peteb

I've been using 4 strings with a 'D' tuner for 35 years or so. Although I do have a couple of 5 strings, because there some gigs where you really can't get around using them, I much prefer the feel of 4 string basses. In answer to your questions: 1) No 2) Not that you would really notice (obviously the bottom string is a bit slacker when the D tuner is activated). 3) You don't have to, but it is something that you might want to consider if you are going to tune down to D for most of the set. 4) You have to get used to different patterns on the bottom two strings, but you get used to that pretty quickly - however, it depends on what you are playing. The reason that I got a 5 string is that I went to an audition where I had to play a part written on a 5 string. Trying to play it on a 4 string with a drop D turned it from a busy but relatively simple part into something pretty near unplayable. Against that, there are parts written for a drop D that are unplayable on a 5 string in normal tuning (just try playing Soundgarden tunes on a 5 string)!

FWIW, I have just switched from a modular 2 x 112 cab system to a single 212 cab. This is because I find it easier to carry one bigger cab at the end of the night (it has neo speakers, so the weight is alright) rather than having to bend to lift a smaller cab (then having to do it twice) and because I find that a cab with two speakers seems to be more efficient and appears to be louder / have more headroom.

Hey Daryl, great to see you back on the forum posting again. Everything you say in the OP is spot on. As regards to point 2, a trick I was told as a kid was to make eye contact with someone about ten or fifteen rows back in the audience. Everybody in the vicinity then thinks that you are playing to them. Another thing is when you are not moving around is to have a stance where you look comfortable and in control. Just stand with your feet planted a bit apart and relax. You don’t have to go the “full Slash”, although that can work if you are prepared to commit to it, but it does make you look more like you belong on the stage. Be careful not to do it when you’re offstage, or you risk looking like a tory MP who has been on a course and is adopting a Blackadder 3 power stance! I have just been to see a band that a couple of friends play in. the BL / guitarist / singer / frontman is an excellent musician and engaging enough. The rest of the band can play OK, but there is no show – the gaps between each song are too long, everyone on stage is static and there is no real communication with the audience. People enjoyed listening to them, but won’t remember them tomorrow and won’t go out of their way to see them again. Putting on some sort of a show (and we are not talking being OTT, just communicating with the audience) is important!

I'm sure that you're right, but I'm quite happy to take the HS410 to the bigger gigs and use the lighter CN212 for others (or where there are logistical issues). It may be a compromise, but it is hardly a terrible one...!

I still gig the HS410, but I do want a lightweight option for certain gigs. TBF, the HS is lighter than most 410 cabs that I have owned over the years. I'm certainly keeping it, as you say, it's the best cab I've ever used!

I haven't seen anything like that since the early 90s

The CN212 doesn't seem any heavier at all than a single HD112. I also find the 212 cab easier to lift than the smaller 112 format.

I believe that the CN212 weighs 46lbs (compared to 44lbs for each HD112). I was originally looking for a HDN212, which is slightly louder and supposedly voiced more like the ceramic version (although Mark at Bass Direct reckons that there isn't that much difference in sound). However, I've just gone and got 20 plus gigs in the diary, most of which are long drives away, so I wanted a lighter weight option as soon as possible to save having to lug heavier cabs around when I get home at 2 o'clock in the morning. Unlike some, I'm not really that keen on chopping and changing gear too much (famous last words, I know). I'm happy and know what to expect with the Berg gear, so I'm not looking to change anytime soon. In other news, I've just booked a session with a personal trainer with the intention pf going back to the gym after a long layoff with lockdown and an injury. Hopefully, I should soon be able to manage the CN212 easily enough at the end of the night...! 🙂

Thanks for that - they were my Bergs. I only dropped them off at Bass Direct on Tuesday, on route to pick up a CN212 in Essex, before spending a night in Southend then driving home the next day! I liked the HD112s - they sounded great, but I decided that I really needed a one cab / lightweight option (I also have an old Berg HS410 with ceramic speakers). As much as I liked the sound of the HD112s, I did feel that they were slightly underpowered. Personally, I don't find the weight of the CN212 to be a problem - so let's hope that I can get on with the sound of the neo speakers (I generally prefer ceramic speakers but I did have an AE212 for a while, which I liked). I've never been that keen on the sound of BF cabs when I have come across them, as technically excellent and incredibly light as they are. Never say never though, none of us are getting any younger...!

