Huge Hands

He was a massive influence on me. Really sad, sad day. RIP - The thrill is definitely gone.

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1431340349' post='2770088'] I bought two boxes of Duracell Procell 9v batteries and they didn't last long at all. All done about 20 of them under a year. I wouldn't use them again for basses. I now have gone back to whatever Duracell or Energiser I find and they are fine. [/quote] I could be totally wrong, but my rusty memory is flagging up that I'm sure a few years ago I saw there were a load of fake Procell batteries flooding on to the market - a bit like the fake fags thing. Perhaps you had a batch of these?

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1431425154' post='2771080'] I think that the stories of wifi interference within hotels etc are greatly exaggerated. Over 500 gigs in hotels and function venues in the last 3 years alone - I've only had problems once - in a TV studio that was running 8 wifi access points and over 50 channels of wireless. RF tastic! [/quote] I thought I'd mention it as the corporate building I work in London uses the 2.4Ghz spectrum for all of it's staff in the builidng as they all use laptops and they've tried to phase out a lot of wired connections (as have their neighbours). If you run a frequency scan in this building, you will see the 2.4GHz spectrum is massively congested. Hotels are probably only using one or two repeaters to deal with about 200 guests, whereas we have 4,500 working in this building! They do occasionally do corporate events with bands here in the auditorium though! EDIT: BigRedX, we've both been on here long enough for me to guess your band probably isn't that corporate, but I didn't want to assume

I would point out that your Sony mics appear to be using the wifi spectrum - might not be so good if you're doing a lot of corporate gigs or near internet cafes with big wifi hotspots.... My only other comment would be that when I used to be in the game about 10 years ago, I always found Sony radio mics seemed more designed for corporate and light theatre work - they wouldn't hold up in a violent environment like you've suggested. Of course things may well have moved on since then, but might be worth trying to get a trial unit if you can before you splash the cash?

Welcome Neil, I also live in Crawley (although I'm not from there originally) and play a bit of double bass on my trusty EUB. Enjoy the forum!

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1429629447' post='2753412'] The other aspect is do you know what limits the venue are working too? maybe they can't push too much because they are working to sound limit factors. [/quote] This is a very important point that crez5150 makes. One of the reasons I gave up live engineering was that venues like where I worked were getting jittery about EU laws on hearing health and safety - they believed they had to stick to a 90dBSPL average or all bar staff etc would have to wear ear defenders etc. I remember walking in to a venue where I worked and it sounded horrible. I went to the sound box to see the engineer holding a dBSPL meter and trying to mix whilst watching that because a manager had told him off. The easiest way to bring the level down for him was to pull all of the bass end out. Mind you, even when I switched his masters off, the general venue and backline sound were still pushing him over his 90dB "limit". I also once played a gig where the drummer and percussionist kept tripping out the venue's PA safety limiter in a soundcheck - even before we'd put anything through the PA....

Wayne, I think you're probably picking up on people who are just a**eholes in general, regardless of whether they're a engineer, promoter, doorman, barman or whatever. I could reel of a list of musos I used to work with who were nightmares and probably brought out the worst in my attittude when I was engineering. It is all about working with people, and some people just can't. Funnily enough, I had a big row with my own band on Tuesday because, even though they know my background and normally happily peddle me out as a "sound expert" to deal with engineers - they refused to acknowledge me when I asked them to turn down because the rehearsal studio amp I had was a bit underpowered and I couldn't hear myself - they were way too loud anyway. It certainly brought out the grumpy sound engineer in me that night - and we're still building bridges with each other 2 days later! In reading your earlier post, and as Ironside1966 alluded to, the venue may have told you to turn up at 5pm, but probably forgot to tell the engineer, or just assumed he would be there. If, as you said in your post, you approached him with the "where the effing hell have you been" attitude, then that probably would have put the rest of your day on a bad footing with him, and might explain why he didn't respond well to you. EDIT: I'm originally from Gateshead, but it wasn't me

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1429629447' post='2753412'] The other aspect is do you know what limits the venue are working too? maybe they can't push too much because they are working to sound limit factors. Are they working with poor quality system? I'm in venue's everyday looking at PA and you'd be surprised how many have blown drivers.... Drivers that have been replaced with non manufacturer product and cheap far eastern ones because of budgets... Just because the PA has a name on the front doesn't mean its got the components inside. [/quote] Ha ha well said - I could probably fill my own thread with tales on this sort of thing. I can even remember reconing speakers without a jig - just by eye and feel - some lasted 10 minutes , some lasted years! [quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1429629447' post='2753412'] I always find these threads amusing that muso's often think they know me than the engineer (which in some cases may be) [/quote] Hear hear! Harrumph!

