casapete

[quote name='Mickeyboro' post='579582' date='Aug 24 2009, 09:30 PM']The Rumour (as in Graham Parker and the...) Early Music Man user.[/quote] Great player - saw him with Graham Parker a few times in the late 70's. Stingray and Acoustic rig I think,proper old school sound! Looks like most of The Rumour in the TOTP clip of Nick Lowe too.

Just caught a bit of the interview on Radio 2 on Sunday afternoon with Nile Rodgers on the Johnnie Walker show. Am sure I heard mention of both Nile and Bernard Edwards playing on the song 'I'm doing fine now' by the band New York City. I never knew they had both been involved with the record. Great tune and bassline - produced by Thom Bell in 1973, and later covered here by The Pasadenas I think.

[quote name='casapete' post='571421' date='Aug 17 2009, 10:33 AM']Just received the Compact for my trial period. Am using it with a Gallien Krueger 700RB11 head and a Musicman Sterling bass. Used it last night in a small club with my band. Lineup is voc/guit/keys/trpt/tnr sax/drums and bass, doing covers of all sorts. The stage was tiny (especially for 7 fat lads), so I was crammed in a corner next to the (incredibly loud)drummer. Initial impressions very favourable. After altering my eq settings (usually use a 4x10) around a bit, ended up with a good rounded sound with a surprising amount of lower mids too. Cab performed effortlessly throughout 2x60 min sets, remaing clear and loud. Had to run my amp slightly up on the master vol to my 'normal' setting (my usual cab is 4 ohm,so guess thats why?), but still had plenty left. All the band were amazed at the performance of something so compact and light. Although not ideal testing situation, certainly has made me think it would be able to cope with most of my gigs okay. And how good to be able to walk into the gig with my amp in one hand and speaker in the other,both weighing nearly the same! So important to me following an arm injury which has left me difficulties with handling heavy cabs. Am going to be seriously considering putting an order in. Will report back from any other gigs before reluctantly passing on to the next guy on the list - Finbar in S.Yorks. Great idea for getting the cabs heard Alex - good luck with your business mate, and thank you.[/quote] Following on from the above, have used the Compact in 3 more gigs during my week with it. First was a wedding gig with the 7 piece band, again using my Sterling and GK700 head. Large room, used the DJ's PA via our mixer. Bass sounded great,loud and full but still enough top. Turned down my DI output as it was almost not needed! Next up was my weekly gig with my country-rock band. Medium sized pub room,noted for being a bright and loud sounding room anyway it has to be said. Just mainly vocals through the PA. Again used my Sterling bass but this time with a Gallien 800RB head,which is my favourite amp - not as loud as the GK700 but still punchy. The Compact again performed brilliantly,and compared more than favourably with the large 2x15 EV loaded cab that I normally use on this gig, especially when considering it's size and weight. Last gig was on Saturday night at a very swish wedding in West Sussex. Played some quiet jazzy standards outside on a terrace in the afternoon sun-the cab sounded fine at lower volume too,and again it's small dimensions made the job easier. Afterwards moved the band into adjoining barn conversion for the evening do-band crammed into a tiny corner of the room/lots of drunk punters etc etc. Through all this the Compact cut through fine again, and remained so all evening So regretfully took the cab over to Sheffield yesterday for Finbar to try. Have really enjoyed using the Compact, and it has certainly changed my ideas on what I actually need to take to my gigs now! Will hopefully be placing an order with Alex in the not too distant future. For anyone who is on the list to try it out, would recommend using the cab in as many differing situations as you can manage, especially on gigs where you already know the room sound etc so you can make an informed opinion on how it performs. Am sure you'll be impressed like I have been. Thanks again to Alex for setting up the 'tour'. Cheers, Pete.

Having just had the Compact on trial would be very interested to be included on a Big One list too. Not that near Nottingham but would happily travel to collect/pass it on - I'm in East Yorkshire near Hull. Cheers.

