All the gear and no-eye-dear

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1441564407' post='2859879']
I find it quite interesting that lots of people think it necessary to take a spare (quality or otherwise) bass to a gig, but very few have said they take a spare amp. I'd be much more worried about an amp breaking than a bass (even one of my cheap, crap ones)
[/quote]

Not so worried on that - if the bass amp breaks (which I view as less likely anyway) I will DI to the PA. The PA is two independent amplifiers, if they both break at the same time as my main amp then fate doesn't want me playing!

[mrtcat]

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1441563719' post='2859868']
i played a gig once and my nut snapped
[/quote]

Sweet lord, I can only imagine....

Edited September 6, 2015 by mrtcat

[Big_Stu]

Simply because I like looking at so many Hiwatts in one place at a time. Behind Nod and H only half of those heads are working; in case one of them blows up. It did happen once. All of the cabs are firing though.
Jimmy's rig? All of it is going - and one of his Acoustic pre-amps set on fire once..........

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1441574903' post='2860032']
Simply because I like looking at so many Hiwatts in one place at a time. Behind Nod and H only half of those heads are working; in case one of them blows up. It did happen once. All of the cabs are firing though.
Jimmy's rig? All of it is going - and one of his Acoustic pre-amps set on fire once..........


[/quote]

Isn't that kind of in the days before you could put a full band through a PA, so every band playing to more than a couple of hundred needed a wall of amps completely cranked just so everyone could hear them? I wouldn't be surprised if they failed.

A lot of bands still like the "wall of amps" look, but use rack mounted amps for handiness, so then they just use replica heads and cabs on the stage that are actually hollow.

[Phil Starr]

I'm assuming this is just about sharing our thoughts about gear? I kind of think anyone who plays music in public to entertain other people is one of the angels, at least until they demonstrate otherwise!

We play in pubs mainly, anything from 20 people to a few hundred. We play all the standard cover band fayre that most of you have probably played too at some time. So we are nothing special, and the pay is crap as you all know. That's just context. This isn't a functions band or anyone young enough to have dreams of 'making it'.

I take spares of everything that would stop us playing to every gig, spare leads of every type, the monitors would double as PA speakers or bass speakers and my 'get out of trouble' bit of kit is a little mixer amp borrowed from a broken Yamaha Stagepas PA that will run the PA or double as an instrument amp. I take a spare bass, which I've never needed. Both of our guitarists take spare guitars.

I reckon that anyone performing in front of an audience owes that audience a bit of respect. You do your best for them, that means taking decent gear, not necessarily expensive but reliable and at least good enough for the job.

I'm lucky in being able to afford to do this, my kids have left home and money isn't tight any more, I wasn't always in that situation and my backup used to be a soldering iron and a tool kit to me the important thing is taking it seriously enough to do your best. I usually have two MIA Fenders with me. They are far better basses than I am bass player and the cheapest Squier would be plenty good enough as a backup, but I get a lot of joy out of owning and playing them.

[ubit]

And why should you need to apologise for wanting the best gear ? I'm not going to think , oh, I'm playing the pub tonight, I'll take the cheap gear so I don't look too poseurish, oh, next week we are playing a function, better take the good gear. I take my best gear for every gig and I couldn't give a toss what anyone thinks of my choice. Surely, they are more interested in what kind of a noise you are making anyway!

[RockfordStone]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441587724' post='2860090']
A lot of bands still like the "wall of amps" look, but use rack mounted amps for handiness, so then they just use replica heads and cabs on the stage that are actually hollow.
[/quote]
I think that is more to do with the overall show aspect of it and filling a big stage. a band at wembley stadium for example would look a bit naff if they turned up and had a a small amps and 2x10/12's on a big stage.

[planer]

Classic Milty argument thread.

Post a predictably contentious question, then argue that pretty much everyone else is wrong.

Well done mate, you've got another notch on your bedpost.

Edited September 7, 2015 by planer

[Thunderpaws]

This thread has some really sttoopid posts and some cracking posts. To me, to a great extent, most of this can be blamed on the marketing departments and magazines. This doesn't just go for musical instruments but sporting gear, cars, houses, etc... When we start out we are encouraged to buy a beginners model until we get good end ugh to buy a more expensive model. companies need us to progress so they can sell more units.