My favourite would be the combination in my Xotic jazz, i.e. an EBS Tri-logic pre paired with Lindy Fralin pickups. The EBS is a great sounding and very musical preamp that would be very difficult to get a bad sound out of. There are some great sounds in the East circuit that I had, but there is just way too much boost and cut in there. I used to dread letting anyone play the bass I had it in through my rig in case they turned the bass up and blew out my speakers, as once nearly happened when a really good American bass player decided that he wanted a bit more bass and inevitably dialled in way too much and had me cringing at the back of the room as my Berg 410 struggled to handle that much bottom end! It is cool that John East will talk to customers and custom build preamps, as the option of a less drastic version of the J-Retro Deluxe would be great.

A word of warning about the East pre. It can sound great, but it has too many unmusical options and unnecessarily massive cuts and boosts. In particular, be very careful about boosting the bass knob! If you get the one with the sweepable mid control, then that can be very useful if you are playing a difficult room where you are struggling to cut through the mix.

That's amazing, when the notification for this post popped up I was just reading Mole's Wikipedia page after searching to see what happened to him after seeing a YT clip on Jon Hiseman and then watching a Colosseum II clip.

I wouldn't say that I totally disagree (far from it), but Paul Rogers and Tom Jones are certainly examples of those whose voice has not been seriously affected by age! Funnily enough, Sammy Hagar is another example of a LV who can still cut it in his 70s, which is remarkable given his vocal style!

I've done two gigs and been 'out out' once, to a gig by a band full of old friends last Saturday. The gig on Saturday was pretty full and it was great to see old friends again. I was talking to the bass player (who I've known since I was 18) and he is slightly nervous about everything opening up again. He has been double jabbed, but has a few medical issues that wouldn't be good if he got a bad case of Covid. He did the gig (with a couple more to come next weekend) and has done a few rehearsals, but is still being very careful.

Now that's fighting talk! Last time I saw a clip of Kiss doing I Was Made For Loving You, Stanley looked dreadful and his voice was terrible, just as bad as Dave. Add to that, the band was poor - not up to scratch at all. Whatever band Roth chucked together to back him would be streets ahead. Kiss really should have given up the ghost about the time that they put the makeup back on, at least in terms of any musical or 'artistic' criteria. To be fair, I think that you might be missing the point of the thread, which was that both of them should have thrown in the towel years ago.

Completely blew them off stage...!!

I disagree - Hagar is a great singer and a very capable songwriter (who has written several big hits for a variety of other artists). I liked Van Hagar, but it lacked the magic and unpredictability of the early Roth led version. DLR was capable of being poetic as well as being the outrageous showman, and his lyrics and general schtick often worked on different levels that you could choose to tap into or not.

Apparently they were suggestions, but Templeman changed his mind once he started working with Roth in the studio. Pretty typical record company move, find a hot new band, then start mucking about with what made them so great in the first place! Usually they end up being content with sacking the drummer and replacing him with a guy who has been around the scene for a while, but that wasn't really an option seeing as the drummer was Eddie's brother! If they had gone with Hagar when they first got a deal, they would have made a couple of decent albums before Sammy went back to his solo career, Eddie would have ended up playing for Ozzy and Mike would have had a career in someone like the Doobie Brothers or whoever. You probably would never had heard of AVH ever again, but who knows what Roth would have done - I certainly wouldn't bet against him having become a star one way or another...

By the way, when Eddie died there was a load of VH live stuff from early shows (just before the first album being released) that was put out on YT, etc. Well worth seeking out - brilliant, better than any of the tours when they had hit the bigtime. I was lucky enough to see them supporting Sabbath on the first tour. No show, front of the stage, minimal lights - still one of the best few live performances I have ever seen and far superior to when I saw them later.

He was great on the very early tours (including the pre-record deal shows if you've seen any of those on YouTube), awful on the later VH tours and pretty decent on the early solo tours. It's never just been about the voice with Dave...

Fixed for ya!

Dunno, last clip I saw of PS was an old man in spandex with two hip replacements, hobbling around on platform shoes and not hitting a note! At least Dave has finally let go of trying to look like he did 30 years ago and reinvented his image to something with a little more dignity. His voice has completely gone though and he can't compensate with his moves anymore. Time for both of them to throw in the towel.

Have you seen any recent clips of Paul Stanley??

Gawd, Dave looks old these days (supposedly he's only 66)

It seems that KISS has dropped Dave Lee Roth as the support act for their latest farewell tour. Gene Simmons said that in his prime DLR was the greatest ever rock frontman, but can’t cut it anymore “I prefer to remember Elvis Presley in his prime. Sneering lips, back in Memphis, you know, doing all that. I don’t want to think of bloated naked Elvis on the bathroom floor.” The thing is, as a massive DLR fan, I have to admit that old Gene has a point. On the other hand, have you seen Paul Stanley or heard him try to sing recently? It all seems a bit rich coming from an old, bloated Gene Simmons saying this about Dave on the tenth KISS "this is really the last one" farewell tour.