basses that have come and gone but my main bass is now a Sterling Ray34HH which had a few outings in the latter part of 2021 via a Laney Digbeth pre-amp pedal into the PA. I find the two humbuckers and the 5 way selector give me a range of tones which are working well in the preliminary rehearsals with the new band. I can growl, shimmer and punch at the flick of a switch. The line-up is completed by a Sterling Stingray 5, a Gretsch Electromatic short scale and an Artisan electro acoustic 4 string which I play in a side project - a 13 piece local festival band complete with mandolins, banjo, brass and which is enormous fun to be in. I'm looking forward to being a part of and contributing to this forum. Take care all. Dave