MOTOWN! - My brothers Motown Chartbusters Vol.3 album (the one with the silver cover) was the main reason I became aware of the power of bass and it's effect on the songs. This would be around 1969/70 at a rough guess. Everyone else at school was into rock/prog rock stuff which just did n't really seem to connect with me - ELP,King Crimson,Genesis etc. The bass playing/sounds didnt inspire me to play like the soul and pop music of the era did. 40 years later and I still feel the same-those early preferences stayed with me. Prior to that of course it would be McCartney and upright sounds on early rock&roll stuff like Little Richard and Chuck Berry hits.

I meant to imply that he did n't do himself any favours by not communicating at all with the pickup bands, who were often really good session pros-think I remember seeing Chuck being backed by some of the Average White Band once. Seem to remember the reason a lot of the songs were in guitar un-friendly keys was because in the early days with Johnnie Johnson's band there was often a horn section hence keys in their favour I guess. Unfortunately even after Keith got Chuck to rehearse, on the night of the gig Chuck still did some of it his way - shame as Keith was just trying to get Chuck the best backup band he'd had! Love the movie/music though.

Ace Chuck berry clip. The bemused looks on the faces of the band is fantastic! Chuck remains for me the best of the rock&roll pioneers. Been fortunate to see him half a dozen times, and he's varied from being amazing to indifferent but always somehow enjoyable. Met him (briefly)once too. Can be notoriously difficult, as anyone who's seen the footage of him rehearsing with Keith Richard etc in the film 'Hail Hail Rock&Roll'. Often let down by using under-rehearsed pick up bands (what I would have given to play for him though!) As a songwriter unequalled in my view,and a direct inspiration for so many legendary band/performers/writers. Still gigging at 82 years old. Go Chuck go!

Bought a Mex Jazz bass off Grahame for a pal of mine's 14 year old son. Grahame was absolutely great throughout the sorting out of the transaction,and even chased up the courier for me as well. Could n't have been more helpful,and a great bloke too! Would recommend him to anyone as a seller (or buyer come to that!). Top feller.

Mate of mine is thinking of selling his Peavey Combo - its a 210TX I think. Probably made early/mid 90's in the USA-solid build. 200 watts into 2x10 speakers, 300 watts if you add another 4 ohm cab. Got a graphic,compressor etc. Loud as hell and in excellent nick too. Reckon he'll want just under £200 for it. Drop me a PM if you're interested and will chase it up.

Have borrowed this speaker cab from a guy called Alex on this site, hooked it up to my 3k Crown power amp and......only joking. Few years ago the singer in our band forgot to lock the back doors on the trailer with the PA in. Roared off after a gig in city centre to have the entire rig spew out all over the road at 30 to 40mph. Drunk passers by helped collect the stuff, and (you've guessed it..) when it came to plugging it in again everything worked!!! Mostly Peavey stuff too. Power amps were scratched/corners bent etc but carried on fine for years after. One of the worst sounds I ever heard was a bandmates' lovely CSL cherry red Gibson 335 copy falling off a six foot high stage. Neck swinging,held on by the strings only etc. He got it fixed , though twas never the same.

Just received the Compact for my trial period. Am using it with a Gallien Krueger 700RB11 head and a Musicman Sterling bass. Used it last night in a small club with my band. Lineup is voc/guit/keys/trpt/tnr sax/drums and bass, doing covers of all sorts. The stage was tiny (especially for 7 fat lads), so I was crammed in a corner next to the (incredibly loud)drummer. Initial impressions very favourable. After altering my eq settings (usually use a 4x10) around a bit, ended up with a good rounded sound with a surprising amount of lower mids too. Cab performed effortlessly throughout 2x60 min sets, remaing clear and loud. Had to run my amp slightly up on the master vol to my 'normal' setting (my usual cab is 4 ohm,so guess thats why?), but still had plenty left. All the band were amazed at the performance of something so compact and light. Although not ideal testing situation, certainly has made me think it would be able to cope with most of my gigs okay. And how good to be able to walk into the gig with my amp in one hand and speaker in the other,both weighing nearly the same! So important to me following an arm injury which has left me difficulties with handling heavy cabs. Am going to be seriously considering putting an order in. Will report back from any other gigs before reluctantly passing on to the next guy on the list - Finbar in S.Yorks. Great idea for getting the cabs heard Alex - good luck with your business mate, and thank you.

