BigRedX

In the late 80s the band transport was an ex-coal board minibus with benches down each side in the back. All the gear went in the space between them and those unlucky enough not to be able to sit in the front (usually myself and the drummer) spent most of the journey sliding up and down the benches as we went round each corner. Also since everything in the back was on display someone always had to be in the van whenever we stopped for food and toilet breaks.

As someone who was a massive fan of The Human League in the early 80s (I even sported the Phil Oakey asymmetric hairstyle in 1981) but I was never in a position to see them live back in the day. I finally got to see them play 10 years ago and while it was enjoyable, in hindsight it re-enforced the feeling that I'd missed out by not having seen them in 1980. These days the line up is Phil, the two girls and a 3 session players. The set list is mostly taken from Dare and the 2 subsequent albums (that's what the majority of their audience want). They played one pre-Dare song (Circus Of Death). From what I've read since seeing them I doubt if the set list will have changed much, main variable being which early song they do as a part of the encore. I think the only way I be tempted to see them play again would be if it was the original line up with Adrian Wright doing the slide show playing Travelogue and earlier material.

Having seen the guitar in question up close, for anyone other than Rory Gallagher to play, it would require a serious deep clean. Luckily for me it was safely secured in a sealed display case. Maybe the National Museum of Ireland are hoping to be able to use it to clone him when the technology is there?

Went to see IST IST at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham last night. Probably the best gig I have attended as a punter since The Last Cry just over a year ago. I discovered the band fairly recently so I was unfamiliar with about half the songs they played, but it really didn't matter. Everything was engaging and the fact that I didn't know a lot of the songs was in no way an impediment to enjoying the gig. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the support band. Not to my taste at all and apparently they have been support for the whole tour which is strange because musically they had little in common with the headliners.

The GLDX16 looks fine if you already have a traditional pedal board with spare capacity on the PSU, but that certainly doesn't make sense for me. I don't need a tuner - there's already a really good one in the Helix. I would need a PSU for the receiver and AFAICS it's not on a locking socket which means I'd need to have a pedal board which suddenly means everything takes up more floor space on stage. I'll stick with my cheap and compact NUX until I have a major problem, hopefully by which time I'll be playing bigger stages and have bigger band transport for all the extra equipment.

For me one of the big advantages of the NUX system is that both the transmitter and receive are completely self-contained on the jack plug. My Helix is essentially my pedal board, I really didn't want a completely separate device taking up more floor space, as this can be at a premium for some of the gigs I play.

I don't get this. I'm always pleasantly surprised if there is a preset or two on a programmable effects unit or synth that gets close to a sound that I want, but I always assume that first thing I'm going to have to do is to make a basic default patch that I can use as a starting point for all my other sounds. Without this the device is essentially unusable.

That can't be right. I use mine continuously at rehearsals which are about 3 hours long, and when I next plug them in the recharge the LED meter is only showing one segment down from full charge.

That's the one. I got mine from Amazon.

I've got a NUX 5.8GHz system as well. It has been used for 6 gigs, including two outdoors and one on a large stage, and about 10 rehearsals without any problems so far

As someone whose done a lot of recording, I won't deny that using a click track, especially when a recording to a DAW, has lots of benefits when it comes to post-tracking edits and changes of arrangement, because they make life a lot easier for the recording engineer. However it is also undeniable that a fixed constant tempo can suck all the life out of a song. With my previous band before any recording session we would practice all the songs with and without a click to see which version worked best. In the end the recordings were split 50/50 between those that were played to a click with constant tempo and those that needed a more flexible approach to timing. Without sticking the tracks in a DAW and beat matching them, I doubt whether anyone could tell which was which. In my current band that uses computer-generated drums quite a few of the songs have programmed tempo changes to get the right feel.

Not always good practice IMO. Song songs definitely benefit from a constant steady tempo. Others need that push and pull that only a tight well-rehearsed band (or a pre-programmed viable click) can bring. Good musicians will instinctively know which method feels right.

