dmccombe7

I liked the NYXL strings but they didn't last much longer than my D'addario EXL nickels so moved on again and currently trialling the DR Black Beauties which have now been on my Sandberg VM4 since start Dec 2022.. Probably 5 or 6 gigs and 3-4 rehearsals plus practice at home. I do sweat a lot at gigs with Glam covers band and killed a set of EXL's after only one gig during a very hot summers gig where i forgot my cooling fan. Black Beauties have seen a few sweaty gigs and still sound pretty lively. Feel a bit more like flats, they dont have that new rounds zing but still enough treble click to keep me happy. I think i will re-try the Elixirs strings again to see if they've changed since they first appeared. I've had a set on my Thumb bass for about 10 yrs now altho it rarely gets played these days and is kept at home. Trying to find a balance between lively tone and longevity. Dave

Superb stuff @cetera Enjoyed that a lot. Dave

Just be aware that it can return at any time. Last weekend with the punk band i had no issues at all and yet a week later my fingertips were starting to ache a little towards the end of the 2nd set. Same set list, same gear but i know for certain on this weeks gig i was more into the gig and playing a bit harder on the songs i really enjoy in the set. Think the advice of turning up louder than you think and being forced to play lighter to keep the levels good for the band is pretty solid advice from @gjones. Its what i'm aiming for even after 40+ yrs of digging in there's always room for improvement. Once you get up to a certain level where fingertips are hard and you're gigging every weekend you shouldn't have any probs. Even Geddy Lee gets sore fingers at the start of a tour and has mentioned on occasion that he used to get blisters in his early days but because they gigged almost every night he just played thru it. Dave

It may be that you're playing lighter at home and not toughening up the fingertips but when you gig you're really going for it. That was my problem and i still occasionally play too hard at gigs when i'm really getting into it more so with the punk band than the Glam covers band. Even at rehearsals i can do the 6 hr sessions without issue. I do find when i get really into it that i hit the strings in a downward and across the bass ie i push the string down towards the pick ups at same time as across the pickups like a 45 degree angle but when playing lighter i generally pull the string across the pick up more evenly. When i play the harder way its mainly my fingertips that get achy. How often are you gigging ? I'd look at trying to play a bit lighter at gigs, its what i've been trying to do. Dave

I'm curious about what the 2 white bags are in front of the bass drum and what bass you're using there. Dave

Punk gig last night with Emergency Exit in one of our regular venues The Riverside in Dumfries. Pub was fairly busy when we arrived 5pm to set up apparently due to local football team playing there and that meant a lot of very drunk younger guys falling about and being pretty boisterous. Venue has recently been having problems with a neighbour noise complaints so not sure how long it will be able to keep its music licence. Had to start earlier at 7:30 and definite finish at 10:30 without fail. We finished at 10:27 how good was that for planning Gig started off quite busy but the boisterous lads had to be told off by our female singer for getting too close to the band gear while holding beer glasses and spilling a fair bit. They weren't aggressive but just drunken antics you might say. It caused a bit of concern for us tho and was very off-putting as we were constantly having to watch what they were doing. They eventually left for a pub crawl (mmmm that wont last long i was thinking LOL) After that the gig went really well and was a decent sized audience. We had a guest singer for Sheena IS a Punk Rocker from a guy who always attends the Dumfries gigs and he did really well. With the early finish i was home for 12:45 am so that was a nice bonus. Band played well and we had a great laugh thru the set. Audience were bopping away and dancing in the bar so that was good. Few vids appeared on FB but they were taken from one side of the playing area so the bass has a lot of drop outs. The few taken from front of the band sounded good. I decided to give the P bass another try last night and it worked really well on all of the songs, a lot more depth of tone and i think i'll maybe use the P now with the Punk band. There's something about the tone of a P bass that has a warmth about it compared to my other basses. Decided to try what many of the TB Mesa forum guys have suggested by putting my 115 cab on top of the 210 and it doesn't half make a difference to what i hear. I could hear the bass clearly all night. When i have the 210 on top i occasionally get tone low end drop outs because i'm standing directly in front of the cabs. For some odd reason the 115 cab on top doesn't seem to produce that issue. Its an odd one but it works. Dave

I do sense much sadness in your life, but we do appreciate you being here and sharing views from another continent. Dave

