EliasMooseblaster

I used Laney bass amps consistently for the first 11 or 12 years of my bass-playing life. First proper bass amp was a Session 40 Bassman, superseded by an HCM120b when I needed something loud enough for a rock band. That one soldiered on for about eight years or so before giving up the ghost about a week before a gig, and an ex-display RB8 was bought off fleabay to replace it. I guess the main attraction was that they were in my price range, but I always found them pretty reliable and I quite liked the sound. I moved over to Ashdown valve amps after the RB8, and I have more recently had a few evenings in a practice room which has amps from both the HCM and RB series. It's reassuring to go back to them and find they're still quite nice to play through, though I do find the HCM a bit brittle-sounding - perhaps I've just been spoiling myself with those warm valvey tones!

I already knew that our own chris_b sometimes played with the house band at my local jam night (in fact it might even have been Chris that recommended it to me in the first place!), but I've met another chap there too. I asked him about the rather tasty Jazz bass he was playing, and he said he'd bought it via BC...I never did find out his screen name, though!

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1480439663' post='3184425'] Then again, when I remember that slab neck it was very heavy, like a baseball bat. It could affect tone somewhat, but I don't think to a great degree. [/quote] Purely anecdotal, but I have heard of some guitarists moving to deeper neck profiles because (they reckon) it affords better sustain. Could that baseball-bat neck have provided some similar sustain or other qualities to the tone, or do the jury reckon these guitarists are just talking cobblers?

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1480696581' post='3186553'] I think I've read somewhere a bolt on has more natural compression ? More punch or something? Whatever it is ....there is more of it than a through neck and thats why players like me (bolt on neck ) prefer them. [/quote] I've always found that my Gibson/Epiphone basses ('bird & SG respectively) are much more articulate in the upper register* than bolt-ons. I originally thought that this might have something to do with the neck-through and set-neck constructions offering better sustain/coupling/something, but I have begun to wonder whether this has more to do with them simply having bigger, hotter pickups than my Precisions. Still...if somebody would like to pop a Thunderbird pickup into a P-bass (the placements are as near-as-bugger-it), perhaps we could test this out! [size=3]*Yes, I'm another dusty-end botherer; I'll take my place in the stocks next to UK_lefty![/size]

Just a quick bump for tomorrow's gig

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1480415332' post='3184123'] If you can carry it, of course. Would have thought you wouldn't gain much over two 2x15s. [/quote] There is a story our guitarist often wheels out which, despite a lifelong obsession with The Who, I've never been able to verify, but here we go anyway: Supposedly, back in the (relatively) early days when The Who were in regular correspondence with Jim Marshall, Pete Townshend apparently approached him to have him build him an 8x12. "Eight speakers? But you'll never be able to lift it!" Cried Marshall. "That's what roadies are for," Townshend is said to have replied, deadpan. Marshall duly built the cabinet and had it shipped to Shepherd's Bush. A week later, Townshend and a couple of roadies came back with the 8x12 in the back of a van. "Yeah, can you chop it in half for us?" asked the young guitarist, somewhat sheepishly.

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1480294361' post='3183203'] I have Rotobass nickel plated strings on at the moment, they seem one of the better nickels i have tried so far [/quote] Are these the Rotobass RS35s? Maybe the Swing Bass series might be more suitable; they are designed to give a lot of brightness and sustain, more so than some of the slightly cheaper series. Can't comment on how they typically compare to Pro Steels, unfortunately!

Aha, that could also be a fairly decisive factor - thanks for the heads-up! And yes, maybe I just need to spend a bit more time knob-twiddling; I guess if I take the LB30 then I've got the extra option if I need it.

It's a long time since I've been in the habit of taking a backup. That said, I normally take two basses to a gig as alongside a 4-string, we'll often play at least one of the songs that requires an 8-string. I haven't broken a bass string in something like ten years (touches wood, throws salt over shoulder), but I guess if it came it I could always use the 8 as a backup for the 4 - playing only the bass strings isn't easy, but it's not impossible...

I know the Flip Top is a "classic" amp, and many notable artists have achieved great results. Indeed, it is one that I'll have the option to record through this weekend. Trouble is, when I've had the chance to use it myself, I've never been enamoured with the tone. I assume it's the baked in scoop in the preamp, but I thought I'd seek some more knowledgeable opinion before I waste too many hours twiddling knobs on expensive studio time. My question is: how much is the tone coloured by the cab? If I were to plug in my Ashdown Little Bastard, in place of the Ampeg head, am I likely to hear a marked difference*? *And, ideally, not blow the speaker...

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1480199179' post='3182527'] It is possible that only the bass amp in his bi-amp rig was committed to tape for whatever reason. [/quote] This has been mentioned a couple of times now, and has got me wondering...was he actually bi-amping this early? I am fully prepared to stand corrected, but I thought he only started splitting the signal when he moved over to Sunn amps and more exotic basses.

From the fact you've mentioned 'squealing' very specifically, I wonder if it might be dirt in one of the pots on the front. Very different beast, but I have a knackered old solid-state amp that crackles and squeals when I play with the parametric EQ control - could be something similar in this case, that you could very easily test. Though as Sean says, best get it to a tech!

