How was your gig last night?

[Franticsmurf]

I played at our self organised Hullabaloo festival yesterday. Apart from being the assistant stage manager for our sound man, I was in a 5 piece band made up of people from our 13 piece main band. With two gigs, one of which lasted a marathon 4 hours, it was a busy day. The 5 piece played in the late afternoon and were the first of the bands that managed to get people up and dancing - seeing folks bopping along is always a moral booster. We hadn't been able to rehearse much and although everyone is a competent player, there was that 'will it all come together' feeling just before we started. Part of the reason for doing the 5 piece splinter band is to give the players a chance to expand on what they do in the main band - so each year we choose a couple of songs that will challenge us and feature the players who would normally be at the back of the stage. This year our Uke/trombone player (who is an accomplished guitarist) chose 'Sultans of Swing' on which she played the lead parts and our sax man picked 'Baker Street'. Both nailed it after shaky rehearsals and Baker Street was one of those performances that you realise early on is something special - everything just clicked - and it was amazing to be playing it. It's those moments that remind me why I love playing gigs. Of course, there were a few dodgy moments, mostly involving my singing ('Sultans' and 'I'm a Believer' and a distinctly off key element to my backing vocals on our opening number, 'Pinball Wizard'). But it was all good and there were some nice compliments for the band and my bass playing.

 

The main band (the Hulla band) went on just after 7pm to a full village green - perhaps 700 people - and we played until just after 11. The festival is a charity event and we raise money for, amongst others, a local homeless drop-in centre. They have a choir and we had them on stage to sing with the band (they had played their own set earlier in the day). I always love the choir and band combination as the voices add an extra level to what were doing. This is the 5th years I've played this gig and it was by far the best performance we've done as a band. I was very happy with my sound - I went through the desk with no backline and using IEM and my Sterling bass was sounding so good that I decided not to swap basses half way through as I had originally planned. 

 

My kit line up for the day was a Sterling 34HH through a Sine Effects HPF (set at 40hz), MS60B for compressor, noise gate and octave/chorus (for one song) and an Ampeg SCI DI (unused back-up bass was my Ibanez 205). For the songs I played guitar on I used a Squire Telecaster that went through a Zoom MS50G+. IEMs came from a Behringer P16 personal monitor mixer fed from our Behringer X32 desk pre-fade so I had my own monitor mix which I was able to adjust (for example, when the singer decided to play his harmonica at full last through his vocal mic!) Footwear was courtesy of Skechers (if I mention them often enough I should get the sponsorship deal I'm after).  

 

As usual no photos have yet emerged of either of the bands I was playing in (as I was the principal photographer on the day). I will amend this post if/when they appear. 

 

Edit: Some photos from the night. 

 

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Franticsmurf

[bigthumb]

54 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

What Sandberg are you using. ?

When i had a MB 112 combo with 112 ext cab i found i struggled to get a decent on stage sound or even hear myself but when i moved out front for sound check it was a great sound. That was using a Jazz bass back then. I've had that issue with other rigs while using a Jazz bass to be fair. I find my J basses have a sweet spot for their tone that just works but if i tweak the tone away from it i get lost in the mix.

Dave

It's a TM4. What I was finding was that when playing certain areas of the fingerboard above the 7th fret the sound dies, just no guts to it. The bass is set up well with no dead spots, choking or buzzing. But I'm finding it thin sounding. Amp was set with the low mids boosted and the VLE/VPF set at around 10 o'clock and 1 o'clock and if I'd have turned up it would have been overpowering everything else. It's a pretty gutsy little combo to be fair but it seems that the bass is lacking somehow. 

[ezbass]

8 minutes ago, bigthumb said:

It's a TM4. What I was finding was that when playing certain areas of the fingerboard above the 7th fret the sound dies, just no guts to it. The bass is set up well with no dead spots, choking or buzzing. But I'm finding it thin sounding. Amp was set with the low mids boosted and the VLE/VPF set at around 10 o'clock and 1 o'clock and if I'd have turned up it would have been overpowering everything else. It's a pretty gutsy little combo to be fair but it seems that the bass is lacking somehow. 

