Skinnyman

We're doing a charity mini-festival at the Bank Holiday with our band and about six others. All proceeds going to Stoke Mandeville as a thank you for the support they gave to the guitarist's wife after she had a spinal stroke about six months ago. The big draw will be the auction (a day with the merc f1 team anyone?) and the local radio celebs but there's also half a dozen bands plus raffle, etc. Anyway, I've volunteered (been roped in) to do the sound on the day for all the bands (with a deputy leaving everything well alone for our set). It's quite a small venue - basically a pub car park and beer garden. Stage is a flat bed trailer (donated) and a gazebo shelter. There's another small gazebo that will be set up in front of the stage, offset slightly to one side and this wil have the mixing desk. We've no money to hire equipment so we're making do with what we have on hand or can borrow. Because this is the first time I've engineered a multi-band event and the first time I've done one outdoors, I'm looking for hints and tips from anyone with experience of these things. My basic assumptions are: 1) it will rain on the day 2) it will blow a gale on the day 3) something will break/blow/up/short out at some point. 4) most bands will over run their allotted time Any more you'd add to that list? We've allowed 15 minutes to change over between acts but there are slack points built in (fund raising appeals etc) which will hopefully allow us to claw some of that back. To be honest, I'm not to bothered about the stage management aspect - that can be someone else's problem. I just want to make sure that the sound is reasonable and everyone can plug in to something. We have two powered mixers available (one as spare but also to act as a slave if needed). I'm planning to use two pairs of passive speakers mounted one above the other at each side of the stage, plus a pair of actives in the beer garden part - the thinking being that I don't need to run everything flat out if I have multiple speakers. I've got a multicore to run from stage to desk and sufficient monitor sends to give individual mixes to the four stage monitors. I'm miking the drums and DI'ing all the instruments. I've checked that I have enough XLR cables and speaker leads, etc and can get power to everywhere I need it. Waterproofing will be with copious numbers of bin liners, cut and taped appropriately and wind proofing is with lots of 20litre containers full of water and tied strategically. Can anyone think of anything I've missed? Or give me any suggestions on the getting a decent outdoor sound. If it sounds okay to me at the desk, is it safe to assume it will be okay elsewhere? And there's going to be a couple of acoustic acts using electro-acoustic guitars - do they present any specific, feedback-related kind of problems? This is one of those situations where if it all goes well, no-one will say a word. If anything goes wrong, it'll all be my fault. In the great words of Charlie Brown, doing a good job will be like wetting my pants in dark trousers. I'll get a warm feeling, but no one will notice..... All advice gratefully received.

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1408302129' post='2528833'] Me too! It always amuses me when the band ask for a monitor tweak mid-song, like I can just stop playing and sort it for them. [/quote] The tweak generally being 'can I have more me in my monitor?'. And usually just before the one bit in the song where I might actually be heard....which I invariably miss or screw up because I'm wondering how to make the relevant change (which is never 'more him' but always 'less everyone else').

[quote name='goblin' timestamp='1408298130' post='2528770'] For band work I prefer 15s. I've got a pair of HK Actors which are 15". I've only been using one with a 1500 watt vocal PA, and it just takes a bit of pressure off the tops (EV SXs) and adds a lot more depth. You do need a good system controller / crossover though. Otherwise you're just giving a sub a full range signal, and they tend not to like that... [/quote] Ok, dumb question.... How do I prevent the bass signal getting through to the mains? We have a Yamaha PA with a main stereo line out and a separate sub out (which actually gets the full signal so would need an external crossover to feed a pair of subs). Which is fine - but how do I stop the bass going to the mains? Another crossover?

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1408289861' post='2528652'] We bought an empty hose reel for our XLR cables, we just snap them end to end and wind them on. [/quote] Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I'm going to get me one of them

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1408294162' post='2528721'] Coil it properly (as seen in vid) then I put two velcro ties opposite sides of the coil. Generally works- but doesn't help when other band members don't bother. (of course being the bass player I end up supplying all the PA kit!). We have two boxes for cables, one clearly marked Instrument & Mic leads, the other speaker & power leads. It would seem that most band members can't read either. [/quote] Is this a common thing? Bass players supplying the PA And doing the sound? I have exactly the same role in our band, the unspoken attitude being that I only play one note for very thousand that the guitarists play so I must have time on my hands to sort out their monitor mix, adjust the balance, make sure nothings peaking, etc, etc. oh, and change the lighting presets on cue as well. And I also get to spend a happy hour or so on a Sunday morning re-coiling all the leads that the singer just bundled into the (wrong) box.... And I thought it was just me.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1378583494' post='2202201'] Are there really people out there who think that being deceitful about purchases worth hundreds or thousands is a good way to behave in a committed relationship? Or who think so little of their wife that they reckon she can't tell one red bass from another? I really hope that it's just tongue in cheek jokey bravado, [/quote] Yes. That

Every gig we pack up all our cables. Neat and tidy, held together with Velcro straps. Next time we get them out, take off the Velcro and watch as they twist into knots that no amount of Boy Scouts could undo. Cue hours of untangling before we can run them across the stage. How does this happen? And has anyone found anything that will keep cables neat and tangle free? I'd put them onto cable reels but can't find anywhere that sells empty ones at a reasonable price.... Does this happen to everyone or is it somehow just me?

