Lozz196

Now that looks like a wicked bass.

I`d be willing to bet that the other guys eq was less low-end heavy. It`s much easier to hear a bass with a lot of mids going on, and from a distance that always seems to translate to a really full sound anyway. So I reckon he was just in the frequencies that are easier to hear hence him seeming to win the battle.

In my old band, which had two bassists, if we were playing small venues that had FOH, as there were eight of us in total I used to DI straight to FOH from my Zoom B3 and just request some bass in the monitors. Given that that`s really not my preference as I`m old-school I have to say I was surprised with how well it actually went. Of course you`re at the mercy of the sound-man so a small combo for stage monitoring as a way of making sure you can hear yourself is a great idea.

Get him to buy Fender Champ or something similar from Marshall, really crank it and it will sing at probably a decent (as in not overbearing) volume. Then mic that up and you’ll sound immense. Re the bass, well the B3n has lots of amps/sims so all you need is a straightforward DI box (or maybe a second hand B3 maybe).

I did an online quote with New Moon yesterday and they came out £40 cheaper than my existing policy, and that’s without the 10% Basschat discount. Rather chuffed with that.

For the North West try The Star & Garter in Manchester. Excellent venue, and have great gigs, plus those gigs are very well run & organised.

Very good point Steve, our band is a registered business so it would be difficult to try and say we weren’t earning in any way at all. Hence why I have specific musical equipment insurance.

Well the only reason I’m sure about that is the number of gigs we did when starting out - our gig-getter is somewhat enthusiastic so I’m sure there would have been more requests than acceptances. I do understand what you mean, we’ve been on 8 band bills in a venue with only one room to store gear, but if a nightmare to say the least . As a regular gigging band we won’t let bands use amp heads or drum breakables but it’s usually possible to arrange gear shares if the promoter is up to scratch - and luckily many that we deal with are. But not all!

I’m sure the promoters who agreed to it wouldn’t have if the logistics of the venues couldn’t accommodate an extra band. As I’m equally sure that for every gig which we asked this and got on the bill there were probably 10 where we didn’t due to it not being logistically possible. As a band that now headlines (not every gig though ) we’re more than happy to give opportunities to bands just starting out and to not forget we all had to start somewhere.

When we started out - punk/Oi band - we realised that as unknowns we’d have to work at it, take first on the bill gigs for no money just to get the name out there. We literally contacted the venues/promoters who already had say 3 bands on and said we’d do a 30min set as first band on and for no money. Then turned up early, played and were professional, set up/broke down gear quickly, hung around for the whole event. You might have to do 6 months to a year of this but be patient. The other thing is go to gigs of the type of music, speak to the sound man, promoters, owners etc. Sometimes the personal touch works as face to face they can tell that they’re dealing with someone who they feel they can work with.

Quite, it’s really a different world the way we get treated overseas, proper meals, drinks all night be they alcohol, soft drinks or tea/coffee, plus thank yous at the end of the night for playing. And many promoters also book accommodation for the bands as well.

If you have an interest in WW2 Colditz Castle isn’t far from Leipzig. We went there a few years back when we played in Halle and I was so chuffed that my hobby enabled me to visit I place I’d read about for years.

I have five!

For gigs where there are a few bands gear all in a tiny space, or for packed cars with a lot of gear it has to be a Hiscox case. In those situations it`s inevitable that the case will be knocked over or will have something fall on it/slide onto it. Be prepared and go Hiscox, not particularly heavy, nor particularly bulky but incredibly strong and offer great protection.

I’ve had the old Duff sig, and the Aerodyne without the fret markers. I found the Duff neck to be quite deep whereas the Aerodyne more like a regular Jazz. Sound-wise I found the J bridge pickup on the Aerodyne quite weak so installed a Hot Stack - the same J pickup as in the Duff, made a lot of difference. The Duff with the TBX had slightly more options tonally. The Aerodyne was a lot lighter so that’s a consideration. My only real reserve towards the Aerodyne are no fret markers on the fret board itself, not good on dimly or overly lit stages. Both good basses, would like to check the new Duff sig out.

The only possible thought to support his views is the ‘sound man who knows the room’ theory. I’ve worked on gigs with some of those types and that knowledge and how it’s translated into the sound of the bands performing, well I’d liken it to Steve Wonders knowledge of pastel colours.

I use Insure4Music. I’ve never had to claim so can’t comment on that area but setting up the insurance and the levels/prices all were pretty straightforward enough to deal with.

I can see his point for the sizes of stages that he plays, but having a Marshall 100 watt amp & matching 412 in a pub gig at full pelt only sounds great to people in the pub down the road. And even on big stages I’m not a fan of having the amps any louder than the sound of the drums on their own. I’ve been on stages where the sound-man has had a ‘festival pack’ for the monitors and it’s nearly blown my bl88dy head off - we quickly asked for all of that to be taken out, but it seems many bands want that kind of volume both through the amps and monitors.

I had a Duff Sig (older model, not the new one with blocks etc), and have played a Nate Sig. The Duff, although it has a Jazz width neck, was a fair handful, I was surprised at the depth of the neck. The Nate although a thinner than regular Precision, just felt like a good worn in Precision. Sound-wise the Duff is more versatile due to the two pickups and TBX option, additionally the Nate has Quarter Pounder pickups which I`m not keen on. I wouldn`t say either was better as in terms of build quality, playability they were pretty evenly matched. If I had to pick one I`d probably go for the Duff as for one I already have enough regular Precisions, so the added tonal options make sense, plus it wouldn`t require a pickup change to get rid of the QPs.

Likewise, I thought he did very well in SLF. I’ve seen them since with Ali back in the bass-fold and imo Bruce nailed it better. Not so much the playing as both are great, but Bruces Precision to me fitted better in the mix than Alis Stingray does.

Hope all goes well, studio work is great fun, have just spent the last 4 days in the studio recording our 4th album. Still got to mix it but got 15 tracks fully recorded (bass/drums/guitars/lead & backing vox) so are feeling rather pleased with ourselves at the moment.

I had one and it was very similar to the Fender Custom Shop 62. In fact I’ve just bought a Mex Player Precision and if the stock pickup isn’t up to scratch (they’re meant to be much nearer to the 62s than previous MIM pickups but time will tell) I’ll be getting a Tonerider for it, I was that impressed.

Rock may have nothing more to say but that hasn’t stopped people asking to hear it again. Look at Guns N Roses doing their Not in This Lifetime tour. And many eagerly awaiting the anticipated getting back together of Brian Johnson and AC/DC. Sure, nothing new but so what, if fans of great live music want to hear it, well that’s the important thing.