peteb

One that comes to mind was about 10 years ago when I was in a band that used to play a lot of biker rallies. A very good band, but essentially just a group of mates who had played together over the years, knocking out rock covers for the hell of it! We did one rally in Scarborough where we were introduced to one guy from Ipswich after the show. He told us that he was going to give this event a miss but he had got a phone call from his mates on the Saturday morning telling him that we were headlining that night (he had seen us before at another rally). So he immediately strapped a tent on his bike and rode all the way from Ipswich to a field just outside Scarborough and paid on the door - just to see us play Van Halen, Pearl Jam & Queen covers, etc! I always thought that was a pretty good complement…

I might be up for a beer if someone proposes a suitable date - maybe a Sunday teatime in the city centre (a couple of decent pubs have bands on and easy to get a train home)...

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1375034418' post='2155996'] We have played loads of more obscure tracks, but they last no more than about four gigs. [/quote]Probably because SD seem to have loads of casual fans like me who love the big songs but never got to grips with the actual albums...

Did you manage to catch Northsyde?? Terrific band with an excellent female vocalist and a really cool bass player too (left handed but plays a 5 string with the strings upside down)! Really nice people as well...

I think that people tend to forget that he produced and played on the third best selling album of all time! One of the most impressive things that I have ever heard was a solo’d edit of Todd playing the motorcycle noises and one of the most memorable solos of all time on the ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ title track, all in one pass, first take and without the slightest hint of a fluffed note – an outstanding feat of musicianship…

Perhaps this is a good starting point – Bryan Beller explaining how to listen for frequencies in your bass tone to get the sound you want thru your monitors: [url="http://www.bassplayer.com/article/monitors-in-metal--cleaning-up-the-low-end/4996"]http://www.bassplayer.com/article/monitors-in-metal--cleaning-up-the-low-end/4996[/url] He is talking here about monitors, but you can easily use this information for sorting out the sound coming out of your cab. Also, he is only discussing the bottom end of your sound, but that is often where there are the most difficulties…

I would personally go for the Xotic and keep the £1.5k change for a bit of travelling! Best out of all the jazz type basses I've ever played...

When political correctness goes wrong...

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1373439810' post='2137506'] Thats a bit harsh. I just finished reading Bon Scotts biography and after Mark Evans was sacked , they brought Cliff Williams in because he was a better player.More technically minded and experienced. I think its just the music that calls for easy bass lines. At the end of the day, I would gladly thump out those lines to make as much dosh as them! [/quote] Not knocking AC/DC at all - one of the all time classic rock and roll bands! But, having played a few of their songs, the bass lines are very easy to play! Sometimes that's all that is needed...

Play in an AC/DC tribute band...

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1373192024' post='2134453'] Fender got a lot right but what he [i]really[/i] got right was to invent a way of making musical instruments on an assembly line. The method of production largely dictated the form. He made many good decisions (pickup placement was one of the best) but he was also lucky that the competition at the time missed a trick by not adapting their brands and adopting his manufacturing methods. I guess they're all on the assembly line method now but they gave Fender such a lead that he became uncatchable. [/quote] [quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1373201079' post='2134590'] By debating all the good/bad points of fenders compared to other brands, this topic seems to missing the most important factor of all - iconic status. THAT is surely the reason that fenders are so popular? There are all sorts of iconic products - want a luxury motor car, then get a Rolls Royce. Want a good MP3 player, then get an iPod. Want a good watch, get a Rolex. Etc, etc. All iconic products have their good points and bad points and all have their competitors, many of which will be better in some respects than the icon in question. But none of them are the iconic products they aim to compete with. Yes, a Lexus is a fine motor car, but it's not a Rolls Royce. I'm sure Sony make some good MP3 players, but they are nowhere near as cool as an iPod. Omega make perfectly good watches, but they're not in the same league as an iconic Rolex. So If you want a bass then you can be sure that a Fender will not only do the job demanded of it - as proved by countless musicians over decades of live and recorded music - but you can also be confident that it will be widely accepted as the 'right' choice and will never be asked "what's that then?" when you open the case. Of course there will always be people who choose to avoid iconic products (and iconic music come to that) for all sorts of valid reasons, but they will never detract from Fender's iconic status. Indeed, they may help to enhance it. [/quote] I think that these two posts pretty much sum up (respectively) what Fender really did get right and the reason why a lot of top gigging players use Fenders...

