mrtcat

That sounds like a good idea to me.

Ah understood. We have two full time musicians in the band and none of the rest of us have ever felt the need to shout about our day jobs (I work in the tool factory putting the bubbles in spirit levels). We're not a rock band either.

Anything you can do to get you used to being out of your comfort zone helps. As mentioned above having lots of charts and experience of transposing keys quickly is essential. Readers have more doors open than non readers. Staying positive and being prepared is hugely important. You don't have to be flash but you have to be solid.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1436286102' post='2816758'] A few weeks ago we played a local festival and one of the bands that played before us kept going on about the fact that all 3 of these guys were attorneys and they do this for fun. Sorry guys, just not into bands like that, they have no credibility with me and as you can probably guess they were not very good in my opinion. I say do your attorney stuff and leave the music hustle to guys that need it. Blue [/quote] I can't quite get my head around this. Are you saying that the only people who should be playing in rock bands are people who do only that? Is it just attorneys or does it apply to anyone who has a day job and plays in a band as a hobby or for extra cash?

As it says in the title. I've just been booked to dep for a band this sat that is supporting Slade UK and AC/DC UK at a charity event in Northants. Just wondered if either of the bass players is on this forum. Would be cool to hook up with other basschatters if they're involved.

+1 for hydrogen. I use it a lot and find it very intuitive.

Just bought an MXR Super Octave pedal from Michael. Very easy to deal with and pedal arrived quickly and was really well packed. Thank you!

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1436201552' post='2815923'] It seems a fairly common thing for the bassist to have responsibility for the PA with a lot of the bands I see locally. Is that a thing I wonder? [/quote] Nobody else in my band has the remotest interest or understanding of PA. It can be pretty depressing sometimes watching the guitarist set hi mic up in front of the FOH speakers.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1436208674' post='2816035'] A fair few new Windows laptops have USB 3 ports. [/quote] If it were me then I would seriously consider one of the windows ones then. USB 3 interfaces shouldn't be too far away if the ports are becoming common.

[quote name='Passinwind' timestamp='1436209158' post='2816041'] [i][b]Bass world surely leading the way?[/b][/i] IMO, hardly. Pro sound reinforcement pretty much drives the bus and we get crumbs eventually. [/quote] Agree in terms of the tech but have they seen such a significant size reduction in cabs? Actually I guess all the skinny column speakers and 12inch subs would suggest that they are leading with that too.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1436201563' post='2815924'] The Fender i'm sure it's SS (class-D and the cab is Neo) but i can't say the same about the H&K from what i can remember, maybe it has a valve pre. [/quote] The leap to SS may be what is currently holding many players back from going this way. For me this is the biggest game changer for guitarists http://www.kemper-amps.com/lineup

If you're using reaper then have a think about whether you are using the laptop to record stuff. If so how many inputs into reaper do yo want? If you want say 8 or more then USB 2 may not be the best way. Mac books with a thunderbolt port would allow you to use a firewire interface and that would allow you to use an interface with more inputs. I have a Dell PC and it's great but for laptop I'll always use Mac until you can get USB 3 ports on standard laptops.

Looks killer. Great job.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1436199166' post='2815883'] Had a guitar player who used a Fender Jazzmaster amp and cab: Incredibly small (1x12"), very light (the cab is lighter than the Barefaced Midget T i had at that time) and stupidly loud (250W @ 2ohms - yes, the cab was also 2 ohms!!! - it filled a theatre room by itself on a soundcheck). I also know guys using a Hughes & Kettner similar config rig and also sounds immense! So the lightweight gear is already available for guitar players but i think they're more tradicional when it comes to gear and won't take changes/technology advances as easilly as bass players. [/quote] Now that's more like it. That to me represents a significant step forward. Is it valve?

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1436191663' post='2815766'] Did we? I reckon at gigs I see more P and J basses than I do Les Pauls and Strats. I'm not sure I buy this "bass players are more innovative" line when it comes to instruments. For amps, sure, but not instruments. [/quote] Maybe but with basses there's a lot more variety in wood type, shape, string numbers out there. Many on here (myself included) drool over Ritters, Sei's and the likes with the far more extreme body shapes, exotic woods and multi band pre amps. I agree that it's less of a move away from the original designs than amps but I've always felt there's a wider range of choice of styles for basses than guitars. Like Lozz says though there is less of a need for size reduction in a bass than an amp.

