BigRedX

Why does this happen? In 50 years of playing amplified music I have had a grand total of 2 amps go wrong: 1. was down to a design fault on the amp (Ashdown Superfly) a badly made piece of crap and one of the reasons why I will never own another Ashdown product. 2. was user error when I mistakenly plugged both sides of a stereo power amp into the same cab and let out the magic smoke. Anything that was properly made and not subject to user stupidity has performed perfectly for all the time I have owned it.

Join a band. Nothing moves your playing forward as much as interacting with other musicians.

The Behringer doesn't have any patch memories. Those buttons are for storing sequences. Also from what I can recall of a couple of hands-on session with the Korgs there are only one set of controls per module type, so to access a second EG or Oscillator requires using switches or buttons.

I used to own a few suitably old basses, but the sorts of instruments I want to play at the moment weren't available 50 years ago, so I don't have any now.

IME the low voltage side of any external mains adaptor is the weak link especially on stage. The plugs don't lock so unless there is a cable retainer on the device you run the risk of them becoming disconnected mid-performance. Of course if you do use the cable retainer it will eventually destroy the cable. You'll still need to run the low voltage cable away from where anyone is likely to stand or walk because that will damage it too, so IMO you might as well run a proper mains extension to where you need the device to be.

I too had an SH101 (and an SH09 and MC202 which were essentially the same synths) back in the day, and I wouldn't have another because they were simply too limited. Back then they were affordable compared with what else was available but I suspect very few people bought one out of choice - ours were all moved on as soon as we could afford synths the more capable. My minimum requirement for any synth these days would be 2 oscillators with cross-mod, two envelope generators, either two LFOs or a dedicated vibrato oscillator separate from the main LFO and at least 12dB and 24dB options for the LPF both of which will send the filter into self oscillation at high settings. Also I wouldn't consider anything that didn't have user programmable memories. I work on the principal that I can always turn off or bypass features that aren't needed for a particular sound, but if they are not there in the first place then I'm stuffed. And if you intend to actually play it from the built-in keyboard then IMO 2½ octaves is a minimum requirement - or key transposition and a very good memory. I'd also be wary of any synth that had important features that could only be accessed by menu commands unless it has a very good editor program that runs on the computer of your choice.

Originally on account of my first four basses all having different scale lengths - 30", 32", 34", and 36" I had to have different strings on each one. It was also at this point that I discovered the manufacturers of the most common strings available in the shops in the 80s and early 90s (Rotosound) were incapable of making consistently usable string sets that weren't 4-string standard gauge 34" scale, which very few of the basses I have owned have been, I started looking at what else was available. As a result have discovered that works with one bass does not necessarily work with another. I suppose if all my basses had been similar I might have been able to find a set that suits all of them, but they haven't ever been so. After a fair bit of trial and error, four basses that I currently use are strung as follows: Gus G3 5-string passive - Warwick Black Label 45-135 Gus G3 5-string active - Warwick Black Label 40-130 Eastwood Hooky 6-string Bass - GHS Hooky 6-string bass Burn Barracuda - Newtone Axion Bass VI

The next two Hurtsfall gigs open to the general public are: In The Bl4ck Midwinter Festival at Shakespeare's in Sheffield on Saturday 23rd November and Rock Against Racism 2024 at Saltbox In Nottingham on Sunday 24th November I don't have timings for either of these yet but I believe that for 23rd we're first on in the evening so starting around 7.30 and for the 24th we're on in the afternoon. More details when I get them.

The next two Hurtsfall gigs open to the general public are: In The Bl4ck Midwinter Festival at Shakespeare's in Sheffield on Saturday 23rd November and Rock Against Racism 2024 at Saltbox In Nottingham on Sunday 24th November I don't have timings for either of these yet but I believe that for 23rd we're first on in the evening so starting around 7.30 and for the 24th we're on in the afternoon. More details when I get them.

But there's a difference between normal Bluetooth and Bluetooth MIDI which is designed for timing critical applications, but (so far) comes with a significant price premium, hence the expense of the Waze Air system over a typical set of wireless headphones.

