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So, after 30 years of gigging with an amp behind me and blaring guitars and monitors everywhere etc last night I did my first ampless gig. None of us used amps (x2 guitars, x1 keys and me on bass) so the only noise apart from the pa was the drums. We used in ears with our own mix. It really was great. No need to worry about a bad mix or not hearing anything. However, the main revelation which should have been totally obvious but wasnt, was that for years it's been the amps on stage that have been the problem on stage regarding hearing everyone, rather than being a necessity to hear everyone. Everyone could hear the pa perfectly clear and could have easily got away without the in ears. The in ears were perfect and I kind of had the 2/3ds in rather than fully as a reinforcement. For years I've played with guitars at a million decibels and not been able to hear them at times, hardly ever heard keys and had bad monitor mixes. But I'm now convinced it's the amps that were the problem. Just sound smashing around everywhere. I'm from the totally hardcore you need a big old amp behind you and need to feel the bass and the wall of sound, but now weve took some time and done the ampless thing as a whole band I'd reluctantly have to change my mind. The front of house mix was so much easier to do as well. Literally just have to worry about what's coming out of the front. No clash or bleed with amps, direction, or monitors etc. Oh, and pack down took 15 mins and was so easy and lightweight with no compromise on sound.

Posted this in the wrong thread last night but it was very late. Just home from a great night in The Dreadnought in Bathgate with the punk band Emergency Exit. Turned out to be busier than we expected. Helped a fair bit by a crowd of Blue Angels appearing to see us. Not sure if they were at the last gig we did in one of their club houses or were just on a night out but the owner said he's never seen them in there before. Maybe more gigs at their other club houses who knows. Feedback was fantastic and the cream of the crop comment was that a guy had 2 tickets for Belinda Carlisle in Edinburgh tonight but when he heard we were playing and covering Ramones songs he wanted to see us. Now that was nice of him. Those tickets cost him £34 each he said. Usual phone vids being taken. All in all i thoroughly enjoyed it. Dave

The last couple of years, bit of transition; gone are the racks and 4x10s; I've moved over to Darkglass 100%. Harboured a desire to run a pair of 1x12s for some time, even going so far as to buying a pair of Aguilar's (and then selling them); bought a DG112 about 18 months ago and landed a second one about 90 minutes ago. Originally, I'd had little intention of using the AO900 head for anything other than to utilise the effects return, but having spent about 45 minutes twiddling I've achieved a reasonably aggressive Geddy-esque tone with a passive bass, so perhaps it's time to travel lighter and leave the Sansamps at home. I'll try the active basses tomorrow.

Choked played the Dark Horse in Moseley, Birmingham last night... Not many folks turned up (30 or so) which was a shame as all 3 bands (including us!) were on fire... Not literally, of course as that would have been a bit too exciting. It was also the 1st gig we used the Tourbus (Vivaro van) which meant I could have a whole 3 pints of Real Ale and enjoy the other bands. After we'd played our guitarist had rather too many, plus rum'n'cokes, and chucked up outside (the shame!). Still, highly recommend Ünhang from Brighton; loads of energy, tight as and musically interesting as well as being rockin'. Here's us though, more importantly:

Long music day yesterday. First rehearsal with the prog band (Epsilon) in getting on two years during the day and remembered most of it. Slightly increased bass pit, but didn’t bother with the acoustic on a stand or extra keyboard 🤣 Home for a couple of hours kip then out for a bit of classic rock with The Alibi at a new venue for us. Next to no room so used the FPPR Status as a few knocks wouldn’t matter. Had a great night with the best overall sound in a while. I could probably have been up a bit more in the mix, but didn’t want to touch the stage level and get into volume wars. All good with the Darkglass Microtubes after it was back following some top customer service (picked it up secondhand from an auction and it went pop after one gig, I had no recourse to the auction house so emailed Darkglass to ask for a UK service centre and the said “send it back to us and we’ll sort it” and they did 😁). Four hours prog rehearsal and two hours gig in the evening and still cooking with gas. I do need to experiment with the settings but liking it. I should probably let one of the other amps go now as five is starting to become overkill 🤣

