Franticsmurf

I guess it would depend on the subtle nuances you bring to the arrangement. 😄

The band I'm with does 'Sound of Silence'. And, of course, if there was ever a problem on stage that resulted in a delay starting a song one of the band would always announce that we'd just played Sound of Silence'. 😀

Would that be a c/d box, perhaps? 😀 ...I'll get my coat...

This, and be early - don't let it drag on. You might want to phrase it along the lines of 'do you think your voice is suited to our music?' In other words, try and get her to self assess and realise. Try recording a rehearsal (a band I was in did this and it highlighted the singer's weaknesses nicely). Also (depending on the exact circumstances) is there any way that practice or lessons would improve things?

I've just been offered a rhythm guitar role in a mate's band so rather than shell out for a guitar amp for what may only be a few gigs, I've been trying out various combinations using my existing bass gear. Still early days and I haven't been up to war volume yet, but so far I've been using my Warwick 1x10" (with an adjustable horn) and: Zoom B6 with an Ampeg amp simulation to get a valve emulation - it would do at a pinch, the clean sound being better than the driven sound. I'd consider this if I was playing bass for most of the gig with one or two guitar parts just to keep kit to a minimum. Boss ME80 through my TCE BAM 200 with the bass rolled off, mids cut a bit and treble boosted. The ME80 is made for guitar and the sound through Warwick is quite nice although it doesn't have the clarity and bite I was looking for. I suspect this is due to the BAM200's pre-amp. Marshall JMP1 rack valve pre-amp into my Peavey Minimax effects return. This is the combination I'll be using. The JMP1 is an ancient relic of my guitarist days and the Minimax amp section doesn't colour the sound. As an added bonus the Minimax master volume still works despite bypassing the pre-amp. I think the variable volume horn on the cab is great for fine tuning and all I've had to do on the JMP1 is reduce the bass a little. To be fair, as rhythm guitarist, I'd probably be doing that anyway to thin the overall sound out a bit.

My spare is usually a passive headless Spirit - small, light and reliable. I'll keep it out of sight but on stage and ready to grab with the minimum of fuss. On some gigs, usually the ones with a proper stage, I'll take a different spare with the intention of swapping during the night. That will be on stage and visible. The spare bass is tuned and it's volume is roughly matched with the main if necessary. I went to see my mate's band last week and he (the guitarist) broke a string at the start of the second song. He had a spare, so the bassist did an impromptu solo while he swapped over. Only to find the spare guitar wasn't tuned and was much louder than his main guitar, which led to howls of feedback as he plugged in. It was as useless as the one with the broke string until he'd fixed it.

For information: I've been playing around with my Minimax 600 and my recently purchased Zoom B6. I wanted to bypass the pre-amp of the Minimax so I plugged the B6 directly into the effects loop return. At first there was no sound but after some fiddling I found that although the tone and boost section of the pre-amp is, indeed, bypassed, the volume control remains active and can be used to adjust the output volume as normal. I couldn't find any reference to this in the manual and it isn't how I expected it to work - my Laney RB7's effects loop return bypasses all the pre-amp controls straight to the (full volume) power amp. Volume control then comes from the unit feeding into the return socket. The Minimax way of doing it makes it much easier to use and adjust while playing.

Of the songs I can see in those lists I think I've played more than half in various line-ups over the years. Either we're conservative bunch or (most likely) as you say - floor fillers and crowd pleasers.

I've used the Zoom Ms60b and the Zoom B1four but I was finding that for songs where I wanted to change/add/remove an effect mid song it was a faff as I had to know the precise order of songs so that I could set the sequential order of effects to match. But any glitch ("we're dropping xxx and going straight to yyy") was a potential problem. I have just started using a Zoom B6 and this has four patch selection foot switches (as described above a patch is a set of effects including amp, cab and IR settings). The four patches form a bank. You could set up a bank for a song and then have four options within that song - for example 1= your standard tone, 2= 1+added chorus, 3= 1+clean boost, 4= 1+a bit of dirt. But the way I use it it to set the bank up with four basic patches (in my case based on amps) and then using the option to turn each patch into a pedal board, I have the ability to turn on and off up to four effects within that board. For example I select bank 1, which has two patches based on the Ampeg head and cab, one based on a TE head and one based on an acoustic head. The song requires me to select patch 2 (in which the Ampeg is set up with some drive and I'm using a 4x10" cab). Three clicks of the selection foot switch brings me to the 'board' function. Patch 2 has chorus, flange, phase and delay and I can turn these on and off like individual pedals during the song. The next song needs a clean sound so I select patch 1, with a clean Ampeg head and a 1x15" cab, and I now have chorus, flange, bass EQ and reverb as options. If most of your 'in-song' changes involve single effects this is probably the best way to go. If you drastically change your sound mid-song, creating entire patches for each sound is the better option. The editing can be done on the unit itself (which is what I've done) or using Zoom's Guitar Lab software (which I can't comment on as I haven't used it with the B6 yet). As has been mentioned, the B6 has a mute/tuner function, four DI types and a parallel line out and two separate inputs that are foot switch selectable. It's more complicated to describe than it is to do and, like most things, the hard work you put in at the start makes using the kit in a gig easy. And, of course, you only have to set it up once. I expect other multi fx units will provide similar functionality - I went with Zoom as I'd read good reviews here and had experience with other Zoom units.

Interesting to see the different formats, too. All too often I end up with a hastily hand written one as the band tries to figure out the set list just before we go on. 😃

Yes, although until reading this thread I thought it was the angle at which my middle finger strikes the string - i.e. my poor technique. I usually keep my nails short anyway, but the right middle fingernail tends to end up shorter.