Quite possibly the venue is at fault here. I used to use a Sandberg Basic VM, with an LM2 through a Schroeder 1212. A marvellously punchy rig that always delivered, until one gig where, despite all the usual settings, it was inaudible to me. Tried shifting the eq around but without any success. Next gig, different venue, all back to normal, IIRC. Such are the vagaries of venue acoustics and bass frequencies it seems. Doesn’t stop it being a huge PITA.

Edited 9 hours ago by ezbass

[Norris]

27 minutes ago, bigthumb said:

What I was finding was that when playing certain areas of the fingerboard above the 7th fret the sound dies, just no guts to it.

I had the same with a Fender US Jazz. It's the only bass I've ever sold on, but my mate who bought it off me loves it. I've not played J basses since, sticking to Ps or MMs

[Norris]

2 hours ago, bigthumb said:

singer dose not drive to gigs so he was well oiled too.

We used to drink and play in our youth. It took a while to realise that it was highly likely that it didn't sound as good as we thought it did. A couple of shandies now, or often a lime & soda - and I know my playing is as good as it gets

[bigthumb]

24 minutes ago, Norris said:

I had the same with a Fender US Jazz. It's the only bass I've ever sold on, but my mate who bought it off me loves it. I've not played J basses since, sticking to Ps or MMs

 

A good Precision is calling me... 

[bigthumb]

19 minutes ago, Norris said:

We used to drink and play in our youth. It took a while to realise that it was highly likely that it didn't sound as good as we thought it did. A couple of shandies now, or often a lime & soda - and I know my playing is as good as it gets

 

If I drank at gigs I'd be all over the place, much too old for that now! However, the singer really reacts well with the audience after he's had a few. He engages with them more than any other frontman I've been in a band with and gets them on our side so to speak. 

[neepheid]

Last night a new venue for Nine Lives - Maud Football Social Club.  Maud is a small village with an old woman's name in rural NE Scotland.  Incidentally, it's also where we rehearse, so in a way it was almost like a home gig for the band!

 

Early one too - 8.30-11.30pm, which makes a nice change.  So we rock up and are pleased to find a large, empty space for us to set up in, loads of power sockets - dream start.  Not an extension reel in sight.  We got set up, and got going.  A few folk came through from the main bar into the function area and we had folk up dancing most of the time.  I wouldn't call it super busy, but with a few folk up dancing in front of you it makes it all worthwhile.  We did have some trouble getting a decent sound - the area is quite wide and whilst this did give us the ability to put the PA speakers quite far forward, it created a bit of a dead spot where people were dancing, which got complained about.  Sorta solved it by angling one of the PA speakers in a bit to fire a bit more in their direction and that seemed to keep them happy, but we will have to think about counter measures for situations like this in the future - perhaps have a monitor wedge, not so much for our benefit, but for the dancers!

 

Got some nice comments after, some folk came up to chat to us and said they had a good time, so happy days.

 

Gear was a flock of Thunderbirds into the usual Markbass modular monstrosity.

 

 

And another thing... I don't want to hear about "Thunderbird neck dive" as a default from any of you so-and-sos in the future.  The way some people go on about it, I must own the only two well behaved T-birds on the planet FFS!

 

 

Enough!  Even the headstocks are still intact!  I don't want to hear it!

 

[Stub Mandrel]

11 hours ago, dclaassen said:

Good gig at the Felton Club in Peterborough depping with Stevie Daniels. Nice club, good stage, fun and engaged crowd. Played well with a couple of minor goofs. Pedulla MPV fiver through elf head and Genzyme Benz 1x12’s. Justin boots.

 

 

I read that as 'Stormy'...

