mcnach

Busy gig at Whistle Binkies last night in Edinburgh. Bittersweet. Sweet because it was (mostly) fun and people were really into it and dancing etc. We seem to have a group of Spanish followers who start sharing our gig announcements when we play in town which is awesome, as they are very highly energetic and very appreciative. However, yesterday a group of them showed up for our second set, already in very 'high spirits'. The thing is this bar is small... and it was already a bit crowded. I'm all for dancing and pushing a bit (lots of ska) but when it's so busy you need to be a bit considerate and watch what you're doing, so you don't just kick and punch people around you... You're not the only one dancing there. My girlfriend was there with a group of friends and they were very much pushed to one side. No great, but hey. But it wasn't enough apparently. I saw her being pushed quite hard a couple of times. The third one, she turned around and pushed the guy in question... I wished she'd just tell him, in first instance, to please be more careful. But she didn't. Well. The guy reacted by pushing her hard again. It took a lot of self restraint to not jump out and punch him. My girlfriend then just went to the far side and stood there, not dancing anymore. The guy, to his credit, moved away to the other side, clearly not wanting to escalate things. But I was very annoyed at his reaction. I carried on playing but I was just watching and trying to see my girlfriend. I didn't manage until the song was over. She looked at me. She wasn't happy and touched her back as if to say it hurt. I mouthed a "you OK?" which was silly as she clearly wasn't. She pointed at the guy. I knew who he was. But I saw him there laughing, and her in pain, and I snapped. As my singer was introducing the next song, I put my bass down and came off stage to the guy. I asked him if he was Spanish. She said yes... Perfect, so I could communicate very accurately in my mother tongue what I thought about his behaviour, and that if so much as grazes any one of that group again, I'll come out again and punch the lights out of him. Not my best moment. I would have achieved a lot more by at least initially offering him a nice way out: he was probably just not aware of how their aggressive dancing was affecting others that had been happily dancing there before in the same busy floor. I could have just asked him to please be careful, that I loved their energy and all that but that he had clearly hurt someone, who happened to be my girlfriend, and we want *everybody* to have a good time, and that I would not tolerate inconsiderate behaviour, or something along those lines... but unfortunately I was in 'seek and destroy' mode. So I directly threatened him. He didn't take it very well and said that we should go outside maybe. I laughed and I said that I'd happily do so once we finish our set, and warned him once more to stay away that group. Then went back onstage to the bemusement of my bandmates... and we launched into the next song... and all was ok. The guy stayed there, and after a minute he was again smiling and having fun. Cool. So was I. Then we finish. He was gone. Just as well. I really didn't want to get into that kind of thing. Although I did want to tell him that my approach had been a bit heavy handed and I regretted my manners, but not the message. A separate 'incident'... another guy leaned onto the stage and took the beer from one of the guitarists and drank from it. The guitarist was amazed and amused... "what are you doing? do you just walk into somebody's home, open their fridge and eat their food without asking???" They bought him another beer. They guy was a bit out of it and I guess he just saw a glass and didn't think. I like playing in bars, but sometimes... it's a test.

+ 1 for the Binkies showcase. If they like you etc it leads to some proper slots... I've been playing there for years with various bands. First time was a Wednesday for us, 45 min single slot (not the showcase, but almost... why some people get a wednesday and others a tuesday I do not know)... then we started playing mostly Thursdays and Sundays, 2x45' slots. Then Fridays & Saturdays. Once they know you, you skip all that if you just approach them with a new band... so I recommend it's you who become the contact

[quote name='Burrito' timestamp='1499443513' post='3331637'] Forgive my newbie-esque question but after 20yrs on flats I'm a recent convent to roundwounds. I noticed on my main gigging bass the strings are dead already. I played live last night and I have a show tomorrow. If I restring today will they have settled down for tomorrow night or should I do the gig and restring at my leisure. There's some life in them but they do need changing. [/quote] No time at all. I don't like fresh strings because they're a little too bright for my liking... but at times I just had to, and it's fine. The 'trick' I think is to ensure you don't add excessive turns around the post and ensure there's no slack as you wind the strings. Then you may want to stretch the strings a bit... I find it unnecessary but if you left a bit of slack it can help taking care of it. And last, I push the strings around the saddles and the nut, where they would naturally form witness points over time. That way the tuning is completely stable, in my experience.

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1499451440' post='3331698'] +1 TC polytune I also have the Korg rack unit in my rig. Can't say i've noticed it being difficult to see in daylight. Are you talking about footpedal version ? Dave [/quote] Yes, the foot pedal, like this:

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1499408269' post='3331321'] I have that exact one, except I bought it direct off AliExpress for just over £10. It worked well in bright sun last Sunday. [/quote] Hmmm... and it's tiny weeny... and I like the display a lot more than my Polytune nano... if it works well enough for bass, this is certainly interesting. Thanks! I still like more the idea of a VU-style tuner with a needle and a white background... but that looks like it's going to be impossible to find in a reasonable size, so BRIGHT LEDs is an alternative...

[quote name='Bolo' timestamp='1499407010' post='3331313'] Ashdown's bassometer is bright as a thousand suns AND features a VU. I took it off my board to save space and I never do daylight gigs. [/quote] It's... huuuuuuge!

Hmmm, I have a Polytune Nano but it's on my big board that never gets used outside. I never thought it was that much brighter... maybe it's time to try it. Yes, a VU-type tuner is what I thought initially, but not sure there are any made these days...

I love my Korg Pitchblack... but sometimes playing outdoors it's very hard to see the display. Does anybody know of a decent tuner pedal with a display that can be easily seen under bright outdoor light? It may be simpler to make some kind of shade for the tuner, but if there's something out there that works better...