That's a real shame. I must admit I'm yet to have a bad purchase experience but have had to wade through some silly offers when selling stuff. One particular person kept badgering me to let something go for peanuts and was telling me that what I had was pretty un desirable and that he was doing me a favour. I just bought a pedal on here and the seller was really understanding after I made the offer, told him I'd pay straight away and then completely forgot. I got a very polite reminder and absolutely no grief when I explained why I'd forgotten. Hope you find something soon. If you were closer I would offer to lend you something to get you through your video.

I would probably spend 90% of my time in a PA sub section because that's my forte but probably for the best there isn't one as I'd probably become an even bigger nerd than I am now.

Anyone looking for a plywood supplier in the Oxfordshire area should definitely try WG Powell on the cowley rd in Oxford. They have a good stock of Baltic Birch Ply and have always been able to source Poplar Ply in low volume for me too. If you ask really nicley they may offer trade price which makes the Birch Ply less than Wickes / TP / B&Q etc charge for really poor quality far eastern ply. I've always found the quality very good and the a 12mm sheet usually has 7 even plys (no 1mm veneer or any of that nonsense). They also take good care when cutting for you so you get good clean, accurate square cuts.

This is interesting. It seems that the biggest hurdle in guitar world is the guitarists themselves. But then I guess that is the same when innovating in any area - letting the customers realise that change is good no matter how easy or difficult is the key to gaining momentum in developing ever smaller / lighter / louder / etc gear. At some point bass players saw the light and not surprisingly as we generally appreciate far more innovation in our instruments (wood type, designs, electronics etc) where guitarists like les pauls and strats. I know a guitarist who has 2 4x12 marshall cabs that he's altered internally so each is actually just running 1 12inch driver because he wanted the look but not the volume. That's crazy to me as the biggest advantage of modern bass gear is the practical size and weight. That said maybe its a good thing. Imagine a world where guitar drivers were being developed to make them even louder

[quote name='chevy-stu' timestamp='1436021200' post='2814403'] Just a revisit, but I have a VBA head and had a 412 cab, but all the speakers slowly blew one after the other over year or 2. On inspection the magnets and coils are quite small and I just don't think they were enough for the monstrous output of the amp.. I replaced the drivers with some better bigger coil Eminence drivers about 6 years ago and the cab lived on for a while. I was sold a while back so no idea where it is now... Still got the head tho [/quote] was it a Marshall 4x12? That would explain speaker drivers failing over time. Marshall use the cheapest crappiest versions of Vintage 30s in their guitar cabs (so poor compared to proper vintage 30s) and I'd expect the same theme in their bass cabs.

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1436175076' post='2815509'] As Lord Claber is doing a guitar cab soon we may well see a change. [/quote] Looking forward to seeing this very much.

Struggling to see anything beyond that Hayman Mark. That's bloody lovely.

The bass world is IMO really changing rapidly in terms of using design and technology to make it's amps and cabs smaller, lighter, louder and more versatile. A few years back this was my rig [attachment=195736:29858_395416356371_4242490_n.jpg] But this weekend I played to a wedding crowd of 300+ people with this and there was certainly no shortage of volume or weight of sound. [attachment=195739:Rig.jpg] For really big gigs or outdoor events I have a second matching cab and I'd say that those two together are louder than the top rig by some margin which I guess is attributed to a combination of driver development, good cab design and amp development. Is there any other instrument that is using tech this way? I know the music production world has also changed beyond all recognition but I'm thinking more about instruments. It certainly seems (to me - and I'm happy to be corrected) like guitarists are reluctant to embrace this kind of change - particularly the pub / small venue amateur players. Are there equivalent companies to Barefaced, Bergantino, Aguilar etc that are pushing boundaries in other musical fields? Interested to hear your thoughts.