Hello guys I haven' t been there for a long time...A few days ago I purchased beautiful /midnight?/ blue Rick 4003 February 1997./photos/. I would have a few questions: 1.The most important: E tuner is bent-see last photo.It is quite easy to fix -straighten?- it but I am not sure if it could break...It would be disaster..It works perfectly it's only a matter of look. 2.There is a foam to mute strings which I am not going to use.Do I have to unscrew the entire bridge or use a razor to cut out it? 3.The truss rod needs adjusting I did it appr 8 years ago /its my 2nd Rick/ I don' remember how I did it, it's quite easy I would say but RIC manual recommend only 1/4 of round once a time do I have to wait some time/minutes-hours?/ between each adjustment or can I do the whole job within a minutes?Without strings of course... 4.On the photo you can see huge Acoustic 201 300W GUITAR cabinet cca 1972 eq. with 2x 15inch CTS speakers and horn /switchable/. I use it for bass too in my apartment only - not more than 15-20watts putting into it.Can I damage the speakers?I seldom set bass more than 1 o' clock position.I guess not but I am not expert.Mainly I use ACC 126 bass combo /photo/ but I like ACC 201 sound better. Thank you for an advices Jan Slovakia I am putting 7 photos here the Rick is very rare I think black binding and lefty...And beautiful color./Which blue exactly is it?/I bought it on Arni's /great guy/ leftybass site from very nice German bassist. He told me /and sent photo/ that E tuner was OK when packing...I believe him. A few info on gear you can see-some might be interested...From the left: Czechoslovakia/Slovakia/ TESLA /Tesla Vrable/ 40W tube amp 1968 NOT designed for instruments mainly for use at schools etc..Microphone input moded for 100mV believe or not it sounds ALMOST like 1000€ Fender bassman.I paid 85€ for it...Unbelievable.It stands on ACC 126 bass combo 120W 1981. On the right there is mentioned ACC 201 300W guitar cabinet with awesome famous ACC 260 "Doors" amp on it/it's guitar amp but bass and keys sounds beautiful too/ and on it you can see British HH IC 100/Bolan, Waters, John Deacon too?/ as you all surely know it very well and GED 2112 preamp.And very rare today Marshall 4145 4x10 100W guitar combo 1979 /Rush, SRV/ .BTW small Marlboro box is NOT cigarettes but rare old transistor radio, MW broadcasting ended a few years ago...

Jam night on Thursday was fun. This was the 1st time the 4 of us had all played together (we had a run through but weren’t all able to make it). We had a load of people singing along, which is always a good sign. I also picked up another slot on the night. It was with a couple of guys who I was supposed to play with in December, but who pulled out with about 2hours notice. They changed the set list at least twice during the night, but 2 of the 3 were ones I’d learned for December. Oddly the one we played best was the one I’d never even heard before getting up on stage (Walking the Dog). That may have been because it was the last of the 3, or because one of the others had sorted out his guitar tuning issues. The drummer thanked the 3 of us at the end for letting him play as it was the 1st time he’d ever played live; none of us knew it was his 1st time, he played well; I hope he enjoyed it and comes again. If you fancy listening to a bit of it there is 20s on my insta account https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co2Nn5lhx03/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= ….or for full song versions to 2 of them they are on my YouTube channel Simon-C (unless I get a strike).

