Leaderboard

Time for a story, sorry Many years ago lighting was expensive and I was broke. For our band I kibbled some lighting together, ahem health and what? Anyway I had two kitchen spotlight units with three different coloured halogen spots in each, a strobe attached to each and a smoke machine. It was all wired through a homemade footswitch to turn it all on and off. The smoke machine was tucked behind my massively over the top bass rig consisting of a bi-amped pair of 15's and a pair of 12's, aiming behind the drummer. When we did Motorheads Overkill I would stomp on the switch turning off the coloured lights and turning the smoke and strobes on when it got to all the false endings, if you know the song you'll know when I mean. At one gig I stomped enthusiastically on the switch at the correct moment which immediately fell to pieces leaving the smoke machine and strobe permanently on only able to be turned off at the wall. The drummer slowly disappeared from sight, then the guitarist and I and it stayed on for the remainder of the song until the stage area and crowd were completely lost in the fog and blinded by massive white strobes bouncing off the cloud. Oh how we all laughed, well apart from the drummer who was having some sort of epileptic asthma attack

Sounds a fun project, if you give us a call and chat to Dave Green(who designed the LB30)he will more than likely give you some advice(he normally does even when not asked...) on how to tie everything up... I’m fairly sure he won’t mind you being ‘inspired’ by his output stage... but sometimes he can be a tad grumpy so you takes your chances 😉

I had a Kay EB100 (tulip bass). It did go on the bonfire 😃

Kays are getting harder and harder to find these days, as anyone with any sense who had one would have spent an enjoyable afternoon pouring petrol on it and watching it burn!

A bunch of Indie halfwits, who are so talentless they are unable to join in with the opening theme, and instead just stand there with their arms folded. A proponent of world music, never heard of before or since, producing some unintelligible atonal drivel, which nevertheless is lapped up by the audience less they be accused of racism for not liking it. A former boy/girl band member trying to gain some real muso credibility to kickstart a solo career, but obviously finding live vocals a bit tough. A former legend living on past glories, much loved by the audience who are obviously saddened that the legend is past their best and the voice is not what it was. A re-formed but fatter and balder line up of a band, failing to make anyone interested in their new material. Plus a painful ‘off the cuff’ chat with a ‘friend’ or celebrity in the crowd.

Taken just now from Ebay.co.uk, used, 'BIN', with approximate postage costs. I've not selected on make, just availability, but not damaged, of course... Hi-hat £20 HH Stand £15 2 x Cymbal stands £30 20" Ride £25 16" Crash £25 Total £115 There are also packs of 'beginner' cymbals starting at £20 or so. Is that expensive as a 'get you going' deal..?

Some of that is harsh but true. However for an originals project 4 months to write and release 9 songs isn't unreasonable (depending on the songs of course). For the majority of new originals bands a handful of 25-30 minute support slots would the way to ease into gigging. No one is going to want to see an unknown band band with unfamiliar songs playing for any longer. IME originals bands don't need a PA. The venues they play nearly always have them. In the last 10 years of gigging with originals bands I have done less than a handful of gigs at venues that didn't have an in-house PA and engineer to drive it.

There were several episodes of spontaneous polite applause from the clientele throughout a very pleasant evening with my quartet at a restaurant/bar in Sutton Coldfield.

And don't forget, Bonfire Night is coming up soon... just sayin'...

Quite, Health and Safety. Or do I mean Health & Efficiency..? Anyway, the safest way to dispose of a Kay bass is to bury it (not in your own garden, obvs) or leave it in the boot of your car until you can drive to the coast and hurl it into the sea. If you're pressed for time and really can't stand the damn thing, wait until it's dark and throw it into next door's garden, preferably at that bloody plastic flamingo you don't like. Done!

I think it fits in just fine

His book, Kraftwerk: I Was A Robot is an excellent read.

It is indeed a Kay, as sold by Woolworths in the 70s. Didn't cost a lot then worth even less now although some think they are worth a fortune and collectable.

This is true. If there is a musician in the audience and you are playing like you don't care, you have probably lost networking and gig opportunities. Always give 101% even playing to one man and a dog. . . you never know who's listening in the other bar. I've been asked to join every band I've been in since 1985. I've picked up every gig and band because a band member suggested me or a band leader dropped in and thought I would fit into his band. So how you sound is important but how you play is even more important. Every gig is a potential introduction to more players.