If you want them for playing Bluetooth has far too much latency.

Gig on a school night with Hurtsfall, supporting goth icon Aurelio Voltaire. There was weird stuff going on with the backing that supplies our drums and second synth and we ended up having to mute the left channel in the PA. That means my job later today will be taking the rack apart to try and track down the problem. Despite that the gig was absolutely fantastic! Sold out several weeks in advance (nothing to do with us, Voltaire is extremely popular and this is his first UK tour since COVID - there were people who had travelled a long way to come and see him), the audience were queueing to get in a good 20 minutes before the doors opened. All this meant that despite playing first at 7.30 the room was packed when we went on and the audience were most appreciative even though most of them were seeing us for the first time. Played well although I lost the plot at the end of our latest single the whole set went down brilliantly. There were obviously some people who know us because several were singing along and a couple of songs got cheers when we announced them. Afterwards there was another massive queue of people to buy merch and have selfies taken with Voltaire, which the promoter had arranged so that everyone had to file past both support bands' merch tables so we sold a load of new T-shirts and CD copies of the single (my mistakes can't have been that obvious). Voltaire is a throughly nice person and insisted in paying for a copy of our CD as well as giving us some contacts should we want to go to the US to play. Also picked up a couple of excellent UK gigs for 2025 which I can't say any more about yet. Didn't get home until 1.30 despite it being a local gig with pub hours! For @Mickeyboro as usual I played my Eastwood Hooky 6-string bass through my Line6 Helix going direct into the PA. No photos of us yet, but my girlfriend took some of the audience during "Calling Out"...

The tuner on my Helix produces identical results to that on the Peterson Stroborack I used to own.

Just back from Whitby Goth Weekend. Gave the pavilion a miss (I've seen both IST IST and Peter Hook & The Light recently) in favour of a selection of lesser known and up and coming bands. On Saturday afternoon it was Goth At The Brewery with the magnificent Machiner: Combining the best parts of The Blue Nile and Talk Talk to create something new but with a darker edge. "The Sound Of Disappearing" is probably my favourite new song of 2024. Followed by Death Trippers. I hadn't been that impressed with their recording, but live it was a whole different proposition. A more psychedelic Joy Division with some real brooding power. Hopefully they will manage to capture that sound in their next trip to the studio: And finally the mighty Westenra: Unfortunately I couldn't stay for all their set as we had to battle our way through the crowds across town to get to Flowergate Hall where Stock Image were playing at 5.30: Influenced by all the best bits of your favourite early synth-pop bands, but still bringing something original into the mix. And then the surprise of the weekend - Social Youth Cult: Despite all looking as though they were under 20, they bring a powerful combination of early Joy Division meets first album Bauhaus. After that I had hoped to see Holy Braille along with Killing Miranda and Iamimperfect at The Crafty Cove, but I left it too late to get tickets and they had all sold out. Probably just as well as 8 great bands in one day might possibly have been overload! Then on the Sunday went to see Dr Diablo and The Rodent Show at Abbey Wharf. This was the first time I have seen The Rodent Show in its current incarnation, and they didn't disappoint. The audience appeared to be an equal mix of those who knew what to expect and those who spend the weekend parading around the town in costume who had popped in for a final drink before going home who mostly had WTF expressions... And here we are just before the mayhem commenced: Hoping that I'll be gracing one of these stages in 2025...

Have you been in touch with the UK part of Shure? about 10 years ago I needed spare parts for Mr Venom's very abused Shure Super 55 and they sorted me out at a reasonable price.

Make sure that you are in the right place at the right time, although that could be applicable to any age. Be prepared to wait for the right opportunity to come along. I had a year without a band from the point where it was obvious that The Terrortones were over until I found a band that I wanted to be part of. When you're 50 something or older a year isn't that long. I certainly couldn't have gone for a year without being in a band when I was in my 20s. Go to gigs and get to know the other bands and musicians in your area. The one time I have tried something different for me (classic rock covers) I ended up hating it. Over the past 7-8 years I have worked hard at getting myself known on the post-punk and goth scenes, so if both the bands I am currently playing were to end tomorrow, I'd probably be able to find another one fairly quickly. Also if you can bring something other than your ability to play the bass to the band that always helps. I don't own a car or drive, but because of the other things I can do that will benefit any band I am in it's not been a hinderance. I'm a graphic designer, I do all the drum programming and much of the sound design for one band that I play with. In the past I have been able to offer a place for the band to rehearse and recording facilities, the vast majority of the band I was in during the 90s' album was recorded in my living room.

