redbandit599

I think there were always some kids who were into music, and some who were into other stuff. It may just have been a bit more obvious with the tribal clothing. The vastly increased choice and availability of music has changed all that I think, but maybe mostly it's down to the way that people/kids listen to music now. It used to be about something social, listening to and sharing physical records and CDs with your mates. You then had to sit in one place and take it in. With the advent of more mobile ways of listening more becomes more of an individuals soundtrack, and less of an event in itself. Though I suspect these things may be cyclical, once people rediscover the pleasure of sharing music in person I think things may swing back. When you sit on the tube there's loads of people looking zoned out with their earphones in, amongst them there's usually a couple of teenage girls sharing an earpiece each, they are the ones with the big smiles... I do miss the Tribes though, it's one of the things that's kept me going to Heavy Metal festivals and gigs. These still feel like a gathering of the clan. Well done to the Goths too for keeping it going! There's a couple of young lads in my town who have gone for the full on punk look recently, big mohawks, ratty painted leathers, tartan trousers, moodily sitting about and playing badly in a band in someones garage near me - awesome. Miss the Ska/Two Tone tribe too, that was fun for a while.

[url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/equinox-maxi-bar-led-parcan-system/1030997560"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/equinox-maxi-bar-led-parcan-system/1030997560[/url] I've been looking at exactly the same stuff recently, won't need it until the winter but I found the above. Looks like a decent little set if you can make a trip up.

I use a Nux PG-1. It's got a few more bells and whistles (built in effects/tuner) than you seem to be after, and no EQ but does the job ok if it's just for playing along with stuff for quiet headphone practice purposes. Probably not great for decent quality recording etc but then I think you can find them for about £25, so can't expect much. This is what it is:- [url="http://www.djmmusic.com/p-4581-nux-portable-guitar-effects-pedal.aspx?gclid=CL7pgrbznMACFabMtAodk2cA7g"]http://www.djmmusic.com/p-4581-nux-portable-guitar-effects-pedal.aspx?gclid=CL7pgrbznMACFabMtAodk2cA7g[/url]

Thanks all. I'd hoped that was the case, thought it worth asking before 'experimenting'. I blew up the band lights like that once.... Re being hot, yep, heard loud and clear. I'll go steady!

Yes, that's one option. Though I do prefer the tone with gain close to clipping as my 'always on' sound. I suppose the question is really, if I boost the signal level in the effects loop so post pre, before power amp, am I going to damage the amp? If not, then I can keep my existing gain settings and just lift the overall volume.

Hi, yep a bit more detail probably would help! I use and EBS HD350, so solid state, no pre-amp valve (not a hybrid.) I want to use the boost as a pretty much on/off boost in volume for a few sections of songs/little emphasis bits but without necessarily having to crank up the gain by layering drive pedals. I suppose some real examples would be (I play rock and metal covers in one band, pop punk in the other) the intro part in For Whom The Bell Tolls - Metallica, or Crazy Train - Ozzy. I can get a nice drive sound, which I'd just like to be a bit louder so a 'solo' bit I suppose and then drop back at the appropriate point to normal volume. Appreciate I could do that with the volume control on the bass, but I'm pretty busy with the parts and triggering samples of a bell, so a stomp to go quiter is preferable. Cheers

Hi all I've got an EHX LPB-1 on it's way to me, seems a cheapish and effective clean boost for the couple of times that I need, one according to reviews. Now, I stick most of my effects, barring drives, into my effects loop. Just wondering if that's safe to do with something that boosts the signal level, or if it'll need to go in front of the pre. Don't really want it in front of the pre because I run the gain so it's just shy of clipping as standard, so the boost may deliver more drive, whic isn't what I want really. Thought I'd ask opinions before I do something and blow up me amp... Cheers J

Great story Roger, as was Icastle's one earlier. It's these kind of random things that make me almost more inclined to get the old 'guff bucket' going again. I like the potential for a little unintentional anarchy...

Heh, heh, sounds like us...

Tricky blighters.

Cheers all, sounds like it might be worth firing the thing up and testing it out again. If only for the odd gig where we can use it. Bit of fog or haze does add a bit to the atmosphere I think, or maybe it'll just improve my looks by putting me in 'soft focus.' Any particular brand of 'fog juice' that you guys recommend? I note Nige's comments re glycol and asthma, wouldn't want to set that off for someone. I suspect something a bit thinner than the Dragons Breath effect we used to go for would be a good starting point. Had the police turn up three times at gigs, but not the Fire Brigade so far. Not particularly anxious to change those stats!

Oh yes, I have many amusing tales of smoke machine abuse. Including the legendary 'Invisible Band' video, recreating scenes from 'The Fog' with a wall of smoke falling out from behind a stage curtain, a guitarist falling half off the stage because he couldn't see the edge, Gassing Grannies at the drummers wedding reception. I could go on. That's what comes from letting the drummer control the thing though..... Think (hope!) we'd be a little more subtle these days and just use it for a bit of haze to enhance the lights.