Yer actual leg end, there.

Jeff Lynne's ELO at London O2 Arena last night! Wonderful songs, fantastic musicians and vocals, stunning light show and an atmosphere of smiley, happy people singing along..... oh, and my 'young at heart' Mum by my side enjoying very minute. Precious moments for sure :)

There is a different switch available, maybe thats more for you: I have a mopar purple NG-2, and have experimented with the pickup configurations a lot... as you might know all the recent Combustion and NG models have all three pickup cavitys routed already, so it was easy to switch positions. After all the testing, my ideal NG-3 switching would look like this - if limited to four positions..: middle/bridge in series middle only bridge/neck in parallel d-bird type all three Neck only sounds worse imo to the middle only. Comparable character, just less tone and definition to it. It has a bit more low oomph. neck/bridge in parallel sounds absolutely cool. Mind that the Combustion and NG models have different preamps. I like the gritty Tone Capsule a lot.

Wolfgang Flur, (ex Kraftwerk) last Friday night, in a small club in Cardiff He's now over 70, but still full of energy (more movement / dancing than he did in Kraftwerk) Great songs & accompanying videos, met him afterwards for a signed CD + poster. Nice fella too

Just picked this up, does anyone have any idea what it is?! Any clues as to it's value other than not very much? It's an old Kay obviously given the logo on the pickplate and the body is plywood but other than that I have very little idea...

My Babies 82 JV Squire Jazz (with Fender decal) with a Hipshot Kickass bridge,Nordstrand NJ4's,East J retro Deluxe and Gotoh Lollipop Tuners strung with DR High Beams Fender Nate Mendel with a Hipshot Vintage Bridge,Aguilar P60 and a mint rebel relic pickguard. Strung with TI flats Used to have loads of basses, but now just have these two! They do everything i need 😁

Andertons didn't show much interest in taking it as a stock item which shows how far down short scale bass users come on their list of priorities. It wouldn't surprise me if Fender do the same and stop at the cheap version. I hope to be proven wrong!

Maybe I’m having a “start all over again” this time next week I’ll be clumsily fumbling through Blood Sugar Sex Magic and getting a pink Mohawk

Forgot about the through body stringing. Where's that fella whispering "remember thou art mortal" when I need him 😆

James was loudest in the mix. They knew he was great ! Even Macca knew he was great.

How many cymbals does a drummer need? Hats, crash and a ride, that's the job done. Use basic tools until you feel you can afford, justify or even need more. Decent cymbals can be bought quite cheaply now and even economy brands are certainly better than they were in the past or at least better than no cymbals at all. He has to hire cymbals in? What's all that about? I've never heard of such goings on. This would not happen in any Northern town. Sounds like a load of old bollox to me. He may have delusions of grandeur! They usually have. 🥁 Maybe the singer is delusional about being a singer too if he can't remember his own lyrics after that length of time. That would be about 8 months since you started the project? If he can't remember them by now, he is either not cut out to be a singer, the songs could be too long and/or full of pretentious philosophical nonsense that no-one but he can understand anyway or, he is a goldfish. Seriously though, it sounds like they are scared to me. Well, maybe the drummers doing a drummer thing and trying not to let the girlfriend know that he needs to actually buy something for a change! 😂 Good advice in above posts though. Book a gig, get a target and you will hopefully find that the rest will get themselves together. If they don't, you have the answer to your OP.

Have you got one of the flamed maple tops under the paint ? Really pretty with flamed maple 😃😎 I went for gold hardware (on advice of ex-friend),active preamp and Warman jazzbar pickups

If you are wishing to gig, it sounds to me like you could be wasting time and effort with this band. A drummer without symbols beggars belief. Four months rehearsing just 9 songs. In our area you would have zero chance of getting a gig with only 9 songs, unless it was a support slot to another band. Does the band have a PA? I cannot answer your question as what you should do, I would personally walk and hopefully find some other musicians with gigging experience to work with, life is too short. Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, but reality sometimes has to kick in.

I know a few musicians who'd rather have a theoretical band with a social media profile and pictures of themselves that they can talk about to impress* people than actually get out there and gig. I wouldn't waste my time with them. * for a given value of 'impress', obv...

