joeystrange

[quote name='OliverBlackman' timestamp='1342802057' post='1741280'] you can still hear with good clarity. It just lowers the volume and takes out higher frequencies. I've had them for a year and they're the best thing I've ever bought. [/quote] What attenuation are they? I just don't want some that will make everything just sound like the music is just playing in the background. [quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1342802172' post='1741286'] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/533-ear-plugs/"]http://basschat.co.u.../533-ear-plugs/[/url] 14 pages worth of info. I've got a pair of ACS 15 and they're great for me. [/quote] Dammit. I should stop being so lazy. I'll have a read of that, thanks.

What's everybody's opinion on ear plugs? I know that all musicians probably [i]should[/i] have them but who has experience of them? I've used cheap, crappy ones before and they make everything sound absolutely horrible and I just can't do it, no matter how hard I try. I'd love a set of moulded ones with decent filtering but they're a lot of money. Well, they're more money than I can spare anyway. My other issue is that I find it really hard to 'get into' what I'm/the band is playing if it's too quiet and I often wonder if this would be the case with ear plugs or if I'm just being stupid. So, what do people think?

I've always wanted to learnt this but always given up at the mere thought of it. I might give it a go though. Matt Freeman is, indeed, a great player. Didn't reckon much to the Devil's Brigade stuff though.

Warranties are usually non-transferable, in my experience. Also, if you don't have the original receipt the manufacturer obviously has no proof of how old the item is and cannot/will not honour the warranty.

Played at the O2 Academy in Birmingham last night at one of the Emma Scott Presents gigs. We went on third out of five bands and played to a packed room that had never seen or probably even heard of us before. Regardless of this they all proceeded to sing our songs back at us and even carried on singing them after we'd finished the set! Then we sold a crapload of merch. Definitely one of my favourite ever gigs!

I don't have any basses worth more than £500 at the minute but if I did I would certainly play it/them. I don't see the point in spending a load of money on a bass if you're going to barely use it.

Been listening to this today. Great track! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLnINZ-cANI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLnINZ-cANI[/url]

I know it's not incredible stuff but I've always loved listening to Tommy Shannon's playing on the SRV stuff. So effortless.

If you're happy with the pickups, keep them. If you're not happy with them, get some new ones. If the new ones turn out to be no different to the stocks, sell them.

Here are some posters from my old band for the Halloween shows we did over a few years... We had an Evil Dead one one year too but I can't seem to find that one.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1340700906' post='1708168'] I wondered where your head was! That was a great bass sound you had considering it was all DI into the PA? Maybe because I used my own rig they used a different lead to DI it? Whatever the reason it was causing the wedges to produce some very "interesting" sounds until we got them to take all the bass out of the foldback. [/quote] Somebody forgot to get it out of the van (It wasn't me, I tried to remind them) before they went to park it so I just used my SansAmp instead. It did the job. I don't think those monitors were big enough to handle much bass. I'm surprised they didn't blow!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1340548498' post='1705955']the last band had the bass massively loud in the monitors which meant that the front wedges were producing some "interesting" sounds in time with my bass part on the opening song and and the second I was so loud I could no longer hear the drums! [/quote] I wonder why they had so much bass? I didn't use an amp and didn't get any bass in the monitor either and it was fine for me. Your set was great, by the way!

[quote name='jaydentaku' timestamp='1340195412' post='1700758'] I don't have his number anymore. Whats the story? [/quote] He was Jackson's main poster boy in the 80s so he got given a load of guitars for free. Apparently, more often than not, in this case the goods are still owned by the manufacturer as no money has changed hands for the goods. When his career took a bit of a nosedive he sold a few of the Jacksons to raise a bit of money. Then Jackson decided they wanted their guitars back seeing as his face wasn't doing them much good at that point in time. Seeing as he'd sold them when they technically weren't his he had to pay Jackson full price for each one, which he obviously didn't have at the time. I've heard of similar things happening to other, lesser known, musicians too. So the downside to a 100% endorsement is that they can ask for everything back whenever they want whereas if you get gear at a discount then it's yours.

It's generally only the big guys that get stuff for free. Although that does have a downside too. Just ask Dave Mustaine.

[quote name='SlapbassSteve' timestamp='1340190758' post='1700612'] I'm not endorsed but it's something I'd love to look into- how does one go about getting an endorsement? [/quote] I currently have a few endorsements, mostly through our manager. My old band had a few that we got ourselves though. If you don't have a manager or anyone to do it for you then just try it for yourself. Of course, if you do have a manager it helps but it is do-able. We just e-mailed a load of companies (try and find their artist relations contact if you can) and basically asked them directly. Tell them what you're doing, what you've done and what you have planned (it always helps to word it well and big yourself up a bit too) and ask if they can do you any kind of deal. If it's a company who's gear you already use then tell them that and send pics etc. If not then just tell them you really like their gear. Some never got back to us and some offered us great deals! By doing this we got deals with some really good companies including Hiwatt, Gibson, and a custom drum company. We just figured we had nothing to lose by trying.

We're playing a Lancashire village called Whalley that are having a Jubilee festival type thing on Sunday. Our stage time recently got moved from 5pm to 12:30 pm. Can't say I'm looking forward to that bit!

[url="http://www.facebook.com/jdandthefdcs"]http://www.facebook.com/jdandthefdcs[/url] A fair bit going on at the minute leading up to our album launch!

Following on from open mic nights, see if you can find a local blues jam too. That might be a good idea. You can often get away with playing a really simple 12-bar and you'll get to play with (and learn from) different musicians. When I was younger I learned a lot from playing in a blues band and it improved my playing no end. If you've been taking lessons and learning theory for a year I'd bet you'd be more than good enough to start playing with other people. Just be confident in yourself and go for it. If you make any mistakes don't let it get you down. We all do it and it's part of the learning curve. Just go and have fun!

I remember playing a gig in Tenby once. I think there were about 8 bands playing and we were on next to last. The last band soundchecked then the engineer asked us to soundcheck. We played half a song and then asked for some changes onstage. To which the engineer replied "There's no point, it'll sound completely different when you go on anyway." I've still got no idea why he even asked us to soundcheck!

I don't mind letting people use my cab but not my head. That's way easier to break than the cab. It does get annoying when people don't even thank you for letting them use it though. I used it for the second half of an all-dayer a few weeks ago and out of the 8 bands that used it only two of them thanked me. And they were friends anyway. I agree with the OP too... A lot of London bands are terrible. They just get on the tube with their guitar and expect to use all your gear that you've brought to their doorstep from 150 miles away. Then they get told, ever so kindly, to f*** right off.