Sparky Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 as the topic heading suggests really. i've been playing with flats on my P for the past month or so and am really enjoying the feel and the sound but on Saturday, I'll gig with them for the first time. what should i expect when i start to sweat? will they become slippery??? oh, and ya, i Do sweat - a lot - when we gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geilerbass Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I've never found the sweat to make things more difficult, though I've only played live with flats a few times. I guess if you sweat a lot, it could be a problem, though I would have thought it would be the same with roundwounds. Are you playing fretless? If so that could be more of an issue, since you have to be precise with your intonation, though on a fretted instrument, I can't think it'll be too much of a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 Nope - Standard Fretted P-Bass. Just looking for an insight really. I've been playing and gigging roundwounds since I started.. and it's always a bit nerve-racking - the first gig with a change in your setup.. especially since the strings are the crucial point of contact between you and your instrument, i'm extra apprehensive. Oh well, if it all goes wrong, my Jazz is set up with rounds so I can always just revert to that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MythSte Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Ive never had "sticky" strings after sweating, especially not with flats. I suppose it depends how viscous your sweat is! Good luck either way!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geilerbass Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I'm sure it won't be a problem - though it's amazing how different flats can feel to rounds. If you've been rehearsing with them for a while and been getting on with them fine, it shouldn't make too much of a difference live. Enjoy the slick, slippery fun of playing flatwounds live! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 thanks chaps. i'm pretty sure my sweat's a pretty average viscosity, but depending on 'how hard i rock' the spread of open pores can extend right down to the fingertips! raghhhh!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I played a gig with Labella flats for the first time last week. I don't think I sweat badly, i.e. my fingers weren't damp, but I did find the strings got more sticky as the gig went on (played 4 sets with 10 min breaks after each one). I felt like I was having to work harder to play the faster stuff. Just my experience. Hasn't put me off though. Have kept them on the bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Be prepared to fiddle with your tone controls to cut through the band. You dont say what flats you are using and that makes a lot of difference to the sound and feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Mr. Cogbill used Vaseline in the studio. Suit you sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 [quote name='paul, the' post='202074' date='May 19 2008, 01:28 PM']Mr. Cogbill used Vaseline in the studio. Suit you sir.[/quote] I believe his highness Mr Pastorius used chicken grease.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 i've no idea what brand the strings are. beedster gave me them to try out when i bought the bass (as well as the rounds it was strung with). as for cutting through in the band/mix, i don't feel i've Ever cut through!!! or if i have, i've not been able to tell because stage sound is always so poor. it's a bit of an odd gig on Saturday; there are 13 bands playing throughout the day/night and everyone has been told they Must use the backline provided. suits me - it'll be an ampeg so'll be a nice change from my hartke/trace rig (which i've had 'boom' problems with at this particular venue). we're 12th up so i'm hoping that by then, foh and stage sound will be sorted - fu*k me, if they haven't got it PERFECT by then they deserve to be shot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 (edited) Bear in mind that the over-all sound out front is coloured by the backline on stage. If you show up and whack the amp up because you're not used to it, then you will cause a problem for both on stage and FOH sound, especially if your settings are completely different to the bass player before you. The sound guys should be in a good position of knowing the rigs, but once you plug in and play, it is down to you to run that amp properly alongside your band-mates. Sorry sparky, I'm not having a go at you, it's just that as an ex-monitor and FOH (and both off one desk) guy, you get sick of bands turning themselves up way too loud and then trying to blame the sound guy for being unable to make it sound good out front or on stage over the top of the din. Edited May 19, 2008 by Huge Hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 ahh, ok - cool cool. huge hands, you might be able to help: we're not a super-loud band (i know what you mean about bands who like to crank it unneccessarily loud): line-up is one guitarist (running only a small marshall combo), 3 vocals, drums and bass. no 2nd guitarist, no keyboards. thing is - at this particular venue, it always seem to be the same problem ~ vocals + guitar in monitor = white noise. what do we ask for from the sound engineer so that the singers can all still hear themselves plus a bit of guitar? seems like a simple request but it always seems to get crazy up there. i'm pretty sure it's not our amps that are the problem (we only turn up loud enough to hear over/through the drummer) - it's the sound quality / volume from the monitors that makes the stage a bad bad place to be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 oh, and Never know what it sounds like FOH. the other bands always seem to sound alright... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 (edited) 3 vocals plus guitar (I'm assuming mic'd cab) = 4 mics into the monitor(s). That can be problematic on a small stage if you're asing for a lot of level from the wedges. I'd need to know more about the layout - i.e. do you get a wedge each, or are you all sharing one? Is the guitarist loud? (not many aren't ). Is his amp right next yours or the drummer so could be picking up rumble, or is it near the wedges so could be feeding back? My tip: Always try and keep monitors as simple as possible. The more stuff you try and cram in there, the less useful it becomes to you. Only ask for what you need. Over the years, with rock/punk etc bands I have found guitar in the wedges to not be a common request, although you do get them. This is because the guitarist is usually more than loud enough himself. We regularly have to get ours to point his amp away from the band. No matter how many times we threaten to beat the living s**t out of him, he still gets louder and LOUDER!!! Finally, if you reckon the other bands sound ok, then chances are yours will too, unless you are asking for something completely different to everyone else, or your backline is way louder than with everyone else. Edited May 19, 2008 by Huge Hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 as you face the stage, guitarist stands to the left of the drummer and i stand to the right. us up front share 3 wedges. drummer has a seperate (on it's side stylee) monitor. guitarist sings, then the lead singer(s) stand to the right of him (centred on stage). guitarist is loud enough to hear himself, but not for me to hear him from the other side of the stage - that's why i ask for a touch in my monitor. we obviously have the opposite problem with our guitarist - he's too useless to buy himself a decent amp that we can hear! i understand what you're saying though about monitor quality decreasing with every extra thing we put through them. oh well.. we'll see how it goes on saturday. i put up a seperate post about 'boom' after our last gig at this place.. got lots of useful suggestions ranging from amp positioning on stage to eq etc. but like i said - on saturday, i'm gonna get what i'm given and i'm gonna plug in and play! looking forward to it! cheers huge hands and everyone else. will let you know how i get on with stage sound and them there slippery snake flatwounds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 If your wedges are all on separate mixes, then I would have thought that it shouldn't be too much of a problem to give you what you ask. I guess it's probably down to EQ and gain structure for the guy doing monitor mixes. If the problem is that your wedges are too muddy and he has a separate desk to FOH, then perhaps you could ask the engineer to roll off all of the bottom end and a lot of low mid on the guitar. I'm guessing you only need it as a guide, you don't care how it sounds, right? A good monitor guy should be spending the gig listening to the feed to each wedge and checking for the mix etc anyway, especially if you didn't get a soundcheck in the first place (that wouldn't be an excuse not to anyway!) You're right, if you're 12th on the bill, then he should have got past all the problems before you get on there. The only odd thing (might) be for him/her is that you want guitar in the wedge(s). You never know, they may have all asked for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted May 27, 2008 Author Share Posted May 27, 2008 (edited) So, i gigged the flatwound strung P on saturday and it was fine. Gig was good. House rig turned out to be an Ampeg SVT something something and an Ashdown something 8x10 cab. Guitarist had a Marshall half stack which was giving me itchy feet. Bass rig sounded alright i guess - didn't blow me away, but having an 8x10 was a little luxuary - mmm, speakers at head height! - no need to turn up and deal with the ensuing boom! anyway, like i said - the flats were fine - didn't get slippery (when sweaty) and sounded good, i think..: the following band's bass player was using the same rig with a P too and it sounded good out front so i'm gonna assume mine was also. So, in conclusion: Flats + GigSweat = No Problems. Thumbs Up. Sparky. EDIT: Oh ya, Huge Hands, the sound on saturday was really good. As i mentioned - the guitarist was using the house half stack (instead of his poxy little combo) and also, when we got there the stage was set up so that the Marshall and the bass amp were on the same side of the drums. Couldn't be arsed to move either so just ended up standing next to the guitarist - bit cramped, but novel, and i could hear him well without having to put anything through the monitor. This meant that the vocals sounded better, the guitar sounded good and because of the 8x10 cab, the onstage bass was clear too. wollop! Edited May 27, 2008 by Sparky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huge Hands Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Glad it worked out for you Sparky. Personally, I can't get far enough away from our guitarist - I prefer my ears intact! I played a gig at the weekend with flats on both my upright and 5 string - I'm glad for the advice of others on Basschat about the properties of superglue on blistered fingertips!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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