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1479724330' post='3178671'] I'd say this is pretty normal..... I'm booking theatre gigs for next year where I have to pay a % up front for the hire of the theatre/staff/tech crew. We'll sell tickets and make good money on merch..... same thing. [/quote] I guess the big difference in your case is that once you've hired the theatre and associated crew, the night, and its success, are very much in your control. You know how much effort you have to put into publicising each show to be confident of selling enough tickets to break even, and you can probably predict approximate merch sales based on previous shows in that area. In the OP's case, they're always going to be the support band on this tour, so they'd effectively be investing a hefty sum of money only to relinquish total control of the operation. If the headline act can't turn a profit on the shows then I wouldn't expect the fallout to be any better for the supporting band(s). Maybe this is just my inner control freak coming out...obviously if the headline act have got fans champing at the bit to buy tickets everywhere then things could work out just fine, but I'd want to be confident of that before committing six grand to it!

[quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1479725766' post='3178694'] @lozz they did a headline tour abroad last year and lost a fortune [/quote] So their plan is to go and do a support tour abroad this year, and lose a fortune upfront? I take all the points made above that this seemed to be normal practice in days gone by, but I can't see any way round the simple logic that if you're stumping out six grand to get on the tour then you have to be reasonably certain that you can make six grand back. The fact that they lost a fortune on their last tour doesn't fill me with confidence - I would be asking very serious questions about what they plan to do differently this time. Make sure they've got a credible idea of what their expected return is, and don't take "great exposure" for an answer!

I usually just tune them all a semitone sharp when they first go on, then put them back to concert pitch after an hour or two. Usually does the trick for bass strings - thin, slinky guitar strings are another matter, but they usually go out over the course of a gig anyway, regardless of when they went on.

One last outing for the year: [b]Cherry White[/b] are returning to a familiar old stomping ground, The Spice of Life on the first Friday in December. For those that don't know the venue, it's a decent boozer just off Charing Cross Road (behind the theatre that's kind-of-opposite Macari's) Also featuring: The Alibi: A rock n roll band from Dartford. With heavy riffs and piercing vocals yet melodic and a great live performance Dirt Royal: A three piece Rock and Roll band from Brighton. Performing together since 2013, finding them selves in 2014 releasing their debut Album 'This is Now' with Time For Action Records. Embarking on several Tours around the U.K and Germany, receiving great results Elen C Sh#rp: Born in a small town, in Northern Greece, near Turkey and Bulgaria, called Didimoticho. Her songs are inspired by the themes of life and love, and the polarity between light and darkness within the human psyche. More info at [url="http://substancegigs.com/showdetails.php?sid=620&vid&pa=1"]http://substancegigs...id=620&vid&pa=1[/url] Doors open at 6pm, and it's £6 entry. We sound a bit like this: [url="http://soundcloud.com/cherrywhitemusic"]http://soundcloud.com/cherrywhitemusic[/url]

Depends what you mean by "aggressive" - if that means plenty of "clank" then Rotosound RS66 nickels will give you plenty of that - but slightly less than the SS ones. Better still, I think they're available in short-scale as well. I thought the Dunlops did a fair job, though I've only used them once.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1479129703' post='3174120'] Someone with more theory will help me out but: Say you're playing in C major. The only other major chords available to you are Fmaj and GMaj. The IV and V. You could play minor chords but that really affects the mood of the song. All the 'other' chords you bolt into a song after those 3 are really just inversions with added notes or passing chords leading to one of the three. . [/quote] A lot of songs from various different genres also use the VIm (so Am, in this case) without dramatically altering the mood, but yes, strictly speaking you're out of other major chords once you've used the I, IV and V - it depends how loyally you want to stick to the scale. Not sure I follow your point about the 'other' chords though. Granted there are plenty of common notes between the IIIm and the I, for example - there's only a 'C' between Em and Cmaj7, but there's nothing to stop you sticking in an Em in your progression. Unless I've misunderstood your post?

[quote name='lefrash' timestamp='1478883918' post='3172457'] I seem to remember reading somewhere that on a pj bass the p pickup is positioned differently in order to get a better mix with the j pick Up, so it's not a direct replacement to a good old fashioned p bass. Ive got a p/j jazz and I think I might be right, I don't think it quite has the same tonal qualities as an actual p bass when the j pickup is rolled off. Although ive never owned a good p bass so can't totally compare. [/quote] I've just measured the placement on my Precision copy and my Schecter (P/J). Based on this very narrow sample size alone, you may be right: the P pickup is a little over a centimetre further back on the Schecter. Of course, neither of these are Fender basses and are therefore unlikely to be representative of the original design!

