mrtcat

I get cramp occasionally if I have to dep a hard rock gig with lots of fast tunes and I'm not necessarily as "gig fit" as when I did that sort of stuff regularly.

I avoid big stadium gigs as 1) the ticketing system is criminal and 2) the sound is usually terrible (big boomy kick drum which ruins the mix and totally muddy bass sound).

Converted my shed to a studio this year following arrival of baby as wife insisted the house was to be a music gear free space. Soundproofed, insulated, dry lined, plastered, double glazed, ventilated and alarmed. I use a humidity controller / air conditioner. Its more secure than the house, warmer and big enough that the whole band can rehearse in there. Now the wife complains constantly that she never sees me. She says I love the shed more than I do her. Clearly she's not as daft as she looks.

It's pretty vile and unnecessary. I played football to a high standard for 18yrs and never once felt the need to spit so I get really annoyed watching pros do it on tv.

[quote name='NickD' timestamp='1435924617' post='2813660'] They're like girlfriends (only marginally less rational). [/quote] Marginally?

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1435926709' post='2813679'] As usual, those moaning are the one's that didn't go. A week on though and everyone is still talking about Kanye's set... [/quote] Still talking about how ridiculously bad he was lol. Nobody is moaning, its a great talking point because is was so comically bad.

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1435902117' post='2813387'] Glastonbury is no longer a music festival. People have their tickets bought long before any of the acts have been booked, so you never know who's going to be playing. There are so many stages and other things going on that it's become ridiculous [/quote] I think the buying of tickets before the lineup is finalised / revealed is partly because over the years it has seen lots of quality acts so people have some faith that it'll be worth it. It's also because there is a limit on places and it is undeniably very popular. It does seem very expensive to me these days though but they clearly don't struggle to shift tickets so something is right.

I feel your pain but you really need to stick with it. Sometimes things take a surprisingly positive turn when you least expect it. Kent to Wimbledon just isn't feasible IMO so move on and find someone new. Even if you keep blanking keep going as it only takes one right drummer to bite and you're back on track. At least you are in a densely populated area where the probability of there being a good drummer available is high. I live in the sticks and replacing band members can be really long winded because the pool of musicians is pretty shallow but even here we manage to find people eventually. Very best of luck.

I find that buying cheap basses is worse. I never shift them on again because I just think what's the point, I wont get much for it anyhow. I've got probably 4 that I never play.

I never take the stage sound to be acceptable for the foh mix. Even in a pub with no engineer I'll use a wireless lead and stand out front to soundcheck and tweak accordingly. There's absolutely no way I can stand next to the drummers hi hat whilst the guitarists amp is over by his floor tom and the keyboardist has his monitor beyond the guitarist and say "yep that sounds good out front".

[quote name='steantval' timestamp='1435818433' post='2812618'] Do you actually play an instrument or are on on here just to wind musicians up? [/quote] A little unnecessary I think. If nothing else this has been an interesting thread and although the OP did provoke a bit of a response it was genuinely based around what is clearly her own honest opinion. There is definitely something unusually interesing about Kanye West's self belief and you wonder how much that plays a part in his success. Maybe it's like watching a train running along the tracks just because it looks like the wheels may just fall off in spectacular fashion at some point.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1435841184' post='2812922'] I am also a guitarist, but just because lots of guitarists are idiots does not mean that its not wrong to make blanket statements about what power is "appropriate" for any given band. As bass players we'd be furious if we turned up with an 800W amp because we wanted lots of clean headroom and some guitarist said "what you using that for, you only need 300W, you don't know what you're doing, moron, you'll ruin the sound of the band...". 10W, 100W, 1000W. Doesn't matter. What matters is how you use that power. (Ironically, of course, the supposedly too loud 100W amps are not much louder (about 10%, all other things equal) than the supposedly acceptable 50W amps. ) [/quote] Yeah but if I turned up with a 300w all valve bass head to play the local wine bar and then proceeded to state that I need to crank it up to make the valves really do their thing then I would rightly deserve to get shot down by the rest of the band and told "if you want to get an overdriven sound from a bass amp then a 300w head is far too powerful for this gig". I think that's the point being made here, a 100w all tube guitar amp with a 4 x 12 cab is not the rig for small - medium sized gigs[u][b] IF you want to get your sound by driving both the preamp and poweramp tubes to the edge[/b][/u]. And even on large gigs why so powerful? Your gonna put a mic in front of it anyhow so why use something so loud you're going to p155 off the rest of the band. If however you want a big powerful amp for overhead for clean sounds - knock yourself out but please make sure you eq it right as 4 x 12s are terrible for muddying up the sound if not eq'd sensibly.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1435455368' post='2808989'] I'd love to, but our eldest is a bit unique, I reckon, for many reasons. Our 2nd guitar is maybe unusual, too, in that he is rather more restrained than some, despite his excellent gear. A touch of timidity, a slight lack of confidence, who knows..? Either way, neither of them are into 'noise wars' per se, but can poke out a pretty mean 'Highway to Hell' if called upon. Our repertoire is not especially soft, either, with Ava Adore, Tostaky, Killing in the name of, and more, but one doesn't have to deafen everyone, the power is in the composition and arrangement already. Maybe we're just lucky. [/quote] They're not unusual. Yes they are in the minority but it's just a good indication that they adopt a professional attitude. Decent pros play for the song and they have nothing to prove other than how professional they are, which is why they are a pro. Guitarists that can't tame volume are just amateurish morons, regardless of how talented they are. The whole "the amp needs to be cranked to sound good" argument, for me, just says "you're too pig headed to realise you either have the wrong amp with you for this gig or you're too dumb to see that if it only sounds good cranked you are going to have to compromise on your sound a little for the benefit of absolutely everyone else (audience, band mates and the reputation of your band)". Amateurs with a pro attitude are far less common but a really valuable asset to a band.

