Leaderboard

Played an afternoon / early evening gig on Sunday with my acoustic duo at a great pub ‘The Sun Inn’ in Beverley. A new venue for us with a landlord who promotes and appreciates a lot of live music. He remembers me and guitarist Gary from our days playing in a previous band, and has been brilliant in pushing the gig. His work paid off - the place was rammed with people, including many local musicians we haven’t seen for years. The gig went really well - we played 3 x 45 mins sets, finishing around 8pm. Our small Bose / Yamaha PA was perfect for the venue, and I used my Ibanez short scale acoustic into my Fender Rumble 100 and had some nice compliments on my sound. We tried to play as many requests as possible, which ranged from relatively obscure stuff like ‘Besame Mucho’ through to ‘Livin on a prayer’! Probably the best gig I’ve done for a long time, with a great audience cheering us on throughout. The landlord has already been in touch wanting some more dates too, so happy days.

I was asked to think about covering some 'Rush' (Geddy Lee).... I've been around the block a bit and like to think I'm fairly open minded when it comes to music, and whilst rock isn't my #1 choice, I was totally underwhelmed by what I heard in the bass department. Sure there were a lot of notes being played, but it didn't sound that great (lack of space, rhythm, groove etc). Am I missing something or does anyone else feel the same way?

We tried that, once, but the audience walked out after five or six pages. My Southern drawl accent couldn't do it justice, maybe.

On Saturday I had my annual blacksmithing gig in a replica logging camp blacksmith shop at Marten River Provincial Park. They have a lovely forge and decent anvil and I had hundreds of visitors to the shop as I made smoke and flames from the forge and sparks fly from various things I made during a hot but fun 5 hour non stop session. The only music was the steady rhythm of hammer on hot steel but I think I can still count it as a gig. I've been doing this for over 25 years now and it is always a good day and they want me back next year. I volunteer for this so there's no pay but this year they gave me a swag bag with some nice goodies from the park store. Forge on! Next band gigs will be early September at a bluegrass festival and a jazz gig a week later.😊

Been meaning to add this here for a while, in its Root Beer Sparkle glory. Powerful pickups, versatile, fat, woody tone from the set neck korina body/neck, rosewood fretboard. Lightweight too. I love the neck which is based on Watt's "Dan Bass" ('65 Gibson EB-0)

Pickguards-Pah !

I’m probably of the same opinion, I like all kinds of music inc. rock, heavy rock, metal, prog etc. I do like stuff with odd time signatures and lots of time changes and yet I just can’t listen to Rush or appreciate it. I haven’t tried very hard but have listened to the odd song here and there over the years. While I can appreciate Geddys clearly a very talented player it leaves me cold. The squealy shrieking vocals about wizards and hairy goblins also do nothing for me 😄

It's been nearly a month since I posted a pic of my board and I've not thought about buying another pedal once. I think this may be a new record!

My simple rig, depending on the set im playing, I also have a boss OC2 to add in after the LMB3 and I sit the sansamp on top of my amp.

Many thanks for the votes for the July challenge, much appreciated. As is my duty, for this month I have chosen the following photo. "whilst a bit chill, it's almost like someone has stolen the fire from the sun... so maybe chilling ! " Simple rules ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and recorded between now and the deadline. ✖️ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ✖️ Bagpipes. please no bagpipes, there was a truce worth noting this month, but we missed it! ✖️ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you.. Deadline wise , we will go for midnight on the 25th which means it will probably be sharpish on the 26th* A line or two of blurb as well for the vote thread will be lovely. Have fun * I may be away that weekend so I might have to lean on a dep to post the voting thread , but we'll see nearer the time.

Thanks again I’ve had a very busy day today so I’ve picked a bit of a chilled photo , just off to set the thread up , won’t be too long

I noticed Saw X is out soon

Loads of bands exist with two bass players but for some reason, one of them is called 'rhythm guitar'.

One of my favourite groups, but not for everyone. There are songs with space, clearer tone etc, all depends what era of Rush you are listening too. My favourite thing about them is they sound like Rush and no one else does. Even when they change their style (slightly) i.e. less wizards, more other stuff.. Jonny

