Ancient Mariner

1 week ago I'd have taken your arm off. My limiter pedal arrived a couple of days ago.

Bugera is a Behringer brand name. AFAIK they are the same company.

You need to tighten it fairly hard to keep it flat. Got a feeling I have a roll of something similar from Maplin, but never used it.

Nice going - glad it worked out so well.

I have a Johnny Brooke J type (bought used at Christmas from a forumite) and it has a narrow neck - much smaller than the Encore P-type I also own.

[quote name='hellothere' post='779187' date='Mar 18 2010, 09:59 PM'][/quote]

My wife keeps quoting this about me to my friends.



One thing I notice here compared to - say - Harmony Central is that most of us seem to gig here, whereas many of the members of other music forums are bedroom only players. The difference is in focus: playing alone all you've got is whether you can replicate the track or not, but on stage you're having fun and working with the audience. No-one (apart from the bedroom guitarists at the back) will notice that you started your slide down to a note 1 fret higher up than on the record, or that you didn't manage those 16th triplets perfectly. They're all to busy enjoying the music, and the fact that you're into it too.

Hi UKBB - where is your door, to collect it from?

Power valves: when the output goes down and the tone gets muddy or slightly distorted.
Preamp valves: when you fancy changing them unless they go microphonic - they should last a LONG time.

[quote name='OldGit' post='777798' date='Mar 17 2010, 06:39 PM']haha Don't worry about it. We'll show you. Bring your own mouthpiece though.
[/quote]

How about the brushes?

FWIW I played tuba for several years in a military band (boys brigade) so if I still had one your suggestion would be fulfilled!

[quote name='paul h' post='777964' date='Mar 17 2010, 08:46 PM']Funnily enough I am thinking of tarting up a combo and was considering asking advice on the same subject.

Right now I am torn between a liberal application of shoe polish or some kind of Krylon paint, which I am sure I saw suggested on a forum somewhere.[/quote]

Ikea make a range of translucent finishes (behandler) that brush on easily and are water based. I've used the black version for a baffle board and it worked fine.

I'm sure bitumen will remain sticky for literally years, and will soften under stage lights.

I'm very tempted as Warwick is only 35 min up the M40, but as a complete novice bass player I'm just a weenie bit nervous.

Definitely a real CSB.

Andre's 'over-reaction' is quite understandable for someone not used to net forums: it's a shock to have one's integrity challenged by people who you don't know and wouldn't expect it from.

I had a loose top strap mount on a bass here - picked up a small splinter of beech, added PVA wood glue and drove it into the hole. Replaced the screw after it had dried and it seems to have done the job nicely.

Their first couple of batches had components that were spec'd right on the limit of tolerance, and that + slightly poor soldering meant that a few let the magic smoke out. On Harmony central by now you'd have been bombarded with images of fire extinguishers.

General consensus was that they've move on a long way over the last couple of years and they can withstand gigging. Some of the guitar amps sound good at almost any price too.

Well, as of this afternoon I should have a limiter on the way - I'm not afraid to admit that with my relative lack of skill, it will do me no harm at all.

As for compression being used for itself instead of as a tool to save the ears of innocent bystanders, I quite agree. By choice, for guitar I normally run clean and use a lot of compression to fatten out arpeggios & make the guitar more responsive to the touch. It's also great if you want to really dig in hard for funky sounding chord work. Love compression, and hate having to do without it. But for bass, sustain is something I don't need more of (starting to experiment with foam dampers under the strings at the bridge) and a limiter should be just the tool.

Lots of good stuff here. The most important things, like almost everyone has said, is give yourself plenty of time and make sure you have everything you're likely to need. It may be useful to make a list of essentials(the list 3 replies in is pretty good, depending on your set up). If you use batteries in pedals then put a new one in before you leave home.

What you may well find when you get to the gig is that if there are several bands on, you may not be given much time/space/chance for a sound check. Roll with it, rather than getting up tight or anxious. Chat to the guys in the other bands, make friends, help them if they look like they can use it.

When setting up, try to see where you want to put the amp etc quickly, rather than faffing about moving around. Likewise look for power sockets that you can plug your extension cable into. Try not to play while the rest of the band is setting up: that can make communication impossible and cause bad tempers. Instead help them get their gear in place once yours is sorted (drummers always need help). Take the bass out of it's case/bag as soon as you possible so it can acclimate to the room temperature to help tuning stability.

All the tips about having keys/chords for the songs written down are good - it's easy to just forget! Any last minute changes to the set list should be noted too.

HAVE FUN!

[quote]One thing I'd learned early was never piss off the sound guy.[/quote]
[quote name='Rich' post='773552' date='Mar 13 2010, 12:43 PM']This is the Golden Truth.[/quote]

My background s a little different from many here: I've been a church guitarist since the late 70s, and have been involved on and off with PA during that time. Right now I run sound or our present church, although I may well be playing bass for them too soon.

One thing which always comes up in conversation with other church players is how the sound guy will take control and really stuff up a mix. It's almost a given that all you can hear is acoustic guitar and piano (and maybe bass if the guy is 'supplementing' FOH). I don't understand how it is that there seem to be all these great sound guys working with rock bands, yet we get such crappy soundmen in churches.

Agreed.

Don't forget that it wasn't too long ago that bass and guitar amps were the same. Ditto some 'guitar' speakers were originally designed with bass in mind (i.e. celestion G12H).

The biggest issues are undersized transformers and open backed cabs (been reading up about this now). Sealed cabs will permit - to a certain extent - a guitar speaker to be used without killing it. Just don't push it hard.

FWIW my first bass amp was a Vox AC30 back in the 70s.

Right back at the beginning someone wondered why guitarists would still bring their own amps. It's mostly because you play the amp as well as the guitar more so than bass players seem to. I asked about pickup switches on basses and most people asked why? - well that's all part of playing a guitar. Plus they're often a bit smaller and lighter than bass rigs.

As for lending gear, like most here, I'd prefer not to, except if the person is either a friend or demonstrates an ability to understand how to use it properly.

I've heard some very convincing side-by-side recordings where high capacitance cables reduced higher frequencies for guitar compared to low capacitance ones, but I'd have thought bass much less susceptible. However since the original cable in question was a planet waves then there's a strong possibility it was faulty, and that's why there's such a big difference.

Thanks guys - input much appreciated.

D'Addario halfwounds are ground.
[url="http://www.stringbusters.com/frameset.asp?MAIN=http://www.stringbusters.com/ko-kat/BASS%20STRINGS/DADDARIO/"]http://www.stringbusters.com/frameset.asp?...RINGS/DADDARIO/[/url]

Rotosound Solo Bass Stainless Pressurewound are wound round and then rolled flat.
[url="http://www.stringbusters.com/frameset.asp?MAIN=http://www.stringbusters.com/ko-kat/BASS%20STRINGS/ROTOSOUND/"]http://www.stringbusters.com/frameset.asp?...INGS/ROTOSOUND/[/url]

HTH