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='570416' date='Aug 16 2009, 08:12 AM']An ex work colleague who was a pro drummer in the seventies ( even made new faces !! ) told me a story of the worst gig they played in a south Yorkshire wmc mid seventies. They were waiting in the wings as the con sec went up to the mic and said "we've got four lads on next for you, not my cup of tea but the commitee out voted me" he then turned to the band and said "your on" as they walked on to a packed but silent club !![/quote] Similar story, again from the 70's I believe. Some mates of mine were playing at Bernard Manning's Club in Manchester (The Embassy IIRC?), and were announced onstage by the man himself - " Okay you cu**ts, we've got a band on now all the way from fu**in Hull. I heard them soundchecking earlier and thought they were sh*te, but anyway see what you think......" !!!!! We play a lot of weddings, and yes the older section of the audience will dance at the front of the dancefloor right in front of our PA speakers / pull faces at the volume rather than move further back. It's almost as if they enjoy being able to comment on how the band are too loud etc. We do try to keep sound levels acceptable (after all,what's the point of upsetting potential bookers,whether they are are daft or not?!),but there will always be someone who thinks it's too loud. A few years ago we had the father of the bride (who was somewhat tired and emotional it has to be said) ask us to turn down which we did. Then he stormed up and demanded we did again,rather unwisely threatening our singer (who was a big handy lad)of the consequences if we did n't! Having restrained our singer, we then continued our set at an unbelievably quiet level - nobody now dancing! In the end the bride came up and apologised for her pis**d father and asked us to carry on as we had first played! That's weddings for you.

Not my kinda thing either, but nevertheless great stuff!! And even better dancing....

[quote name='Stewart' post='569023' date='Aug 14 2009, 01:57 PM']PA operators usually want you to use their DI because they are (to them) a known quantity. Many heads (not GK) it seems do not have a good DI output. Some are unbalanced, some just noisy - levels are all over the place from unit to unit. They just want a signal they can use at the desk for the entire show. If you want more control , take your own DI - maybe a microphone too. But you'll get a better reaction if you take BSS/Radial... DI boxes and Shure/Audix/AKG... mics.[/quote] +1 to all the above. I always have a BSS DI box in my gig bag just in case. Apparently one engineer told me that they prefer using a DI box rather than the amp DI because if the amp fails then they still have a feed into the FOH main PA/monitors etc. Also is easier for them setting levels if time is on the short side. Was in a band a while ago who used Trick-O PA Hire from S. Humberside. Phil the engineer is a top bloke and could get my Stingray sounding ace in about 90 seconds! (Whole band could soundcheck in about 10 mins to perfection!) Guess thats experience for you.

And since when were Gibson Grabbers built in the 60's ....?

Great kit for the money. Not sure if they run comfortably into 2 ohms as Peavey claim though -anyone have experience of this?

[quote name='davidmpires' post='549744' date='Jul 24 2009, 08:56 AM']Someone also said that a bass player doesn't need to play fast, but it needs to be able to listen fast. Chill out, keep it simple, try to keep it with the drum kick, and pay attention to the accents, but most of all just enjoy the experience, it's always good to play with people more experienced than ourselves. Providing they are cool people of course. [/quote] +1 to all of that. However, a drummer I play with regularly plays 'pushed' accents so much that if we both played them the song would have no groove at all... He also plays accents with the horn section parts, so that it makes them sound really obvious. A lot of the songs we cover (especially soul stuff etc.) rely on a solid bass/drum foundation with other instruments providing the accents and pushes-this is what makes the song come alive and creates interest. (I find myself playing less in order to try to restore some balance sometimes!) Another drummer I play with is the complete opposite of this-plays really simple and solid with very little 'embellishment', and of course it works like a dream. The songs seem to just gel more, and am sure makes it better for the audience to dance to as well.

Used but still some life left in them - off my Hohner B2A Steinberger thing. Yours for the p&p ! (A quid should cover it).

[quote name='geoffbassist' post='545702' date='Jul 20 2009, 08:20 PM']i think that was me.....i had it serviced and its working great, im using a newer head most of the time but its great to have it it about.....[/quote] Glad to hear its okay for you, should've kept it really. The guy who fixes my gear said it was a doddle to service/obtain parts for, and would last eons! Mind you he does love old school British kit-mention Mark Bass etc and stand back!