I've had no problem finding bands, and the three originals bands that I've played with since I turned 50 have been far more popular and successful than anything I did in my 20s or 30s.

Looks like I'm not alone in just reading the title and not the actual content of the OP. So to answer the actual question my signature instruments wouldn't have any wear patterns. If my instruments get to the point where the wear was actually noticeable I have them refinished/refurbished. I've already done it twice once with a guitar and once with a bass although in the second case the wear had been inflicted by a previous owner, I also took the opportunity to have it refinished in a colour that was more to my taste.

In the 90s my multi-effects of choice was the Peavey BassFex. Turns out it was exactly the same as the guitar version apart from the name on the front panel and the factory pre-sets.

Are the HX devices really chock full of stuff you don't need? As I've said before I don't often use any amp or cab models, but when I do it is more likely to be a guitar amp and cab. Just because a device is supposedly aimed at guitarists doesn't automatically mean that it won't sound good with the bass. Remember that a lot of classic bass amps are guitar amps with a different badge on the front and maybe the EQ frequencies shifted down slightly. The main reason that you wouldn't use them in real life is that they can't cope with bass frequencies at gig volumes. That doesn't apply to digital models. Be open minded and try everything. The worst that can happen is that you won't like the sound and then you try something else until you do find something that sounds good for your needs. As someone who also plays guitar and synthesiser I'm glad that the Helix is so versatile so I can have a single device to use with all my instruments and not have to have separate effects units for each one.

Mine hasn't changed since the last time this question was asked. It would be a Gus Bass VI, based on the Gus 30" baritone design but with a Shergold Marathon 6-string bass neck width, Fender Bass VI pickup positions but with custom switching/routing that allows me to send each pickup to one of two outputs or turn it off; plus a piezo bridge MIDI pickup. Colours would be pearl white and shiny chrome.

The other thing I have come to realise now that I'm in my mid 60s is that age is less important than overall fitness and health.

Starting a band from scratch can be tough, but IME of 50 years of being in bands only a couple never made it as far as gigging and one of those was always seen as a recording only project whose aim was simply to put out 2 tracks on a white label 12" single which we succeeded in doing. Another advantage with playing originals is that there doesn't have to be a specific band line up. One of my current bands has neither a guitarist nor a drummer simply because we chose not replace either when they left the band. The computer handles the drums and I play bass VI and alternate rhythmic and melodic elements with the synth player.

An update to this for anyone considering a similar set up. Unfortunately I have discovered an incompatibility between the Elgato StreamDeck hardware and the Focusrite interface, which manifests as occasional audio drop outs. Because the problem is very intermittent it has proved impossible to troubleshoot. I've been given some very generic things to try from both Elgato and Focusrite, which involve re-initialising various settings, but none have made any difference. The only thing I have been able to do with the help of a few other users on the SOS forums is to narrow down the problem to a USB conflict between the StreamDeck hardware (not just the pedal) and Focusrite USB interfaces. As a result I am now trialling an alternative device in the shape of an AirTurn BT500S-2. TBH I'm not keen on using Bluetooth on stage, and the interface is not a reassuring as the Elgato one. Although it offers 7 different footswitch settings, switching between them is less than intuitive, so I have ended up putting the same combination on all off the five options that allow it. So far (at three rehearsals) in has proved to be reliable and most importantly we have not noticed any audio drop outs from the backing. We have a gig coming up on 5th November which will be the first time it is used "in anger", but I am also taking the Elgato switch as a back up.

However Epiphone also make an EBO case which is short scale. And if you wanted it to say "Gibson" on the case you could look at their cases for the SG bass.