I notice there are a lot of threads about this sort of thing at the moment. As a former sound engineer, all I can say is that not everything is black or white, good or s**t. There can be a myriad of factors. One can indeed be that the engineer is hopeless. However, for example, one could be the acoustics of the room generating standing waves or issues, so s/he's notched stuff out. Or that the PA is underpowered and full-on bass could trip/blow amps/speakers so the engineer is being careful. There could be something out of phase. There could be a fault. There could be an issue with the bass player's gear. I have done multi-band nights where one band thinks I'm a fantastic engineer, and the next one thinks I'm s**t. A lot of it is to do with perception. No matter how professional we think we're all being, an engineer will add their own personal taste to a mix, so they do have to be considered. This is why bands that tour with an engineer often stick with the same one for years. Remember, a good gig is also a two way street. I've said this before, but it is usually one engineer against 5 or so good mates in a band. The engineer has to find a way to get on with your band. If you make them feel welcome and that you're willing to be cooperative, they will relax and it should make for a better nights. However, if visiting bands are continually not engaging and generally having bad attitudes, an engineer's tolerance threshold will probably be quite low! Finally though, I do acknowledge that some engineers can be tw*ts and will never get on with anyone. I've met quite a few in my time! Perhaps we should invite some of the current crop of engineers who reside on this forum (I have been out of the live audio game for about 12 years) to start a thread about some bass players being enemies of sound..?

I once did a gig where we'd had to rearrange the stage at the last minute due to jobsworth venue management and literally finished soundcheck, the venue opened and we started straight off without a break. Halfway through the first song my bass cut out. My amp was on, so I figured it was the lead. I spun around for my gig bag with spare leads in and realised it was over the other side of stage with no hope of reaching it thanks to the last minute reshuffle. Whilst the song was carrying on without me, I unscrewed the jack at the guitar end. In the dark light of the stage, it looked fine to me, so I put it back together and plugged up wondering what to look at next but hey presto! it all worked! I did the rest of the gig without an issue, and wondered what the fault had actually been. It wasn't til I checked my gear after the gig that I noticed the connection in the plug I pulled apart had snapped at the solder joint - somehow when I put it back together I must have wedged it back on the terminal. Someone was obviously smiling on me that day!

I used to play in a blues band where the singer used to wind me up - no real personality on stage, hardly any talking to the audience etc. We would just play through the set and go off stage. However, I then had a mate come to see us who said he liked it - he said it had an air of "This is who we are, if you don't like it f**k off". I saw his point, but it wasn't really my thing. I have since worked with a totally stage confident front man, who used to get the audience involved all night - he even tried a 10 minute stand up routine one night while we just stood there. When it died a death, he just turned to us, shrugged his shoulders and said "Worth a try.." and carried on with the gig which went down a storm. He gave it up a few years ago - damn shame!

..Any time I hear Morrissey's voice...sung or spoken. If my brain doesn't burst, then I get destructively violent to my surroundings. I'm not proud of it....

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1429050151' post='2747559'] Or perhaps as it's TV not everyone has a super-hi-fi cinema-type sound system... [/quote] Perhaps it's the super hi-fi system that is the problem. I don't even have a sound bar on my TV!

I find these comments odd - about 10 years ago I bought a "Later with Jools Holland - best of NuSoul/R&B" DVD. I thought the mixes were really good on all of them, especially the bass, and I love the DVD - I still often watch it now. As this kind of music lends itself to good bass tone - perhaps the mix is more to do with the band's source sound than we would like to think?

[quote name='Huge Hands' timestamp='1428916147' post='2745801'] I think that Alex was saying that the cab works better horizontally so that the port is [i]facing the floor [/i] [/quote] [quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1428917887' post='2745823'] Having the cab horizontal with the port on the [b][u]side[/u][/b] [/quote] Whoops! And to think I own two of these..... EDIT - Alex - I wish you'd stop posting pics of these with the steel grills - it makes me go all wobbly and doubt my decision to go with the silver cloth look....

I am 6'3 and sometimes struggle when a single cab is horizontally on the floor and I'm stood up. When I have both stacked, it is fine (to me). On the small gigs, I often vertically mount the single cab on one end. I think that Alex was saying that the cab works better horizontally so that the port is facing the floor and helps with low end, but I find there is still plenty of oomph when it is on it's side. Then again, I'm not normally thrashing mine.

Just to add to the OP's question - I don't have a 610, but I do have 2 of the 210 4 ohm cabs and am completely bowled over by them. I love the low B string sounds I get out of them and they are pretty light too. I wouldn't have wanted to drag a mini fridge sized cab around with me - no matter how light it was, hence avoiding the 610. I may buy aniother 210 at some point to replicate the 610 if I was ever doing that kind of gig regularly, but at the moment, one 210 is often enough for what I need! Positive testimonial from me!

Pardon?

If they get worse and burst - I once did a gig with burst blisters on my fingertips - they were red raw. Superglue was suggested on this forum and I put a layer on before the gig - this helped me get through the gig quite well, and much better than "New Skin" which I think was also suggested (seems like the same stuff but weaker concentration). I did have to apply a new layer every couple of songs or so, and make sure I blew them dry while the singer was waffling so I didn't stick to the strings!