Hi all After something of a long lay-off, I seem to be getting closer back to gigging locally again (just need the singer to have her baby first....) So am starting to review all our old gigging gear. What's the score these days with smoke/fog machines in pubs? We used to use one pre-smoking ban, but I'm wondering how landlords and punters react these days? If any of you are using one, be good to have a recommendation for odourless liquid, the stuff we used to have was supposedly 'rose' scented. Bloody horrible, singer hated it too so anything that doesn't kill singers would be good too! Cheers J

To the OP Don't forget to look at 'old school' adverts when looking for gear too. I only live in a small town but there's always stuff up on the board at the local supermarket (newsagents windows, local paper classifieds etc.) Often these ads seem to be from people having a bit of a clear out, who aren't actively playing/gigging and so just want shot of the kit. It also means there is less competition from others to purchase and push up the price. For instance, I recently saw an add for the the 250watt version of my old Ampeg SVT-140TC 4x10 combo.Cost me £500 in the 80's, (that took some saving up for!) Heavy as hell, but a real gig monster that's never had or needed a service/repair/replacement in 20 years for £150. I suppose the thing is look for good quality but old school, simple, solid state, back crunching stuff and look in the places that are 'less obvious.' Re Ebay, (where I got my EBS stuff from/with a bit of trading on Basschat too) if you are watching something that you like but can't quite afford, sometimes it won't sell. So drop the seller a message and say you are interested and can you talk to him/her about the rig on the phone? Not strictly within eBay rules I'm sure, but that got me my EBS for less than the guys Ebay reserve price because I turned up with the cash and he didn't have to re-list and incur the seller fees, and Paypal etc.

Does your Paypal account connect to a credit card? May be some angle in there to raise a dispute if it does.

Boss EQ or similar imho. You may not think you want the eq, but a volume boost may well need a bass cut to avoid too much boom. Handy to drop a few mids back in too if you are running a scooped sound normally, may mean less volume boost required.

I have a sneaking admiration for it! I think it would depend on the type of band and what [u]you[/u] were wearing too. Would be great for a 'Hives' type band and look. At least it's not tort......

Hi all Well we did it, found out that a damp Tuesday night doesn't draw thousands (or hundreds) into Hyde Park, but we had fun playing through a mahoosive PA and on some pretty epic hire gear to about 70 of ouf faithfull followers (plus 3 people who wandered and and promptly had a song dedicated to them to ensure they stayed!) Great thing to say I've done, though Ian (our band leader) has an even crazier scheme, which I'll reveal if it gets further.... Anyhow, in the spirit of photos or it didn't happen. I'll try and upload a few, I'm the bass player with the red 5 string. Photos were taken by a pro who is a mate of one of the band, they make us look better than we are. But if anyone wants pro-level live photos, I guess I know someone good now! [attachment=166835:Declined_Transaction_057.jpg][attachment=166836:Declined_Transaction_011.jpg][attachment=166837:Declined_Transaction_105.jpg][attachment=166838:Declined_Transaction_137.jpg][attachment=166839:Declined_Transaction_185.jpg][attachment=166840:Declined_Transaction_112.jpg][attachment=166841:Declined_Transaction_158.jpg][attachment=166842:Declined_Transaction_173.jpg][attachment=166843:Declined_Transaction_199.jpg][attachment=166844:Declined_Transaction_204.jpg]

We found a guitarist through bandmix recently, he's very good and fits in well. Might also be worth looking at Facebook for any muso type communities. Our new singer responded (she's great ) to a post I put on The Essex Coverbands Community page on Facebook. I don't go on it much, and there may be other variations of this that are suitable near you.

We're doing the same thing currently, have a great new girl singer. Check out Halestorm, they have some really good tunes of their own and some excellent covers of classics. Not gigged any yet, but working on several. Love Bites, in particular sends shivers up my spine!

Cheers! Yes the name change thing is a bit strange, I'm told it's just one senior bod on the group Exco who doesn't get the joke. Sometimes you just have to go with it in Big Corporate Land! To be fair though, they've given us the chance to play, picked up the tab for hiring the gear and will double everything that we can raise for Bliss (premature babies charity that we raise cash for) on the night, so none of us are particularly objecting to the name change. This gig/band is very much just for the fun of it, no expectations of building a following or anything.

Well it's the day of the Hyde Park gig. Been an 'interesting' run up, first told that we'll have to use hired gear due to PAT testing etc (no idea what will be waiting for us!), then swapped onto the Barclaycard Theatre stage, which then got closed down, that's now fixed and we are back on, then told that our name 'Declined Transaction' may bring the Barclaycard brand into 'disrepute' so last minute, one night only, name change, probably to Pavilion Drive. Actually we're quite proud of having our name banned! Must be doing something right

Thanks for the edits all. Yup I realise that there will be limits as to how different stuff can be. Only looked at the Rainbow Machine so far, but that fits the brief, of different for me! Just thought it might be fun to have a thread with a list of the weird and wonderful.

Hi all I love playing about with my effects and mixing and matching stuff to create new sounds (even if I can't find a place to actually use them in a song .) But, I've got a spare 'slot' on my board and I was wondering "What's really 'different' out there?" What I mean is that there is obviously lots of variation in tone between, say, different overdrives, but they are all overdrives. So, excluding the following usual suspects (in their traditional guises anyway), what else have you guys found that is really 'different'? Stuff that sounds a bit unique (good or bad!) Exclusion list (please add if I've missed anything obviously 'normal!) Fuzz Overdrive Distortion Chorus Flanger Phaser Envelope Filter Wah Pitch Shifting Compression Octave EQ Tremolo Delay Could be fun! J