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1499259880' post='3330344'] By the time you've taken the wall-wart transformer into account it's not really that small and compact. Also check that said wall wart comes with a UK plug on it rather than the one pictured, as you'll be messing around with adaptors and that won't make for a very reliable PSU. [/quote] The separate power supply did put me off some other more upmarket units a while ago... but in this case it works well, I like that it's separate. The 'distributor' part is tiny and makes the pedalboard itself very compact, no cables dangling anywhere. The power supply fits in a pocket of the board's soft case. Take out, plug at one end, plug at the other... away you go. It looks like similar supplies are common (1-1.2A, 15V DC), and I found one with detachable cables which I like... barely £10, in stock in a UK shop. I have a T-Rex "Fuel tank" that I was going to use, but it's about 2cm x 2cm too big to allow me to fit it nicely, and its cable is very rigid and it sticks out... great supply, it's worked beautifully in a bigger board including some hungrier digital pedals... but it was shattering my wish for a compact 4-pedal board. We'll see how this thing works. I saw another one for around £50 that was also flat with the connectors on top that looked decent. It was larger, at around 14cm x 5cm or so, and included a couple of adjustable voltage sockets (for those who like the sound of some pedals when the batteries are running low)... If a supply doesn't fit under the board, I like having the sockets on the top, vertically.

[quote name='Mottlefeeder' timestamp='1499258302' post='3330317'] I haven't used one, but I checked out the website information - the input is 15 volts at up to 1 Amp, and the outputs are almost all 9 V up to a total load of 1 Amp. When it is lightly loaded I would expect it to work well, but if you take it up to the current limit, the electronics inside will have to dissipate (15-9)V * 1Amp, which is 6 Watts. To do that you would need to leave space around it for air circulation, so its footprint would be considerably bigger. David [/quote] I think I'm going to give it a try. I just worked out that the pedals I'd use with it would barely reach 100mA together, and the size/shape is just perfect. Let's see. It's cheap enough to worth a try.

[quote name='Mottlefeeder' timestamp='1499258302' post='3330317'] I haven't used one, but I checked out the website information - the input is 15 volts at up to 1 Amp, and the outputs are almost all 9 V up to a total load of 1 Amp. When it is lightly loaded I would expect it to work well, but if you take it up to the current limit, the electronics inside will have to dissipate (15-9)V * 1Amp, which is 6 Watts. To do that you would need to leave space around it for air circulation, so its footprint would be considerably bigger. David [/quote] I guess you could just cool it regularly with cold beer...

They are ideal for a small pedalboard with no particularly hungry pedals. Small footprint, cables exiting vertically helping organising the space in a small board... hmmm. [url="https://www.tomtop.com/parts-accessories-491/p-i2209.html?currency=GBP&aid=gdymkh&gclid=CLuI6f-L8tQCFRM8Gwodl0UHAQ"]https://www.tomtop.com/parts-accessories-491/p-i2209.html?currency=GBP&aid=gdymkh&gclid=CLuI6f-L8tQCFRM8Gwodl0UHAQ[/url]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]"He’s like a man with a fork in a world of soup" [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I love that.[/font][/color]

Yup... there's a lot of flab down there. Cutting a bit of bass can help clarity a lot. Get yourself an adjustable HPF (high pass filter), and prepare to be amazed at how much nicer you can sound once you seriously remove frequencies below a certain point.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1499011486' post='3328557'] I was going to post this in the thread about "Which Markbass?", because that's what made me think about it (LM3 being a bit long in the tooth etc), but decided on a separate thread. So, as per the title, probably a hypothetical question, but what would people look for on an LM4 if such a thins were ever to appear? I'm currently using an LM3 as my regular amp. Personally I'd say drop the XLR input and give it two Speakon outputs. Possibly build in a compressor (Though I probably wouldn't use it myself), and definitely keep the VLE and VPE. - in fact tone wise change nothing*. OH, and make it universal power supply. * If anything at all give it blend-able valve pre-amp, but it would have to have far more effect than in their current valve pre-amp models. [/quote] A MUTE button!!!! I'd also like an adjustable HPF. Maybe an aux input. Could remove the XLR input quite happily. 2ohm capability. I'd prefer no built-in compressor or tuner. Higher power would be nice but not a big deal. Whatever they use on the Mesa D800 is pretty cool.

[quote name='lowlandtrees' timestamp='1499105292' post='3329220'] Got a big blister on my plucking/slapping finger yesterday.....rockabilly...and got a practice on Wednesday and don't know whether I should burst the blister. Certainly can't play with it. It was the usual volume war as the gig heated up. I always try to relax and not join in but then you can't hear yourself. I never get blisters or even sore tips during even the longest rehearsals. [/quote] I hope you bought superglue...

Lee just bought my Boss chorus pedal... easy transaction, good communication... perfect. Thanks again, Lee. I hope you have fun with it

Jim bought my MXR M87 compressor pedal... great communication, easy going, a real pleasure. Thank you again, I hope you enjoy the pedal!

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1498932495' post='3328113'] To be quite honest my first preference is ebony, then rosewood. I'm going straight to hell, aren't I? [/quote] On second thoughts... less competition! You're alright

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1498930933' post='3328096'] I think maple doesn't suit the BB at all, FWIW [/quote] Heathen!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1498903582' post='3327853'] Just toying with ideas... so many choices. (The top-left and bottom-right are charcoal frost. I don't think they're as blue as that in real life.) [/quote] middle, left... classy. Yum.