[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1373232737' post='2135199'] Hopefully he's free of all that now Mr Machine.... should I tell him or will you? [/quote] Tell me what exactly? As I understand it, the dude has got AIDS. Not exactly a condition that can be cured by a doctor giving you a prescription, although these days it can be managed by drugs & a healthy lifestyle, etc... http://m.classicrockmagazine.com/news/andy-fraser-how-i-got-aids-and-how-i-survive/

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1373209923' post='2134719'] Hopefully he's free of all that now [/quote] I'm afraid that you can never be free of AIDS - hopefully he is managing it as well as possible...

[quote name='Donnyboy' timestamp='1373195736' post='2134511'] Did Andy have to deny reports that he was dead a few years ago? [/quote] He was extremely ill at one point and still has serious health issues...

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1373019975' post='2132815'] No I've only done a couple of such things but in both cases the conversation with the engineer was "hey, you got a DI on your amp" "yes" "cheers". It beats me why anyone would prefer to take a raw instrument feed that needs EQing and compressing when they can just take the amp feed. Whatever next, are they going to take a midi out from the keyboard because they want them to all sound the same - it just defies all logic. [/quote] It just saves a bit of time and effort on their part as they will use the same EQ & compression as they did for the last bass player. If you are lucky, there are a some engineers doing these gigs who will ask if you want a post DI out of your amp but unfortunately not all by any means...

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1373015744' post='2132729'] your amp have a "post" DI ? if not then get one that does. Also try to get "your sound" such that is not overly dependent on your specific speaker cab (i.e. use one with a flat-ish response) because engineers don't like miking up bass due to it being more difficult to control bleed at low frequencies. -- edit -- Another option is buy yourself a DI box than take a signal directly from your amps speaker output e.g. [url="http://www.andertons.co.uk/pa-outboard/pid10282/cid624/img-stage-line-dib100-passive-di-box.asp?LGWCODE=10282;56375;2717&utm_source=googlebase&utm_term=241140&utm_medium=pricecomp&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&gclid=CNfet4-FmLgCFYW23godwWoAFw"]http://www.andertons...CFYW23godwWoAFw[/url] [/quote] I am guessing that you probably have not played too many of these types of gigs? The problem is that many sound engineers that these gigs do not want to have to deal with loads of different bass sounds, not to mention varying quality amp DIs, so they will take a (pre) DI straight from the instrument. The better guys will be more confident of taking a post DI out of the back of your amp and quickly getting a better representation of your sound. If they can be bothered! Of course, they will ensure that the headline band will get their full attention and the best sound (both on & FOH) that they can achieve! But then again, presumably most of the punters have paid their money to see the band at the top of the bill…

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1372986586' post='2132591'] Thanks for the heads-up guys. I'm on the British Stage this year. I'll be on the look out for problems. [/quote] Who are you playing for? I'm playing on the trail on the Friday...

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1372981644' post='2132566'] You're lucky! I played The Great British R&B festival in Colne in 2012 and there was no bass! I played through the worlds quietest Ampeg SVT and 8x10 and couldn't hear a thing on stage. I listened to the other bands and the bass players could have been miming, because I couldn't hear a thing they were playing. We obtained a recording of our live set straight form the desk.....and you guessed it......no bass. The venue was a huge warehouse type thing which would have made it hard to get a good bass sound. But NO bass through the PA! The sound engineer must have been deaf. [/quote] I played the same festival (the British Stage, some sort of sports centre I believe) with what sounds like exactly the same rig! I am told it sounded great out front (bass and all) but we couldn't hear a f***in thing! The monitor engineer told us that he would sort out everything thru the foldback, but he just didn't bother! The trials and tribulations of being a support act on a multi band bill...