Thanks Lee, I did take a look at that, but it seemed that there is only one mute switch. Whether this is switchable to mute the loop or the output I don't know, but I liked the idea of two switches - a loop mute and a overall mute that I've seen on others. The way I've decided to go is as follows: I've asked Bright Onion to make me a pedal based on the link Elephantgrey posted but with a Blender instead of the buffer circuitry. If I still need more EQ and gain control then I will keep an eye on the Bassbone V2 when it comes into stock and has a price in the UK. That does seem to be everything I would ever want in an ideal box, but I'm hoping the BO will do everything I need for a third or half of the price. If not, then I've only lost about £90 (unless I sell it on of course!)

I have a Mag300 - the other thing to try is the fact that mine has 2 input sockets - HI and LO. These refer to impedance rather than level. If you're plugging a passive bass into the HI socket, the you'll experience a massive drop in level through the signal chain compared to using the LO one.

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1427480768' post='2731013'] Apologies, but some people need winding up a bit, turn the key, let them go, it is irresistible. Brings out the inner within them for us all to see. [/quote] If by "winding people up" you're talking about the engineer in the venue, then I agree that one of the important traits a good engineer should have is decisiveness, such as an ability to be able to speak to guitarists in a way that will stop them noodling on for ages, without bruising their egos too much, so that you can get everything done. If your engineer is a bit aloof and not good at this, then sometimes, as a person trying to proactively get the job done, then it can be helpful to try and be strong with them and guide them - actually telling your own bandmates who know you to shut the f**k up when the engineer is trying to move on to the next instrument is always a massive help and something I always try and do with my bands. If you were talking about me as in my response to your post, then I would inform you that I'm not ranting or upset at all. I'm saying if you came into a gig I was working on with that attitude, you would get no respect from me, and you'd probably end up with the mic up your a**e instead of in front of your cab. I'm only joking of course as I wouldn't want to waste a good mic, but remember it is one engineer against a "band of brothers", so sometimes you have to get tough (but fair). I hope you see this post (and my last) as a bit of jokey banter as it was intended in terms of the macho posturing stuff, but I do think that if you're not joking, you seriously could do with considering your attitude in how you deal with techs. As the OP alluded to, often techs are musos too, and sometimes do this because they enjoy the techy stuff, not because they're a "failed musician". I've met plenty of techs who could wipe their band off the stage with their playing but choose not to showboat about it. I don't include myself as someone who could play that well by the way!

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1427451944' post='2730469'] Di on the bass never really helps unless you like the sound of your bass plugged straight in to a clean amp. Thats what's coming out front, your sound you created and spent years getting right stays on stage. Unless you fight your corner, hours sometimes on drums, play the bass mate, ten seconds for a level, right on to the guitar for twenty minutes. You have to sometimes collar them and say go get a ****ing Mic and mic the cab up and get the sound I have here out front. Often your sound is a mix of compression and slight overdrive creating sustain you realy on to play certain things. A dry DI, slight fiddle with the desk EQ and you are just a dull rumble with no sustain and there is nothing to put back in the mix to start with. Any sound engineer not willing to help, well not as if there is a shortage these days is it. A lot have forgotten that it is the artistes who are the important people in the room, the sound man has a job to do and that requires listening to the people he is supposed to be working for sometimes. [/quote] When I was a sound engineer - I think me and you would have gotten on famously - in the car park outside.... I'm sorry but your attitude stinks. If you go into a venue thinking like that, then you're going to butt heads each time, and possbily a disgruntled engineer who senses that from you might make your life harder and your sound s**tter. Sometimes, micing cabs just isn't practical. I often asked for "pre EQ" - because there are just as many bassists without a clue as there are sound engineers and I had a rack of patchable dynamics and effects on hand myself. However, if I could see that the bass player was heavily effects driven or had a unique sound through his amp, then I would go post. I might even be tempted to mic, if I felt it would help and I wanted to go the extra mile for this band (which I often did). It's all about working together and listening is a two way street. Sound engineering can be an artform in itself, and an engineer can make a mediocre band sound great, but they can't always stop a s**t band sounding s**t. Remember, engineers often don't work for you, then often work for the venue, or are hired in by the venue - and probably multiple venues. If you act like a prima donna and upset them, you may find it is you who is begging to get a gig, not the other way around. Bands are ten a penny too these days..... Just my humble opinion of course! EDIT: I would add that I'm not defending every single sound engineer - some are useless....

Hi Elephantgrey - I have contacted Bright Onion and he is discussing designs with me. My only quandry is that as it gets more specialist for me, the price is rising, and I'm starting to think it might be worth holding on and splashing just a bit more on a Bassbone V2. It looks like the V2 is so new it is not available in Europe yet - most retailers like Thomann still only have the original version. Therefore, I'm not 100% sure how much the V2 will be. I'll see what the final price on the Bright Onion will be - and think some more!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1427368016' post='2729370'] For me sound checking is about making sure that everything that should be coming out of the PA is and with roughly the right balance in volume, and getting an acceptable on-stage sound. [/quote] I totally agree, and was being a bit tongue-in-cheek when I said I didn't like doing it, However, sometimes the room suddenly being deadened by a lot of bodies can affect the on stage sound too (depending on the room). Some bands need to remember this when they can't understand that "everything has changed" and they start shouting at the engineer (or slagging them off over the mic which is one of the most disrespectful things you can do IMHO).