BigRedX

IME good band photography is mostly down to the skill of the person behind the camera, but it does help if the band and the space they are performing in are photogenic and appropriately lit.

@ped and @Muppet, either I have a completely different version of the NUX wireless system or there is definitely something wrong with your devices. I've just done a fairly critical listening test on headphones turned up as loud as I felt was comfortable, and I can't hear any of the artefacts that you are describing. I'm listening via my Line6 Helix on a patch with all the modules turned off so only the AD-DA convertors should be affecting the signal. Admittedly, now I'm in my 60s, my hearing isn't as brilliant as it could be, but I can't discern any additional background and no "gating" sounds, which from your descriptions should be at least detectable even if my hearing is no longer good enough to consider it a problem. Also the sound with the cable tone turned off is only slightly brighter and louder than using my 5m OBBM lead. With the cable tone function engaged, the jack lead definitely sounds brighter. Also I've done a couple of gigs where the PA engineers were complaining about a very low-level hum coming from our backing playback (which I've since managed to track down and cure), and if my bass system had been outputting similar audio nasties I'm sure they would have let me know about that too. Mine is the NUX C-5RC.

I think we've frightened the OP off...

If there is the option to wire both pickups in series then it has the potential to sound excellent. My old Burns Sonic had pickups in similar positions and due to the nature of the selector switch having both on wired them in series. This was the only sound I used because it was so good. On the other hand I really don't like the "Telecaster" style shape and from my experience I don't find it particularly well suited to bass guitars. I don't know why this new iteration of Shergold simply don't reissue their old models with less dense wood for the bodies. Surely that's what their target audience wants?

The pickup positioning of both the Gibson EB6 and the Epiphone from the OP suggests they were designed as 6-string basses rather than baritone guitars. There were also similar instruments from Danelectro and Horner around the same time.

IME you need to check with each venue that you play. We were told no smoke machines at the gig we did on Saturday and turned up to find that venue had one permanently installed.

Or you could use an external image host.

If had a spare £9k I'd probably go and try it.

But I don't want to play in a groovy modern Jazz unit, or big band, or theatre pit, or... and neither might the OP. In 50 years of playing in bands the only time I needed to know how to read or write music was for a short time in the 80s when submitting new compositions to the PRS it was necessary to score out the main musical themes of my songs. Even that isn't required these days. I've never been presented with tab or a score to play from, so I haven't needed to expand my reading skills beyond knowing what the dots mean, and I certainly couldn't play a piece from sight, but if I wasn't able to pick up a part by ear I'd still be stuck in my bedroom playing to myself. IME it is best to concentrate on the skills that are most useful to you right now. Learn the other stuff later if you start to find that you need it. Since the OP hasn't been back to post more information on their musical goals all this speculation is moot.

When I can find it, I'll dig out and take photos of Mr Venom's old Super 55. I had to replace the foam twice and he chipped a tooth on it more than once. Despite the fact that hasn't been used for a number of years it still looks pretty disgusting...

Are you serious? IME being able to learn by ear is a far more useful skill than being able to read. If you can do this then you can potentially learn to play anything you hear without relying on having it written down as either Tab or notation which may well be wrong. It will also help you work out your own bass and guitar parts if you don't want to do covers or compose your own music. Also IME when starting out it is important to concentrate on learning music that you enjoy listening to. Nothing puts beginners off quicker than having to play stuff they don't like and have not interest in for sake of "technique" and "development". I speak from experience; it wasn't until I started playing music that I liked that I showed any noticeable improvement in ability. I still say that the best thing the OP can do is to get out there and join a band. It takes away the safety net of playing along to records where the arrangement and tempo is exactly the same every time and the original bass line is there in the background to prompt you and disguise any mistakes you might be making.

Left musical equipment in hotel rooms loads of times without any problems. Also used the "left luggage" facility of the hotel when I've wanted to go and do some sightseeing or shopping on my last day after checking out again without any issues. IMO much. much safer than leaving it in an unattended motor vehicle. Also just heard from one of the other bands that we were playing with on Saturday, that they had their car broken into overnight at their hotel. Luckily they'd taken all the gear to their rooms.

Hurtsfall played at a private party in Wolverhampton which was more like a mini goth festival. It was the 50th birthday of a well-know person on the "scene" and she had asked us and 5 other great bands if we would play. We were on first and tasked with getting the event started, which I think we managed although the room didn't really fill up until a couple of hours later. Didn't play as well as we did on Tuesday (but I think that was an exceptional performance) but no-one in the audience seemed to notice and that included several people who are now very familiar with our music. Sold a ton of merch and then were able to relax and enjoy the other bands. Because we were staying until the end, we'd booked a hotel which turned out to be less than salubrious. I don't know what else was happening in Wolverhampton but even 6 months before the gig it was impossible to get anywhere decent and close to the city centre for what I would call typical "Premier Inn" hotel rates. Everywhere with rooms was either miles away, crap or stupidly expensive. However that was the only downer of the weekend. Obligatory live pics (there may be more later): Next gigs are in two week's time in Sheffield on 23rd November as part of the In The Bl4ck Mid-Winter Festival and then on the Sunday in Nottingham playing a Rock Against Racism weekender.

Today sees the official release of the new Hurtsfall single "Lost Souls (Driving at Night)". Available on all major streaming and download platforms as well as on CD from us at gigs where it also comes with an exclusive new mix of one of our most popular live songs "Calling Out".

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.