OK - we're off. First off is filling the existing chambers. And yes, Andyjr1515 still hates routers, but for cleaning up the bottoms of old chambers including the conductive paint well, they have their uses. And with a bearing bit fully enclosed in the chamber so that the word not allowed-ing thing can't leap out and damage the bass body or Andyjr1515's own body parts it's worth a bash: And it does do a decent job, s'pose... Next is another 'this could spoil your day machine' - the band saw. Note the essential pusher stick. As a factory manager once said to me, 'always remember that butchers use these to cut through cattle bones...' Everything squared up and corners rounded to suit the existing chambers, final dry check that you can ease it down and back out again: Then a generous amount of Titebond in the chamber bottom and sides, press it fully home and bash the hell out of it: Fit the second one in the same way and then, once the glue has hardened, a quick whizz over with the block plane: And yes - it's cross-grained. Partly stylistic (if you can't hide it, then flaunt it) and mostly practical (suitable wood available thick enough for the chambers' depth). Next job is the battery chamber at the back, which will be done the same way, and then cutting some plugs to fill a number of the controls holes that will be surplus to requirements.

So tonight was the night, 20’ish song set, nine on EUB. First doubling gig in a few years and it passed off without issue. Left hand was very tired towards the end of the second set (EUB heavy) not helped by our leader starting a medium paced blues tune (Ma Rainey anyone?) in quadruple time 😂 The NS was very well received and got almost as many compliments as the fretless. Quote of the night “Don’t guitars usually have lines on them so you know where to play? Yes, but I couldn’t afford the lines so I had to get one without” 😂 Oh and here’s a picture of bass corner (don’t worry the Heineken zero moved off the amp straight after the photo 😉

is this the five minute argument or the full half hour?

Reminds me of Gibson DC Junior bass in body shape and pickup placement

I went for this Ray35 from ebay. Not *just* because it's the same colour as my 'Ray and P, but... yes I'm shallow and looks are a factor. I paid 650, which is fair enough I think. First impressions are good; it feels nice and solid, really well put together. It's heavy! Haven't had it on a strap yet, so that's something to look forward to. It plays, feels and sounds fantastic. Lovely StingRay tone with the three band EQ (I like) and the three way pickup selector switch giving some lush sounds on tap. The neck is an absolute beauty, no rough edges and is a joy to play all the way up and down. Bad points: There is a quiet hum when you're not touching it, so probably not completely shielded (?)) and the notes are all in the wrong places 😃 I don't know if it's two and a half times better than a 250 quid S.U B. and/or three sevenths (?) as good as a full fat USA model, but it's undoubtedly a lovely Bass that I'm really happy with and can't wait to play in anger.

Yeah, nice one. Extra points, too, for none of you being afflicted with the need to wear a hat indoors. 😆

And just like magic… Just need to watch it myself now.

We've put back the old ska band together. We do mostly originals but we add a few covers too. We've just decided to do this one... so much fun!!!

No, you can't. What you can hear when playing tones below roughly 30Hz is their harmonics. Even if the source is a tone generator that only produces sine wave fundamentals harmonics are still there, created by the speaker. If it's a square wave generator harmonics are there in spades, as what makes a square wave square is harmonics. You may think that's the case, but electric bass produces mainly harmonics, especially below 100Hz. Classic reggae tone is primarily 2nd and 3rd harmonics. This is an RTA of a PBass playing an open A string. Most of the energy is in the harmonics. With lower notes there's even less fundamental and more harmonic content, and this is with the pure signal from the bass. The coloration imparted by the speaker results in less fundamental content.

That's an admirable feat of carving and a very distinctive bass stand. A bit bulky to carry to gigs though.

As mentioned above, a tweak of a knob sorts it.

So you/we could hear something different and it explains our differing preferences on the contour of the older version. Nice to know you're not as cloth eared as we feared!

Both pickups have quite a distinctive voice and both are surprisingly hot. The difference in volume between this and a Wilcock Mullarkey (no shrinking violet itself) is significant. i spent around 45 minutes setting-up mine to my preference. All very straightforward. The nut-slots were fine so just intonation, saddles, and truss adjustment, then pickup height. The bass was wearing very heavy tapes when it arrived and now has light nickel rounds. The rod probably required a full rotation over a few days but moves very smoothly and the relief is fairly minimal now. I have the action really quite low and the bass plays very nicely. A bit of attention and a tweak and these can be really nice players with a couple of distinctive voices.