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1408130541' post='2527519'] if you're adventurous, a multi-tone capacitor selector like an Aria bass. [/quote] I like that idea....

I've now had chance to have a proper look at this and my suspicions are confirmed. It's a lovely bass with really nasty after-market electronics. The bass itself has cleaned up nicely - fingerboard soaked up a load of fretboard oil and the frets have cleaned up nicely with a bit of elbow grease. The body has cleaned up OK. It's certainly not bad enough to strip and respray, and, one of these days, will benefit from a session with some cutting compound and a DA polisher just to get the fine scratches out. When I've got a DA polisher, obviously. But the wiring is a different matter altogether. Where there is any, the soldering is awful, but mostly wires are just twisted and taped, nothing is cut to length and although it kind of works, the pickups are very grotty and sound horrible. So, Entwistle P/J pickups are ordered (well, they will be as soon as I get a price for them) as is a wiring harness from AxesRUs - I'm going to make this a passive bass and that's where the one little problem/opportunity lies..... The bass has four holes cut through for the controls. As standard, these are for master volume, pickup blend, bass and treble EQ. The cowboy who threw the replacement electrics on this had a three way switch (pickup selector) , a volume, a tone and a small LED. In order to fit the 3-way switch, he (or she) made one of the holes bigger. So when I've fitted the new controls (volume, volume and tone), I'll be left with a chuffing great big (ok, 12mm) hole. I could put the jack socket there - but I don't want to. Or I could just put a 12mm blanking plug in it - but that's kind of boring. So...... any suggestions as to what I can fill it with (no sniggering at the back there)? Bearing in mind there's now a big cavity at the back of the bass with hardly anything in it, does anyone do a sound-sensitive pulsing LED that would drive a 12mm LED? Or some kind of plug with a moulded figure on the end? Ideas?

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1408088833' post='2526902'] I've no experience of them but I keep reading very good things about Entwistle pickups, esp the PBXN and JBXN models. Complete thread here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/235314-entwistle-bass-pickups/page__hl__entwistle%20pickups"]http://basschat.co.u...istle%20pickups[/url] EDIT: I believe this is the official UK stockist http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-PickupsPlus-Store/Bass-Pickups-/_i.html?_fsub=3616628011&_sid=1021113631&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322 [/quote] Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. I'll be getting a pair of entwistle pickups plus some new pots and away we go!

Played my first gig at 52, loved every minute since (conveniently ignores previous rants about over-loud guitarists). Enjoy, you won't look back....

I just bought an SGC Nanyo Bass Collection bass off of FleaBay for not a lot of money. Nice... The seller just described it as a "bass guitar" and I assumed from the pics that it would be the entry-level, passive bass. Turns out to be active which implies it's a 310 although it looks like the pickups have been swapped so the active circuitry may be non-original. It's in pretty good nick, nothing that a good clean and setup won't fix, but the electrics are a bit ropey and, given that I paid next to nothing, I think it's worth replacing them. So my question is, what with? I'm tempted to go with passive electrics (I already have an active 310) and would like to keep the p/j configuration. So I'm looking for recommendations for pickups that are good value for money and that are likely to perform well in a small but perfectly formed bass like this one. I recently put an iron gear pickup in my strat and love it but unfortunately iron gear don't do bass pups. I guess Wilkinson would be the obvious choice but I've no real experience with them so any recommendations, suggestions gratefully received..... Ta

Carrie Melbourne. Played on a couple of Mike Oldfield tours, plays Chapman Stick. Awesome. Maybe not quite as good a sense of musicality as whatshername from the Pixies but she manages okay. Better than me any road

At the risk of veering very slightly off topic, has anyone else noticed how difficult some wedding venues make it for live bands to play? We've had several this year that have insisted on us playing with an ultra-sensitive limiter, one that demanded to see our liability insurance and one that wanted to see our PRS licence (I know, I know). All the above venues would quite happily recommend their preferred DJ and I know for a fact that one of them turned the sound limiter off for him. Is this the hotels wanting to book everything including the entertainment? Or they just don't like bands? Or am I paranoid?