[TimR]

[quote name='Thunderpaws' timestamp='1441619332' post='2860209']
This thread has some really sttoopid posts and some cracking posts. To me, to a great extent, most of this can be blamed on the marketing departments and magazines. This doesn't just go for musical instruments but sporting gear, cars, houses, etc... When we start out we are encouraged to buy a beginners model until we get good end ugh to buy a more expensive model. companies need us to progress so they can sell more units.
[/quote]

I don't agree. If they wanted to make more money they'd just produce expensive basses cheaply.

I don't see why a beginner or intermediate should have to shell out £2k for a bass.

[Thunderpaws]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1441620680' post='2860231']


I don't agree. If they wanted to make more money they'd just produce expensive basses cheaply.

I don't see why a beginner or intermediate should have to shell out £2k for a bass.
[/quote]

And I don't see why not, if you can afford it. And I don't see why an advanced player, or a pro, should have to either.

And, cheaply produced expensive basses?! Fender tried it and failed. Value for money is not the same as cheap or expensive.

[TimR]

[quote name='Thunderpaws' timestamp='1441621219' post='2860235']


And I don't see why not, if you can afford it. And I don't see why an advanced player, or a pro, should have to either.

And, cheaply produced expensive basses?! Fender tried it and failed. Value for money is not the same as cheap or expensive.
[/quote]

I think the premise of the thread that no one 'has' to.

[tauzero]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441482286' post='2859201']
If only we could incorporate "which bass is best for metal" too, we'd essentially have finished Basschat.
[/quote]

Don't forget "Why did Paul McCartney play a cheapo Hofner instead of an expensive bass?" and "Why did Paul McCartney play a Wal Mk III and not a cheapo bass?".

[Bassassin]

All my gear is cheap, mostly what I suspect many people might consider throwaway rubbish. I have acquired quite a lot of it because I like variety and find the instruments I own interesting.

I've spent much of my life without a lot of money to spend on anything much, so while I'm no longer in that position, there's an obvious financial angle to where my mindset might have originated. However, brand snobbery/aspiration/loyalty is an aspect of modern consumerism which I've always found it hard to feel anything beyond mildly amused contempt. I have never owned a US Fender or any other "name" instrument, and the only US-made bass I've owned was a Peavey T40, which turned out to be too heavy & fiddly to be useable.

I think It's fine if someone wants to spend big money on a bass because they can afford it and they want it - but I don't buy the "it's better because it's dearer" argument. I often get the impression that some people don't seem to appreciate that whatever it costs, a bass is just wood & wire. Setup, neck adjustments, fret dressing, hardware/electronics upgrades are all straightforward & fairly rudimentary tasks once you acquire a few basic tools & skills. If the fundamental construction is sound (and most budget instruments these days are consistently well-made) your cheapo can be easily made to play & sound very good indeed.

Conversely I've played numerous 4-figure basses in shops and at shows that were absolute unplayable pigs, and would need just as much work to make them useable as any £99 Chinese no-name.

I could, if I chose, sell all my "crap" basses and buy two or three very high-end instruments to cover all of my actual playing needs. I can't imagine that I would ever do such a thing - partly because I don't expect they would turn out to be significantly better than what I already own. Plus I sort of like it that sometimes you can walk into a venue with cheap/weird gear, and there's an immediate assumption from some punters & musos that you're going to be crap. And then you're not.

Jon.

[tauzero]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441495527' post='2859349']
Sure, and that's what I wanted to find out - did people feel it was necessary.
[/quote]

Depends. I've mentioned my three gigging basses, one cheap and two expensive (for sub-Fodera values of "expensive"). One of the two expensive ones is the only 5-string fretless I've found yet that I get on with. So it was necessary for me to spend a bit over a grand on that because I wanted a 5-string fretless that I could stick with, rather than buying one, keeping it for a little while, then selling it because I didn't get on with it.

[tauzero]

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1441564407' post='2859879']
I find it quite interesting that lots of people think it necessary to take a spare (quality or otherwise) bass to a gig, but very few have said they take a spare amp. I'd be much more worried about an amp breaking than a bass (even one of my cheap, crap ones)
[/quote]

I take a spare amp. Currently an Ashdown MiBass which lives under the front seat of the car.