I will suggest this with the full disclaimer that I'm not a big fan of Country generally, and so am not professing any expertise, but... Stu Cook? I know Creedence Clearwater Revival are a bit of a stretch away from Country, but there's a lot of Country-sounding stuff on their later albums, and he was always very good at serving the song while also throwing in a bit of interesting but subtle variation. Might be worth poring over a few of his basslines from [i]Willy and the Poorboys [/i]or[i] Pendulum.[/i]

I can heartily recommend the Blackstar HT-1R for home practice. Even with just one watt, it goes louder than I could probably get away with at home, but not so loud that I can't run it reasonably hard and get a good spectrum of tones from clean to overdriven. The only thing that may put you off is the "baked-in" tone - a lot of people on here aren't fond of it, and it's controlled by a single tone/shape knob. Basically it gives you a mid-scoop at one end and a mid-hump at the other. (Personally I like the tone, so I'm happy with the limited EQ options.) It does also have jack outputs on the back for external speaker, headphone and line out (will have to check the latter), so you could always make it louder with a larger speaker cab and maybe an external power amp.

Nipping at the heels of last week's gig, we've had another London booking in at rather short notice - we're returning to the rather eclectic Bar FM, in Shepherd's Bush, supporting Alex and the Tourists, who are launching their new album, and Melyssa Amorim, who's opening the night with an acoustic set. Bar FM: 184 Uxbridge Road - just off Shep's Bush Green Friday 4th November - doors open 7pm Entry £5 Facebook doodah: https://www.facebook.com/events/328668620827647/

Looking back, it's quite evident how my backline has correlated with the amount of disposable I had to hand! I started out plugging my very first bass into a Squier SP-10 - a little 10W guitar practice amp that definitely couldn't cope with the low frequencies I was putting into it. Fortunately the music shop I bought my old Squier Bronco from had promised to keep an eye out for any cheap bass amps that came their way, and it was only a few weeks before they put me in touch with a chap who was trying to shift a Laney Session 40 Bassman. This began a long dalliance with Laney, mainly due to the fact that their amps were relatively cheap - in fact, I still have the Bassman. A couple of years later, I started rehearsing regularly with a rock band and realised that a 40W solid state combo, with a single 12" speaker, was not going to cut the mustard against two guitars and an exuberant drummer. Looking through mail order listings in a guitar magazine, it became apparent that very few brands of amplifier were within my budget - Laney were one of them, and having had a good experience with the Bassman, I invested in an HCM-120B. That amp must have served me well for a good seven or eight years before it started to fail - I even got the chance to push those 120W to their limits, when we played the Covent Garden Arts Theatre. (I have no idea whether anyone could hear me at the back.) As often seems to be the case with these things, it started to give up the ghost shortly before a gig, but fortuitously I stumbled across a very good deal on another Laney - an RB8 - as I frantically took to Fleabay. By this stage, however, I'd had the luxury of playing through a few valve bass amps. In particular, when we recorded our first album we discovered that the studio had an old Fender Bassman. I'd also become aware of a growth in the market for low-wattage valve guitar amps. Fender Blues Juniors seemed to be increasingly popular among the guitarists I knew, and I started sniffing around for a valve amp I might be able to afford, which ideally would also not be an absolute back-breaker to move around. I was a little disappointed to discover that Laney's only valve series was the Nexus, a bulky 400W beast that was difficult to track down and far beyond my budget. After some research, it became apparent that Ashdown offered a better answer to my search. In the first instance, I bought a CTM-15, and connected this to the single 15" speaker in my old HCM-120B. After one rehearsal I took it back to Guitar Guitar and took them up on their kind offer to trade it in for a Little Bastard 30. I know all too well that it's not a suitable amp for big gigs, but it fared surprisingly well against our guitarist's Blues Junior. I still kept the RB8 around for outdoor gigs, though. Trouble was, he got his hands on a Blackstar Artisan. Same wattage as the Fender, but a much bigger sound. Suddenly my warm valve tone was being drowned out, and when I saw a CTM-100 for sale on here, I pounced. Once again, we were more evenly matched. So confident was I in this setup that I decided to sell the Laney RB8. There's always something though, isn't there? At a gig in Bracknell last year, with no PA support, I found the sound wasn't carrying all that well. I began to suspect the speaker might be the problem - just the one 15" cone, which had come with a fairly inexpensive amp. I asked the collective oracle of Basschat, and an excellent offer on a Bergantino 2 x 12 fell into my lap. Problem solved, it seems. The modular nature of it is quite nice as well - at one of the smaller gigs over the summer, I found the LB30 was ample to drive the new cab, whilst at bigger gigs I can bring the bigger head and put it through its paces a bit more.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1477826540' post='3164620'] Would've been even more of a pain in the proverbial without 6feet7's kind gift of that very nicely made extender bar! [/quote] On that note, can I ask a stupid question? Are these extenders for solving string tensions issues, or intonation/scale length? I can see how it would help to add extra length to the string's total run, but then I always thought the fine-tuning of the scale length was determined by the position of the bridge saddle. (And just to add to everyone else's comments: I've been following this thread in earnest anticipation of any photo updates - this truly is a thing of beauty!)

Gosh, I've not been very good at updating this thread, have I? Well, last Tuesday we played our (approximately) 200th show, which was at the 100 Club: [attachment=230917:CW 100 club-36.jpg] [attachment=230916:CW 100 club-37.jpg] [attachment=230915:CW 100 club-38.jpg] [attachment=230914:CW 100 club-40.jpg] Photos courtesy of Dyana Bittar