[Stub Mandrel]

10 hours ago, Norris said:

making sure you post gigs up on Facebook pays of

 

I cheekily put out a press release for our next gig. On friday a mate had two people tell him they'd read a good band was on next week

[dmccombe7]

3 hours ago, ezbass said:

Quite possibly the venue is at fault here. I used to use a Sandberg Basic VM, with an LM2 through a Schroeder 1212. A marvellously punchy rig that always delivered, until one gig where, despite all the usual settings, it was inaudible to me. Tried shifting the eq around but without any success. Next gig, different venue, all back to normal, IIRC. Such are the vagaries of venue acoustics and bass frequencies it seems. Doesn’t stop it being a huge PITA.

Yep i find that too.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

Last night a new venue for Nine Lives - Maud Football Social Club.  Maud is a small village with an old woman's name in rural NE Scotland.  Incidentally, it's also where we rehearse, so in a way it was almost like a home gig for the band!

 

Early one too - 8.30-11.30pm, which makes a nice change.  So we rock up and are pleased to find a large, empty space for us to set up in, loads of power sockets - dream start.  Not an extension reel in sight.  We got set up, and got going.  A few folk came through from the main bar into the function area and we had folk up dancing most of the time.  I wouldn't call it super busy, but with a few folk up dancing in front of you it makes it all worthwhile.  We did have some trouble getting a decent sound - the area is quite wide and whilst this did give us the ability to put the PA speakers quite far forward, it created a bit of a dead spot where people were dancing, which got complained about.  Sorta solved it by angling one of the PA speakers in a bit to fire a bit more in their direction and that seemed to keep them happy, but we will have to think about counter measures for situations like this in the future - perhaps have a monitor wedge, not so much for our benefit, but for the dancers!

 

Got some nice comments after, some folk came up to chat to us and said they had a good time, so happy days.

 

Gear was a flock of Thunderbirds into the usual Markbass modular monstrosity.

 

 

And another thing... I don't want to hear about "Thunderbird neck dive" as a default from any of you so-and-sos in the future.  The way some people go on about it, I must own the only two well behaved T-birds on the planet FFS!

 

 

Enough!  Even the headstocks are still intact!  I don't want to hear it!

 

As much as i love that purple T bird i had an Epi T bird once and it suffered terrible neck dive until i moved both strap buttons and all good after that.

Just wasn't the best built bass so sold it on. 

Would like to try a Gibson one or even the neck thru Epi version which i've read is a better built bass. Like the sound of them.

Dave

 

[dmccombe7]

12 hours ago, dclaassen said:

Good gig at the Felton Club in Peterborough depping with Stevie Daniels. Nice club, good stage, fun and engaged crowd. Played well with a couple of minor goofs. Pedulla MPV fiver through elf head and Genzyme Benz 1x12’s. Justin boots.

 

And an upright piano. Would hate to be roadie for your band 😂

Love the Pedulla bass 

Dave

[JapanAxe]

On lead guitar last night with an ‘anthems’ band (all the predictable stuff that has punters losing their poop) at a nice old pub just outside Portsmouth. When I’ve played there previously I’ve noticed that single-coils pick up a lot of buzz, plus we’ve been in a ‘box’ area in the middle of the pub which made it feel very loud despite the earplugs that I always use.

 

This time, instead of a Strat I took my modded Steinberger Spirit with (noiseless) Lace Sensors as well as my Tele Deluxe (humbuckers). Also they gave us an area backing onto the front windows, which was much more open and allowed for better engagement with the audience as well as reasonable ventilation.

 

What a difference! The on-stage sound was loads better and my Steinberger has never sounded as good. The landlord is great with us, providing free drinks (which for us means coffee and soft drinks) and paying above the odds. The only downside was the long drive home to Swin Vegas.

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by JapanAxe
Photo

[neepheid]

8 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

As much as i love that purple T bird i had an Epi T bird once and it suffered terrible neck dive until i moved both strap buttons and all good after that.

Just wasn't the best built bass so sold it on. 