Had a great time last night playing the first gig since we changed our band name. We have been so busy writing a new album that we haven’t gigged since July last year. felt really good to be back out and playing live. I’m always worried I might lose the passion for playing live but thankfully it is still there. we played at club 85 in Hitchin and I used my preamp / cab sim combo for the first time. I was very happy with the ease of it all. A quick screengrab from an Instagram video someone uploaded:

Had one of our best gigs ever last night at the Butchers Arms in Inverurie. First half was a bit quiet (although there were still folk up dancing) but in the second half it got really busy because an event finished in a nearby venue and a bunch of people came in to continue their night. Bar was packed, had to rescue a PA speaker and some lights one time and one person nearly became part of the drumset but it was a lot of fun anyway. Got a three song "one more tune". I heard we're getting some repeat custom (people who've seen us before and came down in order to see us). Loads of great feedback. Two different people came up and told me they enjoyed my playing specifically. All in all, one of the best nights we've ever had.

It is a brilliant tuner. In fact I love the whole Ironman range and have gigged with nothing but them on my board many times. I still chuckle when people describe Joyo as cheap crap. These are really well made pedals.

A couple of charts that were requested by students: Big Mountain - 'Baby, I Love Your Way' Roy Orbison - 'Oh, Pretty Woman'

You need to be playing the theme from Roobarb and Custard... 👍

You will probably need to get some kit to do in ears, it needn't be expensive. The standard set up at the moment is a pair of KZ ZS10 Pro headphones and a Behringer P2 beltpack headphone amp. There's all the details and more in this thread https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/389429-the-iem-in-ear-monitors-bible-thread/ For discussion on mixing desks https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/468782-compact-mixing-desks-what-are-you-using/ might be useful

They do indeed; thanks. I'd echo the previous post; I suppose it's an audio feed from the camera, but the poor lass's voice is all but inaudible in the video. Hopefully the venue got a better mix..? The drummer will improve in time if he gets to play 'live' more often, to loosen up a little and 'lock' with the other instruments. For a first public appearance, though, I'd say 'Chapeau..!'. Thanks for sharing.

Sorry to dive in here, but I got mine about 2 weeks ago. Such an amazing piece of kit that is so versatile! I'm currently driving my Laney 4x10 using the Hotone Loudster which provides more than enough volume to keep up with my band and is also a quarter the price of the Seymour Duncan Powerstage! The cull has already begun and I've more or less listed my entire rig baring my cab already. Also if anybody would like (in my opinion) a decent capture of a Darkglass X7 my username is: Glennalli (the one titled X7 6666 is my personal favourite)

Looks like it's influenced by the Epiphone Newport and Serek Midwestern. Look better with a 2-a-side headstock.

I’ll just leave this here…… and say no more.

Hi, Ive got some updates on the subject... Recently Rod Patterson - our local (hero) Double Bass player paid me a visit and suggested to thin/shave off the bridge to reduce its weight and eliminate BULKY look... I managed to reduce its weight by 10g from 107g to 97g And now the "dead" G string in first position is back to life! Cheerio!

@Phil Starrhas just about nailed this subject. The stand out point for me is what he says about the sound level adding acoustic drums. My ears permanently ring due to sound levels playing with acoustic drums and standing near the cymbals.

Wrong bit of the forum! This is where ppl talk about their basses… you have to wait a few weeks/months/years and look here for for sale basses https://www.basschat.co.uk/forum/19-basses-for-sale/

