Monckyman

See I would have lowered the floor...

+1 I`m betting the positive on the jack socket. Has the socket been loose at all?

Would love the body! PMd

Kinell!

What they said ^ But also, if you have another speaker cab or can borrow one, just check the amp first and eliminate that from the possible causes of the noise. You say "buzzing" but do you mean constantly or when you hit a low or loud note? I have the same combo and it`s great, but not with the Blueline ashdown speaker in! I use an Ampeg 15"300w. The drivers mentioned above would be a nice upgrade. Should you wish to keep the Blueline, you can get it re-coned if needs be for about £50.00 But for £30 more you could get something a lot nicer. MM

To get the sound of your cab in the FOH you need a decent mic. There`s a Shure beta52 for sale on here for £110 that would be perfect. Any decent venue with a P.A will have a stock of active D.I boxes for getting you to the mixer but if you must buy your own get a decent make like BSS that won`t unduly colour your direct from bass/pedalboard sound. I have a soundmans dislike of inbuilt D.Is on amps, as if the amp goes down the D.I goes with it,whereas a seperate D.I maintains the bass in the FOH and monitors,without being dependant on the amp. Payoff is bassists usually insist their special amp EQ should be heard at the D.I(another mistake as the EQ that suits your amp/cab setup almost certainly wont suit a 10k rig in a venue covered in shiny surfaces. Mixing the two signals together should give a good representation of what`s actually coming out of your speaker cabinet AND bass. Also, if the engineer hasn`t already tried, ask him to reverse the phase on the D.I and/or the mic while you play and see if it cleans the sound up. Often the two signals mixed together can cause phase cancellation, and having your bass in the monitor directly facing the amp can emphasise this, but a minute spent comparing the various combinations ought to find the best solution for stage and FOH. Good luck. MM

Also, this is a learning experience for all. Half the reason for being in bands, is to learn from the other members. You have more experience, the drummer should learn from you. Finding a way to explain what you think without him getting narked will be the hardest bit, after that it`s just working on the problem till it isn`t one anymore. One tip I remember from various producers was to mic the kick drum so everyone can hear it. Not massive need a bigger P.A levels, just so you all use it to time to. Usually nobody really gets it till they record and all of a sudden realise what the kicks been doing. So mic it and work on sticking to it. I recently had this experience but with a keys player. he was just winging the tunes, obviously hadn`t listened to them at all out of rehearsal time, and had no timbres /patches thought out either. To make things worse he had a Triton and an M50 and was using them for "a piano" and "some brass".. on everything, whether the tunes used those sounds or not. I went with this for about 3 weeks of two reh a week, and then read the riot act. He should be programming patches to match the covers says I, he has two multi timbral workstations and only uses two sounds says I.WTF says I. Turns out he never had anyone tell him off and didn`t know how to use the deeper functions of the synths. So,I downloaded the manual for the triton, read it, and offered to help him program up some Combi sounds that would help him layer up and play more complicated parts. he loved it, responded well, and went away and started writing his own patches. Result, got him inspired to take an interest. I went from really annoyed to really pleased in a week. So if you reckon you can bring someones skill or inspiration on, do it. They`ll appreciate it. Flip side is the really competent solid drummer who is keeping ME in time and bringing out my best playing. Good luck with it.

Joy Division, "24 Hours". Nice bit of chorus drenched drone. or, The Smiths "This Charming man" quite a hard bassline to master, lot`s of bounce going from motown derived rhythms in the verse to running jazz style in the bridge/chorus. (Moi, biased? )

I nagged my parents for a piano when I was ten, and my dad duly found an old shagged upright, which went in the back room. This was where I disappeared when in trouble or moody! After a couple of years my grandad started teaching me properly.He was a retired ex professional pianist with a baby grand in his front room with a signed pic of Count Bassie on it. Anyway, he was very old school, bit of a martinet,had me learning the piano on a bit of paper with the keys printed on for about two months I rejected the lessons, mixed as they were with reading dots, I just wanted to improvise and make sh*t up, he would leave the room, I would start noodling and hear a scream of "play the bloody scales!" from the back room accompanied by the strong whiff of pipe smoke. The Mozart lesson piece is imprinted on my mind for ever. After that I had a (small) rep among the local lads that I was musical and when someone needed a bassist I was asked, though I had no instrument or experience. I borrowed an old heavy headed bow necked framus violin bass and went from there. They never sacked me, we morphed into a rockabilly band, eventually aqquiring a flatback Chzeckoslovakian Double bass and we did the bingo halls, cabaret clubs, working mens etc for a good few years.After buying my Vox standard bass in 82 I stuck with that and didn`t lust for any other gear, though I never seemed to have a decent amp. H+H being the usual kit.I ended up staying with the singer/guitarist for the next 14 years, playing bass with a bit of keyboard now and then. Eventually, after a few disapointing years I went to college to study music production and after a few years of that started working as a touring monitor engineer. Now 12 years since my last live show as a bassist I`m back in a band rehearsing and looking forward to my first gig in mid July. I missed it and never realised how much! I`ll not pack it in again ever. This forum has, I`m happy to say, re-educated me about a lot of things Bass, and hopefully will guide me through the worst of gear buying dillemas. Bit of a waffle, soz

These look fantastic and the TBers seem happy with them. Maybe time to move the Ashdown on!

I`m thinking Kay. But pretty sure it`s a a Jap made copy. Basseologists are no doubt polishing their monocles as we speak..

Excellent.

I`ve not worked in Moho, and am grateful, as the sound desk is situated at the back in a little kebab stall type hutch with an opening like an ice cream van This means the engineer can`t hear a damn thing properly, while at the mixing position. The rig in Moho also lacks quality. It`s basically a disco rig. I`m not trying to bring you down, just remind you that engineers operate in less than ideal situations and often get blamed for the limitations of the rig/venue. Moho is one of those. MM

!

During the "Bingo break", northern workingmens club. Whilst discussing the setlist a gnarled old crone clutching a pint and a woodbine leans ovfer and says "oi!, shut f***ing up will yers? We ave ter listen to [i]you[/i]!"

Generally, the wider the better. Spreads the load.

Still both hugleee. Edit. Just been told I`m a horrible nasty man by my partner for being rude. So apologies. Just not my thing.

It may be the crossover at fault. Have a look and try to cost a replacement

Thanks Outshined for going "above and beyond the call of duty" on a friday night! Regards to the Mrs and also Mr Cat. Also thanks Mart for the contribution, I need to think on this a bit. Wonder what Thisname is thinking?

Agreed, nice diagram and explanations. Thanks.