dmccombe7

Sounds like its been taken on board and hopefully all will be better in future. Some valid points made by Marcus even tho it all now falls on Mark's shoulders as to why its not working. I guess it must be difficult for an owner to relinquish some responsibility and ownership. Its usually my first port of call when looking for new gear. Dave

I thought it was Marcus that left to work for Simms / Enfield as his girlfriend was the daughter of the owner. Sounds like i might be wrong if people are still dealing with Marcus at BD. Dave

I guess that's the same in any workplace. I've experienced bad atmospheres in jobs and was glad to move on or retire early in my case. Was glad to see the back of it after 40yrs but i never let it show to customers. Dave

Nope if you work in any shop you need to put customer satisfaction first and foremost. If you can't do that you really shouldn't be working in a shop. It may well be frustrating but most shops of any kind probably have the same issues. I worked in chemical and gas industry and our customers always came first. No matter what their query was you needed to bend over backwards to keep them satisfied. When you've dealt with the electronics giants like Motorola and NEC they can be be very picky and think everything going wrong in their yield is your fault and you need to prove them wrong. If you want to keep the money coming in you have to accept the issues that arise from your customers. As much as i appreciate working in a shop of any kind is not the best paid job in the world but surely its a work ethic that counts and makes you want to do the best you can. I'm exactly the same with my bands. I put in 100% in everything i do to ensure my customers get a good show when they've paid out decent money for a ticket. Dave

Love it. I like your sense of humour. Dave

Its not as if you were buying a £150 cheapo bass either so its a bit worrying that someone treats you like that. If you dont want to be pleasant and help people then working in any shop is not for you. IMO Shame and sorry to hear this kind of thing. More recently i've just bought on line from Guitar Guitar or Andertons. I do like Andertons to be honest. I've had good dealings with them and they are usually quick to respond to any questions. Dave

When i drove down to the shop approx 450 miles round trip the guy in the shop wasn't overly interested but Mark appeared and all was great from there on in. The first guy left to work for Simms i think. I now prefer to talk with Mark when i call, not that i buy lots of gear but when i do i get fantastic service from BD. I've been to other shops and no-one takes any interest in you and i walk around for a bit looking at expensive basses and nope......no response from sales staff so i just leave and buy on-line. Guitar Guitar in Glasgow has been ok in the bass department and usually they guy is over and asks if they can help and if not right away just shout over if i need anything or have any questions. I like that attitude. I hate when i ask to try a bass and the sales guy takes it down plugs into his preferred amp and continues to play the bass and attempt to show off all the while i am standing there knowing my wife will be wondering where i am. One time i waited till the sales guy had stopped showing off and said "yep it sounds wonderful but my wife is waiting on me and i now need to go". Never got a chance to play that bass at all. I did laugh but he was playing poor slap bass for approx 10 mins while i was standing there. I'm 63 yrs old been playing bass for 45 yrs and know my way around a bass. I don't need some young show off trying to impress everyone in the shop. I've even waited and when i eventually got the bass to try myself i'll play something like "Little Old Wine Drinker Me" 2 notes to a bar stuff. You should see the look on their faces. Dave

I usually help drummer in with his gear and let him get started. While he's setting up his drums i'll rig up the PA cabs and lights. Drummer runs the desk so he sets the desk up. I run in mic cables etc. Once PA cabs in place i'll set up my own bass rig which only takes me a few minutes. At end of the gig i pack away my own gear first and then strip PA down and pack away while drummer packs his drums away. I'll then give him a ahand to load his drums etc into his car. To be fair we all work that way in both my bands so that everyone leaves the gig at same time except our guitarist in Glam band as he normally has further to drive than us lot and we tell him to head off as soon as he's loaded up. Most gigs he'll stay and help pack drums, lights and PA gear so its all very friendly and helpful. Dave

3 min pack up and loaded. WOW. !!! That just sounds like heaven after a gig. Who packs up the PA and helps the drummer with his insane number of drum cases ? Dave

That looks like a nice bass set up. What are you using ? I know its ampeg but what versions Dave

What gear are you using @Obrienp. Its always good to let us geeks know the gear in use. Yes i am one of those sad peoples that likes details. Dave

I've seen a few Blackstar amps / combos as backline at gigs now but i've always just used my own gear. Good to know they are good quality amps. Dave

So what gear are you using. Gotta give us some details other than the fact i can see most of it What amp are you using ? Dave

This link is for the UK Amazon page Daryl and for some odd reason its showing the black version. Its the MM14 one i have but they do others depending on your wireless transmitter size. Think your Line 6 one is similar to my Shure transmitter. Might tell you on the description somewhere. Dave http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08VZ5YJ7N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

I bought a Levy's pouch that attaches to my strap. Very secure too. Dave

I got the impression it was already supplied at the gig as he mentions his trusty Ashdown rig for next gig. ? I might be the one that's picked it up wrong to be fair. Dave

I bought it mainly for the Glam band as wearing platform boots makes it too easy to trip over your lead and it gives me the freedom to move across to the guitarist for some head-banging stuff Because its secured to my strap its just easier to use it every gig now. Dave

That would be pretty good to see. I'm not really a punk fan but i've certainly taken a huge liken to SLF solely based on the bass player and the song melodies are far better than many of the punk bands from that era. Just great songs all round. A very exceptional band IMHO. Wonder if there are any vids of Foxton playing with them. I'm off to Youtube now to check. Dave Found one :-

Must admit i do like the bassist with SLF. He plays some nice riffs and had a fantastic tone in the earlier days with the Guild bass. Not so much these days with his Stingray bass. No clarity with it which surprises me with a Stingray bass. Maybe its just his amp settings or FOH mix. Dave

Small venue Daryl. Its a vocal PA only. My gear is :- Sandberg MarloweDK bass Shure wireless (it has built in tuner so i use every gig now) Ampeg SVT7 Pro Mesa Subway SW210 & 115 cabs with the 115 on top. Cabs are lightweight at circa 20Kg each. I very rarely go thru PA to be honest. Only when the venue supplies the PA altho we are looking at changing it so that we all go thru PA to give a more balanced sound across the stage. Its funny how my tone thickens up with more depth when there's a larger crowd. When a venue is empty during soundcheck it always feels a bit thinner.

I should have known better from you but i can never tell whether you are pulling my leg or not. How many times have you caught me out ? Because I don't speak French i don't understand the humour Dave

Mesa Subway cabs relatively newish and well looked after and they sound ok with my VM4. Only thing i can think of is the horn may have been turned up since last gig with my Sandberg VM4. Gain was at 12 o'clock and slight compression. The Marlowe always has a bit of a rip to its tone. Maybe its because i keep the action quite low and hit my strings quite hard. ? The volume was really low too so the cabs were hardly doing anything. We were asked to keep volume down. Not sure really. I do play lighter with the VM4. Dave

Oddly enough i thought it sounded a bit shallow but its difficult to tell on a mobile Vid. The amp is set up for my VM4 and sounds a lot deeper with it. I need to spend a bit more time experimenting with the tone using the Marlowe bass or even my Jazz. Ampeg SVT7 and Mesa SW210/115 cabs. I now use the Gramma Pad every gig. Have the bass at 3 o'clock and everything else is flat. I've used the same settings in other venues and it sounded better so maybe just where he was standing. He was approx 2m from my amp. Nicer with decent headphones. Dave

Its a good one and a keeper Daryl. Dave

This surfaced from our gig on Sat night. SLF Gotta Getaway. This is the 2nd time we've tried playing this so its not quite there and a bit of work in progress. Great song tho. The vocals are louder in the mix but camera was just in between PA cabs which were angled outwards. Dave