August is up and ready to go

Just want to add some context to that (I mention it in the opening posts but appreciate theres a lot in there). Multidriver can give a better sound and generally gives more headroom. I say can give a better sound based on the following being true. * Drivers that are selected are specifically chosen to service the frequency ranges that are good at and work in harmony with the other drivers that are included in the multi-driver setup. This means that crossovers are pleasing to avoid and significant peaks or drop out... and most importantly, there are no phasing issues. A poor multidriver that suffers from poor crossovers, poor tuning or phase issues as well as the left and right sides not being matched all adds to the risk. This is why the big boy brands tend to succeed, as they have got very good at making multi-driver units that work... and in some cases, had drivers specifically manufactured to engineer their way to a better sounding IEM. I have seen more than my fair share or individual try and create their own IEMs... and if they do manage to make them, a lot of them may come in at a favourable price point... but sound stinky poo, don't match ear to ear - and plagued with phasing problems. A single driver generally can't deliver sub to the ultra highs that well... which is why multi drivers come into play. Think about your PA... there's not many PA tops that come without a dedicated high frequency driver! * Headroom is seriously important - if you are a bass player that likes bass, you'll find a lot of IEMs can't reproduce the lows without distorting. Remember when you listen to a CD etc, the music has been mastered - there are not the transients that you get from a typical aux bus. Multi driver units greatly reduce the risk of distortion as the drivers do not have to work as hard. Importantly, a single driver can be running into non perceivable distortion (in that you can't hear it) - but this will cause faster ear fatigue. Then you run the risk of cranking the volume it as your ears become more and more tired. You shouldn't read too much into the audiophiles and their reviews of IEMs for live use as their reference material and reviews doesn't always pan over to IEM use on stage. The ZS10 is a gateway IEM in my book - in the fact that it's proven to be more than OK in proving the concept of IEMs to people. If you were to use the in ears that you get free with your phone, I would wager most people who do so (and I have witnessed people do this) suggest that they have "tried IEMs" and they are rubbish. Are the KZ10s the best thing since sliced bread? Of course not - but they do prove the concept and personally, I'd still take a KS10 set up over a wedge monitor and a set of earplugs. If KS10s get people into the world of IEMs from which they can move on and find what really works for them, then job done. I also know that for the people that crave super amounts of low end (appreciate not everybody is in this camp) they will deliver. They will also not have broken the bank but proven the concept. Put it like this, they are better than a set of Shure 215s that fall more into the category of performance of those sets of IEMs you get with your phone. So yeah, my recommendation on the P2 and ZS10 still stands as I reckon it's enough (and it's proven time and time again on here), to get people convinced to go on the IEM journey. Even though some people on here have gone different routes, it's likely the ZS10 that got them sold in the first place. I haven't tried the Moondrops so they may be good but may fall down due to some of the things I've mentioned above in a live environment. Headroom in the lows without distortion would probably be my primary concern. But even that has variables - how loud do like your IEMs, how much bass - can you get a good seal to keep the volume down.... etc etc... Anyway, happy hunting for your perfect IEM (no matter what it is, or how many drivers it has!)

When I was selling my 414 I put new strings on it and tweaked the set up. Gave it a quick test and it sounded brilliant. Unfortunately the new new owner was on his way round to collect it and it was too late to change my mind. Few weeks later he had put it up for sale so I bought back again and it's been my first choice ever since. Think the selector switch is key for me. 3 very usable tones at the flick of a switch and i do use all of them at a gig. I think my head was turned by a slimmer, racier model that is the precision. I now see the beauty again in my fat derrière Yamaha's.

Watch the punters try and dance in 7/4

It wouldn't be the first time!

Frank Vincent Zappa. Check mate.

Been posted many times before, but no,Prince thread is complete without….

Don't worry, the Basschat emergency first responders are on their way. Just breath normally and try not to panic - you'll be fine. 🤣

Ah, 70s Rush, I can understand that, even as a Rush fan. 80-93 is my favourite Rush period (Permanent Waves - Counterparts).

Just bought the orange 5 string from Curly Music. It's not in great condition. Barrel jack is faulty (as usual). G-string had been replaced with a D string. Needs a really good clean up, new strings, new barrel jack and it should be good to go. Curly Music gave me a pretty good discount off the price to reflect its current condition. It's surprisingly light for a 5 string but most importantly it's metallic orange. My Yamaha collection is on the rise again after I had previously sold my 5 Yamaha BB's as I fell out of love with shape of them and bought a few Fenders instead. Now have the BB 414, 424 and now 415. The 414 gets used for every gig.

Why have the long horn on the bottom ? They missed a (cheap) trick to offset the inevitable neck dive.

I could watch this all day for the strong trouser statements alone. Shame they've cut it with the vintage movie footage (see also late 70s Genesis live footage)

