john_the_bass

That's exactly the thing we're trying to get away from Andy. We've been using a rig comprising 3x Peavey 2600 power amps, a crossover, reverb unit, MD player (+the light controllers) - in a Gator roller case that took 3 of us to lift out of a van - powering 2x Wharfedale LX18MBs, 2x Wharfedale LX15Bs and 2x Wharfedale LX15s and run with an Allen and Heath GL2400 24 channel desk, most of which we sold off through the classifieds on this site as it was far too much for our needs. The best part of 8kW is overkill for most of the gigs we do, which really only require a vocal PA these days, so we were looking for a pair of compact, quality powered 12s and had heard a lot of good things about RCF. They fit our criteria well too - fairly powerful for the application we need, plus with Neo drivers and Class D amps, they only weigh 18kg, and I believe RCF are still manufacturing in Italy (not that I think there is anything wrong with Chinese stuff - I have a Chinese made Ashdown ABM and an Epiphone Valve Junior and neither has ever given me any grief). Our thoughts are that if we ever require a full on system, we can hire one in with an engineer and add it to our fee if necessary. There is also room to expand our system with a pair of powered subs if necessary. So whilst it might be a good system, it's no longer the sort of thing we're looking for.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='328463' date='Nov 13 2008, 04:22 PM']Pardon me for asking, but i was just wondering how that's much more portable than a normal bass? I'm assuming that it's a 34" scale so it's pretty much the same length as a normal bass and with the bits that stick out it's almost as wide, just a bit lighter... And those aria ones on the same website, in what way are they portable? They're the same size as a normal bass (if not bigger) it's just going to be a bit lighter. I'm not criticising you at all, i've just never understood what makes these basses so portable. I understand the steinberger, but not these... I have no problems carrying any of my basses around with me.[/quote] The frame on the side of the Aria Sinsonido (or whatever they're called) comes off so you can put it into a bag and it's pretty much just a stick then. I think as the travel bass idea, they're very good - you can plug a pair of headphones into the Arias I believe so you can pretty much have a silent practice without lugging loads of gear around

Ok mate thank you - and your fee isn't reflective of the time of year (presumably based on Jake's first post that they won't pay a premium because it's Christmas)? Would you add a bit on for the festive season?

Crez - sorry if I'm being thick, but I'm trying to put together the info in your posts into info that I understand - I'm not being sarky/cheeky/flippant, but from what you've said, can I assume you mean £8k for the band for 8 days on the trot over Christmas/New Year with FOH and Engineer supplied? Forgive me if it seems obvious to you, but I've not been in this position before, so I'm just trying to get a better understanding of this. I don't do this for a living and the company I work for don't break for Christmas, so I would have to book the Christmas holiday off as leave and then spend it on a boat - so it has to pay.

[quote name='crez5150' post='327387' date='Nov 12 2008, 10:35 AM']8k each.... you'll be very lucky..... no 8k for the gig... Stage it.... make sure they provide FOH, Engineer and possibly backline but that's not always that clever an option....[/quote] £8k over 8 days? Sorry if this appears an obvious question, but I've not looked at this sort of thing before. TBH, I'm kind of with Jake on how much I'd have to see to take me away from my family on Christmas Day

[quote name='Hamster' post='327184' date='Nov 11 2008, 11:21 PM']With or without the £3000 bar tab you'll run up [/quote] How dare you! [quote name='Rusty Shackleford' post='327340' date='Nov 12 2008, 09:54 AM']unless you have kids or a wife then do it. xmas sucks a fatty and if the money is alright t least it'll be another feather in your silly jon the bass cap. Rusty knows best.[/quote] And how dare you! It's a hat, not a cap! [quote name='crez5150' post='327362' date='Nov 12 2008, 10:11 AM']Min 8k and make sure they stage it!![/quote] What do you mean by make sure they stage it? Is that £8k for the band or each? Jake that info is quite useful, is there an argument that as you move out of the Christian west, the tolerance for stuff like dancing and enjoying yourself and playing western music is less and therefore the chances of you competing against a band from the east that plays the sort of rubbish that cover bands like mine do, is less likely? Just a thought

I thought that the £1200 figure I'd seen looked a bit high then!!

Seen a nice used Stingray fretless 5 with piezo, looks a bit on the pricey side IMO - any thoughts on the going rate for one at the minute? Value is obviously subjective, but I've not thought of buying one before and I know it's different to a 4 string fretted 3EQ, but in terms of the extra value - what do you think? Ta

So we (the band) have found an ad for a winter cruise - it's from 24th Dec until 1st Jan inclusive and if we took it, would mean leaving the family over Christmas, something that I'm not particularly happy or willing to do, but of course everybody, including me, has their price. What would you say was the going rate for a 5 piece band to be sat on a boat for 8 days on the trot, with a gig every night over that period - bearing in mind it'll include Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, NYE and New Years Day. Personally, I have thought that a good way to work out what my time is worth is to look at it as an hourly rate that I would expect to earn in the band, multiply that by an 8 hour day and then double time for Boxing Day, NYE, New Years Day and triple time for Christmas Day. Anybody agree? Anybody care to offer what they would expect from this as a band or an individual?