[HazBeen]

We have not spoken about taking 4 and a 5-er to gigs.... or spare tuners for that matter.

[4-string-thing]

I'd never even thought about a spare amp until I joined Basschat and read about amps failing after a few months or a coupe of years...

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441587724' post='2860090']
Isn't that kind of in the days before you could put a full band through a PA, so every band playing to more than a couple of hundred needed a wall of amps completely cranked just so everyone could hear them? I wouldn't be surprised if they failed.

A lot of bands still like the "wall of amps" look, but use rack mounted amps for handiness, so then they just use replica heads and cabs on the stage that are actually hollow.
[/quote]

That was 1980 (Reading festival), but even then and on their tours for the next three years everything went through the PA as well via a DI mod in the back of each amp.
I used to own the Hiwatt 200 on the far right, and by complete chance a guy I know acquired Jimmy Lea's old bass case & in it was a note from Nod to his tech for his amp settings. The 200 was nowhere near cranked, and then went through the 100w slave that's sat on top of it. Between the two amps they then powered four cabs each for him and Dave Hill.

[stevebasshead]

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1441625254' post='2860309']


I take a spare amp. Currently an Ashdown MiBass which lives under the front seat of the car.
[/quote]Me too. Having had two amp failures at gigs over the years I started taking a spare amp. Currently I take a spare combo. Main rig is an OBT500 into a Tech Soundsystems 4x12 which sits near enough at ear level on top of the Ampeg BA115 combo that I used with my last band (PA supported). So 99% of the time now the Ampeg is a glorified amp stand but it's there as a spare if needs be as well as being a useful stand.

My tuppence worth on the general discussion about what's appropriate to own/take to what gig etc. is that it's not an argument worth having at all. If we *were* to accept that people needed to justify what they used/owned (at either end of the cost scale) then logically someone would have to define how much was too much, or too little. Impossibly pointless really. No one is getting hurt, no one is being forced to use/spend their money against their will.

Edited September 7, 2015 by stevebasshead

[lojo]

I guess your bass does say something about you, but its very complex, and who is to judge it anyway.

Does someone playing a beat up old Fender have it because they brought it in 1970 and never saw the point or got GAS for anything else, or because they spent £1000s trying to look cool with a beat up old Fender (and who cares if thats whats making them smile), or because they genuinely wanted an old Fender and thought it would be a good cash investment.

I brought an expensive bass (for me at least) when I was about 40, someone joked with my wife that I was having a midlife crisis, she replied "if thats all he is going to do then he can buy 4 of them". Sold the bass a year later , couldn't get on with it, only lost £50 , which was well worth the experience of having it.

Edited September 7, 2015 by lojo

[gelfin]

[b] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/user/25488-miltyg565/"]MiltyG565[/url][color=#475769][size=3][/size][/color][/b]


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[color=#5A5A5A][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3][color=#A4A4A4][size=3]Posted 02 September 2015 - 09:28 PM[/size][/color][/size][/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][color=#5A5A5A][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3][color=#282828][size=4]I'm going sailing for a few days next week . [/size][/color][/size][/font][/color]

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1441658190' post='2860719']
[b] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/user/25488-miltyg565/"]MiltyG565[/url][color=#475769][size=3][/size][/color][/b]


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[color=#5A5A5A][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3][color=#A4A4A4]Posted 02 September 2015 - 09:28 PM[/color][/size][/font][/color]
[color=#5A5A5A][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3][color=#282828][size=4]I'm going sailing for a few days next week . [/size][/color][/size][/font][/color]
[/quote]

[Beer of the Bass]

Hmm, could that be a bit of a "light the blue touchpaper and stand well back" moment from Milty there?

[Telebass]

Having gone through a fair bit of gear, I simply sat down a few months back and thought, what do I NEED? And do I actually WANT anything more? As the gloop inside my head was being honest with itself ( for once...), I simply decided to strip back to basics. The Markbass kit isn't cheap, but that's as exotic as it gets. One bass is a good Fender bitsa, the other a Squier P5. That's it. Given that this kit dies all that I need, I won't be buying more.
Unless loads of dosh suddenly appears. Then I'll get something from the Fender Custom Shop or Limelight!