Would like to try a Gibson one or even the neck thru Epi version which i've read is a better built bass. Like the sound of them.

Dave

 

 

Both my T-birds are neck thru. I'm of the opinion that if it's not neck thru, it ain't a T-bird. That bolt on one they make just doesn't cut the mustard as far as I'm concerned.

[dmccombe7]

5 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Both my T-birds are neck thru. I'm of the opinion that if it's not neck thru, it ain't a T-bird. That bolt on one they make just doesn't cut the mustard as far as I'm concerned.

That's just confirmed i need to try a neck thru T bird.

Dave

[neepheid]

4 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's just confirmed i need to try a neck thru T bird.

Dave

 

Well, that was easy! 

[dmccombe7]

2 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Well, that was easy! 

Mate has a white NT one and when he bought it many years ago he said it was one of his nicest basses to play so i was already swayed that way, but i appreciate your feedback on them as a gigging musician it helps a lot.

Dave 

[Stub Mandrel]

26 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's just confirmed i need to try a neck thru T bird.

Dave

 

The Ep[iphone T-bird is nice, but I've got the set neck Embassy and that makes all the same noises IMHO.

[lowregisterhead]

I don't gig a lot these days, but I did a very sweaty gig in Basingstoke last night with a soul/rare groove band. An appreciative crowd, and a good time was had by all, but dear god, it was hot! In that level of humidity, the skin softens, the strings get sticky, and this morning my fingertips and thumb really hurt. No proper blisters, but it was a close run thing. I obviously need to practice more...

 

[WalMan]

Hot and very sweaty was the order of the night last night. All good fun with the FrankenJazz sounding lovely, though the Darkglass master seemed to be at a point where it was lovely but a bit too loud, or knock it back the tiniest touch and the heft was lost. We found a happy medium and all good running the sound ourselves as our sound guy was running another gig.

 

Had a girl come up and try to talk to me, mid-song and into the ear with my IEM in, 🤦‍♂️so that got us nowhere 🤣

 

Sets went well, but by the end of the night the crowd were flagging in the heat. Wifey did say that there was still singing and dancing going on round the corner in the other leg of the bar, so maybe the feeling that it fell slightly was at odds with that 🤷‍♂️ Generally a good crowd and lots of nice compliments after, which is always nice.

 

Next week I shall be pirating at KingsFest 😁🤘

 

 

[dclaassen]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

And an upright piano. Would hate to be roadie for your band 😂

Love the Pedulla bass 

Dave

pisno is the club’s…we did not use it.

 

Edited 4 hours ago by dclaassen

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

The Ep[iphone T-bird is nice, but I've got the set neck Embassy and that makes all the same noises IMHO.

 

I know, I owned a gold one a while back. Sounded great but I moved mine on for the somewhat less frequent complaint that it was too light.

 

Plus it doesn't look like a Thunderbird - and I'll be honest - my reasons for wanting to own Thunderbirds are at least 50% for the looks... Vanity, they name is neep.

[BillyBass]

On 22/06/2025 at 14:07, dmccombe7 said:

Bet you're glad to be bacck at it and that is one nice rig you have there.

What's the bass ?

Dave

Yes, glad to be back playing live.  We haven't been together long so the gig was a bit early but none of us are new to this.  Many more to come hopefully.

 

The bass is one of these:

https://www.guitar.co.uk/reverend-decision-p-bass-venetian-pearl

 

I love it; reverse P with added bite from the bridge pup.  Goes very well with the GK head, cuts through nicely.

[Bluewine]

3 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

As much as i love that purple T bird i had an Epi T bird once and it suffered terrible neck dive until i moved both strap buttons and all good after that.

Just wasn't the best built bass so sold it on. 

Would like to try a Gibson one or even the neck thru Epi version which i've read is a better built bass. Like the sound of them.

Dave

 

 

Hi Dave,

 

Here's a pic of my 1994 Gibson Thunderbird. It's a great bass. It's a shame I don't gig much with it.

 

Daryl