deepbass5

I started work as an electrical apprentice in 72, as soon as i was qualified i was given a van and put on a standby rosta in 1977 the very year i joined a busy working band, so i applied for a job in the office, a small works group. I hated it but those 3 years allowed me to follow a dream. It also allowed me to find a better job from there without contracted overtime. So I married the singer and carried on gigging. It all came back to haunt me later as I was required again to be on an out of hours call, but with a lot of luck and good people to swap with I juggled this for the next 30 years 🤘 Not quite the same as a shift rosta, but plenty of stress when that phone rings as you are about to leave the house on a gig. I was usually one step ahead with my diary, when the mellennium new year was on MY horizon, I sat down and worked it backwards 18 months to work out when and how our work pattern should start so i would miss it and could Gig 👌

I would be interested to hear from any plo players out there if the buisiness has sunk to the level of being asked to mime to bass tracks on certain gigs or doubling over a track live because those fronting the band want a consistand sound, e.g when some function bands advertise you can book a 3 piece 4,5,6 or the 7 piece recently saw a caberet show where the house band (organ Bass and drums) where not always playing each number, The bass player seem to choose which he could manage I started to doubt if he was a bass player but then played other numbers well and was live ???

I have had one for about three years now, having had the D800 prior to the D800 plus. The reason was the extra features to be able to control the mids, I didn't feel the standard D800 was any better than my old Markbass as i feel the MB are voiced well and do the buisiness well with little tweeking. I also have two 4 ohm cabs 2 x 12 " so was looking for a 2 ohm capability, and had bought an SWR SM-500 sereo amp on here to get me over the two cab issue on larger gigs. I do like it a lot it seems to suit my basses and my cabs, The real plusses for me are :- two para mid controls, the deep and bright boost switches, the high pass filter is very good, and of course the two ohm setting, and mute switch. disapointments :- why 800 watts would have preferred 350 <500 watts but with the features, voicing control not as good as the markbass VPF (imo) there is no direct out gain control. I miss that. I only got to use this in our covers band with two cabs for about 9 months prior to lockdown, and now only play bigband jazz, so is now overkill, and i worry about having it plugged into one 350 watt 4 ohm cab. I have just bought a Markbass Black line 250 as back up and for rehearsals, which is all i need if honest and liking the sound of that and suprised that the MB set flat is as deep as the Mesa with the bass boost on. ? so A/B ing amps is important. Hope this helps any other questions fire away, If you are anywhere near me you are welcome to try or maybe find other members would do the same if not. all the best Just to add, ref 800 watts as my cabs are not good for 800W I have not pushed this anywhere near to be able to comment, but suprised that with one cab the gain is at 2 oclock and master at 2 oclock for a jazz rehearsal and the 250 watt Markbass is at 12 oclock gain and 9 oclock master. But this means nothing of course without knowing the design,

Not Bass related - but i just asked Alexa to play some YO YO Ma to chil out and this sound track came up I have now listened to all of it, movie soundtracks are just amazing arn't they - enjoy

I didn't know these were still available, probably 15 - 20 years since i used them but were my go to string, then went to Status pressure or half rounds also no longer available Strings are a real headache I would once have left a note in the control cavity so i knew what was on last but got out of the habit. My Marleaux M bass as a set of nickles on, I love I was given them with a cab i bought i think they are SIT strings but can't remember now and don't want to risk changing them, probably been on for four years now.

I have used both for long standing gigs, started out with the comfort straps as they seem to have been the first to attend to our shoulder needs, but think i prefer the Neotech, though i find the width of the shoulder pad needs to curve to avoid your neck a minor point, but annoying. There was a problem with comfort straps secondary plastic links breaking, people reported some bass accidents with them, I have had no such problems although when leaving them attached to the bass as padding in a case or gig bag to hold the bass firm I have found that these comfort strap hard nylon links can cause some indentations ( bucklerash)

