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[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1435059668' post='2804969'] I think there's a similar concept used for drummers with a stool that transmits vibrations through the players body while playing. The one guy I've seen use it (The Zombies drummer) raves about it, says he can't live without it! [/quote] I played a gig once where they had one as part of the shared/house kit. I absolutely hated it! The suggestion was that it'll let me "feel" the kick drum without having to put it in the monitor, but I would never have the kick drum in the monitor - surely if you need a monitor to hear your kick drum then something's gone wrong with the on stage sound!

I've never liked them but my mate's acoustic (2014 I think) is absolutely stunning. The sound of it is massive

:-D

it's similar to the bassist with mids so scooped he can't hear himself, or the guitarist with so much gain he sounds like white noise. I guess you just have to grow out of it

I'm not sure if you've seen a young rock band recently? But the drummer tends to smash the sh*t out of the cymbals while struggling to get any level out of the drums - this is acoustically God knows why they do this. Anyway, in a small venue (200 people ish) the cymbals end up very loud IMO, if you're going for the modern rock drum sound, you have to go very easy on any cymbals you're "riding" (open hats, ride, crashes), and absolutely smash the snare and kick, but yeh, no-one seems to go for this approach, especially if the music is quite fast or technical - ever seen a death metal drummer? I'm sure there are good ones, but most of the amateurs I've seen simply can't keep up with the tempo, and can't get a good sound out of the snare as they can't hit hard consistently at that speed.

the gig I was talking about above had no overheads on the kit at all. They're generally not needed in the size of venue I play (if indoors)

[quote name='BILL POSTERS' timestamp='1434825742' post='2803150'] Maybe we are all thinking differently here. Put it this way, if Keef plays Midnight Rambler with a Strat, then I play Midnight Rambler with a Strat, the two would sound very different. Thats whats in the fingers. If Keef plays Midnight Rambler with a Strat, then plays it with a Les Paul and a cheap woolies amp, the two would sound different, but thats the gear. Nobody, but nobody would ever play it like Keef, which is why I used it as an example. [/quote] Don't know who Keef is but this is the perfect explanation for me ...anyway, I played bass in part of a backing band for a singer/songwriter. It was quiet, gentle, acoustic music, and I played the whole set almost entirely with my thumb up by the neck. This weekend I played a mental rock gig where I plucked, slapped, picked, and bashed my bass, through a pedal board of 15 pedals, and a bi-amp rig. I don't think any blind-folded experts would have been able to tell it was the same bassist.

You've clearly had more success than me if you can throw your weight about so much! Everyone is so convinced that it saves so much time I have absolutely no choice I guess if they're micing the whole kit it might save 5 minutes to share shells

I played at a big local venue again on Saturday. I had a little chat with the soundman after. Now, I know this guy is clever and knows his stuff, but I was bemused when he said "Yeh, it sounded great out here, but it was so loud!!". He's got the volume control right, and he can ask us to turn down on stage if necessary, so he's in control of how loud it is. However, I have a new theory... On modern recorded rock music, the cymbals are generally far quieter than the close miced drums. When a rock drummer plays live, acoustically, the cymbals are generally the loudest bits of the kit. If the sound engineer is trying to create a mix that sounds like this (rather than compromise) then he'll have to raise the close-miced drums to ridiculous volumes, and then the other instruments are brought up to compete.

Friday night supporting Lindisfarne with my folk band. I don't think they're my cup of tea, but they still draw a crowd! Great sound on stage so I got to really play with confidence (on drums) which was ace Saturday night my first gig on bass for about 5 years. I was pretty nervous at first but got into it after the first "song". I don't know how we went down and I don't care. My bass sounded absolutely incredible on stage. Last night back on drums for the star and garter in manchester. A pretty small room with about 30 mental punks all going nuts to our particular brand of "folk". I don't really get why all these punks love us but they keep booking us!

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1434825772' post='2803152'] ... It does seem like we get short changed as a breed. [/quote] Interesting POV. In my experience as a bassist, I'm always allowed to use whatever I want. However, when I play drums, I'm forced to share at the least shells, and sometimes they make me use other people's stands. I've played a few gigs where I have to share a kit with a guy who won't let me adjust anything. I have to put my cymbals on his stands but I can hardly play as we set our stuff up so differently. I don't get it. It takes me 10 minutes to set up my kit. Most guitarists need 10 minutes to get their guitar out of the case.

I had newtones on one bass for well over a year. I play with a very bright distorted tone and want plenty of clank. Yes they were slightly duller after the first couple of rehearsals, but then nothing seemed to change after that. I've never known anything like it, they just didn't get duller! I only swapped them when I snapped one

Haha, absolutely not!! I guess that I'd managed to get the tension pretty even, even with the bent rim, which is hopefully why I can't tell the difference! Nice to talk drums though. I have another snare which is very fancy that i've never been able to get a good sound out of. Are there other forums you go on for this sort of stuff? Or should I start a new thread here? Or maybe there are some threads here I've missed?

Sorry, forgot to report back I picked up a cheap one from the local shop, got to the studio, and realised that my snare only has 8 lugs. I'm certain I found it on the yamaha site as 14" 10 lug but I can't find that link now. I'll have to take it back to the shop when I get time Anyway, I'd bought a new head so decided to try and bend the existing hoop back, and it worked! I just bent it by hand, which isn't particularly reassuring, but still, it'll do for now I've noticed absolutely no difference in terms of the sound or feel, but at least this head might last a bit longer

How big is the file?

The mandolin is already OK into a line input so I would guess your bass through the BDI will be cool. This leaves you 8 channels all with mic inputs, so I think you're sorted?

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1434621526' post='2801204'] Thanks, but I'm specifically not asking about an amp. Well I suppose I am, but not in the sense of a large heavy black box covered in carpet or tolex. The smallest simplest (cheapest) way to get a line level (NOT mic/XLR) from a bass into a (line) mixer. [/quote] Behringer BDI21 sounds OK into the line inputs on my desk (from the jack output)

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1434620188' post='2801197'] And is there such a thing as a simple pedal or box that does nothing more than take the signal from my bass and output it at line level, with a jack output? (rather than a balanced mic level XLR output) [/quote] most amps will have an effects send or pre-amp output

The Barrels in Hereford last night. This is seriously one of the coolest pubs I've ever been in. All ages were there, all getting along, all cheerful and enjoying some ace beer. Great big beer garden and a lovely venue room/hall thing with a bar at the back. We went down OK, not sure to be honest, I was way too impressed with the pub itself to notice!

yeh they're still mic inputs, even though it's a jack socket

yeh put your bass DI into a line in

Ace interview, thanks!

could it be the truss rod rattling around? I had a very similar problem, couldn't figure it out, the guy in the music shop gave the rod the tiniest twist and the rattle went away