Tried the Elixirs and still have them on my Thumb bass for past 10 yrs + but i do find the tension a little tight for me. DR Black Beauties have a similar tension to my D'addarios nickel EXL's. Might give the elixirs another try tho as things have moved on since i last bought them. Dave

Its an interesting one as i do turn my volume up with flats or coated strings which is deliberate so i dont need to play so hard. I do like the aggression with nickel rounds being really hammered, it just offers up a more powerful feel in a song but my little fingers get shredded so i'm currently using DR Black Beauties on 3 of my basses now and they are working well. Dave

I should think so.

wonder which one i am

That's a surprise, would expect the rounds to be harder on the fingers than the flats. Dave

Thought i'd check when i joined and it was way back in Nov 6th 2010. WOW how time flies. Naive, shy and just a lad. Now i've grown up, retired and dare i say like to moan about things from time to time. I wasn't even playing in bands at that time so i'm wondering what my main reason for joining was. Looking for advice on what gear was popular and good at that time before joining a Deep Purple tribute in 2011. Dave

Obviously good at what you do Dave

Some nice support slots there with China Crisis and Terrorvision. Well done. I've used many similar PA amps like that Behringer and once you know one they are all much the same. They were quite popular back in 80's for pub bands where you didn't need a sound guy and one of the band members set it up at a rehearsal and that was it for every gig apart from master volume LOL Dave

I'M PSEUDONYM !!! Not sure when i joined but it was a while back. For me its a community with lots of expert advise and always someone there to help whenever you ask. When i first joined i did see a lot of arguments on BC but recent years its been a lot more friendly. Mods are doing an excellent job and always fair, understanding and very helpful. I just enjoy browsing thru BC and finding something new. I know lots of fantastic people on here but only a few in person who have all been top people when i've actually met them. Afraid Bass Bashes have died a death up here. Can't remember last time i was at one. Moffat being the only one i've been to. I'm on TB too and i know some amazing people on there too but i do find it more argumentative and i have to watch what i say. I have more conversations on BC than social media. I've learned lots and i've admired so many fellow bassists on BC. Every time i login its like coming home. Love it. Dave

Oddly enough i feel the same way about P basses but if the sound out front is good with it i'm happy to go with it. I've yet to find a bass that does it all for me in any band but i can dream on about that elusive bass. Both bands i'm in are basically bass drums and guitar plus vocals so the bass needs to have a bit of heft to carry the songs. Dave

Punk gig tonight with Emergency Exit in the Graeme Hotel in Falkirk. Football crowds were in when we arrived and place was bulging at the seems. Quite a few left when we arrived and started loading our gear in. By the time we started it was about half full but obviously a lot of the footie crowd weren't into classic 70's punk covers and it dwindled to about 30-40% capacity. Those that remained were the obvious punk fans that had come to see us and were really into it. 2nd set started at 10pm and a few additional punters came in including some mates we know from our Harley bikes. Used my Sandberg MarloweDK for the first set and it sounded good. Decided on the P bass for 2nd set and it was so much more full sounding and i really liked it. Some of the FB clips i've seen so far the P bass sounded amazing out front. I personally could hardly hear it as i was standing directly in front of my bass rig. My wife said the P bass sounded a lot better, deeper and filled out the sound better. I'm still trying to get used to the wider neck and i occasionally miss a string but hey ho its punk and i can get away with the odd mistook. Comments on FB are pretty good and a few comments at the end were very complimentary. Its obviously a target audience and not everyone's cup of tea. Hard watching a venue empty when you start playing tho. HB WB-100 into my Mesa 210/115 cabs sounded good but i did find i was running at quite high volumes with Gain and master at 12 o'clock, Bass at 2 o'clock and everything else flat. I didn't think we were that loud tonight to be honest but that was a higher volume than last week with Glam covers band to a larger audience of about 150 altho bass was active last week with Sandberg VM4. Anyway got paid and all in all we played pretty good after a gap of 6 weeks. Dave

Is it the Darkglass Tone Capsule ? Had a Dingwall NG2 with a Darkglass preamp and it was nice but quite aggressive but it suited the NG2 bass and the Prog project i was using it for. Curious to see how you get on with it in the VM4. Dave

Something i've been curious about is how others run their bass / amp with EQ. Appreciate there are a lot of variables here so its just a bit of fun and nothing too serious. I'm finding i need to boost the low end (bass) on the VM4 while keeping my amp almost flat EQ. Pan is mid-point. What about you guys ? Just curious. Dave