Al Krow

Sending love mate. We're here for you if you ever need anything x

$1,800 for the the Stadium Floor, so maybe £1,750 over here? vs £1,450 for the Quad Cortex But it does seem like quite a step up from Quad Cortex, which is going some? I guess the context for a guitarist is a Mesa Boogie Mark VII 1x12 Combo Valve Amp would set you back £4,200

As some of us maybe aware, Line 6 originally announced Helix on 11 June 2015 i.e. today is the 10th anniversary. @Paddy777 spotted that there's a livestream at 7pm and kindly posted the link and comment below 👇 which I've taken the liberty of pulling across from another thread: "That’s what the livestream is “in aid of” or that’s the justification of it, but they’ve really pulled the big guns out - they’ve invited loads of guitar influencers to Line6HQ for it and really built it up. The speculation is that they’ll announce Helix firmware 4.0 which will have NAM compatibility but that could be wishful thinking or completely unfounded - they might even announce or give a teaser for next gen Helix 2.0 but the counter to that is that the current Helix software is only 18 months old and so I’m leaning towards the former, but I haven’t got a clue"

Oh that is interesting news re. there being a 'big announcement' tomorrow. Because Line 6 announced Helix on 11 June 2015 i.e. tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of Helix!

Pleasure to give something back to Lee. Thanks for organising this Andy x

+1 for Nux 5.8 GHz. Been using them regularly on gigs (100+) for the past couple of years, and have a worked a treat. Previously had the Boss WL-20s which were great sonically, but I was often getting drop-outs with them in the more crowded 2.4 GHz space particularly following a switch by a couple of us in the band to wireless IEMs.

Hi Phil, the ZARs are a little bulkier - see pic: The IEM (in ear monitors) Bible thread - Page 53 You'll read that a few others also upgraded to the ZARs following my tip-off, and generally found the move positive (or at worst neutral): "I have to say that since upgrading to the KZ ZAR's, I find the listening experience altogether more enjoyable." - acidbass "I did gigs the last two Saturdays with them and on those gigs, specifically the last gig, my in ear sound was the best I have had. In fact it was the best on stage sound I have had full stop and as a result I felt I played better because I was so into the sound I was getting." - Woody

Hi Ian, TLDR: recommend upgrading your IEMs. Plenty of options: in my case I've found KZ ZARs work very well and at around £50 from Ali Express they're excellent value. Combine with a decent preamp pedal and a tailored mix from your desk and you'll be good to go! The desk we both use (A&H CQ18T) has very decent preamps and the quality of sound was a step up from our Soundcraft MTK12 which isn't bad, by any means. We are also both using Xvive U4s (which btw are purely mono, so not sure your cunning plan for stereo is going to succeed!) My first IEMs were also Shure 215s. I'd say they were ok (say = 4/10). I subsequently upgraded to Shure 315s (= 5/10). Having read through the first 300 posts (!) on the IEM bible thread, I got some KZ ZS10s which seemed to be the BC go to value model at the time. The KZs with their multi-drivers were a definite step up in articulation and clarity over the Shures (= 6.5/10), but a little harsh in the treble and I found them a little wearing, and I was half tempted to give up on IEMs at that point. I then came across KZ ZARs IEMs, which are double the price of the ZS10s (but still amazing value at £50 on Ali Express), but have been worth every penny for me. Fuller more rounded response (= 8/10). The CQ18T also allows each of us to have tailored mixes, and I've found the combination of a decent preamp pedal and tailored mix from the desk (with the bass guitar boosted in my personal mix) has made IEMs work very well for me. Hope that helps!

That's generously put Phil, thank you. But I think Doc J is also correct: sometimes it's a case of us being content to play something that "just works" rather than putting the time and effort to learn something trickier but ultimately truer to the what the original band intended, and frankly often just a much better bassline than the "flattened" / simplified version I've certainly been guilty of settling for! I'm not going to deny that I loved the appreciative smile from a pro guitarist who was depping for us for a function gig last year when he heard me playing the correct bassline on Go Your Own Way. And yes a few members of the audience do notice too!

Just seen you're looking at something for vocals also and want to avoid gear duplication...in which case the single PA top / FRFR option may well be the better option for you if you're looking for something that covers all the bases (excuse the pun!) Do you have PA already? If not, there's a whole separate rabbit hole for you to dive into e.g. Compact budget PA set-up to put bass through (without back-line) - I ended up ditching my backline for a pair of RCF 912As, but there's plenty of other options! And many of those PA speakers have been widely used as FRFR speakers by BC'ers: the RCF 732A seems to be a popular option and would handle vox better than my 912As due to better mid range horns.

Yes, and the Fender Rumble 500 is also much loved by BC'ers too!

