Silvia Bluejay

Not moving the camera around - always on a tripod, usually pointing toward the band, and very occasional zooming. (I'm talking about thre Canon SX40.) Regarding the Zoom, it was firmly clipped to the same sturdy tripod as the SX40. Regarding the Saramonic, it was on the sturdy tripod by itself, but on one occasion I was forced to stand too far from the band, on another occasion I was too much on one side, on another occasion one of the mics wasn't plugged in properly or developed an interference noise of some sort, etc... heh.

An update to this thread: we have tested the Saramonic, but the conditions at those selected gigs were not satisfactory enough for us to give an informed opinion and publish decent clips - we're still working on that. The problem with using the Saramonic is the incredible faff with setting up the tripod, the camera, the Saramonic itself, attaching microphone supports, plugging in cables and microphones, and placing the whole caboodle in the best position to take advantage of its capabilities. We only use it at one gig every 6 or 7. As a further update, I have now bought a Zoom Q2n to use alongside the Saramonic (or the Canon SX40, which is still going strong), not as a replacement but as an addition, to allow us to film from a different angle and capture, say, the whole of the room including the audience, as opposed to focussing on the band and occasionally turning the camera 180 degrees. So far, I have mixed feelings. My 'interim' review on Amazon, where I bought it, explains: We'll be testing it again this weekend.

All will be photographed and recorded for posterity!

@Max Normal try having a word with @silverfoxnik and see if he's up for joining forces? I can do the pre-bash publicity and social media (as well as the after-bash blog) for this event, but I'm too far to do the legwork, I'm afraid.

Exactly my thoughts. Unless you're starving the family or depriving them of all reasonable luxuries, why should you feel compelled to lie to them when you buy music gear? Did they not know that you were a musician when they met you? And if you became a musician after you met them, should they not support you (like presumably you support them in their career/hobbies)? I really don't understand.

Future Publishing has created a survey for those who wish to suggest improvements to the LBGS for next year: Comment here

Beginning of January 2018 - Misty Moon in Northwood Battle of Britain Club, Uxbridge - semi-acoustic, on the following afternoon. Hayes Working Mens' Club, a week later White Hart, Hemel, February 2018 Private function at Battle of Britain Club, 9th March 2018

Time for some more photos, to catch up with current Dogs activity. The Tabard, Chiswick, beginning of December 2017 The following night at the Prince of Wales, Wimbledon The Fairway, Ruislip, mid-December 2017 The Old Hall Tavern in Chingford on 30th December 2017 New Year's Eve at the Red Lion Little Missenden

First part of blog finally out! https://wp.me/p2ZbyY-C1

I'm guessing nobody will be interested in a lefty NS Design NXT5, but if any of you are, let me know and I'll bring it.

Argh, the Dogs are gigging in Shepperton on that day! Have a great gig, and keep us posted for the next one.

Some pics I took at the Basschat stand! MacDaddy, Ped, Tina (Mrs Ped), Charic Transistorbassman (Roger), MacDaddy, Charic And MacDaddy demos his Snapdragon folding bass:

Here is HJ and the MarkAudio systems in action.

We have NO prattish guitar players in the band.

I think we came dangerously close to WTFDYTYPAYP while testing, this morning.

Yes!! Look at that image carefully

Nit-picking. And a pat on the back to @skelf too, who was there all weekend.

It was great to see you on both days, Kevin. And we left with such a huge amout of MB GAS we didn't need to use the train to go home, we just floated!

There was a person walking around holding a sound meter and marking the quiet and noisy periods of each hour with an air siren. Having said that, once you've yelled at a stand telling them to turn down, unless you stay there all the time to check, they'll turn up behind your back. When I say 'they' it may very well be YOU (not you personally, EZ) who crank it up because you want to hear yourself and you don't realise how loud you are, even in the absence of volume wars (which is an often-used excuse by those who actually start them, rather then being drawn into them).

Makes sense in theory, but probably not easy in practice, unless the company is relatively large. If the company is just one luthier, or a handful of luthiers, who do almost everything by hand, the prices of their instruments will be boutique. To offer a cheaper range they'll need to decide to have the components shipped in from, say, the Far East, get a dedicated person to assemble them in their workshop, do the QA and sell them at a lower price. That leads to a different business model, so it has to be a conscious, calculated decision not every luthier is happy to take. Edit: and perhaps then they'll start having even cheaper models built from scratch in the Far East, etc. That shifts the focus from low-volume, hand-made to a larger, more mass-produced business, and will need a restructuring and the influx of exclusively business-minded people into the company.

Undoubtedly to everyone's utmost surprise, I've got a pic of the whole bass. Edit: click on it to see it in full resolution.

Plus a lot of money to develop them, if you didn't do it yourself (which I only did for B&W on my Dad's home-built equipment)