Getting a drummer is problematic for your PA unless they use eDrums. At that point everything gets so loud on stage that three things become issues; monitoring, picking up unwanted sounds in the vocal mics and potentially acoustic feedback. Even that leaves out the big one, your hearing becomes threatened by the sound levels on stage. I'd strongly suggest you plan for this from the outset and you say: Hold on to that thought and plan this from the start and let it guide your purchases. I use an RCF M18 but Behringer, Soundcraft and Zoom all make great digital mixers with plenty of aux feeds. The Behringer mixers and some of the others offer multitrack recording also so you could trade in your R24 to part fund a good mixer. We run rehearsals with all in-ears, no PA or floor monitors needed. for gigs everything just goes via the PA. our guitarist still uses his guitar amp but turned down and miked up. I'm hoping to get him to go through a modeller and lose that too. Buying a digital mixer is key to everything. Your sound will be in-ears and you'll need to organise that. You can each adjust your own monitor mixes right from day one and that will remain your personal sound whether you are on stage or in the shed. You can keep your programmed sounds and a click track or lose them at will when you add a drummer and send a balanced mix to the PA which means you have complete control of your band sound. The PA then just functions to make everything loud enough for the audience. I think your Yamaha 400 should be good enough at least for a while. Yamaha claim 129db and whilst I think that must be peak level that will make a lot of noise. The 400/600 series are much more competent than the 300/500 series that were it's predecessors. Ultimately I'd probably replace it with some more capable active speakers but I doubt you'd need to do that quickly. With no backline amps and currently no drums to drown out you can just turn it up to the volume you are happy with. There aren't many pubs down in Cornwall or the rest of the West Country you won't be able to fill with sound. Concentrate on finding the right mixer and all the in-ears and headphone amps first of all and get that bit right.

G/D/A/E in that order.

All speakers are below the frequency where the baffle is one wavelength across. Above that they shift to directional. As you keep going higher the radiation angle keeps shrinking. Since a wavelength at 100Hz is 3.4 meters it takes a large cluster of subs to be directional. It depends on how far the backline is from the subs. But by and large if you're getting a lot of output from the subs on the stage it's mostly below the frequencies that your backline cab is producing, the fault of a sound man who doesn't know what he's doing. IME the #1 fault in concert sound today is sound men pushing the bass at lower frequencies and higher levels than they should. I had the pleasure of seeing 'Tower of Power' tonight and the sound man actually got it right. It's a good thing, if he'd turned fabulous funk bass into a boomy unintelligible mess I'd have had no choice but to hogtie him and hijack the board.

Posted my comments in the wrong thread. Should have been the "How Was your Gig last night" thread. Now copied over so just ignore this. Wont delete it as people have now commented on it. Just home from a great night in The Dreadnought in Bathgate with the punk band Emergency Exit. Turned out to be busier than we expected. Helped a fair bit by a crowd of Blue Angels appearing to see us. Not sure if they were at the last gig we did in one of their club houses or were just on a night out but the owner said he's never seen them in there before. Maybe more gigs at their other club houses who knows. Feedback was fantastic and the cream of the crop comment was that a guy had 2 tickets for Belinda Carlisle in Edinburgh tonight but when he heard we were playing and covering Ramones songs he wanted to see us. Now that was nice of him. Those tickets cost him £34 each he said. Usual phone vids being taken. All in all i thoroughly enjoyed it. Dave

I asked on TalkBass: answer I got was just shy of 8lbs, which lines up nicely with the above. I've been going back and forth on these - not helped too much by multiple video reviews in which the bass clearly needed a setup. Here's a new one I found which compares it to a Fender Mustang, both with flatwounds & definitely sounding better to me than in the Andertons review:

Really? Perhaps you need to look into the backgrounds of some high-end luthiers.

It's been said before, but compared to the equivalent cheapo or "starter" instruments that were available back in the day, the stuff you can buy now at the lower end is astonishingly good, and usable at pretty much any level if needs be. I've got a lot of time for the Squiers of all types... likewise, as came up in conversation earlier today, the budget MM Sub Stingrays made in Indonesia are excellent imho.

Cheers all - I pulled the trigger earlier today on one of those Sadowsky express budget ones. Typically above my budget so hoping it turns out ok and isn’t reminiscent of their first dodgy batch.

Last minute dep at a party last night. I'd played most of the stuff before but had a couple I didn't know. This is the spice which gives the gig kick.

Played an old Methodist Meeting House in Ringwood, Hampshire, with the Otis Jay Blues Band. Fantastic venue, and our fans drank it dry of beer. We will be back!

Groove is in the heart generally.