We put our full band through a pair of RCF 912As, without needing a sub, and they provide us with a very decent bass response. A single 912A should therefore be able to very comfortably handle bass if you want to use it as a 'FRFR' powered speaker, and will cost a fraction of the price many of the more traditional separate amp & cab set ups that many BC'ers use. But perhaps the better comparison is with something like a Markbass CMD 121P combo, in which case the price differential is not so large, particularly if you are comparing used prices.

Kinda reminds me of discussions I've had with bandmates and deps around playing a part that fits the song vs playing the bass line / guitar riff / drum pattern of the song. Must admit I really appreciate working with drummers who include the fills and nuances of particular songs we cover vs simply bashing out a rhythm and tempo that fits the song. Maybe that's equivalent to us just playing the root notes? Sure it can be "fun" to keep things simple, and horses for courses, if that is all we want to be doing with our music - getting out and gigging can be massively fulfilling in itself! But equally if we don't have to settle for less, then why not aim to be the best musicians we can? And I'm saying that knowing I've got a very long way to go...

For sure! Now these guys do "making it their own" brilliantly!

Not a decision as such. Many years back when I first started playing it with a previous covers band, we were struggling to get tight on coming in together at the start with acoustic guitar coming in on the up beat ahead of everyone else, so that's what we focussed on sorting. The simplified bass part I played fitted, was certainly "good enough" in terms of audience reception to our song - it was always about the guitar solo at the end for them - and no one said anything. That changed when the singer in my current band last year mentioned that she'd heard a really sweet bass riff on that song. It did then actually take a fair bit of effort to unlearn the "wrong" bass line! I think it's only since I've been working with a semi-pro crew that I've been paying closer attention to some of the actual bass lines and realising just how much better many of them were than the simplified versions I'd been playing! Another easy example would be Killers "Somebody told me" - for me that loses a lot when the bass line is flattened, which I've often heard. With that one, I made sure to learn that one properly from the off!

Sometimes it's only the band who notice their bandmates getting it right, but their smile in recognition is for me reward in itself. Often the audience actually also does notice, without necessarily fully knowing why? Sure we've all "flattened" / simplified bass lines to get them good enough for a gig, maybe due to a lack of time or perhaps technical ability and never return to work on them further. But when they are done properly they can often give a song a lift. A simple example: the iconic riff in John McVie's Go your own way bassline - I'd been guilty of leaving that out for far too long and playing sonething that fitted. But playing McVie's line as he intended it, has definitely added something to both the band sound and my enjoyment of playing that song. So, if you want to invest the time in nailing a bass line, Dave, go for it mate!

Tricky situation Phil! I know of one band who are 'talented hobbyists' rather than semi-pros, with other sources of income, and who are happy to take home less each from gigs so that their dep bass player, who is a pro and lives off his performance income, can get a decent fee. They end up with an excellent bass player who is happy to commit and the rest of the band enjoy the gigs much more as a result Tangentially, I've heard of a band leader not personally taking any payment from gigs in order to be competitive on pricing, so the rest of the band got a decent fee per gig, and building up a roster of venues. The band then put up prices once they had got themselves established. I guess we've been fortunate in not needing to do either of the above, but there's a certain logic to the first and I do have admiration for the approach taken in the second! They may give you a sticking plaster solution till you find your permanent band member. Good luck!

Interesting point which I'd not really given any thought to: a low male can often get comfortably down to a b1 = 61 Hz. My ignorance, but why would it matter if that was being handled by the sub(s) rather than the tops?

A first review on bass, looking at just the presets... Maybe just a couple on there that I might be tempted to use e.g. 49 T-Wah, but I suspect the value-add, as with many multis is going to be from creating our own patches.

@Pirellithecat - question for: do you think not finding a bass tone that you are happy with could potentially be down to too much low end in some of the more cramped venues you're playing in?

I can appreciate that the subs will make a big difference, particularly at outdoor gigs which is where we notice the lack, but we do precious few of those. But, as you say, space can be limited at a lot of indoor, certainly pub, gigs and we do seem to manage to get a pretty decent low-end with our more humble 912As.

Impressive set up! Welcome to the A&H CQ18T club! I'll be hoping to join you in the RCF 932A club at some point soon - I think our singers deserve better than the more budget 912As we currently have, to bring out their vocals. But as for RCF 705 subs and custom IEMs...you've left us for dust!

Nice! The SR Premium range have an active / passive switch, but will set you back a fair bit more...as would my Spector EuroLX which doesn't have an active passive switch, but does have a very accessible battery socket to compensate (which I think all the Ibby ranges will also have). Guess just need to add "check battery" to the pre gig routine!

KZ ZARs tick all the boxes for me (prefer to my Shures and KZ ZS10s). Very competitively priced via Ali Express.

Just leaving this here! Super compact and just £80 for a multifx, amp modeller and IR loader.