I'm just revisiting this thread after our gig last Saturday which kind of demonstrated to me just how far you can push modern PA systems. I probably took the wrong speakers to the gig, we were booked to play in a pub garden in the early evening whilst people were eating. We describe ourselves as a semi acoustic duo and the landlord was making plans to move us inside because of inclement weather. Then the sun came out. The pub is on a regular walk we do in the middle of nowhere with the best views over the Dorset AONB, absolutely stunning. Music is a new venture for the pub and 5-30 on a Sat seemed madness to me. Indoors the rooms are small and I wasn't expecting a big audience given the expected rain. I decided to take the RCF310's and not the 15's. So we set off and the sun comes out before we get there, the pub absolutely knew what it was doing. They'd closed the restaurant and set up a barbeque ended up with at least 70people spread around the garden in pods and at the usual pub picnic tables, some of the tables were 40m away from us. New situation for us but two RCF 310's were looking very inadequate. So we are two vox, guitar and bass with programmed drums for some songs playing cheesy covers. No backline with two ART 310's plus another two as floor monitors covering around 12,000sq ft in the open air with no backline, hmmm So set up and out front using all our saved settings there is a distinct lack of bass and with the sun on the speakers I can see the cones are moving a lot, I'm not going to have a lot of volume left. I roll off the bass below 50Hz fairly sharply and boost a bit of everything in the upper bass/low mids and I've got the bass itself with a 24db/octave filter that I move from 30Hz to 40Hz and just turn it all up a bit more. The bass has warmed up a bit and with a couple of extra db is sitting better in the mix. It's the best I can do. So we start and the first thing that happens is we are asked to turn down, the oldest people in the pub have chosen the table closest to the band. the staff see what is going on and the people on that table disappear inside to finish their meal. I wandered down into the garden a couple of times to check the sound, and also if I'm honest to see how far I could get with my new Lekato wireless thingies (about 30m as it happens) the sound is stunning, vocals guitar and bass all crystal clear. The punters are all happy and people 30m away are singing along now they've finished their food. It's loud enough that they are not self conscious. By the end of the gig we have some dancing. I ask around at the break and everybody says that the sound level is about right and the people at the far end say we have been louder than anyone else so far and that was good. The overload lights on the speakers have flickered a few times but it isn't noticeably distorted out front. So there you go bass and eDrums through a couple of 10" tops in a large garden outdoors and it can be done. The same system indoors would have been deafening with 70 people and we would have backed it off quite a lot.

Well this is a forum so discussion is encouraged and that means dissent is never far away..haha! With the exception of 1999, for me his music never really gets going, never really sounds cool compared to the likes of MJ, Luther, Barry White, EW&F and a whole raft of black groove artists that have shaped my playing experience over the decades... I guess he's just too quirky, experimental if you like for my tastes. Anyway tin hat firmly affixed..

Zoom Live Track L-20 user here. We had the Behringer XR18 about 5 years ago, although it is a fantastic bit of kit we kept it for about 3 months and moved it on as the lack of a physical fader type consol was off putting. IMO the zoom has pretty much most of the benefits of the XR18 for our needs at least, I really like the ability to record 20 seperate tracks (stems) on an SD card straight off the console to load into my DAW for mixing. Plus it can also be used with an ipad for remote walk about mixing like the XR18. Awesome preamps as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zySOqjdaMA

Giving it laldy with the punk band last Saturday.

This is me with my GSR200. She’s nothing special but she’s light and she punches way above her weight.

I'm sure he's a lovely bloke but he just reminds me of the jazz club character from the fast show but without the hair or smoking. He can play some utter rubbish by some famous jazz bassist and it's like he's got tourettes with the random outbursts of nice, oh man that's great, tight, pocket or just a similar random word.

We played the reopening night of a newly refurbished and under new management pub the other night. Safe to say they've got 6 weeks at most. Oh well As I've been told off for this before, the band is The White Line, although don't bother following us as we're winding down and not taking any more bookings. The rig was MIA P > Shure GLX > HX Stomp.

May have already been posted but it’s the first time I’ve come across a short scale Gibson Thunderbird. Limited edition run of 400 circa 2011.

Such as these?:

No Bright Side - Cardiacs

Just found this resource, that appears to be most helpful. He's also put a sub $100 video review together. https://crinacle.com/rankings/iems/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks6PGwD6Cjo&ab_channel=crinacle On the strength of that, a set of Moondrop Aria IEMS appear to be the one to get.

Jaco Pastorius at his best, nothing else to say, really listening to the others (Lyle Mays and Michael Brecker when he plays) and playing with Don Alias, not against him. I think Joni Mitchell was the only one who has ever been able to canalise him the right way. Pat Metheny is also excellent as well as Joni Mitchell of course.

Very, very useful!

Close mic'ing a single driver in a cab is not the same as the sound of all the drivers in your cab(s) from a couple of feet away (which is the sound most of us are used to hearing).

A cracking winner in a strong field. Nice job!

I have recently purchased an RM500 C210 Evo II combo. Used it for its first gig the other night, sitting on an Ashdown 115 ext cab. Holy moly! Seemed fairly quiet on stage but when I walked out front with my wireless, it was loo loud for the balance. I ended up with the gain on 10 o'çlock and the master a tad over 9 oçlock. Don't think I'll be needing the ext cab very often! Used the sub harmonic on one song and the drive on one song, and they sounded pretty good. Happy camper here.

I prefer consistency. So I want the same note layout on every bass and every tune. I haven't done a gig in the last 25 years where a 5 string bass wasn't an advantage.