We once played an NYE gig with 3x1hr slots with long gaps between ( I forget how long but in the order of 30-40 minutes) but we were covering for a second band that was due to share the bill but had failed to turn up. It was made easier by the longer set time and the audience, who were constantly changing as this was the first (or last depending on the route) pub in a local pub crawl trail. 5x30 minutes is strange. Can you count on the DJ to keep the mood going?

I totally agree. Once it becomes work, the enjoyment often suffers and it's no longer something to look forward to. My other hobby is photography and although I have done some paid work in the past, I deliberately avoided making it 'work' so that I could use it as an escape from my day job.

Chorus: EHX Bass Clone. I've tried a few others, but I always come back to this. Phase: Behringer UP100. Again, of the several I've tried, this one does what I want phase-wise. A subtle flavour for 60s rock songs. Dirt: It depends a great deal on the band/set list but I keep coming back to the Laney Digbeth pre-amp tube sound as a general purpose 'almost always on' sound. Filter: Still looking but the Bass Auto Wah effect on my Zoom B6 is currently meeting the needs. Flanger: EHX Neo Mistress. I don't have so much experience with different flange pedals and it's a rarely used effect but this is the one I head for. Overdrive: It varies between the Behringer T800 Vintage Tube Overdrive and the Joyo ACTone. Other: I really like the combination of Ampeg Classic pre-amp and the Sine H24 low cut filter, although this is still in the early stages. There are two caveats: 1. There are plenty of pedals out there that I haven't tried or heard, so this is very much a personal pick based on my experience. 2. I am currently using a Zoom B6 for convenience (and because it's actually very good). The patches set up on that mimic the above pedals where relevant.

I learnt (just about) the bassline to Christmas Wrapping but we never got around to playing it. My favourite song to play is Slade 'Merry Christmas' - great bass line and a great song that always works at gigs.

As it's his 18th, it would be nice if he had something that would last and that, when he gets to 'ahem' our age, that he could look back on. A really nice, quality made strap with (perhaps) straplocks would last even if he changes basses/amps/pedals.

Take a complete break. Weeks or months, but enough of a gap so you can start fresh. At that point you can reassess (as @Jackroadkill say above) and you'll know whether you want to actively try again, see what comes your way up or retire from the music scene. The worst thing to do is to make that kind of decision right now, while the situation is raw and the emotion is in charge. The important thing is to be in control of that decision - in other words, don't just wait for the band to fade out but step away on your own terms, take a break on your own terms and make a comeback on your own terms. Good luck.

You have won Basschat. Game over. 😃

Same here - Crib Goch, Striding Edge etc etc, but painting the hall over the stairs or cleaning the gutters.... 🤢🥴🤮

I've been using my Digbeth for a couple of years now and it took me a while until I got the drive side sounding as I wanted it. @MartinB's topic was very helpful in getting me on the right path (thanks). With the band I'm in I tend to use it on the clean channel and only hit the drive as a boost for a couple of solo spots and a couple of more rocky songs towards the end of the set (when everyone else has turned up the volume 😄). But in a previous band I was using the tube channel quite a bit to give me some edge.

I often go to the Bass Gallery online just to look at the pretty basses. I don't need another bass. I have no particular yearning for one either. But I like looking and playing the Lottery Win version of the 'what if' game. 😄

The Hulla band played an 'acoustic' night for a local drop-in centre for homeless people last night. We've worked with their volunteers before, backing their choir and raising funds for them, and the centre manager sings with the Hulla band occasionally, so it was a very relaxed and friendly affair. I say 'acoustic' because I was led to believe it would be unplugged, but in the end there were several amps and fortunately I had one to myself. The set was distilled from our usual Christmas party list to the more popular Christmas songs. There was some doubt over whether 'Fairytale of New York' was appropriate given the potential audience of disadvantaged and homeless folk, but the centre manager said ok, so we played it and it went down really well. We were asked to play on so out came some of our rock n roll classics and we played for twice as long as originally planned. It was a good atmosphere within the band and, of course, great to bring some smiles to faces of people who may not be celebrating Christmas the way most of us will this year. The Hulla band only plays for charity donations - its a community based band so the playing standard varies but we have a great vibe going. I love playing gigs but something like this one this brings an extra dimension of satisfaction. We all had tea of coffee before the gig - hardened musicians all. 😃 The gig was in a church - great acoustics. I appear to be the star of the show (I'm sorry, the bigger boys made me write that).

I originally got it just after joining the Hulla as they were doing a series of outdoor/unplugged gigs sponsored by the local seaside chippy. It was great, we got paid in fish and chips. 😃(The Hull is a non-profit band). It cost me £50 and it has a piezo pick-up fitted so I can plug in if necessary. See below. (I would love a semi acoustic bass and have been looking recently at the Hofner Verythin, Violin and the HB equivalents.) My understanding of the night was that it would be a quiet session in a church. Our drummer can be quiet when he needs to be but you're right, it was going to be touch and go. So I got them to bring my speaker and BAM200 which are usually kept in the rehearsal hall. Just in case. Good job as when I turned up, there were two guitar amps and the two brass players. So I ended up plugging in. And had I known about the amps and the extended set list (we went into rock n roll), I probably would have brought my Ibanez EHS1000 instead. I'm listening to the audio now and it's a nice mix.

My rig of choice for tonight's charity gig. There will be an amp and speaker available but I'm planning on keeping it unplugged unless the drummer is too loud. 😃

Not in my experience. With my story (above) at least everyone could play through all the songs at the practice stage. You could force the issue to test the waters - suggest attending an open mic night to play the best three of the 5 songs. Set a realistic but tight time scale and see what reaction you get.