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Where is all the decent gear ?


Guest bassman7755
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Ive been gigging my Sei Jazz 5 for Years from the dog & duck to guilfest. My simple rule by the best gear you cant really afford and use it anywhere and everywhers. If you want to by things to look at by pictures lol

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[quote name='Stealth' post='1322599' date='Jul 31 2011, 10:48 PM']Ive been gigging my Sei Jazz 5 for Years from the dog & duck to guilfest. My simple rule by the best gear you cant really afford and use it anywhere and everywhers. If you want to by things to look at by pictures lol[/quote]

Haha yeah totally, if you buy it, get the most out of it! :)

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A lot of people find it hard to believe I have this "rare" gear.
One old chap didn't believe my Ray was real cause the bridge was funny, therefore henwas ignored the rest of the night, however his bands bassist did say it was a nice bass.
Fortunately my band mates are just as much music geeks as me and can recognise what is what to an extent.

I try and get all my gear out whenever I can, partly to show it off partly cause it sounds good and mainly because there is no point having it if doesnt get used. It's like buying a book and not reading it..... Pointless.

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I saw a band on Friday, and the bassist was using a 1977 Precision, through an old Ampeg valve head, into what I`m sure were an SVT 410HLE & SVT 115 - def a 410 & 115 tho.

Amazing sound, and that`s a fairly costly set-up there.

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I just remembered the sound guy that said, "As soon as I saw the monster cables (every cable in my rig at the time, patch's, speakers and signal) and the QED mains lead I knew you were a guy that cared about his tone"
Which I rather liked. (and no I never had an issue with monster or a stretched socket, and I now use obbm;)

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I don't have anything boutique but its not the usual stuff which sometimes get comments

People usually seem quite interested in my rig (and amp stand if I'm using it) but it is bright orange so stands out a fair bit.

Edit - in response to the OP, no I rarely see anything that special at gigs.

Edited by rOB
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I heard a £3000 Wal mk III down my local music pub a few months ago. I heard it before I saw it and knew immediately it was something special because it did sound fantastic.
But would I bring a Wall mk III and to play it down a rowdy boozer? Well, frankly, I don't have £3000 but if I did have the cash..... probably not. My favorite bassists don't play Wals or boutique basses they usually play Jazzes or Ps or possibly musicmans so if they're good enough for them they're good enough for me.
As far as amps are concerned it's very rare I get to bring my own rig which is pretty decent (although I'd love to). I played at the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues festival on Saturday and the amp I was provided with was a bog standard Hartke HA2500 and 1x15 head. Sound engineers don't give a monkeys what you play through because you're going straight through the desk anyway.

Edited by gjones
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[quote name='bassman2790' post='1322486' date='Jul 31 2011, 08:49 PM']I bought a combo off a guy who very kindly showed me his full Ashdown 'Mark King signature head and 4x10' rig and his brand new Status King Bass which he only ever played at home. He wasn't in a band and had no immediate plans to do so[/quote]

Yes, the best actual gigging musicians I know usually have the crappiest gear. The ones who have the expensive stuff are usually dentists.

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Funny this guy at my gig tonight asked me about my Lakland, but he was also quick to point out before he asked about it how many basses he had and what kinds they were without me prompting, like some kind of pissing contest. To be honest I don't care about what kind of bass/amp/cab I use. I own an Eden rig but would be just as happy using something a third of the price if it sounds good and suits the venue I'm playing, e.g. Tonight I used a Fender Rumble 350 and it was more than sufficient and sounded absolutely fine. Bottom line is that gear is nothing if you're not a good player.

Edited by risingson
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There are a lot of players here reporting on their gigs so good gear is being gigged somewhere.

I don't get many questions about the amp, but a lot of people come up and ask about the 5 strings, so I think there are more people out there who take an interest in the bass player than you think.

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My gig the other night, saw me with the Pro-V, some other guy with an Epi Les Paul bass, a Warwick (the guy was endorsed) and an old old Ibanez. Was kinda impressed not to see any Fenders. My TB Pro-V is nothing in particular to shout about (high end wise), but then I own a Warwick, did anyone else there know or care? I doubt it, to be honest.

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It's the whole gear-share that bothers me most about taking a decent rig to pubs - I've had too many idiots agree not to change anything on my rig except the master volume, but by the end of the first song they're twiddling merrily away, probably because they know I'm not going to be so unprofessional as to jump up on stage in the middle of their set and slap their hand for it. One guy I recall particularly naffed me off by setting my rig to a 'painful high-passed distortion mode' that I never knew existed for 45 mins and then immediately jumping off stage at the end to tell me it was 'a bit sh*t'. I may possibly have lowered myself to saying something about it being a perfect match for his playing.

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Don't you find that you end up using some gear that isn't your 'best' but for some reason hits the right spots?
I bought a Squier VM Jazz off Gareth Friend last November. My plan was to use it as a back-up and for my first stumblings into modding. But, set-up and a with a set of flats it sounds and plays (to my ears) lovely, so I've ended up using it more and more.

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Exactly!

Unless you're a bedroom or studio only player or you're aspiring to play bigger and "more secure" venues than you do currently what's the point of having nice gear if you're not going to use it live?

I would be worried about my own physical safety before I would be worried about my gear.

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Perhaps I go to better gigs?