I do own and have used the EBS dual comp pedal more recently, I got this as i was familiar with the old Trace elliot big dual compressor pedal no longer available. which allowed you can control the bass end and high signal end seperately. There are lots of good articles on compressors that explain all the jargon, soft knee, hard knee and thresholds and release etc. and you can buy pedals with all the features you may require to tweek. But live on stage a good quality pedal that is easy to control is best, even these can completely destroy your sound if you forget and turn your bass up after sound check. My EBS was only set up to really make a difference when I was required to do some slap and pop stuff, which is the only time i needed one to control those harsh transients. home recording would be the other. having tried the Boss LMB3 Ped mentioned they sound great and do the job without the fuss, without getting into all the head scratching and messing up your big stage entry

Some Jazz for you now, just corresponding to someone about Marion Montgomery here is a great clip with the lovely Dud

Thats far too close to my personal plate to be funny 😄 but it makes me drive very considerately

First car i got specifically for band gear was the old jelly mould siera estate, wife was the singer so two people Bass rig was two Trace 15's etc and PA , monitors and lights. But with three babies at home and a few near miss's on way to gigs we invested in a VW transporter as we would never have survived a smash. worth thinking about when loading up your daily commute. When serious gigging dropped off we sold the transporter and got a Skoda Yeti. and was amazed we could still get all the same gear in there. rear seats tip up but can also be completely removed so you can use footwells too

You need to be careful, I knew a trumpet player that started playing in a band again after a long break, His wife suspected he was having an affair, so removed the mouthpiece from his instrument case. He continued going to band practice every week until she confronted him some weeks later

Sonic for me, Red basses are always too loud

Whilst i am reminiscing. I traded my 77 Fender P bass at the Gallery in the early 90's it had a maple neck and was originally olypic white but i stripped it, because it was looking tatty ( yah I know) I added a baddass bridge and white EMG's and cut a slot under the pickup cover to take a PP9 battery. So if you own a 77 P bass with a white neck pocket and a battery sized chunk missing under the guard, that'll be mine. It may well have been refinished and reverted back to stock by now, as i supplied the original pups and bridge etc. Think i got £300or £320 for it partX. 😪

The bass i miss most, which i sold on here about fifteen years ago approx, never seen it come up since. Was that you ? and do you still love it ? Just wondering A passive Schack swamp ash with Padauk board, I added a jazz pup and tonestyler pot. also the Barts and a string through for the 'B' and some fancy knobs.

That's all you can do within reason, (a test plug) that shows polarity and earth correctly wired. It has saved us on a few occations. Lets face it when you get to a gig you hardly have time to scratch your derrière. You then may require a longer extension to bring power from a socket further away. Like when bypassing the sound limiter 😮 But on large venues you can run the risk of plugging into sockets on a different final ring circuit, that is been wired on a different phase of a three phase system to balance the load across the site. This can create another risk. example. that the guitarist has a good socket near him, your side of the stage shows a fault and you run a lead from another room for your power and say the PA. and monitors. You now have the potential of 415 volts between the Guitarist amp and his mic. his monitor and maybe the lights by his feet. Best in this situation to run the whole band off the one good socket, It is a bit more do-able now with LED lighting I am assuming bands are not carrying around 3Kw of PAR cans anymore. If I do come across faulty wiring ( broken, cracked, melted, socket etc.) I will always get the most senoir employee I can find and point this out. If a large hotel Chain or Civic hall, I will actually write to head office the next day.

You won't know whats best until its too late, and the bass is in your hand. Go with what the guy making the bass suggests then take the bass round the gear stores and see what amp and cabs sound best with the bass. Just about everyone on this site has been here. It is a real lottery. Hope all the combinations line up for you.

On Venues electrical sockets. I had a section in our bands terms and conditions that states. something similar to the following:- Our Bass player is an Electrical Engineer and has over the years found various issues with venue electrical installations. We will test this to ensure it is safe for us to use, but reserve the right to not perform should a problem with the venues power supply be identified that may put band members at risk. Please ensure the venues electrical installation has been periodically inspected as per IEE regulations recommendations, and is properly earthed. This may sound OTT, but means you can drive away and still bill them for a gig that never happened through no fault of your own. My way of hitting back at the venues as Fleabag pointed out. i.e. two can play at this game.

Or carry a spare set of strings. My view of bands with this attitude are basically Rogue Traders. I have not been asked on the night for these either but the evidence is in my gig bag. I even carry the PAT tester in the Van just incase the guitarist has bought yet another new Amp