Adrenochrome

Be as professional as possible in all aspects! Be organised/prompt/sober/rehearsed/with reliable gear/with spares etc. Don't forget that you're playing for the audience and the manager/landlord so don't be too loud, don't widdle around between songs, do make eye contact with the audience etc etc

Flourescent lights, out-of-phase ring mains in venues and other things can also cause amps to hum, so should all be discounted. If the hum happens wherever you play then ignore the above!

On a fretted bass it makes knack-all difference to the sound - but for looks, I do like maple (most of mine are rosewood though)

It has one of each, not the combined type.

Generally a good idea. I'm not sure if it should be compulsory as I can think of a handful of reasons why someone may not feel able to list their location publicly. Perhaps Country and geographical region [eg North Wales] could be compulsory and people can be more detailed if they wish?

Doesn't sound that unusual though. My onstage sound is very middy to cut through without being stupidly loud, then my FOH sound has a lot more bottom end to it.

Ah but you shouldn't need to upgrade a bass you've paid decent money for. There's plenty of new £200-300 basses that'll slay most Fenders (for example) if you're willing to go beyond trendy brand names and 'tonewoods' that make next to feck all difference anyway.

[quote name='arthurhenry' post='748125' date='Feb 17 2010, 10:28 AM']At a heavy rock gig I played a load of Rush and Iron maiden licks at soundcheck - no one noticed. At a classic rock covers gig I slipped the solo from Jethro Tull's Bouree into my solo - no one noticed. At a covers gig someone kept shouting out for some Bee Gees. Later in the set I slipped in the riff from Stayin' alive - he didn't notice. On the 20th anniversary of Jaco's death, I sneaked lots of Jaco licks into the set - no one noticed. Shortly after George Harrison's death, I slipped the melody from Here comes the sun into a song - no one noticed. Do things like this happen to you, and frustrate you? Am I a musical snob for expecting audiences to notice this stuff? Is it due to peoples lack of understanding about Bass? Is the sad truth that however passionate you are about music, most of the people you ever play to will be casual music fans?[/quote] - Yes, no not at all. - Possibly... my missus would notice but she's a bit of a music geek as well - Lack of familiarity maybe? (remember a lot of bass wasn't even audible on am tranny radios) - It's a truth, but doesn't have to be sad. Those same people entirely fund my hobby/pasttime. Jon

Just a little bump for me. If anyone wonders what I'm up to these days, now's your chance to pop in tomorrow.

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='736461' date='Feb 5 2010, 05:34 PM']Have a great gig Jon and thanks for coming last night. Sounds like a nice and varied set list. I wll try to get over but will probably try for a more local to me Friday or Saturday gig. We are back in Harrogate next Thursday at the Alexandra ( I think ) and apparently it's another good venue. We called round the Blues Bar in the break and it was packed to the roof with Chantelle playing. Tony PS Thanks fror the review on the ROTN site[/quote] No probs Tony - I tell it like it is!

Surely it's just a [s]gimic[/s] [i]marketing ploy [/i]to get some more US sales? It is a big market...

Word!

Yes, I do remember his presence on the forum. That's very sad news indeed; my condolences to his family and friends.

Elites nickels are my main choice now. Never had a problem with them being particularly rough - have y'all got soft fingers?

I love my Peavey and it's the perfect gigging machine for me. BUT I doubt I'll grow old with it due to the wear and tear it gets from regular use - it's probably gonna need new frets within the next couple of years. If I get a new bass I think I'll be looking for a 35" scale 4-string to tighten up the bottom end on drop tunings.

Sure do! We drop to CGCF for some songs. I use 50-110 gauge strings.

Some big assumptions. I look after my basses but they all have dints to the neck and headstock. Almost all of those are from gigging in pubs with drunk people dancing etc (as a backing vocalist I'm often stood at the fron near punters). My basses are tools for making the band sound good.

My band Delirium are playing Montey's Rock Cafe in Harrogate on Thursday 18th February from 9pm, most drinks are 2-4-1 all night. Songs by: AC/DC, Alice in Chains, Audioslave, Black Sabbath, Foo Fighters, Greenday, Guns'n'Roses, Hoobastank, Hundred Reasons, Iron Maiden, Jet, Kings Of Leon, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Moore/Lynott, Nickelback, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Puddle of Mudd, Rainbow, Skid Row, Stone Temple Pilots, System of a Down, the Cult, the Darkness, Van Halen, Whitesnake. I hardly ever play in Harrogate so any support would be most welcome! Jon

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='735098' date='Feb 4 2010, 02:48 PM']If you're lucky you won't be reduced to a boomy sub-bass sludge that ruins the sound of the rest of the band. Anything more than that is a bonus.[/quote] Ha ha, this happened on Sunday. Our drummer 'does' our sound [because no one else can work the aniquated thing], and when I stepped out front all I had was a muddy 'whump' noise when I played my bass. Good grief. In the end I managed to get enough mids re-instated to make it bearable.

That was too funny! Unfortunately there are lots of middle-aged, experienced, gig promoters walking round who are not really much better.

I don't like 'em myself but they have a very characteristic twang. AFAIK they're all built with a semi-hollow lightweight body and generally have single coil pups which should help the twang. ...and when I said 'try', I literally meant try one in a shop or wherever - it wasn't a direct recommendation to splash the cash.

Try a Danelectro.

Zoom B2 w/headphones or acoustic bass for me. I never plug in properly at home.

Mine sounds sh1te if it goes into the red more than occasionally. Usually the needle is around 12 o'clock and all sounds great.

[quote name='cetera' post='713537' date='Jan 15 2010, 11:20 AM']I always went for the classic clean 'smile EQ' with loads of bass and treble and a mid cut. Loved the tone when practicing.... but in a band environment I couldn't hear myself. Discovered 'mids', almost reversed the graphic, added more gain and voila! Bold growling bass tone and easily heard in the band environment! [/quote] +1 Like many people I did the smiley or V-shaped EQ and changed it overnight and never changed back. More clarity at less volume!