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Can you gig for £150?


Rayman
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SO

 

Many of you may have seen me bang on about the Sunn bass. However last night I rehearsed it, with the pictured setup.

 

I can't tell you how absolutely fantastic this setup sounded last night. Volume, punch, clarity and the bass plays itself. 

 

The only upgrade on the bass was the @KiOgon loom. The rest was a few odd parts, a fret dress and a setup.

 

The bass was £50, the loom was £34. 

 

The amp was £40 from the bay, admittedly tatty, it functions perfectly. 

 

The Zoom B1on was £20.

 

Having previously had Overwater, Roscoe etc, through a Markbass or Ashdown rig many years ago, I know what's decent and what sucks.

 

Honestly, for around £150, this setup plays and sounds awesome. 

 

Just saying..... it IS possible to rig up on a budget, it's not all about expensive gear.

 

🙂

IMG_20220312_105452_876.jpg

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3 hours ago, Rayman said:

The rest was a few odd parts, a fret dress and a setup.

 

These all have value. Its obviously very nice for you that you can charge yourself nothing for odd parts and labour, but no one is born with the knowledge and experience to bring an instrument to its highest potential, nor with a boxful of handy bits and pieces. You've earnt those.

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Great quality vs value setup!

 

Although based on the title I thought this was going to be about musician's fees based on some dep offers I've got recently where they've asked me make sure I know their core 45+ song repertoire and travel 2hrs each way 😂 

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1 minute ago, theyellowcar said:

Sounds like you had a great gig. The amp for £40 is bananas!  

They guy just wanted rid. His cat had attacked the tolex, and he'd just bought an Orange rig. I offered 40, he took it, I was a surprised as anyone. 

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1 hour ago, Bolo said:

Guessing it wasn't a large venue or metal gig.

Yes, you can do some gigs for £150.

 

Large venues are cheaper I find, no amp needed. 

 

I've did several festival gigs with an Aria STB Series P bass (£40 second hand) and a Behringer BDI21 (£19 on Amazon at the time) 

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1 hour ago, Maude said:

 

Large venues are cheaper I find, no amp needed. 

 

I've did several festival gigs with an Aria STB Series P bass (£40 second hand) and a Behringer BDI21 (£19 on Amazon at the time) 


The BDI21 is a game changer. I don’t gig but I use it on all my recordings. It should be standard issue 😂

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2 hours ago, Bolo said:

Guessing it wasn't a large venue or metal gig.

Yes, you can do some gigs for £150.

The bigger the venue, the less you need a substantial backline.

 

I'm usually pushing faders these days, but when playing I've tried to go direct and IEM as often as possible for a long time now. 

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That BG250 was a steal! I got one with a footswitch for £150 and I thought I'd made out like a bandit... If you're happy to look beyond the branding of almost any piece of musical equipment, there are bargains to be had. As someone who regularly gigs with what some would consider to be "low end" gear, I wholeheartedly approve. Good work fella!

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In my experience, big rigs haven't been necessary at all. We played the Manchester Academy some years ago, and my "big" rig wound up being mostly an onstage monitor while front of house was DId into the PA. 

 

I'm not suggesting that a budget rig is all one would ever need as a gigging musician, but I do believe that it can work much of the time. 

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I bought a lovely Ashdown 2x10 combo for £40 of Evilbay and paid £85 for a lovely Harley Benton off this very forum. So with that rig I can afford a strap and a lead and still be in or around £150. 

They both sound mega by the way although I lent the combo to a drummer friend and haven't seen it since 😂

Edited by ricksterphil
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98006483_20220127_114009(2).jpg.0f5b21d19cae808533b5fdc6835711f0.jpg

 

My ska bass is my ultimate budget instrument.

The initial Jazz copy was picked up for free as it was in a bit of a state. The EMG eq I'd had for more years than I care to think about, this is the 4th or 5th bass it's been in, so I'm not costing that. Likewise the Schaller pickup which has been in the spares box for at least 15 years. The major outlay was the neck, which was 50. Decal was a tenner, paint about the same, oil was a fiver. Chequer tape was 3 quid, the Trojan logo roughly the same. So it owes me 90 plus a lot of elbow grease.

Admittedly my gig rig is expensive, but in theory with a big PA I could get away with the Behringer combo I use for rehearsals, which was 30 quid.

Edited by Rich
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It certainly shows that our desires for 'expensive equipment' are at times irrational and ego based. Much in the same way you can buy a £500 car and likely fulfil all your travelling needs, many of us use expensive equipment as a status symbol (even if to ourselves) that shows success or professionalism.

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I’ve gigged using a very cheap - sub £100 - bass borrowed from a friend. My custom WT was having some work done to it, a friend asked me to dep for his jazz band.

 

I spent an hour or so setting it up, filed the bridge saddles, and changed the strings. It was perfectly playable.

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