Similarly I have 3 EMO passive DI boxes bought second hand over 30 years ago and still going strong.

I take it everyone posting here will be keeping these pedals forever? Otherwise prepare to be mocked in the eBay forum...

My "bits and pieces" are split over 4 bags but it's all entirely logical. 1. Instrument case. Contains the instrument, it's strap and spare strings and tools specific to that particular instrument. 2. Helix bag. Contains the Helix and all the leads needed to connect it to the instrument, FRFR and the PA, plus wireless system for the instrument. I have all of these with the Helix because I use different instruments for different bands but I always use the Helix so it makes sense to put all the extra bits in with the Helix to prevent me from turning up to a rehearsal or gig with something missing because it's in the wrong instrument case. 3. Big Bag o' Leads and Tools. Everything that isn't in the two other bags. Mostly spares for the above and leads for connecting up the computer that does our backing. Also DI boxes for the synths. 4. Personal bag for stage clothes. Merch float and SumUp card reader are in with the merch. Every bag also has a couple of spare picks in it, so there is no chance of finding myself without one.

I've done 21 so far this year with another 5 definitely to come, plus anything else we get offered in the next two and a half months. That's playing in two originals bands.

Unless I am missing something there's no way of synch'ing this accurately. i.e. no MIDI clock input or even tap tempo.

Will you be playing The Freeze, Chant No1 and Musclebound?

I assume thesis the process of lazy translation? I managed to work out what they all should be except "Wristwatch Swap"

Who's your bass player pedalboard inspiration? Me

Hurtsfall played at The Chapel in Nottingham last night supporting Byronic Sex & Exile with Jan Doyle Band also. There was a decent turn-out for a Thursday night and a sizeable portion of the audience dancing during our set including some people who I didn't know from other bands or previous gigs. Sound on stage was probably the best that we've had at the venue. It's always difficult judging how much an audience is going to damp down the bounce back of the FoH speakers which has a tendency to change the on-stage mix from the one we have painstakingly set up at the soundcheck. This time the mix was reasonably similar to what we had set up earlier which definitely helped us produce a good performance. We played a lot better than we did on Saturday when we only had enough time to set up and play which is always a bit more nerve-wracking than it should be. It helped that none of the bands playing had drummers and only Byronic Sex & Exile were using backline which meant there was plenty of room on stage, still there were a couple of close calls when our singer nearly trod on the footswitch that controls our drums and second synth backing parts. I had to quickly move them out of the way in a suitable moment between songs. Sold CD copies of our new single, but unfortunately no T-shirts after I spent 2 evenings getting the new designs sorted and ready for sale. But overall it was a great gig. We have a break while we're working on recording our album and getting two new songs ready to perform, and will be back for our next gig on 5th November again at The Chapel when we will be opening for gothic icon Aurelio Voltaire. Apparently the show is nearly sold out so if anyone here is interested in going I suggest that you get tickets ASAP. Photos hopefully coming soon...

Surely if you are playing larger venues and arenas the PA and foldback will be more than adequate for FoH and on-stage monitoring, notwithstanding the fact that you'll probably be using IEMs. Plus I haven't worn jeans with any material that could flap since the mid 70s, and if I was that loud I'm be even more deaf than I am already.

The next Hurtsfall gig is on 5th November opening for the brilliant Aurelio Voltaire with Lesbian Bed Death also playing. Normally I'd post this up about a week before the gig, but we've been informed that there are only a small number of tickets left so if you would like to go to this you need to get them now. Should be a great gig although based on my experiences of previously sold out gigs at The Chapel getting the gear off the stage and into the dressing room after we have played will be challenging!

Looks like "King". The sticker on the back says "King's Neck" which was the original Hagstrom truss-rod system. This bass is essentially a fusion of the first two basses I owned - a Burns Sonic and a Hagstrom Futrama.

Our new single will be available to buy on CD only at gigs: It won't be available to download and stream until the official release date next month, and we're not intending to release this version of "Calling Out" in any other format so if you want these now you'll need to come and see us play live!