[quote name='Clarky' post='325783' date='Nov 10 2008, 11:11 AM']I use a type of lemon oil that I was put on to when investigating oils for darkening a rosewood fretborad - here's the link [url="http://www.beafifer.com/boredoctor.htm"]http://www.beafifer.com/boredoctor.htm[/url] Has to come from the US (took about a week) but does the job really well[/quote] It's good innit?! I am quite pleased with the results I've had so far - my SG in particular must be so dry that it's absorbed a dozen or so coats so far, but it's getting darker all the time. I recently used it on my Crafter acoustic and it took so much muck off

I was told that the bias was pre-set by Laney and it was, to all intents and purposes, self-biasing. The tech I took it to post-fail, largely agreed that was the case.

So the problem with my amp was apparently the output tubes - it seems one (or more) was a problem which caused them to overheat and stop working. My understanding was that when valves failed, they usually blew the HT fuse (which didn't happen). My knowledge of this sort of thing is quite limited but I have been told that the valves could overheat due to a short across the sockets or an open circuit. I don't really know what this means, but I would like to try and find out what the common cause of valve failure is, how it's identified and what I should do about tubes which have failed within 2 months from new. It's an all tube amp btw - 4 preamp and 4 output tubes. Ta

I have to add that I've also restrung my Martin tonight and that was much better. I think the SG was the worst, possibly because it's the lightest guitar and as these things presumably use the resonance or vibrations to display the frequency of the note, presumably mass has something to do with it. I'd still prefer a pedal tuner every time

Having just changed a set of strings on my SG, I can confirm I have an "Intelli Chromatic Tuner IMT-500" and it's, well...a bit crap actually. It took ages to register a note and in some cases, I had to play the 12th fret harmonic to pick anything up. Tuning up a B, the tuner thought it was F#, so I just let it get on with it! I've not tried it on bass yet, but it does work very well with my acoustic guitar. My dad has one, no idea what make it is, my brother bought it for him (if that piece of info is helpful!) and it has a built in mic, plus the backlight changes colour when the note is tuned to pitch. Seemed accurate when I used it at the weekend but that was with an acoustic guitar. Don't know if the auld fella has tried it with his bass though.

yes I have one, only really use it for acoustic guitars - I've not tested it with an electric guitar or bass. It seems to track very quickly, quicker than my TU-2. Can't remember what it's called, but I'm about to do some restringing and will report back shortly

PM

That's very interesting - the second part I've heard about before, with the valves being close to the magnet although I was under the impression that was something that had been sorted out on later VC30s. I know the chassis on my LC is different, so I don't think it's affected by that. I have heard about the first issue (with the pin with no connection) being a problem with certain valves and it (apparently) means you can't use Mullards in an LC/VC - not that I'd really want to. I originally chose JJ EL84s as they are recommended on the Watford Valves website as a good upgrade (I then bought 'em in Hotrox as I happened to be passing one day), so I was naturally surprised that they would go so quickly. They've been replaced with a set of Edicron "JJ" EL84, which is presumably a clone of the JJ..er..EL84! Took it to a rehearsal last night - sounds good, hopefully it's all sorted now. In my original communication to Laney to find out if I needed a rebias when I revalved and was told no, they did tell me that the tubes they recommend are the Chinese Tube Amp Doctor valves - I still have the ones I pulled out and they are Sovteks (I think, need to check). No idea what the craic is with it, I'm just glad it's working.

First prize to whoever said "output valves" I rang me techy bloke earlier who said - "output valves". He asked me where I'd got them from and said he didn't think they were much cop to begin with. (I'd thought JJs were supposed to be quite good, but appartently there can be variance between valves of the same brand and how "good" they are!). The other thing I'd neglected to mention was that I'd not had the amp rebiased, and for good reason. I'd received an email from Laney, when I'd contacted them to check if anything else needed to be done who replied and said "The LC30-II does not require rebiasing after a tube change". Simple - I thought The techy bloke seems to think that it perhaps should have been looked at anyway. It's only 60 quid to put right, which included a new matched quad of EL84s (that would have cost me £38 otherwise) - although I am a bit pissed off that something's made them fail so quickly (ie in the 3 or 4 times I've used it since I replaced the valves at the end of August. Something is afoot!

not a blatant plug, but i do have a boss geb-7 for sale. i've not tried any others, but it seems alright

There won't be

or any two button footswitch with a 1/4" stereo plug on the end (probably)

I was by the fella that runs a shop selling valves and whatnot that most branded valves are largely made by somebody else or available under a less expensive name. I remember one particular brand of 6l6 or possibly el34 was made by GT and about half the price

[quote name='umph' post='316536' date='Oct 28 2008, 10:56 AM']can't hurt yourself changing valves unless you decide to do it with a hammer while its turned on or something. Sounds more like it'd be the output transformer to me, i'd take it to a tech.[/quote] no that's true, i've done valves before [quote name='The Funk' post='316577' date='Oct 28 2008, 11:39 AM']If they're still hot, you can burn your fingers.[/quote] and the man speaks the truth. There was none of the symptoms of a transformer going bang, so I wonder if it is. Ah well, I'll find out in a week or so.

ah but if it's an output valve, it'll mean a new quad (or at least you can replace pairs). It's gone to the tech anyway - I made a snap decision on the way home, rang him up and brought it round. I'm sh*t at stuff like that, I'd rather let somebody else sort it out before I electrocute myself or burn down the house.

Looks like a latching one to me This should do the job - note that the LED might not work if the Randall amp doesn't normally have footswitch with an LED. [url="http://www.imusician.co.uk/acatalog/info_00045583.html"]http://www.imusician.co.uk/acatalog/info_00045583.html[/url]