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1372969645' post='2132361'] No disrespect your mate but thats clearly bollocks since you often see major acts using them in televised events where multiple bands are doing short sets (e.g. live 8). [/quote] Well you obviously seem to know more than a guy who's earnt a lot of money working with some very big names! Out of interest, who on Live 8 was using a pod??

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1372944486' post='2131932'] Let's get this bit out the way first, ok? Digital modeling - Boss GT10B, POD XT/X3, and active DI's like SansAmp, Hartke VXL, etc, if used properly, can and do sound indistinguishable from an amp and cab rig in your FoH sound. You need to take this for granted if you don't believe me. I'll go one further and say the same is true for studio recordings but that's another story. The only advantage of using and amp and cab that I can work out from what people say on here is that it can make you trousers flap on stage, which to me is not a sensible reason at all. Most monitors are capable of pumping out some good bass for your reference. Quality digi modeling/effects units and active DIs offer (over amp and cab rigs) huge versatility and portability, consistent sound quality with most stage and room characteristics, reliability, simplicity of deployment, massive cost savings, less prone to damage, don't need to keep changing them in your quest for TONE, geezers in other bands never ask to borrow them for their set, you can't stand a pint on them .. Need I go on? It's beyond me why anyone would have the pain and worry of cab placement problems in auditoriums, needing gramma pads, transport issues, bad backs, lending them to other bands, very little versatility, easily damaged, buying and selling to find YOUR TONE, upsizing, downsizing, two rigs for different size gigs, getting them up and down narrow stairs ... So why do you REALLY insist on having amps and cabs? Fear of digital sound being unpredictable or sounding crap? Need a big old rig behind you to feel safe? Ignorance of going direct? Need a massive bass sound on stage? Can't be bothered to f*** about learning how to programme patches? Nostalgia? Inertia? ... I'm genuinely interested to know. [/quote] First of all – I am not a fan of any modeling units that I have come across, especially Pods. We could argue about this all night but when it comes down to it, you like them and I’m not keen. All I can say that a mate of mine (probably the best guitarist that I have played with) runs a pretty successful PA hire & installation company that supplies gear for major tours & events as well as installing AV kit for airports around Europe. He really knows his stuff and has made a very good living dealing with cutting edge pro audio gear on a daily basis. He uses a Mesa Boogie amp! When I asked him about his opinion of modeling amps he said that some sounded ok in a small room or on tape but they still haven’t made one that works with a band live on stage! Active DIs for bass is another thing entirely and some of them are very good. Some of the bigger gigs that I do are medium size festivals where there is a house rig that may be good or cr*p and will probably have a DI straight off the bass. If I start doing more of these gigs I would love to get a unit like a Tonebone, so that I can control what I hear on stage and what goes straight to FOH. However, if you are not using an amp on stage you are [b]very[/b] reliant on getting a decent monitor mix, which as we all know doesn’t always happen if you are not headlining! Another advantage of having a decent rig is of course that you can play pubs and smaller gigs without having to go thru the PA, leaving FOH to just take care of vocals & drums yet alone problems with not so great monitors you might find with a smaller PA at a pub gig. Of course, this is based on my experience i.e. playing with pretty loud drummers and only really using the one bass sound. I know that a pod is way more portable than even a small amp and it’s up to you if you decide if that is worth the compromise. I certainly would not want to do the gigs that I do without an amp on stage….

[color=#222222]Never really got into Porcupine Tree but figure that they may be worth a bit of effort! For a start their drummer is one of the best around and the whole band kinda intrigue me.[/color] [color=#222222][/color] [color=#222222]Can anyone suggest an album that would be a good place to start for someone new to PT??[/color]

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1372750044' post='2129352'] Looks like a 13 year old... You find this attractive? [/quote] I think that Suzie Q may have been somewhere older than 13 when the picture was taken...