dmccombe7

Left you a wee request se what you think Thanks for doing all of this. Its such a great idea and good we can dip in and pick something new to learn. Dave

Website is excellent @Bilbo Just opened up and reading thru it all.

Brilliant band. Never really noticed that Shirley Bassey likeness but get it now. Dave

I quite like that. Am i weird or mentally disturbed. Guess i've always liked Shergolds since owning this monster 4&8

Sounds like you are a great Dad and focusing on the important things for now, as you should. I commend you for that. @NJE Something i picked up on from @miles'tone post was getting a new bass every few months. Have you considered maybe picking up a cheap bass and doing it up as and when you have time and then selling on for a small profit. Might give you some motivation and you can dip in and out as and when you can. I personally think you are doing the right thing for now. You don't want to dump the kids on your wife while you take time out for hobbies and fun. I get that especially with your wife being a nurse which must be really hectic for her. Hopefully all of this will settle down in a bit and maybe then you'l find an hour here and there to enjoy bass playing again. Dave

But you probably have a better insight than most of us.

Its also the "In Case of Emergency" contact details on your mobile. But i'll go with the ice in my whisky

For some people it just comes naturally and they don't stress about it. Others like me i struggled with 2 bands so dropped it to one but both were start up bands so learning 2 different sets at same time was too much for me and took away the enjoyment. I did go back to 2 bands again after the first full set was sorted with my main band but it fell away when Covid started and don't see it going ahead. Not too fussed tho. I know for a fact if i had a young family i'd be more focused on them and bass playing might fade away for me. Its just a hobby. Kids are for life so enjoy them.............while they still want to hang around you. Once teens you'll be too old for them Dave

Sadness rather than depression is what i thought. Maybe the OP can tell us what he thinks. I've no real experience of depression so its not something i can genuinely comment on. Sadness on the other hand i think we've all gone thru periods like that. Dave

Kind of obvious now that i see it. Bit of a "DOH !!!!!" moment there Bet you all laughed at me Dave

Must admit that when i read the OP i took from it that other commitments like young family and new job / work commitments meant he was struggling to find the time to play bass and it made him sad that he wasn't able to do what he used to and from his own description of bass being his identity. Other things were pulling him away from who he thought he was and he was sad for that. Maybe i've misread it ? Sometimes other commitments become more important in life. That's just facts of life. We can go along with it but if it makes us sad maybe we should step back and look at what's more important in our own life. I guess that's what i did after a long break from playing. I'm not sure its anything deeper than that. Sometimes we just need to put our hobbies to one side to be successful in life. By being successful i mean being a good father and husband for his family and being committed to your career. Dave

Sorry to say i don't know. Tried googling but came up with Bang & Olefson power amp company ? Any chance you could explain for us older idiots like me. Dave

Good point on the FOH thing. Our PA is a QSC lightweight rig and it certainly isn't short of power, depth or oomph. As others have said it has to be down to either under-sized bass rig or EQ. That's why going wireless was great for me because i could go out front and have a decent listen to the overall sound rather than mostly my own amp. I have a bad tendency to turn down my own amp behind me to balance the on stage mix. When we use backline that can be an issue for the guitarist at the other end of the stage who struggles to hear me. Now i go out front, have a listen, tweak my EQ as required altho its almost always flat or just of the centre zero point on bass and amp. Depending on bass being used i sometimes cut the mid a touch and with others i boost the bass a touch and i literally mean a touch from 12 o clock to absolute max 1 o clock if boosting anything and 11 if cutting anything. At your next rehearsal try using a long lead and listen to the full band from out front and tweak from there. Obviously if going thru PA then your sound guy should sort out any issues. I've used other bands bass rigs and thought bass sounded weak and top ended on stage to go out front and the sound guy has added the depth and bottom end. Maybe its down to the low end cabs used ? Dave

I think i know what you mean with the sound "thinning" the higher the volume. I always put that down to the fact i was standing directly in front of the cabs and the higher volume was throwing the sound further out past me. ? That's with a full MB rig and a GK MB rig altho it was the small MB200 which is not a high volume amp anyway. I did notice it when i used my Genz Streamliner 600 thru my Berg Neo AE112 cabs but when using same amp at same settings thru my Berg HT322 heavyweight cab the tone was full and never thinned. Could it be the speaker design causing the problem. I can only talk from my own experience. I've heard other bass players using lightweight gear and it was in no way thin when ramped up but i was sitting in the audience directly in front of bass rig. Dave

I reckon i could do it for £300 if you do the session for me.

Not sure i can afford to do it for less. Oh well its your gig.

Take a break and enjoy the time with your young family. It won't be long till they are both at school and then suddenly grown up. Family always comes first. Many BC'ers will relate to what you are going thru. You can always get back into playing again in a couple of yrs when the youngsters are a bit more grown up and things settle down for you. Add that to a new job and you have a lot on your plate at the moment so take it easy and enjoy the time for what it is. Unless you are a pro bass player relying on the gig money then its a no brainer. Take a break for a couple of yrs. You'll be more relaxed about things and it will all come back to you with a GAS vengeance like you've never had before. Wish you al the best mate and at the end of the day we are always here for a blether. Dave

Tried the new Terror 500 thru the new 112 cabs in Guitar Guitar with a P bass and it sounded pretty impressive even when turned down to lower volume after the shop guy set it for me at deafening volume. It had plenty of depth and was a rig i might have gone for myself. I think our very own @karlfer put together. Maybe he can shed some light on it. If i remember right that was around or just over your budget for amp and 2 cabs..........i think. I had the OBC115 & 210 cabs but they were heavy cabs. Tried a mates ancient Orange all tube bass head thru his 810 Hartke cab in his studio and it was a fantastic sound but he said the tube amp was a bit delicate and unreliable so he use the Hartke HA500 head live. Dave

Me too. I need to run thru our full set list at least once a week between rehearsals. We dropped a couple of songs in Jan and decided to revisit last week and i was completely lost. Had to sit and have a listen thru first before i could even make a stab at them. I reckon its my age tho. You've no excuse @ubit

Never really heard the Glockenklang amps. Do they sound similar to anything else ? I had a Berg AE112 (x2) cab set up and it seemed to lack something i couldn't quite put my finger on. As you mention maybe the 212 cab would have been better. Berg cabs can be expensive tho. Dave

We had ours last week in an 8 bedroom private house that has a very large function room where we played our first gig last year. We all made a few mistakes but the passion, drive and silliness of 70's Glam Rock was all still there. Most of the songs we did were still good enough to get away with at a gig. Usually the re-arranged endings were the main issue. I was pretty happy with it and back in on Wed again. Dave

I found with the Markbass that it doesn't have a lot of on stage oomph but it seems to sit very well between guitars, keys and drums allowing it to be very clear in the mix. I've heard a few people say the same about the Markbass LM3 v Mesa D800. Dave

brilliant and i think maybe that's the solution. We all sit down with a nice toasty and a wee cuppa.

Yes think you are right altho he only learns new songs at last minute before rehearsal or gig by sounds of it. Maybe a bit more to it than we realise. I'm no Dr Frazier Crane so its difficult to say exactly where the issue lies without really knowing the personality involved, however for a small fee i am prepared to listen to him over a few on line sessions. Shall we say £500 a session. Dave

Over the years for me i would agree with you that a new bass did give me a bit of a lift and in some cases a change of direction ie WAL fretless i moved into Jazz Rock. At the time i was still playing tho. Think the OP is in a different place at the moment. Seems to have a complete loss of interest in music, bands and playing. Dave