[quote name='vsmith1' timestamp='1406881296' post='2515494'] I put it down to a combination of ego and ignorance. Ego in terms of they think they are the main attraction and ignorance in terms of not understanding or wanting to understand the balance of sound as well as thinking somehow everyone else will be fine. All band members in my view should have some appreciation of the basics of PA and mixing. In my small experience they want to remain ignorant because when you try to explain you can see the shutters coming down and yet they expect miracles like its as perfect as when I'm playing at home on my own with the backing track. [/quote] What he just said. I run the sound as well as bass duties and I've lost count of the number of times that someone has nearly had a guitar or mic stand firmly planted where the sun don't shine, watching me stomp off with the words "well do it your 'kin self then...." Ringing in their ears. I like the one-handed signal attenuator posted earlier in this thread too

One of our guitarists insists on playing at full volume ALL the time. He reins it back at sound check and then whacks it up to 11 as soon as we start. Threats of physical pain, abuse and pleas to his better nature have all fallen on deaf ears (sic). We've taken his amp away and DI'd him straight into the mixer - he just turns up the gain and cranks up his monitor. It's got to the stage where I have to wear ear defenders to try and protect what's left of my hearing. Until now. Last week we got him a set of wireless in-ear monitors which he loves. He can have them as loud as he likes while we can mix him into the stage monitors at a reasonable level. Two blissful gigs done since. Sorted.

+1 they're brilliant.

[quote name='Simon.' timestamp='1406633198' post='2513180'] Fender Japan have a colour called Old Lake Placid Blue, which I just love. I have serious, serious GAS for one of these (but with a pearl plate on it): [url="http://[URL=http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Ritson/media/JB75-OLB.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n535/Simon_Ritson/JB75-OLB.jpg[/IMG][/URL]"]http://[URL=http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Ritson/media/JB75-OLB.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n535/Simon_Ritson/JB75-OLB.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/url] [/quote] Aaaaaaargh. Why did you show me this? It's gorgeous. I want one. Can't have one but can't un-see it either.

The Granary in Long Sutton (where's that??! Where? That's miles....). Took forever to get there and the definite feeling that although the phone book might be quite big, there's only going to be a couple of surnames in it..... But, a brilliant gig. Mixed crowd, including Nana celebrating her 70th. Dance floor full, loads of banter and crammed to the rafters. I tried out the new (to me) Bass Collection with it's upgraded EQ for the first time live and loved it. Both guitarists and the singer commented on the sound I was getting and my back commented on how little weight it was having to carry. My Fender USA Jazz sat on its stand all night, relegated to backup bass. Of course, I still played like I was wearing boxing gloves, but at least it sounded nice when I got the right notes now and then. I am loving that little bass....

I just bought a Bass Collection SB310 and, although I love the guitar, I was a bit less impressed with the level of hiss and noise coming from the 30-odd year old electrics. Plus, as has been mentioned on here before, the jazz pickup was a bit on the quiet side. So I bought an Artec SE2 EQ off eBay which arrived this morning and I've just spent a happy hour or two fitting it. In case anyone is impatient to find out the answer, I'll just say right up front that I'm really impressed with this. For £21 it's incredible value. Here's the full story.... First thing to mention is that the thing comes loosely wrapped in bubble wrap with no instructions, wiring diagram or anything. But if you take a minute or two to study everything, you'll see that the connections are printed on the boards. There are wiring diagrams on the Artec website so it's not really an issue. The various pots are all connected to each other by molex connectors so the only thing that needs to be soldered is the input from the pups, the connections to the output jack and the battery clip. It's not the hardest wiring job in the world if you're reasonably competent with a soldering iron. As always, three hands helps and the SB310 has loads of room inside the cavity so for me it was a nice easy job. Other basses may not be quite as forgiving.... I get very OCD about keeping wires tidy, making sure everything is shielded and properly grounded etc so whether it's my spectacular workmanship or the quality of the Artec but the upshot is that when reassembled I found the hiss had gone, the J pickup is on a par with the P pickup and the overall sound quality is really impressive. The bass and treble cuts/boosts are subtle but effective. There's not a huge dynamic range on either the bass or treble pot but there's plenty for me. Ok, this will never compete with a East, EMG, etc - but then, I don't think it needs to. It's a £21 replacement for a set of ageing electrics that I've put into a great little bass that's never going to be worth a fortune but warrants an upgrade. At twice the price this would be excellent. At this price, it's a steal.

Just bought Mike's Bass Collection SB310. Easy transaction, nice guy to deal with. Many thanks

So, it's not just me then...!! Phew. That video is brilliant and will become part of my exercise routine from today. So the general consensus is; simplify or sacrifice the bass part for the vocal, practice and, er, practice some more. Thanks to all for the constructive comments - and for the reassurance that I'm not a freak because I can't do this!

Does anyone else struggle to sing and play at the same time? Or is it just me? We have a great singer but he wants someone to do backing vocals. I'm happy to do it and, apparently, sound okay - but it turns out I can't sing and play simultaneously. Am I alone in this or does anyone else have the same problem? More importantly, has anyone had the problem and solved it? Any suggestions for practise routines to help me would be gratefully received....