I've been in a similar position a couple of times; start-up originals bands, reluctant to take that first step. My solution was to go to a local open mic (that accepts full bands and if possible has back line and drum bits) and pop the cherry. I worked my local contact with the organiser of one to get 30 mins. I did this with a band I've since left who have recorded two CDs and play medium sized festivals. They still talk gratefully to me about 'that time you made us play at the open mic when we didn't feel ready' However, if people really haven't got the stomach to play in public......well you know the answer really.

That’s great Only asked because I was 14 and just bought my first bass and i remember playing public image and exodus, Bob Marley 👍

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Lucky you, they are amazing live!

Hey! Thanks for posting. Now we can see where @Marcoelwray's Elwray bass is too! For those who don't know what I'm talking about.... Congratulations on the new bass day!

Absolutely. As I said earlier, some modern gear is designed to sound good instantly (i.e. in a shop) when playing solo, but Trace gear is made for gigging. It does indeed take time to learn how to get what you want from it. And Trace amps just don't need to be turned up much, even in big rooms. They will sit very nicely in a mix, and you ARE going to be heard, even if you're 'only' using a 150W RMS amp. But then anything worth doing takes a bit of effort. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it and it wouldn't be cool...

I wasn’t that into The Lemon Twigs on first viewing but in light of the reaction on here I just watched them again and really enjoyed it.

OK , will 'alternative rock' do?.

If you have a problem with the answers maybe you should have phrased the question differently. This is also the problem with "click-bait". If you point people in one direction you can't complain if that's the direction they go! Then there is the long post problem. People generally don't read long posts so any points being made in a long post will probably be missed. Long posts are generally not to the point. Sorry, but I tried reading yours and drifted off several times. Perfection is overrated. The value of anything to be "good enough".

True, I guess it's what makes him happy and gives him the onstage sound he likes..............of course it'll turn out he's on in-ears and can only hear the monitor feed anyway

Since AFAICS only one of the heads is DI'd (the one on the top right) and none of the speakers are mic'd up it's all a bit pointless.

Used it again at rehearsal last night with my souly/bluesy/rocky project. The keys player wasn't there last night so it quickly morphed into a 3 piece blues rock trio. The guitarist always plays far too loud with a very bright tone. Not pleasant and has a million super expensive pedals that all sound very similar. Anyway, the PF50t sounded great, didn't run out of power and looks great. Still happy with the decision.

We use Drop pedals in our band - both guitarists and myself. We have a few originals that just sound right played lower (three half-steps down from already-half-step-down with our last singer and from standard tuning with our current singer) and whilst we used to change guitars to achieve it, it put a break in the flow of the performance while we changed over and checked tuning, which we didn’t like; it was even worse if we then had to change back, especially given the average set length for an original power metal band playing local support slots etc. For the guitars it was a bit of a no-brainier - the Drop pedal works great as intended. For me on bass it was a judgement call; do I still change bass and work on the speed of changeover, play the line further up, play the whole set on a 5, or try the Drop pedal. I tried it and initially wasn’t sure as it sounded a little modulated, but with the Thumpinator in front of it to give it the cleanest possible signal to process, I decided it wasn’t out of tune or unpleasant and it was plenty close enough alongside the other elements in our live performance. Tuning up half a step to standard when we changed singer helped very slightly again in terms of accuracy, though I still wouldn’t want to go any further than 3 half-steps down with the pedal no matter what the starting point. I wouldn’t use it always-on and certainly wouldn’t record with it, but for an instant change in feel for a couple of songs to vary a set, it does more good than harm. We’ve been using them for a good while now and nobody’s ever come up and said “that sounded dodgy”! 🙂

Well at the next bass bash you could organise a blind audience fingering and get answers.

Interesting idea, I like it

I think everyone has their own holy grail, a bass they arrived at through influences, fave tones, feel, looks, value for money, ability to fit most/all musical situations...... endless other reasons etc...... but mainly that just feels 'right' and almost an extension of their musical self. Mine is the Spector NS2. YMMV.....

Well true generosity of spirit would have been for the seller to sell the bass on behalf of TM Stevens for a modest fee, not to exploit his name for a huge mark up.