I use a j retro and a stingray pre. Both are great and I found the j retro particularly useful as it gives me really usable mid control. John is a really nice guy and is only about 40mins away from you. I'm sure he'd happily fit it for you.

Think I'd go to Williamscott basses first to see what they could make for me. They're local and I'd like to see my cash support a local company. Plus their basses look lovely.

[attachment=195322:Lemmy.jpg]

why not just change the plug on the end of your cable to suit the cab? Costs no more than a couple of quid for a speakon connector and they are usually screw terminals so no solder required.

Many bassists gig 1x12 or 2x12 cabs so your PA tops should be able to at least give you some presence. I'd advise going for a more middly type tone though so as not to suck up too much of the power. I'm really not a fan of EV stuff but tons of mobile djs use them so they can at least handle some bass. If you have only got vocals in them they won't exactly be pushed too hard. As obbm says though some of the small amps will double as di and will also happily run your cabs. That would be my chosen route although I have a di pedal on my board which I use into my head anyway so I have that option too.

Great work. I love the look and sound of their gear.

1994 so i could see RATM live in their prime and so I could throw a bottle of p!$$ at Liam Gallagher.

I enjoyed their set and I've never really taken much interest in their work. Yeah not as wild as back in the day but a) it's perfectly acceptable to get old and slow down a little and the guts of the original band is sadly not with us anymore. Nobody forced those that enjoyed it to enjoy it and I'm sure if you asked Daltrey / Townsend they'd say "hey we are just doing what we do - like it or lump it". I'm certainly not as angry or aggressive as I was in my early 20s and no doubt they're the same. It's human nature. They're realistic enough to know that at this stage they will make more people happy by playing their old stuff rather than trying to churn out new material just for the sake of it. It's what sunday evening at Glastonbury is all about. That said I really think Glastonbury is becoming very hit and miss these days. Seen more bad performances than ever before this year I think.

At least we all agree that it's not Kanye West. Maybe we should have a mirror poll of the "People Who Think They Are Rockstars But Clearly Aren't" so we can put him on top of that one?

Pretty sure the lack of young rockstars is more indicative of the world today. There's far more opportunity to make music so the pool of people out there is way bigger. That makes it hard to pick a stand out artist. It's also harder to shock people with rockstar type behaviour so being "wild" doesn't get you as far as it used to. Add to that the fact that individuals don't get as rich as they used to because of the way the music world is now then a lot of the crazy behaviour doesn't happen. For me a rockstar is someone who can step up and make a stadium go nuts. 10yrs ago I'd probably have suggested (controversially) Robbie Williams but now I'm a bit stumped to be honest.

Why is the age important? If you're the greatest rock star you're the greatest rock star regardless of your age. And if you are the greatest rock star then I doubt you give two hoots about your own age.