Guitar-wise, I am not an uber geek so probably wouldn't know what was good and what was not, but probably seen 3 obvious boutique basses, Warwicks, Rickenbackers, Fenders, Les Pauls and others. Also seen a few sticks but never a acoustic bass guitar or a double bass (I regularly gig both).

Backline I have seen Ampeg, Hartke, Ashdown, Trace, Orange and alike. I have to admit I am gassing more for a decent PA these days than back line. I think overall you get better value from a £3k pa than you would a £3k bass.

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Last time anyone on a gig struck up a conversation about one of my Stingrays was maybe ten years ago!
However, its pretty much guaranteed that everytime I use my Hohner B2A stick bass, ther'll be someone who sidles up
and says "ere mate, how the hell do you tune that thing?"
Markbass amp rouses some interest too, (though mainly due to its size, and not the sound I'm getting!)

If I go to a gig and see good straightforward gear, I usually (perhaps wrongly)assume the bassist will be okay.
( Fender/Musicman into Ampeg etc indicates this ).
Boutique bass with too many strings into latest high end amp could mean there may be
some excursions into bass solo wasteland.......Of course, there are always exceptions!
Old fart me?...surely not.

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[quote name='Ed_S' post='1322757' date='Aug 1 2011, 08:47 AM']It's the whole gear-share that bothers me most about taking a decent rig to pubs - I've had too many idiots agree not to change anything on my rig except the master volume, but by the end of the first song they're twiddling merrily away, probably because they know I'm not going to be so unprofessional as to jump up on stage in the middle of their set and slap their hand for it. One guy I recall particularly naffed me off by setting my rig to a 'painful high-passed distortion mode' that I never knew existed for 45 mins and then immediately jumping off stage at the end to tell me it was 'a bit sh*t'. I may possibly have lowered myself to saying something about it being a perfect match for his playing.[/quote]I must be unprofessional. Whenever I share my bass rig, my rules are plug and play, and no drinks on the rig, so the one time that a bassist ignored me and put his pint on my rig and started playing in his first song of their set, I jumped on stage, switched amp off and pulled out kettle lead, took his pint off the amp and told the bastard to mime.

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Guest bassman7755

[quote name='casapete' post='1322793' date='Aug 1 2011, 09:47 AM']Boutique bass with too many strings into latest high end amp could mean there may be
some excursions into bass solo wasteland.......Of course, there are always exceptions![/quote]

No danger there since I'm not good enough to do a solo :) , well if I could be bothered to sit down for a week and work out a "party piece" I could probably put together something reasonable but Ive never seen the point in going out of my way to learn stuff that I cant use in actual songs ...

Edited by bassman7755
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Guest bassman7755

[quote name='CyberBass' post='1322810' date='Aug 1 2011, 10:07 AM']I must be unprofessional. Whenever I share my bass rig, my rules are plug and play, and no drinks on the rig, so the one time that a bassist ignored me and put his pint on my rig and started playing in his first song of their set, I jumped on stage, switched amp off and pulled out kettle lead, took his pint off the amp and told the bastard to mime.[/quote]

:)

Ive shared my rig a few times when I've been in the last band on and the only rule is do not plug in or pull out the lead at the guitar end, which so far has been obeyed. I do emphasis that the power amp is 1600 watts into a speaker cab that will cost them 800 odd quid to replace and that seems to instill a suitable amount of respect.

I like that fact that it gives me a chance to hear what my gear sounds like out front in a band setting. Also its put a few ear to ear grins on the faces of some young lads who have obviously never used any half decent kit before.

Dont care too much what people do with the settings because I know exactly what mine are and I assume the kit I have is capable of operating at any of the available control settings.

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Plenty oil money up here, I've seen basses at pub gigs like Ken Smiths, Jaydees, high end Warwicks (saw an Infinity once at an open mic), Spectors (impossible to tell at range how "posh" it was though), quite a few USA Fenders, a few Gibsons (not my own!) but I've also seen/heard people getting great results out of Squiers, Ibanezes, Yamahas and other stuff.

As for me, my Gibson G-3 has sparked the occasional after gig discussion (like "what is that?") and my not that spectacular rig (Hartke 3500 and Ashdown ABM 4x10) has generated positive comments after gear sharing from those who could be bothered seeking me out to say thanks. It's nice when people take an interest :)

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I guess it depends on the gig...

If it's a local pub band then there's no real reason why they'd need top of the range gear, to be honest. They might of course have top of the range gear (the old mid-life-crisis-Specials!), but that's another matter (same applies to mid-life-crisis-bikers!).

If it's a concert gig with a double-figure entry fee then yes, I'd expect to see some quality gear on display.

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[quote name='KiOgon' post='1322391' date='Jul 31 2011, 07:24 PM']So if you turned up for 'your average pub gig' with a Custom shop Pino Palladino or similar, let's say £2.5+ks worth - how many people would notice?[/quote]

errrr no one! Nobody has even mentioned it :)

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Last gig i played there were Squier, Musicman, German Custom Warwick and MIA Fender basses, along with Behringer, Warwick, Ampeg and EBS amps. From the guitar side of things there was Gibson, Epiphone, Fender, ESP LTD, Dean, Mesa/Boogie, Marshall, Blackstar, Peavey, Orange and Randall.

Bare in mind none of these are realy boutique, except maybe the Warwick and Muiscman, but still quite high end for the most part.

Liam

Edited by LiamPodmore
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